Location: Avalon – Council Chamber
The air in the chamber was tense.
Holographic projections hovered above the obsidian conference table, each displaying seismic and aetheric disturbances centered deep within the Andes. Fluctuations in Mythborne energy spiked off the charts—unmistakable. A new god had awakened.
Isaiah stood at the center, arms crossed, lips pressed into a grim line. Across from him, Lucian paced, datapad in hand. On one side, Suri sat silent, fingers drumming against the wood with impatient heat.
"This is not just another Shardbearer," Lucian finally said, tapping the main projection. "The readings match… well, this."
He changed the image.
The old myths lit up the screen—depictions from Sumerian, Greek, and even Incan folklore. A creature with serpents for limbs. A being imprisoned beneath volcanoes and mountains. A titan known by many names.
Typhon. Yaldabaoth. Apep. Kukulkan. Ayar Manco.
All names. One myth.
And now, awake.
---
The God-Killer
"I fought him once," Isaiah murmured. His voice was low but heavy. "Or maybe Kairon did. It's hard to tell where his memories end and mine begin."
Lucian looked up. "You remember the battle?"
Isaiah nodded. "Not all of it. Just enough to know he was powerful. Enough to scare even Zeus into breaking his own laws."
Suri exhaled. "How bad are we talking?"
Isaiah's gaze hardened. "He wasn't a god. He was what gods feared."
The silence that followed was thick.
Lucian broke it. "Well, the question is—what do we do now?"
Suri leaned forward. "We find him before he decides the world's better off burned."
---
Mission Briefing
Lucian adjusted his glasses and brought up a new projection.
"Avalon's reach doesn't extend far into the Andes. It's old ground, layered with divine interference. We've had probes vanish. Whatever this Ayar is doing, he's warded himself."
Isaiah studied the terrain. Dense peaks. Thin air. Earth that seemed to reject technology.
"You'll need to go in the old way," Lucian continued. "On foot. Limited gear. You and Suri together. I'll arrange passage through the Peruvian channels. We'll fake a geological research expedition."
Suri raised an eyebrow. "Back to basics."
Isaiah gave a lopsided smile. "Just like old times."
She rolled her eyes. "We met last week."
He chuckled. "Myth weeks are like years."
---
Elsewhere: The God Below
Location: Machu Qhawa – Hidden Shrine Beneath the Andes
Ayar stood in the heart of a cavern lit by veins of molten gold. The walls pulsed like a heartbeat, alive with ancient magic. Before him knelt twelve monks—silent, their faces covered with serpent masks.
He reached into the flames.
They did not burn him.
Instead, they revealed his past in flickers—visions of Olympus crumbling, gods weeping as their thrones turned to ash. A sky torn apart by wings the size of continents. His wings.
But those days were gone.
He had been buried, not defeated.
"Typhon," one of the monks whispered. "What shall we do?"
He turned.
And smiled.
"We will remind the world why it feared the old gods."
---
A Conflict of Belief
Yet something within him stirred.
Not rage.
Regret.
He remembered the moments before his fall—when Kairon had tried to reach him. When one god had dared to see him not as a monster, but as a prisoner.
He remembered the betrayal that followed. But still… the memory lingered.
Now Kairon returned in a new vessel. The lightning still crackled. The voice still echoed. The will had not changed.
Ayar closed his eyes.
"Will you try to stop me again… brother?"
---
The Journey Begins
Location: Lima, Peru – Airport
Suri adjusted her jacket as she stepped off the private jet, the humid wind curling through her hair. Behind her, Isaiah stretched, then pulled on a pair of dark sunglasses.
"Welcome to Lima," their handler said in Spanish-accented English. "Your cover identities are ready. Professors at the University of São Paulo. You're studying seismic phenomena linked to folklore."
Isaiah raised an eyebrow. "Creative."
The man smirked. "Your equipment's already on a chopper. I suggest you move fast. The locals speak of shadows moving in the mountains. A 'serpent sun' rising in the east."
Suri and Isaiah exchanged a look.
Definitely Mythborne.
---
Into the Mountains
Two days later, they ascended the mountain path.
Gone were the luxuries of Avalon. Here, the jungle pressed in with primal energy. The animals watched them, silent and wary. The air itself seemed to pulse.
Suri felt it first.
"Do you hear that?"
Isaiah nodded. "Like… a heartbeat."
They stepped into a clearing—and saw it.
A giant stone head, partially buried in the jungle floor. Fangs made of obsidian. Eyes etched with golden runes. It stared upward toward the red-tinged sky.
"Ayar's shrine," Isaiah whispered.
Suri touched it—and staggered.
A vision hit her.
---
Vision: The Storm and the Serpent
She stood between two giants.
Isaiah—cloaked in lightning, spear of storm in hand.
And Ayar—Typhon—wreathed in flame and serpents.
They fought above a dying earth, their battle cracking continents.
But then—something darker emerged. A shadow that neither of them could touch. A hunger.
The real enemy.
She gasped and pulled back.
Isaiah caught her. "What did you see?"
She looked at him, fear in her eyes.
"He's not our enemy," she said. "He's… a shield."
Isaiah frowned. "From what?"
She swallowed hard.
"Something worse is waking up."
---
Meanwhile: The First Tremor
In the Pacific Ocean, somewhere near the Mariana Trench, instruments exploded with data. Earthquakes rippled without cause. A scream echoed into the deep.
A Leviathan stirred.
And it remembered the gods who buried it.