Dreamless

Automedon, all three of them moving so quickly she could barely make out their separate shapes. Automedon stood between the two of them, mechanical and accurate, every motion begun and completed with surgical precision.
    Helen knew just enough about fighting to know that she was watching the perfect warrior. He was stronger, faster, and more patient than any fighter Helen had ever seen. If Orion or Lucas darted in to wound him, he took the blade into himself and let it leave again without concern. He leaked a vaguely greenish-white fluid from several places, but Helen already knew that he couldn’t be killed that way. He was just waiting for them to get tired.
    Still bleeding from the chest, Orion faltered and took another wound to the stomach. As he fell back, Automedon saw his moment. Rather than attack Orion on the ground, he engaged Lucas. With a deft flick, Automedon spun Lucas’s smaller blade out of his hand, sending it flying. Then he made a move to go after Lucas while he was unarmed.
    “Luke!” Orion yelled, his voice breaking with exhaustion. He tossed Lucas his sword and left himself defenseless. Automedon let Lucas catch it.
    Lucas flew over Automedon and landed in front of Orion who was grimacing and clutching his newest injury. He tried to get up, and fell back down with a grunt, blood pouring out of him alarmingly fast. Lucas dug in, making it clear that if Automedon wanted to get to Orion, he would have to go through him first.
    Helen saw Automedon smile and felt a panicky thrill radiate out from her belly and shoot down her arms and legs. This what exactly what Automedon wanted. He was counting on them to be brave and selfless. That would be their downfall. Her skin crackled with desperate static, but she didn’t have enough strength to generate a bolt. Ignoring the fiery pain it caused her, Helen managed to flop over onto her broken forearms and began to drag herself toward them.
    “Helen, don’t!” Zach said in surprise. He tried to stop her, but as soon as he touched her he jumped back, getting a mild shock.
    “Stop fighting him!” she tried to yell as she crawled, but even though she was healing fast, her vocal cords were still severed. The only sound she could make was a harsh, grating whisper. Automedon hefted his sword confidently and swung it over his head.
    “Brace yourself,” Orion warned Lucas, and before Automedon could bring his sword down on them, the ground shook violently.
    A booming noise sounded out through the dark, and a giant chasm opened up between Automedon and Lucas as Orion yanked the earth apart. Automedon fell to his knees and scrambled frantically as the ground beneath him gave way. Lucas disengaged gravity and floated, while Automedon seemed to magically regain his footing. His sense of balance was so good he could ride an earthquake like a surfer riding a big wave. Seeing this, Orion’s and Lucas’s hopes flagged.
    When the shaking subsided, Lucas landed in front of Orion, adjusted his grip on the sword, and faced Automedon grimly. They both seemed to know that they couldn’t win this fight, but neither of them would quit. Automedon faced Lucas and Orion in turn, and then bowed to them courteously.
    “Clearly, you are the Three I’ve waited thousands of years for,” Automedon said across the ten-foot-wide rip in the ground. “I thank Ares I’ve had thousands of years of battles to prepare myself for you or I would not have been ready. But the time is here, and I am ready.”
    Automedon leapt easily over the gap, landed, and turned to face Lucas and Orion. In three moves, he had disarmed Lucas. In two more moves, he had Lucas on his knees, shielding Orion with his body and bleeding from a deep cut in his shoulder.
    Helen heard Lucas scream and her pain vanished. She stood up, her skin glowing blue and coursing with power.
    “Don’t you touch him!” she whispered hoarsely, her lips curling with rage. She held out her left hand and a blinding white bolt arced out of her palm and connected with Automedon. He crumpled to the ground, convulsing in agony. Helen dropped her arm and staggered to the side.
    Finally able to get to his feet again after Orion’s earthquake, Zach stumbled after Helen and managed to prop her up as she tipped over, nearly fainting with the effort of generating a bolt. He got another nasty shock, but he gritted his teeth and held on to her as they staggered their way toward Lucas.
    She fell down next to him, reaching out and