“Ha! Scared of a little rock, are you?” Ares taunted. “It’s a wonder your rule wasn’t challenged sooner!”
“When I’m done with the gorgon, you’re going to be the next example I make,” Zeus shouted back. “For the next thousand thousand eons, there won’t be a soul alive who won’t hear of your terrible end.”
“Bold promises for an old and feeble god,” Ares went on. “Come down off your pillar and toss your weapon. Let’s see who’s the strongest.”
Zeus, to his credit, didn’t take the bait. He answered by blasting the mountain again, and as rocks fell and cracks formed in the ground, it was clear it wouldn’t take many more before he triggered an avalanche.
“He’s going to bury us all,” Euryale muttered.
“Then we’d better act,” Stheno said. “Tell me what to do.”
Euryale scanned the area one last time, trying to formulate a plan that didn’t end in utter failure. Even if this was to be her last day, she wasn’t about to let Cassandra die, and once she spied Artemis’s bow and quiver near Ares, she had an idea.
“Ares,” she called out. “Can you get that to me?”
“If it means a fight instead of pointless talk, I most certainly can!” the God of War called out. He darted from his spot and scooped the items up before dashing over to the two gorgons, lightning sizzling at his heels the entire time.
“I can’t wait to see you in glorious battle, gorgon,” Ares said as he handed the items over. His words, however, were not directed to Euryale, but Stheno.
After briefly weighing the bow in her hands, she strapped the quiver across her back—a quiver, she noted, which seemed ever full. Euryale then plucked two arrows free and turned her attention to her husband.
“Alex, you’ve got to get this pouch to Apollo,” Euryale said, holding it up briefly before setting it down into the chariot. “Take our horses and go the moment you can.”
“No, I’m staying with you.”
“No, you aren’t,” she shouted back. “Now, toss your net!”
“But—”
“Do it!”
Alex swore up and down and shook head his before obeying. The net sailed through the air, and Ares snatched it with his meaty hands. The moment the god did, Euryale gave him and her sister the rest of the plan.
“Zeus wants me, so I’ll go first,” Euryale said. “The two of you charge Poseidon and wrap him in that net as fast as you can. That should clear a path for Alex. Once Poseidon is taken care of, the three of us take down Zeus. Any questions?”
“Only one, little gorgon,” Ares said, eyes glinting with anticipation. “When do we attack?”
“Right now.”
* * *
Stheno bolted free from their temporary hiding spot the second Euryale popped out and let loose two arrows. They zipped through the air, leaving bright silvery trails in their wake. The first arrow grazed Zeus’s cheek, while the second bit into his chest, a little below his left collarbone.
“You’re next, Poseidon!” Stheno taunted, bounding across the broken landscape.
The God of the Sea looked down from his perch without worry or seemingly even the need for haste, despite how quickly Stheno and Ares approached. He calmly leveled his trident at the ground in front of them and spoke words she couldn’t hear.
A tight beam of water shot out of each point of his weapon, drilling into the rock. Reflexively, Stheno darted sideways, hoping to dodge whatever explosion was about to take place.
Instead of a blast, a serpentine creature formed from the water, three times as tall as Stheno, eyes glowing a fierce blue and maw filled with long needlelike teeth. It dashed forward on a thin layer of saltwater, hissing and snapping at the air.
Ares leaped over them both, clearly eager to engage his uncle, leaving Stheno to fend for herself. The gorgon narrowed her eyes at her fast-approaching adversary and readied her spear. She didn’t need the god to take this thing apart. Hell, she’d trained on more fearsome things when she wasn’t even a century old.
The sea serpent covered the last twenty yards between it and her like a rogue wave, an explosion of speed and power that seemingly came from nowhere. Stheno sidestepped the attack, slashing across its body with her spear as she did. The blade of the weapon sizzled through the creature.
The monster recoiled and reared back like a cobra, hissing. In that time, Stheno readjusted her footing a split second before it attacked again. The gorgon ducked under its strike but caught a tail slap in the process. She tumbled sideways, ears ringing and world spinning, and crashed into some rock.
