by N. P. Martin
"Of course. Who else?"
I shook my head and sighed slightly as I stared at the fire for a moment. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe him exactly. He seemed genuine and I didn’t get the sense he was lying. But what he was saying was so goddamn earth-shattering that I simply had trouble wrapping my head around it. And to think that my father—Max—wasn’t really my father after me thinking for so long that he was? Well, that was just deeply unsettling to say the least. Although, I had to admit, it did go some way to explaining why I wasn’t all that much like my father in many ways. Disturbingly, the more I thought about it, the more Max began to seem like more of an uncle than a father to me; a stand-in parent figure who at the end of the day I had very little connection with, despite my fondness of him. "Assuming you’re right about this," I said. "That would mean that Cernunnos would had to have…copulated with my mother."
"Which he did, of course."
I felt slightly sick at the thought, and I don’t know why. "How did such a thing even happen?"
Mirahorn frowned slightly. "Well, they…came together…as male and females do."
I shook my head at him. "That’s not what I meant, for god’s sake. I know how sex works. I mean how did my mother ever come to be the one to lie with a god."
"She volunteered, as I said before. When we learned of what Apep’s disciples had done—spawning a demigod that would grow up into this Antichrist-type figure—we knew we had to do something about it. There was no way we would be able to kill the spawn of Apep, for we wouldn’t even be able to find him in the first place. The Disciples would have him too well hidden from us, bringing him out only when the time was right, which would be far too late for us to stop him. So we took preemptive action and decided to play the Disciples at their own game."
"By breeding your own demigod."
He nodded. "It seemed like the only way. We had to match might for might by creating a being capable of stopping the spawn of Apep. Your mother knew how important this was, and so she volunteered to be the vessel for this being of light that would eventually come to cancel out the darkness. Out of all the gods, we chose to summon Cernunnos and ask for his help. When he eventually came to us—appearing as a great stag in the woods—we explained things to him and he eventually agreed to sire a child to a human."
"Just like that?"
"He knew as well as we did that something—someone—was needed to counter to the coming darkness, and as a protector of these lands—if only in spirit—he did his duty, remaining in his stag form as he—"
I held a hand up to stop him. "I don’t need the finer details thanks," I said, trying to get the image of my mother being mounted by a huge stag out of my head.
Mirahorn smiled slightly. "Needless to say, the coupling was a success. Your mother fell pregnant with Cernunnos’ child, and you have been kept a secret ever since. We came to refer to you as the Serpent Son, which was sort of a code name if you will. You would be the one who would save our Order, and the world with it."
"So no pressure then."
"None at all."
I reached for the cigarettes again, thinking at this rate I was going to need a few cartons of the damn things to get me through this madness. "You’d think after all this time that I would have had some inkling that I was different—that I was the son of a god—but I’ve had none. Aside from being touched by magic, I feel completely normal."
MIrahorn nodded as if this were to be expected. "Your powers are there, but beneath the surface. When was the last time you slept?"
I puffed my cheeks out as I shook my head. "A couple of days ago, I think. Why?"
"Do feel tired at this moment? By rights, you should falling off your feet right now."
"I feel…fine, I guess, now that you mention it. I’ve never needed much sleep."
"Now you know why. There’s an abundance of energy in you, divine energy that you have barely begun to tap yet."
I thought back to my final confrontation with Drakkar, and the Energy Dragon that burst from me, and how it decimated Drakkar from the inside out, seeming to defeat his darkness with divine light. "So assuming your right—"
"You still doubt me?"
"Come on. A thing like this is hard to comprehend."
He nodded. "I suppose it is, but comprehend you must. Rest assured that Apep’s spawn has comprehended his birthright since very early on. He will be well ahead of you in that respect, and probably in full control of his powers by now. You have a lot of catching up to do."
"Speaking of which," I said before blowing out a stream of smoke. "How am I supposed to go about tapping into these powers that I supposedly have?"
"Cernunnos will help you with that, once you finally meet."
"And when will that be?"
"When he decides the time is right."
"Isn’t that time now?"
"You would think so, wouldn’t you? But alas, gods being gods, they do as they please when they please." He retrieved his pipe from the mantel and sparked it up with a mere thought seemingly. "Some time ago, we summoned Cernunnos to try and press him into fully realizing your demigod status, but he refused to do so."
"For what reason?"
"He didn’t give one. Instead he said he would see it done when the time was right, which to my mind is now, of course."
I nodded, not wholly surprised. "So I have to wait around on a god to do what…send me a text that it’s go time?"
Mirahorn frowned slightly as he stared at me, for the first time seeming somewhat baffled that I was anything other than a flippant child to him. "He will come to you, don’t worry."
"I suppose I’ll have to take your word on that, like everything else."
"You still doubt me?"
I sighed as I drew on my cigarette. "I don’t now what to believe. This is all a little overwhelming."
