Page 21 of Immortal Sun (Dark Olympus)

CHAPTER 21

CYRUS

“The thrall takes instant vengeance; the coward never.”—Thor Rosland

I can hear her pacing. The bell has started to get louder and louder as it presses against her skin.

I almost said ‘silky skin’ in my head and want to pummel the tree all over again. Instead, I walk down the stairs toward the water. The closer I get to the beach and rocks, the more my body pulses until my feet are at the water.

Apep is already standing there looking arrogantly out at the sea like he created it.

Enki is next to him on his phone, typical, and I can feel Daggon walking up behind me with Inti and Kratos. Jupiter finally makes his late appearance with Tyrell, always staying back to collect the rest of the lessers, so I know we’ll see him later, watching, complaining.

It feels like a meeting of misfits, all of us joined together hating the parts we play but needing to play them perfectly.

The more of us that join together, the wilder the storms get above us until lightning suddenly strikes down the middle of the island Ken lives on.

“That was extremely violent, even for you.” Inti chuckles and pats Enki on the back.

Enki’s white eyes illuminate. “It was a warning of what Ra will do to Apep one day.”

“And here I thought I was going to get a card on my birthday.” Apep’s voice drips with sarcasm.

“Probably can’t even count that high,” Daggon mutters, earning a glare from Tyrell.

And a long heavy sigh from me. “No fighting, you know why we’re here.”

“It’s the last time.” Apep looks over at me, his eyes gleaming, his white-blond hair blowing in the wind. “Are you losing your power? Your touch?”

“Let me do my job so I can ascend while you live out eternity in the dust.” I squeeze my eyes shut and look away, so he doesn’t see the lie within them, the hesitation because of her.

My plan was to terrify her and get it over with.

I never thought she’d just go back into her little warehouse and keep working like things hadn’t happened between us. She ignores the truth better than most.

I lift a shaky hand to my mouth then drop it. “Enough. Is everyone here?”

“Yes.” Kratos sighs. “We’re all here, I mean who knows where Enki’s brain is at but yes.”

“Can I kill him?” Enki looks to me. “Just once, we can bring him back later with some of the nectar.”

“Maim and torture your brother, never kill him,” Apep says before holding his wrist out.

My favorite part.

The storm builds, and then the entire sea quiets and turns to glass. The wails of our ancestors pulse through my body, like a bell in my ears that continues to ring and ring and ring again.

A siren’s sound.

The earth moans with its need.

Apep suddenly jerks away from me.

“What’s wrong?”

His eyes go completely dark before returning to their crystal blue. “Nothing, nothing’s wrong. She’s different, isn’t she?”

“She’s annoying,” I say quickly.

Inti chuckles. “I love it when you lie.”

“It’s time.” I press my palms together over my head and slowly lower them in front of my face, once they pass my chin, I part my hands and like splitting the atmosphere or the air in front of me, everything shifts.

Red hot rocks form across the water then sink down giving us a path as the water splits giving us complete dry access to the island. I take a step onto it and exhale, a bead of sweat runs down my back.

“Home,” I whisper as my golden armor forms around my body starting from my feet all the way up to my head, covering me in the red-hot heat of the sun. The metal and leather feels so comforting I almost shed a tear. If anyone were watching, it would look like soft golden scales covering my body molding into impenetrable armor. I hold out my right hand, my spear slams into it, and as I twist it in my grip I hear them all—the cries of humanity begging for the sun to shine on them once again.

Apep stands next to me wearing black armor, his hair is silver-white and pulled down his back. Since he decided to stay with the humans he lost his crown—his helmet showing all who see him that he decided not to be challenged, not even by the gods, losing a kingship because of it.

My own helmet mirrors the sun, the rays come out in all different directions like both a weapon and headpiece.

Enki sighs and steps onto the rocky pathway. His eyes illuminate white, he has no armor, only tattoos that cover his face and chest in the ancient Sumerian language. His leather pants are tight. Nothing covers his chest, nothing has to, he has spells scratched across his skin, nothing will puncture him from the waist up.

Tyrell and Inti are next.

Tyrell’s armor matches mine, golden to the core with the inscription of the dragon in the middle, etched in red. He wears a mask covering his face to match his armor, nobody asks why it changes every time, but part of me wonders if it’s to mimic the different gods he’s killed before he lost his own trials.

Inti heaves a deep sigh, and his eyes illuminate gold. His head-to-toe red armor covers him completely; his helmet matches his father’s. Lightning streaks across the sky, hitting Kratos’s fingertips and forming his daggers. The smell of smoke fills the air around us as we wait.

The walls of water moan around us, fighting to break free from the separation I created.

Daggon is last, as always.

