Chapter 26 Adaela #2
I quickly stepped back from the horn as the Indrik attempted once again to gore me.
I had flashbacks to when my father stabbed me in the stomach, and the thought paralyzed me for a moment.
I broke out in a cold sweat and my breathing picked up.
It wasn’t the time to panic, but my body chose otherwise.
Instead of working to incapacitate the Indrik, my body chose that moment to pull my knees out from under me.
Someone shouted at me, and the weight of a hoof came down atop me, my shadows forming a ball around me to prevent injury.
It shook me out of the panic enough to recognize my surroundings, and I forced myself to shake away the memories so I could focus on not dying here.
Leaning down, the Indrik made the fatal mistake when they tried to stomp on me, as their belly was directly above my prone form.
I sliced at their underside, preventing them from falling on top of me by rolling out of the way.
The Indrik bellowed out in pain and fell to the ground.
I quickly focused my death magic on the creature, trying to prevent them from dying, but holding them in stasis much like I had to Galdrane all those weeks ago.
Realizing that I had prevented my death again, I quickly got to my feet, watching the remainder of my crew battle each monster: Vada with the Chimera who mimicked my father, Daedalus against the Huay Chivo, and Valen against Echidna.
All of them appeared equally matched, with every single one sporting some sort of injury.
I took the three monsters in my mind as I had taken the Indrik, focusing my death magic on them, and I shouted, “We’re not here to fight! Enough.”
My companions came to my side as the three monsters were subdued.
I grabbed Vada’s hand and squeezed, asking silently if she was alright.
She squeezed back. With everyone subdued, dozens of other monsters of all shapes and sizes came into view, and I panicked.
I saw eyes of all shapes and colors from the tops of the trees to the ground, occasionally getting glimpses of monstrous forms ranging from spiders to incredibly tall Cryptids with spade-shaped faces.
I wasn’t sure we would be able to take all of them on—four to, on a quick count, over one hundred—without me using my death magic to kill all of them, which was against what we were here for in the first place.
“Echidna, I will let you out of this hold if you call off your pets. I’m not here to fight.
I’m here to prevent another Great War. Will you please let us go somewhere to talk?
I’d like to call for a ceasefire for now.
If you find that our conversation isn’t helpful, I promise you, I will let this continue in whichever way you deem necessary,” I pleaded, letting my desperation leak out into my voice.
She stared at me with hatred in her eyes but eventually conceded. I released my hold on the four of them. I prayed like hell that this conversation would get us somewhere. We all desperately needed a resolution, and I didn’t want to be on the Cryptid Realm’s shit list anymore.
Echidna led us through the woods, and while we saw many more creatures, they left us alone.
Vada’s scrapes and bruises were already healed, while Valen and Daedalus were a little worse for wear.
They would heal, but likely not at the pace that Vada could.
She had fed off the battle lust of the creatures surrounding us, but I didn’t mention it to anyone.
We were led to a rocky cliffside where the forest met the ocean. We took an uneven path that led into what I assumed was one of Echidna’s many caves as the rain pelted down outside, making the already intense waves of the ocean crash even higher.
We were all soaked and cold to the bone.
I shivered as Echidna lit a fire, but I didn’t dare move or ask for something to dry myself off with.
Neither did the others. They were waiting on my lead.
I wouldn’t say anything this time until Echidna was damn good and ready.
We were on her turf, and that meant her rules applied.
It was several more minutes of shivering and teeth chattering before Echidna invited us over by the fire. We gratefully stepped forward, letting the fire dry us off and warm our bones.
“Speak, child,” Echidna said impatiently. My knee-jerk reaction was to argue with her at the use of “child,” but considering the only person who likely was older than her here was Vada, I clenched my jaw and held back my retort.
“I’m here to ask you if you know anything about the portals opening all over the Catervae Pax, and if you know anything about who has the power to create them.
” I explained everything that we had theorized and reluctantly told her about Pandora’s Box.
The sharp inhale from both Valen and Daedalus didn’t go unnoticed, since it was the first they’d heard of this, too.
I shook my head at them, telling them without a word that I would fill them in later.
Both had identical expressions, as if they wanted to censure me, and I would let them once we left this place.
It wasn’t the time or place for their questions yet.
Echidna straightened her posture, eyes wide and split tongue scenting the air in distress.
She slithered throughout the cave for a long while.
I would guess it was her form of pacing.
I was growing anxious again that she wouldn’t tell us anything after I laid bare things that even the leaders of the Pax weren’t yet aware of.
I might have made the biggest mistake of my life by telling her this, but I had to trust that what Poe said was true—that we would find out more information here.
“A very long time ago,” Echidna began, and I sat down on the cave floor near the fire, willing to hear her story, “there was a man. His name was Typhon. He was my mate.”
I sucked in a breath, knowing where this story was going. The dread pooled in the pit of my stomach, and my companions weren’t faring much better. I was certain that what we believed to be true was actually much, much fucking worse than we initially anticipated.
“Typhon and I, as you likely already know, were the progenitors of many of the Cryptids in today’s world.
