16 Issue #15: X, The Enemy.
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[[In the mystic tapestry of ancient sorcery, three distinct classes exist. With the fourth class relying entirely on certain divine variables.
I. Homo Magi - Blood-Blessed Sorcery:
The mana, a celestial boon from Hecate, graced only those with the divine lineage of the Gods. These were the native magi, bearers of an ancient inheritance written in their very blood.
II. Occultists - Relic-Wielders of Arcane Art:
Masters of borrowed power, these individuals were collectors of treasures and artifacts. They transcended the boundaries of nature, drawn into the arcane through the resonance of powerful artefacts. The King of Atlantis holds one such item: Poseidon's Trident.
III. Champions and Legacies:
Shrouded in mystery, Champions and Legacies are the strongest of all Ancient Sorcerers. Tales of the most illustrious, like Herakles or Perseus, whispered of ascension to godhood at the culmination of their mortal existence.
Lastly, the fourth one,
IV. Priests and priestesses:
Ambassadors of the divine, inheritors of an immortal legacy. Through sacred rituals, a divine gift, they illuminate themselves with the radiant light of the gods, serving them in this life and the next.]]
-- As recorded in the Archaia Mystika- The lost tomes of Atlantis.
(General P.O.V)
"He's only just one man! For Hera's sake, he has nowhere to hide or run! How do you keep missing him?!"
Arissa shouted, chastising while equally trying to bolster the Amazon's spirit amid the impossibility happening before them.
A battleground they held the home advantage to, and yet-
"Well, what are you man-hating bitches waiting for? Come at me then!"
Kane declared, standing on top of the Hellhound's flaming head, hands stretched out in defiance and confidence.
The area around the beast from the Underworld was filled with ballistic bolts, all blocked or parried.
None of the massive arrows had managed to tag Kane, though it wasn't for lack of trying. And he had made doubly sure that no harm came to the Hellhound as well.
It wouldn't do to lose the only ally he had, besides Steve of course- but he was nowhere to be seen. Probably dead.
Standing next to Arissa, Lyra gulped at the man who had flipped the entire script on its head.
"Sister, maybe we should wait for the Capt-"
She begun, her tone unsure only for Arissa to throw her a deathly glare.
"Are you stupid? We have a job to do and you want to disappoint the Queen by waiting for her to come and handle it?"
"I..."
Lyra trailed off, blinking in surprise at the pure venom pouring off Arissa's tone.
The second in command walked up to Lyra, looming over her with an almost deranged stare.
"If you can't deal with the pressure, then leave 'dear sister'. We have no need for cowards here. You taint these sands with your presence."
The latter recoiled as if struck.
"Sister..."
Even Izah couldn't believe how hostile and worked up Arissa had gotten. Especially considering she was the most level headed in the squad.
"Archers! Line up!"
Arissa ordered, walking up and down the line of Amazons who quickly got to work following orders.
"Take aim!"
A follow up command saw strings from powerful bows pulled back, sharp arrows notched.
The Hellhound started sniffing and huffing, sensing the danger about to befall them.
(Kane's P.O.V)
"Here we go."
I told my mighty stead.
Her hackles rose up, chest rumbling with a deep growl that resonated across the arena.
For the umpteenth time, and despite the previous instances showing how less than effective arrows were on us, the skies were covered with hundreds of them.
Without wasting time, the Hellhound opened its mouth and for a lack of better description, woofed.
I kid you not.
The woof was special, a woof of the century given that a pillar of flames wide as a city bus surfed forth, the inferno swallowing the projectiles and leaving us unharmed.
The blue flames continued on, washing over the sand and blasting the barricade around the Arena. Said concrete structure was turned into a red-hot melted slag.
A section of the stands beyond the barricade were quickly abandoned by the onlooking Amazons, the seating area having caught on fire, burning with intense heat.
"That...was a bit overkill, girl."
My hands found themselves gently rubbing the Hellhound's head.
"But that's precisely what I wanted."
She barked in happiness.
