SWNOVELS Chapter 17: Power
Several hours later, I stood in the center of the field, watching as Elei ducked and spun around the attack from a stone warrior, pink energy flashing around her. To her left, Amanda was smiling in an almost vicious way, her eyes glowing a dark purple as she lashed out at the stone golems with the weapon Hephaestus had given her. Zoey and Ginger were working in tandem, Zoey’s gold glowing eyes flashing as she grabbed the stone warrior that tried to sneak up on Ginger’s blind spot. Ginger’s white glowing eyes widened before she turned and grabbed the stone golem. The two tore it apart and I looked up when Steropes walked over and gave me a warm smile. His hands were holding a bronzed circlet and I gave him a weak smile before dipping my head slightly. He gingerly placed the circlet on my head and took a few steps back before whistling. I turned and three stone warriors marched over before drawing their swords.
I took in a deep breath before I felt energy rush through my limbs. I felt unusually twitchy and narrowed my eyes before running right for the first warrior. The warrior stopped his advance and drew his sword as I summoned my war hammer and swung. He dropped down while his two companions jumped back. Using the momentum of my swing, I spun and brought it back around. The next time it went around, the warrior was thrown to the side like a rag doll and hit the ground hard, skipping across field like a rock on a lake. I grinned slightly before focusing on the other two, who looked to one another before splitting up. One ran right for me while the other tried to duck around me. My right hand quickly shot out and I grabbed the warrior’s arm, harshly tugging him off his feet and throwing him at his companion. The two hit the ground hard and I slowly advanced, feeling slightly giddy at the power that ran through me. The two warriors rolled to their feet and I grunted when the third one attempted to run me down with his shield.
A brown and red barrier of energy appeared at my side and he crashed right into it, knocking himself off of his feet and breaking slightly. I smirked and looked to him before slamming my foot down on his chest. I took aim at his face and grinned, beginning to charge a ball of fire on my palm. I felt a rush of.... Something...move through me and I moved back quickly, taking in a deep breathe before calming myself down. I blinked a few times before shaking my head when I heard footsteps and ducked down, lifting my arm and summoning my shield. The warrior in front of me attempted to cut off my head and slammed his weapon into my shield before moving back. I stood and front kicked him back off of his feet before firing a blast of fire at the downed warrior to my right. I frowned when I realized the last one was missing and spun around, moving my chest back when he tried to cut into my throat.
I let myself fall back and rolled to my feet before kicking up the shield on the ground and flinging it at the warrior. It buried itself into the warrior’s head and I focused on the last one, watching as he pulled out his sword and gripped it with both hands. I turned and we circled one another before charging at the same moment. I moved my chest to the right, dipping low and swinging out with my left arm, where my shield was attached. It knocked the warrior’s weapon from his hands and I surged forward, shoving the warrior off of his feet and to the ground. I summoned my hammer and lifted it, destroying the warrior with a downward bash. “Nice leg work!” I heard called. I jumped and spun around, grinning when Brontes marched over and patted my head gently. “It seems like the circlets are beginning to work for the five of you. We’ve got your new armor ready and your new weapons should be done soon,” he reported. I nodded and let the two weapons I held disappear before following after the Cyclopes. Elei and Amanda were finishing off their opponents while Ginger and Zoey sat at a large table and joked.
I took the seat to their left and grabbed an orange, beginning to peel it and lifted my head when someone gently touched my hair. To my side was a centaur toddler, who tossed me a wide smile before beginning to pat my hair again. I couldn’t help, but smile as a blue haired woman ran over and bowed her head to me. “I apologize child of craftsmanship,” she said nervously. I waved it off and she moved to tug the child away, but he began whimpering.
“Really, it’s alright. I didn’t know there were children in the sanctuary,” I said, opening up my orange and beginning to eat, passing the child part of my fruit. He squealed and began to eat it, his clean hand returning to my hair.
“Oh yes. The sanctuary houses an assortment of different people. Nymphs, Saytrs, Centuars, Half-breeds. We take anyone who needs care in,” she said gently. I nodded and shoved some more food into my mouth and turned forward, trying not to frown. We had to work quickly to keep Helios from attacking. I felt a slightly heavier hand touch my head and glanced up, grinning at Elei as she placed herself between Zoey and me. Zoey didn’t seemed to mind, grinning widely at Elei before focusing on her sister again.
“Power rush huh?” She said playfully before hesitantly placing an arm around me. I leaned into her and grabbed another orange, passing it to her before claiming a pear.
“Yeah. I was moving without thinking. Like I knew what to do,” I said before grinning and looking to her excitedly. “I was so cool, but....” I mumbled, thinking back on when I almost off the warrior like how Helios had almost killed me. I shivered slightly before shaking my head and giving her a weak smile. “Sorry it’s nothing,” I said, waving off her concern. She gave me a slightly worried look before nodding and rubbing my back. She began to peel her orange and I bit into my pear, looking up when Amanda took the spot in front of me. The purple energy had faded, but danced just within the depths of her eyes.
“That’s such a rush!” She said before grabbing an apple then frowning when it began to age in her palm. I grimaced and watched as she rolled her eyes before the light faded from her blue eyes. She placed the old apple to her side then grabbed a banana and grinned when it remained the same. “Poo. I can’t grab anything when I use my power,” she grumbled. I frowned a bit, but shook my head before looking to Elei. She brows were pulled together as she tried to get part of the skin off of the orange and I chuckled slightly. She looked to me in confusion then blushed before giving me a small smile.
“What’s so funny?” She asked curiously. I shook my head again before moving her arm and pushing it into her chest.
