Crossfire (Book 1) (The Omega Group)
Page 3
Mirissa chose a frilly blue dress with silver shoes and was busy getting ready for her musical debut when Steve went to the car to hide the roses he was going to give her later. He noticed a nondescript gray sedan parked on the corner with a lone occupant behind the wheel. At the time it didn’t register as important, but later on, when it was too late, it would.
The music hall was almost full by 6:15 that evening and Steve was worried that Myrine would be late. He’d tried to call her, but it kept going straight through to voicemail, so he took his seat in the front row, with a video camera ready to record this auspicious occasion.
Fifteen minutes later, Mirissa walked out on stage with an ear-to-ear smile. She stepped up to the piano, sat on the bench, and looked out to the audience - and the empty seat that her mother should have filled. The smile left her face as she sent a questioning look to her father that he didn’t have an answer for. All he could do was give her his best, supportive smile as she started her first song.
Forty-five minutes later, as he applauded louder than he thought possible, his daughter curtsied in front of the crowd that was on their feet to honor her. The crowd that was missing the one person his daughter desperately needed to be there. The one person that, unknown to them at the time, was gone for good.
Chapter 8
One Year Ago
A knock at the front door brought Steve back to the present and, after a quick check to make sure his daughter was still all right, he wiped the tears from his face and opened the door with the intention of getting rid of whatever salesperson was there.
“Mr. Colson?” the twenty-something man asked. He was tall, like Steve, and obviously physically fit, with close-cropped sandy blond hair. An athlete, Steve thought.
“Yes. I’m Steve Colson,” he replied.
“My name is Greco, and I am Mirissa’s Guardian. May I speak with her, please?”
Considering his daughter’s current state, this probably wasn’t the best time, but Steve didn’t see any point in delaying the inevitable. Without a word, he stepped back to allow Greco into the living room where Mirissa was still lying unconscious on the couch.
“You allowed her to put on the ring before my arrival?” Greco asked. He appeared angry at the obvious breach in protocol.
“Look, I didn’t allow her to do anything. I didn’t even know she had that damned ring.” Steve’s temper was starting to flare and he was glad that this man was here to take the brunt of it. Served him right for bringing his only daughter into a life that took away her mother.
“I’m sorry, sir,” Greco said in a more conciliatory tone. “This is just… unusual.”
The sound of movement from the couch caught Steve’s attention and he immediately went to his daughter’s side. As her eyes fluttered open, she said, “I just had the strangest dream, Dad. I was in the woods with a whole bunch of girls just like me and we were training for some battle and there was a woman there with the same name as Mom, and a statue and…”
“Tritonia” Steve half sighed.
Mirissa’s eyes grew wide. “It wasn’t a dream, was it?” Mirissa asked, looking somewhat shocked and scared of the answer.
“No, it wasn’t,” Greco interrupted.
At the sight of this stranger in the living room, Mirissa bolted upright, almost tearing the new prom gown she was wearing.
“My name is Greco. I am your Guardian,” he began,” and we have much to do.”
As Greco made himself comfortable in one of the armchairs, Mirissa excused herself, saying she wanted to change into something less ridiculous, and headed upstairs.
There was a long silence while Steve processed everything that had happened. “Please, don’t bring her into this,” he begged. “Let her be a normal teenager.”
“Mr. Colson, it was my understanding that you have always been aware of Mirissa’s situation. Have you not been training her for more than ten years to ensure her readiness?
Greco was right. Although Steve had told himself that he put his daughter in all of those martial arts classes for physical fitness, that wasn’t entirely true. Deep down, he’d always known this day would come. He also knew it was his duty to get Mirissa as ready as she could possibly be. He’d even added sharpshooting to the long list of ways his daughter could defend herself. Not because her bloodline required it, but because it was something that he could bring to the table. A way he could be a part of the life he always knew she’d lead.
“Is that true, Daddy?” Mirissa was now at the bottom of the stairs with a look of betrayal on her face.
“Yeah, baby, it is.” He couldn’t remember the last time she’d called him Daddy and it broke his heart to hear her say it with such disappointment in her voice.
Mirissa walked into the living room and looked at each man in turn. “Start at the beginning, and don’t leave anything out,” she commanded.
For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, Mirissa received instructions about the Amazons, the Greek Gods, and Kakodaemons, or Kakos, as they were now known.
