plague bringer - a heroes of olympus insert

𝗑𝗑𝗏𝗂𝗂𝗂. 𝖺 𝗌𝖺𝖼𝗋𝗂𝖿𝗂𝖼𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝖽𝖾

"What is this?" the god of the pit hissed. "Why have you come, my disgraced son?"

Damasen glanced at Aria, a clear message in his eyes: Go. Now.

He turned toward Tartarus. The Maeonian drakon stamped its feet and snarled. "Father, you wished for a more worthy opponent?" Damasen asked calmly. "I am one of the giants you are so proud of. You wished me to be more warlike? Perhaps I will start by destroying you!" Damasen leveled his lance and charged.

The monstrous army swarmed him, but the Maeonian drakon flattened everything in its path, sweeping its tail and spraying poison while Damasen jabbed at Tartarus, forcing the god to retreat like a cornered lion. Bob stumbled away from the battle, his saber-toothed cat at his side. Aria gave herself as much cover as she could—cutting some more blood vessels in the ground and causing them to burst around the door. Some monsters were vaporized in Styx water. Others got a Cocytus shower and collapsed, weeping hopelessly. Others were doused with liquid Lethe and stared blankly around them, no longer sure where they were or even who they were.

Bob limped to the Doors. Golden ichor flowed from the wounds on his arms and chest. His janitor's outfit hung in tatters. His posture was twisted and hunched, as if Tartarus's breaking the spear had broken something inside him. Despite all that, he was grinning, his silver eyes bright with satisfaction.

"Go," he ordered. "I will hold the button."

Aria gawked at him. "Bob, you're in no condition— I can't just leave you and Damasen!"

"You must, friend." Bob clapped Aria on the arm, nearly knocking her over. "I can still press a button. And I have a good cat to guard me." Small Bob the saber-toothed tiger growled in agreement. "Besides," Bob said, "it is your destiny to return to the world. Put an end to this madness of Gaea."

A screaming Cyclops, sizzling from poison spray, sailed over their heads. Fifty yards away, the Maeonian drakon trampled through monsters, its feet making sickening squish squish noises as if stomping grapes. On its back, Damasen yelled insults and jabbed at the god of the pit, taunting Tartarus farther away from the Doors. Tartarus lumbered after him, his iron boots making craters in the ground. "You cannot kill me!" he bellowed. "I am the pit itself. You might as well try to kill the earth. Gaea and I—we are eternal. We own you, flesh and spirit!"

He brought down his massive fist, but Damasen sidestepped, impaling his javelin in the side of Tartarus's neck. Tartarus growled, apparently more annoyed than hurt. He turned his swirling vacuum face toward the giant, but Damasen got out of the way in time. A dozen monsters were sucked into the vortex and disintegrated.

"Bob, don't!" Aria said, her eyes pleading. "He'll destroy you permanently. No coming back. No regeneration."

Bob shrugged. "Who knows what will be? You must go now. Tartarus is right about one thing. We cannot defeat him. We can only buy you time." The Doors tried to close on Aria's foot. "Twelve minutes," said the Titan. "I can give you that."

Aria gestured for Bob to come a little closer and threw her arms around the Titan's neck. She kissed his cheek, her eyes so full of tears, she couldn't see straight. Bob's stubbly face smelled of cleaning supplies—fresh lemony furniture polish and Murphy Oil wood soap. "Monsters are eternal," she told him, trying to keep herself from sobbing. "I will remember you and Damasen as heroes, as the best Titan and the best giant. I'll tell all my friends. We'll keep the story alive. Someday, you will regenerate."

Bob ruffled her hair. Smile lines crinkled around his eyes. "That is good. Until then, my friend, tell the sun and the stars hello for me. And be strong. This may not be the last sacrifice you must make to stop Gaea." He pushed her away gently. "No more time. Go."

Aria quickly moved into the elevator car. She had one last glimpse of the Maeonian drakon shaking an ogre like a sock puppet, Damasen jabbing at Tartarus's legs. The god of the pit pointed at the Doors of Death and yelled: Monsters, stop them! Small Bob the saber-toothed crouched and snarled, ready for action.

Bob winked at Aria. "Hold the Doors closed on your side," he said. "They will resist your passage. Hold them—" The panels slid shut.

Aria cursed as the doors attempted to fly open. She grabbed both Annabeth's dagger and the dagger from Damasen and stabbed them into the doors. She used all of her strength on her makeshift handles, pressing the doors toward the center. There were no real handles, or anything else to hold on to. As the elevator car ascended, the Doors shook and tried to open, threatening to spill her into whatever was between life and death.

Aria's shoulders and arms ached. The elevator's easy-listening music didn't help. If all monsters had to hear that song about liking piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, no wonder they were in the mood for carnage when they reached the mortal world.

"I left Bob and Damasen," she croaked. "They'll die because of me, and I just—" Aria was almost glad for the job of keeping the Doors closed. The terror racing through her heart at least kept her from dissolving into misery. Abandoning Damasen and Bob had been the hardest thing she'd ever done.

She realized that the most difficult part of being a demigod wasn't fighting monsters, it was making the strategic decision to step back, to let someone else take the brunt of the danger—especially when that person was your friend. She had to face the fact that she couldn't protect everyone she loved. She hated it and it made her so upset, but she didn't have time for self-pity.

She blinked away her tears as she noticed something was off. The panels had started to slide apart, letting in a whiff of...ozone? Sulfur? Aria pulled the doors together furiously and the crack closed. She felt herself simmering with anger. "I will kill Gaea," she muttered. "I will tear her apart with my bare hands."

She grit her teeth as she remembered Tartarus's boast. He could not be killed. Neither could Gaea. Against such power, even Titans and giants were hopelessly outmatched. Demigods stood no chance. She also remembered Bob's warning: This may not be the last sacrifice you must make to stop Gaea. She felt that truth deep in her bones.

"Twelve minutes," she murmured to herself, trying to stay focused. "Just twelve minutes." She thanked Hypnos one more time for his earlier help before she prayed to any god that would listen that Bob could hold the UP button that long. She prayed for strength and wisdom. She wondered what she would find once they reached the top of this elevator ride. If her friends weren't there, controlling the other side...

She shook off the thought. "I can do this," Aria said. "I have to."

She held the Doors shut as the elevator shuddered and the music played, while somewhere below them, a Titan and a giant sacrificed their lives for her escape.