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Helen went to Lucas, pleading in a low voice. “Is there anything we can do to stop this? Think, Lucas.”
“Nothing. Only one of them can leave that ring alive,” he replied angrily. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
She didn’t. Helen had no idea if her plan would work. The only thing she knew was that she had to try to change things, and sticking close to her Shield while she thought it out was the only chance she had. Helen backed up until she was leaning against Orion to brace herself. Lucas swallowed hard and looked away.
“He’s hurt,” Orion whispered in her ear. “He thinks you’re choosing me over him.”
Helen knew this. She also knew that every second she hung on Orion hurt Lucas more and more. But there was nothing she could do about it right then.
“Just help me come up with a way to save Hector,” Helen whispered back.
“I can’t,” Orion replied. He wrapped his arms around Helen and squeezed, more to comfort himself than her. She stayed near him, hoping that not only was she protected from the Fates by Orion’s presence, but that Hector was as well.
“It could be different this time,” she said, feeling optimistic as she watched Hector and Matt face off. She lowered her voice to the softest of whispers and pressed her lips to Orion’s ear to make sure the gods didn’t hear. “With you around, the Fates can’t use him.”
Orion nodded, and when he pulled back and looked at Helen there was cautious optimism in his eyes.
The first blows came so fast Helen could barely see them. Even though Helen h
ad fought Hector many times, and even though he’d trained her from day one, she still couldn’t believe that such a big guy could move so gracefully and so swiftly.
But this new, supercharged Matt was just as fast. He parried Hector’s blinding strokes, twisted, and maintained his balance even though his adversary tried to use his larger size to press in and intensify the angle. Instead of getting trapped under Hector’s rain of downward strokes, Matt was able to make space between them without losing his footing on the sand.
Helen felt Lucas, Orion, and Jason all inhale sharply when they saw Matt dart in and draw first blood.
“Hector!” Ariadne cried out.
Hector backed away from Matt, dropping the point of his sword and touching his ribs. His hand came back red. He looked across the arena at his sister and his father who stood with Tantalus. They had sided against him.
As soon as Hector looked at her, Ariadne ran to the edge of the circle, nearly dancing on her toes along the magically sealed rim, like she was trying to throw herself into it and stop this fight. Hector smiled at his sister.
“It’s okay, Ari,” he said, forgiving her. “I understand.”
Hector faced Matt again grimly, aware now that he had met his match. He didn’t waste any time, feinting and spinning past Matt, and slashing downward at Matt’s heel as he spun away. Blood flowed freely from Matt’s Achilles heel, but he didn’t die. He limped away from Hector and took up position on the other side of the arena.
“Wrong heel, my friend,” Matt said sympathetically as the wound closed immediately.
“It was worth a shot,” Hector replied with a shrug, and then he pressed in again with reckless abandon.
Scions healed quickly, but for Matt it only took seconds for his skin to seal back up like nothing had happened. After seeing that, Hector knew his only shot at beating Matt was to find his one weakness. Matt had to have one. He had to be at least partially mortal or Hecate wouldn’t have allowed him to take part in this fight, but there were a lot of body parts to choose from. Hector tried the other heel first, but Matt only recovered faster this time.
“Cut his head off!” Daphne yelled, her eyes wide with fear for Hector now that stabbing both Achilles heels hadn’t worked.
“His heart! Hit his heart!” Orion shouted after her.
As soon as these first two ideas were offered, the Scions on Helen’s side began calling out suggestions in a flurry of voices. Hector fought on, stabbing at Matt’s heart, liver, and even trying to cut off his head, but none of these turned out to be right. Matt would feel the injury but heal immediately, and all the while Hector was getting wounded and not healing as quickly. With each furious exchange, Hector was the one who grew weaker.
The gods looked on with rapt expressions. It was clear that this was the best fight they’d seen in over three thousand years. They were soaking up every minute of Hector’s and Matt’s pain like they were cheering downs at a football game. It was sport for them.
Unable to bear watching the bloodthirsty gods, Helen looked over at Lucas for comfort. He wasn’t even watching the fight anymore. He was looking blankly at the sand, racking his brain for the body part that Matt would choose as his one weakness. She could see him talking to himself, frantic for a way to figure it out. She thought she heard Lucas repeating the word “heel” over and over to himself.
Lucas lifted his head and made eye contact with Helen, his face bright with hope.
He’d figured it out.
At that very moment, Helen and Lucas heard Hector shout. Their heads spun around in time to see Hector crumple to his knees. Matt’s sword was buried up to the hilt in his chest.
Many voices cried at once, and bodies on both sides of the arena’s circle pressed against the invisible barricade in a wave, as loving members from both factions tried to rush into the arena and come to Hector’s aid. But the magic of the battleground prevented any being from interfering.
