HBH IV: Forges Of Hellfire

XV: In A Kingdom Of Isolation, I'm Alone

I drew my sword as well. "Get ready, because I'm not gonna hold back." I charged forward. He stepped back. Pandora rushed to my side trying to get a hit. I flipped back. Gray rushed forward again. I kicked the sword out his hands. It skidded across the room. "Hah." He drew a dagger and pointed it at me. "Dang it." Pandora sat back up. I dove behind rocks. Columns of stone stood tall. I continued to avoid them until my luck had run out. A vertical wall was lined with glass like stones. "Mother give me strength." I squeezed my eyes shut. I took a deep breath and began to climb. I could feel the stones piercing my skin. But I wasn't bleeding. I looked down and saw Gray. Pandora had just started. That woman was an absolute robot. She didn't care if her hands were bleeding like she'd been holding pomegranates. She was making good progress when she grabbed my put which put a significant amount of force on my hands. The handle stones weren't that big and were fairly flat. I was holding on the tips of my fingers. "Prepare to die." She jabbed her dagger into my ankle. It felt like my ankle had gone numb from the adrenaline rush. I looked up and saw how close I was. I kicked her down and raced to the top.

I reached the top and I felt like collapsing from the pain. My ankle was bleeding, nothing was broken to my knowledge. I looked around and found a strip of cloth. I limped to the river and drew water. I removed whatever made the water dangerous and washed the strip with it. The boiling water should've killed the harmful germs. I quickly dried it before cleaning my wound and bandaging it tightly. I limped the rest of the way. I didn't even realize I was leaving a trail of blood in my wake. "Well, it looks like I've been bleeding from my nose." I sent a blast of wind which turned the dirt which would hopefully hide the blood stain. "That should do it."

"That blast of wind is from Kendra, follow it." I'd just revealed my location. I'll live until I die. I snuck into an old crate and curled up. "I'll die here." Suddenly the sword began to glow. "Stupid sword, why won't you just dim the freaking lights." I laid down on it. A bit of light was still visible but not enough to be suspicious. I heard their voices from outside the door. "Gray, I'm telling you- she's here."

"I have the same feeling."

"We could send scouts to find her, this place is a literal maze."

"Exactly, and the scouts know this place like the back of their hand, it should be easy to find her."

"Probably best to send a few half-bloods, Fomorians can overlook details sometimes."

"True, they can be smart though."

"I'm shocked Elatha didn't join us."

"He's with someone right? Clearly he's too busy."

"I suppose."

"I have things to be busy with as well. Claudia and Rowan are still out there. They're potential leakers of information even without Kendra. They're our priority for now." He walked away. Pandora looked around and walked to the crate where I was hiding. She peeked in. "She isn't that stupid- is she?" She thought for a moment before walking away. "This girl has the audacity to call me stupid?" I whispered to myself quietly. "She's the stupid one, thinking Gray will love her." I creeped out of the crate and jumped down. I turned around and saw Pandora staring daggers into me. "Uh oh. I really am stupid." I raced in the other direction. We resumed the chase. She was very hellbent on killing me. I was used to it but getting chased by the psychotic half-blood is different. She yelled at two guards I slipped past. "YOU TWO GUARDS, DO YOUR JOB AND GET THAT GIRL. BREAK HER LIMBS IF YOU HAVE TO!"

"I would prefer to keep my limbs unbroken." I slipped once again into the shadows while the two guards chased me.

I looked around in panic. There was no way I was ready for this. I could only hope Rowan found the hatch. I wiped my tears. I was alone, again. I was confused, alone and in trouble. I was the same person I was before I joined camp. The pathetic blonde hair, blue eyed girl. The one who was classified as popular or powerful. But I was nothing at that moment. I'd made a sacrifice I hoped I wouldn't regret. Fomorians began to flood the tunnels. I wrapped myself in dark clothing and followed them. Several other half-bloods joined me. We'd gathered in a large chamber. Gray stood high on a platform. He looked cold and tired. But his eyes were filled with wrath and menace. He had the eyes and face only his mother could love. "Half-bloods and Fomorians!" Everyone stood to attention. He looked up. "As you know we will begin our first waves of attack on humans and half-bloods. Out first shall be a raid on my camp. The details are still in the works but I can assure you- this will be the ultimatum. I can send as many of these raids to camp until they crumble like dust and submit. From there we move to the gods and goddesses." Everyone looked around excitedly. "Now, we all know why we're here." He rose. "We've been humiliated, ignored, they were apathetic to us, they allowed our family, our human parents to be killed and we have to go on quests for them? Now they plot to send us into war! Those people back at camp are going to be thrown into war." He jumped down and looked at his army. "But look at we've started; a rebellion. WE'LL TAKE REVENGE!" They stomped and banged their weapons on the ground. Others cheered and smiled. Pandora ran and stood beside him.

The crowd began to leave. I followed them to not draw suspicion. All these half-bloods have been promised one thing: revenge. They'd be willing to go to extreme lengths for it. I looked down and wiped my tears. I wandered around until I found the cells. Cailleach still looked cold as ever. Macha's eyes met mine. "Come here child." I cautiously walked to her. I held my sword tightly. "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk."

"About what? How you tried to kill Claudia?"

"No."

"What do you want?"

"I just want to talk."

"So you can kill me in the end?"

"No Kendra, you don't understand. I was forced into this."

"And I'm a flying leprechaun."

"You're smart. I was hoping your kind heart would take pity on a poor goddess like me."

"My heart has hardened Macha, you know why?"

"I know, it was me. But it's true, I was forced. He's going to kill all of his godly allies in the end."

"Then why didn't you just speak up? You could just 'poof' him away."

"You see, I couldn't. He has his father's eye, an eye that could kill and set you on fire."

"But you had the power and strength." She thought for a second. "Admittedly, I wanted revenge on half-bloods, but just half-bloods. Because I still resent him."

"Who is him?"

"Cu Chulainn."

"I hate him too."
"Me and Morrigan were close, when I found out Cu had flat out swiped left on her, I just got mad. I'd already gotten revenge on him by basically wiping out his army by giving them the feeling of labor."

"I suppose."

"Now, more betrayal will come from-" I could hear footsteps that sounded like Gray. "Go." I raced out of the room like my name was Usain Bolt.