“I told you he was here,” Putrid sneered. He dug his nose and flicked a booger out.
He had long switched out his host's costume for his bone armor, and he looked even more ghastly than his partner.
“Stop that,” Fury grunted. “You disgust me. Let’s get him and find a way out of this place.”
Fury jumped off the gigantic beast and landed right on the pavement. His bones broke on impact and he fell over, not feeling anything. Putrid laughed, enjoying his partner’s misery, enjoying his time among the mortals and how easily they snapped.
Gabriel and Fenton saw the monsters and didn’t want to run. They had been running all night, and they accepted that there was nowhere else left to run.
“Stay next to me,” Fenton commanded.
He dropped to the ground and took a deep breath. His aura seeped out, a dark purple, and surrounded the both of them.
“Stay close,” Fenton gasped. “They can’t hurt us with my shield.”
Fenton’s head was throbbing, and he prayed Gabriel would at least damage them in the time he could keep the shield up.
Tyreceus and Ace ran, but Putrid simply caught up to them, his own body never tired, and he was excited to beat the others at finally catching Ace. Putrid grabbed him by his now long hair, and Tyreceus promptly turned around and decked him in the face.
Putrid stumbled and his eyes glowed purple.
“Die, old man,” he barked.
Tyreceus' face suddenly hurt. A lot.
He screamed in agony as he felt something lift off of his face. Ace felt it too and cried out, kneeling to the ground. Putrid grabbed Ace by his braid, which just made him panic. He was in too much pain to think straight, and Putrid was now pulling hard, further adding to his misery.
“People got a lot of dead skin and dust on their bodies,” Putrid grinned. “You two should exfoliate more.”
Tyreceus gasped and wheezed as the pain finally stopped. All the dust and dead skin had been taken off of his face, painfully and slowly. Putrid frowned, as his little trick didn’t ever really last long.
All the dust rose from the ground, along with the soot in the air, and a large circle entrapped them in the parking lot. The monsters encircled them all and Gabriel was useless.
“Do something already,” Fenton screamed.
“I can’t,” Gabriel cried. “I’m all out of juice!”
“You didn’t say anything earlier? Why!?!”
“I didn’t notice until now! I’m tired, okay? We’re all tired!”
The monsters knew, and they were hungry. Large creatures such as themselves had large appetites, and Deceit wanted Gabriel long dead, her new random target of the month.
Tyreceus grabbed his sword, but Unas stopped him.
You will burst into flames, Unas told him. Don’t waste your life. This sword is only meant for revenge.
Tyreceus hesitated, unsure if what he was doing was the right choice.
Putrid dragged Ace by his hair, and Ace flailed about, too tired to fight anymore. He finally got loose and this time he blinked a few yards away, but Putrid easily caught him. He punched Ace in his gut and he fell to the ground. Tyreceus pulled out his sword and swore under his breath.
You will die, Tyreceus, Unas repeated. You must wait until he perishes first.
“I am not letting my son die again,” Tyreceus shouted. “I love him.”
Putrid laughed, and he sat down on Ace’s chest. Ace coughed and wheezed, the flames slowly inching towards the parking lot.
“Deceit will be here soon,” Putrid declared. “She sees everything that I see. You will finally know your place.”
Tyreceus looked around, and saw the people who didn’t leave in time, saw Fenton and Gabriel cornered, and made a very hard choice.
“I don’t want to live in a world without my son,” Tyreceus said aloud. “He’s older now. I’ve kept my promise.”
Don’t leave me Tyreceus. You are the only noble man I have had the pleasure to stay with.
“Thank you...Please keep him safe.”
Will their deaths ease your pain, Unas asked Tyreceus, for one final time.
“Yes, it will."
Tyreceus shivered as the familiar warm feeling spread over his body. It grew from the center of his chest, where his heart was until his entire body was warm.
“My heart is warm,” Tyreceus cried. “But this time I am not angry. Just sad.”
His body shined bright and everyone watched as he changed in front of him. Fury hobbled over. He had shifted his bones back into place and had caught a few stray victims while everyone was too preoccupied with their own fights.
His bones had regenerated, and there was blood over his face, as he was a messy eater.
“Is this the power Deceit spoke of,” Putrid asked.
“It is,” Fury grinned. “We need to bring him as well.”
Ace struggled underneath and they laughed at him, enjoying his pain, wondering how many different ways they could make him snap.
“Don’t worry,” Fury said. “We won’t damage your face when we kill you. Maybe we’ll-”
He stopped talking as he noticed the world turn grey, all the colors flowing towards Tyreceus.
