<~ 1.6 (Divine Disputes) | Index | (The Black Market) 1.8 ~>
Early next day, Drakian and Horus went with Isis to check on the supposed ‘poisonous air’. The Greek deities were eager for battle, but luring them into a poisoned area would be a dishonorable move, and so they arrived beforehand to clear the perimeter.
“I don’t sense anything poisonous,” Isis said as she carefully sniffed their surroundings. “But the air is indeed heavy down here…”
“There’s over a third of a river worth of water above us, I’d be surprised if the air was light,” Horus spoke dismissively, picking up a rock and throwing it up, straight into the sea water above. The underwater city was secured from flooding by an invisible bubble, where anything that wasn’t water was free to pass through, including the thrown rock which slowly started to come back down. “Either way, I’d say it’s best not to breathe. Better safe than sorry.”
Drakian nodded to that, even though it didn’t affect him in the slightest. He headed away from the gods, taking a stroll around the deserted city. The buildings of Atlantis were similar to those in Egypt, but instead of being built with mud bricks, they were made out of a solid mix of marble and limestone, giving it a white, almost pristine look. The entire city was standing on an unnaturally flat surface, vaguely resembling a sandy sea floor, but lacking any sort of plant life on it. “I thought there would have been remains of the Atlanteans,” he said as he returned to the others.
“Ra made us clear them all up,” Isis responded with a hint of disgust on her face. “Called it a ‘failed experiment’, but decided to leave the city itself for any future use it could bring,”
“That does sound like him…” Drakian sighed, looking at a fish that was staring at him from the sea outside. There were no homes near the barrier that separated Atlantis from the great waters, leaving it a large, flat area – perfect for gathering everyone once other gods would join them.
“Drakian, can I ask something?” Horus chimed in and, after a nod of encouragement from the dragon, he continued. “We’ve seen Ra do a lot of things, but he never fought for us. From what I remember you’re not really here, I can’t actually interact with you,” he took a step closer and carefully extended his arm above the dragon’s snout, moving it swiftly downwards, after which he started shaking the slightly charred hand to cool it off.
“You could say so, but I am present here just as much as you are,” Drakian responded as an amber glow covered Horus’ hand, quickly healing it.
“Yes, well, I feel like in all the stories Ra spoke of, your type seems so much stronger than what we see, how so?”
“Oh, that is because most of the time we do not walk around fully submerged into this world,” Drakian stopped there, but the confused looks he received made him elaborate. “Think of it as an ocean,” he said, spreading his wings to point at the bubble around them as he looked up. “Imagine that this city is the entire world. Beings such as myself swim above and around this dome,” with that, a large, amber fish appeared above them, swimming in circles. “Unless we go far away from the city, our ‘shadow’ is visible inside,” he pointed at the ground, where indeed a black shadow moved in circles. “But for certain special occasions, we can submerge fully into the world, making it substantially easier to do anything, although it does leave us vulnerable to physical attacks,” with that, the fish broke the barrier between air and water, and slowly made its way down. It did a loop around the group and then proceeded to go into Drakian’s side.
“And do you think now is good enough of an occasion?” Horus asked as he watched the fish’s final moments.
“I suppose…” After a few seconds of silence, the ground at Drakian’s feet started to glow. Within moments, Drakian’s form changed from a cloud of energy that only resembled a dragon, into an actual dragon, whose slique posture was made up out of pure, solidified energy – resembling a semi-opaque amber-colored ice. “It has been a while,” he said as he stretched his legs, creating slight dents in the floor – dents that slowly straightened themself back to original flatness. ”This is the only way I can truly interact with the world,” he added, flapping his wings to create a small breeze.
“What would happen if I touched you now?” Horus asked as he observed the gently glowing being in front of him.
“Your child curiosity never left you, did it?” Drakian smiled as he came closer to the falcon-headed god. “Sorry to disappoint, but nothing would happen. Earlier you moved the hand through me, which you can’t do when I am solid. All the energy, heat included, is kept safe inside now. This way it does not radiate out to the world.”
“I see…” Horus carefully touched the dragon’s side, slowly moving his hand across the smooth surface, which had a barely noticeable scaly texture. “Hopefully you’ll be enough to turn the tide.”