MIrahorn took his pipe from his mouth and sat forward to stare intently at me with his gray eyes, holding me in his gaze. "Whether you believe me or not, there is no getting away from the fact that this is your destiny, Corvin. For the sake of us all, I suggest you begin to wrap your head around that, otherwise we will all be at the mercy of the spawn of Apep as he drags the world into eternal darkness and destruction…"
Chapter 3
As if he was finished with me, for the time being at least, Mirahorn teleported me back to the bookshop in Dublin, materializing us both inside. He stood for a moment staring around at all the books as if he was reminiscing. "I helped your mother get this place off the ground," he said. "Back in the day."
"Was that for services rendered?" I asked.
Mirahorn stared at me. "You have your father’s sarcasm."
"Which one? I have two apparently."
"The real one."
I nodded as I went and sat on the edge of the desk and folded my arms. "We’ll soon see."
His expression softened somewhat as he came forward. "I realize this is a lot to take in, Corvin. If we could’ve told you everything sooner, we would have."
I nodded. "So what now?"
"It’s taken us years, but we may have finally found a Disciple of Apep who knows where Erebus might be."
"Erebus? Isn’t that the Greek god of darkness?"
"Yes. It is also what the Disciples named their own god of darkness."
"So does that mean I’ll have to have a fancy name then? I might go with Corvinius, what do you think? Too Roman sounding? What about—"
"Enough!" Mirahorn shock me into silence with his loud, commanding voice, and for the first time, I was actually scared of the man. Despite his frail appearance, he looked like he could turn me into a cloud of useless dust, demigod or not. He came forward, his eyes blazing, until he stood close to me. "You need to start taking this seriously, boy."
"I am," I muttered.
"It doesn’t seem like you are. All this will be for nothing if you don’t accept who you really are and the role you have to play."
"Your lack of proof is fueling my skep
ticism."
"You’ve seen the visions. Isn’t that enough for you?"
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I suppose it will have to be. For now."
Mirahorn shook his head. "I didn’t expect this much resistance from you."
"So what did you expect, that I would immediately rise up to meet my destiny on your word and the strength of a few visions given to me by a madman? Despite what you say, I’m still only human."
Mirahorn sighed slightly. "I fear you are right, but that will have to change soon enough."
"Once Pop’s put’s in an appearance, you mean."
"He will come," he said, ignoring my sarcasm. "Whether you want him to or not. In the meantime, I’d like you go and see Adrina Ó Duinn. She’s expecting you. Help her get the disciple and perhaps we can learn of Erebus’ whereabouts." He turned away then, as if to go.
"And what if we do learn of his whereabouts?" I asked him.
"Then we try to destroy him before he destroys us."
"Given how powerful he is, that doesn’t sound very likely to happen, does it?"
Mirahorn turned to stare at me. "Then we’d better hope you become who you need to become before then. And Corvin?"
"What?"
"Trust no one outside of the Order. Not your friends, nor anyone from the Council. We can’t take the risk of you being found out before you are ready. Do you understand?"
I nodded. "Yes."
"Good. Now go to Adrina. We will meet again soon."
After Mirahorn left, I went around and sat at my desk, pouring myself a drink and lighting a cigarette, thinking my mother was probably cursing me for smoking inside the shop. Speaking of whom, I looked over to the photo of her on the wall, her green eyes staring knowingly back at me. "A demigod?" I said to the picture. "Really? Thanks for the heads up, ma." I shook my head as I looked away, sighing as the weight of this latest revelation pressed down on me. Trying to comprehend it was still a futile exercise. When something is that monumentally huge, there is no comprehending it. My mind was just a blank, as if my entire existence had been shattered. I even held my hands out, making loose fists as I stared at them, as though they would somehow give me the answers I would need, or at least give me some indication that I was who Mirahorn said I was. But no godly energy manifested in my hands, and I felt as normal as I’d ever felt. "A fucking demigod. And just when I thought my life couldn’t get any crazier…"
A moment later, my phone rang in my pocket, and I fished it out to see that it was Dalia calling. I stared at the phone for a few seconds, wondering whether to answer, then sighed and said, "Hello?"
"Hey," Dalia said, her voice somewhat more subdued than normal. She was obviously still recovering from her trip to the Shadow. "I’m just calling to see how you’re doing."
"Apart from just finding out I’m a demigod and the son of Cernunnos, I’m peachy, thanks for asking." I didn’t actually say that. Instead, I told her I was fine.
"I don’t see how you could be after everything."
I poured more whiskey from the bottle into my glass. "Well, some of us just have a sterner constitution than others."
She went silent for a moment. "I’m not sure what you mean by that."
"Don’t worry about it. I’m fine, though. How are you?"
"I’m okay, I guess."
"And Davey? How’s his leg?"
"Better. We have everything we need here to heal him. He’ll be back being a pain in my ass again before long."
I laughed slightly. "I’ve no doubt."
"Are you sure you’re all right? You sound slightly off."
"Off? Don’t I always? Lately anyway."
"That’s true."
"Anyway, I’m fine."
"How you spoke to Amelia yet?"
"Not since we dropped her off."
"You think she’s okay?"
I honestly didn’t know. "She went through some heavy shit in the Shadow. I’m not sure she’ll ever be all right, not completely anyway. She’s strong, though. She’ll pull through."
