Rise Of Hades' Hellborn: Trumpets Of The Damned

Ashes Of Requiem

Sorran moved through the ruined Paragon corridors like a phantom made of death. Black flames licked at the walls behind him, eating metal and soul alike. His footsteps made no sound, but his presence crushed the air like a thunderstorm bearing down. His skeletal helm glowed faintly, reflecting the distant shimmer of containment cells rupturing in violent bursts.

His mission was not conquest. It was orchestration.

The first trumpet had sounded, but not fully. Not yet.

He had brought the instrument of chaos with him. The Watch—its polished obsidian shell smooth as mirror glass—hung at his side, cloaked in dimensional stasis. He could feel its hunger. Its song longed to be heard.

And so did Myles.

Sorran didn’t need to hunt him. Destiny would guide him straight.

He stepped over scorched bodies, their faces frozen in horror. Mortals who had thought they could protect the world. Naive.

He stopped as a Paragon mech unit blocked his path. The giant warframe locked on, target indicators flashing red across its visor.

"SURRENDER OR BE NEUTRALIZED."

Sorran tilted his head. He raised one clawed hand. The air around the mech imploded, and then with a crushing pulse of pressure, it folded in on itself with a metallic scream, compressing into a lump of steaming alloy.

He walked on.

Time was folding. Hades' champion would arrive soon. Right on cue.

***

Myles and Anna skidded to a halt in the upper levels, near the east watchtower. The fires behind them roared. The Paragon base was a skeleton now, barely standing, bones made of steel and wires.

Myles dual-wielded his pistols, custom-forged. They pulsed in his hands with ancient energy. Anna took cover behind a steel pillar, her high-tech compound bow trained on the only hallway left uncollapsed. Each arrow in her quiver was laced with specialized tips: explosive, electrostatic, and even ones designed to pierce the supernatural. Her sharp eyes scanned every shadow, every movement.

"He's coming," she whispered, voice low, tense.

Myles nodded, jaw tight. "I know."

The lights flickered. Shadows crept.

A figure stepped into the end of the corridor.

Sorran.

He was calm. Still. The black fire around him seemed almost amused.

Myles stepped out. No words. No threats. He opened fire.

Rounds blazed through the air, echoing in the narrow corridor. Holy-infused bullets screamed toward Sorran, and for a moment, it seemed like they'd land.

But Sorran moved with impossible grace. He weaved between the shots, each movement precise, almost elegant. A black flame spiraled from his fingers, and with a wave, the walls burst outward, flinging Anna across the hall. Myles kept firing, backing up.

He ducked behind cover, reloaded, and rolled back out, unloading a second volley. This time, one shot grazed Sorran's shoulder, burning through his robes.

Sorran's head twitched.

He raised a hand.

The air around Myles exploded, sending him crashing into a wall.

Pain lanced through his ribs, but he pushed to his feet.

Anna groaned, crawling from the rubble.

Sorran advanced, slow as death itself.

Myles dropped the pistols.

He summoned the sword of Hades outta thin air: The Obsidian Requiem.

Forged by Hades. Tempered in death.

He unsheathed it. The air pulsed. The black blade seemed to devour light itself. Shadows bent toward it. Myles gripped it with both hands, his breath sharp and ragged.

"You want a requiem," he growled. "Fine. I'll write yours in blood."

He charged.

***

Sorran blocked with his forearm, and the force of the impact sent a wave of pressure outward, shattering nearby glass and bending steel frames. The two clashed like avatars of ancient forces—one the embodiment of divine wrath, the other of void-born entropy.

Myles struck fast and hard, fury in every swing. Sparks flew with each hit. But Sorran was faster. He parried with fluid motion, countered with waves of black fire that seared armor and soul.

Myles gritted his teeth, taking a grazing blow across the shoulder. Pain blurred his vision, but he didn’t stop.

Anna fired from behind. Her shots pierced through the flames, forcing Sorran to deflect.

Myles took the opening.

He lunged.

The sword sliced across Sorran's chest.A hiss of dark energy erupted from the wound.

But Sorran didn’t falter. He smiled beneath the helm.Then he struck.

A backhand of black force hit Myles in the chest, launching him across the room. He crashed into the far wall, coughing blood.

Sorran walked forward, and for the first time, unhooked the Watch.

It had been part of Kaelin's idea to activate it, Myles had to be pushed to his limit inorder for the watch to be activated. 

It gleamed in the flickering firelight.He tossed it forward. It landed near Myles.

"You have felt its call," Sorran said, voice echoing with a thousand others. "Now fulfill it."

Myles stared at it, gasping.

Anna shouted, "Don't touch it!"

But Myles' hand moved on instinct. His fingers brushed the surface.

***

The moment Myles' fingers brushed the Watch, it was like the air itself had split. A reverberation shook the very foundation of the base, and the ground seemed to pulse beneath his feet.

The Watch, now active, thrummed with power, sending a shockwave through the corridors. Myles felt his veins burn, like a torrent of fire rushing through him. It was both agonizing and exhilarating.

The first trumpet had sounded in full.

Myles gasped as an unnatural energy surged through his body, pushing him to the brink of his limits. His vision blurred, his muscles screamed, but he stood. He would not fall. Not like this.

"Anna!" he gasped, struggling to keep his composure. "I... I can't control it."

She was crouched behind the nearest pillar, her eyes wide with fear and disbelief. Her tactical mind was racing. She could feel the shift in the atmosphere—the world itself bending under the weight of the energy that was being unleashed.

"You have to fight it, Myles!" she shouted, her voice shaking as she sprinted forward. She unleashed a volley of arrows, each one crafted with precision, aimed at Sorran’s core. But they bounced off like raindrops against stone.

Sorran laughed, the sound sending chills down their spines.

Myles raised the Obsidian Requiem high, his grip tightening around the hilt. The sword hummed with dark energy, seemingly feeding off the power that the Watch had unleashed. His body trembled as he brought the blade down in a powerful arc.

Sorran parried effortlessly, the clash sending shockwaves through the room. Black fire exploded around them, engulfing everything in its path.

Myles’ rage burned hotter, his control slipping further as the Watch whispered to him, urging him to let go of everything—his past, his humanity, his very soul. He raised the sword again, but this time, a new force was guiding his strikes. No longer was he holding back. He was pushing Sorran with every ounce of strength he had left.

Sorran, amused and unfazed, blocked each attack. The black flame that surrounded him flared with every blow, but it wasn't enough to defeat him. He was eternal.

Myles gritted his teeth and struck again, this time with every ounce of power his body could muster.

And then he felt it. Something snapped. A roar of power surged through him, his eyes and veins visibly flashed purple, and the Watch pulsed again.

A deep, resonant sound vibrated in the air. The first trumpet.

The battle had only just begun.