Forgotten prophecy

Chapter 87

"Medic!" A Roman sentry shouted, breaking the silence of the night. "MEDIC!"

Instantly the camp was wide awake, many of them rushing out of their tents and cabins in night gowns or other similar stages of undress with their weapons in their hands. Reyna came shooting out of her command tent, her dogs at her sides, one of the few who was in full armor. "What's happening?" She roared at the sentry, unable to see why the call had been made. Once she came alongside the sentry the reason presented itself. A red Hunter, one whose name she did not know, was lying on the ground in front of her. White bone stuck out from his chest, arms, and collar, and blood ran down his body in sheets. For all the world he looked dead, save for the very slight rise and fall of his chest. "What happened here?"

The sentry shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, I saw someone coming from the forest way over there," he indicated the patch of forest about half a kilometer in front of the camp. "I thought it was a monster at first, but when he got closer I saw that he was one of the Red Hunt. He was talking crazy, saying something about how the others need help."

Reyna opened her mouth to say something but a massive roar from the woods in front of them halted the words in her throat. A moment later a loud crack rang out and a body thudded on the ground twenty meters in front of them. Reyna beckoned for a few of the Romans to accompany her as she rushed off to the new body, already seeing the telltale red of Orion's Hunt. "Lucas," one of the demigods beside her breathed. Reyna knew of the demigod and saw that the shattered remains of his two broadswords were still in his hands. The demigod wasn't breathing. His eyes held a shocked look in them, almost as though they could not believe he had been died.

Another roar came from the direction Lucas's body had been thrown. "Lucas! Marco!" One of the Red Hunt exclaimed, the other members alongside him. Their faces grew dark as one and they turned their attention to where the sound of a roar came from. "Come on, boys." The one who had spoken said, pulling a longbow from his back and nocking an arrow as he moved.

Every single Red Hunter drew their weapons and followed after his lead, and a few of the campers who had made their way to the sentry joined them though they looked far less determined. Reyna grabbed the shoulder of one of the Red Hunters and hissed, "Where do you think you are going? We need a plan of action, whatever managed to throw Lucas that far and cause so much damage to Marco is clearly powerful."

"Dante and a few other went off to scout out the enemy camp and kill a few monsters," the Hunter said, shrugging off the hand. "If they aren't back that means that something happened. We're going to get them back."

They left without another word, running off into the night and disappearing into the far tree line only a little while later. Another roar broke the silence of the night, the sound causing many of the amassed to shiver in worry. "Reyna!" One of the medics who had begun to treat Marco called. "He's trying to say something!"

The Praetor hurried over to the broken demigod and saw him struggling weakly to sit up, but ultimately failing against his doctors. "I need to get back," He said through gritted teeth, eyes wild but furious. "I promised I would come back."

"You aren't going anywhere," Reyna said coolly. "Your brothers are on their way to help them."

"It's not enough," Marco insisted. "Not enough..." his voice trailed off and his eyes rolled back into his head.

Reyna looked at the medic, alarmed, but she merely shook her head. "I'm a daughter of Hypnos," she explained. "He was exerting himself too hard. He needs to rest."

Reyna felt someone grab her arm and pull her away. "What the hell is going on?" Thalia demanded in a low voice, the snap of another tree punctuating her words. "Where did the Red Hunt go?"

"I don't know," Reyna snapped under her breath. "Marco was found by a sentry and Lucas got thrown here by something."

"Reyna, it looks like every bone in his body is smashed to splinters," Thalia said, pointing at the still form of Lucas as a blanket was draped over him. "I don't know what, exactly, the Red Hunt got themselves into but it isn't good."

It was at that moment that Marco, who had been resting peacefully for a few seconds, lurched up with fear in his eyes. He shouted a single name, and the implications of that chilled everyone who heard it to their core. "Hercules."

Close to the camp of Tartarus, the Red Hunt was engaged in a fight for their lives. Hercules, if that even who it was, brandished a massive metal club in one hand and a sword in the other. A low growl escaped him, a dark vapor emanating from his skin. "This is insane," one of them said from where he sat perched in a tree, an arrow fixed on Hercules' skull. "We can't even touch this guy."

"He's a god," Dante said, breathing heavily. He had been reduced to only one chakram as the other had been smashed to pieces by the metal club. "Figures he would be hard to kill."

"I thought Hercules was one of the ones on our side?" Sebastian demanded.

"Yeah, well, looks like Tartarus got to him." Dante said. Hercules roared again and charged forward, swinging his club in a vicious arc intended for Dante's head. The demigod leaped back just in the nick of time as the club shattered the trunk of a tree that Sebastian had been perched. He leaped away and rolled to avoid a follow up slash from the sword. Dante and Zain leapt forward, taking advantage of the momentary opening left by Hercules. Sparks arced from Hercules' skin as the blade of the chakram cut across it, yet it did not leave a single mark. Zain's weapon was equally ineffective, bouncing off the god's skin without the slightest hint of damage. That was all the two had time for as they were forced back as Hercules swung viciously at them once again.

This had been the same routine since they had discovered the massive god wandering around the edge of the monster camp. Dante had thought to get rid of this potential problem before it could cause any damage, but this had been a grave miscalculation. He had dropped down on Hercules' head from a tree and brought down his chakrams, intending to decapitate the god in a single stroke. This had led to their current situation as they all fought to bring down the god. Marco had been the first casualty. He had danced under the swing of the club and sword and thrust upward with his sword. The blade hadn't left a scratch on him but the maneuver had left him gravely exposed. Hercules' kick had sent him flying into a tree and the remaining four Hunters had been left to cover for Marco as Dante ordered him to flee. Lucas had lost his life trying to keep Hercules at bay long enough for Marco to escape. Somehow he had managed to stop Hercules' sword but he had not seen the follow up swing by the club. It had shattered both his swords and his body in one swing, sending him flying away.

"Zain, Sebastian," Dante shouted. "We need to get out of here, we can't do anything to this guy."

"He killed Lucas, and probably Marco!" Sebastian screamed back, releasing another stream of bolts at Hercules even as he ducked and danced to avoid the attacks. "Like hell we are fucking leaving!"

"I know what he did!" Dante yelled back, throwing his chakram at Hercules to get his attention away from Sebastian. "It doesn't change the fact that we can't do a single fucking thing to damage this guy! I can't even ghost around him, that means we are useless!"

"I'm not leaving!" Sebastian insisted, pressing the attack. "I'm going to-."

Whatever he had been about to do was lost in the void as his severed head rolled to a stop at Dante's feet. The ghost of his determination was still etched upon his face. "Fuck!" Dante raged, leaping back as the club came down at him. "Zain, we have to get out of here!"

The zombie-like demigod nodded and disappeared into the shadows of the trees, presumably to head back to camp. Dante followed his example, turning tail and sprinting away from Hercules. A large part of him hoped that the Corrupted god would not chase after them and simply return back to its patrol of the monster camp. This hope was unfounded, the sounds of massive footsteps coming from behind. He ducked and dodged through the trees, ghosting through some of them. He came up short when he came face to face with the rest of the Red Hunt, their expressions filled with determination. "Run you idiots, RUN!" Dante roared, Hercules own roar echoing behind him to punctuate his words.