Page 108 of Fate of the Gods

“Everyone prepared for what we’re about to face?” he asked seriously.

“As we can be,” Xenobia assured.

He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Nick, you can handle this without a scythe?”

“I can handle it, I promise. I’ll make it work.”

He pushed the door open slowly, revealing a wet, foggy landscape before us. The door led to what looked to be the inside of a vast cave, hidden behind a rushing waterfall. I was glad to see water, as I knew Xenobia would flourish if it came down to a serious fight with the resource so close by.

Odysseus shut the door behind us and pulled his sword free, which illuminated the dark space ahead of us. “Well, it’s now or never.”

“Keep a close eye on our backside, Xena,” I instructed.

“Will do,” she peeped back.

Odysseus continued down the winding stone pathway into the belly of the cave, where wet walls cascaded around us and seemingly sucked us deeper. Our boots made wet slap sounds on the cold ground we traversed but we persevered, determined to see to the end of this cavern.

To our surprise, the cave was completely quiet. Not a single sound beyond water dripping could be heard, which was even more eerie when we knew there had to be more to this place than what we were seeing. Odysseus was the first to comment on this. “This is… abnormally quiet, for a desolate cave that protects such a rare artifact.”

“I’ll say.”

“There’s a break up ahead. Something must be down there,” Xenobia pointed out.

“Stay vigilant,” Odysseus commanded.

We stepped into a blood bath.

There had been someone who protected this cave, alright, and that someone was the now dead Cerberus that laid on the blood-soaked ground before us. The creatures heads were split completely in half, with its innards coating the floor and much of the platform behind it. Xenobia gagged loudly and covered her face from the sight, but I was distraught to see a demon so wrongfully murdered.

“Oh Gods… who did this to you?” I gasped as I slid onto my knees beside the demon and brushed my hands across one of its snouts.

“You think this was a good demon?” Odysseus inquired.

“It was meant to protect, not destroy. The poor thing…”

“Um, guys?” Xenobia pointed to a stone pillar with a gold box atop. “We may have bigger fish to fry here.”

I stood carefully and set my hands on the gold box, which popped open without much struggle. I was astonished by this, but when I pulled the top off, an even more sickening sight greeted me. “Fuck…” I breathed in horror.

“What is it, Nick?” Odysseus whimpered.

I turned to him with sweat slipping down my cheeks. “It’s empty.”

End of Book Four