Adrean alucard's Arc

Chapter 12 of 28

The gates broke while Adrean still sat the throne. Gods poured through the shattered stone. He rose, blood-light burning along his arms, ready to fight. But they did not attack. They stopped in the hall and stared at him, then at Shiva at his side, then at the vampires bound to his seat. Their faces went slack with shock. They came from every pantheon. Gold-armored warriors. Robed elders. Beast-headed figures and crowned kings. A hundred divine beings, and every one of them expected a lone target on a chair. Instead they found a king with a court. One stepped ahead of the rest, a child-shaped god crowned in gold, blue gem set in the brow. The power under that small frame pressed on the air like a storm. "You drained the eldest of us," the golden god said. "You made a nest of gods and vampires. We came to end one thief." The god's eyes moved over Shiva. "We did not expect one of our own to kneel." "He does not kneel," Adrean said. "He stands with me." Shiva raised his open hand. Blue fire licked between his fingers. "I felt this boy take my flame and live," he said. "He is not what you were told." The golden god lifted a hand, and the other gods lowered their weapons. "Then we will not settle this with claws. Too many of us would die." The gem in the crown flared. "We call a meeting. All the supernatural, gathered under one law. The chamber of divine creed. There we decide what you are and whether you live." Adrean weighed it. He could not fight a hundred gods and win. Not yet. But a meeting bought time. A meeting was a room where he could speak, and drain, and grow. Lucifer stepped from behind the throne, wings loose, red eyes bright. He had watched all this without a word. Now he smiled. "A wise offer," he said. "The boy will come. I will bring him myself." He looked at Adrean, and only Adrean heard the low words. "Every god in that chamber is a meal. They just invited you to the table." Adrean understood. He faced the golden god. "I accept. I will come to your chamber. I will hear your law." The golden god nodded once. The gods began to withdraw through the broken gate, watchful, unwilling to turn their backs. In moments the hall stood empty but for Adrean's court. "They fear you enough to talk," Lucifer said. "That is new. But a chamber of creed has rules. You cannot simply touch a god and drain him there. Break their law and every pantheon falls on you at once." Adrean looked at the throne, then at the shattered gate where the gods had gone. He had a summons now, and a room full of divine power waiting inside it. He would walk in as a guest. He meant to walk out fed.