Page 244 of Styx

Their leader, Perses, has already

been taken down and tied to the side of the cavern.’

He pointed to the marble floors

of Olympus. As we watched,

a strange thing happened.

Tendrils of gold rose from inside

the marble, and like ivy,

began to take over the floor.

‘Each Titan God who stood against me,’

Zeus said coldly. ‘Their ichor

will be used to turn this mountain into gold.’

My Chest Felt Hollow

Under our feet,

the blood of Perses was turning

the white marble floors of Olympus

into ichor gold. A reminder

of everything we had lost.

I turned to look at Pallas.

His eyes were closed in pain,

his jaw clenched tight.

I reached for his hand, but he flinched.

I knew he blamed me for this.

But this would have been our sons’ fates,

his fate too. Could he not see that?

I did what I could to save them all.

But Zeus was not finished.

He turned to those of us gathered.

‘As for the Titanides, the wives

and daughters of these Titans’ –

he paused to look at his brother