Erebus didn’t stop to think about what that meant. Both immortals turned and joined the other gods, who were filing out of the temple with Zeus at the helm. There was a somber attitude over them all. It was as if now this had become real to them, only now had they realized the lives on the line…as if only now, they realized that even an immortal could die, even a god could bleed.
Poseidon and Erebus slipped in the menagerie, spotting Hades up ahead, his expression grim. Zeus turned around, raised his hands, and the procession stopped.
“We have now seen firsthand what Kronos is capable of, now is not the time for us to divide into factions, my friends.” Zeus’s voice was loud, but it lacked authority. There was a hidden meekness in his words. He pleaded with the gods to not abandon him; he begged for their subjugation with each syllable. It rippled out over the immortals gathered with him, who were prepared for war, but their dedication leaked from their faces. “If you support me now—”
“Support younow?” It was Apollo who spoke up, his normally shiny face contorted in frustration. “What do you think we’ve been doing?”
Zeus hesitated for only a moment.
“If anyone speaks out against me, they are trying to separate us—”
“You’ve already separated yourself.” It was Ares, his shoulders back as if he was perpetually ready for a confrontation. “I haven’t seen you take up arms once.” His hand slid smoothly down to the hilt of his sword.
“I was simply…”
Zeus’s voice was cut off as a sudden cacophony rose from the valley below. Nearly all the gods turned to look at once, immediately pulling weapons from sheaths and taking to the skies. Erebus took one glance down below, and his shadows unfurled around him. Kronos was advancing, taking advantage of the early morning light and the shock of returning Prometheus’s body to Mt. Olympus. The array of titans had expanded. Erebus cursed under his breath as he saw their ranks had filled out with the monsters of hell.
Half of the gods had already met them on the battlefield, streaking down the side of the mountain with violence in their eyes.
“Erebus.” Hades was at his ear. “If you hear me call for you, respond.” Before Erebus could comprehend what that meant, Hades was gone. Only moments later, he was locked in combat and thrusting a short blade in between the ribs of a titan.
Erebus released his shadows, and they exploded out from him, running down the mountain like infected veins. He grappled with the weight of his power as he felt them like phantom limbs, coming up around the ankles of titans and the necks of monsters. There was a nearly collective sigh of relief and a fresh battle cry from the gods as they advanced against their opponents with the assist. Zeus struggled with a nameless titan, who managed to deflect every charge of lightning, when he watched in horror as shadows snaked up the titan’s leg. The titan dropped his shield and began screaming, clawing at his own leg until there was blood, like the shadows wereburninghim. It didn’t stop at his leg and soon shadows were pouring from his nose and mouth. The titan’s hands went to his throat as he dropped to his knees, spasmed, and died.
It was a fearsome sight—Erebus, the God of darkness and all his elemental power, shadows pouring from him like a never-ending well. The whites of his eyes were gone, and there was a current around him like a live wire. He was everywhere and nowhere all at once, standing at the precipice of Mt. Olympus as shadows drenched the battlefield.
Zeus was furious. He turned on a heel and nearly shot up the mountainside to crash into Erebus. He had never seen this before. None of the gods had. There was Erebus, the nearly full extent of his power dominating every blade and power in Greece. Zeus’s spine ran cold as he realized that this wasn’t even the full extent of what he could do, if he plunged them all into darkness. And greater than Erebus, was Nyx.
Kronos seemed to have the same realization; his face contorted in rage from across the field. He opened his mouth and yelled something that Erebus couldn’t decipher as he studied the titan. He was wild, standing tall with a tunic that went to his knees. There was one sword at his side and another in his hand, his eyes wild and barrel-chest heaving with anger. He was yelling commands, something, someone… calling for something… Erebus felt his control slip slightly as he tried to decipher what Kronos had called out for. There was a sudden shriek that cut through the air, slicing above the sounds of war, and Erebus’s eyes went straight to the source of the sound. It was Nike, her face frozen in a panic as her arm extended out towards the horizon.
Shit.Erebus desperately tried to find the source of her anguish.It can’t be good when the Goddess of victory is terrified.
He didn’t need to look long as there was a massive impact, and the earth shook.
Then another.
Then another.
A massive figure appeared at the edge of the valley, standing so tall that it nearly blocked out the rising sun. His arms nearly hung down to his knees, his back hunched over and torso a mottled mass of muscle and disjointed bone. His torso descended into a writhing mass of tentacles, slipping over one another and propelling him across the landscape with a shocking dexterity. Each time one of the great limbs hit the ground, it shook. Leathery, rotten wings stretched out behind him, claws as long as a man on the end.
Fuck.Erebus hissed, his eyes scanning for Poseidon or Hades on the battlefield.Typhon.The massive creature had been cast to the deepest trench in the sea, where bindings both magical and not had been used to keep him there…until now. Erebus pulled his arms back and prepared to drench the field in darkness when Poseidon was suddenly at his ear.
“Don’t.” The god was sweating, breathing heavily, speaking through pressed lips as if he didn’t want to be overheard. Erebus turned to him with wide eyes, nearly shaking his head in confusion.
“We can’t fuck around—” The god grabbed Erebus’s wrist and lowered it, motioning to the valley with his head. Erebus turned.
There was Zeus, streaking across the battlefield in a beam of crackling electricity. There was chaos to it that made it different from Erebus’s or even Nyx’s power. Zeus’s power felt like a boy trying to ride a horse for the first time, unable to master the strength of the animal; he was headed straight for Typhon.
“He’s going to get killed,” Erebus snapped his head around and stared at Poseidon. The god’s face had calmed down, and there was a firm resoluteness to it as he casually looked away and surveyed the rest of the battle. Some of the titans had been chased away by Erebus’s shadows, but others were still engaged in direct combat. No one noticed Poseidon and Erebus watching like sentinels at the top of the mountain.
“Casualties are a fact of war.” Poseidon shrugged, examining the end of his trident as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Erebus sat there for a moment, his mind whirring, until something clicked into place.
“Poseidon, did you let Typhon out?” Erebus didn’t wait for the answer as he spun back around and watched Zeus leap into the air and crash into Typhon’s chest. Poseidon said nothing, now examining the cuffs on his wrists with cool indifference.
“I may have dangled a carrot in front of Zeus’s ego.”
Erebus barely avoided laughing out loud in a state of equal parts shock and amusement.This was their plan.He mused as he looked for Hades, finding him engaging easily with titans on the battlefield.I guess his job is keeping up appearances. They released Typhon into the mix, who Zeus couldn’t possibly defeat, to act as their murder weapon.Erebus flexed his fingers and released shadows onto the battlefield once more to keep up the illusion that he was engaged in battle and not the spectator sport in front of him.
They watched as Zeus crashed into the great sea monster, again and again, electricity writhing like additional arms all over Typhon’s body. Nothing seemed to slow him down. Zeus was already looking exhausted; his nose was bleeding and there was a wound on his leg that looked serious. The god took a few steps back, letting out a great shout as bolts of lightning came down from the heavens and shook his body. He stood there, nearly on fire, as waves of electricity pulsed off him. The other gods and titans took notice, nearly every fight stopping as they turned to look.
