Magnus Chase and the Wrath of Morpheus

Chapter 19

I Pass Out (Part Two) While Morpheus Goes Into Full On Rage Mode

The next morning when we woke up we were still lying in the middle of the forest.

I thought about the last night. The big nasty hole in my chest had vanished. I guess it was already gone when Alex magically brought me back to the land of the living, but I must have been too exhausted at that point to notice it.
Something around me felt different. The air was more humid but it hadn't been raining during the night. Even though the sun was already up, the sky was still dark. Storm clouds had gathered.

It all felt suspiciously dangerous...I quickly woke up Alex, even though I kind of liked the feeling of him lying next to me.

"We should go back to the tent. And once again...the others don't need to know. They already have so much on their plate. They shouldn't worry about me more than necessary, I'm fine again."

Alex nodded. "I understand," he said.

We walked back to our tent but when we arrived at the shore my brain froze.

Out on the lake, about half a mile from where we were standing, the island was covered in red light. The leafy canopy had covered up what was really going on but now we both saw the full extent of Morpheus's powers: Dark red clouds gathered, lightning bolts shooting out of them every few seconds. The usual thunder didn't sound, instead the ear shattering screeching and howling I had heard yesterday started again.

Suddenly the wind started to tear on our clothes and out on the island the sky opened up. The clouds moved aside and revealed nothing but darkness above them. And out of the darkness they emerged, the Mare on their horses. Little ugly creatures with buckled backs and pitch black skin that hung loosely on their skeletons.

I wanted to run over to our tent and wake up my friends who were still sleeping, being non the wiser, but from the point where the Mare entered our world a sound wave spread and when it hit me I heard the long expected thunder. I was swept off my feet, my brain unsure how to respond to all these new senses of horror. For the second time in three days, I passed out.

I wasn't knocked out for long because when I opened my eyes again everything was still the same except for my friends who were now standing around me, looking at me worriedly.

TJ was the first to talk. "Magnus? Everything okay?"

I groaned and stood up. "Uhm- Oof I...," I said (Yes, I know, very articulate.) "It's okay, don't worry about me, there's no time, we need to go over there right now," I pointed towards the island, "We need to stop whatever Morpheus is trying to do."

Hector cleared his throat. "Uhmm... is it just me or does it seem like a bad idea to walk into a battle with no plan at all?"

"Well, we can't just walk away, can we? So let's go," Alex snapped back at him.

Hector looked to the ground embarassed.

"Okay now," Alex continued "We leave our things here, we can come back to them later. Carter can you open a portal that leads us to the island?"

We all looked at Carter. He thought about it for a second. "Maybe. The time is right and if I use Tutu as the Egyptian ancer it could work but it's risky, because if Tutu isn't strong enough, the portal will lead us into Ma'at, and we won't be able to escape from there once we're in. Once you're in there's basically no way out again."

"It's a chance we'll have to take," Alex answered.

"Wait, has everybody got their weapons? Magnus, here's Jack," Halfborn asked and threw me my Jack-the-pendant-necklace.

In the air Jack transformed into a sword and I caught the handle in my hand.

"Back again, ladies and gents!" Jack said. "Now, what do I have to do this time-Oh...Oh, I see that doesn't look good..."

I don't know how he was able to see, because he didn't have any eyes, to take in the apocalyptic scenery in front of us, but everybody else nodded in agreement.

Carter decided that if no one rushes off to get their weapon he could open the portal.

He took his crooked sword out of the duat and waved it around while muttering some ancient spell.
Just like when we were in Camp Half-Blood, a portal opened up and we walked through it, I myself even more hesitantly than the first time because, let's be honest, I didn't really want to go inside something that could hold me as a prisoner for all eternity, especially not when it looked very familiar to the abyss in which I had been trapped last night.

But I knew there was no other way to get to the island so I hopped into the vortex right after Mallory. Only seconds after wobbeling and flying and tumbling through the duat we landed in a big forest clearing.
Or at least what was left of it: All around us fires were burning down the trees and in front of us stood Morpheus, about ten feet tall, dark mist floating around him and the Mare on their horses in the background. The wind was deafening, but his voice cut through the noise.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Carter Kane and his friends!" He said with a smile on his face. "What a nice time you chose to show up! I believe you have already met my friends, the Mare?"

Behind him the monsters hissed and cackled.

I felt a cold shudder when I looked at them. The memories of how they attacted us, the nightmares I had, it all came back. I felt numb and helpless.
Morpheus continued, "As I said, perfect timing. You know, I never had enough power to do this, but now that the artifact is in my posession I can finally control my full powers. I will let the world know what it feels like to experience my wrath. All the creatures of my kingdom, the monsters of your worst nightmares, the animals of the night, I will summon them all!" He lifted his arms and his voice once again defied every rule. "Come!"

It sounded like ten people were talking at the same time in different pitches, creating a wall of sound that echoed all around until it was just a whisper. But the sound didn't stop, it just found a new source. When we turned around we saw how out of the the darkness behind us shadow-like creatures emerged. They were saying intelligable words while moving closer and closer.
Halfborn drew his axe.

"Finally a good fight and not just stupid talking," He said and charged towards the moving shadows.

Even though I admired his bravery I still thought that sometimes it could be a bit healthier to just stay out of trouble.

Morpheus laughed. "Enjoy the fight, I'll go back to summoning some of my friends in the meantime."

The shadow creatures surrounded us.

Halfborn swung his axe and sliced through one of them. It evaporated into mist.

Mallory screamed over the wind but I couldn't understand everything she said. "There are too many!-Only fight them for so long-We need-and stop Morpheus-" Her eyes suddenly became wide, and she pointed at a monster that had appeared behind me. I quickly turned around and stabbed it, but it had already been close enough to touch my arm. It didn't really hurt, but my sleeve turned black and something that I can't describe better than a dark feeling rushed up my veins and into my heart.

I tumbled backwards.

Carter ran to help and beheaded the creature. "ARE YOU OKAY?" Even with just one foot distance between us he had to yell so his voice wouldn't be drowned by the wind. I nodded and turned back around to face Mallory. With my arms I made a gesture that she would hopefully interpret as a plow. Now we were standing in a small circle and tried to kill off the slowly creeping monsters. My idea was to go into plow formation and try to fight our way towards Morpheus so we could stop him, and possibly kill him without anyone being hurt.

She seemed to understand what I was trying to say and the others nodded to show me that they understood my plan too.
Sadly, even though it was a good idea, it didn't really work out.