Beyond Hades

by Luke Romyn

  The helmeted head twisted slightly, the expression upon Prometheus's face remarkably like one of intense amusement. It seemed to pause momentarily, and then fell to the ground with a metallic thud. The body stood briefly, twitched slightly and then collapsed into a heap.

  Heracles stood, victorious over the body.

  "Don't get too confident there, Herc," called Wes. "I already did that once."

  Heracles stared at Wes quizzically, and Talbot noticed the body begin to spasm on the ground, the gauntleted hand grasping the hilt of the dark sword once more.

  "Watch out!" yelled Wes.

  Heracles instinctively leaped away just as the headless body swiped at his legs with the ebony-bladed weapon. The Olympian stared incredulously as the decapitated corpse slowly rose, and then stood once more. Talbot watched the head frothing and sizzling like butter on a hotplate.

  Talbot glanced back at the newly-risen corpse to see a tiny fresh head had sprouted from the severed neck, like a diminutive bud breaching the earth. The miniature skull stretched and grew like a balloon inflating, until eventually it filled out to the same size as the one Heracles had just hacked off.

  "Ha!" laughed Prometheus as his new face finished forming. The entire growth had occurred in a matter of seconds. "How will you kill me, mighty Heracles? How will you stop that which cannot be stopped?"

  Heracles leaped forward like lightning and skewered Prometheus through the middle of the chest, the glowing sword cleaving straight through the Titan's armor, piercing his heart and exiting through his back. The Olympian tore the blade loose and stepped back. Prometheus merely stood, arms outstretched.

  "You cannot slay me, Heracles," spat the Titan contemptuously. "I shall kill you all, one at a time." He glared at the circle of Olympians gathered around him, several stepping back fearfully as he did so. One woman actually tripped and dropped her flaming torch to the ground. It rolled several yards before stopping, still burning fiercely.

  Prometheus leaped at Heracles, and once more their weapons clashed and boomed against each other. Talbot watched the exchange in awe. Heracles seemed to battle slightly more anxiously now, unsure of how to finish the conflict. How could he kill something which could regrow its own head?

  Regrow its own head...?

  Something within Talbot's memory sang out at the thought, and he sought to recall why. One of the creatures he had recently encountered....

  "The Hydra!" shouted Talbot aloud.

  Everyone looked at him, including Heracles. The Olympian barely deflected a blow from Prometheus as a result, bringing his own sword up at the last second, the Titan's dark blade skimming along it, dangerously close to his throat.

  Damn. Talbot couldn't risk distracting Heracles like that again, but he had to pass on what he'd remembered. What he wouldn't give to be able to mentally project something.

  He snapped his gaze away from the battle, searching for Zeus. The leader of the Olympians was further around the fighting circle, anxiously watching Heracles, battling for his life.

  "Let me help you!" called Wes. Heracles was growing noticeably fatigued from the battle.

  "NO!" roared Heracles, launching a blistering assault on the Titan, forcing him back. This only ended up tiring Heracles further, though, with no real solution in sight.

  Talbot pushed his way through the Olympians, slowly making his way to Zeus's side. Swiftly he outlined what Heracles needed to know. Zeus stared expressionlessly at him for a moment, and then nodded. A look of intense concentration came over his features, and Talbot immediately shifted his gaze to Heracles, who risked a glance at his father before nodding slightly in acknowledgement. Talbot even thought he saw the ghost of a smile cross Heracles's lips.

  The Olympian leaped forward, his sword slashing more confidently. Prometheus blocked wildly, the fact he was invulnerable not meaning he enjoyed the pain inflicted when he was wounded. Heracles forced him further back, and the crowd parted, allowing plenty of room. As he passed the dropped torch, Heracles snatched it up and stepped back, holding the flame before him.

  Something akin to fear flashed across Prometheus's expression as he saw the flaming torch in Heracles's hand, but the look was gone in an instant. "Having trouble seeing me, Heracles?" he mocked.

