Zeus glanced around, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. “Hand yourself over. I will make sure your punishment is to a lesser degree. I’m very disappointed in you. Have you no shame? You are a god. We build, not destroy.”
“You destroyed me. You did me wrong by sending me to Mt. Hem. I was alone.” The fire around us burst up and down with his words. “You hid me because you were too embarrassed by the way I looked. You wanted to toss me to death when I was born; aren’t I right, Father?”
Zeus blinked his eyes in surprise and looked down for a second. “We are not perfect, but I’ve never mistreated you. You don’t remember, but when you were a child, you would cry to me, beg me to make you better looking. You would tell me other gods laughed at you, and that no women would love you. You wanted to kill yourself, so I needed to end the misery for you.”
“Liar!” The fire engulfed us. We had to duck to escape the momentary explosion. From instinct, I formed a barrier of water that turned to ice, thick enough to protect us if Hephaestus lost control. When the fired leveled, I sighed with relief.
“I did what I thought was best for you, as I’m doing now,” Zeus continued, as if nothing had happened. “You were sent to Mt. Hem because you were skilled with craftsmanship, with iron, with making swords. You loved being here. When I saw you were the happiest here, I knew I had done right by you. But then you became obsessed with creating, building, and making new weapons and trinkets for others, because you loved their attention. We are mostly weakened by greed, but you were starving for attention. It claimed your entity. It sucked you in and never let you out. You were consumed with the idea of others worshipping you.”
“No, I just wanted your attention.” The fire parted along the trail and across the bridge like the Red Sea did for Moses, and then Hephaestus appeared. I was relieved, and hope sparked again when the intensity of the fire lessened. The hood of a long black cape covered his head, and there was only darkness where his face should have been. Though I couldn’t see his face, I saw his disfigured hands. They were covered with bumps that looked like chicken pox, and two of his fingers were bent, as if he was afflicted with severe arthritis.
Zeus started walking toward him with a tight grip on his staff. “This is my fault. I should have locked you away back then. But instead, I looked the other way, hoping it would pass. Never would I have thought that when we were the weakest, my own flesh and blood would find a way to betray us.”
“Never would I ever thought my father would throw me away in shame.” Hephaestus’s tone was soft and sorrowful. A tiny part of me almost felt sorry for him. That tiny part understood him, having thought my dad had left us because he didn’t love us anymore. Then I thought about who’d caused it all. I had no sympathy left for him.
“You’re not hearing what I have said.” Zeus kept his distance, but was close enough to make a move on him.
“Because it’s all lies.” A pair of red lights where his eyes were flared like fire, then died down.
“Ask your mother. She loved you more than anything in life.”
“Mama?” Hephaestus sounded like a wounded child, dipping his head down as if to recall a memory. “Mama is…gone.”
“I can bring her back for you. We can be a family again. Release Skylar’s mother. She wants her mom back too. Can you do that?”
Hephaestus raised his head slowly and backed away. “Never.”
Zeus raised his staff, pointing it right at Hephaestus. Its blue light sizzled with electricity.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Father.”
“Stop!” I screamed, hoping I’d said it fast enough. Behind Hephaestus was a vulture, holding my mom captive with a knife across her throat.
“Skylar,” my mom breathed, as tears fell down her cheeks.
My heart pounded faster, and the calmness I’d tried to keep on the surface vanished. I was panicking from seeing her pale face, and her stomach…a lump. How? I recalled Hephaestus saying that my mom was pregnant, but I’d thought he was lying. How could this be? My poor dad. He was beyond shocked. At least I was forewarned, but for him, it was a slap in the face. There were no words. And if that wasn’t bad enough, another surprise was added to our nightmare.
“Mother?” the three gods said in accord.
Who were they calling Mother?
“It can’t be.” Poseidon moved closer.
“Rhae. Is that you?” Zeus asked.
“It is,” Hades assured him. “Can’t you feel her entity?”
Dad slid his hand down his face. “How? Is it another trick? She can’t…I don’t understand how it could….” Dad shook his head, looking astonished.
