Walking Shadows Book 2 Chapter 26. Ian

“It ends today, Caelus. I will take you again. I will carry you back for judgment. With good behavior, your sentence may only be a few more thousand years.”

Caelus screamed, his voice echoing across the rocks. He charged towards Phoebe. A blade of dark energy formed in his hand. Phoebe threw up her own blade to stop him. The two blades flashed as they struck. Phoebe stumbled back from the blow.

Hidden from view by his own illusion, Ian looked down at his hands. Phoebe knew exactly what she needed of him. But he wasn’t sure he could do it again. He still remembered Doppelganger. He still remembered how good it felt as he sucked the kidnapper’s life away. He wasn’t sure he could contain himself, not against someone with Caelus’s levels of power.

I don’t have a choice, he told himself, but he knew it wasn’t true. Phoebe said they could not stand against Caelus any other way, but he knew he could do nothing. He could slip away, walk from the fight. He could leave Cyrus, Marilyn, Alli and the others to death at Caelus’s hands. He really didn’t know them that well. He could just find his way out, back to the world. Other men or women could stop Caelus.

I can’t leave them to die. The thought hit Ian like a brick. He felt like he should be able to go. He should be able to abandon anyone. That something inside him was used to doing just that. Maybe it was a memory of the past or just some kind of sense memory. He wasn’t sure, but he knew it was wrong.

I have to stay and fight. I have to help. Even if it costs me everything.

He took a deep breath and remembered Phoebe’s plan. He silently counted to three. Then he ran, but not away. He charged straight towards Caelus.

As he leapt into the air, Ian only had one thought.

I sure hope this works.

He landed against Caelus’s back. He threw his hands around the freak’s neck and head. He felt the energy below the Godkiller’s skin. He felt it surging through Caelus’s veins. Every ounce of his body craved it.

Ian closed his eyes and let it all flow into him. It screamed through his frame like lightning. Beautiful perfect lightning. It burned his veins, ignited every nerve ending. He loved it, never felt more alive. He couldn’t imagine a high ever as great as this one. No orgasm, no thrill and no drug could ever compare.

Ian let the illusion fade around him. The desert of Elsewhere faded into the ether Ian pulled it from. He didn’t need it anymore. He had everything he needed draining into his veins.

“Ian, get ahold of yourself and get away!”

Phoebe’s words broke him from his revelry. His eyes shot open. He could feel the halo of energy around his skin. It surged around him, strengthened him and intoxicated him. But he remembered the plan. He couldn’t take any more of Caelus’s power.

He released the Godkiller and dropped back to the ground.

“No!” Caelus screamed. “It will not end this way!”

He turned his attention to Ian. Ian met the Godkiller’s eyes. He could tell Caelus knew his energy levels waned. The Godkiller knew what Ian had done. But the sudden drain of his energy was purposeful.

Caelus raised his blade, ready to strike down Ian and regain his power.

He never even saw it coming. Ian watched the slice of blue energy rip out of Caelus’s heart. The Godkiller’s eyes widened. The blue faded.

Ian only had time to roll out of the way before the body dropped to the ground.

Ian pulled himself to his feet. His body still surged with power. But the power made him afraid. He backed away from the others as they closed around Caelus.

“Is he dead?” Marilyn’s words echoed across the emptiness of Hades. Ian still couldn’t quite believe they were in some mythical hell, but the army of the undead and the unconscious death god made it seem clear.

“He’s left this body,” Phoebe said. “But I wasn’t able to contain him. The spirit of Caelus cannot be killed, not by any means known to this galaxy. He’s out there somewhere and he will strike again.”

“If he’s not a fool, it won’t be here.” Cyrus’s words echoed across the field. He turned to the other woman there, the one Ian could only guess was Persephone. “Mother, will father be alright?”

The goddess bent down by the still body of her husband. She rested a hand on his shoulder. “He is greatly weakened, but he will live. But his control over this realm is already dangerously shattered.”

Phoebe looked at Ian. “His power is not lost, only moved. Caelus tried to leech it away, but we’ve taken back from him.”

Ian could see the grim expression on Marilyn’s face as she turned to him. He could feel her judgment. I killed again. For good or bad, they see me as just a murderer.

Phoebe walked to him and took Ian by the hand. He tried to pull away from her, but she held him fast.

“You won’t hurt me, Ian. But you can help me. You just need to trust me.”

