The woman in gold and the man in white stared down at the few dozen remaining acolytes who opposed them.
Behind them was the dismembered corpse of Chares, his blood pooling on the ground. Not so much a stain had been left on the mirror-like metal of his killer's weapon.
"Will no one step forward and guide us to the relic?" The woman in gold said, "Do so and you will be spared."
The followers of Dread kept their weapons raised and pointed towards her, but there was a stark difference in equipment between the two parties.
Their weapons were rather ordinary compared to the strange axe the man held, and they did not have magnificent armor, or much at all, as they were all dressed in robes… But this did not stop them from standing their ground against the superior adversary.
The woman turned her gaze to Mathew, then asked: "What say you, monster? Will you aid us? Surely a creature such as you has no need for human sentiment."
Mathew tried to find his voice but couldn't. He was still in shock. Aesop decided to speak for him.
"Our master is no monster, but a great man who has just saved the world, including your own wicked soul. We all owe our lives to him. How dare you break in here without being invited, slay our brother, demand our most sacred possession, and insult our master? Leave at once." Aesop was speaking with a venom in his voice that had never been heard before.
Mathew was actually quite inspired by his courage, but feared the retaliation that was about to occur.
The woman huffed out a breath, her lower lip puckering slightly. It was a strange motion that suddenly made her seem years younger.
Her expression of frustration was less the sneer of a tyrant that had been defied, and more the pouting of an entitled teen who was used to getting what they wanted.
It seemed very out of place considering the situation.
"Lady Ophelia," whispered Argus, "what are your orders?"
His voice was soft, but it carried in the entry room so that Mathew could hear.
The woman, Ophelia, addressed the room once more: "You are all set on refusing me? Every last person?" But after her childish display, her voice seemed less intimidating and more… Bratty?
"We will never yield to you, villain." Replied Aesop.
Ophelia squeezed her gloved hands so tight that her arms shook.
"You… you are all… Fanatics! Every last one of you is a crazed lunatic. Do not forget," she seethed, "that I allowed each of you a chance to cooperate. You have only yourselves to blame." She held both hands outward towards the group before her, before closing them back into fists. Then hissed a single command:
"Argus, move them by force."
The room erupted into chaos.
Immediately 3 acolytes ran at Argus, each carrying a pole-arm of some kind. Argus grabbed Ophelia's shoulder with one hand, pushing her behind him, and held his massive axe in the other hand.
All light sources in the room flickered, then dimmed, a portion of their light seemingly getting sucked in by the strange reflective axe.
The axe began to glow brightly.
Argus swung his weapon in an arc in front of him before the acolytes even reached him. A crescent-shaped blade of light was expelled from the axe, slashing through weapons and people alike.
One of the acolytes fell to his knees, holding a hand that was only a stump. Another fell over as a large gash in his chest spurted out blood. The third one toppled to the ground as he was decapitated.
All three were defeated in an instant.
Another dozen or so acolytes began to advance on the opponent more cautiously, but Mathew felt that they were walking to their doom.
He reached out a hand to them and was going to order them to stop, when he felt two pairs of arms grab him from behind.
It was Aesop and another acolyte. Each one grabbed hold of Mathew's arms.
"What are you doing?" Mathew said to them. "Let me go! We have to stop this."
"We have to protect both you and the relic, Master," Aesop responded with resolve in his voice. "The only way to do that is to take you to the central chamber and seal ourselves inside. If we use the Sigillum, perhaps the barrier will hold."
Mathew wanted to fight back, but he let them drag him away. He could only watch as the followers of Dread, HIS followers, were slaughtered one after another.
It was happening again. The people who were his responsibility… were dying… And no matter how hard he tried… He couldn't save them.
He couldn't save anyone.
…..
"All you do is work all the time, every day," Maggie whined. "And now you even applied to a THIRD JOB? Why?"
She was upset with him because she had needed a ride to go shopping for fall clothes. It was only a few weeks before the semester started, and she was entering her second year of high school. Mathew hadn't been able to fulfill his promise to drive her because he had worked 3 consecutive shifts.
"I just… needed the money, I guess," Mathew responded noncommittally. He didn't love keeping her in the dark like this, but he also didn't want to make her worry.
Maggie started rambling: "You needed more money? You are so addicted to work that you never do anything fun. You never go out with friends, and I am starting to think you don't have any. I've never met them. You don't party, and you're almost 22, but I've never seen you drink or smoke."
Mathew raised an eyebrow at that last part.
"What, are you going to immediately start smoking the second you turn 18?" He asked quizzically.
"Are you seriously asking that?" she huffed, looking genuinely offended. "With everything going on with mom, I don't think I could ever touch a cigarette. Besides, you know I can't handle the smell. It sits in my clothes forever and doesn't come out. Everyone at school can tell…"
She shot him an odd look.
"Why'dya drop out of college anyways?" She asked.
The answer to that was simple. After their grandpa died, their grandmother had moved in with them. On top of that, their single mother was an unreliable source of income, and so Mathew had dropped out to grab a second job in order to support the household.
Though support was a strong word, seeing as at the moment he was the sole breadwinner.
In addition, he had to work extra hard because he wanted to make sure that his sister could still have nice things… But he would never admit that to her.
"I guess I just felt depressed I wasn't making enough income, and it was hard to focus on work and school at the same time, so I just decided to quit." It was partially true, so he wasn't exactly lying to her.
His sister narrowed her eyes a bit as if measuring his sincerity, and made a little 'hmph' sound before speaking.
"So… You dropped out of school because working full time was hard… Then replaced school with two more jobs?"
Mathew shrugged in response. She huffed again.
"You are so weird." She said. "I just don't understand you at all."
She didn't know yet. She didn't understand the situation they were in.
Even though she had a general idea their finances were struggling, knew he was supporting grandma, and knew that their mother's general situation, Mathew still hadn't told her everything.
She hadn't heard their mother's latest diagnosis, nor what stage she was in. Mathew simply couldn't find the courage to break the news to her.
He was still struggling with his own whirlwind of emotions. The only thing he could do was continue to work every minute of every day, to make sure that his family had a future. In addition, he knew that even with Medicare, there would be a whole lot he would still have to pay out of pocket for his mother's treatments.
That was the full reason he had taken the third job. That was the real reason he was hellbent on working himself to death. He needed to work just a little bit harder, and just a little bit longer, and pray that things would turn out fine in the end.
If he worked hard enough, he could do it. He could save her.
Mathew could save his mother.
…..
Mathew and the handful of acolytes that had come with him had made it to the core chamber, the one that held the calendar, the statue of "The Lady", and the strange artifact she held in her hands.
They had closed and sealed the doors, as well as braced them with chairs and shelves. In addition, these doors were like heavy stone slabs that took so much strength to move that they were rarely closed.
It had taken multiple men pushing on each door to shut them this time.
Aesop had then placed the strange golden Sigillum on the door, which had glowed faintly for a moment.
Even with the strength Ophelia and Argus had displayed, it would be difficult for them to break into the inner chamber now.
Or so the remaining followers and Mathew had thought.
A sizzling sound was heard on the other side of the door, and the tip of a strange sword glowing a deep orange pierced through the stone.
The sword then began to slowly but easily cut the door in a clean horizontal line.
The enemy had a way in.