Armani Phantomblade: Old Gods

4. Hadranos Awakened.

The entrance to the Tomb of Hadranos was drastically different to that of Pethamenos, where Pethamenos' tomb was overgrown and full of plant life, Hadranos' tomb was barren, all signs of life completely null and void. The air around the entrance was stale, cold, yet bitter. Corpses lay strewn by the entrance, each one covered in an ashen casing, their weapons now rusted amongst the ground. The entrance itself could be mistaken as a cave at first glance, but to the trained eye, demonic ruins could be spotted along the entrances ridge. Flaming torches and scaffolding could be seen inside, almost as if the humans had begun mining this tomb for resources, pickaxes and other tombs could be seen as far down as possible.

"I feel a strong presence here, I think his guardians have awoken with the humans mining efforts." Pethamenos sighed.

"It's worse than that, I recognise it, you can come out now Reyno, I know Lucifer sent you to watch over us." Armani called out, looking atop the mine.

A man dropped down, dust bellowing beneath him, he wore a dark suit that resembled a human soldier, with armour plating around the top giving the impression of a modern knight, his long hair covered his face while his head was facing the ground, neatly combed and held by a trilby hat. His black wings resembled that of the angels, as he stood, he looked towards Armani with a smug smile on his face. His pale skin had scars across it, showing he had once been an angel, only to be corrupted at some point or another. He was grasping a Thompson gun between both his hands, his wings collapsed leaving black feathers on the ground. He could pass for a human efficiently, if not for his wings.

"Corz Reyno. Here I thought you were dead. Should've known Lucifer would send his lapdog to keep an eye on us." Armani called out, anger within his voice.

"The old man didn't send me, and you know I hate being seen, how did you spot me?" Corz asked, glaring.

"I recognise your 'musical ability' anywhere, especially one that messes with the senses." Armani explained.

"Since Karlsin died I've been on my own, but that was over a century ago, since then I've been on my own, why did you come here? Did you come to desecrate the dead?" Corz asked, aggressively.

 Armani shook his head and held out his hand, Corz reluctantly held out one hand before snapping it back, he aimed his rifle, flicking a single switch on its side, he glared at Armani and Pethamenos, distrust showing amongst his face.

"I won't ask again, demon." Corz growled.

"Watch your tone, you are as demonic as me since your corruption and fall from grace. No, we are not here to desecrate your masters tomb, for many reasons. One of them being he is still alive, the other being, he holds the key to lifting the curse one of the other gods have released. It has claimed two of my friends, I don't want anymore to be lost." Armani explained honestly.

Corz smiled, lowering his gun. He was surprised to see his ability still held some sway over demon actions. He turned to face the entrance, moving towards it, humming a low tune as he did.

"You coming or what?" Corz asked, sarcastically.

Armani shook his head, growling slightly, he turned to Pethamenos who had already started towards the entrance. As they walked further through, they saw more bodies, all frozen in various states of horror and agony, each one looking more and more recent, until finally they reached the end of the tunnel, a door stood cracked open, it had resembled one of an ancient temple, the main atrium was brightly lit, the glow from the torches flickered with a large bright hue, leading to a large staircase, atop the staircase sat a golden throne, encrusted with jewels, but empty. Hadranos was nowhere to be seen within the room. Armani knelt on the ground, he ran his fingers amongst the dirt, covering the tips with old blood. He snapped upright as he heard heavy footsteps above him, as he did, he quickly barrel-rolled to one side, as a large figure crashed next to him, Armani rose to his feet gripping his sword. Before him was the hulking figure of Hadranos, his skin showing the corruption that had once befallen Pethamenos.

"You dare trespass in my tomb?" Hadranos bellowed.

Hadranos had long, thick, white hair, a beard with a small skull within the centre, he had light armour on, resembling a scout, with a crown upon his head, encrusted with an amethyst. His armour had a red base colour with golden accents, encrusted with a variety of gems, he held a sword within his left hand, and his eyes glowed with a burning fiery glow. The corruption within Hadranos seemed to be worse than Pethamenos.

"Hadranos, it is Pethamenos, I have come with news about the warfront." Pethamenos bellowed.

Hadranos turned to his fellow god, a small smile cracking amongst his face. The smile slowly became a scowl, he realised the corruption had left his brother, and he couldn't recognise him. Pethamenos nodded to Armani, before dodging out of the way of a heavy strike, cracking the ground where he was stood. Hadranos began cracking with red electricity, Pethamenos matched it, the two began to hover in the air, both striking with their powers, Corz rushed to Armani, dragging him out of the atrium, as the two watched, Pethamenos managed a critical blow against Hadranos, sending him crashing to the ground, the entire tomb began to shake aggressively with him landing as heavily as he did, causing rocks and dust to crumble around them. Armani noticed Hadranos' crown lay across the ground, he rushed over grabbing it, ripping the crystal from within, as he did, Hadranos screamed in agony, writhing and thrashing among the ground, the corruption beginning to leave his body.

"Go! Get out of here, I'll meet you outside!" Pethamenos bellowed, landing gently next to his brother.

Armani and Corz raced outside, avoiding the debris crashing around them. As they got closer to the door, the came to a grinding halt, as a large rock crashed before them, blocking their way out. The torches around them had all gone extinct from the large gusts of wind generated from the destruction. Armani created a large, explosive fireball, launching it at the debris blocking the entrance. The two began rushing outside, and as they threw themselves into the open, a large dust cloud engulfed them. Corz coughed aggressively, swiping at the air to clear the cloud around them, they stared as they noticed the tomb had fully collapsed inwards. They began frantically scanning the area for Pethamenos, only to hear a loud crack coming from somewhere within the tomb. Pethamenos came flying out, clutching Hadranos' badly injured body. 

"He's alive, barely but alive." Pethamenos panted.

"Will he remember his actions from the corruption or will they too be lost?" Armani asked, checking his pulse.

Pethamenos shrugged his shoulders, they looked down as Hadranos began to stir back to consciousness. He looked around, confusion and disbelief covered his face, his hair began to fade from white to black, and his skin fell back to a pale white colouration. The curse left scarring along his body, showing it had affected him longer than it had Pethamenos. His mind seemed warped and dizzy, he looked at Pethamenos with disbelief.

"Where am I?" Hadranos asked, highly confused.

"Outside your tomb old friend, it appears we are needed once again. The demons are at war once again, however that is NOT why we are needed." Pethamenos explained, "This demon, his name is Armani Phantomblade, and he requires the gemstones we were presented containing our curse, one of his friends had fallen, and two more became victims to Andresso's curse." 

"You speak true? What of Markos, and the accursed Andresso?" Hadranos asked, reluctantly.

The two then began speaking in ancient demonic, Armani could understand what they were saying, but Corz could not. Armani turned to Corz, staring at the man, wondering what had happened that caused an angel to become corrupted, or an angel of darkness as they are called.

"It is decided, we move immediately on Markos, but we will have to make some preparations before moving on Andresso, maybe bring an end to this war before we do anything else." Hadranos explained.

"Yes, the sooner we get to Markos, the sooner our power will grow. I have to warn you Phantomblade, you too Reyno, Markos will be one of, if not, the strongest one of us to face. Simply because, he encrusted his gemstone into his staff, not into his clothing or accessories." Pethamenos added, immediately.

Armani nodded, he turned to Corz and the pair spread their wings, following closely behind the two gods, hoping to get to Markos' tomb before days end, Armani knew that the war would be coming to a close any day now, and he remembered the bloodbath that would happen only moments before the end, he was hoping to avoid that day, but he knew he may not have that luxury. He watched as the landscape changed, and a large statue emerged upon the horizon before them.