by Bill Hiatt
I got one backward glance, and I saw Campe writhing on the ground as the sword worked its way through the creature’s innards.
For once, something I had done looked as if it would work.
You wouldn’t have thought it was a success from the reception we got when we landed back where Tal was. Tal and Eva both scolded me. At the same time, though, I felt Magnus giving me a mental high five.
Campe’s body, though dead, shook more and more violently from explosions within it.
“We need to retrieve that sword before it starts boring into the floor or something,” said Tal. “The more matter that becomes involved, the bigger the explosions. Eros, we know the power of love can contain it.”
Eros looked like about the last thing he wanted to do was try to fly through Campe’s exploding body to retrieve the sword. However, when Hermes offered to use appropriate protective magic to keep him safe from Campe’s guts and the explosions, the lord of love agreed to seek out the sword and to surround it with his power.
Now all we had to do was stop the skeleton, which was still fighting the guys with little or no sign their attacks had done anything. No, it was slower. Perhaps enough strikes by Zom were weakening the magic that animated it. Either way, it was still a threat.
By this point Tal was on his feet, and probably he could generate thunderbolts on his own. However, the previous strike hadn’t done anything, and trying again would mean having all the guys move back. If the thunderbolt didn’t stop the skeleton, it would be free to run amok.
“What do you make of that? More important, what do we do about it?” Tal asked Hermes.
“Some kind of emergency plan of Hecate’s,” suggested Hermes. “It appears we may need more guile than force this time.”
Tal had a couple of mental conversations with the guys fighting the skeleton, then turned back to Hermes. “The best we can do in the short term is bind it, I think. The fighters are already wearing down, and the most they can do is make very small dents.”
From what I heard, Tal had learned on the last visit to Olympus that Hermes had the power to make one kind of matter change into another. With Tal’s Zeus-like help, Hermes attempted to change the air around the adamantine skeleton to solid rock. Hermes couldn’t make something as hard as adamantine, but if the skeleton couldn’t move, it couldn’t do anything to break the rock.
Unfortunately, the guys had to move back, and the skeleton followed too fast. Eventually, Hermes had to trap its feet first, then have the guys back off quickly and entrap the rest of the creature before it could use its sword to break the stone holding its feet. After three tries, Hermes managed to do just that.
By now Eros had returned, a little grimy but proudly carrying the sword of chaos.
We all looked around suspiciously, expecting some other horror to jump out, but none did.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. We had won!
Chapter 24: Surprising Discovery (Eva)
After the battle, Tal stayed in Zeus form because Zeus had more power to draw on. Neither Tal nor Magnus was sure how to restart the vital functions of those Olympians who had come as close to death as they could, but fortunately Hermes knew how to do that. The three of them raised Apollo, who then joined them in healing everyone else. Even with that much power available, it still took hours to get everyone fully healed, and that gave me a lot of time to think—time I almost wished I hadn’t had.
Artemis sought me out almost as soon as she was back on her feet. “I see you carry the bow I gave to Carla. She is not dead, is she?”
“No,” I said, “but Cronus pushed her back in time to the point at which the evil sorceress Alcina controlled her body, and we have not yet been able to free her.”
“I am sure you will,” said Artemis. “When I did not see her, I feared the worst. It would be a shame for such a fine warrior to die—though you are certainly worthy to stand in her place.”
Not knowing what else to do with praise from an Olympian, I bowed. “Thank you, Lady Artemis.”
“We have achieved victory,” said Artemis, “yet your heart seems heavy.”
I hadn’t really thought about it, but she was right.
“I will give to you the same advice I gave to Carla. Men are not worth the trouble.” Then she nodded to me and just walked away.
I knew the Olympians couldn’t read minds, but Artemis had realized I was brooding about guys almost before I’d realized it myself.
Not long after Artemis had left, Aphrodite paid me a visit.
“Do not let Artemis bother you,” she told me. “A life without love is no life at all.”
Last time we had met, Aphrodite had lectured me about how perfect Tal was for me. To avoid a replay of that experience, I just smiled and nodded politely. I was not to get off so easily, however.
“I have been talking to your friends,” she said slowly. She must have worked fast, considering a short time ago she had still been unconscious.
“What have you learned from your recent experiences?” she asked me, throwing me a little off-balance.
“I’m not sure what you mean, Lady Aphrodite.” Maybe I could fend her off by playing dumb.
“I have heard that young Taliesin risked his life to save yours, and I saw with my own eyes that evil Taliesin—Magnus, I think he calls himself—die rather than do you harm.”
“Actually, he is in Tal’s body, still hanging on to life,” I pointed out, realizing immediately that quibbling with the ex-goddess was probably not the right approach. She didn’t seem offended, but she wasn’t deterred, either.
“He could not have known he would survive when he made his choice,” said Aphrodite, her blue eyes staring into mine. “Do you not perceive a pattern in these events?”
What Aphrodite was getting at was excruciatingly obvious, but I made one last desperate effort to play dumb. “I’m not sure.”
