19. Oh, Brother

Take nothing for granted: defeat could be all too easily snatched from the jaws of victory. After living for a thousand lifetimes, no-one knew this better than the Daemon of Death.

But, as he strode towards the Earth’s core, Thanatos allowed himself a small moment of hopeful anticipation. He was so close. He could feel the world in his hands as surely as he felt the Chaos Stone in his palm. After all the waiting, all the suffering, all the pain, he was going to have everything he wanted. Any. Minute. Now.

‘So . . . I have a question,’ Hypnos chirped, disrupting Thanatos’s happy contemplations. ‘You’re going to blast the Earth’s core with the Chaos Stone, right?’

‘Yes,’ snapped Thanatos. He wasn’t in the mood for his brother’s nonsense. But then, he never was.

‘And then the world will be besieged with earthquakes, fires, hurricanes and floods, wiping out all but a few mortals?’

‘Correct.’

‘The Gods will be imprisoned beneath Stonehenge until you snatch their kardia and kill them?’

‘I’ll take my time . . . but, yes.’

‘Coolio,’ said Hypnos, nodding slowly. ‘Then what?’

‘What?’ grumbled Thanatos, walking faster towards his victory.

‘Then what?’ Hypnos repeated, shrugging. ‘I mean, you’ve spent over two thousand years planning to conquer the Earth, take your revenge on the Gods and have the Chaos Stone at your command. Looks like you’re gonna do it. Finally. What then? With most of the mortals gone and the Gods imprisoned, who do you have to fight? I mean, no offence, but your CV is pretty one-note: “Maniacal obsession with world domination.” Not many transferable skills there . . .’

Thanatos stopped and looked at his brother.

‘This has never been about fighting,’ he said. ‘It’s been about winning. I would expect you of all people to understand that.’

‘Oh, sure,’ said the Daemon of Sleep, flittering up into the air, doing an airborne twirl and returning to the ground. ‘I just worry you’ll get a little bored if you wipe out the mortals. And who’s going to do all the jobs? With all of them gone, we’re going to have to learn to sweep streets, empty bins, clean toilets.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. What do you think all the Elementals are for?’

‘But . . . you said you were going to free them from their shackles.’

‘I did,’ smirked Thanatos. ‘I just never mentioned the new ones.’

Hypnos laughed.

‘You are a devil,’ he smiled.

Thanatos nodded his acceptance of the compliment.

They walked silently through the oppressive heat. The air trembled before their eyes as if it couldn’t bear the rising temperature.

‘Thanatos?’ said Hypnos slowly.

‘Yes,’ his brother replied impatiently.

‘What about the boy?’

‘What about him?’

‘It is still prophesized that he could master the stone and rule the Earth,’ whispered Hypnos. ‘You’ve gotta admit it. That’s kinda tempting for a thirteen-year-old kid.’

Thanatos stopped again. He held out his arm.