by Amy Sumida
And it was a good thing that we hadn't.
I was able to find Athena's trail at Orco's hill nearly instantly. Torrent and I tracked it into the God Realm, and he unmade the ward that would have kept anyone else out. We went through, took a good look around, and traced back to fetch the others.
The Argentinian Gods had taken Athena to a lush, forested territory. The sound of drumming drew us from a tracing cave, deeper into the humid terrain. The plants were similar to those found on Earth but larger and more savage looking. Tree branches rustled above us without a breeze to stir them, enormous ferns dipped low to brush against our heads, and the passage of large creatures echoed over to us from shadowy areas that sunlight seemed unable to penetrate. I've been in a lot of strange forests in the God Realm, but none had given me the creeps like this one.
It felt alive... and hungry.
I suppose we could have snuck up on the Argentinians, but what would have been the point of that? We were here to fight, not do a quick grab and run. Donnie had the lead, and he was striding forward with angry steps that cracked through the ground with warning thuds. But the drums drowned us out, and when we finally made it to a clearing full of gods, they didn't notice us. It was the child who finally spotted us.
He was blond with blue eyes and fair skin. Hitler would have loved this kid, and not just for his pale appearance. The little boy looked as if he were six or seven. Which made the blood covering his mouth seem all the more horrendous. He opened that bloody mouth and screamed as he pointed at us with a golden wand.
“Don't point that thing at me, kid,” I snarled. “I'll take it from you and beat your butt with it.”
The kid clutched his wand and ran off; deep into the forest.
Donnie and Hades were in the front of our group, but my Intare were spreading out to the sides to fill the clearing; showing off our numbers to the Argentinians. My lions were growling, on the verge of shifting; responding to the scent of blood in the air. There was more than that, though.
I breathed deep and frowned. The Argentinians were having a feast. In the center of the clearing—surrounded by several unusual gods—was a cooking fire with a massive grill set over it. It was one of those types that stood above the fire on its own and could support anything from a chicken to an ox. The carcass on it presently might have been an ox; it was so large.
I noticed Orco and Mayup in the group. They stood beside a man whom I assumed to be Sachayoj, the Father of the Forest. I guess that made them the Mamas and the Papa. I would have chuckled at the thought if they hadn't been staring at us with such gleeful grins. Something wasn't right. Why weren't they running? Or at least attacking us?
To the side of the Argentinian Gods were three Greek gods; Athena, Triton, and Hera. They were bound with ropes that had the gleam of magic to them and strapped to wood poles. Athena and Triton were staring at us with relief and hope, but Hera just hung her head and wept. I don't think she even realized we were there.
“It's about time you got here.” A man stepped forward and looked us over appreciatively.
He was dark-skinned, dark-haired, and dark-eyed. But that wasn't all that was dark about him. He had a scent that made my dragon focus on him; something that called to her primal brain and told it that he was the scariest motherfucker there. Not that he scared my dragon; it was more of a case of one predator acknowledging another. This was who we should take down first.
And that wouldn't have occurred to me without my dragon's input. Because the gods behind this guy, the ones who milled around the cooking fire, were more creatures than men. I think there was one woman among them, but it was hard to tell. She was hunched, with greasy hair hanging over her face, and feet that were turned backward. And she was the most human looking of the bunch.
There was an extremely ugly and sickly looking man with long hair that covered his entire body and the odor of death seeping from him. Next to Cousin It, there was a huge lizard with seven canine heads. The heads whined as the creature waddled toward the back of the group; eyeing us warily as it went. Another hairy guy—not quite as hairy as the first—was as short as a goblin. His lack of height made his enormous penis look even larger. Actually, it wasn't so much large as long; he had it wound around his waist like a belt. Oh yeah; that one made me blink. Did he pass out every time he got a hard-on?
