“RAHHHH!” The echoing bellow of rage shook the Temple, making me fear for the cracks that travelled the walls, praying they would stop before they hit the ceiling and the entire place crumbled down on us. However, that deadly assault soon took precedent over my mind as I watched the flash of silver hurtling towards Matthias like a metal rain cloud.
But just when I thought Ruto would win the fight, as there weren’t enough roots to cover every inch of Matthias, something happened. Suddenly the witch seemed to appear from nowhere and created a powerful dome of blue light that formed a protective forcefield around him. It was then that time seemed to slow down, to the point that even my own screams of panic seemed stretched and muted towards the end. This was because every single bladed feather that came from Ruto had hit this magical barrier and was now travelling back at him at even greater speed.
“RUTO, LOOK OUT!” I heard my next cry, but it was too late as soon he was attacked by his own force, hitting him with the power of the Gods that had made him!
This forced his body back against the stone wall, pinning him there like a broken insect. His eyes looked shocked, before they began to glaze over as they lowered down to take in our horrified faces, as if silently asking us how it had happened. His body was held suspended above us, stabbed by every single blade he threw, and the blood poured from his body as if it was being drained from him.
“NO! No, no, no!” I kept saying over again like this wasn’t happening… it couldn’t be happening!
I vaguely heard the demonic roars of anger both coming from Caspian and Clay, but it was drowned out by the pain at seeing Ruto hanging there as the life was pouring from him. But then he smiled down at me, and I could just see through the blur of my tears, as he mouthed something silently at me.
Then his head slumped forward as he lost the fight of life once and for all.
As those last words of his came too late…
Ruto was dead.
18
A Geryon and a Minotaur Walk into a Bar
“No… no… NOOOO!” I whispered, muttered, and then screamed in an angry flood of tears. Just the sight of him hanging there, as if he had just been sacrificed, had my heart breaking and tears barely drowning out the painful sight. But my anguish was drowned out by the roar of fury from Clay and Caspian at seeing their comrade die before them.
“YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!” Caspian bellowed.
“His revenge will be seen this day!” Clay growled out with such depth the sound was born straight from Hell itself.
“Bring me the brothers!” Matthias suddenly demanded in response to these threats, and my early question of where the Keepers of Three were, was answered. As the witch waved her hand over a spot next to her on the wall, suddenly the broken and beaten remains of the Keepers appeared, chained against the stone.
“It is time I rewarded them with a promise kept, for they have served me well. But they will serve me better as the warriors they once were!” he said, before raising up his arms as roots shot up and took hold of the twisted limbs of all the combined brothers. The roots then started to literally pump some kind of Hellish essence right into them. It looked like liquid darkness being forced into their combined body and at the same time, the witch started casting a spell over them. I could see their mangled muscles tense, and the strain on their faces as they tried to contain the pain until it became too much. All three of them screamed in agony, something that only stopped when Matthias shot his fingers out, mimicking the actions of the roots as they stabbed each of the brothers in the heart.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” I muttered as this spell the witch was casting seem to increase. It was as if she was drawing this power from the ground with one hand and casting with the other. She was forging it into what she needed and combining it with the power she gained from the poisoned roots, creating something new. A thick blue haze started to surround the broken bodies, until eventually it overtook the entirety of the rock wall. After this, all that