Free Cyra's Cyclopes by Tilly Greene Page A

did.
    “Shit!” The concern radiating from
Hephaestus was reassuring.
    Having a single, albeit large, eye
wasn’t limiting, but when it was something that could mean a
drastic change to the man’s existence, he liked the confirmation
he’d judged the problem correctly. His brother was in as bad a way
as he’d thought and hopefully it wasn’t too late to
help.
    They quickly made their way to
Agres’ side and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steropes
coming to join them.
    “Agres, everything is all right.
We’ll get her back. First, let go of the bolt, and step back.” Even
though he was glowing, they were each immune to the others
personification and could touch him, but didn’t because he didn’t
want to startle him. Not while he held a bolt in his cauldron,
because the boiling oil could harm him. He tried again to reach
through to his brother by adding some of the thunder to his voice.
“Let go, man.”
    Tension permeated the heat in the
room and surrounded them. Brontes didn’t want to expect the worse,
but it was hard not to. Obviously, their mutually agreed path to
ignore their problem wasn’t good enough. They had to do something.
All three of them had to do something to bring the light of their
lives, their woman, home.
    “Let go, Agres.” Steropes looked to
him for guidance and, with a nod, encouraged the man to carry on.
Their endangered brother’s glow was starting to waiver, but they
needed more than that to be sure he wouldn’t be consumed by his
brightening ability. “Let go and we’ll figure out a way to get her
back. Cyra isn’t lost to us. We’re proud Cyclopes, created from the
Earth. Nothing can beat us. We fight for what is ours and will win
her back, because she belongs to us.”
    Brontes held his breath, hoping
Agres heard them, and found a way out of the black chasm he’d
evidently sunk into. After a few stress-filled minutes, he finally
saw a hint that the brightness that had encompassed the other man
had started to lessen.
    Patiently, they waited for the right
time and eventually, when it came, Hephaestus calmly took the bolt
out of his hands and placed it on the rack, while he and his
brother led Agres away from the fiery cauldron. They didn’t go far,
but far enough that there’d be no danger if he made any wild
moves.
    Brontes couldn’t think of what to
say to help the other man since he was in much the same position.
It was obvious they couldn’t ignore their problem
either.
    “What is wrong with you guys?”
Hephaestus joined them and delved right into the meat of the
problem. “Is it Cyra? Did she leave you guys?”
    “No, at least not yet,” Steropes
offered their reality and, while it didn’t sound any clearer than
it had earlier, he couldn’t put what was wrong into words
either.
    “What do you mean? Come on, tell me
what happened, maybe it isn’t as bad as it seems to you
guys.”
    They looked at one another to see
who wanted to step forward to explain their problem. After a long
look, it was clear Agres still wasn’t mentally fit enough to speak
coherently. Catching Steropes eye, Brontes felt nominated, and
tried to gather his thoughts.
    He’d been trying so hard to push the
problem away, it wasn’t easy to pull it all back, and remain calm,
but he did because he respected Hephaestus. The man had had his own
female problems and solved it satisfactorily, so maybe it wouldn’t
be so bad to tell him about what happened that morning. There was
always the chance he had a solution to their dilemma.
    With a deep breath, he spit it out,
and didn’t stop until all the details were out.
    “Cyra is pulling away from us. We
could all feel it happening and didn’t know what to do. Then,
before we could talk about it, she told us Dionysus was back. We
know how much she cares for him and we aren’t beautiful like he is,
so it’s obvious we don’t stand a chance against him. Before
breakfast, she informed us a festival was set for tonight, and that
she