Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

" W hat the hell is that?" I blurted when we rounded the trees, and a grotesque temple came into view.

It was a twisted mockery of ancient Greek architecture. It was almost hunched and brooding. It looked like it had sprouted from the earth as a festering wound. And that was not an exaggeration. The columns were lopsided and leaning awkwardly as if they'd been pushed and pulled by unseen hands. The stone was dark, almost black. They absorbed the light rather than reflect it like a white temple would.

"I think this is Miletus' idea of a temple," Faith replied as she looked at the structure that was nothing like the elegant Doric style they mimicked.

Damon snorted in disdain. "That is a weak approximation of our father's temples. Those columns have the completely wrong proportions. And that frieze? It's supposed to depict myths, but these are the twisted figures of demons. It's like he's mocking what he can't truly recreate."

"I hadn't even noticed that," I said as I scanned the malformed engravings .

We moved closer, and I winced when I saw the statues Miletus had in what passed as his garden. Sculptures of gods and heroes were found in most Greek temples. That is not what Miletus had there. The features of the stone figures were twisted into grotesque parodies of the real myths. "It's like someone took a beautiful painting and smeared dirt all over it."

Faith, crossbow at the ready, glanced over at us. "Miletus is not an architect."

We reached what passed as the entrance. It was a jagged archway that looked more like a mouth ready to swallow us whole. I didn't want to go in there, but I had no choice. I wanted to end this.

The stone pulsed with malevolent energy. Every step closer made me feel like I was wading through a thick, oppressive fog. I had my kris knives, Faith had her crossbow, Tegan's hands clutched her daggers, and Damon had his sword. I did a double take when I noticed that Eve's hands crackled with her blue hellfire.

"Alright, team," I whispered as I mustered my bravado. "Let's find that soul crystal and get the hell out of here."

We stepped into the main room, and it felt like stepping into another world. The air was thick and musty. It carried a scent that was part decay, part incense. The interior was as warped as the exterior. Shadows stretching unnaturally long across the uneven floor and dark drapery hung from the ceiling that absorbed what little light there was. The walls were lined with distorted statues and messed-up frescoes.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Tegan muttered as she tightened her grip on her weapons.

The air was alive with a sinister energy and each breath I took sapped a bit of my strength. Eve's eyes were wide and alert. "Yeah, I'm with you on that," Eve said. "This place feels wrong. Clearly, it's been tainted by Miletus' evil. "

Faith scanned the room with narrowed eyes. "Where the hell are Miletus and his merry band of assholes?"

As if on cue, the torches lining the walls flickered out, plunging the room into darkness. Only Eve's hellfire provided light. And what it illuminated made me want to throw up. Shadows loomed around us, moving closer and becoming more defined. Shadow Weavers. The air grew colder and a faint, almost inaudible whispering filled the room.

Other figures began to emerge. It didn't take long to realize it was Milens. Without any other light in the room, Eve's hellfire made their eyes glow with a sickly green light. Their faces were twisted with hatred and their movements were unnaturally fluid. They were predators circling their prey. My heart pounded in my chest as they closed in and formed a tight circle around us.

"This just keeps getting better," I muttered under my breath, glancing at the others. "Stay close and watch each other's backs."

Faith lifted her crossbow and said, "Always."

Movement caught my eye. My mind froze when I saw the altar come into view. It had appeared in the middle of the room. Like everything else in the temple, it pulsed with a sinister energy. And next to it was Miletus. His eyes gleamed with triumph and a wicked smile curved his lips. He looked every bit the villain reveling in his moment of victory. My gaze skipped right past him and settled on the crystal that glowed with a white-blue light on the altar. That held Shannon's soul. We'd found it! Now we just needed to snatch it and escape more than fifty Milens and Miletus.

"Welcome," Miletus purred. His voice echoed in the chamber. "I've been expecting you."

"I hope we haven't missed the grand finale," I shot back.

Miletus chuckled. It was a low, menacing sound. "You haven't missed the show. But you're too late to stop me. I have everything I need to complete the ritual. You won't be able to save your precious friend." The pointed look he gave the crystal was his attempt at rubbing salt in the wound.

Faith raised her crossbow and aimed it directly at Miletus. "Over our dead bodies."