Chapter 9
At the turn of the fifth century BC, the Amazons were a well-known, and well-feared, tribe of female warriors. Their prowess with the bow and arrow was legendary and, as a result, their tribe spread throughout Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor, and even northern Africa.
Contrary to popular beliefs at the time, the Amazon tribe was peaceful by nature, spending much of their time studiously learning about the world around them. Their society was the inspiration for the famous “ideal society” that Plato spoke of in his dialogue, The Republic. They became experts in farming, designing irrigation systems that rivaled those of Egypt, and developed their skills as warriors until they were a formidable force for any army. They were ruled by a Queen that was elected based on her wisdom and courage, and they flourished for years.
The Amazons fought many battles against armies that threatened their way of life and, as worshippers of Artemis, the Greek Goddess of the Hunt, they fought also to defend her. Unlike other societies of the time, they did not fight to gain territory or riches; they chose their battles based on who needed their help.
Regardless of their great skills and talent as warriors, the armies they fought were less angry about being defeated, than they were about being defeated by an army of women. As their reputation grew, so did the animosity toward them.
When a Greek army defeated one of the Amazon tribes, instead of killing their prisoners, as was the Greek way, they followed the advice of Ares, Artemis’s half-brother and the God of War. They chose to humiliate the legendary Amazons by taking them back to Greece and forcing them into what the Greeks considered a more suitable life for females.
Ares wanted to do more than just humiliate the Amazons. He wanted to destroy them. Armies throughout his kingdom had long revered Ares, but the Amazons had begun to change that. With every army that was plundered by the female warriors, Artemis grew in strength and power. She was no longer simply the Goddess of the Hunt, but was referred to by many as the Goddess of War. Even Zeus, their father, had begun to speak more highly of Artemis than he did of Ares.
In a last ditch effort to thwart the Amazons and regain his standing, Ares struck a deal with the God of the Underworld, Hades. Hades created a race of demons, the Kakodaemons, which possessed all of the abilities needed to defeat the Amazons—strength, agility and stamina—as well as an all-encompassing hunger to do so. In return, Ares promised that the souls of all that were killed by the Kakodaemons would be sent directly to Hades to spend eternity in his underworld hell.
When the Amazons joined the Trojan War to help defend King Priamos against the Greeks, Ares sent his Kakodaemons to join the Greek army. In one of the bloodiest battles ever fought, the Amazons were defeated and more than half of their forces were slain.
In their battle against the Athenians, the Amazons were once again annihilated by the Kakodaemons hiding among the enemy soldiers. Battle after battle was fought, and lost, by the once mighty Am
azons, and their prayers to Artemis begged for answers and for help.
When Artemis found out what her half-brother had done, she vowed to make things right for her Amazons and for all mankind. She knew that the Kakodaemons’ hunger would drive them to annihilate the humans as well as the Amazons.
First, she contacted her friend, Persephone, who was married to Hades, and told her what he’d done. Persephone then convinced her husband to make amends by giving the Kakodaemons a weakness that would make them less of a threat to mankind. He agreed, and altered the demons so they could never again walk in daylight.
Then, Artemis brought all of her remaining warriors to the island of Tritonia and imbued them with supernatural healing powers and unequaled strength and agility. She told them everything she knew about the Kakodaemons and made ridding the world of the vile creatures their sole purpose.
For hundreds of years the Amazons lived on Tritonia and trained to fulfill their purpose. In secrecy they travelled throughout their former homelands and quietly dispatched the Kakodaemons.
Artemis and Ares were now at war.
Chapter 10
“So, how do I fit into all of this?” Mirissa asked Greco.
“It is in your blood. You are an Amazon, just like your mother, and her mother before her. Every generation of Amazons brings about the next to ensure that there will always be a force to fight the Kakodaemons. When a child comes of age and is deemed ready to join the fight, they are given their ring. Once the ring is in place, it bonds with the wearer and, after insuring that the wearer is, in fact, an Amazon, it becomes a link to Tritonia. As you progress, it will also become your greatest weapon.
This was all a little too much for Mirissa to take in. Her head was spinning with each new revelation and with every question Greco answered, three more came to the front. It felt as though she were living in some weird science fiction movie and that her future of prom, graduation, college, and everything else that she hadn’t even thought about, was crumbling away around her.