She led him over to the prone body of Pluto and the goddess next to him. Phoebe bent down. Ian leaned over next to her. He watched her put her hand beneath Pluto’s dark cloak.

His body suddenly shook against his will. He could feel his muscles spasm as the power was pulled from them. He didn’t know how, but Phoebe was pulling the energy he took from Caelus back into the god.

In just a matter of seconds, it was over. Pluto’s glowing yellow eyes were open and Ian could barely keep his feet under him. Phoebe bent over to support him.

“Lord Hades,” she said. “It is good to see you well. Now can you free us from this death realm?”

He rose suddenly from his prone position. And with one swipe of his arm, the land of the dead faded around them.

Ian’s vision blurred at the sudden change of scenery. He was used to his own illusions, but this was entirely different. This was a shift from one realm to another. He began to think this was becoming far too common in his life. Teleporting, dimension hopping, escaping intergalactic prisons: it seemed a strange way to live life.

Pluto walked to his wife’s side as the manor lawn appeared all around him. Phoebe took a moment to make sure the world met her approval. Then she turned her attention to the prone Alli. She bent over her still body and placed a hand on her neck.

“Her breathing is steady. She’s went through trauma, but whatever hold her captor had over her is gone. With a little stimulation—” Her hand glowed blue for just a second. Alli slowly blinked her eyes open.

Alli stared up into Phoebe’s eyes. She seemed confused. Ian figured she remembered the attack on her, but Phoebe’s warm smile didn’t fit the monster that turned on them not that long ago.

Marilyn rushed to her fallen lover’s side. Alli’s eyes were drawn away from Phoebe as Marilyn reached her side. They quickly embraced. They mumbled thankful expressions to one another as they held each other tight.

The staff retinue rushed in on them, dozens of them. Several took Melinoe’s still prone form and rushed her away.

“Cyrus, come,” Persephone said. “Bring your human friends. We have much to talk about and I suspect the dining room will be far more accommodating.”

Walking Shadows Book 2 Chapter 25. Marilyn

Marilyn didn’t quite understand everything that was happening around her. But it truly didn’t matter. She saw this Caelus down Pluto in one hit. She heard the words from Cyrus. She could feel his power like a siren’s call.

Cyrus stood up to the monster in his friend’s body. But she knew he couldn’t hurt him. No one could hurt this monster, not really.

We need to go, she thought. We need to get out of here before he kills us all.

Persephone screamed in rage at Caelus. “What are you? What are you doing?”

Caelus slowly turned his attention her way. “I am taking back what is mine. You took this world from me, godling, and I would have it back.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about! Get out of my home.”

Caelus shook his head. “They teach you nothing. You know my name, you know my place. I am Caelus. I am the sky. I am the stars. I created your progenitors, godling. You are my children, yet you betrayed me to a prison you could not imagine.”

“I did nothing,” Persephone said. “I do not know you, dead thing, but return to the realm from which you came.”

“That will not happen,” Caelus said. He walked towards her.

Persephone swung an impotent fist towards the emaciated form of Petraeus, possessed by whatever this Caelus was. Marilyn watched him catch her hand almost in slow motion. He held her fast and shook his head.

“Your rage is impotent. It will do you know good against me.”

He pulled her closer, ran a hand supply down her cheek. “If you are good, I might find you a place as a concubine. If not, you can join the fool on the floor.”

Persephone spit into his face. “Go to Hades, you monster. I bow only to Zeus.”

“His time will come, woman. As will yours.”

Caelus’s hand stopped its caress. He drew it back and brought it hard across Persephone’s face. She sprawled to the floor. She stared daggers up at him, clutching her jaw.

Cyrus saw enough. He charged towards Caelus, intent on avenging his mother’s honor. Marilyn tried to stop him, but Cyrus moved too fast. Caelus didn’t even seem to see him as Cyrus charged forward. Marilyn saw the distortion form around his hands, signs of the sonic energy he built up. He planned a killing blow, but Marilyn didn’t know if even that would stop this monster. She wasn’t sure if anything could hurt Caelus.

A figure dropped down from above on Cyrus. Shrouded in darkness, she struck him with a sharp foot to the skull, rebounded off and landed on her feet. She smirked, white teeth gleaming beneath her raven black locks.

Nightmarish visions floated around her, moving as if tendrils of pure evil. But despite her change into a long black gown that melded with her dark creatures and the hair now falling in her face, Marilyn recognized Melinoe.

