With the telescope strapped to my eye, I saw everything up close. It took me a few minutes to realize I had been screaming the whole time. I jumped out of the crow’s nest and let my shoes sprout their wings.


    I drifted down to the Captain’s quarters where Erik left all his crap and kicked in the door. I stared around the room and tried to catch my breath but it kept catching on the lump in my throat.


    Between Siobhan’s mess and Erik’s mess, I couldn''t focus on finding anything. Erik was dying, I needed to do something. I shrieked in frustration and pulled my hair. I’d been trying my damnedest not to cry, but I couldn''t help it.


    “This isn’t happening!” I shouted over and over, as I threw things around. I found his bag under a heap of clothes. I cleared it, but hesitated as I held his sweater in my hands. Sadness washed over me, but I refused to let him go. Not like this. Not when he hadn''t apologized yet. I turned his bag upside down until I found the rest of our ambrosia. I grabbed one of the fruits and took off out the door.


    On the deck of the ship, I watched as Scylla waved Erik’s lifeless body around like a morbid trophy. I could hear Amelia crying, as Tadashi desperately tried to drag her back to the ship. I raced over top of them, as fast as my little Hermes shoes would go. I weaved in and out of thrashing tentacles and gnashing serpent heads, and that’s when I realized I was armed anymore; I had dismissed the bow.


    I cursed my emotional instability as I blocked a tentacle with my arms and body, getting batted away. I slammed heavily into the wall of the cove, but I quickly recovered. Everything hurt but I pushed the shoes forward. When I got in close, Scylla screeched at me, so I flew in and kicked her in the boob. This earned me another swat, which cause me to flip in the air, but I was closer to Erik.


    "He doesn''t care for you little one. He thinks only for himself. Let this one perish." Her voice rang in my head. I could feel my body trying to go rigid. It was some kind of psychic manipulation.


    I put the ambrosia in my pocket and called to my bow. It blazed into my hand with a burst of sunlight. Scylla screeched at the explosion of light. I began shooting arrows without even realizing how many I was firing at once. Three, then five. Over and over I pulled back on the invisible string, summoning sun arrows to my hand and pumping them into the monster. I wouldn''t let her have him.


    The arrows slammed into her face and she swatted at me with the hand holding Erik. I pulled back on the invisible string again, as hard as I could. I flipped over a snapping serpent head and it tried to eat my feet. I fired more arrows into her hand and arm, trying to make her drop Erik''s unmoving body. I screamed at her.


    “Hear me Apollo, God of Healing and Light! Help me kill this monster and save my friend. I can’t lose him. I never had the chance to tell him what he means to me. He can’t die here. Not like this, not now! I pledge myself to you, God of Light, help me out here!" I cried, pulling back as far as I could on the Golden Bow.


    It ignited with blinding light. It was so bright all the serpent heads and Scylla cried out. I almost dropped it again, but not this time. I wouldn''t fuck this up.


    A single blazing arrow with a head as bright as the sun sat between my fingers. It''s writhed and twisted with radiant light, reminding me of a phoenix. I fired, screaming at the monster.


    Time seemed to slow as Scylla put her arms up to block. The arrow tore through her arms and then her chest. Her chest caved and a gorey mess splattered across the wall of the cove.


    I moved as fast as I could to catch Erik before he got caught up in the mess. I weaved in and out of the flailing tentacles and dying serpent heads. I reached out to grab his arm and the cracking of bone and other things that shouldn’t make noises almost made me vomit, but I had him.


    And I quickly realized I couldn''t actually lift his damn weight.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I gathered him up in my arms in the most awkward, broken hug I could muster as we plummeted into the sandy beach of the cove. I closed my eyes as I felt the winged shoes struggle to support us both. I pressed my head against his.


    I remembered a time when we were much younger in the that moment. I think we had only been about six or seven at the time. I remembered being scared of something like a thunderstorm, sitting with him in my parent''s condo. I remembered him wrapping his arm over my shoulder and putting his head against mine.


    "Don''t worry Ori, the thunder is just Thor riding out from Asgard on his chariot pulled by goats." He had said. Somehow, a goat chariot made the whole thing less scary. Once upon a time, this asshole had been my protector and best friend. I couldn''t let him die before I got that back.


