A ray of moonlight shone down upon the asphalt roads from the dark night sky. Street lights flickered like the flames in a campfire, adding brightness to the dimly lit road. The armor-clad Spartan took long strides on the gray sidewalk. He held his shield in his left hand, ready to deflect any attack from someone stupid enough to attack this demigod. He gripped his spear tightly in his right hand, ready to strike down anyone if necessary.
Zackeroar kept his eyes and ears on high alert for anything that would show him where his target was. Usually, the demigod would use the word "target" for someone he was assigned to kill. Not in this case, though. He was sent out into the streets in the middle of the night to find someone called Aiden Wing.
He’s a member of some faction which strives for world peace through relatively peaceful means. Each member basically has their own ways of achieving this goal. Aiden tries to protect the lives of those who need his help. Sencarn and the others saw this man as someone that could be a very useful asset in the future. Aside from that, he’s aware of Sanctuary’s existence and is suspicious of the RHG system.
Being the only member available for the mission, Zackeroar was sent out to recruit this man. At first, the Spartan argued that he was the wrong choice, saying that he would rather “bash heads in than try and negotiate with some mortal”. After a rather short argument, Sencarn finally forced the demigod to accept his assignment.
The Spartan walked under a flickering street light when he suddenly heard footsteps tapping on the flat cement roof of the store right next to him. Stopping in his tracks under the flickering spot of light, he gripped his weapons tighter and looked up, trying to locate the source of the noise. It was too dark to see anything even as Zackeroar squinted his eyes to try and have a better look of the roof.
The ground itself seemed to shake as a mysterious figure dropped down from the roof above. "You're part of the RHG, aren't you?" said the man who had just jumped down. "Yes, I am. Is there any problem?" replied Zackeroar. The man was dark skinned and had quite a muscled build. He had black, chin-length dreadlocks as well as black, neatly kept chin hair. The man was wearing a white collared shirt and black dress pants along with black work shoes. A necklace with a gold and red cross dangled from his neck and his expensive looking watch glistened in the moonlight.
"I'd like to ask you a few questions," the dark-skinned man requested.The Spartan stared right into the man's dark brown eyes. "Aiden Wing?" Zackeroar asked, to the man's surprise. "How do you know my name?" Aiden said, drawing his sickle and pistol. He wielded the sickle in his right hand and the pistol in his left, ready to take this threat out.
"I am Zackeroar, son of Zeus, and I am part of Sanctuary."
"Sanctuary, eh? I'm aware of you people." The man seemed to ease up and hid his weapons once more.
"That's exactly why I'm here. How would you like to learn more about the RHG's vile corruption?"
"I'm intrigued by your proposition. I've had my suspicions about the RHG system."
"Perhaps you would like to come with me to our base of operations and have a talk with the men in charge? I swear by the
gods that I will not harm you." Zackeroar said, opting to let Sencarn and the others do the talking.
"I would like to see this base of yours. I've got some questions I need answered about the RHG." At this, the two men headed off towards Sanctuary's underground base.
~~~~~
"It's just up ahead." Zackeroar said, his armor clanking as he quickened his pace into a jog. Aiden Wing followed and matched his pace with the gladiator. The moon still shone up above, now being the only source of light as the pair travelled through the grassy plains adjacent to the cement jungle.
A ray of red light in the form of a spear suddenly shot out from somewhere. It barely missed Zackeroar whose head might already be impaled if he hadn't narrowly dodged the projectile. "Shit!" Aiden Wing exclaimed, drawing both of his weapons in the same fashion he did earlier. The Spartan looked around, scanning his surroundings to find whoever threw the spear at him.
"You were supposed to be dead!" shouted a man in a red cloak who was running at the pair. Immediately, Aiden started firing shot after shot at their assailant. The assailant dodged the shots with ease, sidestepping left and right while still charging towards his targets. Zackeroar raised his shield and pointed his spear at this man, just like a Spartan in a phalanx would do.
Aiden never seemed to run out of bullets as he fired a constant barrage of lead at their enemy. One lucky shot penetrated through the man's arm, creating a hole which bled profusely. He skidded along the ground, his white boots unconvering the dirt below the grass. The man seemed to feel no pain, but anger was apparent in his face.