How long could he do this, Ace thought. Was Invictus never really special at all?
Invictus took great offense to this. He started to complain and Ace was now going mad. The smells, the fire, everything was too much and he was about to die. Everything faded around them and Fenton started to dry heave.
“It's like before,” Fenton rasped. “But for some reason this one’s aura is scary.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Gabriel replied. “How can this feel scary? It’s light!”
Fenton replied but no sound came out. Everything was quiet.
Tyreceus’ body shined and grew and everyone closed their eyes as the light was too bright.
It pushed out, and Putrid fell off of Ace. The colors flew back in a flurry, and Ace took his chance to escape, he ran towards his father, color returning to his hair and skin.
The sounds of the world around him came back at once, shocking his system with the screams and the sound of burning buildings. The sudden returning smell of rotting corpses and burning flesh made him nauseous but he pushed through it. The pain was overwhelming, making him falter as he ran, the colors burning his skin and making his eyes water.
Ace finally stopped running once he saw his savior.
From the light emerged Unas.
He stared down at Ace, and Ace looked up at him, unafraid.
"How do I know you? You...are we friends," Ace asked.
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Unas smirked. His large fangs popped out of his mouth, and his flaming hair whipped in the wind. He stood over him, with dark skin at seven feet tall and made of pure muscle.
He had red eyes, strange markings over his body, and a knee-length kilt. He wore golden anklets and large golden bands around his biceps. Steam exuded off his body, and he smelled like ash.
This creature that would scare off any normal person instead did not scare Ace at all.
“Hello Unas,” Invictus chortled. “I’ve missed you!"
"As have I," Unas grinned
His voice sounded like gravel, rumbling and groaning as it escaped his throat. Every part of him looked more monster than a god because he felt like one. The gods' ideas and emotions of themselves reflected on their bodies, and no longer was Unas the same man he was when his daughter died.
He would not let Tyreceus lose his son, and become like him.
How does my bracelet know my dad’s sword, Ace wondered.
“We are brothers,” Unas replied as if that was a normal occurrence.
“Of course,” Ace mumbled. “Of course, you can hear my thoughts as well.”
“Stop complaining. Let me kill them and let us leave this wretched place.”
He strode towards Putrid and Fury, and they suddenly tensed up. They saw his flaming sword, and of the few things that would destroy the dead was fire, a wound that they could not recover from.
"We have to go,” Fury shouted.
“Let’s just stay,” Putrid screamed. “Deceit will be here soon! We can win!”
Unas suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“I’m so hungry,” he whispered. “I need food.”
“Don’t mess with us,” Putrid barked.
The monsters surrounding Fenton and Gabriel ran off, grinding and slithering on the asphalt, tearing it up as they made their way for Unas. They both shot down into the ground, disappearing underneath the dirt. Fenton cried a sigh of relief as he finally released his shield.
All the ash surrounding them in a circle stopped swirling. It shot up into the air, and the people in the parking lot quickly ran. They were soon greeted by a new roaming group of corpses.
“We can’t catch a break,” Gabriel cried. “Father help us.”
The dust and ash came straight down onto Unas, solidifying into a sharp point. Unas didn’t move. He didn’t blink. He simply set his entire body ablaze, and the dust and ash disintegrated as it shot towards him, falling at his feet or just evaporating entirely.
“We had our chance to run,” Fury screamed. “You’ve ruined us!”
Unas grinned, his monstrous teeth shining in the hot sun and fire.
“I’m practically invincible during the day,” he taunted. “ My mother, Solara shines upon me. I will enjoy this meal.”
The ground underneath trembled and shook and Unas looked down.
“Unoriginal,” he grunted.
He stuck out his sword, assuming his stance for battle. He waited patiently, but he didn’t have to wait long. The disfigured monstrosity burst out of the pavement. Unas saw its whirring teeth, its clattering bones, shifting and spinning as came for him.
Unas laughed maniacally as he tore right through it. It split, its carcass curling around him, blood coming out of it, black like tar, spreading down his arms. Unas did not bend nor break as he tore through, getting a rush, slicing through it, hearing the bone and sinew crackle and pop as it met its demise against his sword.
Like a maniac he continued to laugh, the tar now all over his body, covering him from head to toe. Some of the tar got into his mouth, and he swallowed it, enjoying every single moment he got others to feel an ounce of pain he always felt.
The only part one could make out of his covered body was his flaming hair and demonic red eyes.
