I stood in the center of the chaos, the violet light of my body the only steady thing in a world of grey. The hum in my arm grew louder, rising to a pitch that matched the throbbing ache in my head.
"Quiet," I whispered.
The word resonated through the star-metal.
I needed to be louder than the silence.
I slammed my metal fist into the iron floor.
CLANG.
The sound didn't die this time. I pushed the Titan's energy, the deep, earth-shattering power I had absorbed, into the strike. I used my body as the tuning fork.
A ripple of violet light exploded from my impact point, racing outward across the pitted iron plain.
It hit Flynn, knocking him off his feet and stunning him out of his frenzy. It hit Kaelen, washing over his scales and forcing him to crouch. It washed over Elias, stabilizing his flickering flame. It hit Thane, and for a second, the floor beneath him hardened, supporting his weight.
The Princes froze, staring at me.
I stayed crouched, my fist buried in the dented iron, breathing hard. The violet light pulsed rhythmically, a heartbeat in the void.
"You are looking for the wind," I said, my voice magnified by the metal, ringing like a bell. "You are looking for the sun. You won't find them here."
I stood up slowly, the iron groaning under my boots.
"Stop fighting the dark," I commanded. "Start hunting in it."
Kaelen’s golden eyes narrowed, the slit pupils focusing on me. The panic was still there, edging his thoughts, but the feral confusion was receding.
Aria?his voice was a hesitant rumble.
"I'm here," I said, walking toward him, fearless. I reached up and placed my hand on his snout. It was hot, dry scales over magma. "I'm the anchor. If you get lost, you look at me. Understand?" I could feel it through the bond now; the violet pulse from my strike hadn't just stunned them out of their panic. It was still humming, a low frequency under everything, and as long as I held it, they could think. The moment I stopped, the Underworld would start eating their minds again. I was the tether. If I let go, they'd drift.
He let out a huff of smoke that smelled of sulfur and shame.This place... it is a cage.
"It's a battlefield," I corrected. "And we just landed."
I looked out at the grey horizon, where the shadows seemed to be thickening, watching us.
"And we aren't alone."
TWO
Aria
The shadows did not surge with the predatory intent I had expected. They didn't lunge, nor did they snap with spectral jaws, nor try to drag us screaming down into the infinite dark. Instead, they pooled. They gathered at the jagged lip of the iron plain, thick and viscous as spilled ink, flowing together with a sluggish, exhausted motion that felt entirely wrong for something that usually moved with the terrifying speed of a curse. It was as if the darkness itself was too tired to hunt.
"Stay back," I warned, my voice ringing with conviction. I raised my left hand. The light pulsing in my veins flared, casting long, jittery shadows across the pitted floor, illuminating the sheer desolation of the underworld.
Thane growled, a sound like tectonic plates grinding together deep in a subterranean cavern. Kaelen lowered his massive, horned head, his movement fluid and deadly as he placed his dragon body between me and the pooling darkness. Heat radiated off him in waves, not the clean blast furnace of the forge, but the simmering, dangerous anger of a volcano waiting to blow its top. Smoke, smelling of brimstone, ozone, and profound anxiety, curled in thick wisps from his nostrils.
Enemy,Kaelen’s thought was a jagged shard of red glass driving into my mind, sharp and immediate.Burn it. Before it touches you.
"Wait," I commanded, stepping forward and placing my flesh hand on his flank. His scales were searing hot, hard as obsidian, but I could feel them trembling under my touch. "It helps no one if you burn the house down because you saw a spider, Kaelen. And... it feels familiar."
The pool of darkness rose, defying gravity. It condensed, the inky liquid knitting itself together, solidifying into a shape that was heartbreakingly human, yet entirely divine in its presence.
Hades stepped out of the shadows.
