sexstories.com

Font size : - +

Introduction:

Felix has found a home and love, but the world isn't done with him yet.
Please save your votes until the end. Thank you!


Serenity wrapped her lips around Felix’s erect phallus, making his whole body jerk in an instantaneous euphoria. No matter how many times she sucked his manhood, he could never get used to the incomprehensible feeling of it entering her soft mouth. He had never experienced oral sex before meeting her, but he knew that no human attempt could create the bliss I was feeling. Her saliva seemed to vibrate and change in temperature on the shaft and head, with a sweet sugary feeling sinking into his skin. Her mouth was softer than a summer breeze and as deliciously wet as the fruits that hung from the trees of her orchard, but the muscles in her cheeks and tongue were strong enough to crush stones and she could work them better than her own hands.
When his manhood entered her mouth, he could feel the strength of her muscles working on the shaft and sending the massage-like bliss all the way through his member. She sucked on his erect cock with such skill that it felt like she had forty tongues and they all were somehow rubbing against every exposed spot. With Serenity lying on top of him, Felix buried his face in between the cheeks of her perfectly sculpted ass. He covered her very full (yet very well toned) thighs in kisses before sending his tongue up into her wet slit. The gorgeous nymph gave a muffled moan through his cock in her mouth as he sucked on the wet lips, savoring the taste of the nymph’s juices flowing from her gates of paradise.
As he slathered the inner-walls of her sweet body with his tongue, I worked my finger in an out of her anus, making her hum and purr. Eventually, she relinquished his manhood and sat up, letting me lick her anus. She gave a soft moan and squeezed her round breasts as she felt his tongue anally penetrate her voluptuous body.
“Oh Felix, I love your touch! I love feeling of you in my heart and in my body,” she moaned as she ran her fingers through her long lustrous hair.
“And I love the taste of your flawless body and your sweet soul. I love to sample the divine rejuvenation that you bless me with,” he replied as she moved off his face and gave him a tender kiss.
She shifted again, straddling his lap. She purred and hummed in arousal as she grinded the shaft of his cock against her wet slit. She wrapped her hands around the head and slowly guided it in, shivering as it entered her. Chewing on her lips, she began to bounce up and down on his dick, driving it deep into her magic-enriched body. Felix wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up himself and slamming her back down with all of his strength. As Serenity bounced on his lap, he held out my tongue and licked her breasts, which were bouncing with the same enthusiasm as the nymph’s lust for sex.
After only a few minutes, Serenity gave a shrill moan as she had one of her magical orgasms, illuminating the tree chamber with her sexual aura. Felix pulled out of her and she quickly got on her hands and knees, shaking her rear with a coy smile on her face. He sat up and got behind her, stroking his ready cock. He pressed the head against her anus and pushed it in, making Serenity moan in ecstasy.
“Oh yes darling, just like that! Felix, I want you deep inside me!”
Taking the rhythm he had mastered since meeting Serenity, Felix began slamming his cock into her tight asshole. The forest was filled with the clapping of her cheeks against his thighs as he drove his member as far up into her body as possible. As he stretched her anus as far as it could go, Serenity had her face buried in her elbow and was rubbing her pussy with her other hand, giving a rising moan with each thrust. Finally, Felix looked up and groaned as he came, coupled with Serenity’s second orgasm. Thick streams of semen shot from the head of his cock, filling her anus until the white slime was overflowing. Her arms and legs buckled and she collapsed, rubbing her semen-filled anus.
“I love the feeling of you essence inside of me,” she purred.
Felix lied down beside her and wrapped his arm around her slender waist. “And I love the feeling of being able to hold you and be inside of you at the same time,” he replied as I kissed her neck.
Her turquoise skin tasted so sweet, he couldn’t get enough of it. She then rolled over and kissed him, slipping her tongue between his lips. “I never get tired or used to making love to you. Every time is just as magical and incredible as the first time.”
I smiled and placed my hand on the center of her chest, feeling her heartbeat. “Me neither. I must admit that I am obsessed this beautiful body of yours. I’m so curious and I just want to keep exploring it. You are the most gorgeous thing that has ever blessed my eyes and I’m desperate to memorize every detail and secret. But every time, there is a new inch on your body that I want to study and admire for hours on end. I am haunted by the fact that I will never completely understand you, but that also relieves me, because every time we are intimate, I am surprised and amazed by something new.”
“Well you can never be sure, you might someday know everything about me. After all, we have the rest of eternity to spend together,” she said softly before they both fell asleep.

Three years had passed since Felix arrived at the forest and fallen in love with Serenity, and they were without a doubt the greatest years of his life. Every day consisted of lounging in the shade of the trees, swimming in deep sections of the creek, taking long strolls through the woods while basking in the sun, and exercising to stay fit. Every night consisted of dancing in the moonlight or sleeping in their small tree chamber, pressed tightly together under the warmth of their blanket. Their diet was entirely made up of the addictively sweet fruit that hung from the branches of every tree. They supplied all the nutrients that they both required and neither ever grew tired of them. Felix would gorge himself on them until he could barely breathe, and then curse the fact that he could not eat any more.
It was a very simple life, one without any exertion of obstacles. Every moment was filled with unending happiness and relaxation. It was in all sense a perfect life, and with the help of Serenity’s healing powers, it was a perfect life that would never end.

