They appeared in front of the massive temple doors, opened wide for them. They eyed each other nervously and headed through cautiously, all five men flanking Rhiannan.
The moment they were all through, the doors slammed behind them and silence fell like a velvet hammer. The air grew electric, buzzing with ancient weight and divine wrath. Rhiannan stood at the head of the group, her chest rising and falling with anticipation, her hands trembling. At the center of the chamber levitated the Chalice of Truth, golden and ancient, humming with power only a goddess could summon.
But this wasn't just a relic. It was a reckoning.
A blinding pulse of light shot out from the chalice, knocking them all to their knees. Rhiannan screamed as her mind was ripped open. Memories, once locked behind divine wards, came crashing through like a dam had burst.
Rhiannan POV
She saw herself, glowing and divine, running through golden halls with laughter in her throat and light in her hair. She saw gods and goddesses calling her "child of stars," the chosen vessel. She saw her own mother sobbing as a cloaked figure stole Rhiannan from her cradle.
The next vision shattered her:
A dark basement. Chains. A cruel voice. Magic burning her skin. Being told she was worthless. Years of it. Beatings, mind wipes, memory erasures. And then waking up in the modern world, lost and alone, with no memory of who she was or where she belonged.
Her scream echoed off the stone walls as blood dripped from her nose.
Kaleb POV
The wolf king saw his most shameful truth. Not the death of his first love, but how he'd welcomed the numbness afterward. How he'd hunted power to drown his pain, how he'd used women like tools, always looking for the one who could wake him from the fog. He saw his rage, his coldness.
And then he saw Rhiannan.
The moment he scented her, his wolf had wept.
He whispered, "She was always the reason."
Arwen POV
The pirate fell to his knees. His first memory was of betrayal, his own hand, stabbing his twin brother to survive a brutal test set by their father. A test no child should have endured. He'd been told it was kill or die.
His brother had lived, but Arwen had never forgiven himself.
He'd worn charm and cocky grins to hide the guilt. But Rhiannan....she didn't buy the act. She saw him. Loved him anyway.
And that? That fucking broke him.
Elisha POV
The dragon king saw centuries of cold, calculated cruelty. He had ruled with an iron claw. Executed innocents. Let pride destroy alliances. All because of loneliness. All because he thought if he hoarded power, no one could ever leave him.
Then he saw Rhiannan.
Demanding. Radiant. Insufferable.
And the moment she called him out, his soul had sighed in relief. "She sees the monster," he whispered. "And she stays anyway."
Liam POV
The vampire king saw 400 years of slow madness. Watching his people slaughtered. Failing to protect his fledglings. Choosing exile over war. Laughing instead of crying.
But behind every sarcastic quip was guilt so massive it had cracked his soul.
He saw Rhiannan bleeding on his floor and for the first time in centuries, he felt. Not just rage or grief. Hope.
And it terrified him.
Sable POV
The demon was brought to his knees.
He saw his mother's death. His father chaining him up. Training him like a beast. Calling him a mistake. Years of darkness, no love, only pain. Women tricking him, using him, laughing at him. And finally, the entity claiming him.
But then....her.
Rhiannan. Looking at him like he was worthy. Like he was chosen. Like he was hers.
He wept for the first time.
The Chalice blazed.
Rhiannan, body shaking, reached out with bloodied hands and grasped the relic. Divine light surged into her, and the room exploded with energy.
She saw the next relic.
The Crown.
She collapsed. Kaleb caught her.
"Where is it?" he asked.
Her voice cracked with power. "Guarded by the Undying King... in the Forest of Bones."
Everyone stood frozen.
Liam muttered, "Just once I'd like a prophecy that ends in a bakery."
Elisha growled, "Prepare the portal."
Sable just tightened his grip on Rhiannan's hand.
And the Chalice pulsed once, echoing with a final whisper:
"Only truth can set the gods free."
The moment of clarity, of revelation, of deep, soul ripping truth had barely settled into their bones when chaos returned like a bitch in heat.
The ground trembled, a low rumble growing in intensity. Everyone looked up just in time to see a fucking swarm of demon monkeys descending from the twisted treetops above the chalice's resting place. Their screeches split the air like banshee wails on crack.
"Of course it's demon monkeys," Liam deadpanned, rubbing his temple. "Why not demon monkeys? We haven't had enough trauma today."
Sable reacted first, wings flaring wide as he roared, but one monkey latched onto his wing with razor claws and ripped a chunk clean off. His snarl of agony was nearly drowned out by Arwen's shriek as another monkey launched itself and chipped his fucking claw.
"Oh hell no!" Arwen yelled, swinging around wildly with his blade.
Liam got sucker punched right in the eye by a particularly nasty little shit with brass knuckles. He stumbled back, blinking rapidly, muttering, "I'm gonna kill it. I'm gonna fucking kill it."
Kaleb and Elisha were fending off the rest, until one particularly brave monkey flung a fist-sized glob of steaming demon shit right into Elisha's face.
Everyone paused.
Elisha's nostrils flared.
Smoke curled from his mouth.
"Oh, you done fucked up now," he growled, and immediately shifted into his massive golden dragon form.
It was a massacre. Monkeys caught on fire, shrieked in agony, were eaten whole or scorched into ashes mid air. Sable slashed through them with vengeance, Liam cracked necks with a vengeance, and Rhiannan launched balls of divine flame with wild fury, cackling like a woman unhinged.
Eventually, they stood in a sea of charred monkey parts, panting and battered, covered in scratches, bruises, and various fluids they didn't want to name.
Then…
Out from the rubble waddled one tiny demon monkey, a ridiculous banana in hand, its fur smoking slightly. It hopped toward Rhiannan with an eerie amount of swagger, looked up with wide eyes, and said in a scratchy little voice:
"I'm Mo. We're friends now."
The group stared in stunned silence. Rhiannan, smeared in blood and glory, shrugged and let him climb onto her shoulder.
"Fine," she said, patting his furry head. "But if you throw poop, you die."
Mo grinned. And held up his banana like a sword.
"Fucking hell," Kaleb muttered.
And they moved on.