“Speaking of which, what’s our approach?” Isis spoke up. “None of us know telepathy, so we rely on the two of you to give us orders.”
“The plan is quite simple. Drakian will keep their attention while we can single out their gods to take out. We do not know how they fight, so we’ll have to adjust on the fly.”
“Do they have a leader? Someone such as Ra?”
“Not as far as we know. Their pantheon leader is Zeus, but he’s not… one of you.”
“Good,” Drakian nodded as he turned around to face the city. “I assume we will fight at the central plaza?”
“Yes, but let’s wait here for everyone to come…”
The central plaza was a spacious, rectangular area, lined with hundreds of large, stone slabs creating simple patterns on the floor. On one end stood a group mostly made up of men and women wearing white togas, while on the other end stood Drakian, backed by the animal-headed gods of Egypt. He walked forward slowly, stopping in the middle between the two groups. “Greek gods and goddesses!” He spoke in a booming voice, easily heard by everyone present. “You claim ownership over the land of the Pharaohs, despite its rightful owners still holding power. We are here to settle this, step forth once you are ready.”
A soft murmur spread throughout the Greeks, only one of them stepping forward. He wasn’t wearing a white toga like the majority, but rather had his clothes made out of the fur of a lion – its mane decorating the man’s shoulder, and the rest not covering an excessive amount of his extremely muscular body. He was carrying a large, wooden club with him, against which he leaned on as he stopped in silence.
“You are…. Zeus?” Drakian shot in the dark using a normal tone, not knowing who else could’ve come up.
“Oh, no, no,” the man said with mocking laughter. “I am Heracles, the beast slayer. Our Father would not talk to the likes of you, only to the true Egyptian ruler. You lot praise the sun, don’t you?” Heracles tapped his chin, consumed by thought for a short moment, before speaking up again, in a loud and clear voice. “We do not see your sun god Ra amongst you! We refuse to fight if the head of the pantheon is not present, sending his beasts to fight for him!” He straightened up, tightening the grip on his club. “Come out, Ra!!” He screamed as he jumped up, smashing the club full-force into Drakian’s head.
A deafening thud spread throughout the underwater city, but the dragon stood in place, not having moved in the slightest. “Cute,” he said as he grabbed the club, forcing it out of Heracles’ hand. “I am your sun god for the day,” he said, returning to the booming voice. “And so I understand that you have started the battle,” With that, he raised the demi-god’s club and smacked it into the side of his body, throwing him out of the plaza and into the side of a building, shortly after which gravity brought the now limp body down on the floor.
Instead of starting the fight, nobody moved a muscle, staring in disbelief either at the dragon, or at the cloud of dust raised up by Heracles’ landing. The first to move was Hermes, who came up to the dragon quickly analysing what just happened. “You…” He said as he stood at a safe distance from Drakian. “You were the one Bast was looking for… This color is identical to those eyes…”
“Indeed, that was me back then,” Drakian responded, smirking as he heard Hermes quietly whisper to himself ‘Stupid Egyptians and their tricks. We need to focus on him.`
“Then you will have to accept the wrath of Olympus,” Hermes said calmly, materializing a weapon by his side – a straight stick with two wooden snakes spiraling up its shaft. He pointed it at the dragon, letting a bright beam of light shoot out of the snakes mouths.
Drakian quickly put up his wing, letting the colliding light flow off to the sides. The remaining gods – both Egyptian and Greek – took the attack as a signal, coming forth with various personal fighting methods. Some used simple swords and bows, others threw spears and bolts of energy. Nobody dared step closer to the dragon in the center for fear of his full potential, and so the singular battles that happened between the gods did so closer to the edges of the plaza: Osiris fought Hades, both surrounded by black smoke, while Anubis approached slowly from the flank. Nemesis jumped at Thoth, attempting to stab his small head with one of her black daggers, only to be thrown off into a gap between nearby buildings as he put up a purple shield. The Egyptian god followed his attacker, unaware that Erebus was already lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.
