Chapter 8 - The Anger

Keuthonymus was sitting in his throne room, getting a foot massage from one of epiales and sipping on some mortal blood from pools of Erebus, when he was disturbed.
One of the machae stormed in and began saying:
- “My Lord, we lost, we lost!”
- “Not another loss. Why can’t you kill two puny heroes?!” Keuthonymus got angry and kicked the epiales off his foot.
- “There’s worse my Lord.”
- “WORSE?!?! What could be worse?”
- “Pylades got slain. I am sorry.” That machae said with a trembling voice.
Here Keuthonymus closed his eyes and felt an enormous fire explode within his body. He just wanted to turn himself into a giant and to stample all over his kingdom. Pylades was his best friend and his right hand man. Keuthonymus would never forgive the man or beast who would take Pylades away from him. He opened his eyes, burning with a purple flame and stretched his hand out. He then began force choking that machae who brought him the bad news.
- “My L-l-lord, please s-s-stop.” The dying machae was saying.
Keuthonymus quickly stopped the force choking and then said:
- “Go and tell Callicrates that I want him to deal with the mortals. Also tell him to take ALL of his army. Those mortals are not to be underestimated. I would’ve killed them myself, but I am too busy with other issues. Now GO!”
- “Yes My Lord.” The machae said and sprinted out of the throne room.
Keuthonymus then collapsed back into his throne and picked his mug up. He was out of mortal blood, so threw his mug on the ground and commanded to the guards:
- “Get me more human blood from pools of Erebus!”
Two guards quickly shot off to do so. Keuthonymus then looked over to that epiales he kicked earlier.
- “You. Back here.” He pointed at his foot.
The epiales quickly resumed massaging his foot.
The machae messenger came up to Callicrates, who was a machae High Warden and was the head guard of Keuthonymus’ palace.
- “What do you want?” Callicrates asked the messenger.
- “Lord Keuthonymus said that he wants you to take your whole army and to find those heroes who are causing us all the trouble.”
- “Didn’t Pylades defeat them?”
- “Unfortunately he got killed. Those two heroes defeated the whole army.”
- “Impossible!” Callicrates couldn’t believe it, “Pylades was my friend. I definitely will miss him. Well if Lord Keuthonymus wants me to dispose of those heroes, then this is what I’ll do.”
Callicrates then assembled every machae and melinoe from the palace and told them that they will be heading into the City of Keuthonymus to kill two mortal heroes. Most of them laughed at the idea, but he warned them with a serious tone of voice that those heroes were not to mess with.
And so the army consisting of over 150 machae and 100 melinoe, all of various ranks and classes headed off towards the city.
However half-way there, Callicrates came up with a better idea. He decided to head into the former Minoan labyrinth and to base a strong ambush there. Labyrinth was a perfect place because the mortals would be lost in it and it will be extremely easy to surround and ambush them. The only problem was to lure them there.