  "Not at all," replied Heracles, the ghost of a smile flashing across his mouth. "I was just remembering something about one of the creatures from your world; a beast called the hydra, which I once had the intense displeasure of meeting. Our friend here -" he indicated Talbot, "- also encountered one on his recent journey, and just asked my father to remind me of it."

  Fear once more glimmered upon Prometheus's face, but this time he was unable to conceal it. "Are we going to talk all day or fight? Why do you insist on talking about some stupid lizard?"

  "Well, it seems to me that you and it possess very similar talents, in particular the one of regenerating wounds. It too has the ability to regrow its heads when they've been severed."

  Prometheus's eyes narrowed, and Talbot saw sweat beading upon his brow. "Put down your pretty torch and face me like a man, Olympian!"

  "It makes me wonder," continued Heracles as though Prometheus hadn't spoken at all. "It makes me wonder if during all the myriad of experiments your race did, whether one involved the combination of Hydra blood with that of a Titan."

  Prometheus attacked, his sword snaking out and clashing again and again against Heracles's golden blade. Each strike was more desperate than the last, and Heracles blocked them all with ease. Finally, Prometheus overbalanced and Heracles's sword clove his chest, exiting his back in a bloody spray. Prometheus's hand reflexively opened, dropping his dark sword, which fell clattering on the stony ground. Heracles pulled him close.

  "I hope you feel fear, Titan. I hope you are terrified. You have caused countless deaths in your quest to conquer my people, and all you have achieved is the extinction of your own race. The Keres will hunt down every last Titan and destroy them all. Your quest to defeat my people and conquer my land has ended with your failure. Know that, before you die."

  Prometheus whimpered.

  Heracles twisted his golden blade and dragged it from the ribcage of the Titan. Prometheus slumped down and scrabbled for his blade, but Heracles slashed through his neck, once again decapitating the Titan.

  As the head dropped and new growth tried to push through from the severed neck, Heracles thrust the burning torch into the wound, cauterizing the flesh and sealing it completely. The soft tissue stopped twitching immediately and Heracles stepped back, preparing for anything unforeseen.

  The corpse twitched slightly, becoming more frenzied as the inability to regenerate seized it. Like a suffocating man battling for breath, the body flopped and thrashed upon the ground, its hands clawing at the cauterized flesh of its neck, but they were unable to pierce the seal. Finally the struggling petered out and the hands fell aside, its spine arching as though trying to scream, before it dropped to the stone, unmoving.

  "And stay dead this time," Heracles snarled, glancing over at Wes and grinning before staring back at the corpse, "you fucker of mothers."

  Wes's laughter rang out across Mount Olympus. Prometheus, the last of the Titans, was finally still.

  CHAPTER 19

  There was no cheering, no celebrating. Several Olympians staggered in shock as the import of what had just happened began to sink in. The city of Mount Olympus was decimated, its people almost wiped out. Everyone had lost someone close to them this day. Talbot surveyed the devastation, wondering how they would rebuild.

  "No time to relax, princess," snapped Wes.

  Talbot tensed, realizing how true the words were. They still had to find a way home, get into Atlantis - which was apparently destroyed - and close off a rift they had no idea how to shut down.

  They may have won this war, but their -

  "Hey! Snap out of it! We have to go."

  Talbot nodded, turning to Zeus. "Is there an easier way for us to return to our world? We don'
t have time to travel to Chiron's village to access the Syrpeas Gate -" He suddenly remembered something. "But even if we could travel through it we'd emerge inside the rubble of a collapsed pyramid on the other end."

  Zeus looked thoughtful for a moment. "We can recalibrate the coordinates on the gate here to link with the one you arrived through. This can then be shifted slightly so that you emerge in the same locale, but away from the original gate."

  "Let's do that, then, whatever the hell it is... with the thing, and the recalibration stuff," said Wes.

  Zeus led the way back up the hill through the empty, war-torn streets, Wes and Talbot following with Heracles trailing further back, beset as he was by Olympians weeping with relief who wanted to thank him personally. The trip was swift, and they soon stood within the chamber of the rift once more, the rift itself still active and rippling within the hidden room. Zeus adjusted several things on the control panel, finally turning back to gaze at Wes and Talbot.

