Zaira's POV
"So what do we do now?" I asked Aramis.
He suddenly became serious. "We have to go to Reah as soon as possible and then to the gods' palace, you're only safe there. It's best if we get out of here right now, that way we'll at least have a little head start. If what Honaw mentioned to me is true, then-"
"Wait, what did Honaw talk to you about?" I interrupted him.
"He told me that some warriors from his neighboring tribe saw a whole army of Hell Warriors north of Semeera."
"How big is the army?" I wrapped my army around Aramis and rested my chin on his chest. He stroked my hair soothingly.
"They estimate around a hundred thousand demons."
"Heavens!" I gasped. Hundreds of thousands? "How are we supposed to fight such a large army?"
“We will assemble our own army. I've already told Honaw to tell all the gi tribes and then round them up," he said firmly. "And I'll tell xenos to do the same with the werewolves, he's their king after all. If we all together, gis and werewolves fight together, we can defeat them."
I choked. "Wait what? King?"
He smiled. "Of course that's all you heard."
"Xenos, your friend , is the king of the werewolves? The king?" I squeaked.
"Hey, don't look like that when you talk about Xenos, I'm a demigod after all." He pouted, nudging me gently. "Look at me like that . "
I stood on my tiptoes and bit my lip. "How about a kiss instead?"
"I'll never say no to that," he said harshly, cupping my neck and brushing his lips over mine. "I won't let Serdas get his hands on you. You're mine and I'll protect what's mine. "
"Then never let go of me." I breathed.
"Oh no, never again." His grip on my neck tightened.
"Oh how cute!"
We jerked apart, both searching for the matching body of that bitter voice.
"Young love, how beautiful she is! Can't you find Calvius?" Honaw asked, raising his hand. "Oh, or should I say Aramis? Which do you prefer, hmm? Calvius or Aramis? No, don't answer that, I'll choose myself . I choose Aramis."
Aramis let out an annoyed breath while I nervously shifted my weight from one leg to the other. We had lied to and betrayed all of them, while taking advantage of their hospitality, I felt terrible.
"I personally ban you from our land! Don't ever show your face here again, or you'll face the hatred of all our people." He said to us, but his eyes were only on Aramis.
The Gis, who stood behind the chief in battle gear, pumped their fists in the air, booed and called out. Most of the words they threw at us were in their language, and the others that were in my language I could not hear over the shouting of the people. Nonetheless, I could tell myself that they weren't exactly nice.
Arya was next to Honaw and just stood there. She said nothing and her face showed no emotion, it was as if she were a statue.
"Arya..." I started hesitantly, but she just shook her head, not wanting to hear my apology. But I owed her one. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to lie to you, okay?"
She didn't even bother to look at me, just stared straight ahead.
The Gis kept screaming until I listened carefully and understood the individual words from it. "Lycan!", "Cursed Wolf!", "Beast!", "Monster!", and far more horrible things.
My wolf growled wildly and bared my fangs. I growled loudly. "Shut up!" I stepped forward, putting myself between the people and Aramis. "He's not a monster or beast, he's a demigod and none of it is evil! He's good and you'd better thank him than." to insult him! He's the one protecting you from Hades and Serdas, no one else! So be damn thankful he's here, because without him, you'd be dead by now!"
My chest heaved rapidly as I looked at the gi's faces in shock at my own outburst. Arya looked at me thoughtfully while Honaw's gaze was still angry. Then a hand grabbed me and turned me around.
Aramis cocked his head at me and smiled tenderly. His eyes sparkled. "You protect me?" He gently pulled me to him and pressed a light kiss on my forehead. I felt him up to the tips of my toes. "You don't have to protect me, I can take care of myself," he whispered and stroked a strand of hair behind my ear. Nevertheless, I felt how much this moment had touched him. He then pulled me to his side and wrapped his arm around my waist.
"We will go and I will never set foot in your land again," Aramis proclaims firmly. "But we must all unite against Serdas and fight his army of Hell Warriors together! We must protect Semeera and Anifeira from doom!"
"Who says Serdas doesn't just want you dead?" Honaw countered. "Arya told us Serdas wants you dead, not us!"
"If Arya has told you everything, then you should also know that he wants to take over the world with Hades and as far as I know, the Gi tribes also belong to this world."
"Ha! Hades has been trapped underground for thousands of years, unable to take over the world! And the Avatar of Death certainly can't either!"
Aramis was losing patience. He said snidely, "Yes he can, when Luna and Gaia are no longer at their fullest, Serdas will find a way to free Hades and then no one will be safe here."
The gis fell silent and the chief narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, if the goddesses are not in full force anymore?"
"That means," Aramis sighed. "You're not fully conscious right now."
Honaw said nothing.
"Listen, we don't have much time left! We must unite all gi tribes and werewolf packs and fight together against their army. If we don't join forces, we don't stand a chance. The Hollenwarriors army is just too big and they are too strong for us to defeat them like that."
"Why should we believe a traitor!" Honaw exclaimed. "You're cursed, you miserable dogbag! We won't support you to create your own little army and then lose our lands and our people to you! You you're in cahoots with them!"
The Gis loudly agreed with Honaw, stamping their feet and spears on the ground.
"You are banished! Goes! Disappears!"
I wanted to back down, but Aramis stood his ground.
"You are fools if you think I'm lying to you! Don't put your children's lives at risk just because you're afraid that Hades might actually rise!" Aramis's voice rose, the veins on his neck bulging. "Face the truth, there will be war when Let's not do anything about it now!"
"We see them loud and clear Aramis and we won't make the same mistake we made a long time ago!" Honaw gestured with his hand and a dozen Gis stepped forward, their weapons trained on us.
Aramis snorted and for a moment I thought he was going to fight her. But then he pulled me away by the hand. But I stopped.
"Rowtag!" I called, indicating to Aramis that he would have to wait a moment. He pressed his lips together, but didn't stop me. "Rowtag, Cha'tima is injured and needs your help. He's with me himself at home, you should look after him."
The Gis put their heads together and murmured. A great warrior came out of the crowd. It was the guard we had seen before dinner tonight and told us where to sit. He nodded to me. "I will."
Another pull from Aramis and I followed him through the dark jungle, away from the Gidorf.