The sun was shining brightly as Felix and Serenity walked along the shallow creek, picking up pretty stones. In a life where there are no obstacles or hardships, the two lovers sought playful challenges in abstract art, taking small pieces of nature and rearranging them to create works to represent nature as a whole. Felix’s old clothes had been replaced with a new outfit of the same silky hay-woven fabric as Serenity’s and their bed sheets. Serenity’s hair was adorned with flowers and she was carrying a basket of braided vines.
“Oh, this one is perfect,” she said sweetly as she picked up a piece of mica, perfect for the collage she was working on.
Just as Felix was about to speak, the sound of a twig snapping reached his ears. His whole body became rigid as three years of relaxation were pushed aside by his military training. This was not uncommon, as Felix had not lowered his guard since arriving and often felt the desire to make sure there weren’t any outsiders wandering nearby.
“Serenity, scan the area, I think we aren’t alone,” he said softly, trying to be nonchalant.
Serenity looked at him with worry on her face. “There can’t be anyone here. Everyone and everything beneath the sunlight and moonlight is under my watch. No one could have possibly entered this forest without me noticing. It was probably just a squirrel you heard.”
“Please, just give one thorough search.”
Serenity closed her eyes, focusing her mind on her Outsight to examine the forest for any intruders. She finally gave a sigh and looked at him. “There is nothing, we are the only ones here.”
While Felix’s mind was put at ease, his muscles did not relax.
“Sorry, I just always worry about us. After all, this is just a small forest out in the wilderness, not a sacred garden on Mt. Olympus.”
“Well you can be at peace, as this forest is our private utopia.”
Just as the words passed her soft lips, an arrow shot past Felix’s face, grazing his cheek. With blood running down his neck, he grabbed Serenity’s wrist and they ducked down behind the bushes along the creek.
“What is going on, I thought you said you didn’t see anyone?”
“I didn’t and I still don’t, something must be blocking my sight,” she replied with her voice filled with fear.
Behind them, Felix could hear over almost half a dozen sets of feet hitting the ground, coming towards them. This wasn’t just a stray hunter or explorer; this was a group with the intention of search and capture or search and destroy. Whoever it was, Felix would die before letting them harm Serenity.
“Come on, and stay close.”
The two hunted lovers sprinted along the side of creek with arrows flying past them. With every step, Felix could feel his body returning to its original strength. Even after three years of relaxation, exercise had helped keep his muscles from forgetting the strain of battle and his reflexes had not dulled to the demands of fighting. The Felix that been living in peace was stepping aside, and the Felix that was originally a Trojan war hero was returning to fight.
Up ahead of them, a soldier stepped out of the brush with a sword in his hand. From the plate designs of his bronze armor and the shape of his helm, Felix recognized him as soldier from Mycenae. It wasn’t too long ago that he would slaughter over a hundred of them in each battle. Felix charged ahead of Serenity and the soldier lashed out with his sword, trying to deliver a one-hit kill. The Trojan warrior dodged the clumsy stab, knocked the enemy’s arm aside, and tackled him, pinning him to the ground. Before his foe could try and slash him with his sword or grab a stone from the creek, Felix snapped his neck by slamming him in the jaw with his palm. It was his first kill in three years.
Felix stood up and retrieved the sword of his victim. While the shape and weight of the short double-edged blade were different from his old Trojan sword, his body recognized the form and function upon contact. Serenity stared at Felix with wide eyes as he slashed the air, familiarizing himself with the art of swordplay.
“When we run, stay close. When I fight, stay back,” he instructed with a very calm but determined voice.
Serenity nodded and grasped his hand. They then turned and ran into the woods, keeping their senses open to the presence of enemy soldiers.
“I can’t see them at all with my Outsight. Somehow they are blocking my vision completely.”
“Then how about we find our why…” Felix cursed through gritted teeth.
He then released Serenity’s hand as he spotted four soldiers up ahead, standing in a large clearing. Following his instructions, Serenity slowed down and Felix increased his speed, jumping into the clearing and surprising the soldiers. Without the slightest hesitation, he slashed the throat of the first, sending a fountain of blood from the laceration. Felix then turned and blocked a slash from another soldier, responding in kind by sidestepping behind him and lopping off his head. He quickly stepped back, dodging the arrow from the third soldier. Before the Mycenaean could draw another one, Felix darted over and shattered his bow with a wide slash, then drove the tip of the sword straight through his chest, managing to pierce both sides of his armor with his full strength. He looked back at the forth soldier as he pulled out a horn to the signal the rest of the troops in the area. Just as his foe began the call, the Felix knocked the horn out of his hand and then stabbed upwards, piercing his skull.
Felix suddenly let loose a howl of pain as an arrow shot through the air and stabbed his shoulder, piercing the muscle and flesh with ease. He had been struck with countless arrows when he was a soldier, so this was nothing but a further adrenaline rush of nostalgia. Serenity stifled a scream at the sight of his injury and the blood streaming from it. Gritting his teeth, Felix ripped out the arrow and turned to see the approaching crowd of Mycenaean soldiers. There were over two-dozen of them, all armed and ready.
“For Serenity, for my family, and for the city of Troy, I will kill all of you!”
The first soldier jumped out into the clearing and tried to stab Felix with his spear, but the Trojan ducked to the side and stepped forward, stabbing him through the gut and making him cough up blood. He then grabbed the soldier’s spear as he fell to the ground and used it to stab the next that entered his range of killing. Running him through, Felix pierced him in the chest and slammed him into a tree, lodging the blade in the trunk and pinning the man there.
The third soldier charged with a large battleaxe, swinging low from the side to strike Felix’s knees and cripple him. Sending all his strength to his legs, Felix jumped over the attack and stabbed wielder between the shoulder and the neck, killing him in a single blow. As the man fell to the ground, an arrow launched by the fourth soldier struck his palm, bursting out of the back of his hand. Ignoring his agony and the blood streaming from his fingers, Felix charged towards him before he could reload and swung his hand, stabbing him in the eye with the tip of the arrow. With the soldier screaming in pain, he ripped his hand off the shaft and then slammed the end, forcing it all the way into the man’s skull and ripping away his life.
Felix turned and raised his sword above his head, bringing it down on a soldier with a shield and a spear. The opponent blocked the attack with his shield, but before he could respond with a spear thrust, Felix swung his hand in front of his eyes, spraying the soldier’s face with blood and blinding him. He staggered back, trying to wipe the blood from his face, and with that quick opportunity, Felix slashed his throat and ripped off his shield. Pulling back his arm, Felix threw it and sent it flying like a giant discuss before striking an oncoming soldier in the head. Even with his helmet on, the blow shattered his skull and killed him.
The sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth all charged towards him, armed only with swords. Snarling and roaring like an animal, Felix carved them all down without mercy. He pierced the armor of the sixth with a stab as if it was made of thick leather and then cleaved off the arm of the seventh and grabbed his sword while he bled to death. Using the two swords, he blocked the coordinated attacks of the eight and ninth, kicked the eighth to knock him back, and then beheaded the ninth with a twin-scissor slash. With the eighth still on the ground, Felix raised his swords above his head and stabbed down into his chest, tearing through his lungs and soaking the ground with blood.
Soldier after soldier charged towards him with the intent of murder, but with a sword in each hand and the drive to protect Serenity in his heart, Felix slaughtered them all without hesitation or opposition. As he tore through the armor of his nineteenth victim and slashed him from shoulder to hip, he lurched forward in pain and looked down. An arrow had pierced his chest, driving through his body and passing just under his heart.
“Felix!” Serenity screamed.
Refusing to let the injury slow him down, Felix slashed the throat of his twentieth enemy, giving his neck a wide, bloody smile. A second arrow was launched, striking him in the gut. He staggered back with blood pouring from his mouth and struggled to catch his breath, knowing that he was so close to victory, he just had to charge through the pain. Felix looked up and spotted the soldier that had launched the arrows. His allies were running past him, taking advantage of Felix’s injury.
With what little strength he had, Felix stabbed the first that came close, managing to pierce his heart, but lacking the power to send it driving through the back of his armor. A third arrow was launched, stabbing him through his right lung. Barely able to stand on his feet, he could not stop the rest of the soldiers from delivering their attacks. With swords and spears, they stabbed him through the torso, attacking from all angles. Every organ torn to shreds, he shouted in frustration and vomited blood.
Releasing one final roar, he swung his sword and beheaded the soldier right in front of him, then turned and stabbed the soldier to his side. Before he could deliver his final kill, the soldier behind him ripped his weapon free and stepped back, sending Felix crashing to the ground like a felled tree. His mind falling into darkness and his body refusing to respond, Felix was unable to help Serenity as the soldiers grabbed her, tying her up and dragging the sobbing nymph away.
For the second time in his life, he had failed to protect what was important to him. No matter what he did and how hard he fought, he could not keep those that he loved safe. And this time, the strength to run was not in him. As his blood soaked the ground and his eyelids slowly sank, a bright flash filled his senses.