“Don’t you need your hands?” I asked. She flushed before giving me a sheepish smile and beginning to peel her orange better. I laughed lightly, wincing when the centaur toddler tugged on my hair. I looked over and the woman’s wide eyes were focused on him unseeing. “It’s fine,” I assured her. I tugged his hand out of my hair and gave his head a pat while she led him off, apologizing several times. “I wonder why she was so worried?” I mumbled.
“You’re the first demi god in a few centuries. The prophecy was made over 800 years ago so people are tense,” I heard. I looked back then up at Pan, who bounced over before taking the now vacant seat to my left. “They do not know what to expect from a modern demi god,” he said lowly before giving me a warm smile. “You do remind me of another demi god though. He was kind and that was interesting giving his parentage,” he said before shaking his head. “Sorry the rambling of an old man. Helen, you can accomplish so much,” he mumbled before looking up. I looked up as well, watching as the three brothers walked towards us with a large chest within each of their grips.
Steropes sped up when my eyes met his and he stumbled to a stop before tossing his chest to the ground and bouncing in place. “I have your armor Helen. Brontes has Elei and Amanda’s armor and Arges has Zoey and Ginger’s armor,” he said excitedly. I nodded and got up, heading over and grinning when he opened the top. I peered in and found golden looking armor resting within the chest. I kneeled to examine it and paused, looking over to the side and finding that some of the women that walked around were setting up some kind of changing screen. I shook the thought off and turned back to the armor, pulling out all of the pieces and grinning slightly. They were like the Hoplite armor that Hepheastus had given us, but were glowing slightly.
“We created a kind of rebound effect on the armor, like tiny force fields,” Brontes explained, grabbing a rock and tossing it towards Elei’s breast-plate. Armor flashed when the rock hit it and we ducked when the rock ricocheted off of it. I nodded slightly before gathering up my armor and heading over to one of the changing screens. I pulled off my clothes and frowned down at the swirling fire tattoos that decorated my skin. I sighed softly before pulling on the soft brown under skirt then the metal over skirt and soft golden tunic, tugging on the breast-plate before grabbing the brown cape from under my bracers and tossing it over my shoulders. I pinned it to my armor then pulled on my bracers and shin guards, strapping on my sandals before heading out. Steropes clapped his hands together excitedly while Arges and Brontes nodded their large head in my direction.
“You look so nice!” Steropes cried, rushing over and hugging me tightly. I grinned weakly and patted his thick arm before pushing against him when I felt myself getting lightheaded. He gingerly placed me down and blushed while Arges chuckled and gave me a warm smile.
“We’ve finished our first weapon. A gift for you demi god,” he said before pulling out a war hammer and shield. An anvil and wings were carved into the shield face and I ran my fingers over it in awe, looking up and giving Arges a smile.
“Thank you,” I said softly, cradling the shield close before examining the war hammer. It was similar to the other one, but it had an owl face carved one side of the hammerhead and a vulture on the other. I gasped lightly before grinning a bit wider and moving forward, hugging Arges then Brontes and finally Steropes, laughing when he gave me a hard squeeze. “I would be proud to wield these in battle,” I said lowly before moving back and giving them a smile. They returned it and I turned when I heard a throat clear. Elei stood almost awkwardly behind us and I blinked in shock. She looked really pretty, kind of like a warrior princess. She was dressed similar to me, but her metal skirt had some kind of red cloth skirt to my brown. Her cape was draped over one of her shoulders and she gave me a warm smile before walking over.
“Never thought armor could look good on someone,” she said before blushing. I laughed in surprise and gave her another smile before turning when I saw movement out of the corner of my right eye. Amanda awkwardly shuffled in place, her armor rather flattering to her own body as well and her hair was pulled into a high ponytail. She gave me a small smile before walking over and nodding to Elei. Elei placed a hand on my shoulder, but I looked to where the twins were heading over, both looking completely identical for once. It was rather disorienting.
“We’re ready for a war,” the left one said with a smile, gold bleeding into her irises. I grinned at her before jumping when another flash of fire came to the left of us and scowled a bit when Helios’s face appeared. His face was still scarred and he was smiling as he looked towards us.
“Tick tock! I’m not going to wait all day!” He said before laughing. I growled slightly before shrugging off Elei’s hand and marching over, shoving my hand into the fire and wincing at the slight burn. I felt the fire flickering and licking at my energy, but forced the fire to answer to my will, leaning my head into it and narrowing my eyes.
“We’re done hiding. Pick a place and we’ll fight Helios,” I said before moving back and grinning in grim satisfaction when I saw the shocked look on his face. Anger twisted his features and a dark grin quickly replaced it before he crossed his arms over his thick chest.
“Alright then in three hours we will meet at the Seattle Space Needle observation deck and fight,” he said before laughing and disappearing. I scowled after him before shaking my head and spinning around, grinding my teeth in anger. I was done playing his games and almost dying.
“Helen?” I heard, my head snapping up. Elei looked down at me in concern and I realized I was beginning to catch on fire slightly.
“Shit! Sorry,” I yelped out, putting out the flames on my body and giving her a weak smile. She returned it and shook her head before looking to the brothers, who were looking to one another warily.
“We can finish the other weapons soon, but we need you five to do something for us,” Arges said. I nodded and he smiled before pulling a small box out from behind his back. “We’ve been working on this since the gods warned us of the return of the Titans. This box was made to do what Pandora’s original box did, housing titans bloods. We are the children of the Titans after all,” he said before passing me the box. I frowned deeply before nodding slowly and he gave me a small smile before looking to his siblings. “Come brothers, we have to finish their weapons,” he said before tugging the others after him to his workshop.