The Forest Nymph Pt. 02

His skin was deathly pale in contrast to the black swollen veins that bulged just below the surface. His hair was little more than scraggly white wire, while his eyes had an icy blue shade, but were so sunken in his skull that it gave him a demonic gaze. He hadn't slept in over a year and his blood was dark and thick with sickly evil, but his strength was far beyond human limitations and his endurance was in whole other leagues. He was no longer living, but neither was he dead. He was a dark abomination. Up above his throne were the Apple of Discord and Helmet of Hades, both twisted by the power of Pandora's Box and protecting Agamemnon from the sight and wrath of the gods.

The throne room was almost devoid of light, for all windows were covered and only a few torches and lanterns were burning. The expansive chamber reeked of blood and rotting flesh and the floor was covered in bones and half-eaten bodies. Not long after Agamemnon came back from the war, he stopped eating fruits vegetables all together. A year later, he was a ferocious cannibal that would rape and kill his prey before eating them. His personal assistants had to search the city of Mycenae for orphans and homeless people to throw to him.

As he stared at Serenity's naked body, he couldn't help but lick his lips. She was the most beautiful nymph he had ever seen and he desperately wished to ravage her. For as long as he had been hunting nymphs, he and his men loved to rape them. The violation of their purity almost always killed them like poison, but that simply proved them to be unfit sacrifices. Serenity was different; she was much more powerful. The aura that was wrapped around her was known as the Nymph's Shade and it protected her from the outside world like an insulating blanket in the most deathly cold.

Nymphs could never leave the place they were born, but if they did or were taken away, they would keep death at bay until their return with the Nymph's Shade. But Serenity's Shade had taken a whole other purpose: it was protecting her from touch. The second that Serenity had been captured, the Mycenaean soldiers had tried to ravage her, but were frustrated with the discovery that they could not touch her skin. The energy of her Nymph's Shade had condensed and hardened into a solid membrane that was as hard as glass and strong enough so that it could not be broken. Her skin could not be touched in any way, meaning that she could not be violated.

One of his personal assistants walked through the dark room, kicking aside the bones and pieces of human flesh in his way. He was a very sadistic man, also taking pleasure in torture and rape, especially when it came to nymphs. Like his king, he couldn't help but lick his lips and stare at Serenity's beautiful body.

"It won't be long now, she'll only be able to keep her Nymph's Shade going for another few hours."

"Yes,: Agamemnon said with a chuckle, "once that membrane finally breaks, I'll be able to sacrifice her to Pandora's Box. Of all the nymphs in the world, she is the one that will be able to open it."

"It's strange that she refuses to lower her Shade. Doesn't she know that the stronger she makes it, the less time she has to live? She would rather die early than let us sample her body..."

"I think that is what she wants. She wants to die early and die untainted. The soldiers told me that they encountered a man with her in the forest and that she was crying when they killed him. She obviously loved him, and wants to join him in the afterlife without having been violated. It's so pitifully sweet."

The doors at the end of the throne room opened and a soldier stepped in, averting his gaze so that he wouldn't have to look at his demonic king or the half-eaten bodies that littered the floor. "Sire, there are reports of a man being lowered from the sky in a golden chariot at the outskirts of the city."

"Ha! It looks like the gods have finally found a messenger boy to thwart me. I will not let one man ruin my plans. Send every soldier in the city to kill him! I want you to bring me his severed head so that I can force this nymph to look into the eyes of the man who died for her!"

Felix stepped off of Helios' chariot at the outskirts of Mycenae. In the distance, he could see Agamemnon's palace, sitting beneath twisting black clouds. The entire city was like an overturned anthill as the citizens locked themselves in their homes and soldiers were brought into formation to apprehend him. On his left arm was the Aegis Shield, in his right hand was the Sword of Troy, and hanging from his neck was the Nemean Lion Skin.

"This is as close as I can bring you, the power of the Apple of Discord won't let me enter the city," Helios said as Felix cricked his neck.

"Thank you."

"Do not thank me, just please save Serenity."

The titan nodded before taking off. Felix nodded in return and turned back to the city. "AGAMEMNON!" he roared at the top of his lungs.

