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"That's no Apollo," Silver said, stating the obvious.

It occurred to me every single one of them had moved in a way that protected me. All of this was about me. I'd put everyone in danger here. "Should we run?" I offer.

Ronan snorted. "Are you kidding? This is way too much fun."

We all stared at him, gasping. Gideon was the first to recover. "That's what I was going to say!"

And just then, it appeared.

I decided to permanently, once and for all, forever banish the notion that any myth might have been fiction, as I took in the gigantic serpent. fangs the size of my arm, eyes bigger than my head, a body so tall I couldn't comprehend it, and thicker than a car, it was so much more than any monster, any demon. The silver green into the humongous pupils shone with the kind of understanding, and power no mere beast possessed.

This thing could only be one kind of creature.

Agod.

A very monstrous one, certainly, but a god nonetheless. I couldn't recall Python's parentage, but something told me it was someone huge.

The beast reeled to strike and the three of us with magic shoved the strongest shield we could between us.

Python hissed, his tail hitting the shield. All three of us took several steps back, shaken.

"We can't kill him," Lucian screamed over the terrifying angry fizzle coming out of the serpent.

"I know. He's fucking strong," I replied.

"No, I mean, wecan'tkill him. He's Gaia's son. We don't need to piss her off today."

"You're kidding me? That's our concern right now?" I yelled back.

If I had my shot, and a chance, I'd absolutely strike that thing and deal with Gaia later. My own life aside, if freed, it was going to destroy, well. Everything.

I thought about the world serpent of another myth—this one, Norse. "Is thatJörmungandr?"

If so, his awakening was supposed to mark the start of Ragnarök. The bloodyapocalypse.

"Tell me we didn't end the world on a Monday morning," I begged, as the creature's body and tail kept pushing our shields.

"No," Ronan assured me. "The world serpent is a lot bigger. That's definitely just Python."

Except it wasn't just anything.

"We need a plan, other than waiting for him to get through and eat us, that is. Maybe I can freeze his blood--" I start.

"He's a bloody snake," Lucian remind me. "Cold blooded anyway. I can probably absorb his energy, but I doubt I can do it fast enough. Someone needs to distract him, or he'll just eat me."

"We got this," Silver assured him, tapping Gideon's shoulders. "You take the left?"

He nodded, grinning at her. "Go for the eyes, avoid the teeth."

"Wait!" I screamed. "You can't! You'd have to go through the shield!"

She looked over her shoulder, smiling at me, in that winning way of hers. Like she truly had this. "The shield's not gonna last anyway, Kley."

"There's a fucking pit to the underworld right there."

"And about two kilometres of snake to walk on," Gideon said, with a fucking chuckle. "We're good."

Except, they weren't. They were foolish. But there was nothing I could do to stop either of them from racing towards the pit, and jump to the snake.