Felix took a deep shuddering breath, realizing that he was alive. Had that really happened, or had it only been a nightmare? He looked at his chest and felt an invisible punch to the gut as he saw the amount of blood that soaked his shirt. His wounds had disappeared but the blood was still wet. It had really happened, and that meant…
“Serenity!” he called out as he bolted to his feet and stepped forward.
He was standing in the bloody clearing, surrounded by the slain Mycenaean soldiers. Without a moment’s hesitation, he rushed over one of the bodies and retrieved the soldier’s sword and shield.
“Wait, noble Trojan. Right now a conversation can do you far more good than those weapons.”
Felix turned around, facing a man with clothes of silk and blond hair, standing beside a chariot of solid gold that was hitched up to four horses made entirely of condensed fire. Felix’s eyes had to be deceiving him, for there was no way the man that had saved his life could be who he thought he was.
“Is it possible… are you really Helios?”
“Well I am certainly not that brat Apollo. I am indeed Helios, the titan of the sun and moon. I am also the father of Serenity, as you well know.”
Felix turned away from him and began stripping the dead bodies of their armor.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“The warmth has not completely left these bodies, the rest of those soldiers can’t be more than a few miles away. Even if they’re on horses, I still might be able to chase them down and rescue Serenity.”
“While you are right about the time, you are wrong about the distance. She has already reached the city of Mycenae by unholy means.”
Felix turned to him with his teeth barred. “Then take me there. I don’t care how she got to the city so fast, but I know your chariot can get me there with divine speed.”
It was not a request.
“Not yet, I must bring you to Mt. Olympus. The gods have a matter to discuss with you that is of the upmost importance. They need your help.”
The answer left the warrior so furious that it took all his will to keep from shaking. “Hear me now, titan. The only reason why I have shown you this much respect is because you are the father of Serenity, but you have a lot of nerve telling me that the gods want my help. The very thought that they have the right to ask me for help is worthy of execution.”
Helios gave a deep sigh. “I understand your hatred, and it’s true that the gods don’t deserve your help. However, you cannot save Serenity the way you are. You are not nearly strong enough. Felix, listen to me, just as the gods need your help, you need theirs.”
Sword in hand, Felix stormed over to him. “Do you know who needed the gods’ help? My sisters, when they were raped in front of me! Do you know who needed help from the mighty gods? My brother, when he was stabbed more times than I could count! I don’t need the gods’ help, I need them to stay out of my way or else I’ll carve them all down just like I did these poor fools around us! Now, take me to Mycenae or tell the gods that they would do well not to underestimate a mere mortal.”
When Helios did not answer, Felix wordlessly turned away and retrieved the shield he had taken from one of the dead soldiers.
“Is she not worth it?” Helios called out before Felix could leave the clearing.
The human stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to the titan.
“Is your love for my daughter not great enough for you to put aside your anger and swallow your pride? Surely these three years have rehabilitated you enough to show some compassion, if not forgiveness. Listen to me Felix; you and the gods share the same goal and the same enemy. I’m not asking you to work with the them for their sake. I’m only asking you to hear them out for Serenity’s.”