The sound sent our adversaries into a frenzy. Added to the hot flames that I could even feel from a distance away- it wasn't surprising the ranks were panicking.
My gaze found Arissa's, curious onto what her next move would be after the failed arrow shower.
I wasn't disappointed.
The Coliseum was suddenly filled with the sounds of beating drums, acting as a sort of announcement to what followed.
Draped in silver war armor, wielding not conventional weapons but strange battle axes used in ancient times called Labrys (normal ones are double headed), a squad of Amazonian stepped forth from the side gate.
They had the look of heavy infantry, being in a phalanx formation, only without the spears and shields that made it effective in the first place.
In exchange, glowing silver nets were gripped in their hands- telling me they had a slightly different purpose than the direct attacks their compatriots had been employing.
I blinked in realization, seeing the genius behind the strategy.
The arrows to hound us in, before the Heavy Infantry attacked. Or rather, captured the Hellhound using the metallic nets.
4 nets shared among 8 Amazons, 2 individuals holding both ends.
And with that crazy Amazonian strength, each physically on par with 10 men, they could very well achieve it, proving to be a headache for moî.
Sure enough, another volley of arrows were fired at us, this time with a few ballistic bolts mixed in.
Not bad. Not really.
That said, sometimes there was just no way to bridge the gap when your opponent had overwhelming power on their side.
And that's exactly what I had.
None of them were expecting a multi-ton giant burning wolf bearing upon them with the force of a runaway train.
And even if they did, there was little they could do to counter that.
To their benefit, the Heavy Infantry held their line.
"Left side..."
"Right heel..."
"Jump..."
I directed my ride, dodging and weaving through arrows and ballistic bolts by using Danger Sense to anticipate where an attack would land.
The fact she could understand me well enough, was something I found intriguing. I would spare time to marvel at that later, right now...
Whoosh!
More and more arrows missed us. If it was hard to land a blow before, now it was nigh impossible.
Hitting a moving target required a crazy amount of skill, trust me, I know.
It's why my preferred method of assassination was to scout the target's usual haunts. Like their homes, or a particular golf club they liked going to on Sundays. It could even be a hotel they frequented while cheating on spouses.
Their guard would be down and a well timed hollow point bullet to the head opened up the brain.
However, these Women were more than good enough to target me on top of the Hellhound.
The only reason they were successfully failing at that endeavor was Danger Sense and the fact that I was just too good.
I snatched a bolt aimed for the Hellhound's eyes out of the air,
Clang!
Then used it to block another one, the shaft of the bolt I held vibrating in my grip.
Nice try Arissa.
I wound my hand back and threw the ballistic bolt at her. It cut through the wind faster than she could blink.
Bang!
(General P.O.V)
"Look out!"
Lyra yelled, blocking the bolt with a shield she held, only to be thrown back by the impact, the strength behind the throw proving too much for her.
She slammed into Izah, the both of them bowling through some of their sisters.
"Damn you."
Arissa grit her teeth, staring down at Kane just as the Hellhound he was on, got within range of the the Hounders(the Heavy Infantry)- a specialized group of warriors whose job was to handle the Hellhound, whenever things got heated in the Arena.
The silver nets they held gave her confidence. While they lacked the same enchantments as the silver chains Kane had worn, they were still made from Osmium.
On top of that, they were treated with a substance that could negate the Hellhound's deadly fire.
But...he didn't know that. And that would be his undoing. His overeliance on the Hellhound's flames.
And why wouldn't he? It was a simple but effective strategy. And while Arissa detested this man, she could admit he was resourceful.
"This is the end of the line for you."
The second in command whispered, leaning on the barricade, eyes viciously narrowed Kane's way.
She straightened.
"The instant that Dog is captured, I want everyone- And I mean everyone...to charge. Bring me his head."
"Yes ma'am!"
The warriors around her stood up even straighter.
Down on the sands, the clash about to unfold made the entire coliseum pop with noise from the crowd.
The hellhound opened its jaw wide in a move that was now familiar to everyone and breathed out an inferno of blue.
All within Arissa's expectations.