Next to the penis-belt guy, there was a huge snake with a parrot's head. As I looked it over, a forked tongue flickered out of its beak. Coiled beside the parrot-snake, there was another snake. This one looked almost normal except for its size and the pair of undulating, horn-like antennae on its head. Next to him, a giant sheep stamped its hooves in anticipation. Not so scary, you might think, but this sheep looked vicious. First of all, it was over fifteen feet tall. Then there were its blazing red eyes and the sharp edges of its hooves that sparked every time one of them hit a rock. It huffed giant clouds of steam at us and then ducked his head to snatch a piece of meat off the grill.
That's when I realized what they were eating.
“Is that a body?” I asked no one in particular. “Like a human body?”
“That's right,” the man who had greeted us said. “I'd offer you some, Godhunter, but it would be pointless. You'll be food yourself soon enough. We've been told that you have more power than three gods combined.”
“Well, you should at least introduce yourself before you try to eat me,” I said casually. “It's only polite.”
The man laughed as the others behind him giggled maniacally.
“I am Tau; the Personification of Evil,” the dark man said proudly. “It is nice to meet you at last, Godhunter. Meet and eat.”
“Huh.” I looked him over as my lions started to growl. “Yeah; I can see that. The personification thing. Although, you're not as impressive as Lucifer, and that man doesn't even use foul language.”
“I'm not worried about Lucifer,” he said smugly.
Hera started sobbing loudly until Athena told her to shut the Hades up.
“That's Zeus on the grill,” Triton called out to us. “They grabbed him and Hera first. He was already cooking when Athena and I got here. They've been eating him all night.”
“All night?” I asked as I looked over the corpse. “You've barely made a dent.”
“Well, he's a big man,” Tau said. “And we want to make sure we consume all of him. If we don't, we won't get all of his magic.”
“Another magic-stealer,” Hades said with a grim look at the rest of us. “We've just dealt with a soul-eater, and now we find you lot, thinking that you can take magic through eating flesh.”
“We don't just think it; we can. We have magic that allows us to do so,” Tau said confidently. “We've already consumed a few of our own to test the power, and it worked; we've grown stronger.”
“You ate your fellow gods?” Donnie made a disgusted face. “Chuuf, dude. You're all traitors and thieves.”
“Says the god who sent his son to our land to rob its wealth,” Mayup scoffed.
“The Earth is a shared territory,” Donnie said. “But I'm not going to get aggro with you about it; I'm just going to lay an epic smackdown on your cannibalistic asses.”
Donnie jumped forward, and Tau flat-palmed his face. The God of the Sea went flying backward into a tree. The tree trunk cracked when he hit, and Donnie fell into an ignoble heap. He got up and shook off the hit in seconds, but the blow had been enough to silence the rest of us... for a second.
And then the epic smackdown began.
My Intare burst into their lion forms—Kirill included—as Odin pulled his spear out of thin air and launched it into the middle of the Argentinians. It landed in Zeus' corpse and magic flared out; turning the body into a grenade. Argentinian gods went diving for cover.
Poseidon body-surfed a wave that he summoned from the moisture around him; striking down the smirking Tau with his trident before washing away the remnants of the body-bomb. Azrael leapt into the air and launched an aerial attack with hi
s scythe; cutting the parrot head of its snake body. The body swayed to the ground and bled all over the freshly washed ground. Toby captured the other snake in a column of water while Re cleared a path for Hades and Persephone to get to the prisoners. As soon as Athena and Triton were free, they joined the fight. Hera, however, crumpled to the ground and started crying again.
Despite our strong start, the Argentinians were holding their own. They lashed out with more strength than they should have possessed, and I began to wonder if they'd told the truth and they really could take a god's magic by eating his flesh. If so, they were already fortified. At least they'd started with the weakest god. Zeus had only one piece of his magic left, thanks to me; his Oak.
The trees around us began to shake, and I mentally groaned. Maybe Zeus had made a good appetizer after all. The trees came to life around us; branches swinging and roots surging out of the ground to tightly bind us. I glanced around me in dismay as my friends fell beneath the onslaught of the forest itself.