The sky was filled with golden clouds, moving faster across the blue abyss than a stampeding horse fleeing from hungry wolves. Felix was flying through the sky with Helios on his golden chariot, several miles above the safety of solid ground. He was tapping his fingers impatiently against the side of the chariot and he repeatedly shifted his grip on the hilt of the Mycenaean sword he had stolen. Even while flying above the clouds, his mind was focused solely on rescuing Serenity as soon as possible.
“You mask your emotions well,” Felix finally said, breaking the silence.
“I cannot afford to be angry and irrational at this time. I must keep my mind clear for the sake of my daughter,” Helios responded with his voice trembling.
“Then you truly did love her and her mother?”
Helios tried to crack a smile, but it became little more than an awkward shift of unsure facial expressions. “You could say that.”
He then looked ahead and gained a real smile. “Welcome Felix, to Mt. Olympus!”
Felix looked ahead and his jaw sank so low that it was almost ripped from his skull. With the sun shining on the sea of clouds and giving them a golden shade, a colossal temple of diamond and marble was built into the summit of the tallest mountain in the known world, Mt. Olympus. The temple was decorated with statues of the gods and goddesses and surrounded by courtyards containing entire geographical areas. Fields, forests, and even lakes were all being held in creases of the colossal mountain, held up so high that no one on the ground could ever see them
The courtyards were filled with the mystical creatures of legend, all living peacefully in their gardens. Winged horses flew between gargantuan pillars, the Ceryneian Hind grazed in a sunlit field, the Laelaps was lying in the shade of a tree while chewing on a bone, several hundred phoenixes were all perched in a small forest, with each tree charred from the death and rebirth of the birds, and the Teumessian Fox could see seen wandering among the cliffs.
Helios and Felix passed through a towering gate of solid glass and the golden chariot came to a halt on the marble floor. “Come with me. Zeus and the others need to speak with you.”
In utter astonishment at what he had seen, it took Felix a moment to shake himself awake and follow the titan. Helios led him down a labyrinth of marble pillars to a large set of doors, both made of sterling silver. Helios opened the doors without touching them and brought him through. They both entered a circular room with every surface made of a precious mineral, jewel, or metal. The walls were lined with thrones, and sitting in each was a god or goddess, not to mention the remaining titans. Without having ever seen them before, the mere human could instantly identify deities like Athena, Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, and all others. Felix tried to maintain his composure and keep his temper in check in the presence of the gods. He would have normally spat on the ground in insult, but his mind was too fixated on Serenity.
“Felix, last of the Trojans, welcome to Mt. Olympus,” Zeus said with a booming voice.
He had white hair, a long beard, and a wreath around his head. He was so large that even the tallest warrior would have to stand on the back of a horse to match his height, and he was built with enough muscles to overpower an entire herd of oxen.
“Don’t mock me, Olympian. I fear you no more than I fear the hundreds of men I have slain. Helios said that you could help me rescue Serenity and he said you need my help, now give me what I need or else I leave you on your own,” Felix barked with unspeakable defiance.
The gods and titans stirred at the insulting tone, but continued on.
“We have brought you here because we all share a common enemy and a common purpose. We need your help, Felix,” Poseidon said as he spun his trident in his hand. Like Zeus, he had a long white beard and was heavily built, but his clothes were instead made of woven seaweed and on his head was a crown of coral.
“What do you need my help with?”
“You know of Agamemnon, correct?” Zeus asked.
Felix’s heart was instantly filled with rage and his effort to stay calm immediately become useless. “Yes, the king of Mycenae. He controlled the war with Troy after Helen left the king of Sparta and fell in love with Paris, all because of your pathetic argument at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus. Like you, it is because of him that my family is dead.”
“The war was never over his brother losing his wife or for political reasons. He was after an artifact within Troy, and the war was just a ruse to get it. He was so desperate to achieve his goals, he even murdered his own daughter and sacrificed her so that the winds would blow in his favor on the way,” Zeus explained.
“What artifact?”
“The Palladium, the wooden statue of Pallas Athena that should have won Troy the war. It was enchanted to protect a city from enemies and ensure victory. It was why Troy lasted as long as it did.”
At the sound of her name, Felix turned and glared at the goddess Athena, trying to unleash all of his anger through his eyes. She looked to be a woman in her late twenties, wearing a pearl-white dress with a bow across her lap that was made of a single unbroken piece of bone. Regardless of Felix’s anger, she was quite beautiful, but she did not give off the tender radiance of Serenity.
“Why was he after it? Did he want it to strengthen his own city? After all, it’s not like the model of the statue was on our side,” Felix asked without turning away from Athena.
“No,” Athena muttered, returning the glare. “He wanted what was inside of the statue. You and your fellow Trojans originally believed that it was I that created the statue and sent it down from the heavens, but that is not truly what happened.”
“Only recently did we find out what the Palladium truly was and who created it,” Poseidon interrupted. “It was a vessel to hold and protect a dangerous artifact. The powers imbued in the statue protect whatever city is its home, in order for the city to protect the statue and what it held, so that the artifact within could not be taken and used. The one who created the statue was Pandora, and the artifact is her cursed box. It is the darkest and most powerful object in the world and Agamemnon somehow found out about it, even when we did not know the secret of the statue.”
“But what does that have to do with Serenity?”
“Pandora’s Box is pure malevolent evil and I curse the day that I made it. Over the years, the vessel has aged and become more tempered. The darkness within it has grown more powerful than I would have imagined. Even without being opened, it has the power to affect the world around it with its deathly influence. However, at the cost of this increase in strength, you could say it is being crushed under the weight of its own power. The box could originally be opened by a mere human with the innocence of curiosity, light being used to set free darkness. Now that the box has become more powerful, it requires sacrifice to be opened, something more pure than a curious human.”
“So it needs a nymph…”
Helios turned to him. “Not just any nymph, but the most powerful nymph alive. Of all the nymphs in the world, Serenity is the most pure and mystical. Even after being intimate with you, she is still far more pure than even a virgin human. You have seen the healing abilities that she possesses and the way that all life reacts to her. It took me almost an hour to heal your injuries, when it would have taken her less than a minute. I loved her mother with all of my heart, and she was born from that love and my power. For three years, he’s been hunting down nymphs and sacrificing them to the box, trying to get it to open. Only by rumor of the fruits in Serenity’s orchard from a traveler that passed by the edges of your forest did he ever learn of her exceptional powers. He wants to open the box in the hope that he can wield its power and rule over all in existence.”
“If that box is opened again, the world as you know it will end. Not even we can stop it if its evil is set loose,” Zeus said with his voice full of dread.
“Even if you can’t stop the box, can’t you at least stop it from being opened? Can’t you go down to the human world and stop Agamemnon yourselves?”
“No, for Pandora’s Box isn’t the only artifact he got as a spoil of war. He also stole the Apple of Discord, the apple that started the argument that led to the war itself. With the dark energy radiating from the box, Agamemnon was able to change the nature of the apple. Originally, it only affected goddesses and made them argue, now it is so powerful that it repels all gods and can even drain them of their powers. If we were to enter Mycenae, we would be weaker than regular humans. We need you to stop him.”
“Had it been a regular apple, that argument would probably have never even happened,” Aphrodite defended. “But because it was one of Eris’ golden Apples of Discord, it affected us like an energizing drug.”
“Why me?” Felix couldn’t help but ask.
“Because in the Trojan War, you were one of the finest warriors alive. You were in league with Hector, Paris, and even Achilles. It is in sieges like the Trojan War that legends are made, and you are the last legend still alive. You are one of the finest fighters in the world, and what separates you from all others is the fact that now, you truly have something to fight for. You can fight with vengeance in your mind and my daughter in your heart,” Helios said, frustrated that he could not save her himself.
“So let me make sure I understand this: you want me, the last member of a society that you allowed and even helped to destroy, to clean up your mess because you are too weak to do it yourselves?”
“I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF HIS ARROGANCE!” a snarling voice boomed, shaking the hall with its volume.
Felix looked back as one of the gods leapt from his throne with a crimson double-edged sword. The god was as tall and muscular as Zeus, but wore nothing more than a loincloth and a golden helm. He was Ares, the god of war. He landed on his feet, shaking the floor so violently that Felix almost fell off his.
“IF HE IS GOING TO DISRESPECT US SO, THEN I WILL KILL HIM AND HANDLE THIS MYSELF!” he thundered, charging towards Felix with his sword raised.
Without a glimmer of fear in his eyes, Felix raised the Mycenaean sword he had taken and used it to block the god’s attack. The man-made sword which would have snapped under normal circumstances, held strong against all odds. Ares gazed in astonishment as he looked down at the confident Trojan, trying to overpower him.
Cracking a smile, Zeus began to chuckle. “That is why we need you: your will is stronger than anyone else’, even strong enough for you to physically defy a god. Felix, we are only explaining to you why our enemy is the same so that we can help each other. We do not wish to insult you.”
“Before this barbarian attacked me, I didn’t say I wouldn’t accept the challenge. I will do it without hesitation. But there are still answers I seek; how is it that Serenity was not able to see the soldiers of Mycenae, how is it that you didn’t know of Agamemnon’s plans until now, and why is Serenity the most powerful nymph?”
“First, because Agamemnon is a wretched thief,” A course voice swore.
Felix looked to the back of the room and saw a man step out of a shadow as dark as night. His skin was deathly pale and he was wearing dark clothes that looked like rotting animal skins.
“Hades…” Felix muttered in fear.
“On his way home from Troy, he managed to sneak into my realm while I was busy dealing with all of the dead from the end of the war. While I was distracted, he stole my helmet of invisibility. Using the box that my brother so foolishly created and forgot about, he changed its nature as well. Now the helmet’s power can affect those that aren’t even wearing it, and not even we can see them from our realms. At the cost of this change, gods and regular humans when face-to-face can see those that are under its affects.
Agamemnon knew we would be watching him after the war so he had the nerve to personally steal from me!”
“You will be facing the entire city of Mycenae on your own, but you will not be unarmed,” Zeus beamed.
On cue, Poseidon slammed his trident down on the floor. Ten feet away from where Felix was standing, the marble tiles opened and three pedestals rose up, each topped with an artifact. On the first was a golden leaf-bladed long sword with a wide guard formed by two sterling silver carvings of horse heads, the symbol of Troy. On the second was round shield with a surface of goatskin and edges lined with golden tassels. On the third was a cape of lion skin.
“It is only fitting that you should use that sword. It is the Sword of Troy, and we have retrieved it and enchanted for your sole use. It carries with it the will of every Trojan who has ever lived and channels their strength into only the most worthy Trojan, only you. It is the legacy of your people, carried on in your desire to fight and save this world. It grants you unstoppable strength and the weapon itself never breaks and never dulls. With it in your hand, you will have enough strength to crush diamonds into powder as if they are clods of soil.
The shield is the Aegis; it is layered with the hide of a goat from my foster-mother and I used it in my battle against the titans. Like the sword, it will never break or sustain damage, so it will be your ultimate defense against the powers of Pandora’s Box.
The cape is the Nemean Lion Hide, and it will increase your durability to the point where getting slammed in the chest with a war hammer wouldn’t even crack a rib and a sword slash across the back would barely draw a bead of blood. With these three artifacts, you will be able to fend off the armies of Mycenae when you storm the city and you will be able to fight on even ground against Agamemnon with Pandora’s Box.”
“What should I do with the artifacts in Agamemnon’s possession after I defeat him?”
“Use this,” Hades said as he threw an object from a pocket of his cloak.
Felix caught it and examined it closely. It was a scroll-sized metal spike, covered in incantations and topped with a small skull.
“Plant this in the ground or a wall and it will open up a portal to my realm. The Apple of Discord, Pandora’s Box, and my Helm of Invisibility will be pulled in, along with that damned thief. The helm will be back in my possession, the artifacts will be dropped in the river Styx and lost forever, and Agamemnon will burn for eternity in the darkest and fieriest depths of Tartarus. Just make sure you use it when the box isn’t open and he isn’t holding it, or he might able to stop it.”
“So Felix, are you ready to slay Agamemnon?” Zeus asked.
In reply, Felix ripped off his blood-soaked shirt and put on the lion skin cape.
“If it meant rescuing Serenity, I would fight Agamemnon and his armies with nothing but my fists.”
Just as he was about to grab the Sword of Troy, his hand stopped and he looked up at Zeus. “You still didn’t answer my question. Why is Serenity the most powerful nymph?”
He looked around the room at the guilty expressions on the faces of the gods and titans.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He turned to Helios and grabbed the titan by the collar, an act of the greatest blasphemy. “Tell me the truth!”
No words were spoken upon the order and Felix was about to resort to drastic measures to get his answer.
“Serenity is not my true daughter,” Helios finally admitted.
Felix’s eyes widened and his fist that was clutching the collar of Helios’ tunic fell slack. “What are you talking about? She is the daughter of you and your human lover. She said it herself. You and the woman you bedded fell into a deeper love than any you had experienced with another woman, and you loved Serenity more than all of your other children.”
“I lied to her, I lied to keep her safe, hoping that the suppression of her secret would ensure her safety. She is not my daughter, my sister and I did not even give her the power of Outsight, but we are of the same blood and I truly loved her as if she were my own.”
The Trojan stepped back and looked around at the gods and titans seated throughout the council chamber. “Then who among you is her mother or father? A nymph cannot be born without divine blood, but I know that no pair among you are her parents, for I know that there is human blood within her as well.”
“Her parents are no longer living,” Zeus explained, “as her father was killed soon after her birth and her human mother died of old age while raising her and keeping her company. Her father was a titan, much like myself, but he is one that is not heard of in any legend or mythology. His name was Anuioupyoc, the unknown child of Gaia and Eros.”
Felix was nearly brought to his knees by the sheer gravity of the spoken names. This went beyond gods and titans. They were now speaking of the birth of the universe itself from the Chaos: Gaia, the primordial deity of the earth, and Eros, the primordial deity of love. These two were of the exclusive class of entities, neither god nor titan, but the origin of the two generations. With Tartarus as the third and deity of the Underworld, Erebus as the fourth and deity of empty darkness, and Nyx as the fifth and deity of night. They were entities that gave birth to the world and brought forth the titans. Having studied the legends and myths of the gods, Felix was well versed in the stories of the five but had never heard of Gaia and Eros having a child.
“Are you really telling me that Serenity is the lost granddaughter of Gaia and Eros? Can her secret really stretch all the way back to creation itself?”
“Anuioupyoc was killed by Uranus as vengeance against Gaia for his castration,” Helios said with sadness and regret in his heart, “but he lived just long enough to ask me to take care of his daughter, who is the most beautiful nymph to ever be born. From then on, I helped his human bride raise Serenity in your orchard. Anuioupyoc was the combination of the vitality and fertility of Gaia and the love and passion of Eros, and he passed that power onto his nymph daughter, a true life-giving deity of the sacred feminine. The power of Outsight was never my gift to her; it was an ability she inherited from Gaia. She said that it is the ability so see everything under the sun and moon, because she thought Selene and I shared our powers with her, but in reality, she has the ability to see everything on the planet, as her power originates from the earth deity Gaia herself.
She is the light of this world, the very carnation of life and love. Even as a nymph with human weaknesses, she is just as divine as any of us, but we kept this secret from her.”
Felix was breathing heavy as everything he knew about the woman he loved was finally brought together.

