The Olympians

Somewhere above Thessaly – 10th year of fighting

Poseidon ripped his trident from the body of the man, watching as he fell to the earth in a bundle of bloody limbs. Sighing he glided down towards the ravaged ground and touched down, exhaustion in every line of his body.

“Who was that?” he heard from behind him.

Glancing over his shoulder he saw his brother Hades, casually leaning on the pommel of his sword, blade thrust into the dying ground.

“I have no idea. Some minor nymph or demi god who picked the wrong side, clearly.”

Hades snorted at Poseidon’s offhand reply. “If only all of the Titans were so easy to dispatch.”


Poseidon arched an eyebrow at his brother. “If that were the case Hades, we likely would have been dead and condemned to the very depths of Tartarus a hundred times over by now as well. I seem to remember you recently being soundly beaten across the sky by Atlas before we could intervene. Be thankful that we are not all so easy to kill.”

Hades glared at him. “It wasn’t as bad as you make it sound. I was merely letting him think he had a chance.”

Poseidon didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he looked up. Looked at the mass of seething figures fighting for their lives, and for victory. The sky was an angry grey, the clouds dark roiling storm clouds brimming with sparks of lightning, as though the very sky reflected the desperate battle going on around it. And perhaps it did.

Dotted throughout the heavens were hundreds of fighters, many locked into vicious one-on-one battles that would decide their fates. Not a single ray of sunshine shone through the clouds. Instead, all he saw was blood, death and darkness.

He couldn’t stay down here for long. He was needed above where the fighting was fiercest. He hesitated though. These rare moments of peace between the battles were becoming far too infrequent for his liking. After ten years of near-constant battle, he was tired. Tired of the endless fighting that never seemed to get them anywhere.

“Come, let us find Zeus. It’s time.”

Lifting off into the sky, Poseidon bared his teeth as he launched himself back into the bloody fight above. If all went well today, this would be the end of the battle and the end of the Titans. Finally, it would be finished.

Snarling he lashed out with his trident as he barrelled into the enemy, the prongs ripping through an unfortunate soul's abdomen, pulling free with a sickening sucking sound. As the man fell clutching at his stomach, blood seeping from his hands, Poseidon struck out at another, whipping his weapon around like a club, breaking his neck with an audible crack.

Dodging a sudden thrust from the side, Poseidon levelled his trident at his attacker, seafoam violently erupting from his weapon, catching his foe directly in the face.

The enemy flew backwards from the force of the scalding water. Hades who had been hanging back watching swung his sword and removed the man’s head from his shoulders. They watched as his body tumbled from the sky, crashing to the earth in a cloud of dust.

Poseidon flew upwards, angling towards the roiling angry clouds. Zeus would be up there in the thick of it.

He burst through a group of fighting warriors, slashing his trident as he flew. The enemy fell in droves, but there were always more to replace those he felled.

As he dispatched a water nymph with a sickening crunch to her sternum that left her spiraling through the air to the hard ground below, something collided with Poseidon from the side. The impact was tremendous, the crunch of flesh on flesh resounding through the sounds of battle.

He was thrown through the air before he could right himself, spinning past pockets of combatants. Slowing his erratic flight he turned to see who had crashed into him and was forced to dodge the battle axe that was slicing towards his head.

“Aegaeon, you finally show your face. Where did you crawl out from this time?” Poseidon spat the words at him. Damned cowardly gorgon.

“Cousin.” Aegaeon grinned at him, a rictus smile that was nothing more than a baring of bloody teeth.

“I see you finally weaselled your way out from under the Titans thumb. Tell me, do your masters consider you a good little dog or are you simply a worm who they let occasionally lick their feet? ” Poseidon let his disdain for the gorgon show on his face, baiting the other man into impulsiveness. He was a coward but he was a vain coward, easy to manipulate.

Sure enough Aegaeon roared his rage at Poseidon’s words and attacked, flying at him. Good, Poseidon had been waiting for this confrontation for years. He owed the slimy gorgon a beating.

Poseidon blocked Aegaeon’s thrust at his face with his trident, knocking the mans’ battle axe aside easily. Aegaeon had put too much force into his blow, unable to pull back easily and overbalancing. Poseidon used his momentum to flip the other man backwards over his head, stabbing his weapon up into Aegaeon’s thigh as he flew past. The prongs of his trident ripped into his flesh, tearing a bloody mess down his leg.

Poseidon pulled his trident free of the other mans’ bloodied flesh and spun to face him. He dropped in the air as the axe swept around, aiming for his neck. Rage painted Aegaeon’s face as his axe missed his mark again.

Poseidon swung his trident at him but Aegaeon flew backwards, barely missing being slashed by the prongs a second time. Using his distraction Poseidon launched a fountain of scalding water at Aegaeon, hitting the gorgon directly in the face.

Aegaeon screamed as his flesh melted beneath the intense heat of Poseidons’ trident, his hands ripping at his melting flesh. His hands dropped revealing flesh that was blistering as Poseidon watched, his eyes nothing more than empty sockets, blood and bile running down his ruined cheeks from where his eyes had liquidated from the intense heat.

