The master spy or Puss in the boot adventures

Lyra, the Goddess of Dreams part 15, Part 145

With a confident smirk, Alric drew his sword and proclaimed, "Steel is cooler than fear!"

Beside him, Roku slung off his longbow and chuckled, "Arrows are cooler than steel."

„For Lyra! For Freedom!", cried out Odin , Lyra's father. He stood tall, clutching his wooden staff and murmuring ancient Druid incantations. Odin had left the Order of Mercy for love, but his powers were still strong. And by his side stood Moira, with graying hair and wise eyes, ready to protect him.

"Stay back," she warned as Odin stepped too close. "This is no puppy we face."

But Lyra's father only frowned, confident in his abilities as the once greatest disciple of Ayton. "I was a mighty druid once," he reminded them.

 Moira scoffed, reminding him that time had passed and things had changed. But Odin simply laughed, teasing her about being a healer who would surely save them all if anything went wrong.

Colin's parents had always been playful and childlike, but this time they were taking things too far. Colin frowned as Odin pointed a finger at Moira, who playfully stuck out her tongue in response.

Panicked, Colin pulled out her sheepdog whistle and blew a tune that usually calmed her boyfriend Roku.

"Roku was a wild beast once. But my melody enchanted him! " she explained.

The air erupted in laughter as Roku blushed from embarrassment.

Roku then turned to Colin with a serious expression and said, "If all goes well, I'll ask your father for your hand in marriage."

Odin replied, "I'll give it to you son, I'll give you...".

Colin interrupted, "Wait a minute, why didn't you ask me if I wanted it first?"

Roku then grabbed Colin's hand and pulled her close, kissing her softly on the lips. This time it was Colin who blushed.

Looking at the couple, Odin sighed wistfully and said, "They remind me of when we were young. How much I loved you..."

His wife playfully poked him in the ribs and exclaimed, "So you don't love me anymore, you scoundrel!" Odin almost dropped his stuff in surprise.

Suddenly, Colin noticed something lurking in the darkness. "Hey guys," she squealed nervously. "I think Cerberus saw us."

Everyone froze as the monstrous beast approached them with its six ruby eyes glowing in the darkness.

May the gods protect us , cried out Odin bravely and waved his staff. ..

As the monstrous form of Cerberus loomed out of the darkness, its three massive heads snarling and snapping, the group instinctively drew closer together. The beast was a terrifying sight to behold - a nightmarish fusion of canine and reptilian features, with scales of obsidian black and razor-sharp fangs dripping with caustic saliva. Each of its six eyes blazed with a hellish crimson light, pulsing in time to some infernal heartbeat. The beast's paws were larger than millstones, tipped with obsidian claws that scored deep furrows in the hard-packed earth.

A deep, rumbling growl emanated from three cavernous maws, shaking the grotto and causing loose pebbles to dance and skitter. The stench of brimstone and rotting flesh rolled off the creature in palpable waves, gagging the heroes and causing their eyes to water. Tendrils of acrid smoke curled from the hell-hound's nostrils and gaping jaws, rising to coil about its horned heads like a wreath of foul miasma.

Odin stepped forward, his staff raised in challenge as he began to chant in an ancient tongue, the words thrumming with power. Glowing sigils etched themselves into the air around him, hanging like fireflies in the gloom. But Cerberus merely shook its heads, as if shrugging off an annoying fly, and continued its inexorable advance.

Alric and Roku moved to flank the druid, weapons at the ready. The warrior's sword gleamed with a cold, keen light, while the archer nocked an arrow to his bowstring, the fletching brushing his cheek as he took aim. But before either could strike, Moira pushed past them, her healer's robes swirling around her like mist.

"Wait," she said, her voice calm but commanding. "Violence will only enrage the beast further. Let me try a different approach."

As the fearsome Cerberus lumbered closer, its three sets of jaws slavering and its six baleful eyes glowing like embers in the gloom, Moira stepped forward, a look of grim determination etched upon her weathered features. She raised her hands, palms outward, and began to chant in a low, melodious voice that seemed to resonate with the very fabric of the nightmare realm...