Separated from Yourselves

by Bill Hiatt

  At that moment Hades collapsed. His wound had evidently been even more serious than it looked. I was forced to plug that hole in the line while Apollo worked frantically to get the former lord of the Underworld back on his feet.

  Aside from eliminating Ares, we hadn’t accomplished much. The skeletons actually seemed more numerous than before, Apollo was not keeping up with the wounded, Hades was still down, and Poseidon was now slamming his trident against our shield again and again. Dark Zeus was hitting us with thunderbolts even more frequently, Hecate had resumed the boulder barrage, and Cronus was almost upon us. Judging by the way in which I could feel the shield fluctuating, I knew that the addition of the scythe of Cronus to the battering our protection was already taking might well break it.

  I looked around for some weakness I could exploit before it was too late.

  “Magnus, is there a way to terminate the duplication spell early?”

  The question was greeted by a long pause. The scythe crashed down against our shield, but it held, though shakily.

  “Magnus!”

  No response. It dawned on me that there must be, but he didn’t want to tell me.

  Another scythe blow. I had been right. Adding another elder weapon to the other constant attacks would demand power faster than Magnus could tap into it.

  “Magnus. I swear I won’t use it against you.” There was no way to bind myself with a tynged at this point, and Magnus might not be inclined to trust me, but if he didn’t, we might all be finished.

  Finally, he thought back, “Here it is,” and sent me a very simple spell, with an assurance he had protected himself against that approach, just in case I got any ideas.

  The method was so simple I could kick myself for not thinking of it earlier.

  “Umbra, can you use shadows to get me close to Dark Zeus?”

  She appeared next to me, eager to have something to do besides be a passive power contributor. “Yes, almost right next to him if you want.”

  “Can you put me on the side opposite from Hecate, so she won’t see me right away?”

  “I can, and I can also do a few things that will make you harder to see.”

  “Dionysus, I need you on the front line.”

  The short staff he used as a weapon, the thyrsus, wouldn’t be very effective against skeletons, but he could be fierce in combat, and really I had no choice. The skeletons would exploit a big gap, and if Apollo tried to fill it, we would never get Hades back into action.

  Dionysus reached my side as fast as he could and started striking wildly with the thyrsus, which proved a better weapon than I expected. I guess I should have thought about the way Dionysus was portrayed in later Greek belief as offering release from death. If nothing else, whatever power he was using on the skeletons seemed to confuse them.

  “Umbra, do it now!” I yelled. She pulled me into the nearest shadow, and before I knew it, I was stumbling out right next to Dark Zeus. He was intent enough on flinging thunderbolts against us that he didn’t immediately notice me, though I knew I only had seconds, and the spell took longer than that to cast, so I was going to have to pull off the multitasking performance of my life, casting the spell while doing whatever it took to keep Dark Zeus from killing me before it was over.

  The spell Magnus had given me made a subtle adjustment to the duplication spell, fooling it into burning through the blood it needed much faster than normal. In minutes Dark Zeus would revert to whoever he really was.

  I just prayed I would live long enough to see that.

  As soon as I started the spell, Dark Zeus became aware of me. A close range thunderbolt could easily fry me, but it was harder for Dark Zeus to manage that if his arm was on fire, so I blasted him with White Hilt. Caught by surprise, he had no time to defend against the flames and actually did catch fire. As he started willing the fire away, he tried to smack me with his powerful fist, but I dodged, by some miracle still keeping Magnus’s counterspell going.

  Manipulating White Hilt’s flame was something I had done so often I managed to get in another close-range burst without losing the counterspell. Dark Zeus, still burning, managed to hurl a small thunderbolt, but it missed me, though it came so close every hair on my body stood on end.

  I heard a struggle nearby and realized Umbra’s idea of making me less visible was to attack Hecate herself. Every instinct I had screamed to do something to protect her; shadow assassin or not, she was no match for the queen of the night.

  I dodged another thunderbolt and countered with another burst of flame, still chanting the spell. If I tried to save Umbra, I would lose track of the casting, and we would probably both die anyway.

