Just send me in. That’s what Cronus wants. Me.
My mind was still numb. I was too afraid to think. I heard rocks falling and jumped to my feet. Maybe the Titans weren’t waiting for us. The person who emerged from the debris looked familiar.
Hephaestus? Could he be done already?
He had his arms full of weapons. I was impressed. He walked to a flattened column and laid his treasures down. He smiled lovingly at his creations. I slinked over and around him. His attitude toward the weapons piqued my interest greatly. I bit my lip and stared in wonderment at the remarkable sight. He picked up a long sword that was beautifully adorned in gold and silver. The image on the hilt baffled me a bit. It looked like a dog with an owl's wings. Hephaestus turned smiling.
“For you.” He handed it to me.
“Thanks,” I whispered in awe.
The other Gods began to accumulate around us picking up their new weapons. Zeus’ lightning bolts were in a quiver. It was gold with an amazing etching of Mt. Olympus on it. He picked it up and slung it over his body. Ares had a smile on his face as he picked up his new sword. It was huge. I was slightly surprised he could even lift it. I watched as Adrian picked up not only a bow and arrow but also a ruby dagger. He slung the bow and quiver over his shoulder while tucking the dagger into his chiton. As I walked away my garments wrapped up in my legs and I tripped. I had to do something about this thing. I knew it was not proper according to the ancient Greeks for women to wear short chitons, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. I stood and walked to Adrian.
“Give me your dagger.”
“What?”
“I need your dagger, please.”
“For what?” He looked at me confused and slightly intrigued.
“I need to fix my clothes.”
He looked even more confused but handed over the dagger. I sliced at the fabric a few inches above my knee. Once there was a good rip in it I tore all the way around. Smiling, I handed the dagger back to Adrian.
“Much better. Now I can walk and run.”
“You ripped your clothes,” Adrian stated flatly.
“I couldn’t run with all that fabric getting tangled in my legs and feet.”
He pursed his lips looking me up and down. He finally smiled and nodded. “Looks better.”
I just laughed.
“Cara! What did you do?” Athena asked, horrified.
“I’m not fighting with extra clothes getting in my way. I couldn’t even walk. Here, how’s this?” I grabbed the dagger off of Adrian and walked up to Athena with a sly smile.
I knelt down and ripped her chiton then tore it above her knees.
“Why did you rip my clothes?”
“Now you can run, walk, and actually fight…efficiently.” She just glowered at me. “Calm down.”
Zeus walked over and bit his lip, examining us. He shook his head and walked away. Not happy with the changes but I guess he was dealing with it.
“For most of us this is nothing more than an annoyance and a repeat of the last fight we had with them. For others, this is all new. We may be Gods, but as Ares has discovered twice, we’re not indestructible. Mortals may not be able to kill us and think we’re immortal but the Titans, they know. I hope you’re all prepared.”
That was it. Short and sweet. I could feel my heart speeding up. The blood was pumping. I gripped my sword and stood there staring in the direction of Mt. Olympus. The time was approaching.
Chapter Twenty
Hephaestus and his assistants, the Cyclops, suited the chariots and animals with armor. Even they were prepared for battle. I watched as they put the metal plates on all of them. The horse, dogs and even the swans did look fierce.
“Cara,” Adrian called.
I turned looking at him.
I was shocked. He was decked out in his own armor. I couldn’t help but stare at him now. He looked amazing. The silver metal shone in the sunlight and contrasted rather well with his bronzed skin and blonde hair.
“Come on, you need your armor.”
“My armor?” I asked.
“You do plan on fighting right?”
“Of course.”
“You do want protection don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s get your armor,” he laughed.
“Oh, okay,” I replied sheepishly.
