The higher we went, the more the storm pressed against us, and the more I realized just how small even gods could feel.
Then he landed.
The earth buckled beneath his weight, cracks splitting open and spilling molten light. Typhon's wings unfurled across the peak, a cathedral of storm stretched across the sky. His eyes glowed white as electricity sparked from them.
And Zeus—of course Zeus—did not hesitate.
"Finally!" His voice was half laugh, half battle cry as lightning devoured his form. He burst into his divine self: his body dissolving into clouds veined with lightning, hair sparking like a wildfire. He surged forward, hurling a thunderbolt that roared like the birth of a star.
It struck Typhon's chest, a crack that split the heavens in two. For a moment, I thought he might actually wound the beast.
But then I saw it.
The golden veins beneath Typhon's scales lit brighter, drinking in the lightning like a drunk swallowing wine. His body swelled, his roar deeper now, heavier, a vibration that rattled the marrow in my bones.
"Zeus!" I shouted, fury cutting through the storm. "You're feeding him!"
But Zeus didn't listen. He never did. He vanished into lightning and struck again, hammering Typhon's arm with another bolt, his form flashing from one side of the mountain to the other. Each strike only made the monster swell larger, scales glistening brighter, his presence heavier.
I grit my teeth. If Zeus was going to ruin us, then I'd just have to counter him.
I let go and entered my divine form.
I leapt, blade in hand. The longsword was a sliver of abyss, a line of nothing that hummed with hunger. I brought it down across Typhon's foreleg. Sparks flew, shadows and gold light colliding in a shriek that split the air. His blood hissed like molten iron, spraying across the stone as he reeled back.
"Now!" I roared.
Hera moved first. She shed her mortal form in a wave of golden light, she hurled her spear with both hands, the weapon shooting out of her hand like a comet that buried itself into Typhon's shoulder.
Demeter's form unraveled into a body woven of stalks of grain as she knelt, pressing her hands to the mountain. Vines erupted, roots thick as towers snaking up to bind Typhon's legs. He bellowed as the plants pulled him down, golden sparks raining from his wounds as the chains of nature held him fast.
Poseidon crashed beside me, as his watered form seemed to grow in the storm. His trident whirled and he lashed out, the rain itself bending to his will, each drop turning to a spear that left Typhon's hide with a thousand quills
For a heartbeat, it felt like we had him.
Even Zeus, reckless fool that he was, circled the beast in arcs of lightning, hammering at him from all angles. And though Typhon grew stronger from the storm, the sheer weight of our attack forced him back, his wings flaring, his roar shaking the peak.
Then Zeus decided to play god of idiots.
He gathered himself above the mountain, lightning swirling to his chest, the storm collapsing inward toward him. The sky turned white, the mountain trembling as he conjured a sphere of lightning so massive it blotted out the sky.
"No..." I whispered, realization stabbing through me.
"Zeus!" I roared up at him. "Don't you dare—"
He laughed, wild and radiant, eyes blazing with the storm. "This will end it!"
And then he hurled it.
The world turned into light.
The ball of lightning exploded across Typhon, swallowing him whole, reducing the peak into glass and fire. The shockwave hit us like a hammer, flinging me back into the rocks, my wings cracking against the stone. For a moment, I couldn't see, couldn't breathe—only light, endless light.
When my vision cleared, Typhon stood taller.
His body had doubled in size, scales glowing so bright I could barely look at him. His wings stretched wide, eclipsing the world, lightning racing in rivers across his form. His roar was no longer sound—it was an apocalypse, shredding the storm into raw chaos.
The vines snapped like threads. Hera's spear disintegrated in his shoulder. Poseidon's water turned to steam.
And all because Zeus had fed the storm exactly what it hungered for.
I pulled myself to my feet, rage shaking my chest. "You... absolute, arrogant fool!" I shouted across the battlefield. "You didn't hurt him—you helped him! You've made him unstoppable!"
Zeus hovered above us, defiant, but the look on his face was already starting to shift from pride to something I rarely saw in him.
Fear.
Typhon's focus zeroed in on Zeus. The storm around us seemed to bend toward him, lightning crackling unnaturally, winds howling like they were alive.
