Hephaestus was in great pain. It felt like a spear pierced his heart. He clutched his chest and rubbed it, but any relief that gave him was long gone. He felt tears rise and wondered if it was because of the pain or the memory. Maybe both? A word started to come out of his mouth, “A..a..aph” The moment he realized what he was saying he was filled with anger at his lack of control, at his hideousness, at his foolishness. Anger that slammed down the pain, stuffing it deeper and deeper inside him. His face darkened as calloused hands wiped the tears from his face. “PHROURION, COME!”

In an instant Phrourion was next to him. “Sir, it happened again, didn’t it? You need to talk to her, to someone. They are getting more frequent and more severe. I’m sure...” Hephaestus glared at Phrourion, his eyes wide and red, “I’m sure you have forgotten that I can take you apart and rebuild you with a much more compliant personality. Test results." Phrourion nodded, “Yes, sir. Your initial hypothesis was correct. The Arcadian alder and elm are the only trees that will hold up to the transformation process, but I would advise against this course of action. It will result in the near deforestation of Arcadia, leaving Pan homeless.” “I see. That is tragic, but we have no choice. For the good of all I must continue the project. Pan will have to find himself a new home.” Hephaestus turned around, looked at the vast, empty cavern waiting to be filled with machines, and sighed.

“Tragic indeed. Price we pay for progress, I suppose.”

Hephaestus then turned to his mechanical servant. “Phrourion, are all of the other components in place?” “Yes. 20, 000 skinners with a full harvester skillset, partial human mannerisms, and the new ‘no trace’ upgrade are prepared and ready for deployment. We have verified tunnel access from here to Arcadia and the closest cult has seeded the idea of a major temple in honor of Artemis to be built.” Phrourion continued, “We have the forges reconfigured to handle the increased load and heat from the wood essence and the automatons have been upgraded to account for the production increases.” Phrourion sighed, “Once we have the wood from Arcadia we will be able to produce approximately 500 Atlas class automatons per day and be able to maintain that level of production until there are enough for everyone on the planet to have at least two Atlases. Also, the testing of the Atlas automaton has been completed. They are approximately 5 times more effective than any human at any physical task, require minimal maintenance, and could usher in a new world of leisure for the humans.”

Hephaestus nodded. “Outstanding. Begin the process and ready the new ‘Firestarter’ suit with the shadowsteel coating. Wouldn’t want anyone seeing us on our hike, now would we?” It was a quiet and beautiful day. The fields had just enough sun and the woods had a gentle, almost loving quality. Occasionally, even the most spiritually dull might hear a giggle just at the edge of their perception. In other words, a typical day in Arcadia.

The silence was shattered by the sounds of feet, thousands and thousands of feet walking almost in unison. The feet belonged to what looked like a throng of laborers. The only thing they had in common were axes, saws, rope, and dead eyes. When they made it to the trees they began their work, cutting all the trees, large and small, regardless of type. They went on interrupted for five minutes before the problems started. And so it was, far from the eyes of mortals, that the Battle of Arcadia began.

It started with a bellow, from the heart of the woods. It was a shout that could be heard for miles and caused a shudder in the hearts of warriors and farmers alike. The skinners stopped felling trees, looked in the direction of the shout, paused for about a minute, and continued their work. High in one of the trees was the originator of the shout and the lord of this realm, Pan. With gigantic horns that curled under his head he looked first with confusion, then with anger. He had no idea who these humans were, but they would pay for desecrating his home.

Pan leapt down among them to begin his work. Rending one, ramming another, using a third as a club against another five, he was nature incarnate, red in tooth and claw. He realized very quickly that whatever they were, there was nothing human about them. Whenever he damaged one more than a little bit it started to dissolve, its empty eyes always fixed on him as they melted until they were little more than a puddle of mud colored goo. Unfortunately, even with their fragile build there were too many of them. Hundreds and hundreds of skinners continued to come towards him no matter how many he destroyed. Pan was very nearly overwhelmed before he realized he needed to change tactics. He leapt high into a tree far from the skinners, causing them to stop, do a quick scan, and continue their work as if he ceased to exist. As Pan leapt his form changed. Power was replaced by skill, fortitude by cunning. He took the pipes that materialized in his hand and played a song both new and old. A song of warning, a song of enticement, a song for every single living thing in the wild. A call to war.