Serenity dangled naked in the Mycenaean throne room, hanging from a chandelier by her wrists. Sitting on the floor below her was a goblet, half-full of her tears. She was wrapped in a glowing aura that was protecting her from the toxicity of the world outside her forest, but that wasn’t all it was protecting her from. Agamemnon was sitting in his throne with his hand over the skull-sized jet-black vessel of Pandora. The box emitted a dark fog and the sound of deep chanting. Under normal circumstances, prolonged exposure to the box would result in death, but Agamemnon had kept the vessel around him for so long that his body had almost adapted to its evil. However, anyone that looked at him would know he was experiencing heavy negative affects.
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.
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 as well. 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.
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.
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, 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,” Agamemnon chuckled.
“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, instantly averting his gaze so that he wouldn’t have to look at his demonic king or the half-eaten bodies that littered the floor.
“My king, 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 as fast as he could. 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 his next challenge. Fifty feet away, several dozen soldiers 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 instantly 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 wreck 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, which was wreathed in a colorless burning sheath that increased Felix’s range of attack 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 that streamed from the edge with 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 tears. 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 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 completely disappeared and reappeared behind Felix with a demonic grin. 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 quickly 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 quickly 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 immediately 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 tiredness. “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 straight single-edged sword of black steel formed in his hand. He landed against the wall in the upper corner of the chamber and quickly 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.
Agamemnon jumped back and then pounced with his sword above his head, but Felix blocked the attack with the Sword of Troy and counterattacked by slamming the dark king in the face with the edge of the Aegis, shattering his jaw. Seemingly unaffected by the attack, Agamemnon let go of his sword and delivered a devastating punch to Felix’s stomach, all without the weapon even separating from the Sword of Troy before he retrieved it. Felix was forced back with blood spurting from his mouth, but thanks to his lion cape, he was able to recover fast enough to block a second slash from Agamemnon. Staring his enemy down, Felix spat in Agamemnon’s face, blinding him with a splatter of blood. The king staggered back to clear his eyes, granting Felix the chance to slash him from shoulder to hip, tearing open his chest and revealing the decomposing organs within.
With a demonic roar, Agamemnon bolted forward and began pelting Felix with a barrage of repeating erratic stabs, lashing out with inhuman speed and barely giving Felix enough time to block with the Aegis. As he attacked, his torso mended itself with the power of Pandora’s Box making the rotting flesh merge back together.
‘I’ve never seen an injury heal with that sort of speed, save for when Serenity healed my own. If I have any chance of killing him, I need to hit him hard and then keep hitting him,’ Felix thought as he desperately swung his shield from side to side to block Agamemnon’s stabs.
With an idea forming in his mind, he jumped back to give himself some distance and then swung his sword down with all the strength in his body. The Sword of Troy was brought down with a roar equal to a bolt of lightning from Zeus and it launched a wave of glassy flames, transforming Felix’s will into a solid attack. The crescent silver aura struck Agamemnon across the chest with enough force to knock him through the air and leave an arm-sized laceration that sent a foaming cloud of coagulated blood. Had he been a normal human, Agamemnon would have been sliced in half without any chance to stopping or even slowing the blast.
Moving so fast that it seemed like he was skating over the ground like an eagle over water, Felix sprinted towards Agamemnon with an animalistic snarl. Reaching the king before he could stop himself from flying back or recover, Felix gave a loud roar and slashed the floor with devastating power, grinding through the stone and mortar in an uppercut slash. The sword broke free of the floor right beneath Agamemnon and the king was blinded as Felix’s insurmountable strength was transferred to the floor in a deafening explosion. With the force of the sword striking it, the floor erupted like a volcano, blasting Agamemnon with well over hundred pounds of stone, each shard striking with bone-shattering force.
Agamemnon was tossed high into the air, limp as a ragdoll. Shattering the floor with his dismount, Felix leapt up, hoping to deliver the finishing blow. Up in midair, Agamemnon turned around with a maniacal grin and delivered a seismic kick before Felix could attack, sending the hero rocketing through the air and crashing straight through a line of pillars before slamming into the wall. Hung up in a vertical crater high above Agamemnon’s throne, Felix coughed up a mouthful of blood from the three broken ribs and agonizing internal pummeling that the impacts had caused him.
He shook aside his pain as Agamemnon disappeared in a cloud of black smoke and reappeared right in front of him with Pandora’s Box held out. The Trojan warrior had just enough time to raise the Aegis and shield himself as a torrent of dark energy surged from the box like a geyser. Outside, the people of Mycenae who had come out of hiding stared in horror and amazement as a beam of black flames burst out of the side of the castle, surging out like a horizontal tornado.
Back in the throne room, Felix fought against the blast with all of his strength as it pushed against him like a flood. The potency was diluted by a much greater diameter than the earlier blasts, but the Aegis wasn’t large enough to protect his body, meaning that his biceps, shins, and the edges of his head were exposed to the malevolent energy. He gritted through the agony of the darkness tearing at his flesh and burning his hair like crackling flames, mentally thanking the Nemean Lion Skin for keeping him alive so far. He was standing in a tunnel carved through the wall, and losing his footing would mean getting thrown back like a leaf in a hurricane and likely annihilation. With a roar of determination, he pulled his shield aside out of desperation, exposing his entire body to the blast. Gritting his teeth through the feeling of standing in a river of burning oil, Felix blindly swung his sword. The blast instantly stopped and Felix clicked his tongue with a grin as Agamemnon’s severed hand fell down to the floor, still holding Pandora’s Box.
Terrified by the loss of his power, Agamemnon dropped down to the floor to retrieve his hand. As he reattached it to the bloody stump of his arm and bonded himself once again to Pandora’s Box, Felix took a moment to catch his breath and recover from the light burns that stretched across most of his body. If Agamemnon hadn’t lessened the strength of the blast by increasing its diameter, there was no way he would have survived so much exposure.
Just as he finished catching his breath, Agamemnon materialized behind him and delivered a powerful slash of his sword. Felix blocked the attack with the Aegis and was knocked out of the hole in the wall and down to the floor. Quickly getting to his feet, he raised his sword above his head to stop a second attack, delivered by a skyward strike. The ground beneath Felix shattered from the impact, but the warrior showed no weakness and countered by slamming Agamemnon in the side of the face with his shield. Agamemnon staggered back, pushing his broken jaw back under the flesh from which it had burst out of.
“I must admit, I’ve never had a challenge like this since seizing Pandora’s Box. You’re pushing me to my limits and letting me truly test this undead body of mine. You really are my equal… But not for long!” He then cackled as he raised Pandora’s Box above his head and slammed it down onto the ground.
In a single instant, Felix was thrown across the room by an explosion of black flames, streaming from the point of contact of the box and the floor. He crashed into a support pillar, striking it with enough force to destroy the base and send the marble pillar column down on him.
“Felix!” Serenity cried out.
With a smug grin, Agamemnon stepped out of the black flames, while in the corner of the room, the pile of rubble on top of Felix began to shake. The largest intact section of the column rose and Felix came into view. He was holding up the pillar with the Aegis having fallen off his arm and his sword beside him. Like the sword, he was wreathed with colorless flames. Agamemnon’s ghostly face further paled as he realized that the Sword of Troy was resonating with Felix, providing him with power without even making contact.