"Zeus, move!" I shouted, shadows curling around me as I surged forward.
Zeus smirked, brushing off my warning. "Let him try! I've got this!"
I didn't have time to argue. Typhon lunged with terrifying speed, his claws slicing through the air. Zeus tried to counter, striking with lightning that arced across the storm, but it wasn't enough. Typhon was a living storm, feeding off every bolt.
I threw myself at him, blade swinging, shadows whipping out to distract the beast. Hera's spear and Demeter's roots lashed out in tandem. Poseidon hurled torrents of water like javelins, trying to unbalance the storm dragon.
It wasn't enough.
Typhon's sheer size and power crushed our efforts. With a terrifying swipe, he grabbed Zeus. My brother's form, all thunder and light, struggled, but Typhon's grip was unyielding. The winds roared, lightning spiked, and then—Typhon slammed him to the ground.
Zeus fought, lightning arcing in blinding flashes, but his strikes only seemed to fuel Typhon further. The dragon twisted, knocking Zeus aside, slamming him down again and again. Each strike sent shockwaves, tossing me back, sending Poseidon skidding across rocks. Hera's spear clanged uselessly against Typhon's scales.
Then it happened.
Typhon's massive jaws thundered down like falling mountains, teeth glinting black as night, snapping at the very air with a sound that shook the clouds. Zeus surged forward, lightning streaming from his hands in brilliant arcs, crackling and scorching the storm around him, but every bolt seemed to scatter harmlessly against Typhon's writhing scales. The dragon moved with impossible speed, a blur of jagged shadows and raw, coiling power.
Zeus lunged again, hurling thunder after thunder, trying to carve his way through the beast. Typhon's claws raked the earth, sending jagged stones spinning into the sky, and the ground split beneath the force of each strike. The god's shouts were drowned in the roar of wind and the grinding crash of claws against the mountain, the sky itself bending under the fury of their clash.
A snap of motion, sudden and sharp—Typhon's tail whipped around, slamming into Zeus like a battering ram. The thunder god staggered, lightning sputtering from his hands, sparks flying in every direction. Then Typhon struck again, jaws snapping at impossible speed, tearing through the space Zeus had tried to claim as safety. Each strike threw the air into turmoil, shredded clouds, and fractured the echoes of the storm.
Zeus roared, lightning flaring into a brilliant crown around his form—but Typhon's jaws were relentless, snapping with a precision born of centuries of rage. The dragon's claws slashed, each movement a wave of unstoppable force, rending the god's defenses and forcing him back step by step. One claw caught him mid-lunge, spinning him violently, and the next strike—Typhon's open maw—closed around the air where Zeus had been, and the god vanished from sight, swallowed by the dragon's overwhelming force.
The storm convulsed in response, lightning arcing madly across the peaks, thunder screaming as though the sky itself was grieving. When Typhon finally drew back, the air hung heavy with the echo of a struggle that had ended before it could truly be won. Zeus was gone—torn, broken, and scattered across the fury of the battlefield, his presence erased like a storm dissipating at dawn. Only the relentless roar of Typhon remained, a living declaration that no god, no matter how mighty, could match the storm dragon's wrath.
And then the world fell silent for a heartbeat, the kind of silence that follows a thunderclap too powerful to ignore. The mountain trembled. The sky burned with residual lightning.
The shockwave of it hit me like a physical blow. Shadows recoiled, wings sagging as I stared. He was our brother. A bastard, yes—but still family, and now he was gone
Hera screamed, her divine form blazing in grief and fury. "No! You can't—he's our brother!"
Demeter's roots twisted and writhed in frustration, unable to hold the beast long enough to strike. Poseidon slammed the trident into the ground, waves surging around him, but even his power couldn't undo what had just happened.
I stood there, gripping my sword, the weight of rage and loss crushing down on me. "Typhon," I growled, voice trembling with fury, "you dare take him from us?"
The dragon turned toward me, eyes blazing, lightning arcing across its scales. And I knew, then, that we weren't fighting just for survival. We were fighting for vengeance.
I stepped forward, shadows flaring around my body as my grip tightened on my sword.