"That can be arranged," Miletus said as his face twisted up like Mae's used to when she was unhappy about being denied ice cream.

"Would you look at that," I muttered sarcastically. My eyes were fixed on Miletus as he reached for the crystal with a hungry gleam in his eyes. "Looks like someone's about to throw a temper tantrum if he doesn't get his way."

Damon scoffed softly beside me. "That's not surprising, considering he's been playing with dark magic like a kid in a candy store. Only this candy's rotten to the core."

I nodded in agreement, a sense of grim determination settling over me. "Well, we can't let him have it. We need to stop him before he does something irreversible."

A look of annoyance crossed Miletus' face and his gaze flicked to the Milens. "Get them."

Miletus' command was like the gun at the start of a race. The Milens charged and the room exploded into chaos. I lunged at the nearest one, my kris knives flashing in the eerie blue light of Eve's hellfire. The Milen hissed and slashed at me with clawed hands. I ducked and spun with my hands out. One of my blades sliced through flesh. The Milen screamed in a high-pitched wail that echoed through the chamber.

Faith was beside me and firing her crossbow bolts with deadly precision. "You're going to regret that!" she shouted, not taking her eyes off the advancing enemies.

Damon's sword swung in deadly arcs as he took down a Milen with practiced ease. Tegan was a blur of motion. Her daggers flashed as she fought off two Milens at once. Eve stood next to me and was throwing spells in rapid fire. I moved closer to her when she started slowing. I could feel her fatigue .

I fought with everything I had. My blade cut down Milen after Milen, but it didn't feel like I was making a dent. Faith and Damon were taking out just as many. Yet they were coming out of the shadows like cockroaches. The battle was fierce and unrelenting. I darted and weaved through the darkness. My knives flashed as I struck out at anything that moved. Beside me, Faith was a whirlwind of motion. Her crossbow sang as she picked off Milens with deadly accuracy. Damon's sword cleaved through the shadows with lethal precision. While Tegan danced between enemies. It was a sight to see her daggers leaving a trail of blood in their wake.

But for all our skill and determination, the Shadow Weavers were a formidable foe. Their forms were mist when they shifted. It made them nearly impossible to hit. If I hadn't seen black blood dripping from one that Faith continued to fill full of bolts, I would have thought we couldn't hurt them at all. Another one darkened and solidified right before Eve's hellfire left her hands. The shriek it let out pierced my eardrum. I gaped when one of its friends pushed it out of the way. It was in that misty state and Eve's hellfire sputtered then dimmed. The shadow swallowed it whole.

We could injure these Shadow Weavers. That would give us a huge advantage. Up until this moment, I focused more on the Milens which left the Shadow Weavers untouched. "Hey!" I yelled, slicing through the air with my kris knives to keep a Milen at bay. "The shadows go solid when they attack and can be injured! Aim for that moment!"

Faith glanced my way with a raised eyebrow as she was reloading her crossbow. "Solid shadow? Isn't that an oxymoron?"

"Just shut up and shoot, Faith!" I snapped, barely dodging a swipe from another Shadow Weaver. "I promise you it'll work."

Eve nodded as she threw another ball of blue hellfire at a Milen. "She's right. We just need to make them attack first. "

Tegan snorted. "Easier said than done." She used her daggers with deadly precision while trying to keep the Milens at bay. "Your plan is seriously to wait until they try to kill us?"

"Pretty much!" I called back, sidestepping a Shadow Weaver's tendril and slashing at it just as it solidified. My kris knife cut through it like butter. The creature let out a screech before dissipating into thin air. "See? It works!"

Faith fired her crossbow, timing it perfectly to hit another Shadow Weaver just as it solidified. "That's incredibly satisfying."

Eve threw a ball of hellfire at a cluster of Milens, making them recoil. "Keep it up! We can beat their asses."

I wasn't so sure she was right, but I liked her optimism. The room was a storm of magic and never-ending violence. But our new strategy was working. Every time a Shadow Weaver solidified to attack, we were ready. Faith's crossbow bolts found their marks, Tegan's daggers struck true, and my kris knives danced through the air, severing tendrils and limbs alike. But it wasn't enough. There were just too many of them.

"We need to find a way out of this," I called out over the din of battle.

