Chapter 25

Ajax sighed as he sat in yet another cage in another tent along with many of his fellow Lycans, most of whom were still unconscious. He wasn't sure exactly where they were at this point but from what he'd seen he didn't think they were on Earth any more. The hard ground under him was a sickly looking blueish color. The sky, of which they could occasionally see slices of through the tent flaps, was the color of puke green. With the natural colors being such sickly shades it was no wonder they were such unhappy people.

At his stomach once again growling loudly he said internally, *'I think my stomach is about to rise up and attack these assholes.'*

*'I wonder how the Titans would respond to that beast,'* Hezin chuckled.

*'Ever since we went through what I can only assume was a portal we haven't moved at all. They’re still holding all of us in tents inside large tents. Right now I’ve only seen the guards once in a while. Most of all captured Lycans seem to be faring okay. My only real concern right now are the females. There aren't very many but they've separated them from us.'*

*'I'll share your concerns with my Queen. Do you know any of the females taken by name?'*

*'No, but Filtairn might.'*

*'I'll mention that as well. If we have a specific name we might be able to check on them. Galena, Ikisat's powerful seer, can see where no one else can.'*

*'Thank you. Oh yay, they are feeding us slop,'* Ajax muttered as a large Titan came in with a bucket of something very disgusting looking and smelling. He made sure that Hezin was seeing what he was as a scoopful was given to him with a bowl.

*'That's the sort of stuff we'd use to punish evil souls. It's quite disgusting. When this is all over we'll go out for the largest steaks we can get.'*

*'It's a date, hot stuff!'* Ajax smirked silently at Hezin's chuckle.

~~*~~

Darius sat and talked with Filtairn as they waited for Thea to join them. She'd requested a meeting with the both of them, asking Filtairn to bring along warriors for protection, which surprised both Filtairn and Darius.

“Do you think she wants the enemy spies to take note of her appearance here?” Filtairn asked.

“It would seem so,” Darius answered.

Just then a loud commotion sounded from outside of his office. Looking sharply at Filtairn they both immediately stood up and headed for the office door. Once Darius opened it he was surprised to find Theanna between two very large Daemoni guards in full Daemoni mode and Filtairn’s Lycan guards who were snarling at them.

Of everyone in the room, it was Theanna herself that wore the fiercest, most terrifying scowl. Her horns had begun to appear as her eyes glowed red and her teeth sharpened. In Lycan, Theanna sharply ordered the wolves, “I am Queen Theanna! Stand down now!”

Filtairn immediately moved to stand next to her and growled in warning, “Stand down! Do not disrespect our Queen further or I’ll make you pay painfully!”

The wolves lowered their eyes and obeyed as they moved to stand off to a corner, scowling sharply at the Daemoni guards.

Turning to her guards, Theanna commanded angrily in Daemoni, “Return to your human forms, NOW!” Once they were again human, she then ordered, “Behave or else you’ll serve Cazikel. Do I make myself clear? I don't have patience for this nonsense!”

Bowing their heads they immediately responded, “Yes, my Queen!”

With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Theanna planted a smile upon her face as she returned to her human form and turned back to Filtairn, saying, “Filtairn, you look well!”

“As do you, my Queen!” Filtairn replied with a bow and a kiss upon her gloved hand. “I apologize for my idiotic wolves.”

“Oh stop that! We have known each other too long for that nonsense,” she smiled as she hugged him. Turning to Darius she smiled and hugged him as she said, “Hiya, D!”

Returning her hug before leading them back into his office, Darius asked, “Where is Damian?”

“He’ll be along shortly. He had to retrieve something for me,” she replied a bit cryptically.

Noticing her winter-esque attire in fifty degree weather, Darius asked with a slight chuckle, “The Dark Realms must have you thinking it’s full on winter here.”

Theanna was in her thigh-high leather stiletto boots, matching leather pants and gloves, along with her stylish cream-colored coat that was buttoned on the front, and was short-cropped but had a long skirt-like tail in back.

“You could say that,” she replied as she slowly unbuttoned her coat. Once it was off she revealed an elegant purple silk blouse over which a black corset sat. Her outfit was complemented by the unique black stone that sat on her forehead with a golden hair chain and her long pink hair with its silver streak flowed down her back in a mixture of braids and curls.

Despite taking off the coat, Darius noticed she didn't remove her gloves, which he found very curious. He decided to hold off commenting for the moment. “The stone on your forehead, is that the universe stone Lucifer gifted you?”

