A New War, A New Guardian

Joseph Pólethèos noticed the traps pausing and darted forward mere feet after them, a bracer that had long passed down through his family upon his left forearm.

He heard a creak before he shifted his weight and hips, the bracer expanding horizontally before rotating and expanding.

Sparks flew from the expanded shield as he was tossed backwards harshly off the walkway from the heavy pendulum blade's impact, seeing envenomed darts fire as two caught him, one grazing his right side just above his hip, the other sinking deep into his left thigh.

His dark burgundy irises glowed iridescently as he ripped free the dart as he grunted as he slammed into the weathered stone walls before he fell into a deep pit before it slanted abruptly at a downward angle. He let out a feral snarl as he hit and slid down, ignoring the burning in his thigh as he slid through what appeared to be a waterfall. He missed, however, a bronze groove that caught a coppery scented red liquid that also trickled down and sent it somewhere in the depths below.

His eyes narrowed as he slid deeper as the slope turned at a sharp curve, though he didn't notice the wound the dart had created leaking faintly golden steam as the wound healed in tendrils of crimson flames.

He didn't know what had happened to Aaron nor Alex, though he could hear the distant screams of pained agony as, unknown to him, golden bronze crept ever so slowly outward from his pupils. He grunted as he twisted, evading by inches a wall of rusted blades curved inward. He coughed at the foul old copper stench before he shivered for a moment, realizing the 'rust' was actually layers and layers of blood. "Kaimènoi paralirimènoi anóitoi," he breathed, unaware he spoke in Ancient Greek.

His eyes widened fractionally as he noticed the slope ending before a low growl escaped him. "Gia tous theoús… Den eimaì anòitos gia ti diaskèdasi tous," he muttered gruffly as he shifted, pulling his legs in and kipping up, snapping his hips and landing on his feet before he pushed into a somersault as the slope ended, flipping three times before spreading his arms and legs out as if skydiving. He noticed tendrils of reddish orange flames surging in spiraling channels downward slightly faster than he was falling before he saw them merge into thicker channels of flame and abruptly surge, from his perspective, upward, lighting a tunnel that was inches above a deep pool of water. He shifted before he dove into the water, noticing numerous bones, more than a few scored by edged blades. His head tilted upward towards the ramp before he started swimming through the tunnel, sighing softly. "If I recall, the GodofWar games from…. what, ten, twelve years ago… had, of the Greek deities, Aphrodite as the only survivor. I doubt Gaea truly died… her Avatar at that time may have died, but I very much doubt that her consciousness truly died… might have been forced into a healing trance or healing coma, more likely," he mused before noticing a shaft of light alongside the flames.

His eyes widened as he surfaced before pulling himself up out of the pool. His gaze drifted around warily. He had the distinct sense of being watched. He moved cautiously, not realizing that his body and clothes were visibly steaming. He did notice, however, that upon entering the next chamber, the stone was a bit darker and the light dimmer.

The third chamber, however, was very different. Its stone was a dark, aged quartzite, which was a metamorphosed, dense form of sandstone.

His eyes widened as he could feel the burning in his veins echo deeper in the chamber. His keen eyesight noticed someone in bronze and dark burgundy armor with ancient, weathered steel chains coiled around his forearms.