I hadn’t seen the third Cyclops show up behind Hephaestus and the other two. He was standing near a crudely formed stone table helping with the armor. He was tightening straps and fixing other small problems. I stood back and just observed as everybody else was fitted. It was an amazing transformation that had taken place in front of my eyes. The kind and gentle gods I had met not long ago looked like vicious warriors. The metal was various shades of black, gold, silver, red and even sea-foam green. I approached the table and saw the most remarkable breast plate, shield and greaves. They were a beautiful gold with red etching. It was basic Spartan armor. The breast plate was molded to look like a muscular torso, the difference for mine and the other women’s was that ours was formed for women. The leather skirt reached the end of my freshly cut chiton. I picked it up and slid it over my head. It fit snuggly. My shield was matching colors. It had the same weird winged dog as on my sword. I picked it up and slid my arm through the leather straps. I was surprised how tight it was. Made just for me.
“Excuse me?” I turned to see one of the Cyclops standing behind me. “This is yours.”
He handed me an immaculate helmet.
“Thank you,” I whispered, putting down the shield, not able to take my eyes off it.
The gold shone beautifully in the sunlight and the red dyed horse hair that hung from the top was silky smooth. Smiling I picked up my shield while tucking my helmet under my arm.
I was as prepared as I was ever going to be.
The wind picked up, blowing my hair everywhere. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. It felt good but smelled putrid. The smell of fire and blood filled the air. I turned back around to watch everyone; it was taking too long getting things situated. I was ready to go now. I squinted and rubbed my eyes. What I saw approaching us made my skin turn even paler than what it already was.
“Um, Zeus,” I called shakily.
“What,” he said, not looking up from what he was doing.
“Zeus!” I yelled.
“What, Cara?” He sounded agitated.
“Zeus!” I screamed.
“What is it, Cara?” he asked, slamming his hands onto the marble and looking up, “Oh no.”
“Oh no? Oh no!” I spun around staring at him wide eyed. “That’s all you can say? Do you not see the Titans charging at us?”
“Yes, I can,” he replied calmly.
“What are we going to do about it?” I was panicking.
“We wait.” He turned and headed back to his slab of marble.
“Wait? They’re almost here!”
“Be patient, child.”
I walked to Pegasus and mounted him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Adrian asked.
“I’m not sitting around waiting for them to get here and kill us. I’m meeting them and fighting them,” I replied.
“That’s not a good idea,” Zeus said.
“It’s better than just waiting around for them to get here.” I nudged Pegasus on and we were in the air racing toward the fast approaching Titans.
As I neared them I saw a flash of white and gold. Hermes stopped directly in front of Pegasus. I had never ridden a flying horse before so I wasn’t prepared for his rearing up midair. I almost fell off but managed to hold onto the reins.
“Please come back with me, Cara.”
“Hermes, get out of my way.”
“My god you really are Ares daughter. I thought you had more common sense and wisdom like Athena.”
“Well, apparently I don’t,” I snapped.
“Just please come back with me. Listen to Zeus’ plan,” he asked again.
“He actually has a plan?”
“Yes.”
I stared into the distance, taking a few seconds to think.
“Fine.” I turned Pegasus around and followed Hermes back to the acropolis.
As I neared the ruins again I saw the others heading to the chariots. Pegasus nimbly touched down, the soft dirt and rocks crunching beneath his hooves. I slid off his back and walked to Zeus. He stood there, tapping his foot with an agitated expression on his face.
“You are an incredibly bull headed child. There is doubt whose daughter you are.” He glowered at me than at Ares. “I hoped you would have more wisdom and common sense like Athena.”
“I have common sense,” I huffed under my breath.
“What you did was not only stupid but also extremely dangerous. If you had met with the Titans mid-air what would you have done?” Zeus asked.
“Fought them,” I replied.
“Oh, you have the advantage mid-air?”
“No,” I grumbled.
“Where would you have the advantage?”
“On the ground,” I sighed.
“And do you have the advantage alone?”
“No, more is better.”
“And where do we have the advantage?” he asked, motioning to the other gods.
“On Mt. Olympus.”
“Where do you think we’re going?”
“Mt. Olympus.”
