Tarous, стр. 72
Hephaestus’s deep voice rumbled from the armor. “Well met young god, but it takes more than that to kill someone as old as me.”
He reached down and pulled the scythe from his body and examined the weapon.
“Not one of mine, but still a fine work of art,” he tossed the scythe to the side. My shadow quickly disappeared again.
His wound almost instantly healed and then so did his armor. Golden treads shot across the opening and it quickly knitted itself back together. I realized I was outclassed in this battle.
A loud roar shook the battle field.
“The God of War has fallen!” someone yelled.
A deep rumbling filled the ground as a tiny dog with glowing red eyes stepped between me and Hephaestus.
“Let slip the dog of war,” I whispered with a grin.
With a speed that far surpassed even the fastest of gods, Crowley shot across the ground, up Hephaestus’s body, and latched onto the back of his neck.
Hephaestus roared. He tried to swat the tiny dog with his hand, but Crowley was already gone from his neck. In the time it took him to realize the dog was gone he was bitten three more times. A tiny blur orbited his body, moving faster than he could reach.
A golden glow surrounded his armor and a bubble of energy extended from it, keeping Crowley from getting close to him. He raised his hand and out of the surrounding people Nyxra shot through the air, his hand grasped her neck. She blasted him with an energy spell and then continued trying to cast other spells on him, but nothing was working. Hephaestus didn’t even appear to notice.
I had never heard of powers or weapons like this in any of Earth’s legends or in any of the information that had been given to me about the other gods when I was in the City of the Gods. Hephaestus appeared to have stayed busy over the last few centuries.
“You have killed so many of my allies. I have lost at least five gods now, including the God of War. You and your friends have dealt my people a devastating blow. I will offer you a deal. We shall leave. You can keep your temple of death, and in exchange I will take this one with me. This one will stay as payback for all those that you have taken. Isn’t the life a one mortal worth far less than the lives of the gods you took?”
“No,” I replied.
“No to the deal or no that you don’t think her life is a fair exchange for theirs?”
“No,” I replied again.
“If you do not agree, everyone here will die.”
The fighting began to die down as others turned to see the decision that would decide this battle.
“No,” I replied again. The steel in my voice carried easily across the space.
“Are you a fool?” Hephaestus yelled.
“Yes,” I answered.
Nyxra’s face was beginning to turn blue as Hephaestus gripped tighter in anger.
My skin tingled with power.
“Let go of the woman I love.”
“You are insane. You have killed everyone here. Our power is too equal, a swift victory is impossible. Only death awaits everyone here!”
“I am death,” I replied.
I called forth all of my power, every drop, and it wasn’t enough. So I reached deeper, from every place I could find, like a drowning man. The dead that had risen earlier to help in the battle dropped as I recalled all the power I had used to animate them.
“Is her life worth your own death?”
“She is worth my life and yours.” Power hummed beneath my skin. It felt like it was on fire.
Hephaestus took a step back, but he didn’t release Nyxra.
The chains binding me sagged and drooped as the power that coursed through me became too much for them to contain. Finally, they fell softly at my feet.
“My life, your life, and even the lives of every living being in every world that exists are nothing to me when compared to her life!”
I continued drawing in power from every source I could. Holding so much power was painful, and I wasn’t sure what would happen to me once I released all of it. I would only have one shot.
I was not afraid. The cracks in the core of my soul were completely healed. I was fully prepared to commit everything to take down Hephaestus. After all, what is the point of living forever if everyone you love is dead?
“You are insane!” Hephaestus yelled, taking another step back.
The fire that coursed through my skin was hot enough to warm the grave itself. The entire world became black and all that blackness gathered into a single point.
“Even death shall die,” I muttered.
“I was old before the first human was even born, boy! Don’t think for one second you can win!”
“You may be an old god, but even you, who is so old, fears me,” I said in a low voice that still carried clearly across the battle. It was a truth that Hephaestus did not argue against.
“Here, take her!” said Hephaestus as he tossed Nyxra to the ground. Cronus appeared beside her and then quickly disappeared with her.
“No matter where you go, death will always find you,” I whispered as I released my power. A wave of black energy flowed out of my body. It was targeted at only killing my enemies and leaving my allies unharmed.
Hephaestus managed to jump through a portal before the wave could kill him, but his one good leg came into contact with the wave before he disappeared. It would be a long time, if ever, before I would see Hephaestus again.
I placed what was left of the Prometheus chains inside of my space ring along with any pieces of metallic gargoyles that I could find. Perhaps in the future I could have them re-forged. I hated to waste such a powerful weapon. I noticed Edward picking up a few things as well several