"The God Wars" - Chapter Thirty-One: Decisions

The God Wars

Chapter Thirty-One:

Decisions

By Dwayne MacInnes

Hephaestus never ceased tormenting the scientist shackled in his lair. For over a month, the god of the anvil tortured Reno day and night with hardly a break. Hephaestus always made sure that Apollo was nearby to heal the mortal in case the torture went too far.

Apollo had long sickened of Hephaestus' disgusting game. The poor man was no longer coherent. Even though Apollo could heal the poor wretch's body, he could not do anything for his mind. Reno succumbed to madness weeks before, and yet, Hephaestus continued his cruel game.

That was not all. Apollo could not regenerate limbs and organs so now Reno had only one eye that looked around the room unfocused. All of his fingers were gone as were his toes and one entire foot. Hephaestus always made sure that Reno's tongue remained intact. He relished the hellish screams that issued from the victims throat.

The incoherent ramblings also brought the god of the anvil great mirth. Hephaestus laughed whenever he could issue a particularly loud and anguished screech from Reno. The god of the anvil was becoming extremely good at rubbing salt, vinegar, and alcohol in open wounds. Or, just laying bare a nerve so that he could poke and prod it with one the of delicate instruments laid out next to the knives on the anvil near Reno.

"I think I could do this forever!" laughed Hephaestus. "I sure hope Ares spares some humans for me to toy with. It will easily make up for him sleeping with my whore of a wife."

Apollo turned his head away one more time as Hephaestus exposed Reno's ribs on his right side. The resulting scream echoed again through the huge dark cavern in which the god of the anvil worked. After screaming Reno again fainted and his breathing started to slow.

"You better fix him up again," Hephaestus ordered.

"Don't you think you have done enough?"

"NO!" roared Hephaestus. The god picked up a huge hammer threateningly staring at Apollo.

Apollo walked toward the shackled mortal and laid his hands on Reno's side. The skin started to recover the open wound and heal. The residual pain still flashed across Reno's face. Apollo fought back the tears again. He really wanted out of this. He really wanted to end the suffering.

Reno's breathing began to stabilize again. The comatose scientist returned to consciousness. His one good eye flickered open and focused on Apollo. The god of healing could see a glimpse of sanity behind the tormented orb.

"Please," was all that Reno whispered in a pleading tone. The look that the mortal gave the god held no blame -- just a simple request.

"Ha!" boomed Hephaestus' voice from behind Apollo. "It looks like I get to play with you some more."

Something inside Apollo snapped. Without further thought, Apollo grabbed the nearest knife from the anvil next to Reno. The god spun and thrust the long blade deep into Hephaestus' chest until it protruded out the back of the god.

Hephaestus' eyes looked at Apollo in surprise and disbelief. The god of the anvil coughed up foamy blood before his weak legs crumpled under his weight. Holding his chest with one hand, he held out the other towards Apollo.

"What? Why?" was all the stricken god could utter before he collapsed onto the ground dead.

Apollo turned back towards Reno. However, the scientist had also expired. But, the look of peace and pleasure on Reno's face told the god that at least the scientist got to witness the demise of his torturer.

"Forgive me," Apollo whispered to the dead mortal as he unshackled Reno's digitless hands. The god then dumped his body into one of the great pits of fire. The great inferno instantly consumed the body.

Apollo exited Hephaestus' lair with the blood of the dead god still splashed upon his blue tunic. Aphrodite watched the god silently and grim-faced storm out of the lair and across the hall. She knew something was not right.

Aphrodite ran down the long stone steps to the lair. She rarely visited it, but she felt compelled to now. There on the basalt floor with the hellish lights of the burning pits flickering around him, the body of Hephaestus lay with his dead eyes staring at the rough ceiling.

The goddess of love experienced a feeling she never had before, the sense of loss and shame. Aphrodite dropped to her knees next to her dead husband and let her grief completely consumer her.

Zeus was near the end of his stamina. Even a god had limits and he had spent the last reserves of his strength on conjuring great winds and rain. His lightning bolts, once a thing feared, were impotent against the metal rods protruding from the tops of the buildings in Zakrostas and at Fort Knopso.

The king of the gods had to content himself with the toppled structures and flooded fields. The great mass of mud would hinder the movement over the roads so that much of his mission he accomplished. Zeus lightly kicked Pegasus' side and headed south towards Ares' army. He hoped to be of some help against the more primitive Kingdom of Atlantis.

The rage and fury of the army around Fort Knopso also dissipated. The combined army of man and beast was now a remnant of what it was before. They had fruitlessly assaulted the concrete walls suffering great losses while never inflicting a single casualty.

Defeated, exhausted and demoralized the various beasts and men separated and returned to their caves and camps near the base of Mount Olympus. It would take a number of generations for their numbers to replenish what they had lost over the year.