Terror In A Pitchfork

Without thinking, Newt threw up a wall of water in front of him. The quick decision proved to be the best course of action. Once he faced them, they had reared their heads down and fired off, hoping to kill the one man troubling them before hunting down the other two. The horns hit the surface of the vertically projected liquid and floated harmlessly inside.

Drawing on his own reserves, he held his trident up and pointed it at the monsters, straining to keep his only defense up. Despite having just doused his face with water, sweat beaded down his face. He wasn't sure how long he could hold off anymore.

Then he heard her scream his name.

Looking up, he felt a rush of strength refill his exhausted reserves. Sharina scaled-down the dangerous stairwell he had created, still without her shirt on. Her hair blew wildly behind her head as she leaped from rock to rock, rushing to his aid.

The Aeternae had taken their focus off him and had turned to her, five of them lowering their heads to incapacitate her. Moving quickly, he brought his trident arm up and shot a stream of water at their faces, momentarily blinding them. Agitated, they swiveled the heads his way and fired more horns into his wall of water.

"Hurry up Sharina!" he shouted in response. "I'm not sure how long I'll last!"

His eyes remained fixed on her as she increased her pace, now jumping side to side, her feet barely hitting a rock before she propelled herself to another. About thirty feet away from the ground, she suddenly lost her foothold and fell. He hadn't seen the cause, but he knew what would happen if she landed on the ground. He wasn't sure he could stomach the sight. Newt sent his wall forward, washing over the Aeternae and discarding their horns, leaving himself virtually undefended.

It got there just in time, breaking her fall before the fall shattered her entire skeleton. Completely depleted, Newt dropped down to one knee, no longer able to even hold his weapon upright. He struggled to look up, at first sure the Aeternae would take his fatigue to their advantage and kill him. Instead, he found Sharina surrounded by the monsters, enclosed from all corners.

"No," he called weakly, extending his arms in a futile attempt to draw their attention back to himself.

All he could do was watch in horror as the Aeternae closed in on Sharina, ready to possibly riddle her body with holes and rip her to shreds.

Then it happened.

From where he kneeled, he really couldn't see it, but he was 'aware'. The terrifying sensation that washed over his body was unexplainable, but the spine-chilling feeling seemed to come from Sharina. Still trying to make out the host of Hades, he noticed the Aeternae had taken a few steps back and seemed to be hesitant in approaching her.

"She has received the Bident of my brother," Poseidon murmured. "Her ability to learn and adapt is as frightening as when I almost kissed Medusa."

Choosing not to ask about Poseidon's affair with the petrifying gorgon, he focused on the first part. "What's a Bident?"

"Of course you wouldn't know. Heroes and foes alike seldom dared to venture into our brothers' realm, so there was never a completely detailed explanation about the true nature of his power."

"Wait what?"

"I will Hades was originally given the Helm of Darkness during the Titanomachy," Poseidon elucidated. "But he later had the Bident forged to augment his ability and give himself some sort of leverage on the battlefield."

"So this feeling..."

"It is simply his power amplified a hundredfold. If he was not in this weak state, the sheer intensity would make anyone in the vicinity disintegrate."

Newt felt shiver roll down his entire body as the Aeternae began to rear their hooves nervously. "Are you protecting me?" He had observed the power seeping from Sharina's mind and was positive it was much more powerful than the heavy, murky feeling that clouded his brain.

"If I release you, you will die."

"Of course", he grumbled, already aware of the god's invisible shield. "Even with you, I still feel like going home and shaking under my covers."

"I would call it mortal fear, but Hades has made the mightiest of Titans and Giants quake under his terror."

"I'd be surprised if anything could resist whatever this is." Newt squinted between the Aeternae as they moved away from Sharina, clearing the blockade that separated the two hosts. He was finally able to properly see the older woman, her black hair tussled and resting on her sweaty shoulders. Her face was shielded by her fear projecting helm, while clenched in her right hand, was the amplifier.

"A pitchfork?" he said, failing to hide the disappointment in his voice. "That's a pitchfork."

"Ah, I must have forgotten to include the Bident is more commonly know as a pitchfork," Poseidon replied nonchalantly. "Nonetheless, it's a terrifying weapon."

Sharina walked towards him as he found the energy to stand up on both feet, using his trident as a walking stick. "You look beat up as hell."

"Yeah well, shit happens," Newt coughed, attempting a casual shrug then wincing from the pain the small effort caused. "Jack?"

A dark looked crossed her face. Instantly, the Aeternae began to whine and took off straight into the water, seeing as there were no other means of escape. Newt watched on, anxiety building up in his chest. The power he was witnessing was something frightening, but at the same time amusing.

"You just made them kill themselves," he gaped, watching as the last monster leaped into the sea and sunk beneath the clear blue water.

"They just ran away," Sharina said. "They're capable of instant transmission as well."

Lifting his eyebrow in surprise, Newt was slightly elated by her response. Even though they had tried to brutally kill him, he wasn't sure how he'd react if they all killed themselves.

"So what now," he asked, letting himself fall to his knees before moving himself into a sitting position.

"Dumbass, you're tired and you have wounds that could get infected if we don't see to it in less than an hour," Sharina extended her arm to his. "I'm completely exhausted as well, so we're going to crash at my place for a bit."

Newt grabbed her hand and looked down. "We can't leave him you know."

"Yeah, I know." She slammed her pitchfork downwards, the force embedding it into the ground. "Which is why we need to find Janus fast."

"Janus? Like the god of doorways?" Newt's frown deepened. "I thought all the gods were dead."

"Me too. But some assholes remained neutral during the war that wiped out the main gods."

"Oh."

Sharina inhaled and let out her breath slowly. "Oh indeed." Pulling Newt up, she wrapped on hand around her new weapon. "I think I've gathered enough strength now. Let's go."

Shutting his eyes, Newt prepared for the smoke that would engulf himself and Sharina, before taking them to wherever she willed. The latter poured all her energy into the action, pulling on the last bits of her strength.

"And find that two-faced bastard."