The sound of his heavy sword dragging across the stone is like thunder before he walks in front of us and turns. His armor is silver, and he wears a white cape that stretches down to the ground from his massive shoulders. His eyes are blood red. He has no helmet, he has no need for one, he has many names, many jobs, and now he feels the weight of the people of the Euphrates on his shoulders yet again.

His golden bow and arrow shine from their place on his back, each spear dipped in poison. “I’ll escort you.”

He bows in front of us and presses a finger below his right eye in honor before he gets up and gives us his back.

And we walk.

The stones moan beneath our weight.

The earth carries the screams of the fallen humans trapped in purgatory, while the deafening songs of the remaining gods fill the skies.

I ignore the screams, I ignore the songs and I ignore the souls I suddenly see in the water floating toward us, begging us to save them, offering us coin that we can no longer use to cross the river Styx, I ignore the people still trapped in the water waiting to be free because to look at them would shove them further into its depths.

We continue to walk until we’re on the island. The minute my feet touch the rocky soil, I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief.

We all walk through the trees. And to the ancient stone chairs, each of them from the worlds we used to rule. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Sumeria, Inca, and the list goes on.

Enki speaks first. “The trial for Ra ends in one week, who’s participating?”

Nobody raises a hand.

Inti kicks the ground in front of him. “I can do at least two or three tops, but it’s draining.”

Tyrell nods his head and starts to pace. “I’ll take two.”

Dag mutters a curse. “I did three last time.”

Apep actually laughs. “You all act like it’s a burden.”

Pain slices across my chest, I look away, jaw clenched. “It’s a burden knowing why they’re doing it, and you know that.”

Apep shrugs like it’s not a big deal while I want to pummel him against his stupid rune, with it’s annoying A etched in the stone.

“Father.” Enki’s grin widens as he tosses his hammer in the air over and over. “It’s been a while for you, what? A hundred years? Two?”

Apep looks away, his smile cruel. “And I bear that burden to this day, including the night I sired you.”

Inti starts clapping.

“Fight, fight.” Daggon laughs.

They’re all idiots. I’m stuck with idiots.

Tyrell shares a look with me, his long black hair blows in the wind.

Apep clears his throat. “The only one, who hasn’t participated is Cyrus, isn’t that right?”

He always pushes. One day, I’ll remove his head from his body. Worst creation I’ve ever dealt with. “That’s because I’m the one who gets to kill your final creation, look forward to your death once I leave Apep, I know I will.”

Apep takes a step toward me only to be stopped by Tyrell and held back.

“You can try, but deep down you know you like our little war, killing me would kill your only sad pathetic purpose, Ra."

The ground shakes.

“Enough.” Tyrell holds up his hands. His fingertips have formed into claws. One swipe and you wouldn’t even feel your own death, just see the sky as you fall into the underworld. “Everyone must do their duty of worship. And the others?—.”

We all quiet as the trees start to sway.

The earth trembles beneath us.

And slowly, one by one, townspeople start to walk with lanterns down the stone pathway.

Minor gods.

Ninety-nine total are left in Deer Harbor.

They’re covered in black hooded robes as they walk toward us singing the ancient song of worship and sacrifice.

I squeeze my eyes shut as they try not to look into the water, some have deliberately done it to get sucked in, to see a father, a friend, a mother, thinking that all they have to do is swim back to the top to escape. The water offers them Heaven after an immortal Hell. Once you see the souls of loved ones it goes from giving life to only bringing eternal death.

It’s why immortals wear the hoods; the temptation to see beyond, to see what they used to, is too deep.

I wait for their song to reach our ears and lean back against my stone chair; my hand goes to my spear and grips it before twisting into the dirt with a loud click.

I can practically smell the blood on my blade, fresh, metallic, alive.

The words haunt me as the voices of our people rise. There were never lyrics attached to this music and yet, we all know they exist.

It’s Hurrian Hymn number six, the oldest recorded song in human history. I wince as the words fall from their lips as they fall to their knees onto the dirt, blood dripping slowly from their palms as they worship us and give their sacrifice of strength. It’s what they do, when a god is finishing his test, we mourn, and then we celebrate and wait for the next.

I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I was sent down for my trial.

Hundreds of years.

And finally, I can go home where I belong.

“Let them fight. Let us die. In the end the gods will rise. Save us from ourselves, protect us as we protect you, honor our sacrifice. See your promises through!” They cry out in unison. “We are here, we are your people, hear our cry, let them fight, let us die, in the end, the gods will rise. They must rise, Olympus hear our cries.”