In the meantime, Hermes stopped his assault at the dragon, seeing it was futile. Drakian used the opportunity to throw the club he was still holding at the god, who swiftly evaded it by moving to the side. Immediately afterwards, Hermes ran up to the dragon, hitting him from different angles as he sped around the amber being.
Drakian could tell that with the lack of force behind each hit, that the Greek wasn’t attempting to do damage, but was checking for any possible weak-spots. As Hermes ran around the dragon, he attempted to catch him, but the human was too fast to get a hold of. Tired of playing cat and mouse, Drakian summoned a whip, letting it hover mid-air until the speeding god got close enough, at which point the whip let out a crack, looping itself around the god.
The energetic lines of the weapon burnt into Hermes’ skin as Drakian brought him closer, so that the god would hover in front of the dragon. “I don’t have a weak point,” Drakian said, but before he could finish his opponent, he got smacked in the side of his snout with a metal pike, the force pushing his head to the side. When he looked back at the whip, it was lying on the floor while Hermes, his body criss-crossed with burn marks from the temporary imprisonment, was standing behind another god. The ‘pike’ he’d felt smashing into his side was one of three blades of a metallic trident, now held in a defensive position as Hermes’ wounds started to slowly heal, at the same time causing Hermes himself to pant from the effort.
“By the power of the sea, I invoke the Great Wave upon you!” The newcomer shouted, waving his weapon. Above Drakian a hole opened, letting all the water above it fall straight down, at speeds faster than gravity alone would bring. Before he could do anything, metric tonnes of salty water collapsed on him, pushing him against the ground with unstoppable force. The weight of the water caused the stones below and around Drakian to crack, simultaneously spreading out across the battlefield.
The big wave crashed into the side of Apophis, who was chasing after Soteria in the form of a gigantic snake. His body shielded everyone behind him from being swept, including Anubis who was finishing off Cerberus. Safe from the wave of water, Ares was in the middle of a sword fight with Anhur, battling on top of a large building. Above them, Horus had turned himself into a falcon overlooking the battlefield after having knocked out Apollo, whose crow body was plummeting into the water below. On the other side of the plaza, Mafdet and Dike were summoning various shapes of energy to attack one another, stopping to shield themselves as the wave approached.
Meanwhile, Drakian struggled to move under the endless waterfall. He started to form a disc high above himself, with the intention of blocking the hole with it, but the gap closed on its own before Drakian got the chance to do it. No longer flooded with water, the dragon looked at the two gods. Hermes wasn’t looking well, but his wounds had all healed, while the other one was still holding his trident in slightly trembling hands, splitting the rest of the water off to his sides, allowing both of them to stand on dry land.
As he already had a disc made, Drakian hurled it down towards the two gods, only for it to be instantly deflected by a swift move with the trident. Knowing that the god wouldn’t be able to defend from all sides at once, he summoned a dozen smaller discs, and hurled them all downwards. As they neared their target, a rain of arrows started to come from the sides, each hitting precisely one disc and throwing it off-course. As the dragon turned to look at where the arrows were coming from, an arrow lodged itself in his head, followed by another one. Before the third arrow coming his way could hit, Drakian put up his wing to shield himself, but the arrow went straight through the membrane, stopping half-way in.
Despite having arrows stuck in his wing and head, the dragon didn’t flinch, his energetic form lacking any pain receptors. Instead, his wing started to give off a bright amber glow, and the consecutive arrows either bounced off or broke upon impact. Nevertheless, the arrows kept coming, forcing Drakian to have his wing block half of his vision, obscuring his view of the man that was running at him with a hammer.
With a wide swing, the hammer made its way towards the dragon’s head, hitting it through his wing. Not expecting the blow, Drakian stumbled slightly. Using the opportunity, Hermes raised his staff, letting out another beam of light, strong enough to force the dragon to fall on his side. The other god jumped on top of him, forcing his trident into the dragon’s body with all the strength he could manage. The sharp tips pierced through the scales as Drakian let out an angered roar.