Disoriented but far from helpless, Stheno had the wits to keep hold of her spear and tuck her legs beneath her, thereby enabling her to charge forward the moment she could. Water splashed across her face as the serpent tried to finish her off, but it failed to connect.
When her head cleared a second later, she found herself presented with the perfect opportunity to strike at its center.
“Maybe next time, snake,” she muttered, driving her spear into its body. The tip easily pierced the monster, and the weapon sank deep.
Stheno tightened her grip as she could feel energy building in the shaft. The creature shuddered and thrashed for a second or two, trying to rid itself of its tormentor, and then exploded.
Stheno turned her attention to Poseidon who was locked in a furious duel with Ares. Though the God of War still held the magical net, it was clear that the two were in a stalemate.
But that wasn’t something Stheno couldn’t change. The gorgon grinned, eager to taste the blood of the god, and charged forward to join the fray.
Chapter A Divine Conflict
Euryale ducked behind her cover as rock exploded all around, and the scent of ozone filled the air. Right as she was about to duck back out, she shouted at her husband who was awaiting her command.
“Go, Alex!”
At the same time he did, Euryale shot free of her hiding spot to draw Zeus’s ire. The moment she could, she sent a well-aimed arrow straight for his heart. The god held his ground, twisting sideways as it came, so it flew harmlessly by.
Alex dashed across the battlefield with his shield high, hoping to use the distraction to his fullest advantage. Lightning flew from Zeus’s hands again but struck the aegis Alex carried, and the magical artifact easily deflected the strike.
Euryale sent three more arrows through the air, and though none of them found their mark, Zeus had to fall back enough so that once Alex jumped on the chariot, he was in the clear. In the span of a few heartbeats, the Akhal-Tekes that drove it blew across the battlefield and disappeared.
The day, no matter what else happened from here on out as far as Euryale was concerned, was won.
“That was a mistake, gorgon,” Zeus said from behind his cover.
“Making you scramble?” Euryale called back. “Do tell.”
“I don’t have to worry about your husband,” he said. “I was trying not to hurt him unless I had to.”
Zeus appeared on top of his boulder once more, arms raised to the heavens. Euryale looked skyward right as the clouds above her lit up with an array of flashes and thunderclaps. The gorgon dove sideways as a foot-wide lightning strike obliterated the ground where she stood.
A second bolt, equally large and devastating, sent her scrambling again while carving out a sizable crater as well. Euryale kept moving, kept praying, as strike after strike thundered, each one drawing nearer and nearer.
The gorgon knew her life was measured in seconds if she didn’t do something. Hell, it probably wasn’t much longer either way. Still, she had to try. On her next scramble, instead of making another dive or cutback, she brought up her bow and let loose another arrow, not bothering in the least to worry about herself.
The arrow flew as if it had been launched by Artemis herself. The head bit into Zeus’s chest, slightly left of his breastbone. The god hunched once it struck, bright-red blood spraying everywhere, but he didn’t fall, and he didn’t relent.
/> Another blast came from above, striking the ground only a few inches away. Though Euryale didn’t suffer a direct hit, it branched out the moment it struck the ground, finding the gorgon with ease.
* * *
Stheno spun, a half dozen yards from Poseidon, when she heard her sister scream in agony.
Euryale had her back arched, arms rigid, as the lightning shot through her. A second later, she fell to the ground, smoking and twitching.
Stheno felt her heart stop at the sight of Euryale falling. But instead of being paralyzed with shock, she let go of what few restraints she had when it came to self-control.
“You’re dead! You’re all dead!” she screamed. “Do you hear me?”
The gorgon leaped through the air at Poseidon, howling with primal rage, eager to sink her spear into the god’s back.
Before she could reach him, however, the god deflected a thrust by Ares and twisted around in time to parry her attack. Stheno landed heavily on the ledge on which they fought and thrust her spear again and again, and each time the weapon surged with power more and more.
However, each strike was deflected by the god, and Poseidon parried each one by Ares as well.