    I winced as we hit the ground, Erik first. Sat on his stomach, and forced the ambrosia into his mouth.


    “Come on you stupid ass, get up!” I shouted. I got off him and desperately tried to put his pieces back where they belonged. It was like trying to make a sculpture out of damp spaghetti. I got his arm and shoulder back where they were supposed to be, but his chest and ribs were caved in. I tried to get his back straightened so his spine would heal correctly.


    “Damn it Erik.” My throat hurt and my voice was hoarse. I couldn''t tell if the ambrosia was working, but I knew if I gave him anymore than one piece, he''d just die outright. The nectar of the Gods was not meant for human consumption, so the Order had forbid us from ever using more than one in a twenty four hour period. Apparently it was a gruesome death.


    “Come on big guy, come back to me.” I pressed my head to his chest, listening for even the faintest of heartbeats. I checked for a pulse and put my hand under his nose. Still nothing.


    By now, everyone was making their way over to us. Amelia was up and running, with Tadashi close behind her. Ethan had headed over from the ship. I saw Dyson hiding out behind everyone, looming ominously.


    “Erik, I’m so sorry about all the fighting. I just missed you. I missed who you used to be, and all the time we spent together. I’m sick of fighting with you dude. Just come back so we can fix things. You can’t put me back in charge this way.” I tried to choke back my emotions but the waterworks broke through my feeble defenses.


    “Please Erik.” I pleaded.


    I couldn’t stand to look at him anymore. If this was the end, I couldn''t bear it. But I wouldn''t leave. I put my head back on his chest, and crumpled into a heap beside him. I would just lie here forever, I guess.


    This close to him, I could feel the ambrosia going to work. His bones began popping back into place and his tissue repaired. I felt superficial warmth; the nectar of the Gods flowing through him. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and sat up. Amelia came to sit beside me, putting her head on my shoulder.


    "Ori, I''m sorry." She whispered.


    Slowly, the other three came to gather around our fallen leader. I felt despair wash over me as everything became too final.


    “Erik, please don’t leave me.” I said, putting my hand on his chest.


    Erik gasped sharply and it scared the shit out of me. His blue eyes filled with life again and he looked around frantically.


    I hugged the crap out of him, squeezing with my pathetic little arms. He wrapped a stiff arm around me and grunted.


    “Hey buddy.” His voice was a whisper, but it was something. I never thought I would hear it again, so it didn''t matter.


    “Don’t do that ever again, you fucking moron!” I scolded him suddenly, whacking his shoulder. He flinched and groaned, but he was smiling. I smiled back, so wide it hurt, tears streaming down my face and onto his blood stained shirt.


    “No promises.” He chuckled, but it turned into coughing.


    A collective sigh of relief went out among the group. Despite the tension amongst us, and how awful Erik had been, no one wanted to see him dead. He had been a good friend to us, before...whatever it was that happened to him. I still needed to sit him down and talk with him, but for now, I was just glad he was breathing.


    I got off of Erik and let the others get closer. I sat back on my knees and watched as the others patted him on the shoulder and said they were glad he was okay. Amelia had kept her distance once he woke up, and I understood why. Erik had broken her trust and it would not soon be repaired.


    I felt something tug on my ankle and I looked down to see Erik''s hand. He looked at me as Ethan and Tadashi moved back from him. We stared at each other for a long moment. He mouthed the words ''thank you'' and my heart skipped a beat. After today, I was likely to need a cardiologist. I smiled and shook my head.


    “Dumbass.” I muttered as I got up and walked away.


    I walked passed the other two and Ethan reached out and put a big meaty hand on my shoulder. I tried not to look at him, as I patted his hand, or else I might cry again.


    “Good shooting bud.” I told him. If it hadn’t been for his covering fire on the ballista, we’d probably all be dead.


    “You okay?” He asked. I realized I had never seen Ethan look so serious. With what had happened between Amelia and Erik and now this, his normally bubbly exterior had cracked. He looked haunted. I smiled through my own emotional pain and moved from his grasp, back toward the ship.


    “I will be.” I desperately tried to believe.