"We will never allow you to enter the Divine realm monsters! The Four Horsemen will never be a pantheon."
Well that's just rude. Plus, what idiot named us the four horsemen on his world? There's 5 of us, it makes no sense.
In front of us stand an assembled army of Immortals. Cultivators from six different species and an unknown number of worlds. All here for one singular purpose, to stop me and my closest of friends from entering the portal to the Divine Realms that will soon open.
"Are you certain you want us to remain here and angry, good sir? Can you afford that price?" Karl, my best friend and lifelong partner challenges him.
"We are not afraid of you or The Young Miss, Black Lord" the Immortal sneers. "No matter how many cities you burn and Kingdoms you overthrow."
"Now Sect Master, you know we're not bad sorts. We killed only as many as needed killing, no more, no less." I tell him in my best conciliatory voice. The eternally youthful face and fluffy Lycan ears that earned me the title Young Miss often work to calm tensions.
"The Titan Gods will never forgive what you did to the city of Deimos" A giant shouts from the back.
Ah Deimos, city of a hundred million slaves. All free now and the ancient city razed, the nobility annihilated. Screw Deimos.
"If you think they didn't deserve the Divine Tribulation they suffered, you're welcome to join them." Karl offers.
Just then the Divine Portal begins to open and the assembled army's eyes go hard in determination.
"Let none escape" their leader calls and the battle turns bloody in an instant.
No longer are we restraining the beginnings of our Divine auras, black clouds block out the sun and the ground runs red with blood. Purple Arcane lightning crashes down into the assembled Giants as Karl and The Librarian move to engage their enormous foes.
I roar the battle cry of the Dragon Gods as Disciple and The Caretaker join at my shoulders, following me into the fray, driving towards the slowly opening gateway to a Divine Plane that can elevate our powers a hundred fold. Enough power to recover our lost friend, no matter where she might be taken.
Immortals fall like chess pieces one after another. Even the mighty giants of the Titan clan are no match for the fury of five demigods unleashed.
The very fabric of reality around us is beginning to unravel from forces this Mortal world was never intended to have to endure, if we're going to succeed the time is short.
With a gut wrenching twist, time itself folds around us, leaving the field empty of all but the five of us, the Divine Realm portal and the army guarding it thrown through space and time for us to find again should we wish to succeed at this crazy adventure.
"Drat, that's the third time now. Do you think the others are on to our plan?" The tall Dragon scaled lady commonly known as Disciple asks, her scales shimmering in the returned sun.
"I hope not." Librarian says "If they are we might never recover the inheritance."
Karl picks me up and sits, tucking me in his lap to brush my tail. Nothing is better for relaxation.
"Don't worry" he says "We will get it eventually and bring her back." The others all nod in determination.
"How long has it been since we started adventure?" I ask, thinking of all the things we've seen and done.
"It's been over two hundred years since we met" Librarian shrugs, but his perspective isn't always trustworthy, given his experiments with time and space magic.
"First meetings, that brings back memories" Karl laughs. "Do you remember when we first met, at that ill fated Task Force, the one the government created just after the portals came to our world and everything started to collapse."
"Oh I remember, you came in looking like a bike gang member and scared the wits out of the suits" I laugh.
"Oh really? I seem to recall a certain someone getting teased about looking like a school kid and not an actual warrior." Karl teases me.
"Poor Jake never did live that one down" Caretaker laughs "But she still looks younger than most of the students I graduated even now."
We all laugh, because it's proven true everywhere we go. I can't help it, I'm just naturally that way. 5 foot 1 with a baby face and strawberry blonde curls makes me look like a doll. Not that I'd rather be anything else at this point, but after a couple centuries you learn ALL the short jokes.
I think back over the day we met, and everything else that happened to lead us here to this point. Almost to the finish line of a lifetime striving for Divinity just to rescue a lost friend.
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I had just finished telling off a werewolf named Jake for accusing me of being a school kid sent by Alpha Petros as an insult and not a real warrior. I know what I look like, but I worked hard to make it from Omega to Pack Warrior and I wasn't going to let him denigrate that, so I unloaded on him. I don't think anyone really took me seriously, but it helped my mood.
That's when the door opened, the breeze ruffling my sharp black skirt suit and forcing me to take a step to the side to allow the new arrivals to enter. A breeze that carried with it the scent of burnt gasoline and leather, along with something more. A tingle that drove my instincts crazy with lust. I wondered if this was what werewolves felt when they found their mate, as such a fated bond doesn't occur among the Lycans. Lycans pick their mates. If it was at all similar I could totally understand why mates throw themselves in each others arms, just trying to keep my composure around the feeling that made every nerve in my body tingle with pleasure caused all rational thought to abandon me.
Gathering my wits, I turned to greet the new arrivals, two nondescript men in suits, who appeared to be human government agents and a large biker.
I was still lost in my thoughts when the big human biker looked down at me and smirked "I'll take this one" before looking over at Major General Mickelson, the commander of this Task Force.
"That's not at all how this works Karl and you know it" a young Lieutenant next to Mickelson exclaimed "and why have you chosen to disregard etiquette, dress code and common human decency to appear here looking like that?" Oh, I might grow to like this stuffy Lieutenant. He's brave.
"Saw the memo, didn't care" Karl replied looking around at the meeting room full of expensive suits and well pressed uniforms. "But I must say you look adorable today, playing soldier"
Both me and the anonymous suits burst into laughter at this point and muffled snickers filled the room.
"I don't know who approved your assignment, but let me tell you..." the Lieutenant began before being cut off abruptly.
"Enough" Major General Mickelson commanded "Now that everyone is here, let us begin assigning partners. You can all get to know each other later during our weekly meetings or on your own time"