Page 101 of The Queen & the King

I can’t believe he brought these two specifically here. Not them. They are tricksters, wildcards, and horribly unpredictable. They cut a swath of devastation and mayhem wherever they land.

Atë, Goddess of Ruin.

Eris, Goddess of Discord.

There was a time when I once called Atë a friend. Eris, though, supported Typhon once upon a time. Even now, Eris stands in their non-binary form. They shift along the spectrum from male to female to non-binary whenever it pleases them, a natural form of chaos.

Eris lets out a whoop of delight before launching at the Titans. Atë touches the ground beneath her feet. It erodes, and more Titans and Olympians fall into the Void, disappearing into the abyss.

“Atë!” I shout.

She laughs. “Oops?”

I glare at her. “Keep it to the Titans.”

She winks and waves her hand negligently before diving into the fray, following her mother. Well, the Titans are handled, at least for the moment. Even the hundred -handed Hecatoncheires seem momentarily occupied. Persephone is barking orders like a seasoned general, keeping the gods organized and her eye on the big picture.

I return my attention to Typhon. Zeus and Poseidon are both fighting the monstrous giant, and it is time I rejoin the fray. Using my shadows, I slam my bident into his neck. I cling to it as he shakes, trying to throw me off.

“Zeus!” I scream. “Aim for his neck!”

Zeus nods and spins his hands, building up the strike of lighting. Poseidon embeds his trident into the giant’s opposite shoulder. My shadows turn to shackles around Typhon’s left wrist, and at Poseidon’s command, water encases his right. He tosses his head back, the snakes that form a halo around his head striking out. I growl when one sinks its fangs into my shoulder, its head as big as one of Cerberus’s. Another snake sinks its fangs into Poseidon’s torso, poison leeching into both of us.

“Hurry the fuck up!” Poseidon screams down to Zeus.

Typhon roars, shaking the realm, trying to break free from us before Zeus can smite him. His roar breaks off suddenly. Everything goes unusually quiet, and unease slides down my spine. The snakes release us, but the poison is coursing through me, and my grip on my bident slips, my vision wavering. TheUnderworld is trying to heal me and give me strength, but it’s so broken that there’s only so much it can do.

The snakes all lift toward the sky, letting out a screech. The sound is quickly followed by a broken shout from Typhon.

I look at Zeus. He is still gathering his power, but he hasn’t released it yet. What is Typhon reacting to? His massive body ripples, and a green, ominous glow emits from his skin. Too late, I realize why.

Kronos.

I shout a warning to Poseidon, snapping my wings out as Typhon begins to decay beneath us. Kronos is stealing time from him, leaching it until he is nothing, not even dust remaining.

Poseidon’s eyes connect with mine as we land hard on the ground where Typhon, the Father of Giants, had stood only a moment before. There’s only one reason Kronos would take that much time from Typhon, someone who was his ally or at least his pawn.

The world fractures around me a moment later, confirming my theory. He’s ripping through the timelines. We must be winning if he’s resorted to this. His ultimate goal is the destruction of Poseidon, Zeus, and me in every single timeline. He was never going to be satisfied with just this one. No, Kronos has to have all of them.

As the timelines around us tear, there are glimpses into the other realities and worlds where little choices have resulted in different futures. My mind struggles to process what I’m seeing. A boy, no older than fourteen, soars above our heads, the arches of his wings black before fading to white at the ends. My eyes track his flight, watching him. I jolt when he locks eyes with me. They are Persephone’s eyes. A moment later, he vanishes.

I spin at the sound of a bell tolling, another timeline ringing out. A man stands at the timeline rip. He is taller than even me, with molten silver eyes and a scar bisecting his left eyebrow. Hewaves his hand, and a spell circle appears filled with ancient Greek runes. He slams it against the tear in his reality, snapping it shut. In another, a red -haired witch with lilac eyes grumbles with annoyance, waving her hand to seal the rift.

I shake myself, forcing myself to focus.

“Poseidon!” I shout, seeing him equally overwhelmed by the various realities.

His eyes snap to mine, even as I close the distance between us, darting between the tears littering the air. Wordlessly, we fall back easily on years of experience. We head for our father, guided by his maniacal laughter. His eyes are glowing green as time devolves.

I throw the first hit and Poseidon the second, breaking his concentration enough to let some timelines fade. He grabs my fist before I can land a third punch, breaking bones with a single squeeze. Pain shoots through my hand, but Poseidon kicks out, landing a hit to Kronos’s knee, throwing him off balance. It is enough for me to wrench free.

We don’t falter. This is our chance. Our revenge for the childhood we never got to have. The life we never got to live. Each hit we land is for the mother we never knew, the warriors we were forced to become, for crimes too numerous to list, and for the lives that would be lost today. We lay it all at our sire’s doorstep.

I take another hit, and I know he broke another bone, but I barely feel it. The release of finally giving my father the beating he deserves is euphoric. As his blood splatters, a part of the child I never got to be heals.

Electricity makes the hair on my arms rise, and it is the only warning we get. I shove Poseidon out of the way and throw myself to the ground, leaving Kronos open for Zeus.

Zeus unleashes the killing strike he had built for Typhon on the former King of the Titans, the bolt of lightning hitting ourfather in the chest. I cover my mouth and nose as the smell of burning flesh overwhelms me, the black smoke curling over the ground. I shield my eyes as I look back, aware of how easily the lightning could sear my corneas. But I need to see his end with my own eyes.

---