And so it was that the second wave of the Battle began much like the first one did, with a great noise, only this time it wasn’t Pan’s terrifying shout, it was the wild itself. Wolves, hawks, mighty bears and even small foxes joined the fray. They met the skinners and drove them back with incredible speed. Though many a creature that should have wandered the blessed wood spilled its life blood that day, the number was far smaller than one would think. Except the badgers, but such was the price for the atrocities those fearsome creatures committed. As the tide turned Pan returned to what was rapidly turning into a slaughter.

“HEPHAESTUS! HEPHAESTUS! I KNOW YOU ARE HERE!

COME OUT AND FACE ME OR LEAVE MY HOME!”

Immediately after the last word came out of his mouth the air crackled with the smell of burning and a gigantic shape materialized in front of him. It was a monstrosity of metal and fire, 15 feet tall with a skull shaped head and nozzles on the shoulders and on top of the arms. A voice boomed out, “Pan, it’s you who must leave. You are standing in the way of the common good. Move on or be removed.” Hephaestus punctuated his last word with a gout of black and green flame from all the nozzles at once. Pan readied himself for the fight of his life, but he paused…sensing something. He looked at Hephaestus with a piercing gaze and his eyes widened in horror, “Hephaestus… when was the last time you talked to someone not made of metal?”

“SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME OR LEAVE!”

“It was when you caught them together wasn’t it? You… you’re hurt. Seeing them like that, it twisted you somehow. I think we need another guest to this party, APHRO...” It was about then that Hephaestus, lost in his rage and pain, rushed forward and punched Pan in the gut with enough force to crush stone. This forced Pan back quickly, but Hephaestus was faster, hammering Pan with punches and barely missing him with streams of nightfire and yet Pan still tried to say the name until he was almost totally beaten, and Hephaestus stood over him, ready to deliver the final blow. “And so it is, Pan, that the age of the wild ends and the age of progress begins. Goodbye.” Hephaestus raised his fist for the final strike and the blow landed… on Phrourion as he jumped in the way to intercept the blow. This gave Pan the extra time he needed to say one word…”APHRODITE”

At that point everything stopped as the smell of roses permeated the entire area. Hephaestus dropped to his knees clutching his chest, the psychic wound to his heart making any movement impossible. This was the scene that Aphrodite arrived to. Pan glared at her, filled with anger. “You... you... look around you. Look at what your flitting about has done. Look at the consequences of the failure to perform your duties, Goddess of Love.” Aphrodite, tall with dark hair piled up on her head, glorious in her majesty, looked around nonchalantly. “I’m not sure what you mean. I wield no fire. I created no machine. This is the doing of that… thing on the ground. Take your anger to him if you must.“ Pan’s gaze intensified, “Look closer, at his chest.“

Aphrodite walked closer to Hephaestus, glared at his chest and sniffed with distain. “It looks like someone couldn’t handle the truth. He should get someone to help him with that. That someone would be me, but I don’t associate with broken freaks who don’t know their place.” With a graceful motion Aphrodite kicked him in the head and spit on his face when he crashed to the ground, the skull helmet rolling off, causing hot tears to spill onto the ground. She then looked over at Pan. “Leave him. His toys are as shattered as his resolve. He won’t trouble anyone anymore.” Pan nodded and faded back into the woods as Aphrodite vanished in a cloud of sexy fog leaving Hephaestus to writhe in the middle of the field alone. That is, until a wind swept through and a new shape materialized next to Hephaestus.

It was doe eyed Hera who rushed to him. “Hephy, honey, what happened here? It’s ok, dear, let me look at you.” Hera then looked him up and down and gasped in horror. “Sweetie, oh no, no, no. Here, let me take care of this.” She then put her hands upon his chest and concentrated for a moment sealing the wound as it was at the intersection of love and marriage. She then touched the Firestarter suit, causing it to fade away and took Hephaestus in her arms, as his sobbing became quiet and he returned to normal. “Don’t worry honey, Momma’s gonna make everything ok. Don’t you worry about that woman, we’re going to deal with her later. We need to get you back home and finish fixing you up. And you need a new assistant, one of flesh and blood. I know just the girl. Now, now, don’t look at me like that. You can trust Momma. It’s gonna be ok,“ Hera said as they both faded into nothing, leaving only angry eyes at the edge of the wood.