They made their way through the fiery plains of Tartarus, until they came to the mighty bronze gates that guarded its entrance. Nyx wasn’t going to open them for anyone or anything. They were so impossibly high no God or mortal could scale them. To overtop them, you needed wings. She took flight alongside the two Daemons and flew over the gates, landing on the bank of the River Lethe beyond.

She was met with . . . she wasn’t entirely sure.

Before her was a large wooden sculpture. It was an animal of some kind, with a squat body, four legs, a long snout and tusks. Was it really—

‘A warthog,’ scoffed Corus. ‘Who sends a wooden warthog as a gift?’

‘It came with this,’ said Epiphron, handing over a golden envelope. ‘I made sure it didn’t get creased, someone clearly took a lot of care over this.’

Nyx took the envelope in her talons and read the note:

A gift for the victors. In honour of Thanatos and Nyx – a little surprise from an old friend.

Nyx screwed up the note.

‘Burn it,’ she said, taking off to return to the safety of her post. She didn’t like this. She didn’t want to be near it.

‘The note?’ asked Corus. ‘Why?’

‘The whole thing,’ Nyx roared. ‘It’s obviously a trick.’

‘Oh, yeah,’ said Epiphron. ‘This happened at Troy.’

‘Er, the Wooden Horse, duh?’ Corus scoffed. ‘Everyone knows that story.’

‘What? I was talking about the day the Greeks sent the Trojans a warthog as a joke – it’s the stuff of legend,’ said Epiphron. ‘So what happened with the Wooden Horse?’

‘Get rid of it!’ shrieked Nyx. ‘I’m in no mood for surprises today. Take the – whatever it is, and burn it to ashes.’

‘Isn’t that a bit of a fire hazard?’ whispered Epiphron.

‘Do it. NOW!’ screeched Nyx, sending a bolt of red lightning towards the Daemons.

‘Oh, come now, Mother,’ drawled a familiar voice as the bronze gates opened behind her. ‘Let’s not be so hasty.’

‘You’re back,’ hissed Nyx to her son’s approaching figure. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘My memory, apparently,’ said Thanatos with a slow smile. ‘There was I, halfway to the Earth’s core when I realized I’d forgotten one little thing . . .’

‘What?’ snapped Nyx.

‘The Chaos Stone!’ laughed Thanatos. ‘It’s in the safe in my office. Duh.’

‘Unlike you to be so careless,’ scowled Nyx. ‘Hurry! Go and get it and be on your way! We don’t have time . . .’

‘There’s always time,’ said Thanatos. ‘The Olympians are all but defeated on Earth. Surely we can allow ourselves a moment to celebrate?’

‘I will celebrate when you are the rightful ruler of the Earth. And not a moment before.’

‘You need to lighten up, Mother,’ said Thanatos. ‘After all, what’s the point of ruling the world if we can’t have a little fun. What is this?’