Shadow of the Abyss

Chapter 124: Athena I

The air was stringent with the scent of blood, carried on by the gathering mist, consumed by the moans that hummed from the depths of the woods. Trembles rang out, and soon, only silence remained.

Kuu had nestled beneath Ren's cloak, tired. Its eyes seamlessly drooped up and down like a child trying to resist the call of rest. The Kistune cooed its final song of its people and didn't lift its head again.

"She is finally asleep." Ren warmly cooed. She gave the Kitsu a gentle brush and turned to Altair. "Isn't she cute?"

"She made pee pee on me." Altair recounted, glaring his devilish physique with defiance to the realm. "So no... she's not."

The skies were somber with color, and sundown was fast approaching.

"... um, Master. She's still following us." Aurora said. She glanced back, catching the flicker of a black woman ducking into the bushes. " It's been four days." She grinned. " Looks like Master will have to protect his booty before it's taken."

"If anyone is taking Arts booty. It's me." Ren shamelessly declared.

Wordlessly, Altair glared at the two girls and then Alyssa hiding in the bushes.

It had been four days since Reina had lost control, and in that time, the azure pillar over the Twin Mountains became like a beacon for all to see. For hundreds of thousands of miles, it crested over the horizon, alarming many off the coast of Korea. Signifying he had earned more than five kills.

Alyssa had been one of the worst stalkers Altair had ever seen. She had no talent for it. When she moved, it was as if a boar was brushing through bushes, crushing branches, or snorting loudly.

He sighed. "Alyssa... why are you following us?" he finally asked, tensing his behind, lest it be taken.

The girls giggled at that.

The Amazon peeped her head out, her large dark eyes filled with astonishment. "How'd you know it was me."

Ren laughed, and Aurora guffawed, unable to hold it in. Even Altair cracked a smile.

"We've known for nearly four days you were following us," Altair admitted incredulously. He beckoned her over. "What is it you want?"

"My Lady would like a word," Alyssa revealed, regarding Ren cautiously through her dark black eyes.

"Your Lady?" Altair said suspiciously. "And did your Lady tell you to attack me?"

Alyssa flashed a grin. "It's a commonplace in Themiscyra." She said. "If you see a man you fancy. You battle. If you lose, he either beds you, or you find the opportunity to bed him."

Ren lost her smile.

"But I'm spoken for." Altair immediately said.

"I know that now," Alyssa mused and glanced at Ren. "Earth is known for its promiscuity. Rarely do they resist any female advancement. And for that, I apologize." she looked back to Altair, reached into her coat, and pulled out a golden medallion of an owl fitted with ruby eyes. "The Lady of the Skies had asked me to give you this should we meet on the battlefield."

'Lady of the Skies, ' he thought, and his eyes turned wide. There had been only a single Lady of the Skies within Themiscyra. It was the name given to her nearly six hundred years ago when Earth invaded Themiscyra to conquer them.

The earthlings boarded their ship, armed their men, and drove into the Portal, where they faced one so cruel the humans looked to the skies for relief from the blood bath below.

Altair accepted the medallion that shone the moment it touched his hand.

"If I remember, the Amazons are a part of the Greek Pantheon," Altair said. "Long ago, about nearly four hundred years ago, during the Age of Recovery, when Earth saw to rejuvenate its lost history during the Age of Babel. There existed a story... One that spoke of a Virgin Goddess that bore the Crest of the Owl."

Alyssa retreated a few steps and bowed. "Now that my duty is done... I shall take my leave."

By the time Altair looked up, Alyssa was gone, and the sun had vanished. He hummed curiously, pocketing the medallion.

"Art... What's the Age of Babel?" Ren softly asked.

Altair folded his arms. "It was a time nearly four thousand years ago when Babels Tower first rose, bringing with it chaos. Earth experienced an extinction-level event. Governments were lost, history was destroyed, and Religions withered. At the same time, women and children were slaughtered each day. The world was on fire.

"Ren... why does this filth believe you have a bounty?" The Prince asked, low and slow.

Groff's sunken eyes narrowed. He kicked back in retreat, giving himself some room. He'd heard the boy was a Mage, but the manner in which he invoked his skill terrified the man. It was quick. So quick he didn't even see him draw a rune.

