Forge of the Gods 4

by Simon Archer

  But I wasn’t a child of Apollo, Poseidon, or Hermes. I was a child of Hephaestus, and as much as I despised the man, I was going to use everything he gave me to succeed.

  By the grace of the gods, I hauled myself over the edge of the crack in the earth and allowed myself to take a single minute to recover. I didn’t have a lot of time to waste. The sun was halfway up and soon would be at its peak. I knew I had already missed the start of dawn, but I had to hope that Eris hadn’t finished her entire plan yet.

  There was still a chance. And even if there wasn’t, I was going to carve one out for myself.

  I found myself running again, this time towards the clear commotion that was coming from the direction of the amphitheater. The campus was otherwise deserted, and as I ran, I knew this was the end. This was the culmination of everything I had worked for over the last three years. It was here that I would either succeed or fail.

  In my mind, there was only one acceptable outcome.

  The amphitheater was completely made of stone and was built into the side of one of the hills on campus. It emulated the ancient Greek amphitheaters where Greek tragedies were performed at the festivals of Dionysus. It was in the shape of a semicircle, with the stage on the lowest level. The seats receded upward to many levels, though they were just stone benches, not actual chairs. When I reached the top of one of the rows of stairs leading down to the stage, the sight took my breath away.

  There wasn’t another word for it. The scene was utter chaos.

  As I thought about it, war itself was often chaos. Some civilizations tried to rectify that with their formations and polite marches, but at the end of the day, there was nothing more chaotic than one group of people fighting another.

  Soldiers battled in groups, almost like pods, throughout the amphitheater. They attacked with everything at their disposal. Metal weapons, magic powers, their own two fists. Everything and anything seemed to be fair game.

  Blood slicked down the stone in some areas. Those trails often led to an unconscious body laying with broken limbs across a stretch of seats.

  In addition to the soldiers, there were monsters joining the fight. A pack of harpies flew overhead, dive-bombing down to scoop up a soldier and drop them from a threatening height. A minotaur was locked in a wrestling match with Arges was the only thing large enough to fight hand to hand with a minotaur. I even noticed a pack of snakes sliding through the isles and biting the ankles of soldiers with their venomous fangs.

  I noticed right away what Irema had been talking about in regards to comrades fighting against one another. I saw Karen, my former roommate, locked in a duel with her own girlfriend, Rachel, who had been deployed earlier that semester. Even the Elemental Officials were in on the fray, with Officer Ashley running around in her Hulk form, smashing the ground with her fists, creating mini earthquakes.

  The one Elemental Official I didn’t see right away was the Stratego. I thought for sure that his lightning strikes and weather powers would be the first thing we would have to contend with. But I wasn’t going to complain that we were fighting in the light of the sun rather than the middle of a tornado.

  I paused for a mere moment to search the battlefield for my friends. It was the most intense game of I Spy I’d ever played. Luckily, I found Jade and Daniella running around as a pair. Jade seemed to be Daniella’s bodyguard as the healer ventured from body to body, rejuvenating the hurt. Bethany was in a fierce battle with another Eda soldier, throwing spear after spear at the soldier.

  Kari lobbed clay bombs at the faces of the opposition soldiers. It was an effective way to distract them while causing minimal harm. She smacked them straight in the face with her clay, blinding the soldiers. This caused some of them to lose their footing and fall down a couple of rows, but that was survivable for many of the demigods.

  Finally, I spotted the face I’d been dying to see for weeks. Hailey wasn’t using any of her magic, instead relying on her skills with a sword. She was trapped in a one on one battle with a Spartoi, an undead skeleton-like creature that was born from the planted teeth of a dragon.

  It was the end of that duel however because Hailey dodged a sideswipe from the Spartoi and came around with her own level cut, right across the Spartoi’s neck. The skull tumbled off the monster’s head and rolled down the nearby stairs with a clatter. The rest of the Spartoi’s body fell, still and silent.

  Hailey bent down and picked up the fallen monster’s sword, now dual-wielding. Suddenly, her back went rigid as if she sensed something. Then she stood up and looked right at me.

  For the briefest of moments, the raging battle around us stopped. Everything seemed to fall away as I lost myself in her green eyes. I missed that chiseled face and calm gaze. Even though she had streaks of blood running from her ear, dirt plastered on her arms, and the beginnings of a black eye, I loved her so much in that moment. I resisted every urge to race down there and kiss her as I had to resist with our other girlfriends.

  Instead, Hailey and I stayed put, realizing the urgency of the situation. While I might not have been able to show my love in the way I wanted to, it was enough in that moment to know that she was alive and well.

  Hailey’s eyes roamed over my body and widened when she saw the scythe, knowing immediately what it was. Without a second thought, Hailey held out one arm, pointing down the benches with her sword.

  “There!” she shouted.

  It was a miracle that I heard her over the noises of throats being ripped, bloody murder screams, and clashing metal. But I did, and my gaze traveled in the indicated direction.

  On the stage, at the center of everything, five figures stood, another kneeled next to them. Eris was in the center of the group, overlooking everything. Her daemon children circled around her, like a protective shield. She stood a little taller than the rest so she could look at the carnage with glee.

  I also noticed that Algea had taken my dogs prisoner. They sat on either side of her, pained expressions on their faces. She petted the tops of their heads and each dog winced though they barely moved, as if they themselves were made of stone.

  A surge of fury rippled through me at the side of Khryseos and Argyreos taken captive and in pain. As soon as I got the chance, that daemon bitch would pay for what she had done.

  On his knees, next to the goddess, was the Stratego. He wore handcuffs and an iron collar that were connected by a single, stiff rod. The sight confused me and I wondered why, of all people, they were holding the Stratego captive, apart from the rest of the battle.

  Nevertheless, I finally had my mark. Hundreds of rows and countless mini battles stood between me and her. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me. As far as I was concerned, this ended now.

  With a battle cry worthy of the Greek heroes of old, I ran down the aisle of steps, scythe held aloft. I whacked through the soldiers in front of me. I did what I could to slice through nonessential organs or body parts. I aimed only to wound, not to kill.

  However, when it came to a monster, those bastards were free game. I skewered a sphynx that rose up on her hind legs, foolishly exposing her belly to me. I tossed a rattlesnake up into the air and sliced it in half, the blood of the beast raining down onto the stone seats. When a harpy dove down, talons outstretched to rip the scythe from my hands, I rotated the weapon like a windmill and the harpy screeched in pain as I removed those clawed legs of hers.

  My body powered forward as I cleared a path down to the goddess. I felt the power of the Ultimate Weapon, as it sang with the power of the gods. The metal warned me of incoming attacks and helped guide my movements. This was especially useful when a Spartoi charged down from behind me. The zing of the metal ran up my arm, to the back of my neck so all I had to do was jab the scythe behind me and I ran him straight through, without even looking. The grunt was enough evidence for me to continue on and not look back.

  I only stopped when Holly forced me to. She stood directly in my path, only thirty feet from the stage. Our eyes unwittingl
y connected and all of my movement slowed. I felt as though I was moving through molasses.

  “You don’t want to do this, Cameron,” Holly said in her melodic voice. She cocked her head to the side. “You don’t want to hurt anyone else, do you? Look at what you’ve done.” The daemon, still in the shape of the soldier I knew, gestured behind me.

  As much as I didn’t want to look, I felt my head turning around of its own accord. Behind me, there was a trail of bodies. Some were still breathing while others… it was impossible to tell. I was proud of the monsters laying in my wake but in my stampede, I didn’t notice how many soldiers I’d injured as well. It was a terrifying sight, seeing the harm I had caused so easily and without a second thought.

  “Enough is enough, Cameron,” Holly said gently. “Hand over the scythe. End this now.”

  Her words poked at my brain like a crown of thorns. She tapped into something deep inside of me, feeding me these lies. As much as I wanted to believe them, I resisted her pull by gripping the metal tighter. The magic metal from the scythe plucked out the lies, picking them out like ripping petals from a flower.

  She lies, the metal hissed at me. End her!

  I reached out my hand, as though I was about to give over the Ultimate Weapon to this daemon. Instead, I brought both of my hands back, taking one of the blades with me. I swung my body around, leading with my hips, and drove the tip of the scythe into Holly’s stomach. The daemon Horkos assumed her true form as the scythe sliced through her belly and out the side of her back.

  A black humanoid figure with a sickly purple aura around the edges flashed before my eyes. The daemon screamed, leaning its head back to shout to the heavens. I twisted the scythe blade for good measure and the daemon melted around the blade. It dissolved into a million little pieces of dust before collecting on the stone steps before me.

  I looked up at the other immortal beings who all looked upon me with unmistakable horror in their eyes, save for Eris who only showed utter loathing.

  “Who’s next?” I teased as I swung the scythe in a circle. “Cause I’ve got a one way ticket to Tartarus for all of you. On the house.”

  “Get me that weapon!” Eris cried, her voice reaching banshee levels.

  Ate charged at me next, her hands outstretched as if they were going to wrap around my throat. I didn’t give the daemon a chance. Instead, I sliced through her hands easily, cutting them off at the wrists. The daemon examined her new stumps in horror, not even seeing me uppercut the blade through her chin. She dissolved into dust instantly.

  Neikea came at me from the other side, taking a running jump off one of the benches. She pulled out two daggers from behind her, tips pointed directly at me. I held up the scythe handle horizontally, catching her knives. We pushed against one another, a strength contest as she tried to lower her blades onto my face.

  I twisted the handle of the scythe, so it broke into the two connected weapons only attached by the flexible chain. That threw Neikea off balance and she toppled forward. I lowered myself so that the curved edge of the scythe blades faced her as she fell. Her body went limp over the blades as they sliced cleanly, from collar bones to the bottom of her rib cage.

  A cloud of dust burst forth, covering my hands and blades. I wiped them off on my pants as I ran down the last of the steps meeting a daemon I didn’t recognize. He had long black hair, greasy and slicked back, looking more like a vampire than a human. His skin stuck to his bones as though it had been glued on there by a five-year-old. It sagged in places and made the human version of this daemon rather unpleasant to look at.

  He didn’t attack me like his siblings and took Horkos’s approach. The daemon stood in front of me and waved his hand as though he was trying to cast a Jedi mind trick on me.

  “You don’t remember what you’re doing here,” he said, his voice gruff, like a heavy smoker’s voice. It was much less pleasant to listen to than Horkos’s lies, and just as annoying.

  Once again, the metal cleared my mind. It gave me something to focus on so I could cut out the bullshit these daemons were trying to infect me with. Though when I heard the daemon’s words, my Oracle powers kicked in and I finally recognized him.

  “You must be Lethe, huh?” I asked, paused just long enough to make the daemon comfortable.

  “You will forget my name as well,” Lethe said with another wave of his hand.

  “I don’t think so,” I said with a snarl. Before he could utter another command, I leveled the tip of the scythe into his shoulder, the soft spot between his neck and collarbone. It wasn’t a killing blow, but I’d done it on purpose to cause the most pain. Lethe crumpled to his knees under the weight of the weapon and the agony in his shoulder.

  I leaned close and whispered into the daemon’s ear. “This is for Kari.”

  Then I yanked out the blade, causing the daemon to gasp. But then he never uttered another word, because I sliced it clean across his throat. He didn’t bleed, but instead fell forward and was dust before his body touched the stairs.

  As Lethe dissolved, an unexpected quiet came over the amphitheater. The monsters were still there but the soldiers stopped fighting one another. Many of them shook their heads or blinked rapidly, as if they had just come into their bodies once again. Even the Elemental Officials regained some semblance of themselves, Officer Ashley shrinking slightly in size.

  “We’re under attack!” I shouted to the campus at large. “Defend the Academy!” I thrust the scythe in the air as a battle cry and the soldiers didn’t hesitate. They followed my command and attacked the real enemies this time: the monsters and not each other.

