“What the hell?” Luca asked, as they stood in the doorway marveling at the sight beyond.

  Max was hammering away at the mighty anvil with Vulcan’s hammer, and the god was sitting nearby, overseeing the work. It was cold out, but the old veteran was stripped down to a filthy vest and dripping with sweat. His skin was black from working at the forge for so long. With each strike of the hammer, a thunderous chime rang out across the valley, the likes of which neither of them had ever heard.

  “We slept through that?”

  “I guess,” replied Luca as they pulled on their jackets and stepped out to the cool brisk morning air.

  “Good morning!” Aaron yelled as they approached.

  “Morning!” Max answered back as he continued to hammer away.

  He tossed a sword down into a pile with a couple of dozen more, and cuirasses like the one Thanatos wore.

  “You made all this?”

  “Damn right, I did, Luca.”

  “What time did you hit the sack?” Aaron asked.

  “I didn’t.”

  “You worked through the night on this?”

  “Yes, they did.” Grace was sitting on the step of the porch with a mug of coffee. She looked sleep deprived.

  “I’ve not felt this young since I was in uniform!” Max called out excitedly.

  They were shocked on seeing him struggle to lift the mighty hammer with each blow.

  They looked down at the weapons to see all kinds of creations. Straight blades, curved blades, single, and double-edged. Some even raked forward like a sickle. No two were the same.

  “This is legit, Vulcan? They’ll do the job?”

  “Yes, Aaron. I didn’t believe it was so. I was told only my hand could forge the weapons of Olympus.”

  “I guess we were told a lot of things that weren’t true.” Thanatos joined them.

  Vulcan shot up despite his pain, as embarrassed to be sitting it out as a mortal did the work.

  “Take it easy. You’ve got to heal up,” insisted Thanatos.

  “Do you think they’ll show up?” Luca asked, thinking back to the group they’d met the evening before.

  “God, I hope so. Because we can’t do this alone,” replied Aaron.

  Max stopped hammering away as he took a breather. He stepped back to wipe his brow and marvel at all he had achieved, but that revealed the engine sound of an approaching vehicle. Aaron felt a flood of emotion soar through his body.

  They’ve come.

  It was a relief, but only a single vehicle pulled into view. Theodosia was in the passenger seat with one of her crew driving. His shoulders slumped as he began to give up hope. She was coming to see what soldiers they had amassed for the fight to come, and he had nothing to show for it.

  “They know how to find us, right?” Luca began to have doubts, too.

  “Sure do,” he replied, trying to sound confident.

  Theodosia climbed out of the vehicle and looked around, as if to see who else was there, and expecting to see others.

  “Where are they?”

  Aaron shrugged. “They said they’d be here.”

  “All that time you had, and you didn’t recruit a single fighter to join us?”

  He didn’t know what to say as she looked down on him with disappointment, but that soon turned to a wicked smile, and he soon knew why. He could hear vehicles in the distance.

  “You didn’t, Theodosia?”

  She laughed, “We’re at war, so we can’t have a little fun?”

  Five vehicles pulled in from the track, all SUVs and pickups, and loaded with familiar faces. At their head was a Ram driven by Ava. A vehicle he knew she didn’t own. She was the first out and had clearly led the group there.

  “You told them to wait out there, didn’t you?” Thanatos asked Theodosia.

  She smiled, and that told him everything.

  “Interesting place,” said Ava.

  “I didn’t think you were gonna come.”

  “I said I would, Aaron.”

  “People say a lot of things, and don’t mean it. Where did you get the truck?”

  “From my brother.”

  “Really? And he’s cool with that?”

  “Not really, but so long as I don’t scratch it, it’ll be fine.”

  As the other vehicles pulled up, all the doors opened, and fighters poured out to join them. Everyone who’d stayed the night before, except the cops.

  “Marlon, he’s not coming?”

  “He’s with us, but we need them in the city right now. We need you guys for something very different.”

  The group massed together. Some carried firearms, and others had swords. The sharps they used for real world testing. It was appreciated, but they still had little understanding of what they were getting themselves into. Everyone looked to Aaron for leadership, as he was the one who’d brought them there. He looked to Theodosia and Thanatos, but they were happy for him to get things started.

  “Please, gather around!”

  He went to climb up onto the hood of the armored vehicle they had first arrived in, only to find the gaping hole in the front. He looked about to see much of the bodywork had been cut away. He looked over to Max Carter in amazement and finally climbed up address the crowd. A couple of dozen were standing before him. It seemed like a solid force to be reckoned with, yet he had an idea of what they faced, and it didn’t seem enough.

  Many of them were marveling at the forge and the hulking smith beside it, assuming he’d done all the work, as they looked in awe at the weaponry next to it. Many of them had seen a smithy’s forge before, but nothing like this.

  “Thank you all for coming. You have no idea what this means to me. I can honestly say I never in a hundred years expected to call on any of you to put your training into effect for real. That was never the reason I taught you. But I can say the same for myself. I’m a cop, and you know that, but that means nothing here. I’m not here as a police officer. The NYPD has no knowledge of what we’re doing here. The officers you encountered last night are helping on the side. So before we start, do you have any questions?”

