“Man, I really regret bringing Megan here now,” Ares muttered.
Keras touched his shoulder again. “She will be fine. She will be well protected at the palace. The enemy will not attack here. It would be suicide with so many of Father’s legions here now.”
Their father had called back three legions. Close to ten thousand of his men would remain at the palace to protect it, while several elite groups from each legion would go with Keras and his brothers into battle.
The garden was thick with them, and the palace had so many captains and other officers in it that it was hard to move around the corridors. Several of those officers stood around the map, as eager to get going as he was.
“We have a kick-ass team.” Cal went to Ares and lightly boxed him on the arm. “No one is getting near Megan, Aiko or Eva.”
“Milos is remaining here too,” Cass offered.
Milos jumped on the map and scratched at it, sharpening his claws in a way that made his feelings perfectly clear.
“Stop that,” Cass muttered but the ginger and white tom ignored her, kept clawing at a mountain and ripping chunks from it.
Apparently, Milos was not happy about the arrangement.
“What is a tiny cat going to do?” Thanatos jerked his chin towards it. “It is a scrawny thing.”
Milos growled, the sound going from weak to a rumbling snarl as he grew, golden sleek fur rippling over his body as it transformed. Tawny feathered wings sprouted from his back and a dark mane rippled down his neck, tufting from the top of his head and around his ears too.
When his shift was complete and he resembled a winged lion, Milos bared his three yellowing fangs at Thanatos on a mighty roar.
The god of death held his hands up in front of him and pulled a face that said ‘fair enough’.
Milos furled his wings against his back. The map creaked beneath his weight, bowing slightly before he jumped off it.
“The big bad man didn’t mean it, Milos, baby.” Cass went after him as he loosed a long, low growl. “You are beautiful. Strong.”
Keras focused on the map again as Enyo came up beside him.
“I have other news,” she said and he glanced at her, and lingered as he found her looking at him. “My brother is coming now that he has heard that Eris and the others are involved. The four of them often rode into battle with him and he isn’t happy that they have betrayed Hades.”
As much as Keras despised her brother, having the god of war on their side could only be a good thing. He could set aside his feelings about him. For now, at least.
“If Eris isn’t coming here, then where would she go?” Cal’s blue eyes roamed the map.
“Somewhere she knows?” Daimon offered.
And it hit Keras.
“Not necessarily somewhere she knows.” He sought the realm, his gaze skipping over mountain ranges and deep valleys until he found the one he was looking for. He pointed to it. “Somewhere she felt powerful. Invincible.”
“My realm?” Nyx’s voice gained an octave as she approached the map.
“It does make sense.” Thanatos came to stand beside her, his enormous black wings shifting restlessly against his bare back. “We go there then.”
Nyx muttered something as she glared at her realm on the map, her navy-to-aqua eyes darkening.
She wanted Eris to pay for her audacity. Another good thing. Having the goddess of night riled and out for blood, and having the battle take place in her own realm, was sure to give her incentive to fight with all of her heart.
Not much could stand against Nyx when she was in a rage.
She teleported.
Thanatos followed her.
Keras grabbed his gauntlets and pulled them on as he turned to the officers. “Gather your men.”
They all nodded, kept their heads bent as they backed off. They turned away from him, heading for the door.
He flexed his crimson talons as he looked at his brothers.
“Ready?”
They all nodded.
Keras took hold of Enyo’s arm and stepped.
Darkness embraced them, the thundering beat of his heart echoing in it as his mind raced and adrenaline flooded his veins, the uncertainty of what awaited them sending a sharp thrill laced with an edge of fear through him.
They landed in the midst of chaos.
Enyo tugged on his arm, yanking him to his left just as a blade whizzed past his head. The valkyrie shrieked at him, her golden braids catching the light of the fireball that shot towards her. It struck her in her chest and launched her backwards, into another of her breed who was fighting three men dressed in black armour edged with blue.
Nyx’s guards.
Keras drew his sword and unleashed his shadows, let them tear through the weaker of the forces Eris had brought with her as he got his bearings. Enyo fought the valkyrie as he scanned the battlefield and the grand palace beyond it. The two valkyries near them weren’t the only ones.
Not only did Eris and her comrades have an army of Hellspawn and other species of the Underworld on her side, but she had at least fifty valkyries. The blonde females were making fast work of Nyx’s guards, decimating her forces despite being outnumbered ten to one.
The valkyries were the least of Keras’s worries though.
Above him, eerie shrieks and cries echoed, and blood dripped down on him like light rain.
Eris had convinced the Keres to join her side.
The female death spirits flew on bloody wings, their white skin making them appear almost spectral against the dark sky. Near Keras, one of the guards went down and struggled to get back onto his feet.
On a keening cry, a Ker swept down and landed on him, tearing at him with her talons, vile hunger flashing in her glowing white-blue eyes.
Keras grabbed Enyo and shoved her forwards, away from the creature. It wouldn’t attack anyone who wasn’t bleeding, but he didn’t want to risk it.
“Well, fuck,” Valen muttered as he joined them, casting a disgusted look at the Ker as she finished ripping the male to pieces and began feasting on him. “This is going to be… fun.”
Fun wasn’t the word Keras would have chosen.
Around him, the men from his father’s legions appeared, close to a thousand in total.
Nowhere near enough.
“Everyone pick a valkyrie and start working on figuring out her charm,” Ares bellowed above the din of battle.
“And watch for Keres,” Keras added, because he was damned if he was going to lose any of his brothers or their women to the death spirits.
As one, his brothers spread out. Daimon and Cass broke away to his east, Marek and Caterina heading with them a short distance before they began moving further apart. Ares and Esher moved together, Valen tracking them for barely a few metres before he spotted a valkyrie. Lightning shot down, flickering white-purple, and the female screamed as it struck her.
Keras grabbed Cal before he could move.
His youngest brother looked back at him. Just beyond him, Marinda paused and pivoted to face them.
“Find Meadow,” Keras said. “We need to stop her from opening a gate.”
Cal and Marinda nodded.
“Not sure how easy finding her is going to be though,” Cal muttered as he scanned the battlefield.
He had barely finished that sentence before shimmering colourful light glowed in the distance, closer to the imposing black palace.
“Then again.” Cal grabbed Marinda and stepped.