Titans of Chaos

A man in the green-and-blue scale mail of an Atlantean stepped up behind me and raised hisvoice. "Sir! One of them is here! Alive!"

Mavors said, "Petrified?"

The man extended a hand to me. "Miss? Can you get up? Are you wounded?"

I did not answer. The man shouted up toward Mavors, "Sir! This one is unconscious!"

My eyes must have seemed closed to him. I merely had my eyelids open a crack, but in a directionhe could not perceive. I was looking "past" my closed lids.

Another man, standing in a different part of the cabin, said, "Sir! Two more over here! Wounded,but turned to stone. Not bleeding."

A final man, standing near the mouth of the giant dead serpent, called out: "One over here, too,sir. Turned to stone. I think it is the Phaeacian girl."

A Laestrygonian, with exaggerated casualness, stepped out from a group of petrifiedLaestrygonians and took a position behind the Atlantean man who was stooping over me.

The Atlantean straightened up and cast a frowning glance at the Laestrygonian.

The Laestrygonian smiled with his huge shark-smile, nodded to him casually, gave him sort of abreezy salute with one finger. "How's it going?" he said in a chummy voice.

Mavors, his voice carrying across the wide space, said loudly, "Mr. mac FirBolg, please desist. Ican maim you without killing you. I can overcome your various powers merely by decreeing thatthey will operate improperly against me. I can decree that I will be victorious if we fight. Don'tmake me fight children."

The Laestrygonian muttered to himself, "Oh, great. Fifth in command. My choice. 'What do I donow, Leader... ?' Okay, do something smart. Smart, smart. Make Amelia proud of your sorry ass."

Mulciber had scuttled around in a circle, so that he could keep an eye on the Laestrygonian, buthe was half hunched over, keeping one hand on the chest of the statue. The stone wiggled underhis fingers. Mulciber did not look too happy.

The Laestrygonian straightened up and shouted across the open space. "Okay, well, right, then!

Let's talk this out for a second, hey?"