  “Only, like a million,” said Ava.

  “All right, start from the top, and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “You want us to fight, but really, against what?”

  Grunts of approval rang out from many others.

  “We’re fighting gods, and their minions, some immortal, some mortal. And some are human like the rest of us.”

  “And we need to use swords for that?”

  “To kill the immortals, yes. Firearms will piss them off, and even knock them down if you do it right, but this is a fight that’ll be decided with blades.”

  “You want us to fight gods? Really?”

  It was a lot to take in, and he understood that, but he was glad to see they were eager to learn. They’d seen the proof they needed now, but he didn’t even know where to start. Theodosia leapt up beside him.

  “I’ll do this,” she said. He thanked her and climbed off.

  “We’re fighting to stop Hades from reassembling a crown that will give him dominion over us all! I wish I had the time to explain all of this to you, but I don’t! This morning we heard that the last shard of the crown is close to being found. We’re running on borrowed time.”

  “Then don’t explain it, and tell us what you need!”

  Aaron looked appreciative of Ava’s straight talking, and Theodosia was happy to go on.

  “If we cannot stop Hades’ forces from recovering all of the shards, and so far, we haven’t been able to do that, then we have but once chance left. We know where the crowning of Hades is going to take place.”

  “How can you know that?”

  “Because it is prophesized.”

  “The location, really?”

  “Really, we’ve got this,” added Aaron.

  “We know where this is happening, but Hades has no idea we have that information. We have but one shot. It’s not a subtle plan, or a particularly well planned one, but it’s all we have,” replied Theodosia.

  “You still haven’t answered me. What do you need from us?”

  “We’re going to launch an assault on the crowning ceremony. It’s the only time and place we know the crown and Hades will be together. We will take the crown from him and defeat him in battle.”

  “A straight up fight, that’s your plan?”

  Aaron looked to Ava in surprise. Mikey rarely came out so boldly, but it was Theodosia that went on.

  “We have the element of surprise. We have the weapons to get the job done, and now we have you, the fighters we need.”

  “Sounds like suicide,” said one, “What’s stopping us walking away?”

  Theodosia handed them back to Aaron, and he climbed back onto the wreck.

  “Nothing at all. Nobody is here against their will. But why would you walk away? All of our lives will be affected by this, whether you do anything about it or not.”

  “But why us?”

  “Because you can fight!” Thanatos had been lurking in the background, and Aaron was glad to hand the reins over to him.

  “Immortals cannot be killed by anything but an Olympian weapon, or some other weapons not of mortal making.” He drew his blade.

  “With one of these weapons in hand, any one of you can kill an immortal, a god.”

  “So it’s that easy?”

  “I never said it would be easy.” He went over to Ava’s Ram and lifted the rear end off the ground with one arm.

  “Not all immortals have the strength of a god, but most will be stronger than you can imagine. Some will be as strong as I am, and some even more.”

  They gasped as he dropped the truck. It was an immense display of power that terrified many.

  “How are we supposed to beat others like you? This is crazy,” asked another.

  “I’m not asking you to wrestle with the gods. I’m asking you to fight them, with these, the weapons of Olympia. With one of these blades, you can make a difference. I’ve seen Aaron fight. I know what he’s capable of, and if you are even half as capable as he is, you have a chance in this battle.”

  “So, we’re really doing this? We’re actually going to fight for real?”

  “This is as weird to me as the rest of you, Mikey. I’ve just had a few more days for it to settle in. I know this is all freaking you out, but if you’d seen the things I’ve seen in the last few days....” Aaron tailed off, unable to find the words to explain it.

  “The cops? The Army? Why not call them?”

  “There’s no time. No time to explain it. No time to train them, and besides, the enemy has already gotten to the Police Commissioner. Once the lid is blown off this thing, maybe that can happen, but right now, this is something else. This is a war being fought out of sight. I told you that you could walk away. It’s not too late. But if you’re gonna stay, you’re just gonna have to trust us. I know it’s a lot to ask, and I know all of this is going to sound like some crazy dream. But it’s real, all of it. I wish it weren’t. I wish it had fallen on others’ shoulders, or that we’d at least had more time to do something. I don’t know why it has come to us. Maybe it was chance, or maybe it’s no coincidence at all that the best sword fighters in the city have been gathered to fight the good fight. Any questions?”

  “You said you needed us to fight, but with what?”

  Aaron smiled; he’d gotten over the largest of the hurdles. He’d once again gained their trust, but that much he knew was the case from the moment they’d arrived at the cabin. He went over to the pile of swords and picked up one shaped like a sica. A short blade that curved forward, the opposite to sabers that fencers like Ava favored.

  “With weapons like this, anything is possible. These are blades the likes of which you have never seen. With these, and your training, you have a chance against these immortals, and even the gods themselves.”

  “A chance?”

