The Flames of Hope Ch 23

Chapter 23~Round One, Fight!
We all began climbing up the mountain after parking the car in one of the guest parking lots. Before long, we found the path leading to the more mythological aspects of the mountain that regular humans never saw. The only time I was worried was when we passed the Garden of the Hesperides. There were forbidden from leaving the garden under any circumstances, but when we walked toward the garden, Ladon’s numerous heads have us a small bow and he didn’t leave the tree to attack us and most likely wouldn’t unless we went for one of the golden apples. I sometimes wondered what made them so valuable as a golden apple in my opinion would taste horrible. However, I didn’t have time to think about that and we continued on our way. As we got closer we heard the moans of someone holding up the sky. The figure was large and counseled in shadow as the morning light still hadn’t filled the room. Eventually as we walked, the morning sun rose enough to show the Titan’s face, but it wasn’t the face we were expecting.

“Bob, what are you doing here?” Will asked the figure who only looked up for a second before looking back down on the floor in pain. Before anyone could figure out what had happened, several Earthborn sprung from the ground under our feet and grabbed us, making us unable to more or even grab our weapons. Then, we heard a slow clapping sound as a large muscular man walked into the morning light from his corner of the room.

“Well, it seems you demigods have fallen right into our little trap,” said the main, which I identified as Atlas. “It wasn’t even that hard.”

“Let us go,” I told him. “We’re kind of on a mission to save the world and we came for your help.”

“I am aware of that, but Leiomenos made a deal with me to not help you, so you see we are at an impasse,” Atlas joked as he walked around the room and looked at us.

“What’s Bob doing here?!” Will asked, which was something I also wanted to know.

“Oh, you mean Iapetus? Well, as you know only a willing person may take it and only a Titan can bear the weight of the sky. All Leiomenos had to do was change into the shape of Hades and ask him to do a small favor. Iapetus gladly agreed and here we are. As the second part of our agreement, I simply have to keep you out of his hair until he defeats Zeus, which should be within the next few hours,” Atlas said and it sounded like he was rolling around in his own words. I struggled against my bonds, but found the Earthborn to be too strong for me. I thought maybe Will, Rose, or Cacnea could break free by using the earth to grow plants, but the Earthborn holding them were covered in thick metal armor, preventing that from happening.

“Now I think I’ll start picking you apart one at a time while the rest of you watch,” Atlas said before pointing to Sarah who had a large expression of fear on her face. “Starting with you. Don’t worry, I’ll make it as painless as possible.”

As he walked over to her, we all began yelling in protest and trying to wiggle against our captures, but nothing seemed to be working. Sammy seemed to be thrashing about to little effect. Atlas placed his large fingers under her chin as if he wanted to get a good look on her face before he killed her.

“You are a sweet little thing, aren’t you? All the more reason to break you now so you don’t have to live the rest of your life in pain and suffering,” he taunted.

“Leave her alone!” Sammy yelled as he pushed against his capture and the stone arms of the Earthborn turned to rubble as he pushed his arms outward. I thought maybe he got his sword out or something, but he was fighting with his bare hands. He then turned around and punched the Earthborn square in the chest sending it flying across the room. When it hit the wall, it exploded into a pile of dust.

“What is going on here?!” Atlas yelled and then a bright light flashed across the room, but eventually the light lessened and appeared over Sammy’s head.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Ruff and Tuff said in unison and I kind of had to agree with them. Floating above his head was a holographic image of a dumbbell, which I assumed was the symbol of the god Heracles. Sammy looked at his hands in disbelief as if he didn’t understand what just happened as he looked up at the hologram over his head.

“I will destroy you!” Atlas said and he went charging at him. Sammy finally came out of his stupor and raised his hands to defend himself. Atlas punched straight down, but Sammy lifted both hands to defend himself. When the Titan’s fist made contact, Sammy was pushed into the ground as the force of the impact made a giant crater. Sammy however grabbed the large fist and lifted Atlas into the air before chucking him across the room.

“Sammy, hurry up and free us!” Megan yelled to him. He ran over to us and started punching out the Earthborn and turning them into piles of rubble.

“Good job,” Gear said as he patted Sammy on the back. “Hey, I just got a wicked cool idea. Give me your sword for a second.”

Sammy did as he was told hand handed the sword over. Gear focused for a second and the metal began to bend and fold until they took on the shape of a pair of fists with small spikes at the knuckles.

“Here, try these on,” Gear said and when Sammy put them on, they seemed to fit perfectly. He punched his fists together and sparks seemed to fly due to the force of the impact.

“See, didn’t I say you would be claimed. Happy birthday Sam,” I said as I placed a hand around his shoulder.

“Yes, happy birthday indeed,” came the voice of Atlas as he pulled himself from the wall Sam had tossed him into. He brushed off his shoulders and a few rocks and dust went sailing into the air. “Alright kid, round two.”

Darkcloud1111 ~Fastest Hero Alive