Hephaestus’s cunning laugh pierced my ears. “Tell them…Rhae.”
The anticipation filled me as I patiently waited for answers. The vulture holding my mom brought her in front of Hephaestus and backed away. Instead of allowing her to speak, he began.
“I knew there was something special about Sky’s mom when I tested Sky’s blood. She couldn’t be born great just from human DNA and a useless father, whose bloodline is an unknown mix. So, I had been searching for answers, and when I asked Cara about how the Titans had been overcome by their children, I put two and two together. Why don’t you tell them how it happened…Rhae?”
My mom shifted and struggled to release herself, but to no avail. She rubbed the hem of her shirt and the rope tied around her wrist to dab the sweat along her forehead and began. “I couldn’t remember at first. When Hephaestus tried to turn me into one of his hideous creatures by forcing me to drink the vulture’s blood, I didn’t turn.”
“You can imagine how surprised I was,” Hephaestus added casually with a nasty smirk. I hated that he made it sound like this was some kind of friendly chat.
Mom gave Hephaestus the evil eye she used to give me when I would disagree with her. It was good to see her do something familiar. Whether or not it was true that she was one of the Titans, mother of the gods, to me, she was just my mom. But then…if it was true…Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades would be my half-brothers. Mom continued. “But when he gave me Skylar’s blood, it all came back to me. I escaped during the war…I didn’t want to be in the middle. I was torn between my love for my people and my children. Cronus, my brother, and the other Titans were dethroned and sent to Tartarus while I hid in the mountains. On the day of the doom, I left my entity and jumped into the nearest human body.”
Hades’s eyes softened. “We would have never sent you to Tartarus.”
“You say that now, but you can’t say it for sure,” Mom continued, fidgeting with the rope. “I jumped from body to body. Just as one body took its last breath, I would remember who I was and what I needed to do to survive. I would jump to the nearest one. Sometimes, I was a male, a child, and even a dog. I had been a teacher, doctor, lawyer, you name it…I was many different faces. I had affairs, was married, and sometimes had children. I lived a normal happy life. But in between stages, while I was claiming a body, when I could recall who I was, I’d wish that one day I could remember and be just me.”
Mom caught my eyes and I could feel her love pouring from her. “But my own child has given me that. Skylar did that for me. Her blood was a gift I never thought would be possible.” Her eyes were welling with tears, pouring down her cheeks. “I’m so happy that I’m able to see my children for the last time. As you can see…I’m with child. When Hephaestus realized who I was, he forced himself upon me. It only takes one time for me. I wasn’t known as Titaness of fertility for nothing.”
“I’ll kill him for what he did to you.” Zeus jabbed his staff on the ground, making us lose our balance.
“You may do as you will with your own son, but I will do what I must with mine.” She began to rub her lump in front.
Her words and action made me nervous. I tried to anticipate what she would do, but I couldn’t. Panic struck me to the point I couldn’t think, I couldn’t move. Would she try to save Hephaestus for the sake of her chil
d? Would she fight alongside him? These thoughts ran frantically in my mind, hoping she would come to her senses. After all, she had been with him all this time. Who knew what he did to her, or said to her, to insure she would stay with him. But when I saw that ugly smirk that made me cringe so hard on Hephaestus’s face, I had no doubt I had lost my mom.
Mom’s tears poured even more as she kept her eyes on me. “It’s time to say goodbye, Skylar. I love you very much, and I’m so sorry I won’t be there for you, to watch you grow, to get married, and have children of your own.” Her eyes shifted to Dad. “Victor, I wish we’d had more time together. I want you to know that I’m still the person you married. I loved you then and I still do now.”
Dad blinked in disbelief; he was still in shock. “Let her go, Hephaestus!” he demanded with fury in his eyes.
Hephaestus gloated, moving in front of my mom. “She’s mine.”
What happened next had never crossed my mind. Mom ran for the nearest flame.
“Nooo!” I bellowed in torment.
