Page 71 of Crown of Olympus
Aros scoffed, just as the machine began to buzz. Louder and louder the sound grew until I thought it might explode.Instead, flames erupted from its barrel shooting straight for me. I dove out of the way, as my dragon screeched, her claws digging into the fleshy part of my shoulder.
The machine tracked my movement, its nozzle swivelling to follow me wherever I ran. I ducked and wove, constantly in its line of fire. Caelus attempted to strike it down, his wolf pacing behind him, but the invention was proving impenetrable.
The beasts kept their distance, sensing that the flames would be their downfall.
Aphrodite stood nearby, helpless, scowling at her freshly burned hands. Her dove cooed mournfully.
But it was Aros who defeated Hephaestus’ creation. Aros, who leapt in front of the flames meant for me.
Aros who shielded me with his own body.
He grunted as the flames slammed into his broad chest, searing through leather and linen alike. He seemed to expand, inhaling deeply from where he stood in front of me. Not one flicker of pain crossed his face. The fire had not hurt him at all. In fact, his energy had grown stronger. I could feel it.
Aros absorbed the machine’s flames. The more it spat out, the more he drew into himself. His body began to glow, fire dancing beneath his skin in mesmerising whirls, heat radiating off his back in waves.
The machine clunked, then the fire sputtered out.
“Nowit’s empty,” Aros grinned.
His body had been transformed into something otherworldly. This was as much his true form as the exposed skeleton was mine. He stood taller, wider, his hair flickering like candlelight in the breeze. It was… beautiful. I reached out and grazed a finger across his shoulder blade — only to sharply pull it back with a hiss. The pad of my finger had already blistered.
Aros winked.
“Sorry darling. Guess I’m just hot for you right now.” Heturned back to the mechanical creation. “And unlucky foryou, I eat flames for breakfast.”
Caelus groaned. Aph and I shared an exasperated eye roll.
Aros clenched both fists and roared, fire shooting fromhis eyes.
No fucking way.
My dragon huffed, and the larger beasts finally stopped pacing. We all watched as the machine burned, then melted, then collapsed into a puddle of molten silver. Aros returned to his normal form, his smirk firmly in place — despite being completely naked.
My eyes widened as he grabbed my hand, gently placing a kiss upon my injured finger.
I yanked it back, scowling, desperately trying to keep my eyes above his shoulder level. He grinned widely, and his manticore chortled.
“See something you like, darling?” His grin turned wicked.
Caelus interrupted before I could reply. “Alright, if we can get back?—”
A series of metallic clangs rang out, one after the other, each one sounding further and further away. I met his look of concern with one of my own before the air filled with the whistle of more arrows.
Caelus threw his hands upwards, summoning an enormous gust of wind to blow the projectiles off course. Then we heard the telltale whir of more nozzles flicking into place, swivelling towards us with eerie precision.
We were about to attend a barbecue — not as the guests, but as the main course.
Fire roared towards us from multiple directions. I barely had time to throw up a wall of shadows — first to our right, then to our left — as the flames poured in from both sides.
“They’re cutting us off!” Aphrodite yelled. “We need to break through!”
Aros grinned devilishly. “Let’s dance, tin cans.”
And dance we did.
Aphrodite drew the machines in, twirling and weaving as though she were actually waltzing — drawing their fire — while Caelus fried them with bolts of lightning. Aros threw projectiles of his own — balls of pure fire — like a godly catapult, hitting them squarely in their centres, while his cock waved to and fro. They exploded on impact, sending shrapnel shooting into the sky.
And I finally used death-wielding for good; weaving close enough to touch the machines and draw out whatever life Hephaestus had imbued within them. Their whirring and clunking slowed, then ceased altogether, collapsing into piles of rusted metal.
