The Dawn of Light

(35)The Green Light

The Green Light

I fell to my knees; the wind ripped from my lungs.

"NO!" The scream erupted from my mouth, alerting everyone to the scene of horror.

The chamber froze in mid-fight and the painful cry of my mother shot up from behind me. "THANATOS!"

"NO! No! No!" Nyx screamed like a banshee as Erebus ripped out the Aegis piece had he'd been hiding. Blood dripped from my father's chest and his eyes glazed over with a look of realization. The Aegis was a weapon that was created to be able to destroy gods- to kill immortals.

He was going to die. He was dying.

Malreus, Simos and the twins stood frozen in ice as they watched in disbelief as the god of death stumbled back and the tall wall of fire fell down in a heap of red cosmic dust. My father's magical barrier was ripped apart as his blood dripped onto the floor. He clutched his chest and gasped for air; shock riddled his face. He couldn't understand how he'd missed that! He looked angry that he'd allowed this to happen.

Tears fell down my cheeks. I hadn't even noticed that I was crying until the wetness dropped to the back of my hands that rested on my knees. "No..." It was all I could whisper.

I heard the twins rush and then a scuffle ensued. They'd caught my mother as she fainted and dropped to the ground- her heart nearly stopping. Nyx looked immobile and then, she jolted up and screamed at Erebus like a banshee; her face as pale as a ghost's; "What have you done! What have you done! My son! My son! M-my s-s-son!" She cracked and began to cry with an awful screaming panic.

And all I could do was sit and watch as my father stumbled against the rock wall. He turned his head to me and our eyes met. "Th-eia..."

My heart broke.

Erebus stood up with effort, having used most of his energy on fighting my father. He dragged himself to his son; his one leg nearly completely severed as the calf meat refused to heal. It was an image I never wanted to see ever again. It was horrible. No nightmare could ever do this justice.

"You promised it wouldn't end this way!" Nyx screamed from the back. She had collapsed to the floor; her yellow eyes flooded with tears. "You promised me!"

Erebus ignored her wailing sobs of agony and instead, wrapped his hand around my father's neck and coldly whispered; "You failed, again."

Thanatos spat blood at his father's face and hissed; "Go ahead and burn the w-world. There will b-be nothing l-left for you to rule."

"Perfect."

Erebus grabbed my father's neck and squeezed. I watched in complete shock and terror as a dark red light appeared from between my father's lips, and at first I thought it was blood, but then I realized that it was my father's energy.

Gods didn't have souls, but we did have energy- that's how we were able to do magic so effortlessly. Most of us had energy directly linked to magic; that's why some were more in tune with the crafts than others.

It was possible to rip someone's soul out of them before they were dead, but it would leave their bodies hollow and they would die soon after. Erebus intended to exactly the same with my father.

How had he acquired this power? This capability that only my father should have been able to do? As death, Thanatos was the sole person who was gifted with the sacred ability. No one else.

I knew the story of my aunt- Eris had tried once and it nearly killed her. It took a thousand years for her to rid her mind and body of that dark, evil magic that corrupted her for so long. But... Had Eris been too weak to sustain it?