With the trident still stuck to his side, Drakian grabbed the attacker by the throat before he could run away, gathering himself to stand back up. Once he was back on his feet, the dragon forced his victim into the ground, holding him down with his paw as the trident in his side started to glow. It started to slowly back out of the dragon’s side, hovering for a moment mid-air after getting fully out, before swiftly piercing its owner’s heart, pinning him down to the ground. Having dealt with one of the gods, Drakian turned towards the other attackers.
Hermes was on his knees, his staff laying on the ground beside him. He was breathing heavily, staring at the ground below him. Guess that one is exhausted, no point in attacking him, Drakian thought to himself as he looked up at the other attackers. One of them was a female holding a bow, with an arrow prepared to pull back and fire. The other was a tall, muscular man, holding a hammer that was meant for making weapons, not to be used as one.
Without any warning, the woman drew back the string of the bow and fired at the dragon, another arrow materializing in her hand, ready to fire again. Drakian raised his wing to block it, and as he did, a sword made its way into the base of his wing. It cut through the outer layer, but after making it half-way through the limb, the blade melted off, with it’s tip landing on the dragon’s back, and the hilt staying in the attackers hand. Furious, Drakian grabbed the Greek with his tail and forced him into the pavement, cracking the stone slabs below and burying the god beneath the surface. Without letting him say a word, the dragon breathed down amber flames, leaving nothing but coal in red-hot armor.
Using the distraction, the man with the hammer came forth, hitting the floor of the plaza with his tool, making it wedge itself at an angle. “I, Hephaestus, call out to the mighty Gaia. Bring forth the roots and bind this beast to the ground it stands upon!” The various symbols on the hammer started glowing, creating two lava streams off to the sides, both of which went around the dragon and formed fiery pools on his left and right. Two metallic blades rose from them, with thick chains hanging from where the hilt would be, seamlessly coming out of the pool below. In less than a second the blades shot into Drakian, piercing through before arching down into the pool on the opposite side. As they did, the chains pulled the dragon’s belly to the ground, after which the lava froze back into the solid pavement of the plaza.
Drakian attempted to stand up, but the chains held him down with an impossible strength, somehow not melting inside of his body. I may need some help. He said telepathically to Horus as he tried to force the chains out of existence, to no avail. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Hephaestus grabbed his hammer and brought it down on the dragon’s head.
“This is for Ares!” He screamed as the hammer made contact, pushing Drakian’s head into the ground, cracking the stones he was laying on. All while a gigantic amber saw appeared above the chains, digging into them in an attempt to cut through.
“This is for Poseidon!” With another swing, the hammer pushed Drakian’s head even deeper into the ground, shaking the plaza as it hit. Having had no luck with the chains, the saw now turned towards Hephaestus, but the moment it started moving towards the god, an arrow came in to shatter the saw in half.
“And this…” The god continued, lifting his hammer up once more, but before he could bring it down again, a falcon swooped in and yanked the weapon out of his grasp. Instantly, the goddess with a bow aimed at the bird, releasing an arrow going straight for the heart, which never reached its destination, evaporating into purple smoke right before hitting its target.
How do I free you? Horus asked Drakian telepathically as he landed beside him, quickly shifting to his human form, leaving only the falcon head unchanged.
I can free myself, but I need you to take their attention away while I do so. Drakian responded, still pretending to struggle against the chains to not raise any suspicion.
If you say so. Horus picked up the hammer from the ground, playing with it as he walked away from the dragon. “Is this yours?” He asked in crooked Greek, pointing it at at its owner..
“Yes,” the man said, stretching his own arm out. The hammer started to slowly vanish from Horus’ grasp, appearing in Hephaestus’ hand.
“Too bad, I liked it,” Horus said nonchalantly, with an identical replica appearing back in his hand. “Shall we see who wields it better?” He asked as a purple cloud covered his other arm, manifesting into a round shield.
Without a word, the Greek god jumped at Horus, who blocked the blow by quickly raising his shield, letting out a loud ringing noise. He proceeded to counter, hitting the hip of the defenseless god, throwing him off to the side while simultaneously protecting himself from the incoming arrows with his shield.