  "I do not know whether to thank you both or curse you. You have brought me the worst news I ever received, seen my son taken from me, enabled our enemies to bring war to our very doorstep, wreaking death and destruction upon the city I love and causing more pain than my people should ever have to endure. But my son has since returned, bringing me joy at a time when I never imagined it possible. You have also helped save my people, fighting alongside us at your own peril. I am torn; what am I to do?"

  "Well," said Wes, "for starters, you could stop yapping so much and give me a kiss."

  Zeus merely grinned and shook his head. "I am going to miss you. I would tell you to return one day, but I fear what would follow in your wake the next time."

  "Sorry about the whole war and devastation thing," muttered Wes.

  Heracles came to stand beside his father. "You both must succeed in closing the Syrpeas Gate," he said sternly, his face impassive. "Otherwise this war will have been for naught; we shall all die if the dimensions collapse."

  Talbot nodded somberly. He extended his hand to Heracles, who took it wrist to wrist in a warrior's grip. "Thanks Heracles," he said. The huge warrior merely grimaced, knowing what they still had to face.

  Talbot turned to Zeus, but no words could convey what he felt. This man, a legendary figure within Greek mythology, was now facing the rebuilding of his city along with the devastation to his people, only years after fighting a similar war. How could Talbot convey the sorrow he felt?

  "No words are necessary," said Zeus, reading his thoughts. "Despite what I just said, I know you two are not at fault. The blame lies with the Titans, and they have paid the price. Your task lies ahead of you, and it is more important than anything you can possibly imagine. Beware what you think you know, and when all seems lost, remember the words of Kharon."

  Talbot stepped back, confused. He searched his memory for what Kharon might have said, but for the life of him he couldn't recall it.

  "Don't worry, it will return when you need it," said Zeus, sensing his panic. "It is within you - everything you need has always been locked within you. Never forget that, Talbot Harrison."

  Talbot suddenly calmed, a cooling mist flowing through him. He felt instantly refreshed. He glanced at Zeus and smiled. "Thank you."

  Zeus merely nodded, and Talbot turned toward the rift, his purpose clear. Knowing that Wes would be right behind him, Talbot stepped into the rift and disappeared.

  ***

  "I am not going to miss going through those damn things," snarled Wes as they gathered themselves from the floor of the cave beneath Ayers Rock.

  Talbot appraised their surroundings, and saw that Zeus had somehow programmed the rift to deliver them beside the collapsed pyramid, into the huge chamber underneath Ayers Rock, where Chiron and his centaurs had so valiantly battled Porphyrion. The bodies of the dead centaurs had been viciously flung aside, lying scattered in the places where they'd dropped during their valiant fight against the king of the Gigantes. In fact, as Talbot looked, he saw Chiron's body, and the arm seemed to be....

  He was moving!

  Talbot raced across the floor of the chamber, oblivious to everything else. He heard Wes curse before chasing after him. Both were still dressed in the armor of the Olympians, and Talbot staggered as his scabbard banged between his thighs. Pushing down on the hilt of his sword and lifting the sheathed blade out of the way, he ran smoothly for the rest of the distance.

  Skidding to a halt, Talbot dropped to the ground beside the head of the dying centaur. "It's okay, Chiron," he gasped. "We're here."

  Chiron looked up at him quizzically, his bestial features furrowing. "But... I saw you both...." he gasped, his voice no more than a whisper. "You entered the pyramid... no... no more than a moment ago...."

  Talbot followed where the centaur indicated and his jaw dropped. The last time they'd been in this cavern there'd stood the largest pyramid the world had ever seen - an identical twin of the submerged one in Atlantis. In its place now lay an outside perimeter of huge stone blocks, its interior completely caved in, like Lego blocks smashed by an unruly child. This was all that remained after Wes had detonated the grenade inside as a last ditch effort to stop Porphyrion from catching them.

