I was about to center myself and see if my nine-pointed star could help me end this battle—as it had with Ragnarok—when Hades stepped past me with a horrified look on his face and distracted me.
“Is that Nyx?” Hades asked.
“It is!” Persephone shouted. “And there are more Greeks with her!”
“Shut the fuck door!” Morpheus cried out as he pointed. “What is Nyx doing with Mot?”
“That's Mot?” I asked as I followed Morph's finger to a winged couple. “And Nyx has wings? I didn't know that Nyx has wings. They're really pretty too,” I grumbled.
A shout broke through my musings, and we all jerked around as the sound ended abruptly and a screaming began. The thud of a head falling to the floor came next, and we all stared in shocked horror at the decapitated corpse of a man. Both pieces of the corpse bled heavily across Sekhmet's lovely carpet.
“What the fuck just happened?” Finn asked. “And who the hell is that?”
“Underworld, not Hell,” Hades snarled. “That's Thanatos... or it was, rather.”
“He just tried to kill me,” Toby whispered as he stared at Sekhmet with wide eyes. “And Sekhmet saved my life.”
We all looked at Sekhmet; who stood over Thanatos' body with a nasty looking short sword in her hand. She was shaking—with fury or fear, I couldn't tell—and her long curls were hanging wild about her. She looked every inch the avenging goddess.
Sekhmet lifted her steady gaze to her father and asked calmly, “Do you believe me now?”
Re gaped at Sekhmet and then at Thanatos.
“Where's Macaria?” Hades growled suddenly.
“It looks as if I'm not the rebellious daughter this time,” Sekhmet pointed toward Dvārakā with her sword.
Macaria was standing on one of the tower balconies with Marzana. She stared grimly at her father as Mot and Nyx flew up to stand beside the women. Nyx put an arm around her daughter's shoulders and smiled smugly. Yes, even from that distance, we could all see her contempt.
“No!” Hades roared as fire burst from his palms. “No! I will burn you back to Tartarus, you traitorous bitch!”
Persephone calmly went to her husband and slapped him across the face. Hades blinked in surprise.
“Fall apart later, Sizzle-Butt,” Sephy said. “Right now, we need to handle this. Take another look”—she pointed at the battle—“there are more Greeks out there; on both sides. We need to help our allies put Dvārakā back where it belongs.”
Hades stared out at the battle, and the rest of us looked along with him. Sure enough, there were Greek gods both defending the city and attacking it. I saw Athena flying a damn pegasus through the sky as she threw energy spears at other Greeks, who in turn shot arrows at her. The Greeks were coming through for me already; though this appeared to be as much their battle as it was mine... and Hades'. The Lord of the Underworld cracked his neck and started for the beach without another word. We all began to follow Hades to the shore—Sekhmet and Bast included—but Re stopped his daughters.
“I don't have time to make amends now, but I'm sorry. I'm deeply sorry for doubting both of you,” Re said. “Now, Bast, keep your sister safe.”
Re started to turn away, but Sekhmet grabbed his arm.
“That's not fucking good enough,” she growled. “Give me my magic back and let me help you win this war, Father. This is what I do best and it's time for me to make amends as well. I deserve this chance to clean the slate.”
Re looked at me and Kirill. I stared at Kirill. Kirill sighed and nodded. With a quick movement, Re turned back to his daughter and took her face within his hands. Light burst from Re's palms and sank into Sekhmet. She gasped as the magic poured through her body; raising her tawny hair as if she were filled with electricity. Then Sekhmet—the Warrior Goddess of Lions—lifted her head and roared.
“Welcome back, Lady of Slaughter,” Re intoned with grave sincerity. “Mistress of Dread. She Who Mauls.” Re kissed Sekhmet's cheek sweetly and whispered, “Daughter.”
Sekhmet's eyes filled with tears but the moisture burned away in the fire of her gaze. She smiled with deep satisfaction and took a deep breath before she looked at Bast. “Shall we, Sister?”
Bast flung her arms out and claws extended from her fingers. Her eyes slanted and started to glow. “Let's show these gods what folly it is to mess with the Egyptians.”
The Egyptian goddesses went to join Hades at the shore, and the rest of our group followed. But when we got to the beach, I stood to the side, closed my eyes, and attempted—once more—to reach my star. I frowned as the shimmering energy flared but then flickered out.
“Come on,” I growled. “I'm giving you a direction; I want this war ended and Dvārakā back beneath the waves. Help me.”
Nothing happened.
“Your star is not listening?” Kirill asked.
“It's listening; it's just not helping.” I sighed as I stared across the ocean. “This must be something that needs to happen; the star won't intervene. We're going to have to do this one old school.”
Hades headed for the sea while Odin, Thor, Brahma, and Horus spread out to begin their attacks. But then one of the Hindu flying chariots swept down onto the beach and landed before Hades. Krishna opened the side door and stepped out.
“Need a ride?” Krishna asked with a smirk.
“Kris, what are you doing here?” Karni-Mata asked in shock.
“This is my mess, and I intend to clean it up,” Krishna said. “Now, get in!”
We piled into the chariot. It looked like the top of a tower; a circular base with pillars bordering it and a conical roof for cover. A railing kept everyone in, but there were no seats; only a steering column in