Aphrodite continued to stare at me as if she knew I was being evasive. “Young Taliesin, unhardened by combat, unused to all the strange perils to which older Taliesin is in some ways accustomed, was willing to die for you. Evil Taliesin, who I have been told once thought of nothing but himself, was also willing. Even the worst part of Taliesin truly loves you. What more could a woman ask?”
“You know better than I that love does what it will,” I countered. “I love Jimmie—who, by the way, would also die for me if, God forbid, he had to.”
Aphrodite sighed. “James is a worthy young man, a brave fighter, a caring friend, and I have no doubt one day a great lover…for someone. With you, however, he is mismatched.”
“Lady Aphrodite, I appreciate your wish to help me, but I know my own heart.”
Aphrodite shook her head sadly. “That is what everyone thinks. It is not always true, though.” Then she, too, walked away without waiting for a response, leaving me relieved yet somehow unsatisfied at the same time.
I hadn’t been around for Tal’s first encounter with Aphrodite, when she tried to seduce him as a test. I had heard about it, though. Well, if you want to get technical, I had overheard some of the guys talking about it. None of them, probably including Tal, would ever have told me directly.
One detail stuck in my mind. Tal had managed to refuse one of the most beautiful females in the universe by thinking about me.
Now, surrounded by handsome Olympians, I could relate. Eros in particular seemed to exude sexual attractiveness without even trying. So did Changó when he occupied Lucas. Worse, it would have been comparatively easy to slip away and be with either one of them; I was pretty sure neither would have objected too strenuously, though Lucas might have told Changó not to. The only way to stay focused in circumstances like this was to think about the guy I loved and use the memories of him to block out the sexual energy around me as much as I could.
There was just one problem, though I hadn’t had time to think about it until after the battle.
Without making a conscious choice, I found myself visualizing Tal ra
ther than Jimmie.
Chapter 25: Zeus Hunt (Tal)
Even though I was operating at a Zeus power level, I was still tired by the time we finished healing all the injured. I felt satisfied, though. This had been the biggest challenge we had faced so far, and somehow we had managed to overcome it.
Unfortunately, I only had a few minutes to savor that feeling.
“They are gone!” Dionysus yelled.
“Who?” asked Apollo, already looking worried.
The lord of wine ran over to where we were standing. “Hecate and Nicneven.”
“Surely they were too badly injured for that,” protested Hermes.
“One of them must not have been as badly injured as we thought,” said Athena. “We were all focused on Campe and the adamantine skeleton, and many of us were all but dead for part of those battles. It would have been easy for either one to spirit the other away.”
“Can you track them?” I asked Apollo.
He tried, but he, too, was tired—actually nearly exhausted—and he got nothing.
“One of them is evidently strong enough to obscure my vision,” he said, looking disgusted. “Someone must have helped heal them.”
“Or they used the blood trick to become someone else,” suggested Persephone.
“That’s probably it,” I said. “So, now what?”
“Now we are still vulnerable,” admitted Apollo. “I would have liked it much better if they had remained our prisoners. As it is, I fear they will gather strength somewhere else and return to attack us yet again.”
“At least we have Poseidon and Ares,” said Hephaestus.
“We can keep them in Tartarus until we find a way to break whatever spell Hecate has used to corrupt them,” suggested Hermes.
“And we shall,” agreed Apollo, “but Hecate’s absence in particular troubles me. What is to prevent her from creating another double of Zeus?”
“Or of any of us,” said Hades, looking even grimmer than normal. “Much blood was shed this day. It would not be hard for Hecate or Nicneven to have collected samples during the early part of the battle, before they themselves were overcome. As I fought Poseidon, I thought I imagined seeing drops of my blood flying farther than they should. At the time I had more important things to worry about. Now, however, I see that oddity for what it may truly had been.”
How fast victory can turn into defeat!
“We must find them!” Apollo reiterated. “If in fact they can now replicate not just Zeus but many of us as well, they can assemble a force even mightier than the one we just faced.”
“Logically, how many places can they have gone?” I asked. “They must be someplace that would not be immediately obvious to us, right?”
“Indeed, I would have guessed the Underworld,” said Hades, “but it would be too easy for me to find them there, if that were the case, and they could not possibly be strong enough to hope to fight me there and win.”
“They may still have allies there, however,” pointed out Apollo, “which means they could come back at some point. Might I suggest, Uncle, that you return there immediately and reassume control? If nothing else, we can rule out a very large area that way.”
“I will depart at once,” said Hades, moving quickly toward the gaping hole where the entry doors used to be.
“You never have found the place where Zeus, Hera, and Demeter are being held,” I said. “I can’t help wondering if the rebels wouldn’t flee there. They could make doubles of those three at least as soon as they recovered a bit.”
“Indeed, whose blood could be stronger than Zeus’s?” asked Hermes. “That would be the logical place to flee. If only we knew where it was!”
“Not above ground, or we would have spotted it with all our searching,” said Apollo. “Yet not below, or else Hades, once he joined our side, could have found it, and I know he has tried for months.”
By now my party had come over, and some of them had heard more than enough to become alarmed. Tired as they were, some of them immediately shifted into problem-solving mode.
“May I speak, Lord Apollo?” asked Alex.
“Alexandros, of course you may,” said Apollo.