  Dust was still settling from the collapse of the structure, and Talbot realized that only seconds had passed since they - or rather their former selves from a previous time - had stepped into the rift! The complexity of these worlds, each running on different systems of time was really beginning to confuse Talbot now, but at least it was to their advantage. They'd hardly lost any time from their trip - or rather, trips - and they were now back where they'd started.

  Suddenly, one of the huge blocks of stone shifted... and then another. Talbot watched in amazement as the entire center of the pile of broken stones started shifting. It was almost as though....

  As though something huge were beneath it, trying to climb out!

  "Go...!" gasped Chiron, his hind hoof twitching slightly.

  Talbot nodded down at the dying centaur, and stood once more. The rubble was heaving and crashing like a stone ribcage, and he knew they only had minutes before....

  Too late!

  With a violent explosion, blocks of stone blew outwards, crashing and tumbling into the walls of the cavern. Dust covered the area, but Talbot knew what had caused it.

  "Porphyrion," he groaned.

  Within the rubble stood the king of the Gigantes, a huge gash running down the left side of his head, bone protruding from his left forearm. He stumbled slightly, looking dazed for several moments. Finally his vision seemed to clear and he looked -

  "Man, he looks pissed," muttered Wes, ending Talbot's thought.

  "I think we should be running," said Talbot.

  Porphyrion spotted them and roared, the vibration causing dust to drift down from the roof of the cavern.

  "Definitely running," agreed Wes, as the huge figure kicked rocks aside and pounced toward them.

  They took off, sprinting as fast as they could toward the side tunnel which would lead them back to the surface.

  But only if Talbot could repeat the miracle of the Aboriginal dot painting.

  Talbot raced, side by side with Wes, while the ground thundered beneath them from the pounding strides of Porphyrion. Talbot desperately held the hilt of his sword to keep it from tripping him again, and by the time they reached the side-tunnel both men were gulping for air. Without pausing, they shot into the narrow crevasse and kept going. Talbot knew the passageway was too small for the enormous Porphyrion to fit into, but he had a feeling the enraged giant wouldn't be deterred so easily.

  They entered the cave which had controlled their descent from the surface, and suddenly Talbot panicked, realizing he no longer had Wes's phone. Without it he couldn't play the tune which would return them to the outside.

  Talbot calmed his terrified mind with difficulty and thought back. He remembered when they'd dropped into the earth. He recalled smashing his face into the floor of the cave and then -
<
br />   The phone was still here!

  He must have dropped it when he'd crashed into the ground the last time they'd been in this place. Talbot immediately dropped to the ground and began feeling around in the dark for Wes's smart phone.

  An ominous rumbling from the cavern behind them made Talbot pause momentarily, panic roaring in his ears once more. In the dim light, he glimpsed some sort of movement coming down the tunnel. Something was moving rapidly through the dark, something which almost filled the tunnel with its bulk. At first he thought the giant must be thrusting his arm down the tunnel in hopes of catching them, and Talbot relaxed slightly, knowing it could never reach. And then he saw fangs glistening in the gloom, a cavernous mouth racing toward him.

  The massive snake, one of Porphyrion's legs, shot down the tunnel and exploded into the cave - all fangs and venom. Talbot instinctively leaped backward while Wes darted forward, Chiron's sword whistling through the air, smashing down on top of the snake's head -

  - only to bounce off!

  The sword which Talbot had witnessed slicing and dicing a myriad of creatures with no problem clanged like it had hit stone, rebounding from the head of the snake. Talbot remembered the same thing had happened before when the centaurs had attacked Porphyrion: the Olympian weapons had had little or no effect on the King of the Gigantes.

  "Find that fucking phone, and get us out of here!" yelled Wes, slashing at the snake's head again to keep its attention trained on him.

  Talbot resumed feeling around on the ground for the phone which would hopefully see them escape. The snake thrashed and snapped at Wes, but it seemed to have reached the limit of its length. For a moment, Talbot had the obscure image in his head of Porphyrion squatting in the main cavern with his leg stretched into the tunnel - like a person who had half-fallen into a deep rabbit hole.