43

To start with, nobody noticed the stirrings of the great monster as he emerged from the piles of corpses among the ruins of the battlefield. He was a Titan and not even the Gods would ever be able to understand how he managed to release himself from Tartarus and materialise on the scarred surface of the Elysian Fields.

He was at least twelve feet tall, with a huge horned head. His vampire-like, grey skinned face was crowded with long, thick teeth with razor-like points. His scary eyes were heavy with blood and pus. His strongly muscular hands were covered in coarse hair and his long yellow nails were as thick as horns. He moved secretly and quietly - but with surprising speed and subtlety - towards the Flame. If he could just get his hands on it, he would then be able to release the rest of the Titans from their eternal imprisonment.

Glory the Sphinx was the first to spot him and rose up to sound the alarm. Before she could make another move, he raised his hideous hand and froze her to the spot, immobilising her inside a mighty, creaking wall of ice.

Alerted by this sudden movement, Rebecca saw the Titan and ran bravely towards him, believing that Satan himself had emerged from Hell and was now planning to seize the Flame. In fact, she wasn’t completely wrong because the devil was the Titans’ own creation.

Attacking him from behind with a bloodcurdling war cry, she sliced deeply across his Achilles tendon with her sword. He let out a scream of surprise and anger but didn’t seem to feel any pain as he spun round to face his assailant. Rebecca had already danced to one side and was standing between the thief and the Flame, pointing her sword at him threateningly.

“Stay back!” she cried.

“What?” The Titan paused for a second, obviously puzzled that such a slight figure should have the effrontery to confront him so openly, and then he began to laugh, emitting a sound which tore the air like a knife, hurting the ears of all nearby as they swung round to see where it was coming from.

“How dare you, you little insect?” the Titan said as the laughter left him and the anger returned.

Seeing the situation Rebecca had gotten herself into, Turgoth ran across the battlefield towards her, trampling on corpses and splashing through lakes of blood.

“Rebecca!” he shouted. “Run!”

But Rebecca couldn’t hear him above the hissing breath of the angry Titan and the drumming of her own heartbeat as she charged forward and stabbed her crystal blade deep into his stomach, releasing a cloud of foul smelling vapour along with the ooze of thick, black blood. The Titan looked at her with a mixture of amusement and amazement.

“You are a brave girl,” he said, his malodorous breath almost choking her. “I wish I could have a few warriors like you in my troops. Has no one told you that we, the Titans, can’t die or be killed, unless by the hand of a God? You are so brave and so pretty, it’s such a pity that I now have to kill you!”

He pulled Rebecca’s sword out of his body and hurled it aside, hitting out at her with the speed of light, his claws digging deep into her chest. She tasted the blood as it exploded in her mouth and she felt her knees buckling beneath her as she sank to the ground and struggled to breathe, her eyes wide with shock.

“Nooooooo!” cried Turgoth as he scrambled to reach her in time.

At that moment, Zeus himself, having swelled to the size of the Titan, appeared from the Palace holding his thunderbolts, striking the Titan across the head and sending him reeling back from Rebecca’s lifeless body. Turgoth covered his eyes with his hand and stepped aside, allowing Zeus to take over. As the Titan tried to retaliate, Zeus launched another bolt on him and the crack of electricity and thunder brought the other Gods running to the scene. Athena hurled a spear, which penetrated below the Titan’s shoulder, while Hercules ran up, whirling his club round and round, bringing it down hard on the Titan’s head and splitting his skull. The Titan dropped to his knees, spitting hellfire from his hideous mouth in an attempt to drive the Gods back. Athena raised her shield to protect them all, allowing Poseidon the chance to send out a wave of water, which turned the fire into a hissing, harmless cloud of angry steam. Apollo drew his sword and sliced the Titan’s head off, sending it flying onto a pile of demon corpses. At that moment, the wall of ice holding Glory turned to a torrent of water, freeing her from her prison.

It had taken the combined powers of five Gods to defeat one Titan.

Turgoth ran to Rebecca and fell to his knees, holding her in his arms and placing her head on his lap, his eyes full of tears.

“Please... please wake up... don’t die... don’t leave me... please!”

Goddess Athena, having once again returned to human size, approached him. “I don’t think there is much you can do for her anymore, King Turgoth.”

“No... no, this can’t be happening,” Turgoth cried, clinging to his long lost soulmate, kissing her hair.

A crowd had gathered around them. Julius was ashen-faced, staring in a state of a shock. Lord Life was holding Lady Danae close, while Felicia cried into Leiko’s arms. Even the Minotaur’s cheeks were wet with tears.

“She gave her life for the Flame and for the Elysian Fields,” Zeus pronounced. “Had it not been for her delaying the Titan, he would have succeeded in freeing his brothers and sisters and disaster would have been unavoidable. She must, therefore, be given a chance. Apollo!”

Knowing what was expected of him, Apollo approached the Flame, grasped some of it in his hand and carried it to Rebecca. Lifting her head from Turgoth’s arms, he bent down and gently blew the Flame in between her parted lips. Rebecca coughed and spat blood. Her breathing had started again but her eyes remained tightly shut as if she would never again wake up.

“Take her quickly to the Land of the White Sun,” Zeus said. “She might still die and we won’t be able to bring her back again if it happens here. But if she dies there, then she will have gained a place back here in the Elysian Fields. Get moving, there is no time to waste.”

“Thank you, oh mighty Zeus,” Turgoth said, putting his arm round Julius’s shoulders as they both started to sob like children. “Thank you, Apollo. Thank you all.”

Pegasus was summoned and Bull lifted Rebecca like a rag doll, climbing up between the horse’s wings with her in his arms.

“Go!” Zeus commanded. “The war is over and the shields have already been removed.”

Pegasus lifted off into the skies, carrying Bull and his precious cargo.