He then bolted forward, sprinting into the city like a predator on the uhunt. With the Sword of Troy increasing his strength and stamina, he was able to run twice as fast as before with only a fraction of the energy. As Felix shot down the streets of Mycenae, he could hear the shouts of soldiers as they all swarmed towards his position.

Up ahead, a line of troops blocked off the street and turned to face him with their bows raised. In perfect synchronicity, they all launched their arrows, sending the barrage of bolts flying down the muddy street towards him. Felix didn't slow down or raise his shield as the arrows whistled through the air and bounced off his skin. With the Nemean Lion Skin increasing his endurance to superhuman levels, the arrows were less harmful than hail stones. With a challenging roar, he raised his sword above his head and then slammed it down onto the ground. From the force of the impact, a devastating shockwave erupted from the point of contact, surging outwards in all directions. Carts along the sides of the street were ripped to pieces, buildings shattered into storms of splinters and shrapnel, and the soldiers were all knocked off their feet with bone-breaking force.

Without missing a beat, Felix jumped over them and continued onward, facing the next wave of soldiers. They had filled the street and were charging towards him with their shields raised and their spears drawn. Felix ducked down behind his shield and increased his speed, slamming into the mob headfirst. Their spears shattered against the power of the Aegis, and any that weren't destroyed were deflected or missed him completely. The soldiers were thrown back by his enhanced strength, and with that opportunity, he began hacking and slashing with his sword.

With a monstrous snarl, Felix carved down all the soldiers in his path, cutting through their armor as if they were all garbed in parchment. Blood filled the air as he would send the Sword of Troy driving through their hearts and lungs or slash them from shoulder to hip and tear open their ribcages with ease. With each soldier he carved down, his resolve would rise in ferocity and the Sword of Troy would began to glow and shimmer. Each kill increased the bending of the light, forming a sleeve of heatless fire around the blade that increased the cutting range of the weapon inch by inch. The colorless flames were the metaphysical manifestation of his will, brought into reality through the enchantments of the Sword of Troy.

As he moved deeper and deeper into the horde, the soldiers began to attack him from all sides, trying to strike from some exposed angle. While his magic-enhanced skin protected him from harm, few could even make it past his sword and shield as he fought with every last drop and shred of experience from the Trojan War. Ten years of fighting were all flashing through Felix's mind, with memories of all he had killed mixing with the image of those currently dying before him. In his mind, he was invincible and no one could challenge him. In the past, Felix was practically a legend in the city of Troy, and now that legend had returned to wreak havoc upon the enemy of his old home.

As the battle progressed, more and more soldiers were being drawn from throughout the city, and before long, the entire Mycenaean army was grouped around him, with every soldier reaching out in the hopes of delivering the lethal strike that would turn them into heroes. No matter how many stepped up, they could not overcome the power of the Olympian artifacts and the Sword of Troy, the colorless flames of the blade extending his reach by fifteen feet, allowing him to carve through enemies and obstacles without the sword even touching them.

Every slash or stab they delivered barely managed to break the skin, every attack that Felix blocked caused his enemy's weapon to shatter when it touched the Aegis Shield, and every strike he dished out with the Sword of Troy carried with it the strength to rip entire squads of soldiers in half and slice through the most powerful defenses. Felix moved through the city at the same speed as a runner carrying a message, hacking away at every soldier in his path without a moment's hesitation or drain of time. To kill multiple soldiers at once, he would slash the air with all his strength and send a huge crescent blade of the colorless fire with enough power to rip open dozens of soldiers at a time, or stab the ground as if it were his enemy and create a seismic shockwave that would level the entire area.

In just a couple hours, Felix had slain several thousand soldiers and the rest were fleeing the city in fear for their lives. The drained warrior staggered up the front steps of the Mycenaean palace, gasping for air and completely exhausted. After all the men he had just killed, Felix barely had the strength to walk, and even with the Nemean Lion Skin increasing his endurance, he was covered in blood from all of the slashes he had sustained in battle. They were shallow, but every inch of exposed skin burned. Felix fell to his knees, trying to catch the breath that would not return. In just a few hours, he had basically refought every battle from the Trojan War in succession, and not even his sword or cape could restore his depleted stamina.