However, the flames were not aimed for the Hounders, instead, they carpeted the ground, almost instantly liquidifying the sand and turning the space between the Hellhound and the Heavy Infantry into a pool of Lava.
The Hounders looked around in panic, as the flames missed them but left them standing on a small patch of unaffected ground, surrounded by molten sand.
"What!"
Arissa couldn't believe it. And her disbelief was only heightened when the Hellhound came to a sudden stop, the momentum throwing Kane into the air.
(Kane's P.O.V)
As stated, I hate- absolutely hate getting close range.
Sometimes however, there's just no choice. And when those times happen, well...
(General P.O.V)
The bottom of Kane's boot landed on the face of the first Warrior with a sickening crunch.
The warrior sailed back, nose smashed in with blood trailing in her wake.
Guttural screams escaped her as she fell right on top of the molten lava, skin getting seared into the armor she wore.
By the time Arissa turned her gaze from the moaning Amazon, 3 more warriors were down for the count. Taken out by fast and devastating strikes to places meant to cause the most damage and pain.
"Archers!!!"
The Amazon called out loudly.
"Wait! Our sisters are still down..."
Izah, having extracted herself from the mix of bodies behind them tried to remind-
"What are you waiting for?!"
Arissa roared at the archers, apoplectic with rage.
"Fill him with holes!!!"
Before Izah, Lyra and their sisters' eyes,
More arrows fell on Kane's position, which also happened to be filled with the groaning bodies of their sisters.
On his part, the Assassin didn't bother to grace the arrows with a look, as fire erupted above him, turning every aerial thing into ash.
Kane finished breaking the shaft of a labrys someone had thrown at him.
The warrior in question paled, taking uneasy steps backwards before wincing as her heels were burnt by the lava behind.
She looked back at him only for darkness to fill her vision, the flat side of the labrys smacking onto her face.
Her body tipped...and fell into the smoldering zone behind. She wouldn't die but the burns would be nothing to joke about.
With the final member of the Heavy Infantry down, Kane turned his attention to his next victim.
Arissa's heart skipped a beat, face twisted in an expression of unadulterated fear.
The eyes staring at her made her feel small and weak. Just like that time...
Suddenly angry, she grabbed Izah pushing her forward,
"All of you! Attack! Protect me! Keep him away!!"
The Amazons, true to their discipline formed a human made barricade between Kane and Arissa.
The crowds in the stands roared in approval.
"Hahahahaha!! YOU CAN'T GET TO ME YOU SILLY SILLY MAN. YOU'LL DIE HERE!!HAHAHAHAHA!!"
Laughing uproariously, Arissa was confident that she was safe. While Kane was powerful, he was only one man.
What could one man do against hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands?
(Kane P.O.V)
"Pft."
I couldn't help but snort, shaking my head at the sheer stupidity before me.
As if numbers had ever stopped me before.
"You misunderstand me Arissa."
Using her name made her flinch.
Oh this next part is gonna be good.
"I don't need to come you, you're going to come to me."
I punctuated that statement by shooting out a long strand of web, the tendrils wrapping around her torso, restraining her hands before pulling her through the ranks of her sisters and into my waiting hand.
Her neck found itself well within my grasp. Literally. The fingers wrapped around it in a tight grip.
She meeped.
A smile slowly worked itself onto my face.
"You were saying?"
"Let her go!!"
The annoying one, Izah I think, vaulted over the barricade in a bid to rescue her.
Only for another web shot, this time the fluid- thick and gooey, to splatter and glue her to the stands behind them.
Those 3 days of non-stop training and discovering my powers were finally paying off. By clenching the spinneret on my wrists I could compress the web into something thick and viscous.
Like glue. Or cement. Or both even.
"Think anyone else will try to rescue you?"
I asked the woman who had very vocally advocated for my execution.
"Ack!"
Arissa coughed, trying to wrench my hand off her neck and verily failing.
I eased up on my grip, allowing her to gulp in large amounts of air like a dying man.
"Well?"
I prompted, giving a small squeeze to remind her of our reversed position. I was the one with the power now.
