Furious

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Poseidon, bearing down on me at the moment of transformation, impaled himself on the sharp talon at the end of each wing. He howled and stumbled back. I hauled my battered body off of the ground and spread my deadly wings. Alex was dying if not already dead, Gregory had put himself in danger to get the Nectar to me, and Tantalus had been used as a tool in this pointless war just like I had; none of them needed to die here.

I landed heavily by Alex, who breathed but did not move. Hoping she would be all right out of the way, I beat the air with my wings in the direction of Gregory and Tantalus.

"Gotta get out of there, my big, bad dragon friend," I called to him. Poseidon was standing again, madder than ever; the ground rumbled. We were all trapped and he knew it. The sea god took his time advancing on us again. He knew we had nowhere to go. I turned my attention back to the hole and stage-whispered down into the darkness. "Now or never, Greg."

I can personally attest that anger is a great way to get someone to do what you want—assuming that you want something violent.

In the dark hole I could hear dirt and rocks moving, hitting the floor of the cell. After a moment, Gregory's head poked out of the opening. "You know how I feel about my name, little Fury." He growled at me, eyes golden and wide. "Watch out!"

I rolled to the side, trusting that whatever Gregory was planning was not something I wanted to be in the way of. He threw himself from the hole and collided with Poseidon. The god didn't so much as pause. Gregory's hands, claws covered in dirt from climbing up the wall of the cell, dug into the god's exposed flesh. When Poseidon ripped the dragon from his side and tossed him away, I recognized the trident on the floor of the dungeon.

Gregory slid up next to it, as if that was the plan all along. Poseidon stood over me and the urn for the second time in only moments. He didn't see Gregory pick up his trident, didn't see him swing the blunt end, didn't make a sound as the staff connected with his head.

"Is he dead?" I asked Gregory. My voice did not shake. Gregory did not scare me, though maybe he should have.

"I did not hit him that hard. The last thing that I want is to take up the mantle of a god. If he were dead and I held his trident, I would become Poseidon just as Hector assumed the role of Hades." Gregory dropped the trident next to the god. It clattered against the floor but the dungeon was otherwise silent.

"What about Tantalus?"

Gregory shook his head at her, eyes less reptilian now. "Tantalus has finally expired; he will go on to the Fields in peace."

Why didn't he drink the Nectar if he had it this whole time?

I knew Poseidon wasn't going to stay down forever, though it would have been nice. We weren't going to be able to sit here and lick our wounds while battle still raged on the surface. "We must deliver the elixir to Hades."

I wanted to lay back and close my eyes but with Alecto silent in my head I couldn't ignore my injuries. On top of all the bruises, cuts and aches I counted, I was light-headed from blood loss. So I sat, clutching the ambrosia with my eyes on the portal.

The next thing I knew Hector was in front of me, calling my name. Hope and fear and exhilaration all mixed in the sound of my name on his lips. There was little blood on his armor but from the way he moved I suspected that it belonged to his unlucky enemies.

Poseidon and his trident were nowhere to be found.

Without words I handed the urn to Hector. Mission accomplished.

"Thank you, Autumn. A lesser Fury would have consumed the Nectar for herself." His soft voice was grateful. The hand he reached out to stroke my cheek was clean but the rest of him sported blood spatters, some of it I could only assume was his. Even with Lindsay at his side he hadn't escaped battle unscathed.