13

Emerson shook Keith for a few more seconds and when he didn't respond or wake up, Mason put a finger on his neck to check for his pulse.

His eyes widened, and he pulled back.

"No." Emerson's voice trembled. "No. He's not-he's not dead."

Owen slid next to her. "Keith! Come on, please say something!"

"It's no use!" Mason growled, getting to his feet. "He's dead!" he reached into his boots and pulled out throwing knives.

He threw them all at Blade, who dodged them easily.

"What did you do to him!" Mason growled.

Blade didn't respond and looked toward Keith who was starting to stir.

"Keith?" Emerson reached a hand toward him. "Keith are you-?"

Keith jerked upright, knocking her over. Emerson gasped and backed away.

Keith's skin was pale with black veins all over his arms and face, his eyes were so black, Emerson couldn't see her reflection in them. His hair was no longer black but grey.

Mason gasped. "What did you do?"

"Keith, destroy them."

Emerson didn't have time to get to her feet when Keith grabbed her by the ankle and threw her across the room, he grabbed Mason by his shirt and threw him into the wall.

Owen was still crouched in front of him.

"OWEN!" Emerson shouted. "Move!"

She saw Owen slowly get to his feet and say something to Keith who stared at him. After a moment, Emerson realized what he was trying to do.

He thought he could get him back. "OWEN!"

Keith pounced and pulled a blade from his boot. He sliced Owen across the neck and then kicked him to the side.

Blade laughed and snapped his fingers. "Come, I've got what I needed. Let us depart."

All the creatures, Blade, and Keith disappeared. Emerson raced toward Owen, who was hacking and coughing.

Mason crouched on his other side and started muttering a spell.

"D-Don't bother Mason." Owen wheezed. "Keith-Keith is still…in there. I-I loved him. L-Like a brother."

Emerson shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No. No. Owen, you are not dying on me. I will kill you."

Owen looked over at her a chuckled.

"Mason, why isn't the spell working?"

"His blade must've had the same dark magic on it. Emerson, I'm trying my best!" Mason ran his finger through his hair. "The black magic seems to be repelling my spells."

Owen started twitching and then foaming at the mouth. Then after a moment, he went still.

Emerson covered her mouth to hold back a scream.

The rest of their friends gathered around them. No one said anything for a moment.

"I can't believe Keith would do something like this." Xander growled. "Where is he?"

Emerson sniffled. "It wasn't Keith."

"So, what, the Keith we saw was a hologram?" Xander snapped. "He just killed him without even thinking twice."

"Blade was controlling him, Xander. If you want to be mad at someone, it's Blade. Keith has no control over his actions." Mason snarled, getting to his feet.

Zeus approached them and stared down at Owen's body. He reached down and closed his eyes. "We need a shroud for Owen Pratt, son of Dionysus."

***

After Caleb and the rest of the prisoners were taken from the cave they were thrown into a dungeon on a ship.

Nola's parents were trembling with terror. Caleb was sure that when they returned to earth they were going to need some serious counseling.

Mortal people can process magical things well so there's no telling what they see when they look at Kronos. Maybe a bear or something.

"So who's the guy with the long beard? Is he bad?" their son asked, messing with the chains on his ankle.

"How can you-?"

"See him? I dunno. My parents were over here muttering about a group of bears that captured us. I'm Liam."

Caleb nodded. "Pleasure. Caleb."

The chains clinked as they fell from Liam's ankles. He stood and walked toward Caleb. He started working on the chains on his wrists. "So, who's the guy that captured us?"

"Kronos. He's trying to find his weapons so that he can destroy Olympus and the world." Caleb shook the chains off. "Me and my friends are trying to find them before he does."

"Are they demigods too?"

Caleb blinked.

"I heard the creepy fellow in the cloak call you that. Can I help?"

"No." Caleb got to his feet. "I don't want to put you in danger and then have your family blame me if you get hurt. Besides, it'll look less suspicious if I escaped."

Liam glared at him. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions. And you don't even know where the weapons are located, do you?"

"And you do?"

"Yes. Nola told me."

Caleb groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. He glanced over at his parents and grunted. "Fine, but if you get stabbed or something, don't come crying to me."

"Don't worry about me. My charms keep me out of trouble."

Caleb squinted his eyes and saw that Liam had dark skin, light brown eyes, and black hair. His clothes were tattered and dirty.

"Charm, uh? More like arrogance."

Caleb grabbed Liam's hand, pulling him into the shadows and they disappeared.