God of My Dreams (Greek Heroes #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Thirty-Five: Eternal Night Rises

Eternal Night Rises

Morpheus, caught in the gale of the true essence of Night, opened his eyes and let out a primal roar.  His black wings, luminescent with the elemental forces coursing through him, flared out behind him. Pure power radiated from every feather and hair on his body as he reabsorbed what the Underworld knew to be rightfully his.

Unlike Hades, whom he always thought governed the fate of souls through wisdom and a keen sense of justice, Morpheus was not an appointed prince of the dream realm. He and his brothers were the direct descendants of the eternal Night. It took losing everything for him to finally understand what his father had been trying to tell him for so long.

This was not his job, this was who he was.

What had once been his was his once more, but it was different. He was different. What Morpheus possessed now was stronger, purer and more strongly embedded into every fiber of his being. No one would be taking anything from him ever again.

Morpheus, eternal god of dreams, shot across the sky like an obsidian star, searching for the only planet that mattered in his universe:

Gwen-Stacey. 

 

*~*~*

 

Gwen-Stacey watched the arrows coming towards her as if time itself had slowed to a crawl. She saw them pierce through the space between her body and Artemis’ bow and though her brain was telling her to move out of the way, she knew she'd never be fast enough. If she was going to die (again) then she would do it on her feet, facing her enemy, not shot in the back like some coward. Her eyes fixed on the barbed tips and waited for the impact with as much courage and dignity as she could muster.

So it was with perfect attention Gwen-Stacey witnessed the black meteor fall from the clear Underworld sky to land between her and Artemis’ Dark Strikes. Stumbling backwards, she threw her arms up in front of her face but not before seeing the arrows burst into flames and being reduced to harmless ash. Lowering her arms, her breath caught in her throat. What she’d thought was a large black rock actually rose from the ground, unfolding itself into the still-smoking visage of Morpheus.

Gwen-Stacey would’ve sobbed in relief but she’d forgotten how to breathe. As their eyes met, she saw his were totally black even as they blazed from the power surging in his veins. Whatever had happened to Morpheus had changed the dream god in some vital way. He was at once familiar and completely foreign to her. This new Morpheus was powerful, nearly electric with danger, but it was the kind of danger one would find if he or she happened to get caught out in the middle of a field during a lightning storm – a very pissed and highly volatile lightning storm.

Morpheus’ wings flared out behind him, causing a shadow as dark as a solar  eclipse to fall upon her.

“Are you alright?” His voice sounded layered, as if multiple gods were speaking at once. The power within him vibrated on so many levels it was positively mind-blowing.

Gwen-Stacey nodded since she didn’t trust herself to talk, but Morpheus didn’t miss the arrow protruding from her left shoulder. His eyes narrowed to slits as he lifted one large hand. With a delicate touch, his index finger turned the arrow into ash. As she watched, the flecks disappeared into nothing as if they'd never existed.

He touched her wound next and she felt a momentary flash of pain before a warmth replaced the exact spot where her injury had been. Glancing down, Gwen-Stacey saw the skin of her shoulder glowed slightly but there wasn’t a scratch on her, nothing to show where Artemis had hurt her.

Morpheus’ eyes met hers once more. She could see herself reflected in them as he inclined his head slightly.

“Stay here,” he ordered before baring his teeth slightly. Wheeling around, he came face to face with the huntress who’d dared to go after the woman he loved.

It was time to make the huntress pay. 

 

*~*~*

Eros really didn’t want to hurt the animal that was only doing as her twisted master commanded, but he didn’t see any other way out of the mess he was in. He’d sacrificed his forearm to the jaws of the Hellhound in an attempt to keep her away from his face and neck but she was strong enough to break even his arm. Once that happened, she would go after his throat and that was something Eros wasn't about to let happen.  

Just as he was about to deliver a killing blow, Morpheus fell down from the sky. Una, Artemis' best hunting dog, yelped in sheer terror as she believed the heavens themselves were falling down around her ears.

She let go of the tasty god's forearm and ran away with her tail between her legs.  

*~*~*

 Hermes helped Aphrodite to her feet, tugging impatiently on her hands as he tried to hurry her along.

“C’mon, we can't miss this!” he said excitedly.

Before the love goddess could say a word, the messenger god flew them both out of the Vale of Mourning, heading straight for the Plains of Judgment in his signature whirlwind-meets-tornado fashion.

 

*~*~*

Hades fell to the floor in an undignified heap. He’d never felt so weak, so fully drained of power in his life. Whatever had happened to him shook him to his very core, as if his purest essence was being ripped straight out of him. It took several moments before he found the will to rise, even longer before he felt steady enough to take a step.

As he stumbled from the dining hall, his servants rushed towards him. Waving them away angrily, he ordered them to get his horses ready instead. The terrified souls ran to the stables to prepare the dangerous creatures, for once more afraid of their master than the beasts who pulled his chariot.

For every creature in the Underworld, large and small, knew when they heard the fearsome sounds of Hades’ chariot approaching only destruction followed.  

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A/N:

Song Choice: Animal I Have Become - Three Days Grace

Image Credit: Nyx - The Goddess of Night by  blazingelysium.deviantart.com -