Using the distraction, Drakian stopped struggling against the chains. He didn’t know why they would not react to anything he made, but he did know that they were physically holding him down. And thus, he let his physical form slide away, returning to the less defined, energetic form. As he did, both the arrows stuck inside of him and the chains going through his chest fell down, the sounds of which were lost in the raging battlefield around them. He stepped away from the chains before returning to his physical form, to make sure no part of his body clips the metal. As soon as he was ready to fight again, two arrows lodged themselves where his eyes would normally be.
Annoyed by the never-ending projectiles, Drakian leaped towards the goddess holding the bow, only to be intercepted mid-air by Hephaestus smashing into his side with his hammer. I thought you had him distracted, Drakian complained to Horus, trying to grab his attacker but failing to do so, instead earning an arrow straight through his foot.
I did! Horus ran up, attempting to hit Hephaestus from behind, but the greek god moved swiftly to the side, countering with a blow from the side.
Their coordination is uncanny… Drakian thought as he watched Horus block the incoming hammer with his own, hitting the assaulting god with his shield. The dragon looked around to see if he could spot anything that would explain how the gods were so aware of the battlefield. It wasn’t Hermes, as he was lying passed out on the floor. Behind his body, Set was single-handedly holding his ground against two of the wind brothers, the other two lying lifelessly at his feet, alongside their Egyptian equivalent, Shu. Off to the side, Sekhmet was lashing out on Soteria’s defenses, unable to get through.
The rest of the battlefield was hidden behind the gigantic snake body of Apep, but it meant that whoever was behind it would not be able to see through either. This left seemingly nobody that could watch over them, as the skies were clear of any god that could’ve morphed into a bird. As he watched the airspace above them, Drakian noticed a tiny piece of white cloth move on a roof of a tower, right after which arrows started to make their way into the his side, forcing him to pay attention to his opponents. There is someone commandeering them from the top of the tower, take care of whoever it is. He passed along telepathically to Horus, throwing an orb of energy at Hephaestus to grab his attention. As expected, he turned around to deflect it, giving Horus an open window to turn into a falcon and fly off.
Not wanting to get spotted, he flew close to the ground until reaching the base of the tower, after which he went straight up the side, stopping mid-air right above the ledge. On the roof stood two women, but before Horus could do anything to either of them, a stray chunk of rock from the battle below flew right into him, throwing him off into a corner of the plaza. It’s Athena and- He started to pass telepathically as he made hard contact with the ground. …and Tyche…
That is good, I would have expected Zeus to be up there-
No, it’s not good. Horus interrupted with a groan as he gathered himself back onto his bird feet. Tyche is the goddess of fortune, she’s using her luck to protect Athena from harm.
There is no such thing as luck, Drakian responded as he deflected another blow from the hammer, weaker than the previous ones. Hephaestus was starting to wear out as well, panting heavily as his energy could no longer substitute the work of his respiratory system.
Tell that to the stone that hit me out of nowhere. Horus continued to speak telepathically as he boosted himself up to stand on a window sill.
Then find the god of bad luck and I will throw him up there.
There is no god of- Horus paused as his eyes stopped on Set, who fell down onto the cold stone with a dagger in his side, surrounded by the bodies of the wind gods. Throw Eurus at them!
Who?
Eurus, the god of the southeastern wind. Horus said as he took flight before continuing the explanation. Greeks view that wind as unlucky, maybe it’ll work.
I trust that you have a plan, but I meant who as in ‘which one’. I do not know most of them. Drakian responded, slowly backing away towards the pile of bodies. As he did, one of the dead gods started to emit purple smoke, which Drakian took as a sign, picking up the body and throwing it up at the tower. As it neared the top, Horus helped its trajectory so that it would hit Tyche, knocking her off the building. Using the lack of a protector, the falcon landed on the roof, turning into his natural form while simultaneously creating a spear and a shield for himself.
“Zeus, we need you here, now,” Athena said to thin air as she hastily picked up her own shield and a lengthy shortsword that were leaning against the side of the roof. ”You’ve put up a great deal of a fight, but soon it’ll be just you and Ra. I could’ve expected you two would be the biggest problem.”
Without a word, Horus readied his defenses. The sounds of the battle were dying down, but he could still hear a few fights going on. “Our pantheon will not succumb to your rule.”