“Good girl, maybe there is hope for you yet.” He winked. “Now, we head to Olympus.”
He stepped up onto his chariot, followed by everyone else. I turned to mount Pegasus but Adronis was already on his back shaking his head at me.
“I don’t think so.”
I didn’t think they’d let me go off on my own. Sighing, I walked over to the chariot Athena and Adrian were on. Smiling weakly I took Adrian’s extended hand and climbed on behind him.
“That was pretty dumb of you,” he said.
“I blame my genes,” I mumbled.
“That’s not an excuse.”
“It’s a good enough one for me.”
Staring at his beautiful face helped to ease the nervousness. The churning acid in my stomach was replaced with butterflies and a smile crept across my lips.
“What?” he asked with a nervous laugh.
“Nothing.”
“It must be something,” he insisted, a hint of concern on the edge of his voice.
“Really, it’s nothing.”
“Before we go into this thing, there is something I have to tell you.”
I peered around him at Athena whose lips turned up slightly at the corners.
“What’s that Adrian?” I asked.
“I love you.”
I laughed lightly. “I love you, too.”
“If I survive this…”
I cut him off, “You will survive.”
“Let me finish please. If I survive the battle I want to spend more time with you.”
“Okay, I want to spend time with you too.”
“So you won’t go off and find some American boy?”
“Absolutely not,” I laughed.
He lowered his head so his warm, soft lips rested on mine. A warm tingle surged through my body. He pulled away from me, breathing heavily. I felt the chariot shudder and topple. I grabbed onto the side to steady myself from falling out.
“What was that?”
“Coeus, he can control things with his mind,” Athena said as she straightened out our chariot.
“How is that fair?” I screamed.
“War isn’t fair dear.”
I looked around. I had to get off the chariot otherwise Coeus was going to knock all of us off, he only wanted me off though. I spotted Adronis and Pegasus, it would be hard but I had to get Adronis to trade places with me. I shouted for him, but he either didn’t hear me or ignored me. I was betting on ignoring.
“Athena, get close to Adrian.”
“Why?” she asked, baffled.
“Just trust me okay.”
She pursed her lips and diverted the chariot closer to Adronis.
“Adronis!” I yelled.
“What?”
“Switch me places.”
“No.” He gave me a disgusted look.
“Do it or your brother and Athena are going to die,” I growled at him.
“How will they die?” Clearly he didn’t believe me.
“Coeus is trying to flip our chariot. He wants me to fall off, if I’m not on it he’ll leave them be.”
He stared at me for a few moments, apparently thinking about his choices. The chariot began to shake again. Adrian flipped over the side. I screamed and grabbed his arm. I helped him get a hold onto the side then we were able to get his body back on. Grunting in anger, Adronis let the reins hang on Pegasus’ neck while he stood on the saddle. He leapt through the air landing on the edge of the chariot. He hopped down and boosted me up. Swallowing hard, I looked at Adrian. I could see the fear in his eyes. I took a deep breath and jumped, hoping I’d catch the horse. I over shot it and plummeted to the hard earth below.
Chapter Twenty-One
I looked up and screamed as the gods stopped their advance to Olympus and watched in horror as I fell. They disappeared above the clouds. I looked down and saw the brown earth approaching fast. I threw my arms and legs out, slowing my body a bit. I saw a flash of white and felt the touch of silky smooth feathers. Pegasus flew below me and out of sight. As we neared the ground and further out of sight, he moved under me. Then just before I hit the ground he flapped his wings and we were heading back up. My heart crawled up my throat. As we ascended back to the heavens I could see the chariots the Titans were on. Cronus was on a horrifically adorned chariot. I was able to see the sides and it depicted death. A brutal scene of what appeared to be Cronus slaying a person. I squinted, looking harder. The person he was beheading and disemboweling at the same time was me. There was no mistaking that I drew my sword from the scabbard and pulled my shield from my back as Pegasus swooped to the back. He flapped his wings and we emerged from the clouds. I heard the gasps of surprised gods and saw the look of dread on the Titans faces. Hyperion was the closest to me. His body began to glow like the sun. I used my shield to block my eyes as I swung at him. He was knocked off balance and began to fall. As the Titans scattered the gods were able to pass them. Once they were all a safe distance I turned Pegasus and we chased after them.