“Pathetic,” Poseidon scoffed. “How you ever thought you’d win this battle is beyond me.”
Stheno growled and launched herself forward yet again. She knocked his trident aside as she came, intent on closing the distance so fang and viper could do the rest. Poseidon, however, spun in place and whipped his trident around, catching her in the stomach and then the side with the butt of the weapon. The gorgon tumbled to the ground as the breath flew from her lungs.
Ares, seizing the opportunity, drove a strike home of his own. His own spear cut across the back of Poseidon’s shoulders, spilling blood and causing him to stumble.
“You’re even slower than your brother!” the God of War boasted, stabbing at him yet again.
Poseidon sneered as he turned to avoid the attack. As the spear flew harmlessly by, he wrapped his arm around Ares’s and issued a wicked headbutt to the god that sent him reeling backward.
Stheno, finding air once again, gave no warning to her next attack. She simply sprang forward, spear tip leading the way. Though her balance had yet to return fully, she had enough to end the fight. The head of the spear bit into Poseidon’s hip, cleaving through flesh and shattering bone.
The God of the Sea fell sideways, only managing to stay on his feet by planting his trident into the ground and using it to catch himself. Stheno was about to finish him off when he unexpectantly dropped and spun, twisting his trident free of the ground and hitting her with a blast of pure energy.
Stheno flew through the air, striking the unyielding mountain rock. As she slid down, breathless, agony coursing through her body, she managed to call out to Ares. “Finish him!”
The God of War, dazed and a few paces away, shook his head and growled. “Gladly.”
With a heave, he launched the net. As it flew through the air, it opened wide and fully engulfed the Lord of the Sea. Poseidon reflexively tried to catch it with his hands, but it was too late. Hephaestus’s infamous net wrapped him completely.
The god lost his balance and toppled to the ground. His muscles strained as he tried to break the net apart, but it held. Not only did it hold, but with every moment he struggled, it grew tighter and tighter, and within a few seconds, Poseidon was curled in a ball, laying on the ground, unable to move.
“All too easy,” Ares boasted, standing tall. He strode over toward Stheno, intending to offer her a hand up, but he never made it there. The God of War went rigid, and lightning shot through him, jumping to her and knocking her senseless.
* * *
Euryale groaned and winced as a stabbing pain shot through her head. Her limbs continued to twitch, but with effort, she managed to get control of them and pushed herself up and onto her tail.
Each breath felt excruciating, and it wasn’t until she rubbed her temples a few times that she realized where she was and what was going on. That happened to be at the exact moment Zeus struck Ares down.
The thunderous clap that reverberated through the air snapped her attention to the Ruler of Olympus. He stood on shaky legs with an arrow protruding from his chest.
“You gave a fight. I’ll grant you that,” he muttered as he reached up and broke off the arrow. “But not one that was enough.”
Euryale’s eyes darted to the ground where Artemis’s bow lay a few paces away. Immediately, she dove for the weapon, scooping it up and notching an arrow. The shot flew off the string far slower than she’d have liked, and by the time it reached Zeus, he simply batted it away with his ax.
“What now, gorgon?” he asked as he hopped off his boulder and began marching toward her, ax ready.
Euryale notched another arrow, faster this time, and let it fly. Again, Zeus batted it away, unflinching and undeterred.
“What now, gorgon?” he repeated. “I’ve ruled this world for thousands of years. Defeated horrors you can’t even dream of! Kept Typhon in chains and Cronus at bay! And you dare think you can oppose my reign?”
“I don’t dare,” she said, retreating and drawing yet again. “I will.”
Zeus paused, twenty yards away, and crouched. A moment passed between them as the two narrowed their eyes, each trying to anticipate what the other was going to do.
Zeus moved first.
He leaped at the gorgon, covering the distance between with a madness in his eyes. As he flew, Euryale released her hold on the arrow. The moment the tail cleared the weapon, she dashed sideways and whipped the bow through the air, desperate to deflect the overhead chop Zeus was trying for.
Midflight, Zeus knocked the arrow aside with the flat of the ax, and keeping with its momentum, spun it back around in an effort to take Euryale’s head from her shoulders.
The bow was the only thing that saved her life. The ax bit into the weapon, and thanks to its divine origin and as a testimony to Hephaestus’s exquisite craftsmanship, the bow held together long enough to parry the attack before shattering.
Euryale, anticipating such a thing, didn’t bother holding on to the weapon. Instead, she dashed forward, and before Zeus could swing a second time, she wrapped herself around him, her tail finding his legs, and her claws finding his face.
Zeus turned with the blow, and as blood sprayed from the deep gouges she carved in his face, he snapped his head back around and laughed maniacally. “I like it rough, gorgon,” he said. “But then again, I know you do, too.”
“Shut up!” Euryale yelled, ripping into him again, only this time, she used fang and viper. She bit into the forearm that carried the ax, and each of the snakes on her head did the same. Together, they dumped enough venom into his blood to fell the entire world ten times over.
Zeus ripped his arm free, howling with rage before smashing a fist into the soft center of her face. As her head snapped back, he then struck her in the gut with a fist and then an elbow across the cheek.
Despite the brutal assault, Euryale, incensed, did not relent. Each strike fueled her hatred for the god even more and more, and the two traded a dozen blows in a matter of seconds. And while the wounds Euryale inflicted were terrible, the ones he gave back felt three times more so.
“Should I tell Alex how much you begged for more?” he taunted. “It’s a shame you chose to betray us. You and I could have had such passionate nights together.”
“The only one who’ll be begging is you,” she spat, digging her claws into his cheek, desperately trying to work their way up to his eyes and rip them out.
Another elbow, this one the most forceful yet. Euryale’s world spun and darkened, but she refused to let go. Zeus then hit her with an open palm before grabbing her by the throat. “You were saying?”
Euryale coughed, and as he turned her face to his, she let her curse flow from her body. Her eyes radiated a blinding flash of green, and the effects were immediate. Sadly, they weren’t lasting.
Zeus’s skin turned gray for a moment, even hardened in a few places, but the god grit his teeth and the deep magic he called upon, magic that Hera had used once before and that had likely been prepared long ahead of time, kept him safe.
“Remember this, Euryale,” he said, drawing her close. “You didn’t defeat Typhon. I did. Twice. Had I not been there to pummel him into submission, he’d have torn you apart.”
Zeus’s eyes shot wide, and he let her go. His chest heaved forward as the tip of a spear jutted out of his right breast. Stheno, standing behind him, grinned with delight.
Zeus roared, and clutching the spear with his left hand, he used his right to reach out to the thunderheads one last time. The air tingled around them all, and Euryale grabbed his head and forced him to face her one last time.
The curse she bore became a lethal weapon again, and in the instant it struck the God of Thunder, Ruler of Olympus, one more bolt of lightning fell from the heavens.
Chapter The Cost
Smoky, light tendrils curled in the air, wafting from every inch of Euryale’s body. She shed some tears as her chest expanded, and another wave of agony ripped through her body.
“Can you move?” Stheno asked.
Euryale exhaled slowly, nodded, and uncoiled from the petrified Zeus. His body, forever frozen in time, stood twisted to the side, one hand raised and vainly trying to shield his face from the gorgon’s power. The other hand was outstretched and open from the moment when he had drilled his last bolt of lightning into Euryale’s chest.
“Are you okay?” she asked her sister.
Stheno laughed as she planted her foot into the ass of the statue, and with one enormous shove, yanked her spear out of its back. The weapon tore free with such ease that the elder gorgon went toppling. Her shoulder blades struck the inky and yielding ground a second before her feet flew over her head. Though her landing was ungainly, her recovery was anything but. Stheno rolled with the momentum and popped back onto her feet, spear in hand. At that point, she strode over to the statue, letting her hips sway from side to side as a diabolical smile spread across her face and crackles of deep-red energy formed in her eyes.
A Storm of Blood and Stone (Myths of Stone Book 3) Page 28