Faith, her face set in a grim mask, nodded in agreement. "We can't keep this up forever. We need to regroup and come up with a plan."

But just as we began to fall back, a dark figure emerged from the fray, his presence casting a pall over the battlefield. "Miletus," Damon spat, his voice thick with disgust. Damon flew across the room and attacked his brother a second later. The initial clash of the two demigods sounded like two boulders colliding. It rattled me to my bones.

The blows Damon and Miletus exchanged were another physical force in the room that battered us. It didn't fit with the way the brothers circled each other with their eyes locked in a fierce stare a second later. It was like one of those cliché Western standoffs, except with demigod powers and more chance of collateral damage.

"Brother," Miletus sneered. The venom dripping from his voice was enough to burn. "You always were the weaker one."

Damon didn't rise to the bait. "Funny, considering you're the one hiding behind an army of minions."

Insults spewed, they lunged at each other again. The ground trembled beneath our feet as their fists collided. It sent shockwaves that rippled through the room. It was like watching two titans clash. Their powers radiated out in waves that blasted Milens and Shadow Weavers off their feet.

"Okay, time to grab that soul crystal while the demigods play smashy-smash," I said, turning to Tegan. "Go for the altar. Faith and I will cover you."

Tegan nodded and her face set with determination. Her hands were shaking when she sprinted toward the altar. Admiration for her filled me. She was doing this regardless of her fear. That was true courage.

Faith and I flanked her with our weapons at the ready. The room was pure chaos with Damon and Miletus trading blows that lit up the space with bursts of energy. Their clash caused shockwaves to ripple through the space. It made it harder to fight the Milens and the Shadow Weavers. We didn't lose our footing like the Milens but we were thrown off kilter.

"Damon! Keep him busy!" I shouted as I cut off a Milen's hand and dark spell. Thankfully, Damon was already a step ahead. He was using his strength to keep Miletus locked in combat and prevent him from interfering with Tegan's mission.

Miletus' power surged, and a dark tendril shot out, aiming for Tegan. "Oh no, you don't," I muttered. Pouring on the speed, I darted forward and sliced through the tendril with my kris knives. Faith fired her crossbow faster than I could count. Each of the bolts found their mark and pinned a couple of Milens to the wall .

"Nice shot!" I called out, barely dodging a blast of dark energy from a Shadow Weaver. "But don't get cocky!"

We fought our way to the middle of the room. We were barely making a dent in the battle against the tide of enemies, but we couldn't give up. We had to stop Miletus. The acrid smell of burnt magic and the metallic tang of blood permeated the air. Milens screeched as they fell, and Shadow Weavers hissed, their forms flickering in the dim light.

"Almost there!" Tegan panted as she kept running for the glowing crystal atop the altar.

Sensing the imminent threat, Miletus roared in fury and tried to break away from Damon. But Damon was relentless, his eyes blazing with determination. "You're not going anywhere," he growled and delivered a crushing blow that sent Miletus sprawling.

Faith and I formed a protective barrier around Tegan as she reached the altar. "Hurry up, Tegan!" I urged, slashing through another Milen that got too close. "We don't have all day!"

With one final push, Tegan leaped up to the altar and grabbed the soul crystal. The room held its breath for a moment as the glowing crystal pulsated in her hands. A triumphant grin spread across her face as she clutched the precious artifact. "Got it!" she yelled, turning back toward us.

The moment of triumph was short-lived. Miletus let out an enraged scream, his power flaring violently. The shockwave sent us all staggering, but Damon used the opportunity to deliver a devastating uppercut that sent Miletus crashing to the ground. Before Miletus could get up, a chilling scream echoed through the chamber. It caused us all to wince in pain. The sound seemed to pierce through the very fabric of reality, leaving us all reeling in its wake. Tegan's gasp brought my gaze to her hand. She stuffed the crystal in her front pocket and shook her head. That sound had come from Shannon's soul, and it was not happy. There was no way to stop and see what was wrong. We would have to deal with that later.

Miletus had gotten to his feet and was stumbling while clutching his head in agony. "You won't stop me. I will get that soul back and finish what I started," Miletus promised. The look of certainty in his eyes was not one of a man on the verge of defeat. What didn't we know?