Nothing Stays Buried (Lunar River Series)

14. The Second Coming

Iris

"You think a bit of magic display and I will run? Liber de Buer runs from no one" He squeezes an already unconscious Atlas even tighter threatening to snuff out the bit of life that is left within him. The sound of his heart beating slowly stirs Zeus and Cassius with panic.

We make it back a bit too late and now we find this man holding my brother's limp body. "It wasn't a dream, it was a premonition. " I whisper to myself as I watch the scene before me play out perfectly. How did Atlas get caught again? I squeeze my fist to keep myself from screaming. my nails dig deep into my skin. This is happening too quickly. I am not ready to face this man.

Thankfully I can smell that Zeus's pack is already waiting and so are our allies. They are in position as planned. I can smell every single one waiting for the right time to reveal themselves. For the right time to turn the odds in our favor. I shift into my wolf as well.

"Let him go and I'll let you live", Shoneah's voice booms through the air despite still being in Cassius's normal form. It cracks through the wind making everyone shudder. All but Liber. He remains stoic. The exact opposite to the turmoil inside my body. A pit so heavy in my stomach, it has planted me to the very spot I stand on.

I look back at Shoneah, who is visibly showing unease and the trickle of fear building underneath his skin. Something you rarely see because of how well he hides his emotions when facing an enemy. His face then shifts with anger, his stance ready to pounce, and the flames emerging from his fist crackle with rage. The last time he must have spoken with this much fervor has to be against his father, at least from the stories I heard.

Liber drops Atlas, laughing at what I can only assume is the thud my brothers body makes. "I'm surprised you're still alive and yet you still want to take me on."

"I won't be killed off that easily!" Cassius now turning into Shoneah shouts as the tattoos race up his arms and his long hair turns to a silver-white hue erasing all traces of my brother-in-laws appearance.  With his hair loose, the wind that picks up around him from his transformation, making his hair flow upwards. His hair dances around him like snakes waiting for a command.

"ATTACK!" Liber shouts and a swarm of goblins and shapeshifters spill out from the trees behind him. Never had the woods held so many creatures so skillfully hidden. Some even seem to appear out of thin air. Then again, they look just like how Finn described the Lion shifters.

The goblins race out of hiding in variations of decompositions. Some are fully bones, aged and withered. The legs of some show the previous breaks or deformities that must have made it difficult for them in their mortal life. Others still have pieces of flesh rotting on their bones which could only suggest that the time of their passing isn't too long ago. Not a long enough moment of piece. Their clothes hang loosely with holes doing little to hold them together.

Then a clash of swords, bones rattling, and howls commence the fight of our worlds clashing. Each wolf is taking on one to two creatures in what seems like a one sided fight, with us being on the losing end. There are too many that are well armed while not enough of us have weapons of close combat. A wolves we tend to rely on our own abilities while we have other hiding to snipe from a distance.

I look down at my trembling legs. Unable to move. My feet have rooted in the witness of such chaos. It's terrifying to see death running around like pawns. The undead creatures fighting on behalf of Liber, all have a dark aura like smoke that surrounds their bodies. It is as if the grim reaper himself is pulling the strings of the remains. Like a puppet master of war. Then again, I guess my father can now be considered as such.