“It is. I absolutely love it!”

“It’s incredibly beautiful just like you!” Filtairn charmed, receiving a slight blush in return.

Settling down to business, Darius asked, “You wanted to meet to discuss the Titans?”

“I did. As you both know, the battle we fought against the Titans was hard-won. We learned many things about them and we were able to capture one of their Generals. What we learned from the barbarian was invaluable.

“Unfortunately, with their wizards around it's nearly impossible to injure a Titan fatally. Even after they were beheaded the wizards were able to heal them. We believe we're close to being able to inflict the type injury that would defeat them permanently, but for that I'll need your help, Darius.”

At that moment Damian appeared in the room, “I'm sorry for my late arrival. Filtairn, Darius... you both look well! Zoqa, he was successful.” Producing an ornate box, he handed it to her.

“Thank you, Dnirya. As I was saying, we've found a way to injure the Titans so that they cannot heal and believe it’ll also destroy them.” Opening the box she pulled out a vial that held a dark purple substance. “This is the Ash of Death. The vapor alone was able to severely injure the Titan General and he hasn't healed from it yet.”

“And you believe it'll kill them?” Darius asked.

“We do, but there's a catch. It's extremely dangerous to make. Currently, these five vials are all that exist,” Damian explained.

“How's it made?” Filtairn asked, extremely interested.

Theanna looked at Damian as she removed her gloves, exposing her damaged hands. The skin was raw and black, appearing charred as if burnt by a hot fire.

“Theanna!” Darius exclaimed as he jumped up to look at her hands.

“I'm fine, now, and I'm healing, albeit slowly. The poison is from me. It’s a mix of my essence and powers from my Celestian, Daemoni, and Illuminare sides, all uniquely extracted and processed. It seems the Titans react negatively to the combination. Chaos led us to discover this vulnerability in them, but the mixture is highly potent and dangerous to extract and even more taxing to mix.

The spell, which is fiercely guarded by the Lords of the Magick Consortium, required a sacrifice on my part, as shown by the silver streak in my hair and my hands. The toll was high enough to require healing for several days now. If it ends this mess with these savages, though, then it'll all be worth it.”

“She doesn’t want to lose any more Daemoni or Lycans to them,” Damian stated as he gently took her hands in his and put her gloves back on to protect them as they healed.

“None of us want that,” Filtairn agreed as Darius nodded.

“Darius, we have a large sample of Titan blood, I need your people to figure out at what dilution the Titans will be killed. The more we can dilute the poison the more warriors we can give it to. But please warn your scientists how dangerous it is in this current state. We had to utilize specially magic-infused vials to hold it. Even a minuscule amount of the vapor is deadly.”

Thea walked over to one of the plants in Darius' office. Opening one of the vials she blew a breath against the purple vapor that escaped, causing it to land among the leaves of the plant. Instantly, the plant wilted and began to die, within seconds it was dead and it had turned to ash.

“Wow!” Filtairn breathed.

“Exactly. I also would prefer it to be diluted so that my Daemoni are immune to it during the war to come and if possible the Lycans as well. We don't need anyone poisoning themselves. I seem to be immune to its poisons, probably because it exacts its toll on me in the creation process,” Thea chuckled darkly.

“And Damian?” Darius asked.

“I don't know, I haven't wanted to risk trying it,” Damian replied.

“I wouldn't either. You're smarter than you look,” Filtairn side-eyed him with a smirk.

Darius chuckled before growing serious and saying, “I'll get my best on it. When do you wish to make the final move?”

“Soon. We have plans in action to gather Intel on them. No matter what though, it must happen before the day of the Red Moon,” Damian stated firmly.

“Agreed,” Thea smiled tiredly. “Unfortunately, we must return to the Dark Realms, as I'm needed. There’s much to do.”

“Please, Thea, be safe,” Darius pleaded.

“Of course, D. I love you! Please give my love to Helen as well. Filtairn, we'll talk soon,” Thea stated as Damian simply smiled and nodded at them as they vanished, along with their Guards in the waiting room.

Filtairn looked at Darius with great concern in his eyes as he stated softly, “Her pain is still great but she hides it well. Did you notice how Damian watched her closely?”

“She does. I can see it in her eyes. Damian worries about her,” Darius sighed. “Gaia stated Chaos won't let anything happen to her, so I'm trying to have faith in that.”

“As will I. No one can know, though.”

“Agreed. We must not discuss it at all outside of this room.”