Ren rested her Greatsword on her shoulder, frowning, thinking for a second. "Before I met you... I have a run with a Reese Thorvel." She said, recalling the brief matter. "He's the only one I fought during my Ride with Grey. He ran, but not before I nicked his shoulder. He was the one that wore a leather surcoat."

The thin frown over the young lord deepened. "So that filth ordered such a thing?" He was looking at Groff. "And you agreed to accept the contract. Aurora... tear off the limbs and tongue of the archer. And sear the wound shut with lightning."

"Yes, my Lord." She said, departing without a sound.

"You think a lordling can track Joss," Gruff crackled, entertained by the idea. "She'll be gutted by dawn."

Altair drew in a long breath and held it for a while. "Who set the contract?" He asked, with a throbbing motion of pupils

"It was Lord Thorvel," Gruff confirmed with a laugh. "Two birds with one stone." He said. "I get my cock wet, and I get to keep her head. You can have her body after I'm done."

"I think I've heard enough, " Altair said, cold as the ocean's depths. He raised his sword calmly.

"Your spells wouldn't work on me, boy," Gruff said and leaned back into the shadows, disappearing from view. His words carried through the darkness. "One cannot hit what they can't see."

Altair felt his brow flutter. '... I can't sense him. How strange.' He thought inwardly. 'His ability seems to be related to the darkness... or stealth.' The boy pondered for a second when a vicious blow cut across his Barrier from the rear. By the time Altair whirled to his rear, only shadows remained.

"Need Ren's help?" The girl said boldly, strutting before Altair.

"Not really," he said.

"But Ren wants to help." The girl protested, puffing her cheeks as the wisp of cutting air came. She leaned back, eyes like a river of blood, dodging Groff's blow that caught the air. Her Greatsword hurled crashing down with the ferocity of a Direwolf. The winds splintered apart with a torment of silver as her blade paused inches from the ground.

"Tsk... I nicked him."

"Ren, that bastard is mine!"

"He's the one trying to kill me!"

"He attacked me first."

Watching them at one another throat like two kids over a ball, Gruff wiped the blood spiraling down his forehead where a bloodied gash resided. He gulped, thankful to the gods for his movement technique for saving his life.

'Monster,' he hissed beneath his breath, staring at Rens. Yet his expression suddenly paled as he glimpsed the eyes of the Prince, focused on him, dark and unfathomable.

It had only taken a whisper, a sharp hiss for Altair to determine his position, and even faster to conjure a blade of torrent that pierced his soul like a knife. Gruff tumbled from out of the dark, wailing, thrashing about, flailing his arm, legs, and over whatever he could find. Bloodshot eyes hounded the night as he began to scratch at his eyes until they were raw.

"Mercy!!!" Cried Gruff, tearing out his eyeball, believing the old pain would relieve the new. A miscalculation as his cries only intensified.

Another Edge of Torment fell, followed by another and another, and another.

Something broke in him that night. Gruff had been a man of adventure. He knew of pain, having been burned alive by his elder brother and later disposed of within the gutters of Zemptis. He was later saved by an off-duty soldier. Yes. He knew of pain.

He had been beaten, gutted, impaled, and abused during the days of war. He knew of pain. And yet nothing could compare to the Hell Altair inflicted with his Infernal Bane. Nothing... nothing.

Gruff's screams no longer seemed human; rather, he resembled the cries of a ghoul, an undead creature that knew only of death and pain.

"Wow," Ren raved, surveying her surroundings. "Even the monsters have fled." She turned to Gruff, mystified at the foamy blood bubbling at his mouth as he lay, his eyes torn away, tightly bound in each hand, screaming. "How long until you release him."

The Prince gave a long stare. "Let up?" He laughed a cold, icy chuckle. "Until his soul shatters, and his mind begins to rot and fester," he said, cupping her cheeks to the sound of music he so believed was sounding. "So is the price of making you draw your blade."

Ren felt a flush rise up from within her; she glanced at Groff convulsing in his own piss and shit. And took it all in within her enthrallingly red eyes and whirled them back to her Prince, smitten.