Hunter: Fate & Fury

Chapter 29

Zane was on his back, starfished in the dirt and it didn't look like he was going to get up anytime soon. If not for the frantic heaving of his chest, you could think he was dead. Ares has been brutal so far, reminding me a lot of Zane when he's in a bad mood only multiplied with a point to prove, and an extra dose of overall evilness from the joy of watching his fellow Powers break one by one. It had been an intense morning, full of sweat and tears, and a little blood - Ares' impromptu training session was clearly designed to destroy any desire to live.

"Zane, get up. You're killing the grass." I called, knowing he wasn't done yet as he managed to lift a hand and flip me off. "Saw that!"

"You're enjoying this," Kara smirked.

"Only a little."

Credit to him, Zane got up. His jog was more of an awkward waddle but he carried on. He'd already passed Hermes, Aphrodite, Circe and a small group of Ares' new recruits. If he had stopped now, I would still be proud of what he'd done so far. Ares made Ninja Warrior look like a toddler's playground and Zane's endurance was finally starting to crack. The rope climb didn't look appealing and as he fumbled the first part, I stood up tempted to help him. Then I remembered when I'd been crazy hangover, dragged out of bed at four am and made to do a very similar rock climbing wall with him shouting at me the whole time.

Enjoy the climb, Zane.

"Tell me I'm not crazy and this is all completely normal," Kara whispered as her mood changed. Glancing over at her, she had her eyes trained on Ares as he lingered around Zane. So did I. "Your instincts are typically better than mine or at least Hecate tips you off when shit is about to go down."

"After what the super unhelpful and ridiculously cryptic yet apparently all-knowing Oracle and Co had to say last night, your guess is as good as mine. This could be the worst possible thing to do with him or the best."

"I'm not only referring to that. Ares is intense today, more so than usual and he's giving me weird vibes. If he even starts to hint at Zane for King, I am done with him. I can tolerate his loyalty to Cain, but this is a whole new level. Is there anything you haven't told me?" The lack of trust, again, hurts and the regret of even asking is all over Kara's face.

"No." She did have a point though, I just put it down to being super protective of my friend. "We're all curious about what this means for Zane and Ares is just worse at hiding it than everyone else. Let's be honest, none of them would have volunteered for this otherwise."

"True. Bruised egos in this lot never lead to anything good at the best of times. Ares is pushing him harder than everyone else as it is. I don't trust them not to use their powers, Artemis has already shown she's not playing fair."

We watched in silence as he made it up the wall, and then swung over the muddy water and barbed wire that looked a lot easier than when Athena and Artemis had battled across it minutes before. Zane started the uphill jog that saw him pass Artemis and catch up to Athena and Apollo. It was a fairly even match, only Cain and Deimos had pulled ahead and I knew how much time Zane had spent with them training already. I also didn't think any of his success was because of what Themis had done. This was just Zane and while he was reaching some limits, this wasn't going to be enough to reveal anything more than his natural abilities.

Ares seemed to sense us staring and as I caught his eye, I had a strong feeling he knew that too.

"I don't think it's Artemis we have to worry about." I decide.

The training set-up was essentially a large pit, a lot more detailed and structured than the old arena I was used to. Random obstacles and challenges were spread out within the oval base, some that we couldn't see from our current position. Ares had apparently cleaned it up a lot since the days of Zeus, to the point that the Others were now permitted to use it as part of the testing before even being considered joining Ares' army. There was also no easy way out or in, which left escaping impossible unless you could teleport your way around and sitting on the platform beside Kara watching everyone gave me major Gladiator vibes. I shivered at the thought of Zeus sitting here getting his own kicks watching those down there suffer and my earlier joy at payback disappeared.