33 Issue #32: X, Spyra.
More advance chapters in Pat.reon.com/Saintbarbido.
&
Ko-fi.com/saintbarbido.
::-------------------------------::
(General P.O.V)
Without giving the mighty dog a chance to capture it's breath, the flaming spider released a thick strand of web from its belly.
The web wove around Cerberus' serpentine tail, submerging the head within the folds of the heated web fluid.
And with a push off the cliff, the Spider tugged at it's prey and The Hellhound was wrenched out of the hole shaped like its body, spun around and duely smashed on to the cliff side once more.
Bam!!!
The whole area rumbled, pieces of rocks getting torn off the cliff, before falling to the pool of water below.
Dust covered Cerberus' body from view.
Taking that brief reprieve, the 3 headed Hellhound broke into a thick stream of fire.
The fire swirled into the air, separating and reforming into three Hellhound clones.
The Hellhounds escaped into different directions, running and leaping off clouds of fire.
Thwip!
Thwip!
Flaming web bullets pursued. Flying across the air at crazy speeds, leaving a trail of blue behind.
And without much difficulty, they accurately hit the targeted spots on all 3 Hellhounds.
There was a burst of blue light and the web bullets exploded outwards like tar upon impact, covering the Hellhounds with bluish fire.
Two of the Hellhounds yelped, falling off the sky while entangled in sticky burning webbing.
The last Hellhound broke off into more clones.
9 to be exact, and of an even smaller size- these ones happened to look similar to puppies.
Some swooped down towards the falling adult clones while others turned into speedy balls of black, that attacked the spider with fast moving fireballs.
The cliff was pelted with the projectiles, destroying more and more of it, while the Spider merely evaded by scuttling across it's side, the tips of it's legs piercing into the stone with relative ease.
It seemed as if it knew where the attacks would land before they landed.
The numerous miniature Cerberuses discarded the ineffective strategy and started bombarding the cliff side with their own bodies!
4 much larger explosions managed to shave off close to 10% of the cliff, the force sending the Fire Spider sailing through the air, hurtling on the shockwaves produced.
Kane, within the confines of the burning spider grunted as his body was rattled from the impact.
An issue became apparent- While in the air, the spider could not dodge quite as effectively, especially while Kane was yet to wake up- his flesh steadily healing from the burns sustained.
That's when Cerberus unleashed a huge cyclone of fire from below.
The fire pillar was produced by the miniature clones and the two remaining Hellhounds combining into a manifestation of flames.
Space itself seemed to melt akong the pillar's path, creating a self contained false world of flames around the spider.
-0-
A few miles away, Minos grunted from atop a black Pegasus he rode on.
He was in charge of overseeing the reconstruction of Hades' Palace.
And because of that, he had been dutifully directing the lines of souls involved in material transportation up the ramps- when something caught his attention.
It begun with a wave of pressure blasts that carried immense heat.
Turning to the glowing skies,
Minos' shocked eyes watched the horizon, where a tall pillar of fire, dozens of miles long and just as wide, surged into the Heavens.
The head of the pillar shaped like a snarling dog.
Within it's jaw, clamped in between it's teeth, a lighter colored fiery spider, could be seen.
Despite its much smaller size, the Spider was able to resist the crushing bite of Cerberus' flame construct.
The Spider's legs were braced against the roof of the construct's mouth and the tongue, pushing back against the biting force.
"Is that Cerberus?"
Riding on a similar Pegasus, Aeacus, the last judge, asked while flying closer.
"I don't see who else it could be."
Minos muttered, a quiver in his voice. Despite being a judge, he had never witnessed a battle of such extent.
He knew if it were him, Cerberus would not need such power to crush him. So the question that remained was, who was the 3 headed monster Hellhound fighting?!
"This is bad."
Aeacus spoke up.
"The reverberations of the fight are destabilizing the soul concentration in the river Styx."
The river of Hate.
Below them, in the depths of said river, hazy forms could be seen swimming up it's length.
The souls of the dead in the massive lake under the palace, seemed to go into a frenzy, all pulled to the bright lights and immense power given off by the ongoing battle.
"You're right."
Minos agreed, watching the lines of the souls he was in charge of, begin to turn towards the bright light.
The two judges stared at each other.
"We need the boss."
-0-
(Kane's P.O.V)
I'm in a sea of blue.
Floating in warm air.
My eyes peeked open as I heard and felt a trembling close by.
Immediately, I closed them as too much light bombarded into me.
But the pressure waves did not stop.
Instead, a rhythmic boom seemed to go off. striking at the walls of the warm cocoon I was in.
The slightest shaking sent off waves of pain across my body.
But pain was a friend, so I chose to ignore it as I always did.
'Something is up. I'm in...danger.'
Once again, this time carefully, I opened my eyelids.
And indeed I was in a sea of blue. A world of blue flames to be exact.
