Waking with a start, Chara listened for what had woken her. Another battle scream had her leaping from her bed and pausing only to grab her sword, she ran naked through the corridors. She knew her sister's voice and ran with all her strength to reach her.

"We're under attack." Screamed Eleni as she burst through the temple doors. Her eyes widened as a sword was thrust through her chest and blood sprayed from her mouth in a soundless scream of pain. Kallias reached her first and pulled her to her as she tried to force the troll back out the doors to close and barricade them. She could see the Amazons behind him battling with a desperate fury as demons and creatures poured from the treeline and joined the battle. She stabbed at the troll and slammed the door shut. They all froze at the dragon's scream. It was a sound of utter misery and desperation. If they'd taken the dragon they were all done.

Chara reached down to take her fallen sister from Kallias and felt the breath leave her as she looked into her sister's lifeless eyes. Swallowing hard she looked at Kallias then to Sara, the youngest of the four of them who was running down the hall notching her bow as her sword banged into her calf.

"She's gone Kal, we need to move. We need to protect the Oracle."

"No! " Screamed Kallias as tears streamed from her golden eyes onto her tanned cheeks.

"Kallias. We have to."

"No, I won't leave her." Screamed back the hind. Sara threw her cape to Chara to cover her nakedness.

"Kallias please we have to go." Begged the hind as she wrapped it around her and tied it at her shoulder.

"I will go to secure the back entrance sister. You get the Oracle and Kallais can bring Eleni." Said Sara giving her eldest sister a terrified look. Nodding Chara started towards the Oracle's bed-chamber.

"Kallais bring Eleni to the rear entrance. I will meet you both there.

The walls shook as something collided with them, twice the desperate hind had to leap over rubble as bits of the walls and ceiling broke away.

In her room, the Oracle stood calmly as if waiting for the hind.

"Oracle, we must leave." With the slightest nod, she allowed the hind to place a hand on her back where her skin was safely covered by fabric and guide her from the room. They walked quickly through the temple as screams and the sounds of battle filled the air. Chara fought back a tear as she thought of her fallen sister but kept her focus on her duty to the Oracle.

As they reached the back entrance she saw Kallias pulling Eleni's lifeless body behind her as she headed for the back door.

"Where's Sara?" She called ahead.

"She ran out into battle to help the amazon's." Called back Kallias.

Too late Chara Screamed as an ogre slammed a colossal hammer down on her sister as she stepped outside into the battle. She was about to run to her as she dropped to the floor and flailed helplessly but the Oracle grabbed at her and pulled her into a side room.

"We cannot change what is to happen. You must remove your horns and nails."

"What?" She could hear the amazon's screaming to the Gods in Olympus to help them and the sight of her sister being struck still filled her eyes.

"You must remove your horns and nails."

"Oracle. We need to run for it. I will transform into a deer. You must ride on my back. I can run faster than we can on foot. I will get you to safety, Mistress." The hind made for the door when the Oracle grabbed her arm, her bare skin touching the terrified doe. Suddenly an image of a dark-skinned man cradling her in his arms flashed in her mind. Tears fell from his eyes as he smiled down at her. His lips moved in silent words and he leant forward and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Falling back, shocked the hind glared at the Oracle.

"What was that?" Before she could answer Chara grabbed her arm and ignoring the flash of the same image she ran for the entrance. As she reached it and stepped out she nearly collided with a huge centaur. She saw many of them pouring from the tree line to aid the Amazon's. He looked down at her, his dark-skinned face shocked as he stared at her. For a moment there was no sound of battle, no Oracle, no dead sisters. The world paused as she looked up at the face of the man who had kissed her forehead as she died in the Oracle's vision. Suddenly his arm reached out and she recoiled as pain exploded from her face. With his bare hand, he'd caught a sword blade that had just sliced through her eye and stopped it short of killing her. His huge black hooves thundered on the ground as he wrested back the demon who'd just tried to sever her head.

The Oracle pulled on her, urging her back into the temple as a grey light shimmered around them and everything outside the temple became dim and harder to see. With her remaining eye, she saw Sara pulling a still living Kallias as a Troll lumbered towards them. Before she could run to them Zeus flashed into existence behind them, she felt a flash of relief as he held aloft a lighting bolt. Then her world ended as he launched the bolt, striking her sisters as well as the troll. Chara Screamed an animalistic sound as she dropped to her knees. Her eye focused on the Oracle as she grabbed at Chara and gazed at her with those unseeing eyes.

"The temple has been captured already. We are fading from their plane. You couldn't have saved them. Now please Chara. I need you to remove your horns and nails. Now!" The all-knowing creature sounded scared which was enough to bring the hinds focus fully back on the here and now. Emotion never made it into the voice of the peculiar being. She didn't think she'd ever felt any.

Now focused Chara grabbed the dagger that had been strapped to her thigh every minute since they came to the temple and taking a breath sunk it into her forehead just below one of her horns. Breathing heavily and swallowing back the pain she used it to gouge out the first one and then the other of her horns. Taking a minute to catch her ragged breath she looked up at the Oracle. She was tearing a strip of fabric from her dress and leaning forward began to wind it around the bloody holes the poor hind had just dug into her own head.

As Chara lined the blade up on an angle to her ends of her toes the Oracle bent and picking up the discarded horns threw them through the window. Taking another breath Chara sliced along her toes, taking off the nails and leaving bloodied slices missing from the tops. Before she could react she quickly did the other foot and turned to her fingers. Again she removed the nails on each hand as quickly as she could, leaving as much of her fingers as possible. Just as she dropped her dagger in agonising pain an Ogre burst into the room and with a roar swung his axe at Chara. She rolled but the huge weapon landed heavily and severed one of her legs. She screamed and tried to drag herself towards the Oracle. She had to protect the deity, she had nothing left in her life but her duty to the Oracle. Someone was entering the room, she had to protect her. Darkness crept over her like an icy fog and what vision she still had dimmed as blackness overtook her.

The Oracle looked toward the demon.

"You can carry my serving girl to my throne room. I will let you chain me if you do her no harm." Her voice was once more sing-song and her vision vague as if she hadn't spoken seriously to the now unconscious hind.