“You have got to be kidding me.” I growled. “The country I laid my life down for has just betrayed me.”

“To be fair…” Illias said under his breath. “You betrayed them first by bringing Artemisia to Isadora.”

Atemu shrugged in agreement.

“I was going to bring her to Themistocles afterwards.” My hands tightened around the reins. “That is, until I was told of his selfish motives. Athens is better off without a masquerading tyrant as their leader.”

“Well we can’t exactly fight them.” Atemu folded her arms. “They’re not the real enemy here. They’re probably following Themistocles without knowing his true intentions. Politicians are experts at twisting the truth.”

“I will take your lack of action as an acceptance of my terms.” Damien called up to us as his camel started walking away. “I’m sorry it had to come to this, Theo.”

“I didn’t say.” I dismounted. “You could leave.”

Corruption dripped off my fists as my breathing hastened.

“What’s that?” The dwarf pulled at the reins of his camel to stop moving and turn around.

“Theo, don’t.” Illias went to put his hand on my shoulder, but didn’t follow through with the gesture. “These are your brothers and sisters. You fought beside many of them more than once.”

“So then what?” I snapped. “I should just let him go? Give Themistocles untold power, and let a massive war erupt over the entire world?”

“We’ll find another way to catch up with Damien before he reaches Themistocles.” He offered. “Please, Theo. If you do this, there’s no going back. You’ll be committing treason!”

“A price I must pay for the greater good.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Atemu dismounted and approached me. “The Theo I know wouldn’t massacre these Athenian soldiers. He’d try and find another way. A better way.”

“The Theo you know died with his mother.” I knelt down into a runner’s stance.

She reached out to try and stop me, but Cymone held her back. I pushed off before Illias could try to stop me too, kicking a sizable amount of sand up behind me, then sprinted the length of the top of the dune. As I got to the edge, I leapt into the air, flying high above the Athenians below. 

“No!” Illias cried out as I soared.

The corruptive magic surrounding my hands ignited, burning bright with more power. And then I made eye contact with Damien.

“Run…” The dwarf’s eyes widened. “Run!”

All the Athenians bolted, half of them running to the right and the other half running to the left. The middle phalanx had barely made any distance in their flight before I crashed down at the formation’s center, pounding both my fists into the Earth. A tower of sand erupted upwards, which mutated from its golden brown color to a dark, smoky purple as it ascended. At the same time, a wave of energy pulsed from the blast’s epicenter, transforming the sand on the ground in the same manner.

The sand showered down on the hoplites in steaming droplets. Neither armor nor skin could withstand the corruption as it melted anything it touched. Anyone who wasn’t hit by the downpour instead sunk into the desecrated ground. Their bodies liquified as the sand swallowed them up, leaving nothing but piles of soggy metal and blackened skin in their places.

“DAMIEN!” My voice resounded with an ethereal echo.

I scanned the area and found the dwarf standing on his camel, as it was the only thing between him and the befouled terrain. His head darted around frantically, searching for a way out, when he met my gaze. As I ambled towards him, he hurled a dagger at me. I raised my hands in front of my face, and was surprised to see that the weapon had stopped midair.

“You’re a fully fledged weapon master.” Damien’s voice shook. “And a corruption wielder? You and Artemisia are more alike than I thought.”

“We are nothing alike.” I growled as I stepped closer, taking hold of the levitating dagger and melting it.

“Really?” He struggled to keep his balance on the camel’s back as it sunk deeper. “You both betrayed your country.”

“You forced my hand!” I closed the distance between us with two strides and seized his neck. “You made me do this.”

“You chose your own path.”

“Malákas!” Illias’ voice echoed from behind me. “Theo!”

I ignored it, keeping my attention on Damien. The camel had finished sinking as it let one final moan out, leaving a sizzling pile of blackened flesh on the surface.

“Why did you do it?” I squeezed harder, forcing him to wheeze, then relaxed my grip slightly to let him speak.

“Themistocles rescued me from a life of slavery.” He gasped as his feet dangled below him. “As he did for many others like me.”

“Aren’t you aware of his endgame?”

“I have to believe what he’s doing is right.” His voice was raspy. “And so should you! He took you in as an orphan!”

“You’re more naïve than I thought.” The ground immediately around my feet boiled with purplish bubbles. “Regardless. So what if he saved hundreds of people from slavery? A lifetime of good deeds does not excuse an act of evil.”

