Zeus only curled his lip, his tunic torn in spots, making him look more like a madman than a king of the gods. Lightning started flashing around the pair as it started to rain, soaking both gods to the bone in an instant.
“It doesn’t matter,” Zeus hissed. “They’ll believe anything I tell them. All that matters is getting you old, ancient relics out of my way!” His voice escalated to a scream as he leaped forward, lightning raised high above his head. Erebus easily rolled out of the way, content to let Zeus tire himself out. As much as he wouldn’t mind destroying Zeus, he knew there were still some things that were more trouble than they were worth, and having to stick around Mt. Olympus and clean up that political mess wasn’t worth it. If he died in battle, that was one thing; if he died in one-on-one combat with a primordial, it was another.
“Get back here, you coward,” Zeus screamed, jumping back to his feet and turning on Erebus like a dog. His appearance was almost completely unhinged, spit flecking his beard and his eyes roved wildly as if he couldn’t focus on one thing. His tunic was ripped and bloody, and he only wore one sandal. He slowly crept forward, flexing his muscles like a cat, as electricity sparked over his back and arms. Erebus didn’t look much better, although he was infinitely more composed. The dark cloth of his chlamys whipped around in the wind, wet curls now sticking to his forehead. The sky had grown even darker as the rain pelted down around them, lightning and thunder flashing in tandem with Zeus’s laborious breath. If it were any other opponent that stared down Zeus, it would be intimidating.
It wasn’t any other opponent. It was Erebus, who looked up at Zeus from underneath a heavy, furrowed brow and only smiled. Shadows began dancing up his arms and legs, caressing each part of him like a lover, his veins pulsing.
“I would be very careful,” Erebus muttered, looking at Zeus through the rain as the battle waged on below them. There was another bellowing shout that Erebus knew without looking was Hekatonkheires, slowly climbing up the mountain as he dodged attacks from the swarms of gods. “I’ve been itching for a fight for a long time, and I’d be more than happy to give it to you.”
“I’ve seen your tricks, Erebus—”
“Oh no,” Erebus laughed, “You haven’t.”
At that, Zeus launched himself forward, his hand raised above his head as he descended upon Erebus. The wind and rain pelting at his back made the image that much more threatening, his arm pulled back as a bolt of lightning emerged from Zeus’s grip like a hidden sword. There was already a gleam in Zeus’s eye, one of victory, that set Erebus off. Everything felt like it began moving in slow motion.
Erebus reached up and grabbed onto the lightning bolt Zeus was holding, shadows exploding across it like tar. Zeus watched in horror as Erebus yanked it, pulling Zeus down to the ground out of midair. He landed with a sickening crack as the lightning bolt exploded, raining down sparks on both as a chorus of shadows leaped from the carnage. Erebus laughed at the expression of extreme frustration on Zeus’s face and felt his shadows running through him, covering Zeus like rope, pushing down and anchoring Erebus to the mountainside itself. There was another tremor, and Erebus knew that the monster was still getting closer.
He grinned, hardly able to hear Zeus’s curses over the rain and wind, before leaning down and grabbing Zeus by the tunic. He hauled Zeus up with one arm and walked towards the edge, watching the rage in Zeus’s eyes contort to fear.
“This is one of my favoritetricks,” Erebus growled, leaning in so he was face to face with Zeus. He took another step forward and extended his arm, dangling Zeus off the edge of the mountain. Erebus peered over the edge and saw Hekatonkheires, clamoring and throwing hundreds of fists against the mountainside not fifty feet below them. Zeus was a pleading, crying mess, clawing at Erebus’s arm.
“You wouldn’t! You can’t! Please, listen…” Erebus only rolled his eyes as the thunder flashed behind him, framing him in black clouds of both his and Zeus’s creation.
“Even your own thunderstorms listen to me, Zeus,” Erebus purred. “They listen to the darkness.”
“Erebus—”
The God of darkness let go.
36
Erebus watched Zeus drop down into the waiting jaws of the great monster, catching his breath while shadows still danced on the ground around him. Hekatonkheires screamed as he saw the god and reached up, one of his arms plucking Zeus from the sky. The monster released his grip on the cliff and dropped back down to earth, creating an earth-shattering tremor when he landed. Erebus watched in tense confusion as Hekatonkheires didn’t destroy Zeus, but gripped him tightly, walking across the valley.
There was still a swarm of gods surrounding him, arrows and blades flying at his many heads and hands, but nothing seemed to stick. He easily batted away every attempt to pluck Zeus from his grip. Erebus watched on, dumbfounded, as Hekatonkheires walked through the chaos and headed straight for Kronos’s frontlines. Erebus vanished into the air, reappearing down at the base of the mountain where the fighting had stopped. Every eye was fixed on the great giant carrying Zeus. He materialized next to Hades, who was pulling his bident from the corpse of a titan.
“What did you do?” Erebus asked again, turning to look at the god with a shake of the head. “If you wanted him dead…”
“We do,” Hades insisted, “but we had to strike a deal.” Erebus looked on as the monster continued to waddle through the chaos at his feet, some gods and titans unable to avoid his step. They were crushed instantly. There was a sudden burst of movement from the ground, a tangling mess of vines shooting up from the red earth. They immediately wrapped around Hekatonkheires’s legs and arms, immobilizing more than half of him in a moment.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Hades hissed. “Fuckin’ Demeter.”
They watched on as the goddess propelled herself up the greenery, Hera following close behind her as they used the vines as a bridge. The goddesses had swords pulled from the bodies of titans and began decapitating heads of the monster… one by one. Hekatonkheires screamed, sending a shockwave through the valley that had even Erebus and Hades going to cover their ears. They watched in a gross fascination asheadsfell to the ground, causing the monster’s movements to slow down. It looked for a moment that the two goddesses would come out with a victory until both missed one of the many limbs reaching for them. In a second, Hekatonkheires had both Demeter and Hera in his grasp. The vines withered up and turned to ash immediately. He freed himself as he began to move again towards the enemy camp.
“Please tell me this was part of your plan,” Erebus grunted.
“No. Only Zeus was.”
“I’d love to know the details, Hades.” Erebus’s voice was growing tense. He was fed up with only getting half of the plan from the brothers. Hades made a sigh that sounded like a relent.
“We bargained with Kronos. He could have Zeus if he left the rest of us alone. We agreed to help Kronos free Hekatonkheires to make it all happen in a way that looked… organic on the battlefield.” Hades plucked a piece of tunic from the end of the bident. Erebus let out a low whistle. There was nothing that shocked him anymore when it came to the loyalties of gods, but even he had to admit that this was impressive in its political delicateness.
The fighting had slowed, all eyes still fixed on the giant as he crossed the center of the valley and over to Kronos’s side. Kronos stood, wet with the rain, but otherwise unruffled. He didn’t even look like he had picked up a sword that day. Hades and Erebus watched on as Hekatonkheires handed over the three gods, Zeus, Hera, and Demeter to Kronos. Kronos stood as tall as the monster, accepting the three gods with ease. Erebus could see the bodies of the gods struggling, throwing their fists against his grip. He could only watch on in devout horror as Kronos unhinged his jaw and tossed all three of the gods into his mouth, swallowing them whole.
“Fuck…” Hades’s eyes were wide, and he looked like he had gone a little pale. A moment later, Poseidon appeared next to them.
“All right.” His voice had a tenseness to it as he tried to sound calm. “We didn’t know what Kronos was going to do, but we knew he was going to kill him.”
“Them,” Erebus corrected Poseidon although he wasn’t sure why. “That wasn’t just Zeus.”