Growling in anger, Felix leaned back and then tossed the ten-ton pillar of marble as if it were a wooden board. Agamemnon just sneered at the stone behemoth flying towards him and was engulfed in a mantle of black flames. The pillar collided with him like a bull slamming into a cat, but was instantly obliterated by the black flames, never even managing to come in contact. Hiding behind the flying column, Felix pounced on Agamemnon with his sword in hand and lion cape billowing. Agamemnon lost his smile as the warrior came into view behind the last layer or marble and could do nothing to protect himself as he received a dynamic slash straight down the side of his chest, cutting right through ribs and decaying muscle with little effort. Agamemnon cursed and staggered back with tar-like blood oozing from the wound, while Felix was forced to catch his breath. The two enemies faced each other, panting heavily with their swords in hand.
“This is the fight that legends are made of, this is the fight that shall be retold for centuries to come!” Agamemnon laughed with his wound stitching itself up.
Felix scowled and spat out a mouthful of blood. “The only thing that will be told is how the last Trojan overthrew the dark warlord Agamemnon and brought an end to his plans. Your evil ambitions end here, even if we both have to end with them. Let’s finish this battle, once and for all!” he shouted as glassy flames reached out from the Sword of Troy.
“That sounds good to me!” Agamemnon cackled as thick smoke billowed from his.
Lunging, both fighters swung their blades and an earthshaking shockwave clapped from the strike of the two edges, with the powers of the Sword of Troy and Pandora’s box grinding together with an ear-splitting scream. The fighters disengaged and swung again, creating a second shockwave that made the entire castle tremble. Again and again, they lashed out and locked blades, moving at inhuman speeds and sending fountains of white and black sparks into the air with each devastating impact. Serenity watched in amazement as the two enemies turned into a cascade of blurs as their speed increased with each clash.
This was a new battle, one where there was no time to catch one’s breath between attacks and try to come up with a plan. There wasn’t even enough time to orchestrate a block. Both slashed or one would be killed, that was the rule of the game. Every collision was the result of two attacks with the intent to kill canceling each other out. Even with this raw animalistic trait, the battle was also quite beautiful, displaying two legacies of honed skills, both being wielded with the same lethality as the blades themselves.
Experience, training, and mastery of swordplay were all being laid out like cards at speeds so great that they seemed more like mere instinctual flares, but every movement contained a lifetime of knowledge, all subconsciously played out without any time to notice it. The fight was a complete stalemate, with neither warrior refusing to give up or use even the slightest inferior move. Every action was master-crafted and they were all canceling each other out with a parallelism not seen in the natural world. This was a fight that would either end in moments in a draw, or continue onwards until the fighters themselves aged to dust.
Gripping the handle with both hands, Felix raised the Sword of Troy above his head and brought it down with all of the strength in his body. To counter, Agamemnon swung from the side at eye-level. The two blades struck as they had over a hundred times before, but this time, in a deafening crash, Agamemnon’s sword of unholy steel shattered like glass. With black shards flying past his face, Felix grinned in the realization that victory was his. But before he could recover from the inertia of his cleave, Agamemnon made a desperate move and slammed him in the chest with Pandora’s Box.
Time seemingly stopped for Felix as hung there, suspended with the vessel pressed against his ribcage and his sword landing on the floor with a loud clatter. His whole body was ice-cold and he couldn’t breath. He was completely paralyzed and more terrified than ever before in his life. He felt like a young child facing a pack of rabid wolves. After what to him felt like an entire year, the icy chill that filled his body like poison was replaced with burning anguish. The pain Felix was feeling went beyond his wildest nightmares, with the sensation of molten ore running through his veins and thorny vines strangling his body and then being ripped away like bandages caked in dried blood.
In his mind, Felix could not hear his own thoughts over the chorus of bloodcurdling screams that echoed through his consciousness and could not look away from the horrifying images that seemed to be playing behind his eyelids. In a gruesome montage, every dark memory from his life and the lives of millions of others were being played in his mind. He was watching the scene of his family being slaughtered, watching soldiers butcher each other in ancient battles long since past, women and young girls sobbing as they were brutally raped by criminals, animals and slaves being tortured for the amusement of their masters, and the worst acts imaginable all being committed right before his tear-filled eyes.
Finally, after the feeling of years of agony, he was thrown off of Pandora’s Box by the force of Agamemnon’s attack. Flying across the room, he hit the ground like a ragdoll and skidded to a halt, unable to get up. He was gasping for air and trembling from the horrors he just witnessed and was struggling to maintain his sanity. Lying on the floor, his ravaged mind was flooded with fear and doubt. ‘That… that’s the evil of Pandora’s Box? How can so much malevolence and malice be contained in such a small vessel? How can Agamemnon possibly wield and endure an object as cursed and wretched as that one?! How can I possibly stand up against someone and something so twisted and¬–’
His thoughts were all silenced as a drop of water fell and landed on his forehead. Finally realizing where he was, he looked up and saw Serenity hanging directly above him with fresh tears running down her face. A second tear landed on his forehead, brushing aside the fear and agony like cobwebs under a broom. The nymph’s healing tears continued to pelt his face, clearing his mind of the influence of Pandora’s Box. The dripping of her tears reminded Felix of the feeling of rain, and that in turn reminded him of the words she had said on the day they first made love.
“When it’s raining is my absolute favorite time to dance. The rain is one of my favorite aspects of nature. No matter how bad things may be, when the rain begins to pour, all the sadness and grief in the world is washed away. It’s just so pure and soothing, and when I dance, I feel like I can release my soul and let the rain wash it the way it washes the land,” he whispered, quoting her. With each tear that landed on his face, his mind became more calm and relaxed and a smile even began to form on his face from the rejuvenating euphoria that each drop carried.
“Thank you, Serenity. Thank you for saving me yet again.”
With his resolve restored, Felix slowly sat up and got to his feet.
“Why do you bother getting up? You’ve lost your sword and shield, there is no way you can win. A mere mortal cannot defeat someone like me!” Agamemnon scoffed as Felix stood up and took a deep breath.
“It is because I am mortal that you should fear me, Agamemnon. Even if I can’t win, I can still die, and that is my greatest strength.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“I have no fear or hesitation in dying for Serenity, and the fact that I cast aside my life to protect hers should tell you how hard I will fight! No one, not you or the gods can stop me from fighting and giving my life for her! You, who fears death, can never understand that strength, because you do not know the truth about power. It is not until you are truly willing to die for something that you can never be defeated! Only when you will give your life for the one you love will you truly become immortal! Even if death awaits me, I will fight and I will win!”
Above him, one last tear rolled down Serenity’s cheek. “No Felix, you don’t have to die for me. You gave your life to protect me from harm, so now it is my turn to do the same for you. If it means sacrificing myself, then I will gladly end my life and end this fight.”
As she spoke, her Nymph’s Shade shattered like a vase. She was choosing the sacrifice her life to Pandora’s Box so that Felix would stop fighting. The second her Shade broke, Pandora’s Box began to rumble.
“Ha! The vessel is finally reacting and ready for a sacrifice! Once your soul is taken, the box will open and I will become the king of the gods!” Agamemnon laughed before breaking the chain holding her up with a snap of his fingers.
Before Felix could catch her, Agamemnon appeared behind him and knocked him across the room with a monstrously powerful punch. He then grabbed Serenity by the throat, holding her up in front of the box. Serenity began to glow with a pale aura as her soul was slowly being pulled out of her body and flowing into Pandora’s Box, which was glowing brightly as the lid began to slowly rise.
“I won’t let you take her from me!” Felix howled as he got to his feet and ran over.
In desperation, he got between Agamemnon and Serenity, taking her place halfway through the sacrifice. Felix gagged as Pandora’s Box stopped feeding on Serenity’s soul and began feeding on his, pulling his spirit out from within his chest. But while the pain he felt was akin to getting ripped open like a fish and having all of his muscles and organs ripped out of his stomach, it was nothing compared to the pain that Pandora’s Box had put him through already.