I couldn’t reach her because Mason was holding me back. And even if I’d been able to try, I wouldn’t have been able to get to her fast enough. She wasn’t as fast as me, but she was faster than a human. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t judge her for her decision. I might have done the same. Knowing there was a monster inside her that would be raised by Hephaestus must be killing her. But…Zeus was the closest to her.
Zeus stopped her dive just as she touched the flame. He wrapped his cloak around her to stop the fire from spreading to the rest of her body and brought her to Poseidon in one swift move. Then Poseidon covered her with his cloak to mend her wound.
“You can raise the child to do good,” Poseidon said. “Give love and the child will flourish, but give hatred, the child will be broken. Look at Skylar. Your child can be just as good as her.”
“You can’t take her. She’s mine. She’s the mother of my child.” Hephaestus’s eyes flared in anger, breaking my gaze, as the walls behind us began to tremble.
“Hephaestus, you have lost your mind. Turn yourself in. Do not make the same mistake you’ve made before. Don’t be a fool,” Zeus commanded, taking one step at a time toward him.
Hephaestus didn’t answer, nor did he even move a muscle. Why wasn’t he trying to escape? When Zeus lunged for him with his staff, the robe dropped to the ground.
“You have no idea what I can do, Father. You have no idea the army I have built. And you certainly have no idea who will be coming for you. You are the fool. Meet. My. Family.” The fire grew with Hephaestus’s words.
Nothing could have prepared us for what happened next. Vultures jumped down from above in swarms. It happened so fast that it felt like they had already been there. Their growls bounced off the walls. We were completely surrounded by humans turned into vultures…masses and masses of them. They were double in size and in numbers compared to the last time we encountered them. Humans turned vultures were stronger, faster, smarter, and skilled with swords.
“Watch out!” Nick hollered.
So it began.
Lightning, water, and fire flashed across my vision every which way I turned, and the clanking sounds of metal upon metal vibrated throughout the cave. The plan B Athena had strategized couldn’t be executed. We could never have foreseen what we’d been told or what had happened here, and I couldn’t believe it had come down to this.
Mason and I always fought side by side. No matter how capable I was, he would always have the need to protect me. To him, I came first, even before his own life. That scared me to no end. I was afraid he would be so concerned with me that he might miss the one behind him, so then it was up to me. We were watching each other’s back, and that was the way it should be.
Zeus ran after Hephaestus, who scurried away when the vultures appeared. Coward! That was what he was. He never put his life out there, instead he had his monsters do his dirty work. But I couldn’t help but feel sorry for these creatures. They were once human—fathers, sons, daughters. They were mostly men, but there were young adults as well. It sickened me that Hephaestus had done this to them. They had no idea what they were doing. They’d died the day a drop of vulture’s blood entered their system.
“We need to douse the flames! The heat is too unbearable.” Amanda blocked a blow with her sword and sliced across the middle of the vulture’s abs.
“Let me try something. Fire upon fire.” Hades spurted fire out from his hand like a hose, turning in the direction of the flames.
It died, and then it would come up again. No matter what Poseidon and Hades did, the fire could not be put out.
“It’s magic fire.” Zara spun around to throw a vulture into the flame, then turned the other way to do the same. “Guard me. I need time.”
We sheltered Zara while Athena and Ares were out of the circle. With their shield and swords, they fought their way to Hephaestus.
Poseidon released my mom from his hold. Looking drained and broken, she ran to me. I held onto to her with all I had within our circle of protection, while Hades watched over us from behind and Mason and others in front. Mom needed the confirmation that we were okay. Even though it was not the right time to do so, I needed to give her reassurance…to make her smile…to give her peace.
“Mom, we’re okay. I’m really shocked by all this, but I’m fine. You raised me. You took care of me when I was sick. You were the one there for me. You sacrificed so much for me. Let’s get out of here first, so we can talk. You and Dad have lots to talk about too.” Tears dotted my eyes. To my surprise, no burn marks scratched the surface of her face or her arms. Her clothes clearly showed evidence she had been in the fire, but other than that, she was whole.
