Upon exiting the hit, what awaited Madam Orpheus outside could only be described as the most chaotic pack of monsters she'd ever laid eyes upon. Seven, red, smokey apparitions of lions with wingspans half the size of its body sprouted from their backs. Razor sharp teeth the size of golf balls lined multiple rows of their canine-like jaws, and their red, soul-piercing, chaotically fiery eyes seemed to eye Madam Orpheus like prey. They had very predator-like bodies, full of muscles and sturdy forms, despite being made of red smoke, seemingly, and, like male lions, they had deep red manes of hair, so red in fact that they could've been confused with blood. Their faces shared similarities with lions and other big cats of predation, but there were also some human-like qualities, especially noticeable in the facial features.
'Chaos Sphinxes…Apex predators and top grade agents of Chaos,' Madam Orpheus thought in realization, but she paid them no heed nor mind. What she really found her attention drawn to was what was behind them… Or rather, whom.
Twelve feet tall, with leathery red wings greater than its size, was a giant, beefy figure with red eyes that were fixed triumphantly at Madam Orpheus as if it had won. She almost laughed to herself at the thought.
"Madam Orpheus," it said, its voice like a pressure onto this land, as it said her name with a sneer on its face. Oh, how she wanted to knock it off its face herself. "Surrender the child and relinquish its, and your, souls unto me, and you will simply reincarnate.. After a few millennia of chaotic torture, of course."
"What do the forces of the Realm of Chaos want with the heir to the Shadow Realm?" she tried to stall, hoping to at least buy some time. So long as the baby made it, she could hardly care about herself. Her house's survival meant more to her than her own individual interests. "How have you managed to shatter the seal placed upon your realm and breach into ours?"
"Why ask questions you already know the answers to?" the being said, gloatingly.
It took a minute for the Madame to realize what he meant. "The Weakening… But that hasn;t happened yet."
"Unless…," the being seemingly tried to help her complete her thoughts.
"Unless you passed through the last one 100 years ago," Madam Orpheus stated, perplexed, to which the creature nodded, laughing in agreement. "But that's impossible! It only happens every hundred years, except on rare occasions. That said, if you were using these times to cross over realms, we'd have sensed it."
"House Orpheus's reign of the Shadow Realms is fleeting," the creature said. "Soon, we'll conquer your realm and then shatter the sealing with Primal Chaos, and invade the other Realms of the outside. All will kneel before the Great Chaos, and no monster, legacy, demigod nor deity will be able to stop us."
"Trillions will die," Madam Orpheus stated, gaining some awareness of the situation more. "No one will be safe. Countless realms will fall."
"And in the madness and chaos, only one power will remain," the being stated.
"Her…," Madam finished, horror stricken.
"Her," finished the creature.
"You'll never get him," she snapped back, drawing out her spear from her back. "The Last Son of House Orpheus will not fall into your hands today, and by the time you find him, he'll find you and avenge us. But today, I will expel you from Shadow Realm, or at the very least, weaken you long enough to buy my House the necessary time needed to take out what little forces of chaos you have snuck into my realm. Of this, I give you my word."
The being stopped laughing, and began to look at the lady carefully, then checking it;s surrounding. The creature just realized that something was up. It didn't see the baby, and the confidence in this bitch's voice sounded too high. "What have you done?"
"What I had to," answered Madam Orpheus.
"Very well,"the creature nodded, suddenly calm and collected. "Arrangements can be made." It turned to its pets. "I want her. Bring her to me!"
And, as if waiting for the command, the seven Chaos Sphinxes charged at the woman, as Madam Orpheus readied herself for the onslaught.
The first beast collided with her, but she quickly stabbed her spear through its skull, killing it instantly. She then blocked a claw to the face, and deflected it, slicing her spear through another's heart, and, before it even hit the ground, she had her spear through another's brain, lodged in it sideways. She then unlodged her spear and threw aside the beast into a pile beside her and prepared herself for the next to attack her.
Spear up and ready, she threw it through the eye of a fourth beast, stilling it as it died in an instant.
A fifth beast tackled her, jumping onto her as a sixth one went for her legs. She quickly used all her strength to kick it off her, quickly rushing to get her spear to which she threw it threw the beast that had gone for her legs, its neck now had a piercing spear through it. Two more remained, and one of them had already leaped onto her once again, this time before she could dislodge her spear free from the carcass.
There was no time to relax.
It bit opened her wounded tendon on her leg which had just started to heal. She let out a rageful, moaning groan, in pain and enrage. She unsheathed her sword and sliced its neck off.
Then, she was about to charge at the last one but it had already reached her. It knocked the sword from her hands with it's paw, and then was about to bite her head off.
Before it could, Madam Orpheus formed a sickle from her own shadow, and stabbed the glowing purple sickle into the heart of the creature.
"Very good," the being from before startled her, before she could take a break. She quickly limped for her spear and twisted to face the being. She was wasted and tired, despite being rejuvenated by the darkness around her, which was not as rejuvenating as it should've been — Most likely the work of the being before her. "Impressive… Most impressive. Though not nearly enough to survive what's to come. As the princess of the Shadow Realm, I'd expect nothing less. That said, you have already lost. Tell me, where is the boy?"
Unable to get free from the creature's sudden grip around her neck, as it began tightening surprisingly fast, Madam Orpheus felt helpless. She couldn't die right now, at least not yet. Not until she personally saw to it that the teleporter had gone off and her nephew had successfully escaped this place. Only then, could she die in peace.
She was just wondering how much longer she needed to stall for when the hut's window flashed a brilliant blue and five seconds later, it blew up.
"What? NO!" the creature screeched, turning from the mysterious rubble of the hut to the woman. "That was interdimensional energy. I felt it. Where is it!? Where'd you send it?"
"You'll never find him now. He's beyond your reach, beyond the Sealing, and by the time he comes back, he'll defeat you and avenge our house," Madam Orpheus grinned, finally ready to die.
"Perhaps that day will come…but you won't be here to see it," the creature, suddenly calm, its sneer long gone. "Perhaps… But you and I both know that there are fates far worse than death. And my master won't say anything about you being stuck in such a fate."
Just as Madam had the realization to go wide-eyed in horror, not the least bit curious to find out what this being meant, the creature squashed his hand and she turned into red and black smoke, before vanishing into thin air.
The being then looked at the rubble before looking into the distance.
"The Last Son of House Orpheus, huh?" it said to itself. "Don't worry, boy, I'll find you, eventually. Even if I have to rip apart the seams of the multiverse to do so."
Then, with a final glance at the rubble that was the hut, the creature walked into the dark forest, vanishing into the treeline.
No one knew that the boy that barely escaped today, would one day become a power unlike any other!