'So tired... I can't move...'

Felix collapsed to the ground without a single spark of energy within him, but when he hit the ground, he landed awkwardly with his sword beneath him. The tip of the magic blade had poked his side and blood was slowly streaming out. The pain of the knick brought up memories of when he first met Serenity and how she healed his wounds with her breath. The image of her beautiful face and the sound of her sweet voice echoed through his mind, reigniting the flames within his heart.

"No, I refuse to let Serenity die. I refuse to let the one I love lose her life because I am too weak. I refuse to stand by while all that I care about is taken away from me," Felix cursed as he pushed himself back up onto his knees.

He slowly got back on his feet, ignoring the aching tiredness in his body. "SERENITY!" he shouted with almost inhuman volume.

Felix's voice echoed through the halls of the Mycenaean palace, carrying the single word all the way to the throne room. Hanging from the ceiling with her Nymph's Shade dwindling, Serenity's tears ceased their steady fall. Her eyes widened as she heard her name and recognized his voice. She thought she had seen him die, but there was no way she would mistake his voice.

"FELIX!" she cried out with new hope in her heart.

As her voice reached him, all of the aching tiredness that weighed him down fell away like water. His limbs stopped shaking, his wounds stopped bleeding, and his breathing became calm once again. By hearing her voice, his body was fully rejuvenated and his resolve was rekindled. With this newfound burst of strength, he ran into the Mycenaean castle, desperate to find the woman he loved. Guided by his heart and instincts, Felix found his way to the huge twin doors of the throne room. His sword ready, he kicked the massive doors off their hinges, letting light flood the dingy chamber. Felix gasped as his eyes fell on Serenity's naked body, reflecting the light off her glistening turquoise skin.

"Serenity..." he gasped as I ran over to help her.

"Felix, look out!" she screamed without even being able to look at him.

Before he could react, something tackled him from the side, throwing him through the air and sending him crashing into the wall with enough force to run cracks through the marble. Without the Nemean Lion Skin, such an impact would have shattered every bone in his body and instantly killed him. At worst, he just suffered a painful knock to the head and some bruises all over. As he got to his feet, a dark laugh echoed throughout the room.

Felix looked around, trying to spot his enemy, but the room was too dark to see anything. He looked up at the top of the far wall and could detect the faint lines of light from the sun outside. He slashed the air and sent a blade of the burning aura from the Sword of Troy across the room, cutting through the curtains blocking the windows and letting light stream in, but not without leaving huge gashes in the stone pillars that stood in the way. Sunlight flooded the chamber and Felix nearly vomited at the sight of the human skeletons and half-eaten bodies that littered the floor.

"So, the champion finally arrives."

Felix turned to the corner and spotted Agamemnon, standing with Pandora's Box in his hand. His dark clothes seemed to be made of a shadowy fog that shifted and swirled while maintaining their solid form. He looked more demonic than human and the miasma being given off by Pandora's Box was making Felix sick to his stomach. Not even Hades gave off a presence as foreboding this man.

"So you're the bastard that started the war. It was your men that destroyed my city, butchered my family, and kidnapped Serenity!"

The dark king just laughed. "Then I am to assume that you really are Felix of Troy. During the war, I had a bounty put out on your head, and even after the night of the horse, that bounty was never collected. I thought that you had fled the city or were just killed in a fire. Once I heard the reports of you slaughtering all of my soldiers, I knew that of the handful of people in the world with such skill, it was you. How fitting is this; the last Trojan vs. the king of Mycenae, fighting over the most powerful nymph and the future of this world!"

Felix pointed his sword at him. "Enough! You are no longer fit to walk among the living! You have ruined the lives of countless innocent people and endangered the world! I will kill you and put an end to the madness once and for all!"

"Go ahead and try!" Agamemnon laughed as he held up Pandora's Box.

A low hum filled the air and a jet of compressed slime-like smoke shot from the box towards Felix. The warrior ducked to the side and the blast sprayed the wall and floor, burning through the stone and leaving a toxic black sludge behind.

"It seems that the gods didn't know how powerful the box has made me! Even with your weapons, you are no match for its dark energy!" the king laughed as he fired another blast.