The beast died for a final time, its corpse surrounding him. Unas stood, covered in filthy tar, heaving and shivering in excitement. Putrid and Fury now knew they were dead. They already were, but this time it was a final and inescapable death, this one more painful than the first.
"Let me end you quickly so I can eat."
Unas lit himself up again and simply walked through the corpse, its body burning right through. The second one shot up out of the ground, but this time for Putrid and Fury. They hung onto it and went down to the ground.
“Don’t run! I don’t have much time!”
He ran over to the hole it went into and he jumped in, head first. He rocketed through the tunnels, fire bursting from his soles, the black tar now crusty and falling off his body from the heat. Fury and Putrid refused to die so easily.
Faster their beasts swerved through the tunnels, and they decided to come up as Unas was quickly approaching. The entire tunnel was emanating from heat. Unas was filling it up with as much fire as possible, not wanting to let his victims escape.
They would pay for taking his brother's son.
Still clutching their monster, Putrid and Fury shot up from the ground, right next to where Fenton and Gabriel stood. They ran as it exploded in mid-air, bones piercing man and car alike. Car alarms went off and the smell of gasoline was in the air. Flaming pieces of bone soared through the sky, lighting the parking lot on fire.
Fenton cried as a bone struck him in the leg and he rolled over onto the ground. Gabriel helped him up and they ran faster, never looking back.
Unas burst out of the hole and shuddered in pleasure when he smelled the gasoline leaking out of the impaled cars.
“You’ve helped quicken your deaths,” Unas said. “So kind of you.”
Unas strode towards his victims and wanted to make the biggest show of his life. His brother had sacrificed himself for his child, and he would make sure he would be remembered. His sacrifice would not be in vain.
Putrid had all the dust and dead skin coalesce around them. He wouldn’t easily die, as the reward of bringing back Ace was too grand. A permanent host, the gift of walking around Adamh was too much to be passed up.
Right on cue, Deceit had arrived.
A filthy beast soared through the air and everyone on the ground looked away in disgust.
From the bodies of the damned, she had created her winged beast. It landed on the hot asphalt, the heat baking its claws made out of severed bones and the smell of the rotting flesh made the air sour. It landed awkwardly, and organs spilled out as it stumbled, trying not to get any closer to the flames.
Ace watched the entire scene, now terrified of everyone. Deceit had come herself to finally drag him down to hell itself, and she would not stop.
Invictus tried to reassure him that Unas is a great guy, he was always nice to me, and we’ll be fine.
“Let’s leave,” Ace mumbled.
He turned around but saw that he was now surrounded by more corpses, screaming his name. They had ignored everyone else in the parking lot and gone straight for him.
“Time to come home,” the corpses moaned. “She misses you.”
“What the fuck,” Fenton whispered.
“He slept with the Devil,” Gabriel screamed. “He’s damned!”
“Don’t say that."
A part of Fenton thought it was true.
The monsters all grabbed onto Ace, but he pushed them away. They were trying not to hurt him, as they truly wanted him to just come with them.
“Please don’t hurt us,” they begged him. “We just want you to come with us.”
They all stopped and stared at him, waiting for his reply. He tried not to gag from the smell and maggots crawling out of them.
“If I go, will you stop hurting everyone,” he asked.
“Yes,” they gasped in unison. “All Deceit wants is you. It’s what she’s always wanted.”
Ace nodded, and finally accepted that he could no longer run.
“Take me to her.”
They all turned, and Fenton hobbled over to Ace.
"Don’t go,” he screamed.
Covered in ash, tar, and the blood of others, he was a pitiful sight. His body felt strange after the sudden growth spurt, and it was hard for him to walk. Yet he still followed him, wanting nothing more than to see Ace for one last time.
Ace ignored him and he followed them, away from the flames and toward his death. Fenton tried to run, but Gabriel grabbed him.
“Let go,” Fenton screamed.
“No,” Gabriel shouted. “This needs to end! Can’t you see that!”
“Yes...but I’m not letting him die! I messed up the first time.”
He pushed Gabriel off and he ran away. Gabriel followed them, and he tried to keep up. He dodged the many holes in the ground created by the whirring bone worms and heaved. Gabriel stood next to one, unable to keep going, and sat on the ground.
He was ready to die. He had enough. No longer could he meet the challenge he believed God had given him.
Something warm was underneath him. At first, it felt nice and inviting, but soon his behind was burning. He stumbled upwards and right next to him shot out hot flames. They rose out of all the tunnels in the parking lot.
They shot high up into the sky, over the buildings, and hit the ceiling of the dome.