  By killing Lethe, I was able to restore some sanity back to the soldiers. They no longer forgot themselves and their oath to protect from the immortal monsters. Suddenly, the battle shifted in our favor as the demigods heavily outweighed the monsters.

  “No!” Eris screamed. She clutched at her long black dress and bent her body slightly as though she had been struck.

  Eris stood before me, with wide eyes filled with fear, now that I had killed nearly all of her children. I thought Eris was about to charge at me in anger but the goddess surprised me when she ran off the stage.

  I dashed forward, climbing over the seats, meeting her step for step. I flung out the scythe, like a cane and hooked the curved blade around her neck. The goddess stopped immediately before her momentum caused her to be decapitated.

  “Not another move or I’ll send you to Tartarus for the next hundred years with the rest of your children,” I threatened in a low voice. Even though the battle raged around us, it was considerably quieter as the number of monsters lessened, a sign of our impending victory.

  “You forgot one,” Eris sneered, her nostrils flaring. “Algea! Attack him!”

  “No, mother,” the daemon said as she backed away from me and Eris. “Can’t you see? We’ve lost. It’s not worth the time in Tartarus.”

  Algea released her hold on Khryseos and Argyreos and ran off the stage. Even though I was glad the dogs were no longer under her control, there was no way I was going to let her get away that easy.

  “Khryseos and Argyreos!” I commanded. “Get her!”

  The two dogs shook their heads to clear them before crouching down, snarls apparent. They dashed after the daemon at breakneck speed. Once the three of them were off stage, I heard the shrill shriek of the immortal as the dogs ripped her to pieces. It was a true Greek death, happening out of sight of the audience.

  “Look around you, Eris,” I said as I gestured out to the amphitheater. “You lost. You failed.”

  It was true because all around us, in the seats, were nothing but demigods. They stood there, battled, bruised, and wounded, but they stood. Or sat, but the main point was that they were alive. All of the monsters were dead, sent back to the Underworld, no longer a threat to our lives or our campus.

  “Have mercy, demigod,” Eris begged, changing her tone instantly as her eyes roamed over the army of soldiers. “There is no ne
ed to obliterate me. I will only come back in a hundred years. I’m immortal.” The goddess shrugged. “What’s the point of that when I can give you my word that I won’t do anything to upset the Academy for the next hundred years? What about that? Would you accept my deal?”

  I considered it for a moment. But as I looked at the carnage in front of me, the pain and suffering she put my comrades through, I knew what the answer was. I thought back to Calypso’s warning, more of a helpful hint than she ever intended it to be. The gods weren’t our friends, and as much as I wanted to believe Eris and trust her word, she hadn’t given me any reason to.

  “I’m sorry, Eris,” I said, with more sincerity than I wanted to reveal. “But I just can’t take that chance.”

  Then I pulled back on the scythe, digging the metal into her throat.

  35

  The dust swirled around in a soft morning breeze. The last remains of Eris blew away. She wouldn’t be a threat to me, the soldiers, or the Academy. At least for the next hundred years. Because she was immortal, and while the Ultimate Weapon couldn’t kill the gods, it was enough to put them in their place for the foreseeable future.

  “Cameron!” Kari’s voice shouted down at me from one of the benches. “You need to stab the Stratego!”

  I thought I had misheard her. I literally cupped a hand around my ear to indicate that I hadn’t heard her. “What?”

  “You need to stab the Stratego!” Kari shouted again as she lumbered down the steps of the amphitheater. However, the other Elemental Officials heard her this time and blocked her path, Effie and Brea, looping their arms around hers. They lifted her off her feet and she kicked in midair. “Let me go!” she bellowed.

  “You’re threatening to harm the Stratego,” Brea reported. “That’s treason and we can’t allow that.”

  “Kari,” I whimpered, my voice coming out softer than I wanted it to. “What’s going on?”

  “She’s right, Cam!” Hailey called out from her spot on the other side of the theater. She, too, tried to make her way down to me but the Elemental Officials caught on quickly. They restrained her as well. While Hailey was able to dodge the first two, she ran smack into Officer Ashley, who picked the daughter of Apollo up by the shoulders, locking her arms at her sides.