"Maybe you should go and see her."
I thought about how Amelia was when I stood with her outside her house last night. She was distant, and didn’t appear in a rush to see me again. "I’ll check on her later," I said, unsure of whether I would or not.
Dalia seemed to sense my hesitation. "She was badly traumatized. You might have to give her time, Corvin."
"I’ll bear that in mind."
"I never got a chance to thank you, by the way," she said after a pause.
"For what? Nearly getting you killed? Twice."
"I went to both places of my own accord. We wouldn’t have made it out of either place if it wasn’t for you." She paused. Speaking of which…"
"What?"
"That magic you used against Drakkar. What was that? I’ve never seen anything like it."
I hesitated before answering. "I might have an explanation for it, but I can’t say at this point."
"Why not?"
"I just can’t. I’ll fill you in when I can."
"Are you mixed up in something else already?" She sounded exasperated.
"Sort of, yeah. Something I was already mixed up in."
"To do with this Order of the Serpent, I’ll bet."
"No flies on you."
"Is it dangerous?"
"Everything is dangerous these days."
"Just be careful. And if you need me for anything…"
"I know, you’ll be the first I’ll call on."
"You’d better. Anyway, I’m going to go. A body came in a while ago, a Demifae. I have to go slice and dice now."
"You sound like you can’t wait," I said, shaking my head.
"Of course not. Physiologically speaking, it will be like looking inside myself."
"You’re a sick puppy."
She laughed to herself. "I can’t help it. Anyway, go and see Amelia, make sure she’s okay."
"Yeah, I will."
"Take care, Corvin."
Once I’d finished my somewhat awkward conversation with Dalia, I headed upstairs to the flat. Stripping my torn and bloodstained clothes off, I stood in front of the full-length mirror for a moment, shaking my head at the amount of cuts and dark bruises all over my body, making me look like I’d gone ten rounds with a demon, which I guess I had in a way— two of the bastards! The symbol I had carved on my chest was also still visible, the reddish scar tissue standing out against the white of my skin. The things we do to ourselves, I thought, and then headed into the shower where I stood for a long time, letting the hot spray of the water wash away the grime and the residue of the black mold from the Tasar house, which still felt like it was under my skin even after much scrubbing.
Despite not feeling tired, I went and lay on top of the bed after I dried myself. Pretty soon, however, I fell asleep, if only to shut out the world for a while. Unfortunately, the sleep was fitful and plagued with dreams of Erebus as he wrought his dark destruction everywhere, killing everything and everyone in his path, helped this time by eldritch creatures that I can’t even begin to describe. Just before I woke up, Erebus turned to stare at me in the dream which didn’t feel like a dream anymore, but some sort of communion with the enemy. Erebus’ eyes blazed red as he spoke to me in a voice that boomed above the surrounding cacophony of destruction. "I am the Destroyer of Worlds!" he bellowed. "The Destroyer of Souls! Nothing will escape my wrath!" At that point, he reached out to grab me, his arm extending impossibly across a great distance, and just before his fingers could snatch me, I awoke from the dream with a frightened start to find my naked body shivering and covered in cold sweat.
"Jesus fuck…" I said as I sat up breathing heavily, adrenalized from the dream and its terrible visions of death and destruction, which all felt incredibly real to my frightened mind.
As I sat staring down at the bed, all I could think was, We’re fucked. We’re all fucked.
Chapter 4
After getting dressed into a shirt
, dark jeans and old leather jacket, I headed downstairs, intending to take Dalia’s advice and go see Amelia, even though I was reluctant to do so. I could’ve just been paranoid, but it felt like something had changed between us, though I didn’t know what. It felt like she had pulled away slightly, but as Dalia said, that could’ve just been due to everything that happened in the Shadow. Maybe she blamed me for Simoa’s death, I don’t know. Either way, I doubted she would have much to say when I did go and see her.
When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I noticed the front door of the shop was slightly ajar, which was cause for concern because I had locked it behind me earlier. Frowning with my magic at the ready, I turned and went through the door next to me into the shop, only to find Benedict Bonneville standing in there, dressed as always in a dark Saville Row suit. He turned and smiled with a book in his hand as I walked in.
"How did you get in here?" I asked, sighing slightly at his unannounced visit, which I could’ve done without.
"Please," he said, closing the book and putting it back on the shelf, the sickly sweet smell of his cologne permeating the air. "There isn’t a door anywhere that would give me trouble."
"I was about to head out. What do you want?"
He stared at me a moment, seeming slightly offended by my brusqueness. "You seem stressed, Corvin. What’s the matter?"
I shifted my weight as I stood by the door. "I’ve just a lot on my plate at the moment."
"Well," he said as he slid his hands into his trouser pockets. "You’re about to have a lot more."
"What do you mean?"
He shook his head as he came forward. "I hope you haven’t forgotten our deal already, Corvin. I won’t be a happy bunny if you have."
"Of course not."
"Good, because you’re starting work in your new position as head of the Council today. Right now, in fact. I have a car waiting outside."
