“You have a penchant for overdoing things, my ill-witted friend. And even then, you fail miserably,” Grave noted in his deep, gravelly voice.“What?! I did not fail! LOOK, we have the girl. And I am not your friend!” Hypnos replied in his shrill, creature tone.“But, oh LOOK, the girl is DEAD.” Grave quipped. “And your position is that I am not your friend, but you admit to being ill-witted?”Hypnos threw his partner a seething glare. Grave was not a pretty sight to behold. He was an oversized man with large but misshapen limbs. Over six feet tall, his head was bulbous and hairless. The veins on his arms, legs, neck, and head were as thick as fingers. There were stacks of unnatural muscles on his back and traps, making him look like an overgrown wrestler. The truth was that Grave was dead. Or rather an undead. To be exact, he was a Horkus. A reanimated body built from the limbs of ten carcasses. The most distinguis

The boat floated leisurely towards the river bank. Hypnos looked like a large upright bat, leaning against the stern with arms wrapped around himself. Repeated failure had made him bitter and distraught.He always located potential seraph vessels through a blood spell. In his last attempt at the ritual, the duo had abducted a patrician girl from Modo. She was a healthy colleen with a robust constitution. Hypnos had been very optimistic about the results. Amidst an elaborate ritual, including blood sacrifices and a fire circle, the live vessel had exploded midway. This time it was different. He had had a vision of the girl and where she lived, in a vivid dream. Accepting it as a sign from his mistress, Hypnos had proceeded to use her as a vessel. But he faced abject failure yet again.At that rate, he could never awaken the Dark Seraph, and his dreams of becoming a god would be crushed.Hypnos was a reject from the Labors. The gods had mocked and humiliated him durin

Felicity was swimming in a mysterious body of water. Moonlight lit her way ahead. The night was peaceful and serene. She swam onward for some time and then floated on her back, kicking gently with backstrokes. Was it a dream? If it was, then it was a pleasant change from her usual nightmares. There was a creek near the farm where she grew up. Felicity would spend hours in the water talking to fish. But the dream was in an unfamiliar place.She heard a splash. Something rose out of the water like a giant arm. Under the moonlight, she saw dark glistening scales. A rancorous and miasmic aura exuded from it. Felicity paddled to her left to avoid the object. But there was another one blocking her way, and many others surfaced to surround her. In no time, the long, slender arms encircled her. They flipped in the air like tentacles. Felicity swam towards land, but other appalling creatures were waiting for her on the embankment—a large bat with shadowy wings and a tr

Tarsus, Damon, and Felicity climbed down the rope ladder, one after another. The womb of the cavern was dark and dreary. It was a treacherous descent from the ledge, slithering down over fifty feet of rock. The rope ladder had sturdy wooden rungs for support, but everything was damp and slippery. The youngsters had to be very careful lest they risk falling to their deaths.The walls were covered with moss. A layer of mist hung in the air, stinging their noses. Felicity had insisted on going down first. Perhaps it had something to do with depriving the men of an accidental peek under her tunic if she had gone last. Or maybe she did not want men to lead the path. Regardless, the Muse had her way and took the forefront.The shaft’s rock parapet had prevented them from capturing the underground panorama earlier. Halfway down the ladder, they could see how large the cavern was.The hollow’s roof was so high that clouds formed near the upper ceiling. A str