"Bitch's whelp!" "Son of a coyote!" "Toothless jackel!"

Cerberus lowered all three heads and growled. He continued to stand between Vanguard and the undead hellhound. Lykopis grabbed Drake by the arm and pulled him away from Cerberus and Asbjorn. "I do not think we need to involve ourselves just yet."

Icarus ran over to Drake and the Amazon. "Want to place bets on who will win? I've got twenty on the Amazon's Shi Tzu."

Cerberus attacked his leader. Three jaws lined with bone-white teeth clamped down on Asbjorn's dry hide. The muscular canine was seven times stronger than Lord Asbjorn, but Asbjorn was older and more cunning. He knew that the three heads of Cerberus was a weakness as well as a power. Each head was fairly restricted in movement, and Asbjorn used this to his advantage. His own yellowed teeth found their way towards the muzzle of Cerberus' center head. He bit down hard, digging into the black flesh of the Greek hellhound.

Cerberus, pinned to his opponent, howled in pain. He tried to drag Asbjorn across the deck in an attempt to dislodge Asbjorn's jaws, but he would not give up. Lykopis, who moments before hated Cerberus, felt pity for him.

She turned to Drake. "We have to help him."

"How?"

Lykopis looked down at Drakes gear. "Do you have anything flamable?" Drake help up the torchlights. She nodded and grinned. "The hide of Asbjorn is thin and dry. You work with your sparks, I will work with my blade."

Asbjorn was so close to killing the Hound of Hades for good, when he felt a great heat on his flank. Drake had taken one of the torches and rammed it into the hide. Asbjorn let go of Cerberus and snapped at Drake, his thin tattered neck stretched towards Drake.

That was Asbjorn's fatal move. Lykopis swung wide and swung down upon the neck. The sword that failed to crack his skull was strong enough to break his neck. Asbjorn's head fell at her feet, and his body fell limp on the ground.

Cerberus was panting, but had enough strength to drag his body off of Asbjorn. His underbelly was scratched, but his red eyes still burned bright. "My thanks, Amazon." "You did not have to aid me." He turned and looked at Drake. "None of you had to."

Lykopis nodded. She picked up the head of Lord Asbjorn and placed it in her bag. "What will become of you?"

Cerberus sat down. He looked so much like a domesticated dog. His ears were pricked upwards and his tail thumped on the wooden deck. "Become of me? I will go back..." "...to my master Hades to serve him." "I can hear him calling me even now, since my task is done."

"What about the hellhounds?" asked Drake.

"There are hundreds of us." "We represent the dark angels and bright demons..." "...of every culture this world has ever seen." "Two of my kin are dead, and I care not." "They forgot that we serve our masters, and we must be the ones to obey the calls." "Garm forgot this." "Asbjorn thought he could be master." "But do not worry, Alpha Vanguard." By this Cerberus meant Drake. "We shall not touch you, so long as I strength."

"This is all very grand and what-not...but how are we going to get Adem back?" Icarus looked around the deck, hoping to see some sort of clue. Different was a very odd sort of person, but Icarus thought things would be pretty boring without him.

Carberus yawned and stood up. "That I cannot aid you with." "However, I recommend you ask the dark magician." "Anyone that can kill Garm deserves my thanks, as well as my respect." He turned to face Lykopis. "Farewell, Amazon. I hope never to see you again."

Lykopis nodded. "But you will, one day. When I am only a shawdow, and I join the eleven other shades waiting on the other side of the Styx...you will see me then."

Cerberus leaned closer to Lykopis, so only the Amazon could hear the words from his middle head. "Ten shades."

"What?"

"Ten shades wait for you. This is what my master bade me to tell you."

Drake could not understand why Lykopis drew back from the hellhound, or why she turned so pale. But Cerberus gave one massive back and jumped off the boat, to a river underground no mortal man had ever laid eyes upon. Drake turned to Guant, still lying on the deck. "Edmund...do you enough power for one more deed tonight? Let's get Adem back."