“Oh, yeah, obviously. Because you fools prefer to die than to thrive with us.” A giant flash filled the underwater city, as a lightning bolt came from the edge of the water, striking down onto the plaza. Athena used her foe’s temporary blindness, rushing at him with her sword. Horus blocked her attack perfectly with his shield, his eyes giving off a small flash of light.
“Did you think it would be that easy?” He asked as he swiftly stabbed with his spear, brushing against the goddess’ arm. The wound quickly healed, but it gave him enough time to ready for the next assault.
Meanwhile, Hephaestus collapsed onto the plaza, and Drakian started approaching Artemis – the goddess with the bow. Before he could get a jump on her, a spiked ball of light hit him from the side, knocking him away. “Back off, beast!” A woman voice shouted. She was standing on top of the giant, dead snake, pointing a long scepter at Drakian. In front of her, a cloud of icy spikes appeared, all rushing at the dragon as Artemis fled to the newcomer’s side. Knowing that whatever attack he’d throw at the Greeks would be deflected by the archer, he took a different approach, creating a small barrier around himself to give him a moment of peace to focus.
The ground shook slightly, as the eyes of Apep’s snake body lit up, coming to life despite the top of its head being blown open. The snake knocked the two goddesses off of himself, instantly lunging at Artemis, piercing her body with his enormous fangs. The snake proceeded to use its tongue to clean the remains off of its fang, swallowing the deceased goddess as its attention turned towards the other one.
As it started to slither towards her, she attempted to stop it by summoning half-rings of light above it, smashing them into the ground as the serpent passed underneath in an attempt to hold it down, as well as simple, solid walls to block its path. But the snake moved forward, its momentum and strength enough to shatter every attempt of stopping it, until another flash filled the air, and the glowing light in the eyes of the beast blinked before disappearing altogether.
The lightning did not hit the possessed animal, instead penetrating through Drakian’s defenses. The bolt stroke directly at his forehead, causing him to lose focus – and by extension control of the snake. This gave Zeus enough of time to summon a sharp metallic plate the size of a building high above the serpent, letting gravity pull it down as it cut clean into its neck, evaporating as it touched the ground.
Shaking off the shock, Drakian looked around, trying to locate his attacker, quickly noticing another god helping the goddess with the scepter. His white hair that went down to combine with his beard contrasted with the young and muscular look of his body. He made sure the goddess was up and fine before turning towards the dragon, a construct of pure energy appearing in his hand, shaped like a lightning bolt. “If you surrender now, we can still work together, Ra!” He shouted, letting his voice echo through the empty city. “We are willing to make you an Olympian since, as it stands, Hera and I have the majority vote.”
I hope I don’t have to remind you to not do it. Horus’ voice sounded in Drakian’s head as the dragon took down the protective barrier around himself, walking towards the two gods.
Ra has already made his choice by not being present. Drakian responded as he opened his mouth to speak “Egyptian deities will not succumb to anyone. You failed to accept it, and so you will have to pay the price.” With that, he spread his wings, creating hundreds of small icicles in front of them, all just like the ones sent to attack him earlier. With a single powerful movement, all of them flew forward at the Olympian pair, with Drakian himself lunging shortly afterwards.
Hera raised her scepter, creating an invisible shield in front of her and Zeus. The icy spikes shattered as they hit, creating a temporary mist from which Drakian jumped out of, passing straight through the goddess’ shield and smacking her off to the side, breaking her scepter in the process. As he turned to the other god, he could feel a loop going around his neck, tightening as it pulled him down. The nearly transparent, energetic string went from his neck to the lightning bolt in Zeus’ hand as he pointed to the floor, forcing the dragon to lie down.
“You are powerless against the might of Olympus, Ra. I give you one last chance to keep your life. Join us.”
“I am not powerless, Zeus – you are,” Drakian said with a smile as he rose properly to his feet, as if the electrical leash around his neck wasn’t there. “Your strength was in numbers, and those are gone,” as he spoke, the line from his neck to Zeus’ bolt started to turn amber, the color slowly making its way towards the god. “You fought bravely, but everything comes to an end,” the lightning bolt in the Greek’s hand started to slowly change into amber coloring, as if amber liquid was filling it from the top. Seeing what’s happening, Zeus attempted to drop the lightning bolt, only to realize it was seemingly glued to his palm. “And your end comes now.”