Poseidon slashed the mans’ throat and watched as he dropped, his screaming cut off. He didn’t bother to follow Aegaeon and finish the job, he was out of the rest of the battle, if he even survived that long.

Aegaeon had never been a talented fighter. He had always had an uncanny ability of knowing when to disappear and go hide his head like a coward. It was the only reason he had lasted this long into the war. He was the cowardly worm Poseidon had named him, preferring to let others do the hard work while he skulked in the shadows.

Poseidon continued his climb, angling for the upper heavens, where he was sure his brother would be fighting. He rose swiftly through the air, slashing at necks and wings as he flew past. He had business elsewhere but his actions may be the reason many of his army lived. His intervention allowed his fighters the moment to dispatch their enemies and regroup.

He burst through a group of enemy combatants into clear air. The stillness above the fighting was disturbing, too calm, too peaceful for him to feel comfortable given the chaos only feet below them.

The silence was broken by an ear wrenching clap of thunder, the power of it causing the very air around him to rumble in anger. The thunder was followed by a stab of lightning that lit up the sky, the shock of light imprinting in his vision. Blinking to clear his vision, Poseidon followed the still visible after image of the lightning to his brother.

“Cronus!” Zeus screamed the name, his voice echoing with power, reminiscent of the thunder bolt that was his.

Zeus was stationary in the sky, power rolling from his body, causing ripples in the atmosphere. Poseidon could feel the pressure of Zeus’s immense strength beating down upon him. But, Poseidon wasn’t without great power of his own. He was one of the few gods who could withstand the power that Zeus’s body contained when he was like this. When he was unrestrained as he currently was.

Poseidon went to greet his brother but before he could reach him a shape flew out of nowhere, lightning fast and collided with Zeus. The impact caused a shockwave to ripple through the air around them. They went spinning back in the air, coming to a halt several dozen feet from the collision site.

Poseidon knew that figure. Cronus. This was to be it then. The war would soon be over, one way or another.

As Poseidon watched the two combatants fighting for supremacy, Hades’ joined him. He said nothing, watching the battle above them as Poseidon did.

They did not go to his aid. Zeus had given instructions not to interfere once he engaged Cronus.

Above them Zeus was bleeding from a wound to his shoulder, Cronus dripping blood from a gash to his cheek. They were evenly matched, father and son, neither having the clear upper hand.

As Poseidon watched his brother and father fighting to the death, Zeus whipped his forged lightning bolt around at Cronus’s head, the blow glancing off the other man’s helmet. Cronus retaliated by punching Zeus in the ribs, the crack audible as one of Zeus’s ribs gave way under the force. 

They separated for a moment, Zeus fingering his broken rib. It was a minor injury, it would be healed within the hour. 

“Just give up father, you’re not fit to rule and you know it. Don’t make me kill you.”

Cronus gritted his teeth in answer and lunged at Zeus, swinging his sword. Zeus dodged to the left, swinging his bolt around to the right, scoring a hit along Cronus’s side as he swept past.

Cronus turned around and looked at Zeus, hate in his eyes. “I should have swallowed you just like the others. If it wasn’t for your scheming bitch of a mother you would all be imprisoned for eternity, like you deserve. I’ll kill her after I’m done with you.”

Zeus raised his hand to the heavens and called down lightning. As the power in his hand grew and grew he thrust his hand at Cronus and directed all the deadly energy contained within his palm at his father. Cronus blocked the energy flying at his face but he failed to see Zeus lunging at him with his lightning bolt pointed directly for his heart.

Cronus realised too late, Zeus plunging his weapon directly through his fathers’ armour and into his black heart. With a wrenching sound, Zeus tore his bolt from his chest, blood seeping over Cronus’s armour. The ruby red of his blood coating the golden leather. 

Shock painted Cronus’s face, incomprehension at what had just happened clear in his eyes. He looked down at the gaping bloody wound in his chest. “No,” He said quietly, disbelief clear in his voice, “it cannot be.”

Dismissing his lightning bolt, Zeus raised both hands to the heavens. Calling down lightning again he thrust his hands towards his father. The immense bolt struck Cronus directly in the chest, flinging him towards the ground at an awesome pace. Cronus smashed into the ground with such force that the nearby mountain rumbled in protest. A huge dust cloud was spreading around the impact site, obscuring the earth from their view.

When the dust finally settled there was no sign of Cronus. The only indication that he had fallen to the ground was a large crater-like indentation in the earth, as though a giant had scooped the ground out from under them. 

“Where did you send him?” Poseidon directed the question at his brother. 


It was a moment before Zeus answered. “Tartarus. He can rot there for the rest of eternity.”

Poseidon nodded. Cronus would recover from his injuries eventually. Tartarus would guarantee that he could not scourge the earth with his rage again. It was no less than he deserved.

“Come, Cronus will not spend eternity in Tartarus alone. I plan on hunting down the rest of the Titans and making sure they join him.” Zeus flew towards the ground, leaving Poseidon and Hades floating above the battle alone.

“There will be repercussions from this brother.” Hades sounded grim.

“Yes.” There was nothing else to say. They would deal with them as they came.