Felix crouched down and blocked with the Aegis Shield, sending the shadow blast spraying off like a waterfall on rock. Even through the mighty Aegis, Felix could feel the darkness and malevolence of the vessel seeping into his flesh. Without warning, Agamemnon disappeared and reappeared behind Felix with a demonic grin, as if the fabric of space and time had just folded in on itself. Pulling back his leg, he delivered an inhumanly powerful kick, throwing Felix across the room and sending him crashing straight through one of the pillars holding up the ceiling.

'He's able to disappear and reappear anywhere instantaneously. So that's how he was able to get Serenity to Mycenae so quickly...' Felix realized while coughing up blood.

The Trojan got to his feet and ran to dodge another shadow blast from Agamemnon. The malicious beam tore through anything it touched, and he knew that even he would die if it struck him. As Felix ran, he picked up a piece of rubble and threw it with all his strength at the undead king, but the block of marble was reduced to dust before it could even reach him.

"Do you really think you can kill me? With Pandora's Box in my arsenal, I have become a god! You have no chance of defeating me!"

"You are not the only one wielding enchanted artifacts, and by their power and my resolve, I will end you!"

Changing his course of action, Felix turned and sprinted towards the king. Agamemnon shifted the aim of his shadow blast and sent it straight towards him, but Felix blocked with his shield as he ran. Just before Felix could reach him, Agamemnon again disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. Felix reversed his grip on his sword and thrust back, knowing where he was going to materialize. The guess was correct, and the demon king appeared behind him, just before the sword pierced his chest. The blade broke through his ribs without any resistance and skewered his heart, but he showed no reaction to it at all. He didn't gasp, stagger back, or even bleed.

"Like I said, you have no chance of defeating me."

He then pulled the Sword of Troy out of his chest and stabbed Felix through the gut with it. The Trojan vomited a mouthful of blood and Serenity released a teary scream. Agamemnon then punched him in the jaw and threw him back. Felix hit the ground below Serenity with blood pouring from the wound of the blade lodged in his stomach.

"Pathetic," Agamemnon scoffed as Felix removed the Sword of Troy.

"Felix, the chalice beside you is filled with my tears. They'll rejuvenate you, use it, quick!" Serenity begged.

With shaky hands, Felix picked up the chalice and poured the glowing fluid on his wound, instantly healing it and sending strength coursing through his veins. He slowly got to feet and spat out the last glob of blood, glaring at Agamemnon with new life burning in his soul.

"Your faith in your chances of victory is as pathetic as your strength," Agamemnon taunted.

For the first time, Felix cracked a smile. "It's too soon for you to gloat Agamemnon."

The dark king scowled at the warrior's defiance and let loose an audible growl. "And what makes you think you can defeat me when this brief fight has been nothing but a tragic play of failure? How can you possibly win when this fight is worlds away from being considered an even match?!"

"That's where you're wrong, the battle hasn't even started yet. That was all just the warm-up for me to study you. Serenity's tears have restored my strength and health and I've been watching your movements since I first laid eyes on you. I've wised up to your techniques. You fought me when I was exhausted, but now I am far more powerful than before and the tides of the battle have changed."

He then pointed his sword at the king with his body as still as a statue, lacking a single tremor of fear or fatigue. "Prepare yourself Agamemnon, because now we fight with our lives on the line and on an equal playing field!"

Up above him, a look of pride lit up Serenity's beautiful face and her Nymph's Shade grew in radiance, fueled by her faith in Felix. "Do it, my love," she whispered.

With his smile glowing with confidence, Felix bolted towards Agamemnon and tried to deliver a slash across the chest. Agamemnon disappeared, and without missing a beat, Felix turned around and delivered a powerful kick to the back-left corner of his reach, striking Agamemnon right where he predicted. The kick was delivered with bone-shattering force and knocked Agamemnon across the room in a complete role reversal. Up in the air, Agamemnon snapped his fingers and a large single-edged sword of black metal formed in his hand. He landed against the wall in the upper corner of the chamber and jumped off, rocketing back towards Felix with enough power to send cracks through the marble. Without losing his smile, Felix blocked the attack with the Aegis shield and the floor beneath him was shattered as the king's momentum was transferred to him.