“The soul of the most powerful nymph, or half of her soul and half of her lover’s! No matter what the sacrifice is, Pandora’s Box wants to be opened!” Agamemnon laughed.
Up in the sky, jet-black storm clouds blocked out the sun and began to spin above Mycenae, and every plant around the city turned gray with death. Finally, the lid flung open and everyone was tossed in opposite directions by the unholy force it set loose. Felix was thrown against one wall with Serenity in his arms and Agamemnon was thrown against the other. Pandora’s box hovered in the air with black and crimson flames streaming out of the small vessel with a pressurized scream. The storm above Mycenae spread out, crossing hundreds of miles every minute. Up on Mt. Olympus, all the gods combined their strength to try and stop the evil tempest, but the power of the box could not be denied.
“The power of darkness is now in my control! Come to me vessel, come to your master!” Agamemnon boomed, holding out his clawed hands.
Regardless of the command, the box stayed in position, continuing to let evil stream out. His smile disappeared as he realized that the box was no longer following his orders. Unless he got to it and reasserted his control before the lid became permanently lifted, he would become a victim to its power as well. Completely unaware of what was going on outside their embrace, Felix sat against the wall with Serenity in his arms, the two lovers holding each other as tightly as possible, having before thought they would never see or touch each other again. Both wanted to cry in the joy of finally being able to feel each other as they murmured the love they felt, but no tears would fall.
“Felix, I’m so sorry. I just didn’t want you to die for me again. I wasn’t thinking straight and I thought that everything would be ok if I just gave Agamemnon what he wanted. After what happened in the forest, I didn’t want you to fight, I could not bear it if you were killed before my eyes again. I would have rather sacrificed my own life so that you have a chance to live than let Agamemnon hurt you any more.”
Felix just held her in his arms, savoring her warm touch. He had a small smile on his face at her words and lifted her chin so that he was looking into her eyes. “You pretty little fool, did you really think I was going to stand by while you gave your life to save mine? We both live or we both die, I will not allow anything else. Do not worry about me, or any pain that I must endure to protect and rescue you. I just fought through the armies of Mycenae singlehandedly, but that is only a small task compared to what I would do to keep you from getting so much as a scratch.
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect you.”
“At least now we can die together.”
“No, I am not going to let us die. We still have a life to live together. We have to get back to the orchard; there are still so many beautiful days to enjoy, so many sweet fruits to savor, and so many times we still need to make love.”
“No Felix, I am not long for this world. My Nymph’s Shade has been broken, and even now, I can feel what is left of my soul being extinguished,” she said with her voice getting softer and softer.
“Then I will stop Agamemnon here and now, and carry you back to our home, even if I have to run faster than the greatest horse. I am not going to let you die. I refuse to let that happen. You told me once that it was not time for me to leave this world and that I still had a life to live. You told me to not despair when my life is far from forfeited. Now I’m saying it to you. Hold on so that we can live together. Just wait, and we will be home before you know it.”
She closed her eyes and became silent as he slowly laid her down on the floor. With his whole body shaking and exhausted, Felix slowly got to his feet and began staggering forward. Agamemnon cursed when he saw him and stood up. Without Pandora’s Box in his hand, he had none of his powers. Fighting against the waves of evil energy surging from the dark vessel, the two men both moved across the room towards the box, trying to maintain their balance against the pushing darkness. With each step, Felix could feel his organs dying and his blood becoming more and more toxic, while Agamemnon’s flesh was rotting at an accelerated rate and pealing off his body.
Deep in the shadowy maelstrom, they both reached out, trying to grasp the box but unable to penetrate the event horizon around it. From his vantage point, Felix could see into the inner depths of the box. The inside of the vessel was far larger than it seemed on the outside, with the interior walls resembling a cylindrical whirlpool of red and black flames. But in the bottom of the abyss, he could see could see a bright golden light.
“You cannot stop me or the power of Pandora’s Box! A simple human like you could never be strong enough to thwart me!” Agamemnon shouted with all air of confidence gone.
“You are a power-hungry fool Agamemnon! For years, you’ve sacrificed countless innocent people for your own selfish desires! But it ends now!”
With all of the strength he had left, Felix broke through the event horizon and reached into Pandora’s Box, grabbing the bright light in the bottom. He pulled his hand out with the golden aura shining from between his fingers and raised his fist above his head.
“Now, Pandora’s Box! In the name of Troy and my resolve to protect the woman I love, I order you to seal!” Felix called out as he slammed his fist down on the lid, forcing the box shut.
A great thunderclap echoed throughout the world as the evil energy pouring out of Pandora’s Box was cut off mid-stream, and all of the dark influence that had entered the world of the living was drawn back into the shadowy depths. Struggling to stay on their feet and stay conscious, the two rivals faced each other while gasping for air. Between them was five meters of space, with Pandora’s Box at Felix’s feet.
“You haven’t beaten me. While the box has been shut, its powers weren’t locked away. Once it is in my grip again, I will be as powerful as before, and you will be doomed.”
Felix took a deep breath before responding. “Well you won’t get it again. I’ve been waiting for you to let go of the box, because now I can finally use my final gift from the gods. I considered using it when I cut off your hand, but the moment didn’t seem right,” he said coldly as he pulled out the metal spike that Hades had given him.
“What is that?” Agamemnon stammered.
“Your doom!” Felix shouted before he threw it, sending it flying through the air and lodging it in the wall above Agamemnon’s head.
The second the spike became locked in place, it instantly exploded and transformed into a wide disk of dark energy, similar to the power that had streamed from Pandora’s Box. The disk was twenty feet across and a chorus of screams echoed from within its depths. Two black pillars materialized beside the disk, covered in incantations, and a large black skull appeared over it. Agamemnon jumped back out of fear, falling to the ground and scrambling away. He reached out to grab Pandora’s box, but before he could touch it, three long chains burst out of the portal. The first chain grabbed Pandora’s Box, the second grabbed the Apple of Discord, and the third grabbed Hades’ Helm of Invisibility. The three artifacts were quickly yanked into the portal and disappeared within its depths.
“What is this?!” Agamemnon shouted over the screams echoing from the portal.
“It is the Underworld and your fate. For deceiving the gods and threatening the world, you shall be forced to suffer for all eternity in the darkest depths!”
At the sound of Felix’s voice, a huge skeletal hand reached out of the portal and grabbed Agamemnon, who was screaming in terror.
“This is your punishment for all of your crimes! This is where you shall pay for every life lost in the name of your schemes! Now suffer for all eternity and repent your sins in the pits of the Underworld!”
Agamemnon gave one last scream before the huge skeletal hand pulled him into the spinning clouds of darkness. With Agamemnon and the three artifacts taken care of, the portal slammed shut and disappeared. Felix gave a deep sigh of relief and fell to his knees. It was all over. He slowly moved over to Serenity and lifted her head. Her turquoise skin had turned sickly pale, her life force was incredibly weak, and she would be dead in less than a minute, but there wasn’t a single twinge of fear in Felix’s heart. He held up his fist, with the light from Pandora’s Box clutched tightly in his fingers.
“According to legend, when the box was first opened, all of the evils of the world streamed out. By the time Pandora closed the box, the darkness inside had already been set loose, and by closing it, all she did was seal the last thing inside: Hope. Evil may have refilled that box, but there was still Hope inside. Now I give it to you, the hope that we can live together in our forest home and be happy forever.”
Felix opened his hand and pressed the Light of Hope against her chest, reviving her with its power. Instantly her skin went from sickly grey to its natural and lively turquoise and she gave a shuddering gasp. Felix’s smile widened as she opened her beautiful eyes.
“Felix,” she gasped.
“It’s ok Serenity, we can go home now.”
With a tearful smile, the nymph wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly while she cried on his shoulder.
“We can finally go home,” he whispered, savoring the feeling of her warm body against his.

