Shadow of the Abyss

Hephaestus's expression couldn't have been more ugly. Make the Titans his Guardian Pet? The mere idea turned his eyes red, blinded by a rage that seemed to burn with the flames of the Third Rite. His chest ached, his skin stretching tightly across his clenched knuckles.

"What I think,' he said, trying to stave his fury, fooling no one. "Is that you will fail. The titans will not listen to some boy."

"Athena? Do you share his thoughts?" Altair asked, turning an eye toward her to her astonishment.

"Well…" she began uncertainly. "They have been locked up for many chaos cycles. They'd been nothing more than prisoners and slaves for longer than they'd been alive, though Titan's Pride still lives within them. It still burns each time I see them chained to the dungeon walls like common dogs."

The Emperor grinned. " Pride is good. But I wonder what's better? Pride or Freedom."

"you can't just take them!" Hepheustus exclaimed, cursing the boy's arrogance. Did he really think his father would allow such a transgression?

"Why not? I have allied gods capable of stopping Zeus should he strike at me. I have Genesis as a backing whether they like it or not. I am a part of their republic. Then there are The Twelve Zodiacs. The Hells.

And perhaps even some members of the Heavens, not to mention my protection from the Shadow Proclamation. I'm untouchable by the Gods. Why else do you think the New Gods are winning? You all can't do shit."

Hepheustus paled. "Perhaps not now, but when you become a God. What can you do then? The Shadow Proclamation won't save you then!"

"Would I need it?" Altair asked. "It's why I'm building a kingdom. I've surrounded myself with people stronger than myself. Smarter than me. And yet, I still lead them. Do you really think I'm scared of just a single God?

Or a group of them? By the time I'm a god. There will be hundreds, thousands, if not more, on my side. Each one willing to die for me. When I give those titans freedom, do you think I'll treat them like dirt? They'll be citizens.

They'll be men and women I employ to do my bidding. Bound by contract. By the time their contract is up, I doubt they'll want to leave. This place right here will be their home."

"And what would a usurper like yourself know about a home, much less patronage? You killed your predecessors in cold blood."

Lazily, Altair slouched back on his throne. He could see there was no further need to converse with a man who held him in no regard. He resisted the urge to sigh, no longer placing the blacksmith in his eyes.

"Raven," Altair said, eying his guardian. "Get Azar. He's the loud one."

Raven bowed, withdrawing from sight, returning minutes later dragging a man by chain bound to his neck as though she was on a walk with her dog.

Stained by humiliation, Azar kept his head down like a beaten pup, not daring to even meet his master's eye. Even while Raven tossed the chains of his leash before his feet, he dared not look up.

At that moment, Hephaestus could not have been more furious, his turbulent aura threatening to leak tendrils of his divinity. He held it in, biting his tongue in the hopes of staying his anger.

"Azar will be released back into your city, though he isn't free to leave. Isn't that right?"

Hephaestus's brow furrowed. He looked at Altair and then back at Azar. Fury rising. "What does he mean?" he demanded.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Master I—"

Hephaestus's odd-shaped eyes flared. "Boy! What the hell have you done!"

"Raven cut his chains," Altair commanded.

Raven flicked her finger, snapping the chains around his neck in half, allowing it to fall to his feet with a clank. He shuddered, tears gathering in his eyes.

"Did I forget to mention this?" The Emperor cruelly grinned. "Well, what you bought was Azar's life. At the same time, he had to pay for his limited freedom in my court."

"You fool!" Hephaestus snapped.

"Oh, don't blame him, seeing how much he means to you. That you are willing to give me the Flame of the Third Rite; I'll make sure to use him well."

"This is Blackmail!" Hephestus barked.

'No shit,' Altair wanted to say but held his tongue, meeting Hephaestus's hideous glaring with a pleasant grin.

Presently, he said, " I could kill the boy if you'd like. In the end, I still get what I want. He'll be my Shadow. And you'll be… well, you'll be what your attitude suggests you are: An enemy. Or you can hand me the crystal and accept that I have in my hands something you consider to be of equal value to the Third Rite."

"Master!" Azar shouted in a pleading cry.

"Be silent!" Hephestus barked. "It's your damn fault for being so foolish! Did I not tell you to stay away from Altair!"

"Please, Hephestus. It's rather unbecoming to have such a display before me. Will you hand me the crystal, or will you continue to run your mouth?"

Hephestus's expression twisted as he struggled to say, "I… I need assurances that you'll—"

The emperor's eyes turned cold. And a Vale Weapon appeared in Raven's petite hands, poised for execution as she flashed behind Azar. Her knee simultaneously striking the back of his leg so that he fell to one knee.

"You'll give me your answer now, or I'll have this bastard's head. You are in no position to demand assurances. You hand me what I want and accept the changes I bring, or—" he signaled a glance at Raven, and her glaive fell.

"MASTER!!!" Azar howled at the top of his lungs.

A whirlwind of emotions flared across Hepheustus's mind as he roared. "I yield! I yield!" he said. He couldn't lose Azar. Not when he was the key to fixing his current situation. Why was he turned into something akin to a ghoul while Azar managed to retain his natural appearance?

He had to know. He had to.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Raven's glaive stopped a centimeter into his flesh, allowing Azar to breathe a sigh of relief. She pulled the glaive's edge form out of his neck and sauntered off to the side without expression.

'Raven is getting to be a bad bitch. Damn,' Altair thought, smiling to himself, keeping his extremities emotionless.

"Here!" Hephaestus said, tossing the crystal towards Altair, anticipation of the change the flame of the Third Rite would bring to the boy. He cursed when Athena caught it.

Altair looked questionably at Athena, who explained, "This is the flame that made Hephestus look the way he does. I was trying to warn you, but…"

"We went off on a tangent. Damn." Still, Altair opened his hands towards the goddess without the slightest fear. "Give it here."

Hephaestus's eyes went wide, and a crooked smile rose as he watched with anticipation. Athena hesitantly made her way toward Altair, offering it to him.

The Emperor looked at Hephaestus as though he were the biggest fool. "What? Is this your big scheme?" He sighed. "It seems rather childish, seeing that your disciple's life hangs in the balance."

The flames of the Third Rite shimmered across the Emperor's mighty palm, dying out as some unseemed force pushed back into the crystal where it lay silent. A deafening silence enveloped the throne room, leaving the eyes of gods wide.

"Thaan, do you think Thanatos will want this flame?"

"No," Thanatos answered without hesitation. "He brought his flames from the Underworld. He doesn't need such a godly flame. But I'm sure he'll accept it."

Altair nodded. "Then summon him here. And make sure you inform him he is expected to be in court each morning," he said, staring dead at Hephaestus, ogling him like some odd animal. He openly sneered, rose to his feet, crossed the distance between man and God, and looked down at him.

"And now I know your motivation for keeping Azar alive despite all the humiliation he is putting you through. What a fool you are." A nasty smile earned its place on the emperor's lips as he glanced towards Azar, still on his knees, panting, having escaped death's icy grip. He pulled his gaze back to the blacksmith.

"Azar, my first order now that you are officially mine is to kill yourself should your master get close to you."

Courtroom eyes turned wide as even Athena covered her mouth.

Before Hephaestus could roar in anger, Altair's cold voice reached his ear. "Bite your tongue lest, and you risk losing everything. I need a dog—a dog who'll deliver me quality weapons. And you are just the right amount of stupid to do as I please. If you want access to your progeny, you'll do as I command. God knows how long you've been looking for one to withstand the Flame of the Third Rite.

Altair pulled upon a memory a few minutes before when Athena named the list of the individuals who were currently using the Flame of the Third Rite and how Hephaestus had hurriedly interrupted. He grinned, grabbing onto the memory to analyze.

"No! " Azar shouted, desperation now evident in his voice. "That was not our deal! It was not—-"

"You seem to not understand your situation, baron. I own you. I allow you freedom. You might not be my shadow, but you are nothing less than a tool to further my power. A dog that has no right to eat without his master's permission. Perhaps I might have Tasha let you have the Zues treatment and cast you into the nine Hells for a few days.

I hear Time works differently down there."

Altair lifted his foot, stomping down on Azar's head, cracking the marble floors as blood gushed from his forehead. "I own you, dog. Until the allotted time I granted you is up. You are mine. And I can be either a good master or a devil the likes you'll never meet." His gaze turned to Hephaestus. "That goes for you, too. Find exclusive stories on empire

So what do you say… dog? Will you yield to me?"

"I–

"Kneel," the emperor ordered. Athena tried to open her mouth, but Altair signaled her to remain silent as he glared daggers into the God of the Forge.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Hephaestus tumbled to his knee. "Please… I… I need to be normal. I don't want to be a monster."

The Emperor sneered, "In the end, that is all that you are—a god with pathetic insecurities." he scuffed, leaving his throne room with his voice trailing after him. "Go forge my weapons, and you'll have access to Azar. You've my word. If not… Azar will be cast into the Nine Hells for all eternity. Next time, learn to keep your mouth shut."