The air cracked, my divinity bursting like a storm. My form stretched and twisted, wings of shadow erupting from my back, horns jagged as a crown. The ground at my feet withered to black stone, fissures of molten light splitting beneath me. Typhon snarled, but before his thunderous maw could snap down, I vanished.
In a blink, I reappeared above him, my blade sweeping with all the fury my heart could bear. Shadows condensed along its edge, a tide of blackness sharpened to a single point. The strike cut through one of Typhon's colossal wings, ripping it away in a storm of ichor and lightning.
The roar that followed shattered the clouds.
He writhed, lashing out with serpentine fury, but I caught his massive neck, shadows erupting from my hand like chains. With a guttural roar of my own, I hurled him downward. The impact made the mountain quake as though the world itself cried out.
"Fall, damn you!" I shouted, landing hard enough to crater the stone.
Hera struck next, her divine form blazing like steel brought to life. Her spear flashed, puncturing the beast's chest again and again, each thrust burning with her fury.
"You took my brother!" she screamed, her voice ragged, but unyielding.
Demeter's form swelled beside her, stalks of wheat and roots spiraling out of her body until she was a walking field, a storm of harvest made flesh. The earth obeyed her will, roots bursting from stone, curling around Typhon's limbs like titanic snakes, trying to bind him in place.
"You will not break free," she hissed, eyes alight with golden-green fire.
Then came Hestia. Sweet, kind, ever-gentle Hestia—now a blazing furnace. Her hair burned like a torch, her hands roared like open hearths. She thrust both forward, torrents of flame pouring onto Typhon's wounds.
"Stay down!" she cried, her voice steady even as the flames roared louder.
Together, we drove him back. For the first time since this nightmare began, it almost felt possible.
But Typhon was chaos itself. He pulled against Demeter's bindings with unholy strength, snapping roots that should have held mountains. His claw lashed out, swatting Hera aside like a gnat. She hit the ground with a sickening crack, her spear tumbling from her hand.
"Hera!" I dove after her, catching her in my arms before she could strike the rocks. Her face was pale, her lips flecked with blood, but her eyes still burned with fire.
"Don't you dare let up, brother," she rasped, coughing once.
"I don't plan to," I promised, setting her down gently before turning back to the storm.
Demeter swung her scythe, roots sprouting anew, thorned and unyielding. Hestia's flames grew brighter, her entire form blazing like a living sun. Poseidon surged back into the fight, water streaming from the sky itself, the rain sharpened into blades that slashed at Typhon's scales. His trident glowed with power, each strike sending shockwaves through the storm.
And yet... the truth gnawed at me.
He wasn't weakening.
Every blow landed. Every strike carved into him. But he only grew louder, stronger, the storm feeding him as fast as we could wound him. My mind raced through every myth, every cursed tale about Typhon. He was never slain. Always imprisoned, sealed, buried.
Never killed.
Why hadn't I realized it sooner?
Why had I let this fight drag on?
Why had I let Zeus charge headfirst into doom?
Why? Why? Why?
The word pounded in my skull, echoing with every swing of my blade, every beat of my wings. My excuses crumbled—Zeus was too arrogant, Poseidon too reckless, Hera too proud, me too bound by strategy. None of it mattered. None of it erased the truth: Zeus was dead. And it was my fault.
I would not lose another.
Typhon reared back, lightning sparking across his broken frame, his golden eyes locked on me. I surged forward, shadows exploding outward in jagged wings.
My blade slammed into his jaw, snapping his head sideways. Chains of darkness lashed around his throat, dragging him down. Hera's spear reappeared in her hands, Demeter's roots constricted, Hestia's flames seared deeper. Poseidon's waters crashed down like the weight of an ocean.
And still he fought.
But now we fought harder.
Every strike I made carried Zeus's name in it. Every lash of shadow, every swing of my blade was vengeance made manifest. My divinity blazed brighter than it ever had, each motion shaking the ground, tearing holes through the storm above us.
I snarled through gritted teeth, wings flaring wide. "Drag him into exhaustion!" I barked at my siblings. "We bleed him, bind him, burn him until he collapses—then we end this!"
They answered in silence, but their attacks intensified, every blow carrying grief, rage, and the iron will of gods who would not lose again.
I could not—would not—let anyone else fall.