“The box and the apple are lost in the river Styx. I made sure that no one knows where they are, not even me. They shall be lost until the end of time,” Hades said, standing in the corner of the council chamber of Mt. Olympus.
“And what of your helm?” Athena asked.
“That bastard Agamemnon really messed it up, but I should have it back to its original form soon.”
“And has Agamemnon been taken care of?” Poseidon asked.
“Let’s just say that Cerberus is going to enjoy his new chew toy for all of eternity.”
“And how are Felix and Serenity?” Zeus asked. Hades turned to Helios, who had a warm smile on his face.
“They are safe and happy,” the titan hummed.

Down in their secret orchard, Felix and Serenity were curled up in the bed of their tree chamber with the blanket over them and their foreheads pressed together. They were whispering how much they loved each other and how they always would.


THE END



Please comment! Tell me what you thought!
15 comments

ShadowFangReport 

2017-05-17 10:30:45
Best. Story. Ever. While theres no need for another chapter, it would be great to follow up on the after math.

pyroclastReport 

2016-07-08 13:02:50
Well done, Sage! Reviving the old Greek legends is a great move, and rendering them into such as fine story exceptional.
There are more stories there for the taking, please do so.

Anonymous readerReport 

2016-06-19 06:03:15
Wow this story is just phenomenal, and I seriously don't know why this a rated 74%. I have further refused my definition of "great literature". Thank you, and you don't need to add another chapter, it is perfect just the way it is.

Anonymous readerReport 

2016-03-07 01:17:39
Alright alreadt Sage of the Forlon Path: When can we expect the next chapter of "The Forest Nymph"? It has been over 3 months since the last posting. I am a 74yo male and enjoy a good story with a well thought out plot and excellent character development in which this story has both. This is what I look for in ANY story that I read. You are a very gifted writer and I look forward to reading more of your stories. Just please finish-up "The Forest Nymph. The 11 comments say it all, please finish yhis exquisite story.

Anonymous readerReport 

2015-12-29 20:02:41
this 10 minutes of my life is taken by the beauty of your writing. there was so much suspense in this. i think you should write a book and publish it.

SUBMIT A COMMENT
You are not logged in.
Characters count: