Beyond Hades: The Prometheus Wars (24 page)

"Your people are called Olympians?" interjected Talbot.

"Of course," replied Zeus. "Our world is Olympia, what would you expect us to be called?" He chuckled lightly. Talbot felt himself reddening and decided he should just shut his mouth and listen.

"As I was saying," continued Zeus, no hint of rebuke in his tone. "Hades named the new world after himself, but soon realized it was a truly wretched realm. Without the consent of the council, he constructed another gate, into a new world; a land called Tartarus.

"Tartarus was populated by creatures like Briareus who escorted you here. Unfortunately, he is one of the few benevolent creatures from this place. Soon evil flooded through the gate Hades built and invaded his world. In a move of colossal stupidity and arrogance, Hades constructed a primitive gate, which linked into the Syrpeas Gate, in an attempt to flee straight back to Olympia. This fractured the other gates - opening cracks between the dimensions which threatened to destroy us all. As you must know by now, if any gates are left open for an extended period they will expand beyond the constraints placed upon them, consuming everything."

Talbot nodded.

"We managed to place defensive measures on these cracks and alternate gates, but the Syrpeas Gate would not close or maintain our defensive measures. Soon a myriad of horrors were unleashed upon your world and I - as leader of my race - interjected in an attempt to stop these creatures from destroying your planet. That war ended three years ago by our time, and cost us dearly.

"Now your race has blindly reopened the Syrpeas Gate, and it has linked into Tartarus. This has also fractured many of our defenses, allowing beasts to appear in Olympia. We are unable to fight another war - my race was almost annihilated during the last one, but we felt obliged to undo what we had begun. We managed to close all the gates, sinking the entire city of Atlantis beneath the ocean in an attempt to hide the Syrpeas Gate from your people's future meddling. The secondary gate was created in case we ever had to return to your world, but an enormous sealing stone was placed atop its entrance. Only one versed in the talents of the Elder-tongue could decipher the riddle of the cave which we disguised as local artwork.

"We fought the war last time, but we cannot do so again. This time it was not our fault... at least not directly."

Talbot noticed now how drained Zeus looked. When first confronted with the being he knew as a god, Talbot had been blinded. Now he saw a man. Zeus was descended from an incredibly developed race, but he was a man nonetheless. He had surely witnessed horrors beyond imagining, and Talbot could tell much remained of his tale, but for now he simply tried to grasp what Zeus had already imparted. This was how the legends had been created.

"What can we do?" asked Talbot.

"There is very little aid I can offer besides our knowledge. Our weaponry will help you somewhat, but the only way is to go beyond Hades, into Tartarus and close the gate."

"Well that's real fucking helpful," interrupted a familiar voice from behind Talbot.

Zeus looked up calmly, but Talbot spun around excitedly to see Wes, his familiar cocksure expression in place, his M4A5 aimed directly at Zeus. "Can you at least give us a lift back down that fucking mountain?" asked the commando, his aim never wavering. "I think I pulled a hamstring on my way up."

Talbot forgot himself and before he knew it he'd rushed over, grabbing Wes in a mighty bear hug before being pushed roughly aside by the Australian, who still aimed his gun directly at Zeus. "Get off me, ya poof!" he barked. "Who's this dickhead?" He indicated Zeus.

"I am not your enemy," said Zeus calmly. "You may lower your weapon."

"Yeah, well excuse me if that don't make me all warm and fuzzy inside, buddy, but I don't answer to you."

"Your name is Wesley Hammond Smith. You were born in Queensland, Australia in the not-too-distant future. You joined the Australian Special Air Service in an attempt to silence the demons from your past -"

"ENOUGH!!!" roared Wes, storming forward until the barrel of his gun was pressed against Zeus's cheek. "How do you know that stuff?"

"I am known among my people as a conduit of knowledge. When I am within range of others I can pick up surface thoughts. This is why I was chosen to lead my people."

"You better stay out of my fucking head, or I'll empty yours," grunted Wes, the end of his barrel still pressed tightly to Zeus's cheek.

"I merely wanted to make a point," replied Zeus calmly. "If I wanted to, I could make you put that weapon in your mouth and pull the trigger, but I haven't. I am your friend, Wes. You need to believe me in this. There are enough enemies out there for you to battle; you don't need to fight your friends as well."

Wes gazed into Zeus's eyes a moment longer before dropping his gun. "Fair enough!" he said chirpily with a grin, and Talbot shook his head in wonder. What was it he'd thought about the SAS before? At least a
little
insane?

"So what's going on?" Wes asked Talbot.

"Zeus here -" began Talbot.

"You mean like Greek-god Zeus?" interrupted Wes.

"Yeah."

"Hmm. Cool," said Wes, appraising Zeus once more.

Talbot grinned despite himself. "Well Zeus was just saying that we're practically on our own for the fight ahead. They're still recovering from the last war and need to protect their own borders from the creatures of Tartarus."

"What's a Tartarus? Isn't that what Doctor Who travelled around in; you know the telephone box with the flashing blue light on top of it?"

Talbot suppressed a sigh and swiftly explained everything to Wes, though he suspected the SAS commando already understood more than he let on. Talbot got the impression that behind Wes's nonplussed expressions and smartass statements hid a man with a very high intellect - how else could he have piloted that damn ship?

At the end of the tale, Wes merely nodded. "So," he said, locking Zeus with a steely gaze, "you guys are gonna be no help then? Fine. Can you at least get us into Tartarus? Our doorway got fucked up when that fucking Minotaur cut loose in Atlantis and the second gate kinda... well... a pyramid fell on it."

Talbot cringed, but glancing over at Zeus he was surprised to see the man of legend grinning. "We can indeed get you there, Wes," said Zeus. "And we can offer some assistance. I see you already carry a sword of Olympia; Chiron's if I recognize the inscriptions." Wes drew out the blade so Zeus could see it more clearly. The older man - Talbot no longer fooled himself with the notion he was a god - peered at the blade and nodded. "Yes, that is Chiron's blade. It's a rather unique weapon, even among those of Olympia. It has almost twice as much power as an ordinary Olympian sword. You were fortunate to acquire it - it has no equal in this world."

"Chiron threw it to us with the last of his strength." Wes gazed down at the blade reverently.

"You are indeed lucky; doubly so because it is one of only three weapons strong enough to be capable of destroying a rift gate. The other two were lost during the war."

Zeus's face momentarily took on a troubled, introspective expression, but quickly dismissed it. "But I spoke to you of other aid." He paused. "While we cannot go to war with the realm of Tartarus, we
are
able to provide you with some assistance." The doors were roughly opened and a legend entered the room.

Standing some seven feet tall, the width of the man's shoulders was huge, as were the muscles bulging beneath his tent-like sleeveless shirt. His dark hair was cut short, and Talbot noticed several scars across his exposed arms, and a couple marking his face, though none so deep as to take away from the dark swarthiness of his features. Every inch of the colossal man radiated the command of a warrior; from the narrow gaze which seemed to take in every single aspect of the room, to the balanced stance he held.

Even before Zeus spoke, Talbot had his suspicions of who this man was.

"This is my son," said Zeus. "His name is Heracles."

The name shot through Talbot, and he felt something akin to hero-worship leap up within him. More commonly known as Hercules, Talbot felt incredibly honored to be meeting the demigod....

But he wasn't a demigod.

Looking at him, Talbot understood how the stories of his might had emerged from the tales of ancient Greece. He looked every inch the fighting machine indicated in the myths, but now standing beside him, Talbot realized the truth: Heracles was merely a man; an incredibly powerful man from an advanced race of people, but still, just a man. Like Zeus, his father, their reputations had been blown to superhuman proportions by a people who had laid witness to the Olympians fighting off creatures from some hellish plane of existence. Of course they had become gods in the eyes of the ancient Greeks.

Talbot glanced at Wes, noting the gaze the commando fixed Heracles with.
It was
, thought Talbot,
like two fighting dogs coming face to face outside of the arena. Both sensed the skills and threat hidden within the other, but neither had yet been given a reason to attack
.

"Nice to meet you," said Talbot, stepping forward with his hand outstretched. He needed to break the tension between the two warriors before one snapped and did something foolish.

Heracles looked over Talbot's head, and Talbot glanced around just in time to see Zeus give him a small nod. The huge man gripped Talbot's hand in a palm the size of a shovel, and Talbot felt a strange sense of detachment as he gazed into the eyes of the man.

Talbot heard Wes chuckling and turned. "Fucking Hercules," said Wes. "
You're
Hercules?"

The enormous man frowned. "My name is
Heracles
, I know not who this one named Hercules is."

Something suddenly thundered within Talbot's mind. "How does Wes understand you?" he asked Zeus.

Zeus smiled slightly. "When he first entered the room, I entered his mind and allowed his brain to distinguish our words. It is not Elder-tongue such as what you possess, but it helps in situations such as this. We speak a version of what I'm assuming is the language you think of as Greek - in fact we were the ones who taught it to the ancestors of the people now living there."

Talbot was astonished at the revelation. Could this be why the Greek alphabet seemed so alien? He discarded the thought. It didn't matter right now. Turning to Heracles he asked, "How can you help us, Heracles?"

The enormous man wrenched his frowning countenance away from a grinning Wes, toward Talbot. "I have travelled the land of Hades before. I will act as your guide and protector up to the gates of Tartarus. My sword is much like that of Chiron's, though less powerful, and should provide some protection from the creatures now inhabiting the wasteland of Hades. Mortal weapons are unable to touch them, unless they penetrate the eyes."

Talbot turned toward Wes. "Can you handle that? He'll be a big help?"

"And if I can't?"

"Then we go on alone, and hope for the best," said Talbot.

Wes's expression immediately shifted, and his grin became much friendlier. "Sounds good!" he said, extending his hand to Heracles. "Any help you can give us would be shit hot."

Talbot glanced back at the warrior from legend, and saw his look of hostility slowly fade. He reached over and shook Wes's hand quickly, accompanying the gesture with a nod of his head.

Talbot turned back to Zeus. "What about Briareus? He'd be handy. He practically tore Typhoeus apart without even breaking a sweat." Wes looked at him quizzically, but Talbot ignored him.

Zeus shook his head sadly. "In order to release Briareus from Tartarus I had to seal off part of his more primitive instincts. They are now locked within his own mind. If Briareus were to return to that place - or even step foot outside of Olympia - it would risk destroying the part of him which can differentiate between right and wrong, and he would become a mindless beast once more."

"Fair enough," said Wes. "How about you give us some of the shit that made Hercules -"