Typhon, however, wasn’t satisfied with this.
He wanted a better world for his children.
His version of better didn’t match the version many others imagined, since it was filled with genocide.
This endless search brought us to this realm; however, it also brought us many more issues, such as finding sustenance and being kidnapped constantly for the power my children could provide to any governing body, as you well know.
” I ducked my head in shame and nodded in acknowledgment of my own wrongdoing.
“I always wanted peace to some degree. I wasn’t interested in anything but keeping my children alive.
However, as they continued disappearing, my rage grew.
Typhon, having enough of it, decided to go to Zeus, seeking his position as the top God to protect his children.
At least, that’s what he had told me initially.
I later found out that a lot of the people disappearing my children were doing it at his behest.” She took a breath and stopped slithering, facing us.
“Long before you were born, Adaela, Zeus and Typhon battled. Vada may remember it.” Echidna pointed at her, and she confirmed it, but told us she was already in Hell when that battle took place, so she only knew the secondhand accounts.
“As I’m sure all of you know, Daedalus in particular, Zeus was quick to anger and quick to retaliate.
What you may not remember is that Zeus and Typhon both were children of Cronus.
Typhon was Cronus’s favorite, and the two of them had a fierce rivalry because of it.
When they battled, Zeus took the empty jar he gifted to Pandora, hit Typhon with a bolt of lightning, and threw Typhon’s body into the jar as if he were a firefly.
” Echidna sniffed, still mourning the loss of her mate.
“So when I tell you that you’re in a worst-case scenario, I mean it.
Typhon, as I learned, never wanted anything to do with his children.
He wanted warriors, and he wanted to be the ultimate power of not just the universe his children inhabited, but of all of them.
He was sent to Tartarus, a mistake on Zeus’s part, as I’m sure Cronus was gleeful that his favored child was imprisoned with him.
They’ve had thousands of years to plot and scheme.
I’m sure they both have made airtight plans for universal domination,” Echidna said.
“So, if that’s the case, why are they only starting with the Pax?” Valen asked.
“My best guess is to sow division. He has children who have strayed from his path living in the Pax. He wanted them to fight for him, but the best thing you ever did, Adaela, was show them a life I only ever dreamed of giving them,” Echidna replied, a sour look on her face at her reluctance to give me a compliment.
“He’s certainly sown the division, but the question remains. Who knew Adaela had Pandora’s Box? And who would have had the power to get through the portals to steal him from under our noses without detection?” Daedalus asked, pensive. “It’s a puzzle I’ve yet to crack myself.”
At this point, we had some of the puzzle figured out, but we didn’t have enough information to be able to determine the rest of it.
I stood up, stretching my limbs. My clothing was almost dry, and I was thankful for that.
I needed to change my ostomy bag, and it was another awkward conversation I wasn’t sure how to navigate with creatures who likely had never heard of one before.
Instead of fretting, I excused myself to the back of the cave with backpack in hand and tried to subtly change everything out.
I thought over everything Echidna told us.
We were fucked if Typhon was on the loose.
His children in St. Louis were in grave danger, and I needed to figure out who was opening the portals before Echidna had even more children taken from her.
She wouldn’t take kindly to them being lost on my behalf.
I would need to talk with Elizabeth, the head of the Cryptid Faction, to see if she could add any extra layers of protection on Echidna’s children.
Between her, the monster of Lake Elizabeth, and the Piasa bird, a cryptid from local lore in the St. Louis area, I was sure they’d be able to come up with something.
We were given all the information we would get here, and as I tried to find a place to throw away the contents of my used pouch, I couldn’t begin to fathom where to begin.
My assumption was that our next stop would be back to St. Louis briefly to update the Pax on our findings.
It wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation.
Due to the sensitive nature of the noses in the room, I decided to step out onto the steep cliffs leading to the cave to finish cleaning up.
I placed the pouch in a magical, airtight bag with an air freshener in it, placed it back in my pack, and continued to think.
I was grossed out carrying around the used pouch, but I also wasn’t about to leave it here either.
“What does everyone think about heading back to the Pax?” I asked.
Everyone else began to pack up as well, and we made our way out toward a little-known portal at Echidna’s direction.
“I will do everything in my power to make sure your children stay safe, Echidna. Are you sure that you don’t want to come with us?” I asked her.
“No. I need to protect the ones living here. Go, devise a plan, and make sure it’s impenetrable. I’m positive they’ve been planning this for far longer than you’ve been alive.”
We made our way through the portal one by one.
I was the last through the portal, and as I started stepping through, a new portal opened behind Echidna.
Slowly, something resembling a hand with snakes for fingers make its way out of the portal, a massive eye taking up the mass of the remainder of the portal.
If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would’ve never guessed something so massive could use such stealth.
Before I could yell out, Typhon sliced the human side of Echidna’s body from the snake side by wrapping his snake fingers around her body, constricting until both pieces were severed.
I screamed, and Typhon’s attention zoned in on me with mirth.
I was already being sucked through the portal, but saw his entire face come into view to mouth, “You’re next. ”