Trees were no match against the might of gods—not even those creepy behemoths—but as soon as a god freed him or herself, another tangle of roots would take the place of the last. The forest seemed never-ending; shifting the advantage of numbers to our enemies' side.
I was slashing through thick roots and hacking back slapping branches when I heard Trevor howl. A shiver went down my spine and everything seemed to slow as my inner wolf lifted her head and responded. A howl burst out of my mouth, but it was lost in the cacophony of cries from the night creatures of the territory. Suddenly, a wave of predators—from giant cats to wolves to swooping birds—rushed in from all sides. They went straight to the gods who ruled their region and attacked them.
I glanced at Trevor and smiled at him. Trevor grinned back triumphantly and burst through the roots that held him hostage. He shifted into a full wolf and ran forward to lead the night creatures into the fray. But just as the trees were more an annoyance than harm to us, so were the beasts to the Argentinian Gods.
The snake with undulating horns swept forward and waved his antennae at the animals. The night creatures were hypnotized by the horns; cats curled up, wolves sat back on their haunches, and birds descended from the sky. As soon as they landed, the snake started chomping down bird after bird. Trevor howled—his black fur bristling—and turned the remaining beasts away from the snake as he went forward to the enthralled animals and brought them out of their trances with quick nudges.
As Trevor fought to save and rally his troops, the rest of us continued to fight off the forest; only a few of us managing to lash out at the enemy gods themselves. There were some seriously powerful magics at our disposal, but a lot of them were hindered by close quarters. For example; it would have been an easy thing for Hades and me to blast out with bursts of fire, but we would have burned the beasts who were aiding and maybe even our friends. Instead, we had to constrict and direct our attacks, which was much harder to do; especially when you're distracted by strangling tree roots.
Speaking of the trees, Persephone was using her magic to drive them back, but she could only manage a few at a time and with the constant onslaught, it was all she could do to keep herself free. She wasn't even able to help her husband. Hades was handling his own, though; burning every tree that attempted to trap him.
This wasn't like fighting Zeus. Zeus' magic had been spread out among several gods, and they were all using it against us. It multiplied the power, and with this being their territory, they had an endless amount of trees to supply it with. I had a feeling that as soon as we destroyed one, several more popped into being at the back of the line.
It was looking like a hopeless stalemate. But the Argentinians didn't have to defeat all of us. They could take us down, one at a time, and take bites out of us as they did. They'd slowly turn the battle in their flavor. I mean favor.
As yet another tangle of strong roots wrapped up my legs, Tau—who had managed to survive Donnie's trident—started to smile hungrily at me. The bastard was probably picking out his condiments. But he'd forgotten one thing; the thing that my enemies kept forgetting lately.
I'm a fucking dragon.
The nine-pointed star had remained silent inside me, but it wasn't the only weapon in my arsenal. I roared as my dragon burst free; shifting skin to scales as I leapt into the air. The Argentinian Gods gaped up at me as I flew higher and higher until I had the altitude I needed to launch a proper attack. I noted where my friends were and then dove.
With a powerful stream of fire, I burned down the ring of forest around us. I incinerated it within minutes as the Argentinians scrambled about like headless chickens. The trees holding my friends released them as I doubled back and directed smaller bursts of flames at their branches. Without fresh trees to entrap them, the God Squad, the Intare, and the Greeks remained free and got back to the business of slaughtering our enemies.
I burned and burned and burned, and then the Water Gods—Poseidon, Triton, and Toby—put out the flames. My lions slashed and tore while the rest of the gods did their thing; lighting up the sky with beautiful colors. In the end, it was the Argentinians who became barbecue. But the whole thing had left a bad taste in my mouth, and my dragon turned up her nose and refused to indulge.
I was totally okay with that.
Chapter Forty-Seven
“It was all about power,” Triton said with a tired shake of his head. “They didn't care about their people or the resources of Argentina; they simply wanted to be stronger.”
