"They are in danger, Theon! But that's nothing I couldn't help with." Hestia glared at me and I took a deep breath.

"Take the Praetorians with you," I responded with sadness mixed with anger. "If things turn nasty, run. Promise me this, Hestia!"

The main reason for my anger was the simple fact that I couldn't leave Avalon. But I couldn't allow the expedition party to fight with void creatures as ill-prepared as they were now. The spiders they took with them were already killed, as were half of the Shadow Wolves. It was hard for me to let Hestia go, but she was strong. I just hoped she knew what she was doing.

"I promise, Theon." She cuddled herself to me and I felt her trembling even as she tried to smile. "I am not powerless anymore, you know..."

Her Royal Gown transformed into a heavy armour, strongly inspired by the Greek hoplite armours, but fully covering her body. I smiled, seeing it was made of the advanced alloys I had taken from Earth. It meant that her armour was made by Ragnar and enchanted by my best Alchemist and Runesmiths. The sleek shapes of the armour left no room for doubt that it was tailored just for her, and Ragnar was sparing no effort to create an armour worthy of the Goddess Queen of Avalon. In other words, Hestia was wearing the best that Avalon had to offer right now. She had a slim and long leaf blade at her hip, and on her left arm, she wore an Aegis-type shield. It was the apex of the mana type shields that used the magic particles in the surrounding area. If needed, the user could reinforce it with their own mana, making the surface even sturdier. The increased durability and the size of the shield were costly in terms of mana. However, like most top-tier items produced in Avalon, Hestia's Aegis could store huge amounts of mana.

"Since the day you made me your wife, I gained mana. While my powers as a Goddess have dwindled, my new, mana-wielding body is far stronger than I ever was." She stored twenty Praetorians in her storage ring. "I must go, Theon, or they are going to die."

"Hestia, can you take me with you? It was my fault they received incomplete orders," Amber asked, and I wanted to yell in my powerlessness.

"I am sorry, Amber. It's impossible to transfer anyone else with me for the moment. Maybe in a few months or even years, depending on how many people believe in me." Hestia slowly shook her head.

"Maybe in the storage space..." Amber was persistent, but hearing that idea, I looked at her scornfully.

"No! That magic is far too dangerous to store anything alive there, you know that!" Hestia was quick to reject that insanity.

"Then at least take my Angel Feather, sister!" Amber gave Hestia the life-saving item and whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

Hestia accepted it and hugged her. "It will be fine, Amber."

"Please be careful, my Sweetheart," I almost whispered. "I'm sending the Hussars and three of my Scions to join you there. They will be there as fast as possible, hopefully in a few hours or so."

She kissed me passionately and smiled. "I promise to be careful, Darling."

Hestia vanished in a flash of flames, leaving us in regretful silence. Amber sat heavily on the armchair, looking out of the window, while I shut my eyes, full of anger. A stupid mistake sent the entire party, or to be precise, not even everyone that Amber had intended to go, so they were far too ill-prepared for the dangers of this particular mission. Fortunately, they had taken most of the items blessed by Hestia and Irene in the name of Eriar. This should buy them time to get the hell out of there.

"I'm sorry Theon..." Amber broke the silence and lowered her head.

"It can't be helped now, Amber. You all told me to be less overprotective, but I wasn't expecting... Well *sigh*... This. You really should start with something easier for me to stomach. Like a short trip to the woods on the south." I pulled the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes while trying to joke. Since I couldn't cheat even myself, I sighed and looked out of the window into the distance. "I sent Crawline, Aurora and Jasper with five hundred Hussars with a mixed force of Fenrirs and Deathweaving Spiders. They have orders to disregard any stealth attempts, so they are going to move fast. At full speed, they should reach that cursed place in five, maybe six hours."

I looked at the afternoon sky, which, ignoring my problems, was cloudless and calm. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. If anything happens to Hestia, trust me, Vali and Tisiphone, I will find a way to resurrect you and then I will fucking kill you again. But before that, I will kill Korkas. This entire mess was because of him.

