“The one you use with the children.” Re grimaced.
“If the Egyptian sandal fits...” Trevor smacked Re's shoulder as he joined us.
I shook my head and kept going. So did they.
“Youare callingmechildish?” Re asked in shock. “You're a puppy. I was ruling Atlantis before you were a twitch in Fenrir's testicles.”
“Fenrir's testicles?” Azrael whispered incredulously as he stepped up beside me.
I chuckled under my breath.
“I meant your mental age,” Trevor argued.
“I surpass you there as well. I created an enormous, prosperous pantheon, in case you've forgotten.”
“You had a bit of help.”
“As any great leader, I know how to delegate. I brought them together and kept them together despite their differences.”
“It's a shame that you aren't employing those people skills now,” Azrael muttered.
“Guys, can it!” I snapped.
“Minn Elska,” Trevor started but then he saw why I'd been so insistent.
The tunnel had ended and within the arched opening that defined the end, a lit cavern could be glimpsed. Not much of it though, because Adroanzi filled the passage and stretched beyond it. A lot of Adroanzi. They were shifted into giant, pale-green snakes and rapidly slithering toward us.
The Itakupe surged past us, shrieking a battle cry that sounded distinctly avian. The Adroanzi hissed and struck, springing off the ground to reach the birds. The God Squad ran to help, some shifting while the rest summoned their magic. And one man—onelion—did both. Kirill—in his werelion form—extended a clawed hand and took a stance similar to the one Re had employed earlier. Silvery light encased Kirill's hand and stretched out—hesitantly at first and then bolder—striking a group of Adroanzi. The snakes froze—as in literally. Why not Death instead of Winter, you may be wondering. Death is hard to use against gods and can be tricky in close quarters. Plus, Kirill was new to this kind of magic and probably wanted to start small.
“Yes! It's the fucking Lion of Winter!” Viper pumped his fist in the air before punching it into a frozen snake face. “That's what you bastards get for turning me into a snakesicle!”
Meanwhile, the Lord of the Underworld lifted a hand and summoned his flames while his beautiful bride called forth roots from the earth. Pan cast a glittering wave of magic over the Adroanzi, who then started attacking each other savagely. Thor directed bolts of lightning into the green, scaly tide, and Brahma simply shouted. As the Lord of Speech and Sound, Brahma could use words as weapons. I like to call him Muad'Dib, and if you don't know that reference, go watchDuneimmediately. Azrael went Grim Reaper with his scythe, cutting through slender bodies as if he were harvesting wheat, all while his skull grinned wickedly. The mist of the Dream Realm swirled in Morph's eyes as he held out his arms and released his sweet oblivion. Trevor took advantage of the dream magic, bounding up in Froekn form to slice the sleeping snakes to pieces.
Those who couldn't use their magic as an attack—such as Karni Mata, whose main power involved rats—used god-made weapons. Finn brandished a silver sword while Artemis pulled a bow out of thin air and started firing arrows into snake heads. Torrent flicked his hands down to release the claws of my Wolverine gloves. I didn't use them anymore and I didn't want them to go to waste so I was letting him borrow them for awhile. And he'd been practicing. Seeing Torr slice Adroanzi heads off with expert swipes of his hands confirmed that I'd made the right decision.
I went with my real claws but also summoned the strategy magic I'd taken from Aphrodite. I don't use Strategy often but with all of the power shooting around that tunnel, I thought a bit of tactical wisdom couldn't hurt. As it rose in my chest, my vision altered slightly. I could anticipate the moves my opponents would make and those that would conquer them. I knew to swing back behind Kirill because a snake had used his frozen comrades as cover and had angled around my husband. I took the snake's head and moved on.
But there were so many of them. The flow of scaled bodies seemed endless—a green flood that showed no sign of slowing. My friends were getting bit—both by the Adroanzi and the normal snakes that still lined the sides of the tunnel. I had to find a way to end this—a move that would kill all of these snakes fast. If I didn't, those kids were dead. Because I had no doubt that in the cavern just beyond the Adroanzi, their god was sharpening his knives.
The roar of battle dulled for me as I gained focus so I was the first one to notice the change. I snatched a snake as it launched itself up and forward, and absently tore its head off as my gaze swiveled to a silver light. Viper had chosen to stay in human form and use his star magic. It was a good choice. Stars are basically suns without planets around them—they're powerfulandpretty. I expected to see sparkling light streaming from Viper's hands to incinerate his victims. But that didn't happen.
I stared at the scene before me, my brain trying to jump ahead and figure out what exactly Viper was doing. It became distracting enough that I had to let go of Strategy and just reason it out on my own. Viper's light emanated from his entire body, as Re's had done when he was lighting our way. But the silver cloud had spread out to cover the Adroanzi. It glittered and gleamed. It flowed and expanded. It sparked ominously. The silver light consumed the Adroanzi and as soon as it touched them, they went utterly still.
My stare shot back to Viper's. His eyes were glowing green and his expression was... surprised. He didn't know what he was doing either; the magic had taken control.
The Adroanzi started to sway gently, every snake eye focused on Viper as if he were their god. I didn't wait to see more than that, I seized the opportunity and ran past the hypnotized snakes. I went blundering into the cavern, my head swinging about to get my bearings.
The cavern wasn't huge by cavern standards but it was interesting. It had tiers to it—staggered, rising, half-moon platforms outlined with smooth stone. And none of it was natural. The tiers were too even, spaced in perfect symmetry like a grand staircase Scarlett O'Hara might descend. They started at ground level directly before me—one to either side. The next level rose a foot, set out further and just overlapping the last. They continued in this manner, sweeping outward before curving back in, each tier getting higher and closer to the far wall. The two curves of tiers met at a central platform protruding from the wall. In addition to this architectural alignment, the columns that supported and bordered each platform were perfectly cylindrical and polished. No, this wasn't a natural formation, it was the work of a god.
And that god stood on the central tier, at the very top of those strange steps. Adro was in his man form: black as night except for his eye. Even his clothes were black, though they looked modern. His features, now that I could see them, were a match for Adroa's, but Adro was far shorter than his good half and thicker as well—as if someone had pushed down on his head and compressed him.
Adro shouted in wordless rage when he saw me and then started to shift. I noted the direction of his gaze and followed it to a cage on my left. Within the cage, nine human children huddled in fear.
Oh, hell no.
The owls and the God Squad were pouring into the room behind me, but I didn't waste time on explanations. I just released my wings and leapt into the air. My flying hop brought me to the children seconds before Adro—in giant snake form—managed to slither down the tiers like an ebony waterfall. I settled into a battle stance before the cage, spread my wings to block the children, drew in a deep breath, and released my fire along with my fury upon the bad god.
Adro curled over and back upon himself, shrieking horribly. Magic shot for him across the cavern, launched by the other gods, but Adro was already retreating up the tiers and as he ascended, the tiers crumbled away. He made it to the top and shifted back into his other form.