  With difficulty, I raised a wall of flame between me and Dark Zeus, dodging backward and hoping if he couldn’t see me, he was less likely to hit me. I was nearing the end of the spell.

  Well, less likely, but unlikely things do sometimes happen. The thunderbolt’s force was much diminished from having to pass through flame like that, but a little of it did hit me, and the shock was enough to knock me off my feet.

  I felt numb and had to fight to stay conscious.

  With horror, I realized I was not sure whether I had finished the spell or not.

  Chapter 20: Dealing with Your Inner Oricha (Lucas)

  I must have been adjusting to my trances, because this time, even though I felt compelled to dance, felt intoxicated by the rhythm as it vibrated through my blood, I was more aware of what was happening around me.

  I wished I hadn’t been. I longed to join the guys on the front line to fight. I was dancing while they were getting wounded on a fairly regular basis. Rationally, a lot of my capoeira moves wouldn’t have done much against skeletons, but it was hard to hold onto rationality while my friends were getting hurt.

  “Just keep dancing, New Kid,” thought Magnus. “We need every ounce of power we can get just to stay alive.” I should have been annoyed he was reading my mind; Tal would never have done that. At the same time, I couldn’t help appreciating a reminder that what I was doing was also important.

  By that point I was aware of enough of my surroundings to realize that Umbra had taken Tal somewhere. Moments later, both the thunderbolts and the boulders stopped coming. I couldn’t see clearly. Tal and Umbra must have gotten behind enemy lines and created a distraction.

  Then we all felt Tal’s silent scream through the network and knew he had been hurt—badly. My precognition kicked in, and I could see Dark Zeus hitting him full force with another thunderbolt.

  I saw Dark Zeus kill Tal. I couldn’t tell exactly how far into the future I was seeing, but, given the way my visions worked, probably not more than a few minutes, maybe less.

  Umbra had just been stunned by a blow from Hecate and seemed nearly unconscious herself, so there was no one on that side of the throne room who could come to Tal’s aid.

  I knew what I had to do, what I should have done to begin with.

  “Dark Zeus is about to murder Tal!” I screamed through the network. I had intended to target Magnus, but in my panic I had broadcast to everyone—pretty stupid, considering how much I distracted them. The frontline fighters took three more wounds directly because of that.

  I was vaguely aware of Khalid, the only one of us in a position to fly, taking off and moving closer to where Tal was, after which he started hitting Dark Zeus with those special arrows. That would slow the usurper down, but it was not going to be enough to stop him, and Khalid was putting himself in serious danger, besides. I could hear Shar yelling frantically at him to get back, and I knew Shar was about to risk trying to plow through the skeletons to reach the little guy. I got another glimpse of a possible future, this one of Shar failing to break through, getting surrounded, and eventually losing his head to a skeleton blade. Once that happened, our defeat would become inevitable.

  “Awaken my past life!” I practically commanded Magnus. If he had been right about how much power was inside me, maybe I could do something to save Tal, Khalid, S
har—everybody, really.

  “It’s too late, New Kid,” thought back Magnus. “The awakening spell is rough to handle at best. It could take a while for you to pull yourself together. You couldn’t do it in the middle of combat, anyway.”

  “I can awaken those memories more gently,” thought Hermes.

  “Then do, Lord Hermes, please!”

  The Olympian was nearby anyway, and he was the fastest among us, so he could easily reach my side. I couldn’t break free of the music, but somehow he managed to wrench me away from it. The shock made feel almost like an addict needing a fix, but I had to bite my lip and force myself to ignore my body’s craving for the dance.

  Dark Zeus flung a thunderbolt at Khalid, who dodged, but just barely. Dark Zeus missed again, taking out one of the columns, but he was moving faster now and taking more careful aim; very soon he would hit the young half djinni. Judging by the power of the thunderbolts he was using now, one strike would be enough to kill.

  Hermes held my face in his hands and stared into my eyes.