We were celebrating again, but this was a more sedate party than the one in Hell. Most of my lions were outside; grilling meat, drinking the Hellbrew Luke had sent home with us, and basically behaving like a bunch of frat boys. They needed to blow off the residual battle steam so I let them have their fun without complaint.
But some of the Intare were inside with us; drinking hot chocolate laced with Amaretto and winding down in a more mature manner. Everyone had returned with us, even Hera. The ex-ruler of Olympus was a wreck, and despite all the damage she'd done to her own pantheon—and to me—I couldn't leave her sobbing into the sod of the Tupi/Guarani territory. Those were the two pantheons of Argentinian Gods, by the way; the Mamas and the Papa were the Tupi while Tau, his seven sons, and the other monsters were Guarani. They had ruled two different indigenous tribes, but the Tupi were pretty much gone while the Guarani still had a small number of people left.
Triton and Athena had been telling us everything they'd learned about the Argentinians during their short imprisonment. Tau—Mr. Embodiment of Evil—had been in charge of the motley group. His seven sons—apparently the products of rape—had been cursed into their monstrous forms by one of the Guarani's “good” goddesses. Although, why a goddess would curse children for the sins of the father is beyond me. And why the hell do all these gods have to rape women in the first place? Doesn't being a god get them enough willing women? Doesn't it give them enough power that they don't have to flaunt their dominance by forcing their divine dicks on ladies who aren't interested?
Anyway, this supposedly good goddess cursed all but one of the kids; the little blond boy. He escaped, by the way. He never returned after I had scared him off. We didn't bother looking for him either. It seemed as if he were merely going along for the ride and, frankly, I didn't relish the thought of killing a kid, even one who was obviously not a child.
So, we'd left him there to deal with the bodies of his family and friends. I think that was a harsh enough punishment for eating Zeus. Not that I was broken up about Zeus. It was just super disturbing and a bit annoying that Katila wasn't the only god who had found a way to do something that I thought only I could do. There were more Guarani gods left, but I hoped that since they weren't at this party, they weren't willing to go the route of their brethren.
“It's usually about power,” Hades said to Triton. “Even when it isn't, there's an underlying desire for it.”
“All that shit they spouted, though,” Athena said bitterly. “
To act so high and mighty and then...” She trailed off as she glanced at Hera.
We'd set Hera in one of the wingback chairs before the fireplace while the rest of us gathered around the dining table. She was close enough to hear us, but I don't think she was listening. Hera was lost to her pain. She'd taken hit after hit; starting with losing Olympus and ending with losing her husband. I wondered if she'd lose her mind too. I'd have said it was an added insult to be sitting in my home—being cared for by the woman who started all her suffering—but I didn't think Hera could process that. Maybe later, when the pain had lessened enough for her to think straight, she might add this to her list of grievances. But I think it would be at the bottom.
“That was a poor end for a man like Zeus,” Persephone said. “A long way to fall; from the heights of Olympus to a cannibal's cooking fire.”
“Yeah, that was the weeps,” Donnie said softly. “I didn't like him much, but he was my bro. You know?”
“To Zeus,” Hades lifted his glass. “To the man we once respected and loved. May he find some peace.”
“To Zeus,” the rest of us lifted our mugs.
“What a horrible magic to receive,” Triton whispered.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“That cannibal thing,” Triton said. “That was a gift from their followers. The tribes believed that they could take a warrior's power by consuming his flesh.”
“And their belief filtered up to their gods,” I murmured. “Wow. I'm glad I have an easier way of doing it.”
“I don't think I could,” Triton said. “Even if I were as weak as a human; I'd rather stay that way than eat someone.”
“Eh, you get used to it,” I said with a shrug.
Everyone looked at me in horror, and I started to laugh. Then that laughter seeped out into everyone else, and they started to laugh too. It was the comic relief we'd needed even more than the hot drinks and conversation.