Through the Burning Fires of Hell // A Nico Di Angelo Fanfiction (On Hold)

Chapter 1

Raven

Raven was in trouble. The 'not-really-in-trouble-but-in-trouble' kind of trouble. She chanced a glance over her shoulder. The stymphalian birds were right on her tail. Raven hissed in frustration and flapped her wings harder, putting in a burst of speed. 

I hate these things, she thought. Today of all days, the birds decided that they were mad at her for draining the blood of one of their flock. She had been hungry and would have gone crazy if she didn't feed soon, and the only things around had been the gods-forsaken birds. 

Even though she'd already misted over a dozen of the creatures, they just kept on coming, determined to tear her apart. Even she couldn't kill hundreds of monsters without draining her power, something that she didn't want to do. Two ravens, each the size of a large eagle, swooped in, tearing the heads off the birds. They circled above, diving and killing, but the birds just kept on coming. 

"Umbra, Shadow!" Raven yelled, still flying through the hazy air of Tartarus. "Go before the birds turn on you too!" 

The two ravens squawked in indignation but dropped into formation beside Raven instead of harassing the stymphalian birds. Come on, come on, Raven thought. Just a little bit further until the Mavros Cave. 

The cave mouth finally came into sight, and Raven swooped up towards the dangling stalactites. Entering the cave was the equivalent of going into an asteroid field in Tartarus, but it was the only way to lose the incessant birds. Flying through the stalactites and stalagmites was deadly, dangerous work, and the odds of surviving the flight were approximately three thousand seven hundred one to one. Raven flew right into it. 

She wasn't the Midnight Phoenix, the most feared of all creatures in Tartarus, second only to the immortals, for nothing. She was the blood-daughter of Nyx, the primordial goddess of night, and her father was Erebus, the primordial god of the darkness and the mist. Her power was vast, but again, killing hundreds of deadly, metallic birds, with razor-sharp beaks would be too troubling and messy.  

She huffed as she weaved between the deadly rocks. "If only mother could see me now."

Her ravens were right behind her, having flown with Raven since birth. The three of them were a tight unit and had flown through the stalactites and stalagmites dozens of times for practice. 

A stalactite loomed up above, and Raven swerved, glancing over her shoulder at the same time. The birds were still pursuing them but had fallen behind, many dead. 

Raven spun, whirled, and twisted, flying through the stalactites with ease. Suddenly, a clawed hand shot down from a nearby stalactite, reaching for Raven. She dove, tucking in her wings, towards the stalagmites and levelled out somewhere in the middle.

Umbra squawked, flying just off her starboard wing. 

"Yes, I know," Raven grumbled. "Can't believe I forgot." She spiralled down to the tunnel that would open up at the cliffs next to the Phlegethon and entered the tunnel. It was a tight fit. Raven's wings were huge, and the tips of her black feathers nearly brushed the sides of the cave. She could have shadow-travelled away from the birds, but where was the fun in that? Raven peered down at the ground she was flying over, wondering if she should just walk in case her wings got damaged. 

The raven's cawed, Shadow trilling a note that clearly meant no. 

"Too late," Raven sighed. The tunnel was becoming smaller. Raven slowed her pace down and lightly landed on the floor of the tunnel. She grimaced as her feet touched the loose soil that covered the skin of Tartarus and folded her wings behind her. This is why I'd rather fly, she thought. Her two birds swooped above her head, Umbra scouting ahead while Shadow stayed back with Raven. Raven unsheathed her stygian iron sword from where it was strapped between her wings, the blade out as she continued down the tunnel. She willed rocks and ledges to form in the tunnel, creating a bit of a challenge for her.