Page 220 of Styx

unable to understand what he had done wrong.

‘I cannot understand why Oceanus

would do this. Without his support,

without the Potamoi, this war is lost!’

I ran my hand through Kratos’s

thick curls, so like his father’s.

‘Perhaps he has finally learned

that his children are more than just weapons.’

Pallas paused and stared at me.

‘Styx. Your father treating his children

with value. Do not make me laugh.’

This stung, even though it was the truth.

My parents had seen their countless children

as a way to make themselves more powerful.

But it did not change the fact that they were our parents.

And war changes us all. My father looked older.

Gods should never age, and yet he had

from watching children suffer.

‘Do you not think it possible

that all these years of seeing

his children being injured may have

turned him into a kinder God, who longs

for peace for his own family?’

Pallas Finally Stopped Pacing

and approached me on the bed.

He gently touched Kratos’s watchful face.

‘I know you wish to believe that, Styx,’

he said sorrowfully to me.

‘But I think your father is wily enough

to understand we are losing this war.