Even Erebus’s eyes went wide in shock as he watched Kronos drop down to one knee. He knew that there was no defeating Nyx, but the titan was dropping not in surrender, but in respect. Erebus turned and looked at Nyx, watching her expressionless face.
“I’ve heard your prayers, Kronos.” Her voice was deep and reverberated throughout the valley, causing every living thing to stand still. Erebus could only stare, wondering what this was about. Kronos was older than the gods, but younger than the primordials. It would make sense that if he had prayed to immortals, it would’ve been to the ones that were the most ancient of them all. He didn’t expect this. Nyx tilted her head to the side as she spoke. “I have ignored them.”
There was a flicker through Kronos that looked like rage, but he held it within. He stood up to his full height, unsheathing a sword that he had strapped to his back.
Oh, he can’t be this stupid.Erebus looked on in shock as Kronos wielded the weapon.He is this stupid.
“If you have ignored our prayers, Ancient One, and you come here to subdue us all, I cannot let that happen.” Some of the gods around him started to nod in agreement, and Erebus shook his head. He started calling out to them over the sounds of the wind and rain.
“Don’t listen to him,” Erebus shouted, gesturing to the massive titan who had taken another step towards Nyx. “Do not waste your immortal lives away, she is not here to—”
Erebus was cut off as Kronos charged forward, thrusting his sword into the packs of demons and creatures around him. The blow plunged the entire battle back into chaos, with Hekatonkheires resuming his warpath too. The gods and titans fell on each other once more, but Nyx did nothing. Every creature at her command stayed still, including Erebus’s shadows. Erebus waited, his gaze flickering back between Nyx and the giant, who was plucking gods out from the sky left and right.
“Wait.”It was Nyx’s voice in his head.
“Nyx… we’re losing…”
“Wait.”
Erebus watched with bated breath as his shadows began to quiver with pent up energy. His muscles twitched as he held the line of darkness, the shadows wrapped around Hekatonkheires but not allowed to squeeze. The giant reached down and grabbed a deity, tossing them back into one of his gaping jaws. Kronos made a loud shout from where he stood, and Erebus turned to see him engaged in combat against both Poseidon and Hades.
“Nyx…”
“Wait.”
Then Hekatonkheires moved closer to the great crack in the earth, stepping through the demons at his feet as if they were wildflowers. No impact could harm them, and his feet went through the monsters like shadow. They dissolved and reappeared where he had stood; no weapon could land a blow against their ghostly hides. Hekatonkheires grew outraged, bellowing a horrendous sound, each of his mouths crying out in sync. He was balanced on the edge of the earth, his arm raised again as it threatened to pull Ares out of the sky.
“Now, Erebus!”
Erebus released every ounce of power that he had, and all hell broke loose on the combat field. The entire scene lasted only a few seconds, but to Erebus, it felt like it went on for hours. All his shadows came to life immediately, choking the life out of each of their opponents. The titans ran screaming as the shadows caused by the moonlight suddenly animated, tightening around throats and even cutting off limbs like wire. Each of Nyx’s demons sprang into action, all of them turning on their closest opponent, devouring titans whole. There was no limit to Nyx’s boundless power as everything she was came to life in the valley and throttled the life out of their enemies. In a flash, it was all over. Nyx had merely blinked and decimated their opponents where they stood.
The only two that were left was Hekatonkheries and Kronos—the latter of whom was still swinging his sword wildly against a demon that looked like a boar. Erebus surged his shadows forward. Each one found one of the giant’s mottled necks, and with a flick of his wrist, the shadows tightened. There was a horrendous sound as fifty heads gasped for air, choking, and a hundred hands clawed at their own eyes until they bled. Erebus stood, an ancient part of him fulfilled at the sight, and snapped his fingers. The shadows disappeared and Hekatonkheries dropped.
He was dead.