I felt so much for this being that I called Mom. Having to endure what she did and never knowing for sure whose body she would end up in must have been torture. As she wiped her tears, Mom nodded and smiled at Dad and me. She couldn’t stop caressing my face, my arm, and brushing my hair back.
“We need another plan,” Hades said, scorching the creatures coming for us. It was cool how he could take out countless numbers of them with one shot. His fire was massive, beyond what I could produce. His power had come back in full force when Zeus forgave him.
Poseidon surrounded us with water to keep the fire away from us. We were scorching hot as it was; we didn’t need more fire. With his other hand, Poseidon jetted water out, turning it into ice, then Mason and Nick would use their light to blast them to pieces. These pieces exploded out, piercing the vultures. Then Amanda and Everett used their swords to cut the ones within reach in half. The only evidence of their existence was the shards of ice that turned into black liquid, evaporating into the scalding ground.
“Back to plan B of Athena’s plan. It will work,” Zara said, holding out the second black bag.
“I have a plan, too,” Mom said. “But I need Medusa’s head, and Sky needs to come with me.” Mom explained her idea to her.
“That is very similar to plan B,” Zara said, handing me the bag.
“No,” Mason exclaimed. Having keen hearing, Mason broke in our conversation. “You don’t know what he’ll do.” He sent a dose of light with both of his hands and sizzled two vultures at once. “Your daughter is not bait.”
“If we don’t move fast, we’re all going to die,” Mom pleaded. “I know you can’t see them, but Hephaestus has placed bombs all around this mountain. He wants to get rid of all of you with one shot. He’s crazy.”
“Looks like we don’t have a choice,” Everett said, ducking a swing and cutting off the vulture’s arm.
“What are we waiting for?” Amanda shouted, bending back, then kicking up with her feet to slice through the vulture’s head. It was cool how she did that. “Let’s get that sucker.”
“I’ll explain more as we move forward,” Mom said, picking up a small dagger that had belonged to one of the vultures. Her demeanor had changed suddenly. She wasn’t the frail human; she was a warrior.
“Line formation,” I said. I had seen it in a movie, where they moved together in a straight line, back-to-back, so they could cover from both sides. Watching my mom fight with us, like a badass Titaness seemed surreal.
As we moved in that formation, we managed to reach the other side faster. Some vultures fell into the abyss, trying to jump over the split in the center of the cave, and we were able to take out most of the ones that made it over. Mason and Nick split from us and jumped from boulder to boulder, covering us from above.
“Hephaestus,” my mom called. “Stop your vultures. I’m coming to you. You don’t want anything happen to your child, do you?”
The vultures stopped at Hephaestus’s command.
“I’ve convinced everyone to go home. Skylar and I will stay by your side.”
“Rhae. You must think so little of me to think I would believe you.” Hephaestus stepped out from the shadows.
“I don’t. Our child needs a father.” Mom and I passed Zeus. His staff was still glowing. Mom held up a black bag. “Look. I have Medusa’s head.”
Hephaestus uncovered his face. His flaming eyes turned full of greed and desire. “Bring it to me. Let me see it.”
The vultures guarding him parted, leaving a clear path to him. A few feet away from him, Mom and I placed the two black bags down.
“Why are there two?” Hephaestus asked irately.
Athena’s plan was to confuse Hephaestus, and it seemed to be working.
“We were given two by the siren.”
Hephaestus looked baffled. “It can’t be. Open it.” He paused. “No! I’ll do it. Bring them both to me.”
Mom and I picked them up and placed them in front of him. As soon as Hephaestus reached down to open the first bag, I did the same with the one in front of me and breathed a few words that would unlock the spell. “Aperi oculos tuos.” Little did he know that the one he pulled out was an illusion created by Zara. It was Athena’s brilliant plan.
When Hephaestus looked at me, his eyes grew wide and full of shock to see the serpents slithering about on the head I was holding in front of my face. I knew his eyes met hers when light shot out from them, solely focusing on him.