“We must honor them as is our ritual. The final sacrifice will be given a gift and with that gift from the gods we will gift the immortals trapped here and create mates for them so they will no longer be lonely. We cannot allow them to mate with humans, but we can give them more of us,” I rasp, when the song is finished. “Each of you will take at least one, including Apep.”

“And the remaining three?” Apep asks.

“I’ll do it.” Daggon steps forward. “It’s my duty and purpose to help create within the rules of the gods.” He shoots a glare toward Apep, who was the only deity to go off on his own and mate with humans. At least now the gods mate with their own kind to create more lesser gods for the ones suffering here for eternity. We honor them by giving them family from the strongest gods left, and they honor us with their songs and worship. And when I ascend to Mount Olympus, I’ll watch over them shining from the sky.

I nod my head as the chants lower into soft cries.

I look toward the mountains.

A storm brews over Olympus. A reminder of what’s to come if I fail.

I swear in that moment, temptation sweeps forward, and I can hear the bell on Cleo’s foot as she paces back and forth. But then, finally, blessed silence.

Why does my heart lurch with each movement of the bell?

I look across to Enki. “You owe me.”

“I won’t do it.” He knows me too well.

“A favor then.” I step in front of him. “Remove it, before I call Anubis forward.”

Apep stumbles backwards. “You would dare call Anubis and involve him in something so trivial? Since when has a god needed help in the trials? You want us to remove something so you can succeed, the point of the trials of humanity is to fully understand what you are giving and taking away…remember, I would love for you to stay, we can battle every morning before you decide to rise, and you can shove me down to the depths where I belong. We’re old, we do need exercise and remember this is the final one, is it not? The final daughter? You can’t get help from anyone, it’s against the idiot gods’ rules.”

Everyone goes silent around us.

I pull my dagger from my belt and hand it to Enki. “I know you know what I’m talking about. I can’t do it myself. Drive it in.”

“Cyrus.” Enki holds up a hand. “Think about this.”

“I have.”

“For what? Five seconds?” Daggon swallows and looks down at the ground. “You may not be able to get it back once it’s gone, then what sort of god would you be on Olympus? What sort of sun shines without its heart beating within his chest?”

I nod, throat thick with momentary sadness at my future loss, but her future isn’t part of mine; this is how things must be. My single regret is I only kissed her once, I only felt that passion once, and soon I’ll feel nothing. I need to feel nothing in order to finish what was started. “Good.”

“It has to grow!” Enki yells. “Listen, you’re already an asshole, don’t make it harder on the rest of us.”

Kratos is the only one who’s silent.

Eerily silent.

And then he outstretches his dagger. “I’ll do it.”

“Son.” Apep shakes his head. “Do you know how hard it is to grow a human heart, let alone one for a god? It could take centuries. Say he passes his trial, what good does it do to humanity to have a sun that cannot shine? Then again, if you want to destroy him, be my guest, I’ll be waiting to devour him the minute he goes hard as ice.”

“I’ll only lack feelings for her, the rest of the world will shine.” It’s the truth. “And this is something I can’t do myself.”

Enki locks eyes with me. “You said it yourself, she’s different. He’s faltering. His heart beats with the cadence of her bell, I can feel it in his breathing.”

“Is this true?” Apep asks with a smirk.

I can’t meet his eyes, the man I hate but can’t kill…yet. “I’m not sure, but I won’t risk it. Then again, you wouldn’t know, you were pathetic and chose to lose.”

Apep grins. “From the looks of it, I’m already clearly winning if you can’t even finish one small task, do I need to kill her for you, God of the Sky?”

I let out a roar as lighting flashes across the sky. Enki’s eyes blaze white with rage and determination. I know he hates this as much as I do, but it’s time to leave, it’s time to finish Chaos once and for all.

Are humans fickle?

Yes.

Are they idiots?

Yes.

But are they our idiots? Is it our job to protect them from chaos itself? From the chaos that exists in this world and chooses to? Absolutely. I’m not just doing this for me, at least that’s what I tell myself, I’m doing this so I can destroy him once and for all. Humans will still make mistakes, but at least they won’t have him whispering darkly in their ear while they do it.

I give Kratos a slight nod.

He flips his sword around; the spike faces my chest. His left-hand grips me by the back of my neck and slowly he drives the spike into my heart, I feel every emotion since meeting Cleo, since calling her here, her anger, the kiss, the moments I faltered while holding her in my arms.

And then I feel nothing as Kratos twists the spike to the right. I scream in pain when lightning from his hand joins with the spike and shoves into my chest, through my armor.

Then I feel nothing.

I finally feel nothing.

This is better than death, isn’t it?

This is what being at peace feels like.

It feels like nothing at all.

If I could smile I would.

Instead, I pull away and whisper. “It’s time.”