  Shar roared in frustration and tried to break through the skeletons just as I had foreseen. Adrenalin-fueled strength actually enabled him to dig partway through their ranks, but he was already starting to lose momentum. Worse, his charge had left a gap in the line, which the skeletons were doing their best to exploit.

  “Hurry up!” I thought loudly, not really caring about being rude.

  “I dare not hurry,” thought Hermes gently.

  While he was working, Khalid came within seconds of dying, would have died if Eros had not thrown himself between him and Dark Zeus, taking the thunderbolt and falling to the floor a charred remnant of his former self. Aphrodite screamed and tried to get to him.

  Magnus was now down three power sources, and Cronus and Poseidon continued to attack, now with the aid of Hecate again. I could feel Magnus straining against the attacks.

  Then I felt someone else inside of me. Gently, Hermes brought that powerful past life to the surface. He was Jakuta, once king of Oyo, the Yoruba homeland.

  Jakuta had been a fierce warrior, but he didn’t have magic. What had made him so powerful? Had I just wasted precious time bringing up a past life that couldn’t help that much? There had to be more to it than that.

  “There is,” said Hermes. I must have been thinking loudly enough for him to hear me. “Yet I do not understand it. You are a reincarnation of this Jakuta, but at the same time his soul is somehow within a supernatural being of great power, one who demands entrance to Olympus.”

  “Let him in,” Jakuta and I thought in unison.

  In seconds I was faced with the overwhelming presence of Changó.

  Like a lot of Brazilians, I had some African blood from the days of slavery, though I’d never spent much time studying that part of my heritage, much to Gavin’s annoyance. Through the bond between Jakuta and Changó, however, I could tell Changó was like a combination of Zeus, Ares, Adonis, and some of the muses, a spirit both of storm and of battle, as well as drumming and dancing, not to mention irresistible sexual allure. As he stood before me, robed in red and white, surrounded by an aura that was part fire and part lightning, his raw power was almost overwhelming, even to Hermes.

  “Who has done this unlawful thing?” he demanded. “Who has raised my mortal self and brought me here? This is an offense against the commands of God himself.”

  Hermes would have answered, but I cut in first. “Great Changó, forgive us, for our need is desperate. We called upon you not intending to defy God, but to prevent a great evil here. Can you lend us your strength?”

  “I may not act in such a way,” he replied. “This is not a world in which I have been given power. I would have to possess you fully to act here, and an Oricha such as I may do that in only very rare circumstances.”

  “Surely this circumstance is rare enough,” suggested Hermes. “You are forbidden to possess an ordinary mortal, but you are linked to this one, are you not? Is it truly a possession in such a case?”

  Changó took in the scene around us for much longer than I would have liked, though since this was all happening mentally, his inspection took only a fraction of the time it would have if he were physical.

  Even so Hermes left us, I was pretty sure in an effort to save Khalid. However, Hermes was no match for Dark Zeus. If Changó refused to help, we were sunk.

  The one thing that gave me hope was the feeling that Changó loved life, and that the obvious necromancy all around us, as well as the number of imminent deaths, might move him to help us.

  I waited and waited, increasingly unhappy, as he stood, immobile as a statue, while we hurtled toward inevitable defeat.

  Finally, when I was ready to despair, he thought, “God forgive me, I will do what you ask, but know that I can only do so this once.”

  Before the music had set my blood on fire. Now, the presence of Changó made me feel as if my heart had been replaced by a supernova.

  “This body will do nicely,” he said as he settled in.

  Don’t ever let anybody tell you there’s no reason to stay in peak shape.

  As my awareness shifted back to the physical world, I worried Changó had hesitated too long. Magnus and the Olympians he was using as power sources were almost drained. Shar had nearly collapsed under the assault of the skeletons. The rest of the frontline fighters were hard-pressed to cover the gap and were taking wounds even faster. Gordy, Carlos, and Dan were near collapse, and Michael was still standing only because he could heal so fast. Hades had suffered new wounds, and Athena and Dionysus were bleeding. Apollo’s ability to keep them all going was being stretched almost to the breaking point.