•••

"The passage is closing! Lanka, you must use it!" Ian screamed. "Idna, Rose, Lilly, Iris, Tulir- return to the passage and keep it open! We will finish here as fast as possible and then we will return to you!"

Without confirmation, everyone called by Ian quickly turned around and ran towards the exit. Lanka, on the other hand, took out the six gilded rods crowned with the symbol of Hestia, and six with the symbol of Eriar. Hestia's symbol, consisting of an everlasting flame roaring over a simple hearth made of double horizontal pillars that were capped by a single horizontal slash, was made of pure gold and silver and was blessed by the Goddess herself. The symbol of Eriar was blessed by Queen Irene and modelled after the Angel Feather, whose shaft was made of pure gold and its vane was made from silver. She then started fixing them to the ground interchangeably, with even distances between each symbol.

"Golems!" Re-kari yelled and Ian cursed.

"Protect Lanka!" Ian ordered and Thiule assumed a defensive stance near his fiancee.

Ian and Dahlia were sending bolts from their crossbows towards the golems that were approaching from the small turn behind the one of stones they initially took for rubble. Re-kari prepared himself to shield his friends, but since Golems tried to ignore him, he was left with no choice but to focus them on himself with his skills.

"Mass Provocation!" The tank yelled, and in an instant, all seven golems stopped and turned towards him.

The golems were strange; while they looked like masterfully crafted figures of various people, they emanated a dark aura. The three golems were inspired by the Human, Wolfkin and Nekomi women and they were naked, holding viciously looking daggers. The two Elf men and two Lizardmen were naked as well, holding short swords. The details put into the craftsmanship of the golems were insane. When they stopped for a moment, everyone could take a better look. The little cuts, small imperfections and probably even more tiny details were carved with painstaking precision. Their bodies were simply stunning in their beauty, but their faces... The horrible grimaces carved on the faces of the otherwise handsome men and beautiful women left nothing but a strong feeling of unease in anyone who looked too long at them. Their faces were twisted in unbearable pain, frozen in unspeakable despair, or disfigured beyond recognition. It was hard to look at the golem's faces, but since it was foolish to take your eyes off the enemy, they had to endure the creeping dread emanating from the mysterious golems.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

Lanka, who was entirely focused on surrounding the altar with symbols of Eriar and Hestia, took out a flask with the symbols of Hera and Zeus. She then quickly spilt its contents, but instead of falling on the ground, the silvery liquid started floating in the air towards the gilded rods. The swift current of wind filled the room and once the droplets hit the symbols of Eriar and Hestia, the entire room was engulfed in a bright, golden flash. The thin stream of light connected the rods, and once the circle closed, from each rod shot a ray focused on the dagger. Once the golems detected that, they roared in fury and Re-kari had to renew his skill to focus their attention on himself. The bolts shot by Ian and Dahlia smashed on the golems, inflicting some damage, but the very presence of the unholy dagger was enough to slowly heal them.

Once Lanka activated the artifacts, she and Thiule switched to the golems. Lanka focused on the golems for a brief second, raising her staff as she took out her offhand staff-book, the Lithany of Serenity and Wrath. She positioned herself near Dahlia and, after opening the book, Lanka prepared for a big spell.

"By the will of the heavens,

By the will of the angel,

By the power of the light,

I demand the power,

To cleanse the stain of the void,

Holy Judgment!"

A large magic circle formed on the floor of the cave, catching three of seven golems in its area of effect. To everyone's surprise, the rest of the golems jumped away from the spell, allowing Re-kari and Thiule to form a much better defence line. But the three caught golems were done for; bright circles of white light surrounded each of them, turning into wide rings that smashed against the golems, turning them to dust. Lanka quickly drank a mana potion and took a look at the artifacts that slowly, but surely, were destroying the cursed dagger. They needed more time...

•••

Xavier, Daniel, and Auburn were watching grimly at the cave entrance. The party that went inside had contacted them once before falling silent. It has been two days now, and the three of them already decided they are going to venture inside to investigate. It could just turn out that the cave ran far too deep to return so often, but they were anxious. They chose to leave their familiars as the rear guard and they were about to enter the cave when their fireplace burst into an uncontrollable pyre.

