Rise Of Hades' Hellborn: Trumpets Of The Damned

Cinders And Shadows

The convoy was wrecked.

Black smoke curled into the sky like a funeral flag. Ash coated the asphalt, and burning metal hissed under the rain of embers.

Anna’s pulse thudded as she knelt behind the twisted shell of the center truck. Myles was beside her, rubbing raw wrists—his chains now broken from the inside, sparks still flickering on the links. She didn't ask how. She didn't need to.

The watch was now on Myles wrist like nothing had ever happened.

Across the ruined highway stood Kaelin, smug and composed, flanked by two horrors pulled straight from hell’s darkest corners.

Nixx, a flickering, shape-warping shadow, melted in and out of visibility. Its limbs stretched and distorted, sometimes looking human, sometimes… not.

And then there was Infernox.

The bull-headed demon’s hooves cracked the pavement as he stomped forward. Seven feet tall and packed with coiled muscle, he radiated volcanic heat. Lava-pulsing veins lit up across his red-black skin, and his nose ring glowed like molten iron.

“Anna,” Myles muttered, eyes narrowed. “That one’s mine.”

“No offense,” she hissed, notching an arrow, “but I’m not taking orders from a guy who was passed out thirty minutes ago.”

“ I'll distract Kaelin, handle the others”

Kaelin chuckled from behind his two enforcers. “By all means, work together. It'll make this more entertaining.”

He raised a hand.

Nixx vanished in a smear of shadow. Infernox bellowed, and the earth beneath their feet buckled.

Anna rolled left, loosing an arrow mid-dive. It hissed toward Infernox’s eye—but Nixx emerged in a blink, catching the projectile with a tendril of darkness. It melted into shadow.

“Okay. That’s new,” Anna muttered.

Myles didn’t wait. He sprinted forward, ducking under a flaming slab hurled by Infernox, then vaulted onto a burnt-out car. With both pistols drawn, he fired.

The bullets hit Infernox’s chest with metallic cracks—but barely staggered him.

Myles cursed, flipped backward, and landed . “Okay. That didn’t work.”

Across the street, Anna dueled Kaelin in close quarters. Her bow turned into twin blades as she parried and slashed, but Kaelin was impossibly fast. Every strike she landed, he returned with flair. Blood bloomed from a cut across her cheek, and Kaelin laughed.

"You're better than I expected. Still going to die."

"You talk too much," she snarled.

She flipped back and loosed a glowing arrow mid-air. It pierced his shoulder, staggering him for the first time…

When he fired again—light exploded from the barrels.

The fiery bullets found their mark . One struck Nixx mid-lunge, forcing the shadow demon to scream and retreat into the ground. The second slammed into Infernox’s thigh, tearing molten flesh apart.

The bull demon roared, swinging wildly. Myles ducked, then jabbed both pistols into Infernox’s chest and fired again.

BOOM.

Infernox was hurled back, crashing through a flipped SUV and tumbling into a heap.

Anna gaped. “You just Supernova’d a minotaur.”

Myles smirked. “Guess my boss finally decided to let me clock in.”

They turned—just in time to see Kaelin right in front of them, hand extended.

Anna fired. Kaelin caught the arrow mid-flight.

“I warned you,” he said, then backhanded her. Anna slammed into a wall and dropped.

Myles raised his pistols, but Kaelin blurred forward and snatched his wrist.

The watch flared.

Kaelin smiled. “This belongs to me now.”

There was a flash—a tug in Myles’ chest—and then the watch vanished.

Kaelin stood three paces away, the relic now strapped to his wrist. The obsidian surface shimmered in sync with his corrupted aura.

“No!” Myles roared, lunging.

But Kaelin waved his hand—and Nixx reappeared, crashing into Myles and hurling him across the debris. Myles skidded, his shoulder slamming into steel.

Anna groaned and rolled onto her side. “Myles…”

Kaelin turned to her, lips curling. “You fought well. But this is where your story ends.”

The ground beneath them cracked open.

A fissure of hellfire.

Kaelin, Nixx, and the wounded—but still breathing—Infernox stepped through the portal that opened beneath them. The last thing Myles saw before it snapped shut was Kaelin tapping the watch—already syncing with it like he was born to wear it.

Silence followed.

Myles pushed himself up, body trembling, blood dripping from his nose.

Anna crawled over, leaning against the same wreck for support. “He has the watch,” she rasped.

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence, smoke rising around them, sirens distant in the wind.

“I’m guessing he’s not done,” Anna added.

Myles glanced at the sky—already darker than it should be. “No,” he said. “That was just his opening move.”

Anna suddenly remembered to check for any survivors. The first truck had Leo who just regained consciousness but had a bloodied right thigh from a shrapnel partly buried.

“ Are you okay?” She asked in concern. “ Yeah but me leg’s—” Leo said and yelled when Anna pulled out the shrapnel.

While in the rear truck all members of Alpha team were fine, Myles only needed to pop the door open…