“Since we know Hecate and her allies cannot have taken their prisoners outside this plane of existence, they must be holding them somewhere you and your fellow Olympians cannot easily search. Wouldn’t the logical place be somewhere in the ocean?”
“Brilliant!” said Hermes. “Only Poseidon could have searched the ocean thoroughly, and he may have fallen under Hecate’s influence before he could do so.”
“Part of her diverse power does extend to the sea,” said Apollo. “I think your guess is likely true. However, the sea is too vast for us to search easily before Hecate and Nicneven can fully heal. We must find a way to be more precise.”
“Poseidon’s palace,” suggested Athena.
“Sister, I must disagree,” said Apollo. “Even if we believe Poseidon was under Hecate’s control as long ago as Zeus’s disappearance, there are too many others in that palace. It would be far too risky to take prisoners to such a well-occupied and heavily trafficked place.
“Atlantis, then,” suggested Alex.
I almost asked if Atlantis actually existed, but given everything else that did, it would have been a silly question.
“Now, that is perfect!” said Athena. “Under Poseidon’s control even before it sank, beneath the sea for centuries, completely unoccupied, and far enough from us to make accidental discovery unlikely. Why, Poseidon himself might have missed such a thing…for a while.”
“We have then a beginning point for our search,” said Apollo happily. Turning to me, he said, “Taliesin, I know that you have an agreement to come to the aid of Gwynn ap Nudd, and I know also that your families may be in peril. I am hesitant to ask under such difficult circumstances, but I wonder if perhaps you could remain with us just awhile longer. The rest of your group could come to Gwynn’s aid, and surely with your help we will locate the fugitives quickly, after which you could rejoin your warriors.”
Given how much the Olympians had done for us in the past, it would be hard to refuse such a reasonable request, but, having been reunited so recently, my friends had qualms about being separated from me.
“Lord Apollo, I know how much indebted we are to all of you,” said Stan, “but your battle is won, isn’t it? Surely he is more needed in Annwn than here.”
Apollo wasn’t offended—but he wasn’t about to let go of me so easily. “We may need the blood spell again,” he pointed out. “We do not yet have the real Zeus. Should we encounter unforeseen opposition, having a double, particularly one with Taliesin inside him, could prove necessary. Hecate may have other allies about which we know nothing, after all.”
“Can’t Tal just teach someone like Hermes the spell?” asked Gordy. “Then he could make someone else Zeus.”
“The spell isn’t as reliable when it replicates someone as powerful as Zeus,” I replied before Apollo could. “I didn’t get the full memories of Zeus, just bits and pieces. I was lucky enough to get what I think is full power. I’m not sure that would happen every time, though.
“Also, notice that Hecate didn’t become Zeus herself. That way she had Zeus’s power and her own to use at the same time. If one of the other Olympians became Zeus, that Olympian’s power could not be used concurrently with Zeus’s. If you were planning a mission like this, wouldn’t you rather have Zeus and Athena, rather than just Zeus?”
“But wasn’t Hecate using a mortal?” asked Stan.
“It would take time to find an appropriate candidate for such a transformation,” said Hermes. “We cannot just grab some random mortal and give him that much power.”
“It’s just easier and faster if it’s me,” I added. “Gabriela could stay as well, if she will, since she knows the sea better than most of us. If all goes well, we’ll make short work of Hecate and her allies and join you.”
I kind of expected some people w
ouldn’t want to separate after our recent mishaps. I didn’t expect practically everyone to still look unhappy with my staying behind after I’d explained why I had to. It only took Stan a few seconds to come up with another objection.
“You’re leaving all the party members with magic here. We may need that kind of help.”
“You’ve seen what Changó can do,” I replied.
“I am sorry, my friend, but I must leave this body,” said the great Oricha in a booming voice unlike Lucas’s. “I have pressed the rules as far as I dare.” He looked around suspiciously, as if expecting some kind of supernatural police force to show up at any minute. “I cannot stay in Lucas any longer. Nor can I ever return to his body in this way. It would be a particularly grave violation for me to arrive on Earth in full possession of a human form. It isn’t as if he is going to stay here very much longer.”
The stress Changó was putting on certain words seemed odd, and I thought he winked at me slightly, but I couldn’t be sure. Either way, Lucas shuddered, and I could sense Changó had left him. Weirdly, White Hilt momentarily heated up. I recalled the Oricha was associated with fire as well as lightning, so perhaps that was some kind of salute to me, or White Hilt saying good-bye to him. Strange, but unimportant in the great scheme of things. Now we were back to square one, as far as providing my group magical help was concerned.
“Robin could—” I started, but I realized no one was going to be comforted by the presence of the erratic Robin Goodfellow, who had not so long ago taken a plan for a quiet exit from a school dance and nearly turned it into a blueprint for an orgy.
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather stay with Lucas anyway,” said Gabriela.
“OK, problem solved,” I said quickly. I didn’t imagine Lucas would be entirely thrilled by having his great-grandmother constantly around to protect—or perhaps overprotect—him. Gabriela did have magic, though, and that was what the group needed.
“Gabriela is powerful,” agreed Stan, “but her magic is very specific. What if we need something she can’t easily do?”
