"Hissssss"

The same terrifying sound over and over. Every time it felt there was one of the things standing right outside. Brother Manos took a deep breath and lit another candle. The ritual was almost complete. He needed to focus.

"They are here Ma. I can hear them." one of the children praying in the room said. A quiet sob escaped his mother's throat. Brother Manos could hear the terror in the voice that followed.

"Our saviors are on the other side of the room. They will save us. Put your hands together and pray."

"Why did the gods abandon us, mother? We prayed every day. "

The mother stayed quiet.

"Don't worry child, we are calling the ones that even the gods feared." Brother Paul's sympathetic voice echoed in the large room. He was the elder of the Brotherhood. He knew the villagers needed to stay calm for this to work. Any panic at this time may cause us to fail.

Brother Manos couldn't see the group behind him but he could feel all the eyes on his back. He knew the reason. He was their last hope. This ritual was their last hope. What was beyond that door may save them all.

Someone screamed outside. A sharp breath escaped Brother Manos’ throat. He heard a murmur in the group near the wall. The screaming continued for some time. The news clipping from a couple of months back started playing in his head.

China was the first country to surrender. There was a wave of fear that ran across the world when the Chinese leaders announced they can not take any more losses. That was before they knew the plans of the Invaders.

First, a few rumors came out. Then some TV channels were able to get the pictures of the heinous acts of the Serpents. They feasted on the population. All one and a half billion of them. All the animals. All the birds. Devoured in one month.

Brother Jonas touched Brother Manos’ shoulder bringing him back to the present. He had a ritual to finish. Chanting a few words in an ancient, long forgotten tongue. The group of the brotherhood priests nudged the long asleep creatures to wake up.

After knowing the fate of China, there was a renewed effort from the rest. America, broken and half destroyed, coordinated an attack with a handful of other countries. But there were too many invaders to stop. After China, the Serpents just moved along country by country devouring the whole of Asia in just over a month. No one realized when Australia was lost. Same happened with South America. Africa was already destroyed in the initial attack. The Serpent forces surrounded Europe from all sides and started making their way in.

It was Greece's turn now. Not if the brotherhood of the old had any say in it. There was still something that could have a chance against the raging force devouring the planet. But the ritual has not been performed in thousands of years. The language of the chants was long forgotten. No one knew if there was someone down there in the pit or their hope was making them perform rituals written as part of a fantasy. Only one way to find out.

With a final chant, brother Manos stood up. From the corner of his eye, he saw a boy of no more than 6 years old looking intently at every movement. The brotherhood hid him and most of his village in the caster’s hall here for last 10 days or so. Being deep underground gave them an advantage in hiding but if the noise outside was any indication, that advantage was gone. The monsters were on the other side of the door and they were coming.

The only hope they have is unleashing the monsters captive on the other side of the gate. With a groan, he picked up the ritual hammer and struck the gate with it. Sparks flew as the metal touched the gate. He struck the gate again.  A banging noise on the door behind them free cries from the group of villagers next to the wall.

By the time Brother Manos struck the gate for the third and the last time a hole, had appeared on the door behind them. A single reptilian eye looked inside.  Looking at the survivors inside it screeched. The kids in the group of villagers started crying.

"Who wakes us from the ancient slumber?"

A deep menacing voice called from behind the gate in the same ancient tongue as from the scroll. Brother Manos replied a line from the ancient scroll trying to ignore the continued attack on the door behind him.

"What do you have to satisfy or ancient hunger?"

As Brother Manos replied with the text in the scroll, he counted the number of villagers at the back. There were 30 of them. Exactly the number the text said was needed for the first feed. A smile ran across Brother Manos’ lips. The Brotherhood had done what they vowed to do thousands of years ago. As he pulled the gate with 12 others from the brotherhood he knew his life purpose was now done. The Titans were awake.