Persephone and Cyrus both stood shocked. Melinoe walked up to Cyrus and drove a sharp boot into his gut. She pushed him back and away, and let him crumple down next to their mother.

“Melinoe,” Persephone cried. “What are you doing? Help us! Your brother is not the enemy. This monster is.” She pointed towards Caelus.

“Oh, mother, so naive. Thousands of years and still you do not even glimpse the minds of the truly enlightened.”

She turned and walked to Caelus. He opened his arms to her as she approached. She came into them and kissed the lips of the possessed corpse. It was no peck, but a kiss of passion, a kiss of longing.

“Hello, my love,” Melinoe said. “I’ve waited millennia to finally see you, to hold you, to touch you.”

Persephone clearly couldn’t believe her own eyes. “You betrayed us. You killed Petraeus and framed your brother. You’ve betrayed everything I’ve ever taught you!”

“No, I’ve manipulated you into doing everything I needed you to do, mother. I thought I would have to use my dear brother and his lover here to unlock my beloved’s prison. You sent me after him like a hound, but I waited and waited until he had the right connections, the right people around him. I knew Cyrus was too much a fool to ever stay away from human connections. And I needed those connections.”

Cyrus looked to Marilyn. Marilyn gave him a slow nod. She knew she wasn’t the smartest or wisest being in the universe, but she understood Melinoe’s words well enough. This was why Cyrus wanted to run, to leave her and the others behind.

“But Cyrus didn’t just pick a lover, he also picked up an entire group of friends,” Melinoe said. “An entire gaggle of them. I realized I wouldn’t have to convince you to use my choice of prison. I could just trick his friends into traveling there.”

“Don’t be coy, Melinoe.” A new voice emerged from the shadows behind Marilyn. “You couldn’t have done it without me.”

The man stepped out of the shadows. He was a thick figure, dark skinned and covered in tattoos. Marilyn didn’t know him, but she recognized the figure draped over his shoulders. It felt like forever since she last laid eyes on her.

“Alli!”

The man laughed. “Good, I’m glad you still remember her.” He dropped Alli on the ground in front of him.

Caelus turned and looked down at the limp form. “Is she still alive? You have not harmed her? She freed me from my prison how ever inadvertently. She should be honored for doing so.”

“Honored?” Marilyn’s word seemed to echo through the room.

“I cannot survive in this corpse forever,” Caelus said. “And I do not plan to spend another day without a body. Your friend honored me with my freedom. It seems only fit that I honor her by wearing her body and transforming her into a god.”

“You would kill her,” Cyrus said. “She did nothing but help you.”

“Oh, yes, the dear girl did give me my freedom.” Caelus turned to the other man. “No thanks to you, Vulcan.”

The tattooed man shrugged. “It is what it is.”

“It proved all too simple,” Caelus said. “Many things changed during my imprisonment, but mortals remain trusting fools. They trusted Smith here because he was one of them, a man with powers. They didn’t even ask questions, knowing he was a figure that could help them. It was all too easy to plant him where he needed to be in order to intercept their path and bring them to my prison.”

“You’re sick,” Cyrus said.

“Perhaps. But I’ve also won. I played your entire family for fools, child god. I led your human allies into breaking the chains only they could break. And I did it simply by offering power to my allies.” He looked at Melinoe, eying her like a piece of meat.

“Are we really the fools?” Marilyn’s words pierced through the tension in the air. She heard enough from this mad god. He might have more power than they could hope to beat, but she wasn’t sure. He seemed to use shows of powers to hold them, but beyond his attack on Pluto, really did nothing. Melinoe and that Vulcan bastard were doing the grunt work.

Focus, she told herself. You can’t help Alli if you don’t focus.

“You speak out of turn, human!” Melinoe’s words brought everyone attention back to the traitor.

“No, I don’t think I do. I don’t think we’re the true fools. You are, Melinoe.”

“Enough! Enough of your insolence!” Melinoe turned to Caelus. “Show them, my love! Show them your power!”

Caelus started to chuckle. But the chuckle quickly grew into a full belly laugh. Marilyn could feel the menace in his humor though. This wasn’t whimsy or joy. This was a snake being caught just as it struck.

He pulled Melinoe into him and kissed the goddess on her lips. Her eyes turned black. Her skin shriveled beneath his touch, the veins showing through her skin. It took only a matter of seconds.