"Follow me! They are in danger." Goddess-Queen Hestia stepped out from the flames and headed straight towards the cave.

•••

"Rose!" Lilly screamed in horror when her friend dropped to her knees, exhausted.

One of the golems loomed over Rose, raising its sword, but it couldn't finish the defenceless magician as Idna smashed it with her shield.

"Shield Bash!" the Nekomi bellowed, full of anger, sending the heavy figure flying.

Rose was breathing heavily, and she sat on the ground trying to drink three potions, one after another. The golems attacked them relentlessly, and it looked like no matter how many of them were destroyed, the next one appeared soon after. What was worse, the golems constantly tried to close their escape route by clogging it with stones. Rose was keeping the passage open by sheer stubbornness, but she was far too exhausted. Tuilr was attacking golems from behind, trying to land a fatal blow, but the artificial monsters were immune to such attacks. He did not give up, knowing fully well that his attacks made golems stagger for a moment, long enough to give the others a chance to land a hit on the tough opponents. During one such attack, Tulir's blade hit something inside the golem, instantly turning it off. He realized that he must have destroyed the golem's core, and he smiled after he jumped behind his party defence lines.

Generally speaking, they had made a huge mistake because they had not summoned their familiars. The cave-tomb blocked any attempt at summoning their summons and Rose, who was an Elemental Summoner, couldn't use her summons to fight the golems. That's why she was using her entire mana to keep the passage open. They were pressed hard by the golems and the situation was grim. They had been fighting for the last five hours and they were afraid that Ian's group could have been killed since they should have returned already. But Tulir had an impression that something was not right with the flow of time in this place. During his training, Queen Luna and Stella put a huge focus on the time and punctuality of his assignments, so unbeknownst to him, Tulir started perceiving time distortions around him, even if he couldn't sense them precisely.

"My swords will give up on me any moment now..." Iris huffed as she staggered back. Her swords were dented and in terrible shape. "Note to self, if I survive this, I am going to always keep a mace in my storage..."

Iris dropped to one of her knees heavily, fighting for breath as she took out a stamina potion. One of the golems used this opportunity, trying to attack her, but was smashed to pieces with a single strike. The passage stabilized and everyone felt the change immediately, as if something or someone ordered the normal laws of the world to return to this chaos-tainted place. Iris lifted her head, feeling her power return and all her wounds heal. She was standing behind Auburn, who furiously smashed golems right and left with his war mace, leaving them heavily damaged or destroyed outright.

"Starfire Arrow!" The large explosion shook the cave, destroying two golems at once.

Xavier leapt near Idna, and she felt someone tugging her back. It was Daniel who, after smiling at her, took her place. Idna, Rose and Iris hid behind the men, finally able to rest a bit after hours of constant battle. However, their strength and stamina were replenishing much faster than they considered possible. Partly it was thanks to Auburn and his Auras, but then a bright flame melted a golem that tried to flank Lilly. The girls rose their heads to see Goddess Hestia standing in the passage and looking around.

"I restored the passage to its natural order. The Victims can't close it anymore."

"Your Highness!" Tulir kneeled in front of her and she frowned.

"Stand up! There is no time for honorifics right now." She joined the group and warily looked at them. "Where are others?"

"In the last room, deeper in the cave. But they are late..." Idna replied with tension in her voice.

"They are still alive, but they are in danger," Hestia announced, and they nodded, relieved.

"Your orders, our Queen?" Rose asked slowly. She managed to restore some of her mana and stamina.

"You fought only Victims, or were there other enemies?" Hestia asked and summoned ten Praetorians somehow.

"Victims? You mean the golems, Queen Hestia?" Idna asked, very confused.

Hestia hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded slightly and sighed. "You can call them like that..."

"Then yes. We fought only them," Idna confirmed.

"Good. In that case, stay here and defend the exit. I am going to bring the rest here. If we do not return in ten hours, run." Flames engulfed Hestia's body and before anyone could say anything, she dashed towards the next chamber.