Chapter 30

The day before the Red Moon had finally arrived and King Reniac scowled at his Generals. “I won't accept anything other than success. If you can't destroy such a pitifully small Daemoness you don't deserve to be a Titan. You failed me before and every day since. I'll have the traitor cub, the aether and the Chalice or I'll have your heads. This is my chance to get back what was stolen from us and it will not slip through my fingers. Am I clear?”

“Yes, my liege!” all of his generals replied. After their last failure, Reniac executed every soldier that retreated back to Talos. He wasn't a forgiving ruler. If they didn't bring him what he wished for today, none of them would survive another day and they knew it.

“Every warrior will go, all of our wizards, and I'll command the forces myself. From what we've been told, that Daemoness has a pitifully small army and not nearly enough to defeat me. Bring me her head, the head of the Queen of the Daemoni, and you'll be rewarded. Retrieve what is rightfully ours and true power will be yours. Run away with excuses and every single warrior under your command will pay the price. Now go prepare. We leave when the sun is high in the sky!”

Reniac stood alone as he looked at the map of the Dark Realms. He was tired of excuses. Too many times already he'd allowed for excuses when there was failure. This usurper, Theanna, was a menace to his plans. He was told that she was Chaos' chosen Queen, which was all the better for Reniac. If Chaos were made to suffer when she was dealt with, it was only a tiny bit of what he deserved. Their destinies were stolen and he would have it all returned back to him. He would replace Chaos as King of the Gods, the King of all the Realms.

Slamming his fist down, he turned and walked out to get his armor on. A short time later, Reniac appeared atop his chimera, a fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. When the soldiers didn't immediately move out of the way, he allowed his beast to plow through them with barely contained rage, injuring several as he forced his way to the head of his army.

He smirked confidently as his army filled his courtyard and beyond, as far as he could see. He knew the small Queen had but a small number of soldiers in comparison. He was Reniac and it was inconceivable that he could be beaten. This was his destiny and no pitiful female would be able to ever stop him.

“To Victory!” Reniac commanded as his wizards opened the large portal. In a flash, his entire army appeared a short distance away from the main gate of the High Queen's palace. The sky appeared as the darkest of night and was thus very quiet. Not even the screams of the punished could be heard. He could just barely make out the wall of the main gate. He found that the darkness puzzled him. The sun should be high in the sky. “Why is it so dark? It's mid-day.”

“My liege, of all the realms, time in Dark Realms moves the most mysteriously. Our studies have found many instances when it is mid-day in every realm and yet it appeared as the darkest night in the Dark Realms,” his head wizard explained.

“All the better for us. We shall catch that bitch Queen asleep and unaware. Only a female would be caught unaware today of all days.”

With a wave of his hand he sent his foot soldiers forward, their weapons now lit with a mysterious blue flame that he was assured by his wizards would take down Daemoni soldiers and their gates. He watched the row of blue flames light up the darkness as they approached the gate, causing him to smirk wickedly. Soon he would have all as he deserved. Only he had made this happen and his reward would be the new crown on his head.

He continued to watch when suddenly the glow of the blue flames started to diminish as one by one each of the flames vanished. Not a sound could be heard. It was once again eerily quiet as they seemed to vanish into the darkness. “What is happening? Where are my soldiers?” he snarled at his wizards.

“They must have broken through the gate, my liege,” his head wizard said nervously.

“Could it have really been that easy? Had they won?” Reniac mused to himself.

“Yeah, no,” he suddenly heard as the small Daemoness herself fell from the sky to land a hundred feet or so from him. “You couldn't have really thought I'd be that easy to defeat, did you, Reniac? The Dark Realms are mine and will never fall to the likes of you!” As he watched in dismay, a hundred or so Daemoni appeared behind her, snarling. “Now, where are my Lycans?”

~~*~~

Theanna watched as a portal opened between Talos and the Dark Realms. She made sure the black fog that the Dark Realms was infamous for hid her Daemoni from the invaders. Not a sound could be heard from them as all watched the enemy arrive and approach the main gate. She'd positioned her legions on the right and the left of the main gate, giving the appearance that the path was clear. Every Daemoni had weaponry laced with the Ash of Death which was added at the last minute so that there was no way for Reniac to find out about it.

She’d tried once again to get Ryuu to stay back with his females but the silly dragon wouldn't hear of it. She'd never thought she'd have to have an argument with a dragon. Instead, he wrapped his large body around her and Damian, the tip of his tail curved around her waist to keep her close and safe.

As the first wave of the Titans got ever closer to where the Daemoni lay in wait, Theanna had the fog slowly swirl around them so that while their fires could be seen, her Daemoni were not. En masse her foot soldiers closed in on the Titans, silently attacking them one by one, striking them each down. The Daemoni warriors watched wickedly as the poison took hold and one by one the Titans were all destroyed, their blue flames being smothered without even a drop of Daemoni blood being lost.