Caelus released her body and let her drop to the floor. Melinoe still lived, but she looked like a mummy of her former self. But Caelus stood triumphantly, his own skin more alive than before.

Caelus turned to those gathered before him. “Do you see now? Do you understand what you have made me? This is my body now. But I will have all your life and your death.”

He looked down at Persephone and Pluto. “Once I suck you dry, I will have control over life and death. My limits will gone and the world will be mine.”

He kicked Melinoe’s body aside. “I don’t need any foolish love affairs to get in my way.”

Cyrus stepped between his parents and the killer. He was ready to die to protect them.

Marilyn didn’t know what to do. She still couldn’t grasp what this monster was. He talked of godhood and ancient times. Her life was measured in a matter of a few short years. It was too much to take in. Too much to comprehend. She couldn’t grasp why anyone that ancient could be so evil. Nor could she ever believe they stood a chance against such a being.

No. There’s no choice. Chance or not, we have to stop him here. If Cyrus and I don’t do it, the entire world might pay. Live or die, it’s time to fight.

Hermes flashed across the floor, teleporting from his position to directly in front of Cyrus. His fist caught Cyrus in the jaw. Cyrus stumbled at the impact, but he didn’t fall. He threw up his own hand.

The chamber shook as he unleashed a burst of solid sound at Hermes. But Hermes vanished before it could strike. The blast flew across the room and smashed into the stone slab on which Petraeus’s body sat only minutes before.

Hermes reappeared near Caelus, but Marilyn was already ready for him. Before he could react, her body was already fluid. She flowed towards him, enveloping him in less than a second.

He might be fast, but he wouldn’t escape her, even if she had to squeeze the life out of him. Marilyn already knew that killing a god was a crime here, but she no longer cared. Hermes hurt Alli. He tried to hurt Cyrus. The bastard would pay.

She squeezed with all her might, uncaring about her fate or that of the god. Marilyn never felt rage like this before, but she felt it for the monster her liquid form enveloped. She felt his bones bend and crack, felt him struggle to cry out, but no air came.

And then he was gone. Disappeared from within her and gone from all sight.

Caelus roared with rage. He raised both hands and unleashed a blinding burst of energy. Marilyn felt it rip into her skin even as it flowed across everyone else standing in the room.

It hit her like a anvil to the chest. The blast knocked her down and back. Her eyes were on Cyrus and Persephone. Both went down at the impact as well.

“Fighting will solve nothing. You can scare away Hermes. You can try to fight, but I will not be beat. I am Caelus. I am a god of gods. I am the ruler of the universe. This world is mine!”

He threw up a hand and the chamber shifted around them again. The tomb started to rise back to the surface, but as it did so it opened into a wider wall.

The walls shimmered and transformed. Gone was the marble, replaced by old brick, ancient stones piled one upon the other. The room temperature quickly rose.

Marilyn remembered what Cyrus told her about the Estate. He said it existed between Hades and Earth. As she watched, it seemed clear that Caelus was moving them from reality into the death-realm. She didn’t know why, but she already knew it would be bad.

“Yes, yes! This is my world now. The false god of death is gone! Now Caelus will rule. Now I will take what is mine. Life and death, reality and unreality. All are mine to control. Come. Come lords and ladies of Hades. Come and know your new ruler. Come and be free from this realm. All you must do is destroy my enemies.”

The moans seemed to come from everywhere. Marilyn rose to her feet, but as she did so, the first of them appeared from nowhere. A lone shambling figure in ancient attire, some kind of Roman warrior. He came towards them, unspeaking, perhaps mindless.

And he was far from alone.

They appeared one by one, male and female, young and old, Greek and Roman, ancient and far more modern. In seconds, they seemed to stretch for miles.

Caelus laughed. “Yes, yes! Your monstrous overlord is gone! Rise, my army of the dead. Rise, serve me and live a new life. I will give you the justice you’ve craved for eternity!”

Marilyn met Cyrus’s eyes. The young god just shook his head. She knew the meaning. I don’t see a way out of this.

Marilyn didn’t see one either, but she knew she wasn’t going to stop. One way or another, she refused to let this be her fate.

“This isn’t over,” Marilyn said. “We have to fight him.”

Persephone shook her head as she cradled her husband’s still form. “Without Pluto we have no control over Hades. We cannot stop Caelus.”

