Chapter 45: Luka

"Luka!" Samael's voice rings through the smokescreen, and my heart slowly starts to calm.



He's okay; the Cyclopses didn't harm him during their initial attack. I picked myself up from the rock; the blast had flung me on, and I grimaced at the pain running down my body. I knew I'd hit the rock wall hard, but I didn't think it'd been hard enough to leave any lasting damage. I move my hand slowly over my back and ribs; there are a few tender spots, but nothing's broken. I'll ache for a bit, but my body will heal quickly.



I want to yell back to Samael and reassure him that I'm okay, but I don't want to draw the attention of the Cyclopses to me. I need them to be fully focused on Samael. My only strength against our enemy would be the element of surprise. They'd only sensed Samael's magical presence. My aura smelled similar to Tartarus's, while Samael's smelt like the underworld. His magical signature showed he was an oddity in these parts, and it's what attracted the supernatural beings to him.



As the smokescreen dissipates, I pull my shadows inward, calling on the land itself to hide me from the Cyclopses. They're circling Samael, who has his wings spread and his blue flames covering his body. I let out a sigh of relief. Samael's been surrounded by a group of younger cyclopses; they're more curious about who or what he is than harnessing his power. The Cyclops standing directly in front of Samael seemed to be the horde leader. She had a faint lilac aura surrounding her body, indicating she'd recently come into her powers. As long as she didn't feel threatened by Samael, she wouldn't attack; and as long as none of the other creatures of Tartarus appeared, we would all make it out of this okay.



"Where's the man I was traveling with?" Samael demands.



"What man?" The female Cyclops asks, a look of confusion on her face.



"Luka, from the bloodline of Loki and Eris," Samael replies, his irritation growing with her ignorance.



"He hides in the shadows, as he's always done. He shirks from his duties."



What the hell did she mean, hides in the shadows? And what duties am I shirking from? I am a nothing to this realm.



"He doesn't know," Samael states; his powerful blue flames calm down when he realizes the cyclopses mean him no harm.



I don't know what? What in Lucifer's name is going on here? What secret is Samael keeping from me?



"His people are dying." The little Cyclops hisses, her aura flashing with her anger, "The soulless are killing off the living one by one, and the BOAU is taking those the soulless don't kill."



Her aura grows with each word she spits back at Samael; if I don't do something quick, she will hurt him and those around her. Samael seems to pick up on her anger as his aura reacts to hers, his flames surrounding him and the young cyclopses. The young cyclopses surrounding Samael start to cry with fear and set off the ticking time bomb. A flash of lilac lights up the dark forest, and I watch in terror as her fire takes over Samael's.



I react blindly. Samael's life is the only thing that matters to me at this moment. I pull the magical sword, Kusanagi no Tsurugi, gifted to me by the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu herself. I throw myself from my hiding space; my only goal is to kill the young horde leader.



As I come flying toward her, the Cyclops barely has time to react. Her second set of arms contract from her body as she uses one hand to bat me away and the other to guard her face from Kusanagi no Tsurugi. She manages to throw me away from her, but I use the shadows to land softly on my feet. I glance toward the spot Samael was standing in, and I notice he's used his beautiful black wings to protect himself and the young standing close to him. The other cyclopses in the vicinity haven't fared as well. The young horde leader has managed to burn the majority of her followers.



Satisfied that Samael is safe for now, I turn my full attention to their leader. She's lost control of her power; I can't save her. Her aura will continue to grow until she's killed everyone in this area. Only an authority figure higher than her in the land of Tartarus can control her now, and there isn't a full-grown cyclops nearby. I watch in horror as the female Cyclops grows to her full size. She's over forty feet tall now, making her a bigger target and a larger threat than she was a moment ago. If she hits me now, her punches will kill me.



I study my target watching for an opportune moment to strike. Her sudden onset of growth has weakened her; my moment to strike is either now or never. I run toward her as fast as possible and leap into the air. Her arms are just a foot off the ground, and if I land this jump perfectly, I can use her arms to climb up her body, where I can then stab my sword in the spot where her shoulders meet her neck. It is a cyclops's weakest point, and if I can get a clean jab, I will be able to bring her down.



The little Cyclops is still in a daze when I reach the top of her arm. I feel guilty, I don't want to kill this innocent creature, but she will kill everyone around her if I don't. I leap toward her jugular, putting all of my weight into the attack as I prepare to thrust my sword deep into her. I envision my sword piercing into her skin and her green blood spurting everywhere as I hang on to my sword handle while her body crashes to the ground. Right before my sword reaches her, I am met with resistance from a magical aura that has danced with mine. Samael is stopping me from killing her, but why?



"Samael, release me!" I shout down at him, "I have to take her down; it's either now or never."



"You don't have to kill her!" Samael shouts back as he strengthens his hold on me, using his magical tether to me to pull me down to the ground.



"Samael; the only being who can calm her is someone who holds a higher authority than her. Even you cannot command her as you're not born from this realm. I don't want to harm her, but I must." I tell him as I watch on in horror as the young Cyclops begins to pull out of her stupor.



"You can calm her, Luka," He replies calmly, his eyes knowledgeable with a secret I've yet to discover.



"I can't. I am nobody in this land. I may be a descendant of Loki, but Tartarus was only a gift to Loki; even he cannot command its beings."



"Just try, Luka. Have faith." Samael replies, giving me a soft encouraging smile as he watches the Cyclops cry out in confusion before she charges toward us.



I've lost the opportunity to kill her; she won't have another moment of weakness; my only choices are to try Samael's suggestion or die without trying.



I close my eyes as I look into my mind's eye. I can see the young Cyclops there. She's an orphan, just like the young she surrounds herself with. She's only a few years older than the youngest in the troupe, but she's designated herself as their mother. My thoughts race rapidly as I watch her protect the young countless times from the flawless. I thought she was older than she was because her powers had emerged, but I realized her powers had only sprouted as a means to protect herself and her troupe. She uses her flashing aura to keep the soulless at bay. I feel the wind flash in front of my face as her fist comes down at us when I see it. Her name. I should have known. It's Lilac, the same color as her aura.



"Lilac," I command her fist, freezing in midair as she hears me speak her name. "You need to calm down. Pull your aura back inside of you. We mean, you no harm."



I watch in amazement as Lilac tries to fight against my command, but my voice is too strong for her to resist. I watch her body shrivel back to its normal size, making her just a few inches taller than Samael. I'm stunned as her arms retract back into her body and her aura is just a faint glow.



The most shocking of it all is when the troupe of cyclopses bows down to me, and Lilac speaks in the voice of a seer, "Our prince has finally returned. He and his mate will save us from the soulless. He will return the land to what it once was."