  Near the opposite end of the room, Hermes was using his speed to draw the fire of Dark Zeus and prevent Khalid from being killed, but even the messenger of Olympus could not dodge forever. With powers similar to Dark Zeus, Changó could probably take him on, but lots of skeletons and Cronus were in the way. Changó needed to defeat them in order to have a clear shot at the fake ruler of Olympus.

  Blasts of lightning that would have done credit to Zeus decimated the skeletons. More were still coming from somewhere, but the momentary pause in the attack opened the way for Changó and me to head for Cronus.

  Well, almost. With Changó driving my body, I took time to observe what was happening on the other side of the throne room, and for a few seconds I almost wanted to ask Changó to strike there first.

  The destruction of so many skeletons had enabled the guys to mount a rescue attempt for Shar, who, badly wounded, was buried beneath a pile of skeleton warriors. Unfortunately, Poseidon, closer to that side, saw what they were doing and could have crushed them with his trident.

  Just when I was about to let panic make me beg Changó to rescue Shar and the others, Athena and Hades, freed temporarily from skeleton duty, moved against the lord of the sea, and the two together held him at bay, at least for the moment. Relieved, I stopped hesitating and let Changó throw himself against Cronus.

  Cronus, however, was not going to be a pushover. He turned on us just as Poseidon had turned on the guys. Lightning arced from my hands, but Changó’s bolts were apparently not quite as strong as those of Zeus, and Cronus managed to deflect the volley with his scythe. Some of the force must have reached him, though, for he staggered backward. Pressing his advantage, Changó struck again, pushing Cronus still farther back.

  Unfortunately, Changó and I were both so preoccupied with the former king of the Olympians that we didn’t notice the boulder headed in our direction. Even though my body was still protected by the patuá of Besouro, that blessing had been crafted with bullets and knives in mind, not a ton or so of rock. We were buried beneath it, and though we were not crushed, I did feel bones break. Normally, Changó could have worked himself free, but the broken bones inhibited him.

  What saved us was the fact that Magnus, for the first time since the battle began, didn’t have to keep all the power he could muster in the shields. Cronus didn
’t have the chance to get in position to attack again; Poseidon had his hands full with Athena and Hades; Hecate was watching us, ready to bombard us again if need be, with the result that she had no attention left to spare for Magnus; and Dark Zeus was distracted by Hermes and Khalid. If he tried to attack Khalid, Hermes would swoop in, and Dark Zeus knew better than to let someone with as much magic as Hermes get too close. On the other hand, if the usurper went after Hermes, Khalid would shoot him with an arrow.

  Magnus used what power he had left to shoot Hecate with a concentrated sonic burst, knocking her off her feet and hopefully stunning her. She hit the ground with a satisfying thud, anyway.

  Next Magnus hit Cronus. The Titan kept his footing, but just barely. Magnus tried again, but Cronus used his scythe to slow the attack into uselessness and started to advance.

  With nobody really watching us, Changó managed to lift the boulder enough with my one unbroken arm to slide us out, but the movement made it all the more apparent that both my legs were broken as well. Somehow I swallowed my screams of pain, and Magnus kept Cronus distracted long enough for Changó to hit the Titan with lightning and knock him down. A couple more zaps for good measure, and Cronus was out of the fight. That left Magnus free to turn his attention back to Hecate, who was just getting up again.

  Changó and I had a real dilemma, though. His lightning would be much more effective at closer range, but my body was too broken to move us toward Dark Zeus very well. Of the people who could have healed us, Tal was unconscious and too far away, Magnus was tied up fighting Hecate, and Apollo had his hands full. The skeletons were beginning to swarm again, and the guys, who had barely managed to dig Shar loose, were not in very good shape to face them. Worse, Shar himself was badly wounded and unconscious. Not only that, but some of the new waves of skeletons were getting in the way of Athena and Hades. If they got too distracted, Poseidon could mangle both of them with the trident.