Aegis

Chapter Thirty Four--Building the Bolt

Kyros nibbled on the piece of scorpion tail the Rogues had rationed to him for lunch. Since yesterday, the bolt had begun to corrupt more animals and to draw in more monsters. In fact, Reyna and Ares did not stay with Kyros today since it was their turn to handle the scorpions attracted to the bolt.

One day and a half left. Ever since the Rogues got that message from their friend about the Lycan heroes arriving in the next two days, Hades and Pluto had worked non-stop on the bolt. By tomorrow night, it would be done. For the Rogues, that was not soon enough. They'd be working down to the second to complete the bolt before the heroes arrived.

Whether they finished it or not, the Rogues would fight the heroes in two days.

Kyros' stomach turned. The boy set down his meal on the rocks. Even though it was late in the afternoon, last night's dream still haunted him. Sometimes, the dreams were awful, but they didn't stick with Kyros throughout the day. Sometimes, the nightmares haunted him until he slipped into the dreamworld again. Last night's vision was one of these nightmares.

Erianthe being pierced by Hades' ax. The bolt exploding and annihilating the Decapolis. An image of his mother begging Kyros to come save her. Kyros' father standing in Delos' ruins and shaking his head.

"Pluto, work with the prisoner again. We need him ready by tomorrow," Hades said. The man clicked another piece of the bolt into place.

"I'll try again," Pluto replied.

"If it doesn't work, you need to try something more drastic, understand?" Hades stared down his sister to drill his words. "I know you have reservations about it, but this is not the time for fear. If you can't do it normally--"

"I know, I know," Pluto replied.

Pluto glanced over at Kyros expectantly as if she expected him to stand and walk over to her. Instead, Kyros sat where he was. Like the two other times, Pluto sighed and grabbed her scythe Reaper and forced Kyros to walk over. Even though having his body controlled like a puppet as his legs walked to Pluto was awful, Kyros would rather the Rogues exert as much effort as possible to complete the bolt.

Pluto undid his shackles and placed Kyros' bow Aegis into his hands. Like the two previous times, Pluto forced Kyros to raise his arms and hold his bow out like an offering. Today, Pluto tried to force Kyros activate his bow, to force Kyros to let out the Orichalcum's electricity. To his relief, Aegis stayed dim.

Pluto glared at the bow and muttered something to herself before trying again. Never once did she look Kyros directly in the eyes. The most that happened was Kyros' fingers moved.

"I thought Ares worked with you to teach you how to do it," Pluto muttered. "That's why he was guarding you so much."

Kyros held his tongue. Ares had taught him to increase the power of his bow, mostly under the excuse of passing on Orion's legacy. Why Pluto couldn't force Kyros to repeat the procedure now was unknown to him.

"Have you figured out how to get his body to move?" Hades asked.

"Not correctly," Pluto replied.

Hades stopped tinkering with the bolt. Even though Kyros wasn't receiving the stare, the boy felt the frigidity of Hades' cold look. Years and years of killings and battles had hardened and sharpened this man's face.

"Then use your voice. We don't have time to mess around anymore," Hades said. "Don't be weak."

Pluto tensed and cast her eyes to the ground. After a moment of deliberation, Pluto looked up into Kyros' eyes. The girl's face twisted with guilt, but the emotion soon faded into a rigid look that matched her brother's. Kyros prepared himself for whatever Pluto was about to do.