“Why can’t we?” Marilyn looked towards the dark god. “He’s a pompous ass with some power. He can suck the life from a god, but he still fears us. If he was as powerful as he claimed, we would all be dead now.”

“No,” Persephone said. “He’s older than us, more powerful than us. We can’t—”

“No, you’re wrong,” Cyrus said. “I’m sorry, mother, but Marilyn is right. If I learned one thing from the humans I’ve met, it is that when all else fails, it’s up to you to do the right thing. And if that means I must fight for my very life, then so be it.”

Marilyn could only smile at his sudden support, but she knew she didn’t have time to focus on it. The undead were closing on them.

She twisted her head around in a full three hundred sixty degree turn. They were surrounded. But it didn’t matter. All they needed to do was stop their leader. And she may not know how to kill him, but she could stop him in his tracks.

“Let’s do this!”

Her hands flailed out like two trees flailing in hurricane force winds. They each struck a few of the undead, sweeping them down and into more of their brethren. It did little to break the siege, but it opened a clearing. It gave them room to move.

Cyrus shot into the air with a wave of sonic energy that shook the dirt beneath their feet. The strange red-black sky seemed to undulate around him. He flew towards Caelus, ready to end the fight one way or another. Marilyn hoped for his survival, but she needed to make her own move.

As one arm continued to push back against the oncoming horde. Her other hand slipped across the ground. She pulled her fingers through the dirt and towards Alli’s still form. Her lover was still breathing, but Marilyn knew that she might need medical care.

Can’t think about that now. Got to focus on the task at hand.

The hand on the ground found what she sought just as her other outstretched arm was caught and held by one of the oncoming dead. She started to pull it away, but the walking deadman was joined by first one man, then several more undead men and women. They held her arm fast and started to pull.

She ignored their insistent tugging. She knew they would pull her in soon enough, but she had other priorities. Caelus needed to be stopped, one way or the other and she knew she could do that.

She brought up her other arm, Sticky Gun in hand. Before anyone could realize what she was doing she took aim and fired. The first ball of glue-goo flew into Caelus’s chest and started to expand. She fired a pair of follow-up rounds. With three shots in place, the goo spread out across his entire frame.

She pulled against the horde that wanted to rip her to shreds, but it was no use. “Cyrus, Persephone, help me!”

She looked to Cyrus, but Marilyn saw he had his own problems. The undead had pulled him from the sky. He blasted them back with sound blast after sound blast, but even his powers didn’t allow him to generate the attacks fast enough. They were overwhelming him.

“Persephone! You have to help us. If you don’t, I’ll die and your son will die! If not for mankind, do it for your family.”

Persephone stared down at her still husband. Her eyes traveled to her daughter’s shriveled, still form just a few feet away. But she didn’t move. Marilyn wasn’t sure the goddess even heard her. They would die here.

Slowly Persephone rose to her feet. As she rose, her face went from passive and broken to strong and commanding. Marilyn couldn’t believe the change that came over the goddess. One second, she seemed beaten, but now she truly looked like a queen.

Marilyn realized the goddess was a far stronger presence than she ever let on. She let her husband show force, but she controlled her own power.

“You made a mistake,” Persephone said. “I am queen of the dead. But I am also the overseer of the harvest. This is my time of power. I am at my strongest. And you Caelus, will pay for your transgressions against my family!”

Caelus laughed as he met Persephone’s glaring, glowing eyes.

“Prattle and prance all you want, woman. I am Caelus the Unkillable. Caelus the All-Powerful. You can imagine what you wish, but your kingdom is mine now.”

“No, as long as I stand, Hades remains free of your will.”

She waved a hand outward. The army of the dead around them dropped to their knees. Marilyn found her body released from their tightening grip.

Caelus shook his head, the only part of his body free from the goo’s grip. “You think I’m beaten. You think you’ve won. And I’m only just beginning. You see I am many, many things. But one thing I have always been is a powerful force in the universe. Since millennia long forgotten, gods have rose to rule mortals. And sometimes those gods stepped out of line. That is why I exist. I walk this universe to end the foolish immortals that think themselves unconquerable. I am Caelus and I am the Godkiller.”

The ground started to shake beneath their feet. The sky seemed to flicker from a dull gray to a glaring, deadly red. The army started to fall down. Their frames seemed to shrivel.

Marilyn didn’t know how, but somehow Caelus drew in their power.