The amber colored part of the bolt reached the god’s hand, instantly causing a short-lived scream of pain, quickly followed by hundreds of electrical discharges as Drakian forced millions of volts to go through Zeus’ body. The god collapsed onto the floor – despite looking untouched on the outside, the smoke coming out of his mouth made it apparent that his insides had been fried.
The amber bolt disappeared along with the line coming out of it, allowing Drakian to freely turn towards Hera as she backed away in terror. “How…” she began as she reached the edge of the plaza, when all of the sudden Athena’s body hit the ground besides her, a purple spear piercing her heart. Horus landed moments later, his beak wide open as he rapidly breathed in and out. Hera glanced at the purple spear, then at the amber dragon, her eyes widening as something clicked in her mind. “You… You’re not Ra, are you?”
“I am not. My name is Drakian,” he said as he walked up to the goddess, stopping a short distance away from her. “But I am your sun god for the day.” Everything turned white as a lightning bolt of unnatural size came down on Hera with a deafening thunder. Once it was over and the air became clearer, the Greek goddess was lying motionless on the ground, surrounded by a ring of smoke coming from the stone floor. “Was that the last one of them?”
“Yes.” Horus said weakly, hyperventilating as he kneeled down.
“Everything alright?”
“No,” Horus wheezed as he put his hand on his chest. “Can’t… Breathe…” He muttered, collapsing onto the ground.
Without thinking, Drakian picked Horus up with his mouth, putting a small protective barrier around him so he wouldn’t get crushed by the pressure, or simply drown. He took off from the seafloor and through the barrier that surrounded Atlantis, speeding through the salty waters at hundreds of meters per second. Despite the subsonic speeds, it took him half a minute to land at the entrance to Bast’s temple.
The main door swung open on its own, letting Drakian hastily head for Bast’s chamber. Once there, he spat the unconscious Horus onto the floor, clearing the protective barrier around him after his body stopped rolling. “Drakian? That’s you?” Bast asked as she stared at him in utter confusion.
“Yes, I will explain, but for now,” he nudged Horus’ body so it would lie on its back. “He needs help. Now.”
The goddess gasped, quickly running up to Horus to check his pulse. “What in the world happened down there?”
“The Greeks are gone, but so are our gods. They were strong… but not strong enough to overcome their own biology.”
“But I thought Isis checked thoroughly that there was no poison?” Bast asked as she put her hand over Horus’ chest, lighting it up with a soft, purple glow.
“There was none, but the air was not breathable either. Rather than die fighting, most suffocated, just as…” Drakian paused himself, looking down at the unconscious god. “Do you think you can nurse him back to health without Isis? His heart was still beating when we got here.”
“I’ll get some help,” she said as her eyes lit up for a short moment. “But he should live. As to the others…”
“It was too late for them by the time the battle was done,” Drakian said sadly, reverting back to the cloud of energy that vaguely resembled a dragon. “I will help you deal with everything once I return, but I have to check up on my… apprentice. I will be back shortly.”
The dragon looked away from Bast, vanishing into thin air before popping back into reality, slightly off to the side. “That was fast, I thought only Ra did that.”
“Huh?” Drakian looked around in confusion before disappearing again, only to reappear back where he stood moments before. “What?”
“Are you ok?” Bast asked, wondering if she should be worried.
“I feel just fine…” the dragon responded, vanishing once more, without reappearing in the room.
Guess it was nothing. Bast thought to herself as the two healers she called for telepathically came into the room. They picked up Horus and were off with him. They’ll be able to take better care of him than I ever could.
“We may have a problem…” A voice came from behind the goddess making her jump, turning around as she did.
“What is it?” Bast moved her hand to close the door as she looked up at the dragon.
“I do not know why,” he sighed as he sat down. “But no matter what I try, I cannot leave Earth.”
<~ 1.6 (Divine Disputes) | Index | (The Black Market) 1.8 ~>
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