"Do not interfere, mortal!" The assailant thrust his hand forward, his spear of red light following the hand's movements. The spear floated above Aiden Wing before splitting up into smaller rods. The red hooded man brought his hand down violently, prompting the red rods to smash into the ground below, forming a prison for Sanctuary's potential recruit.
The Spartan took this opportunity and angled his spear upwards, aiming for his foe. His oaken spear soared through the air in a high arc before landing directly in his opponent's chest. Or at least that's what should have happened. A split-second before the spear touched his chest, the red cloaked man reached for the oaken shaft. He grabbed it as if it was just leaning on a wall and broke it in half.
"Who are you?" Zackeroar asked in disbelief, drawing his greatsword and setting aside his shield. For the first time in a long time, the demigod was worried. A grin slowly crept its way onto the assailant's face and a red light seemed to emanate from this godlike figure.
"The name's Aethrox, son of Zeus. Be prepared to be cut down!" The red light around Aethrox shone brighter and brighter something seemed to be materializing in his hands. Without the object fully materialized, he dashed off like a predator chasing his prey. A faint trail of red light was left behind, slowly disappearing as the distance between him and his target drew closer and closer.
Zackeroar was pissed. Not at his opponent, but at himself. "Worrying is weakness!" he thought to himself. "Why am I, Wrath Incarnate, son of Zeus, scared of this worthless mortal? He should be quivering in fear!" The son of Zeus slashed his greatsword horizontally as his enemy slashed with his now fully-formed sword. Aethrox barely blocked it with his blade made of pulsing red light, causing him to stagger sidewards.
A kick from the Spartan sent his opponent a few meters back, Aethrox trying desperately to regain his balance. Zackeroar ran at his opponent and jumped, sword held high above his head. Aethrox smirked and disappeared in a red flash, only to appear a few meters left of where he once was. The demigod fell to the ground with a thud, his armor colliding with the dirt in a violent fashion.
The assailant punted the demigod's helmet, the sheer force of the kick knocking the helmet off to expose the son of Zeus's bleeding face. Aethrox laughed like a madman as he pointed his sword at the demigod's throat. "The new gods send their regards." He said as he pushed his saber deeper and deeper, blood gushing out as Zackeroar's life slowly faded away.
~~~~~
Aiden fell to his knees and broke down. His hands covered his face as he tried to process what had just happened. The bars of red light that had surrounded him were recalled as Aethrox clenched his fist together. The red bars slowly transformed back into his spear which then disappeared in a flash of red light.
Ignoring the remaining mortal, Aethrox walked away as the sun slowly rose in the east. He held his hand forward, opening a portal which illuminated the surrounding area with red light. The man jumped with all of the momentum he had gathered and entered into the portal. In an instant, the man in the red cloak was gone.
Aiden had recovered from his breakdown and ran over to his comrade. If anything could be said about this demigod, it was that he was resilient. Zackeroar breathing heavy, stuttering breaths as blood flowed out of his open throat. "I'm sorry I couldn't help," said Aiden Wing, disappointment in himself apparent in his eyes. "It was my time," Zackeroar said with much difficulty.
Eventually, a team from Sanctuary was sent out to look for the fallen Spartan and found him, but it was too late. His body had almost been drained of its blood. They grabbed the demigod's body and carried him hastily, Aiden Wing trailing behind. "The war of the gods has begun," Zackeroar muttered before his body went limp.
Gray clouds gathered up above almost instantaneously and precipitated gray drops of rain. It was as if the heavens were crying for Zackeroar's death. Red lightning soon followed, then booming thunder. This red lightning came furiously and in quick succession, as if someone up above was angry. The team hurried even more, fearing for their lives.
The crew rushed the demigod to Sanctuary's clinic where the doctors did everything they could to revive him, but it was too late. There was nothing they could do to save the demigod's life. One strange thing did happen, though. The doctors swore that they saw the figure of a god take the son of Zeus's hand and pulled his spirit up. Whether it really did happen or not, that remains a secret.