My heart beat soared as I recalled what had happened.
I'd been sure I'd had Cerberus right where I wanted him. I had been so close to delivering that final blow.
But it was stupid and reckless of me to ignore Spider Sense. This wasn't like my previous world, where my training and abilities pretty much guaranteed victory.
This was a world of Gods and monsters.
And failing to learn that lesson had almost put me out of commission.
Permanently.
I would have died. I should have died.
But I hadn't. Even if for just a few nano-seconds there, I think, I'd lost.
When Cerberus' flame breath slammed into me, I had no choice but to immediately call out my own flames to protect me.
Despite that, my skin had cracked, my blood had boiled and then, a gentle warm feeling had pervaded my body.
That feeling...was yet to diminish. I could feel it even now. Like a warm embrace.
"W-What are you?"
I groaned out, aware of the link I could feel with the fire construct around me.
The main source of the warmth.
I could already tell it wasn't a simple creation of flames but a manifestation of flames given life. Or life given flames. It was confusing.
I could already tell...the flames were mine and the life in them- the soul, was familiar.
So familiar infact, an image appeared in my vision...
"P-Pyra?"
I tentatively called out.
The flames around me surged up in nostalgic excitement.
Warm and gentle feelings poured down the link, filling me with a calmness and assurance I wasn't ready for.
An assurance that I would be protected. That I was safe.
And despite my wariness, I felt myself relax...
"Oh nice."
I sighed, no longer able to hold back the pain of my burns.
My awareness receded as I let go consciousness, allowing myself to fall into a state between sleep and wakefulness.
Trusting that whoever this was...they would keep me safe until I was healed up.
-0-
The Spider and the Dog construct flew higher and higher, almost reaching the upper stratosphere of the Underworld.
Past the perpetual mist, bright chunks of gemstones and precious earth metals shone down with the intensity of stars.
This was the true sky of the Underworld.
A personification of Uranus, only hidden underneath the earth's crust. But still in its own dimensional layer.
The two Flaming creatures were about to slam into the ceiling when a loud shout pierced through the entirety of the Underworld.
"ENOUGH!"
The clouds of gray hanging over the Land of the dead were expelled away.
And in a phenomenal that was out of place in the gloomy landscape of the Land of the dead, the gorgeous light from the Gemstones washed through the dreary and hopeless terrain.
-0-
(3 days later)
I woke up lying on something soft.
Like usual, I made no indication I was awake. Only, using my ears to listen in.
There was a slight skittery sound coming from across the room.
The sound was vaguely familiar, reminding me of the fast typing on one of those old keyboards.
Opening my eyes, I was treated to a room in disarray.
The ceiling seemed to have recently filled-in cracks.
And secondly, I was lying on a bed with golden sheets that were littered with a multitude of slashes.
Half of the silky fabric was basically strips. The other half was burned at edges.
The carpet on the ground had melted into clumps of a black substance, which turned out to be one half of a pillow.
The other part was stuck to the wall on my left.
That initial sweep of the chamber clued me on where I was. The guest room assigned to me when Diana and I first arrived in the Underworld.
But that didn't explain why it was in such a mess.
I swung my feet off the bed, rubbing my chest. Specifically, the spot with the tattoo of the spider imprinted on my skin.
The flesh there felt raw and itchy.
Before I could think too much about it, my feet landed on something sharp.
Of course, the skin there was harder than treated leather, seeing as I shattered whatever was underfoot easily and with no discernible injury to my sole.
I looked down, staring at the remains of a vase lying on the floor.
Next to it were gemstone flowers with diamond leaves lying around.
Some of the leaves seemed to be chewed right through. As impossible as such a sight was.
The sound of glass shattering pulled my eyes to the right.
And that's when I saw it.
Its 8 legged form draped over a lantern with a shattered glass, as it tried to get to the green gem inside.
In fact, that's when the spider seemed to notice me as well.
And I kid you not, it's entire body was made up fire. Blue Fire that is.
With 4 pairs of eyes staring at me with childish curiousity, the creature was the size of my palm.
And it's shape vaguely resembled that of a Black Widow spider.
A memory of a much larger spider, holding me within its body in a protective shell rose to the forefront of my mind.
A surprised smile appeared on my face.
I raised a hand, waving at it. It raised one of its legs, returning the gesture, albeit unsurely.
The Fiery Spider then skittered across the carpet, leaving holes on its surface before eagerly and unexpectedly (on my part) jumping onto my open palms.
Surprised and intrigued for equal measure, I brought it closer to my face.
"Hi, you must be...Spyra."
I greeted, the name flowing out of my lips before I could help it.
Afterall, this was an incarnation of my fallen friend.
Pyra's soul, through the craziness that was the DC Universe seemed to have incarnated into the adorable looking spider before me.
It was only fitting that her name be Spyra.
She had also, saved my life.