She spat on my face.
For a second I froze, caught unprepared. I couldn't expect Danger Sense to warn me of something so dumb and petty but I was still annoyed.
"The Hellhound it is."
I growled at her widening eyes, before turning and throwing her at the foot of the Beast from hell.
I like that.
Beast from hell- pretty badass.
And to show my faith in her was unbiased, the Hellhound growled low, a deep menacing sound that even sent shivers across my body.
Arissa's face was priceless. Pure unbridled terror.
And I couldn't blame her, not with the mirage of heat and ferocity wafting of the Beast from Hell.
See, it fits.
"Sic em girl."
I gave her the order and my new wolf friend was only too eager to comply.
Wide jaws widened even further and we were all treated to the sight of a furnace.
The inside of the Hellhound's mouth glowed a hot blue, boiling saliva dripping from its maw.
Arissa cowered, going limp with fear.
Then right before she was split into two by hot and sharp teeth...
Nah, the bitch died.
There was a loud snap as bones were shattered!
Her upper body disappeared into the Hellhound's mouth, leaving behind a fountain of blood spraying out of a torso-less corpse.
The crowd went silent.
Or rather, they were quiet before- but now the coliseum was a graveyard in the night.
You could have heard a pin drop from a mile away.
Everywhere I looked, I was met with horrified gazes.
I walked up to the Hellhound, the lower part of Arissa's body disappearing in its mouth.
The Monstrous Beast From The Deepest Part of Hades knows where licked its lips, cocking its head at me in an admittedly cute way.
In case it wasn't obvious, I'm a dog person. Or Wolf in this case.
Damn. What a way to go. I've seen plenty of deaths, being responsible for most of them but...never turned into dog food. Or wolf. Semantics.
I hope Diana doesn't make an issue of this. And even if she does, I'm in the right. Bitch tried to kill me, I'm justified that I succeeded where she failed.
Bye Arissa.
"And what a good girl you are..."
I rubbed the hellhound's neck fur. The sounds of contented happiness she produced was adorable.
Fuck it. I've decided.
"What do you say you leave this place with me? It's a big world out there with so much to see and explore."
I made the offer and if the scalding hot tongue licking my body was any indication...she was all in.
"Great. But now you need a name. What do you-"
My words cut off.
Whoosh!
There was a massive crash followed by a large impact that shook the entire coliseum.
Krakoow!!
Diana had been sent colliding with the Hellhound's side and both of them smashed through the obstacle course in the middle of the Arena.
What just happened?...how? And who?...
Mutters escaped the crowd and following their gazes...
I blinked in a healthy amount of confusion, My hand tightening into a fist as I stared up at the Royal Box in the stands and met...
...Alkyone's eyes, staring down from her elevated position.
"Useless."
She intoned, voice somehow audible through the entirety of the Arena.
"All of them. Arissa, Lyra, Izah...all of you disappoint me. You disappoint your queen."
Saying that, and without breaking eye contact with me, she held up something.
A wave of discontent and outrage spread out through the Coliseum as Alkyone secured a crown I was 100% sure did not belong to her, on her head.
To make matters worse, she sat on the imposing seat behind her. The one meant for Hippolyta.
Guess this proves my suspicions- it was a mutiny.
The noise reached an entirely new crescendo, making me wince as my ears were assaulted.
"SILENCE!"
Alkyone thundered out, face twisted in anger.
"How dare you?! I am your Queen! You should bow down and prostrate yourselves before me."
Wow. And I thought Arissa was dumb.
I ignored her, turning to face where Diana and my new pet were. It was a pity that the obstacle course was left in wrecks.
Speaking of...I was still missing a lot of context. What or maybe who had enough power to send THE Diana Prince flying at such speeds?
Her body had been a blur but I remember seeing her covered in blood, albeit for a split second before the Hellhound(really need to come up with a name for her) acted as a cushion, possibly saving her life.
I stopped before the two, staring up at the Beast of Hell's whining form. The attack seemed to have taken the wind out of her but she looked fine.