  “They’re still strong, Ava, and don’t assume they’re going to be easy to kill, but a blade forged by an Olympian will allow you to engage with them. It can take their blows, and if you can strike them home in return, you will end them.”

  “Immortals and gods? You’re saying we can defeat them, surely not?”

  It was a lot to take in, but Theodosia stepped in with more assurances.

  “The gods are not what most people would believe them to be. They’re not some all powerful being that can snap their fingers and create the Sun. You are in the presence of gods now. The gods are powerful, but not nearly as much as you think.”

  “With these weapons, anything is possible.” Aaron cut down against the wreck of the vehicle. The blade cut eight inches into the armored bumper and radiator cover with ease. Several gasped in awe at the display. Mikey couldn’t help but get a closer look.

  “This is hardened steel.”

  “Damn right, it is. Proof against almost anything you’ll ever see out there!”

  Max defended of his old truck, but he was soon shaking his head at the horror of seeing it stripped for parts, and cut up like it had been thrown on a range as a target.

  “No way any blade should get through this, nothing short of a cutting torch,” replied Mikey.

  “Like I told you, these are no ordinary weapons. They’re not of this world.”

  Aaron retrieved the blade with ease and handed it to Mikey. The blade glimmered like it was made of polished bronze, and yet it was harder than any steel. He held it before the wing of the vehicle, as if wanting to test it. He felt it to see how tough the armor really was.

  “Go for it,” said Aaron.

  He thrust the blade forward. Despite its oddly angled blade, it still penetrated the armor with relative ease. Mikey couldn’t believe it.

  “How, how is this possible?” He carefully studied the weapon once more.

  “You want to ask him, be my guest.” He pointed to Vulcan relaxing by his forge.

  “All of you; get a blade and armor. There’s plenty to go around, so you can have a pick at whatever suits you best.”

  They eagerly went for the mound of godly weapons and equipment, all except Ava.

  “Can I talk to you?” Ava whispered.

  She was reserved and anxious, and nothing like her normal self.

  “Sure, what is it?” They moved a few paces away to speak more privately.

  “Look at them. Just like when a new order of swords arrives at the club,” she said as she watched them excitedly paw at the gear.

  “Why wouldn’t they? This stuff is awesome.”

  “But this isn’t for fun anymore. You want them to do this for real. You’re asking them to risk their lives, possibly even give them up. I mean, do you have any idea how bad this is gonna get? You’re used to this. You fight crime, and you carry a gun every day. But most of us, we work at desks. We drive cars, work at hospitals…”

  He knew all of those things, and he’d tried to not let it get to him, but she kept pushing.

  “How can you ask this of them? You want them to go in to battle, to fight for real. To actually kill.”

  “Yes, I do,” he replied sternly.

  “That’s all you’ve got? How can you be okay with this?”

  “I’m not really, but believe me, I have no choice. This fight is coming to us whether we like it or not. At least this way we fight it on our terms, with people we trust and know we can rely on.”

  She still looked doubtful, and he could see there was more than that eating away at her.

  “Talk to me. Lay it out,” he declared softly.

  “I…I’ve never…never been in a real fight.”

  He smiled.

  “Until a few days ago, I’d never been in a real sword fight either. You know what you have to do. You may not have thought about it this way, but you’ve been training for this for years. More than most soldiers ever get before they go to war. More than a cop gets before they have to deal with hell on the streets. You’re ready for this.”

  She smiled, accepting what he had to say, even though she still looked terrified. But his own expression turned to a concerning frown as he heard the sound of a car engine revving as it approached. The engine was being gunned as they heard tires spun in the mud. He drew the sword from his side, pushed her back, and readied himself to fight.

  He didn’t even consider reaching for the pistol on his hip, for it hadn’t done a lot for him of late. A tired looking Honda Accord came into view. It was the last thing he expected to see as it slid back and forth, barely finding any traction. It still managed to go forward as it came into the clearing and slid to a halt, ditching in a bush.

  “Who in the hell is dumb enough to come here?” Max approached angrily with one of his newly forged blades in hand.

  “It’s okay.” Aaron put a hand out to stop Max going any further. He didn’t recognize the vehicle, yet he could tell whoever it was presented no threat, especially with the well-equipped army now at his back. The driver’s door creaked as it swung open, and a familiar face stepped out. It was Rick, smoking weed, as he lifted out a shotgun with a smile on his face.

  “Had a change of heart?” Aaron asked him as he approached.

  “It was a lot to think about, you know. Kind of threw a curveball in there, didn’t you?”

  “The kind that knocks you on your ass, sure, my friend.”

  “I’m sorry, Aaron. I acted like an asshat.”

  “You really want to do this, kid?”

  “It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do, is it? Hell, my Mom’s always telling me I gotta do something with my life, so now I’m doing something.”

  “Is that her car?”

  “It sure is, yep.”

  He didn’t bother asking if she knew he’d taken it. He already knew the answer.

  “What have you got there?” Max pushed past Aaron.

  Rick held up the shotgun as if expecting the old veteran to want to take a look, but he reached right past it, and snapped the cigarette right out of his mouth.