Page 216 of Styx

This war had aged him. He was no longer

the God-King’s second-in-command

who threw lush feasts, but a worn father

watching his sons be felled.

His voice, once deep, rich, and vibrant,

now sounded old, ancient, the smallest

of tremors behind each of his words.

‘Children,’ he began, the word coated

with a sadness as he looked around.

I followed his gaze. All around us were

tired Potamoi, some being held up by Oceanids,

others slouched on the floor, unable to stand.

Pain, an unfamiliar feeling to most Gods,

had become a familiar refrain here.

Their weary spirits were broken.

I had heard my sisters speak of how it was now

taking longer and longer for them to heal.

Even to my own heart, which had turned cold

after the cruel treatment of my siblings,

I found the sight painful to behold.

I looked back to my father as he seemed

to struggle to find his words.

‘This has been an extensive, brutal war.

The first and only one of its kind.

For a long time, I thought

that due to our numbers alone,

we would defeat these new Gods,

that they would fall quickly.

After all, these realms have always

been Titan realms.