Krishna hurried out of the vimana; giving up the controls to Brahma—who immediately disguised himself in a glamour to look like Krishna. I followed Krishna—the real Krishna—out with most of the Squad and the Egyptian goddesses, but Teharon stayed behind with Karni-Mata and Sarasvati. Then the vimana started to lift off, and I hurried over to the dragons.
“Watch their backs!” I called to Arach and Odin.
The dragons shot into the sky ahead of the vimana; clearing a new path for them. The rest of us followed Krishna into the city streets. The gleaming passages were full of demons and gods, and every time we rounded a corner, we faced another fight. We were making progress, but it was slow.
And then we reached the city center.
Golden buildings loomed over us; magnifying the light. The sparkle of jewels cast rainbows over the polished gold, and our reflections within the metal were colored amber and adorned with iridescence. The beauty of Dvārakā was overwhelming, but its current residents were what held my attention. Especially the horde of demons—both Hindu and Japanese—guarding the city's center. They glared at us as we approached, but they didn't move out of formation.
“That's my palace.” Krishna pointed to a magnificent building of gold and silver just beyond the demon troops. “The Control Room is inside.”
“Yes, and you're going to show me how to use it to defend Dvārakā,” a man said as he stepped through the ranks of demons.
He was dressed in ancient Indian armor; a conical helm was held on his head by a crimson turban, pieces of gilded metal were set into a flared robe at his sternum, stomach, and thighs, a sword hung from a baldric across his chest, and the toes of his boots curled upward. He was dark-skinned and obviously Indian, but there was something familiar in his features.
“Yama,” Krishna growled. “You cannot bring Dvārakā back; it will send the world into chaos.”
Yama. That explained it. This man looked a little like Enma, despite the racial differences.
“No, it won't.” Yama smiled deviously. “Because we don't intend to share this with the humans; we've brought back Dvārakā to remind the humans of who we are. We've brought it back to rule!”
“What nonsense is this?” Hades snarled. “What is my daughter involved in?”
“She's more her mother's daughter, don't you think?” Yama smirked.
Flames shot up Hades arms, and Yama chuckled.
“I enlisted Nyx, and she convinced her children to join us,” Yama said. “We gods of death have spent far too long in the shadows; it's time for us to come out into the light and be worshiped once again.” Then he turned to me. “Your husband should understand, Godhunter. He took what steps he could to make a new life for himself.”
“And yet you sent the Angelic Host after him, didn't you?” I asked. “You were behind all of this.”
“Guilty as charged.” Yama bowed. “But know that I didn't intend for you or Azrael to be harmed. In fact, I hope that you will see the reason behind this madness, and join us.”
“Join you?” Hekate asked in shock. “You think that the Godhunter is going to go along with your plan to rule humans?”
“This is a chance to get back to what we lost; to form a relationship with the humans again,” Yama reasoned. “We will have the energy we need to fuel ourselves, and they will have our good will. It will be a give and take once more. Don't all of you miss that? Don't you want to help your people again?”
“We do help our people,” Mrs. E said calmly. “Some of us never stopped.”
“Your people still remember you,” Yama said. “They have never stopped worshiping you, and so you have never stopped helping them.”
“Your people remember as well.” Finn—who didn't have a lot of magic beyond his ability to shift into a swan—stood with his sword at the ready. “You have enough power to satisfy yourself with.”
“But not all death gods are so blessed,” Yama said sadly. “When I sought the help of my fellow death deities, they eagerly responded. You wouldn't think that humans could forget about death, but they have. They've forgotten that Death—and all gods—must be worshiped; that we require their sacrifices and respect. And now, we shall remind them.”
“Our time has passed,” Krishna said resolutely. “We have taken enough from the humans; our lives are long and full of magic. Be satisfied with that.”
“I am Death,” Yama declared. “I can never be satisfied.”
“No! I am Death!” Krishna roared. “The mighty destroyer of the world! And I will make sure that you remain unsatisfied, Yama.”
“Seize him!” Yama shouted and pointed at Krishna. “Destroy the others!”
I shifted my hands into dragon claws and started slicing whatever demon flesh came within my reach. Sekhmet and Bast roared as they leapt forward; flinging dead bodies aside as they went. Sekhmet was glorious; her golden hair wild about her as she tore into the demons with claws and teeth. Her sister was more subtle; leaping gracefully over bodies to land upon demon backs and slice heads from bodies.
Finn decapitated demons with single blows of his sword, and Thor blasted the enemy with bolts of lightning. Eztli snatched up victims to drain them of their blood while Blue, Re, and Mr. T brought down the power of the