I rubbed her head, smiling slightly as her hot tongue lolled out of her maw and licked my hand.
My smile faded as I bent down, meeting Diana's eyes through strands of her disheveled hair. Eyes that contained anger and...a healthy amount of caution.
Or was it...fear.
"What happened?"
I asked.
Her eyes fell. I got the message- she wasn't going to say anything.
I closed my own, breathing out.
"You're holding onto your ribs. I'm guessing they're broken. Your armor is shredded and you have second degree burns across your hands. Diana, anyone that can do that must be crazy powerful. And crazy dangerous."
I placed my hand on her head.
"I. Need. To. Know. What happened?"
When she looked up, her blue orbs were full of hate and defiance. Not for me though.
"You'll know soon enough."
The Themiscyran princess bit out. "She's just waiting for the perfect time..."
"...and for those who refuse my gracious leadership...I would like for you all to meet my new friend...the Witch of Aia."
Alkyone's gloating voice reached my ears.
As if on signal, the whole Coliseum fell to a hush.
A low growl, that of a cornered animal escaped the Hellhound. It's hackles also rose up.
My whole body froze in place. My blood turning ice in my veins. I knew without a shred of doubt, that whoever had arrived posed the greatest threat to my life I had ever felt before.
I didn't need Danger Sense to know that.
Diana's eyes watched a certain point in the air behind me, getting up on unsteady legs.
"She's here."
(Elsewhere)
Steve could only stare, tongue tied as Serena shed her robes, black hair cascading down her back in flowing waves.
Each step she took brought her deeper and deeper into the center of the glowing waters.
Behind them, on the entrance of the cavern leading to the said pool, were the two guards- propped up with hands and legs tied by Steve's boot laces.
Roiling gently, the water in the pool reached the High Priestess' hips, ripples spreading across its surface as she looked back, giving the British Spy a full frontal look.
Pink nipples topped large brown mounds, standing prominently.
Steve Trevor, pilot, spy, lover of beautiful women swallowed.
"Well? Will you join me?"
The high priestess asked, stretching out a hand to beckon Steve.
Gulping again, Steve shed his aviator jacket, hands quickly working on removing his boots. All the while, his eyes never left hers.
"And you're sure this will work?"
Steve questioned, not even trying to hide his unabashed lust as he stared at her.
Serena merely smiled softly, the look on her face saying she found Steve's concerns to be adorable.
"I swear on the styx."
She brought her palm to her chest and made a vow.
At Steve's clueless stare, she added,
"The Styx is a river found in the underworld which is Hades realm. Any pledge made by invoking it is unbreakable, carrying deep consequences and a punishment greater than the pledge made."
"Oh."
Steve shrugged,
"Right, mystical river that is in the world of the dead. Got it."
He replied in a tone that said he cared little. His priorities set on something else.
A beautiful sound escaped Serena as she laughed, causing the soldier to shiver in suprise and happiness.
"You laughed. No one ever laughs at my jokes."
She was...perfect.
Apparently that sealed the deal and Steve was wading through the pool in a moment's notice, slowly approaching Serena.
She closed the distance between them, wrapping her hands around his neck and pulled him in her warm embrace.
"Trust me, this will work."
She told him, staring deep into his eyes.
"The only way to circumvent Circe's spell is to perform this ritual."
Tone full of doubt yet eager, Steve responded,
"Not that I'm complaining, but how is sex supposed to counteract a spell made by a millenia old witch? And why won't you tell me what the spell is?"
Goosebumps spread across his body as the woman who was the religious voice of Paradise Island, trailed her hands across his bare chest.
"Leave the technicalities to me, Steve Trevor."
She whispered to his ears.
Unseen by Steve, a malicious glint emerged in her eyes.
"You just relax and let me handle evveeeerrytthing."
She crooned.
***************
Had to split the chapter in two for this specific Cliffhanger.
Almost lost all content when my device started lagging. So thank you to anyone who prayed I get off my ass and post something.
Don't worry, next chap will be up tomorrow. And its crazier.
