I twist, hitting him with my other fist.
I’m not letting him touch them again! His arrogance will be his downfall!
My gauntlets hum with energy, the strength behind each punch enough to shatter rocks. I land one punch to his ribs, another to his jaw. He counters, his hand snapping forward to grab my neck.
He’s fucking fast. His grip sears my skin, divine heat crawling under my flesh, and pain like never before tears through me, making my head explode with agony; tears burn in my eyes and a strangled roar rips from my throat.
Power explodes through me as I try to pull away, and twisting, I punch his face again, but he doesn’t release me; his power is a whirlwind around us as both Ares and Theo try to getcloser.
Helios grins coldly.“Your rage is magnificent, Deimos King. Let it consume you and be your end.”
I snarl as I raise my leg, ready to kick, but he realises what I’m about to do and instead throws me, but not before my foot connects with his abdomen, denting his pathetic armour.
I crash into the ground as Helios stumbles back, but I fall harder, causing the ground to cave beneath me. My body is screaming in agony; every muscle burns, every breath comes out as fire. I force myself to my feet, chest heaving, blood dripping from my mouth. Sweat drips down my body, my hair slick with it.
Theo staggers beside me; he’s bleeding heavily from his side. Ares is on the other end of the arena, limping, his arm hanging loosely. He had put too much into that barrier. Carter still isn’t moving, and Renji is bloody, too.
We’re losing.
Above, the Divine Order remains still, watching and observing silently.
The light around Helios grows blinding. He’s not short on power; it is endless.
He raises his hands, the air trembling. “You came to challenge a god in his own dominion,” he thunders, his voice echoing across the arena. “Now, you shall burn for your arrogance!”
With those words, a massive sphere of golden fire forms above his head, its light swallowing everything.
Theo-
I know. I’ll buy you time, we really need to end that creepy Teletubbies sun,Theo says, cutting me off. He forces himself upright. Mist crawls up his arms, his eyes white.Do what you got to do.
He then vanishes into the mist that grows, masking the sunlight. I feel the darkness growing, feel the shadow of it twist through the flames, forming a dome, one that collides with Helios’ burning sunfire sphere.
The sound is catastrophic, like two worlds colliding. For a second, the sun’s light falters, but it’ll win. I move, raising my gauntlets, calling on everything Zeus has given me. My body lifts off the ground, my aura surging as the divine fire crashes through Theo’s defence, and I meet it head-on.
Light and lightning collide, everything becomes gold and white, and then the world erupts.
The sound is deafening, the air vibrating with such power it feels like it could rip the sky apart. Lightning meets sunfire, each lightning bolt clashing with Helios’ fire in blinding flashes as we throw attack after attack.
My feet slide across the molten glass beneath me as I push back, my muscles screaming, bones shaking under the force as splinters of glass fly everywhere, cutting through flesh.
The energy swirls around Helios, protecting him, but I’m not fucking done!
I twist, kicking off as I swing, not with power but with sheer brute strength. The sphere of sunfire explodes, sending shockwaves for miles as I’m flung up into the sky, but I’ve doneit. No matter what the price, I’ve broken through it!
Through the chaos, I hear a single voice, beautiful as it is sharp and terrified.
“Jayce!”
Sienna’s scream tears through the noise, slicing through everything else. My chest tightens, and for a moment, the pain doesn’t matter.
I won’t let him win. I won’t let her see me fall. She saw me helpless and useless twice before, but never again. That Jayce is gone, this Jayce will never fail.
We’re fucking winning this.
TheStrength of Brothers
Jayce