“I thought you were dead!” Adrian yelled at me.
“Can’t keep a good goddess down,” I laughed.
“It’s not funny.”
“That was actually brilliant,” Ares said, pulling his chariot alongside us.
“Thanks.”
“I knew you had Athena’s brains in there somewhere,” Zeus said.
“Well, let’s not stand around here while they regain themselves. Shall we?” Apollo said, nudging his swans on.
“Dad’s right. We need to get to Olympus,” Adronis agreed.
Our small group of immortals continued on the way. We knew it wouldn’t take the Titans long to get Hyperion situated and to get their senses regained. Hopefully we would at least get a good distance between us. It was amazing how fast we were moving. Looking down, I was almost dizzy watching the clouds and earth fly past. Pillars of smoke rose into the air. We were passing over another ruined town.
“Thessaly,” I heard Adrian say.
“Your home?”
“Yes,” he sighed.
“I’m sorry.”
He just nodded with his lower lip trembling. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t the only one who had lost something in all of this. I scanned the faces of the Gods. They all looked forlorn and a bit lost. Except Ares. He had a smirk on his face and appeared driven by some crazy internal force. I didn’t expect him to be that upset but some other emotion would have been better. What could we expect though? After all this is what he lived for, wars. Thessaly disappeared behind us and Mt. Olympus rose from the earth. It looked even more com
manding than before. Despite being in the air, I still couldn’t see the top. The clouds blocked our view. All of our animals stopped short.
“What’s wrong?” Hermes called.
“I don’t know, the dogs won’t go on,” Hephaestus called out.
“Neither will my horses,” Hades said.
“Um, I think I know why.”
“Why?” Zeus asked, looking at me.
All I could do was shakily point my hand. “It could be the enormous, half-naked man coming down from Olympus.”
“Not them again,” Poseidon groaned.
“You know the large naked man?”
I couldn’t do anything but stare. It’s not every day that you see a giant. Especially not one who only wore a loincloth.
“Yes, we fought them after the Titanomachy.”
“Th-them? You mean there is more than one giant man?” I asked, looking at him with panic on my face.
“Yup,” He huffed.
“How do we defeat them?” Adronis asked.
“Same way we did before.”
“Which was how?” Apollo asked, staring at the giant.
“Heracles.”
“Isn’t he dead?” I asked.
“Yeah, he is.”
“I’ll get him,” Hades spoke grimly.
“You’re going to get a dead man?”
“I’ll have his soul restored,” he grumbled reluctantly.
“Shit,” was all I could mutter.
“You can say that again,” Zeus sighed.
It was so much to take in. I don’t know why I was so surprised. I leaned down and put my head on Pegasus' neck. The migraine was back. The thumping at my temples was deafening. The last thing I expected was a vision. My surroundings began their transformation. I was no longer sitting on Pegasus but standing on top of a pillar on Mt. Olympus. I could see the Titans, the Gods and giants battling. My sword was in my right hand and my shield on my left arm as I battled Cronus. I could see my chiton sliced and covered in blood. Cronus was equally bloody. The deep gashes across his abdomen seeped the dark red almost purple blood. His legs were streaked with the liquid and dirt. His face though looked different. He aged, greatly. His black hair was a salt and pepper color while the laugh lines on his forehead were wrinkles. He swung his sword at me but I was able to duck out of the way. I jumped off the column and landed next to Zeus, who was battling one of the giants. A strange man leapt through the air from one of the ruined buildings plunging a spear into the back of the same giant. I looked at Zeus, a smile spread across his lips. The idea dawned on me then.
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