"Mother," Athena called out, walking into the hall, shaking dust from her helmet. "They are slippery. Shall I skin them for you?"
We were trapped. Athena behind us. Hera in front of us. And the building shook as the nothingness ate the world outside.
"No," Hera said, standing up. The air shimmered, and I saw the true goddess, towering and radiant, before her light dimmed slightly once more. "They have brought the anomaly to me. It saves me the trouble of digging her out of the rocks."
She descended the dais steps.
"Welcome to Olympus, Aria," she said, opening her arms. "I have a special place prepared for you. You will be comfortable and have everything you could possibly want."
I drew the sword Hades had given me, a blade of shadow and starlight.
"I respectfully decline," I said.
Hera laughed, and the windows blew out, showering the hall with glass and the sound of the end of the world. "Decline, hm?" Hera mused. "If that's the case, then let us see if you break as easily as your mother did. It only took a few whispers from me before she lost her mind."
Kaelen stepped to my right, sword flaming. Flynn to my left, daggers ready. Thane and Elias flanked the rear, turning to face Athena.
"Five against two," Flynn grinned, though sweat beaded on his forehead. "I like those odds."
"Five constructs against two goddesses?" Athena corrected. "You're right, those are good odds, though I'm worried I'll get bored."
"Just don't kill the girl. We need her, remember?" Hera's voice rang out just as Athena lunged and brought her spear to Elias's throat.
TWO
Aria
Athena’s spear blurred toward Elias’s exposed throat; the panic in my chest detonated like a landmine. I didn't reach for the bond. It reached for me. It grabbed me by the base of the skull and yanked.
Suddenly, I wasn’t just Aria.
I waseveryone.
My vision split into a kaleidoscope of five distinct perspectives, superimposed over one another in a dizzying, nauseating overlay.
I was Kaelen, seeing the curve of Hera's throat as she laughed, smelling the ozone of his own rising fury and the deep, possessive terror that I, that Aria, was too close to the enemy.
I was Flynn, crouching low to the left, seeing the tendons in Athena’s arm bunch a split-second before she struck, smelling the stale sweat of the goddess and the sharp tang of steel.
I was Thane, feeling the vibrations of the dying city through the soles of my boots, sensing the structural weakness in the floor beneath Hera’s throne.
I was Elias, watching the spear tip approach my own jugular, calculating the exact angle of entry, knowing with cold, mathematical certainty that I was too slow to dodge.
And I was me, standing paralyzed in the center, overwhelmed by the sensory assault. I felt five hearts hammering against five sets of ribs, tasted blood, bile, mint, and ash all at once. I became a hive mind of the five of us. It was total immersion.
Move,Flynn’s instinct screamed in my right ear.
Block,Thane’s resolve grunted in my left.
Duck,Elias’s logic whispered.
BURN,Kaelen’s rage roared.
The input was too much. The sheer volume of tactical data, emotional panic, and physical sensation short-circuited my restraint. I couldn't pick a precise countermeasure. I couldn't thread the needle.
In that split second of cognitive overload, I grabbed the loudest, hottest thread in the tapestry. I grabbed Kaelen.
I didn't mean to take it all. I just wanted enough fire to deflect the spear.