“You’re one to talk.” His eyes bulged. “Have you noticed what you’re doing right now?”

I examined my surroundings, watching as Athenians screamed in agony. They clawed at the sand to avoid being swallowed up, only to meet the excruciating death that awaited them anyways. The ground started to steam up, creating a slight haze around us.

“Theo!” Illias’ voice echoed again.

“All these men have families.” Damien coughed, spurting blood this time. 

“And you brought them here as meat shields.” I snarled “To protect yourself from me.”

I lowered my hand so that his tiptoes hovered directly above the corrupted sand.

“Who’s the monster now?!” He spat in my face.

I held him in this position for a few seconds before lifting him back up, a safer distance away from the ground. I then dashed away, still with Damien in my custody, and climbed back up the dune to where I left Atemu, Illias and Cymone. The corruption had stopped spreading at the base of the dune, which was a relief.

“Theo!” Illias’ voice was louder now that I was closer, and once I reached the top of the dune, my heart sank. Atemu laid flat on her back, her entire left arm blackened with corruption. Her body was coated with sweat as she winced in pain, clutching her limp arm with her other hand, which glowed with light magic.

“What have you done?!” Illias shouted. “Ares himself would cower before the destruction you’ve just caused.”

“What happened?” I stammered as I tossed Damien to the side where he promptly peeled over to vomit.

“When the acid sand rained back down, it managed to get to our location too.” Cymone stepped up to me. “I got my own barrier up in time, but the priestess didn’t. She chose to shield your friend instead.”

“What do I do?” I fell to my knees before Atemu. “How do I fix this?”

She didn’t speak through her ragged breathing, but her eyes glared at me with hatred.

“I could help.” A female voice spoke up behind me and I turned around to see Artemisia. “Thanks for the corruption-kickstart by the way. Very refreshing.”

I burst to my feet and blitzed her.

“You may have come into your destructive power.” She spoke up again and I hesitated before wrapping my fingers around her neck. “But this situation requires a certain finesse that you have yet to learn. I will extract the corruption from her on one condition.”

“Name it.” I got in her face.

“Isadora’s head on a plate.”

“I‒” I stepped backwards in shock. “No.”

“Don’t say I didn’t try.” She smirked. “Now, if you don’t mind, I will reap the fruits of my labor and be gone.”

“Huh?” My eyebrows scrunched together.

“Why do you think I surrendered myself to you and went along with your pitiful kidnapping series for as long as I did?” She turned her head to look at Cymone. “We’ve been waiting for you to show yourself, traitor. It is time for the guardians of the blood moon to exact their vengeance upon you for your betrayal.”

“I hope you’re prepared to wait a bit longer.” The elf snatched my arm, pulled me into her, and thrust her free hand into the air. “You underestimate me.”

“No!” Artemisia lunged at us, but she wasn’t fast enough.

A dark red circular barrier whooshed around us, blocking my vision of anything outside of it. It hummed with energy, beating almost like a heart, and then dissipated. 

Everything was gone. 

All that surrounded us were the stalagmites and stalactites of the cave we had been teleported too. The sound of dripping water echoed throughout the entire cavern as a cool breeze wafted past us.

“What have you done?” I pushed myself away from her. “She got away! Atemu and Illias can’t hope to fight her themselves! Oh, dear gods. Atemu…”

“I can’t fight her myself or risk her returning me to the guardians.” She sat down, cross legged. “And you were in no position to take her on after expending as much magic as you just did. Plus, after what just happened, I’m certain that Artemisia will heal your priestess and take both her and the Greek hostage as bargaining chips for me. Or you.”

“She’s done it before.” As I broke the tip off of one of the stalagmites with a punch, a wave of lightheadedness embraced me, causing me to stumble.

“Take a deep breath and relax.” She said softly. “We will see this through, I promise, but for now we need to regain our strength and rest. Especially you.”

“I don’t like this.”

“You don’t have to.” She laid back, sprawled out, and closed her eyes. “My plan will work with or without you. I just hope you’ll wise up and tag along. It’ll be much easier if you do. But, I can’t force you. The choice is yours.”

“Does your ‘plan’ end with Artemisia’s death after the blood moon passes?” I sat down across from her.

“Among a few other things, yes.”

“Then count me in.”