The sight of his greatest champion falling to the ground, technically without a hand being laid on him, sent Kronos into a panic. He hacked his way wildly through the remaining demons, although they kept multiplying like the heads of the hydra. The remaining gods had slowly backed away from the battlefield and were now standing in a crowd at the mountain’s very base. They watched on in horror and awe as Nyx simultaneously commanded the forces of hell and night incarnate, hardly moving as the leagues of titans were gobbled up and destroyed. It only took another moment, and Kronos was the only titan left on the entire battlefield.
Nyx realized this, blinking, and slowly recalled some of her power. The crack in the earth opened a little wider, and all her forces were sucked back into it. It happened so quickly that even Erebus was hardly able to register it, and then the crack sealed itself up like it had never been there. The only remaining thing in the valley was Nyx, staring at Kronos on his knees. Some of her primordial form had faded away, and she slid down into a mortal form like water being poured into a jar. Her eyes were still alight, but her hair turned back to its raven black, and her body found solidity under the folds of a black tunic that glittered with starlight.
She took a few steps forward toward Kronos as if she didn’t even realize that all of Olympus was now watching her, holding their breaths. Even Erebus had moved to the base of the mountain and was standing once more next to Hades and Poseidon. Everyone was wiping blood from their faces and dropping weapons to the ground, their arms too tired to hold them up anymore. Yet, as they tried to reconcile what they had just witnessed, they couldn’t stop from staring at the scene unfolding before them.
Kronos was utterly defeated, bent on his knees in the center of the valley. Every other opponent had been vanquished. When he had fallen to his knees, now in surrender, the grass—wet with the blood of his titans—had made a horrid, squishing sound.
“Kronos.” Nyx’s voice now sounded like silk, running over the earth in waves as she approached him. “You have made a grave error.”
Kronos made no response but went prostrate before her as she approached. It made for a powerful sight; Nyx in her nearly human form, with a titan throwing himself to the ground at her approach. She smiled and simply turned her head to the side and looked at the gods.
“Hecate?” she called out, and the Goddess of witchcraft emerged, a matching smile on her face. She seemed to be the only one who had her wits about her and was suffering from a serious case of shock. Hecate seemed to nearly float over the battlefield as she made her way to its center, tilting her head in respect when she made it to Nyx.
“Do you have what I requested?” Nyx asked again, a lilt to her voice that Erebus couldn’t place. Hecate nodded, pulling a small satchel somewhere from the folds of her chiton. She handed it over to Nyx with a smile and no further explanation. Nyx turned back to Kronos, Hecate staying by her side, and tossed the small bag at his head.
“Eat it,” she commanded, her voice now echoing with authority. Kronos turned his head to the side, and without standing, he grabbed the small bag and tossed it into his mouth, whole. Nyx looked over to Hecate, and she shrugged as if to say, ‘That’ll work.’
They all watched on as Kronos chewed slowly, grimacing at times. Erebus felt like he was nearly going to crawl out of his skin as they waited, no one clued into what Hecate and Nyx had planned. It took a few more agonizing moments and Kronos swallowed. Almost immediately, he lurched back up to his knees, gripping at his stomach wildly. The transformation from a titan in surrender to a madman was instantaneous. His arms wrapped around his stomach as he banged his head into the ground, screaming out for relief as Erebus imagined the concoction eating him up from the inside.
That’s an… interesting way to go?Erebus wondered why Nyx had summoned Hecate to do away with Kronos in such an indirect fashion as opposed to handling him on the battlefield a few moments before. Erebus didn’t have to wait much longer for the answer to his question. Kronos had hunched back up and had his hands on his knees, retching like an alley cat. The rest of the gods watched on in utter repulsion as Kronos then vomited, the bodies of Zeus, Hera, and Demeter tumbling out onto the ground.
There was a collective gasp as the gods watched on in disgust and surprise. The three gods stood slowly, bracing themselves on one another for support, but looking no less worse for the wear than the rest of the immortals. They looked back behind them and saw Nyx, who nodded in the direction of the base of the mountain. Zeus, Hera, and Demeter picked themselves up and slowly walked to the edge of the valley. They attempted to join the rest of the gods, but they were given a wide berth, Zeus especially.