Through all the tumult in her mind, one question was clear and concise. “So, my mother was a part of all this?”
Before Greco could answer, her father spoke up. “Yes, she was. In fact, it was how we first met.”
Now, that was unexpected, Mirissa thought.
“I was in between tours and stationed here in Jacksonville at Mayport. One night my buddies and I went to Neptune Beach to hang out at Pete’s. It was our favorite bar. We’d been there for a couple of hours when I saw some sort of commotion outside. My curiosity got the better of me, so I went to check it out. There was a woman leaning against the wall just down the street. She was crying and had blood all over her. I ran over to see if I could help, and when I got there I saw that the lower part of her neck had been torn open and blood was pouring out. I was about to run for the payphone across the street to call an ambulance when someone grabbed me and pushed me aside.
“My fighting instincts took over and I started to take a swing at whomever it was that had attacked me but they were already at the other end of the alley. It was her—in all her warrior glory. She was amazing. She was taking on three men that looked as though they wanted nothing more than to tear her to pieces, and she was holding her own. She’d taken out the first one with a ferocious snap kick, and then backhanded the second to break his nose. The third guy hung back until it was clear the other two were going down, and then he got into the fight. She fought brilliantly and had almost succeeded when the first guy to go down got back on his feet and went for her throat.
“Without thinking I ran in to help her. We stood back to back and, with the odds evened up a bit, had little trouble knocking the three of them unconscious.
“I ran out to the street to check on the injured woman I’d seen earlier and called her an ambulance from the payphone. When I got back to the alley, your mother was standing there, alone. When I asked her what happened to the three guys, she just smiled at me and started to walk away. And that was it. I was smitten.
“I followed her for three blocks before she finally turned around and talked to me. I convinced her to go with me to a coffee shop I knew, and we spent the next three hours just talking.”
Mirissa watched her father as he told the story of meeting her mother and saw that his eyes had taken on a faraway look. It was then that she realized he was still in love with her mother. Mirissa had mistakenly thought that his lack of interest in women over the past decade had been for her benefit, even though she’d tried to get him to start dating. It had never occurred to her that he would still be in love with a woman that had left him so long ago.
“So, she told you about all of this… stuff?” Mirissa asked.
“Not right away. We were together almost two years before she finally let me in on her secret, and even then it was only because I’d asked her to marry me. I’m pretty sure she thought I’d get scared off, but boy was she wrong. Knowing how hard she worked and how much she’d sacrificed to make the world a safer place, just made me love her even more.
“I guess, in a weird way, I felt even more connected to her. I was serving my country in the Navy with the same feeling of commitment and obligation that she had, so I understood. The bloodsucking Kakos and Greek gods were a little more difficult for me to digest, but in time they were as real to me as everything else in my life.”
“Bloodsucking?” Mirissa asked.
“Yes, Mirissa.” Greco spoke for the first time since her father’s story began. “That is how they send their victims’ souls to Hades. They have elongated canine teeth that they sink into the necks of their targets. After their blood is drained, their soul is taken to the underworld.”
“So, Kakodaemons are vampires.” Mirissa was less shocked than she probably should have been. Sure, she thought, why not? Maybe werewolves and leprechauns are real, too.
“Not in the way you think,” Greco continued. “Although Hollywood vampires were inspired by the Kakos, very little truth followed that inspiration. They are confined to the night as the sun will burn them, but wooden stakes and crosses have no effect on them. The only way to kill a Kakodaemon is to sever its head. It then turns to ash.”
“Which explains what happened to the three that your mother and I fought the night we met.” Her dad interjected.
Although Mirissa was still unsure about so much, and had so many more questions about who she was and what was expected of her, she decided to handle this situation the same way she handled everything else in her life—head-on. “So, what now?”
“Now, we begin your training,” said Greco. The talk of her family seemed to make him uncomfortable, and he was visibly relieved to be moving on to something else.
He grabbed a wooden chest from the floor and placed it on the table in front of Mirissa. “This chest is now yours. It can only be opened with the ring you are wearing, so it is a safe place to keep the items you will need to pass on to your daughter.”
“Slow down, cowboy. There aren’t going to be any daughters anytime soon.” Mirissa said.
“Amen to that,” Steve mumbled under his breath.
Once again pulled out of his comfort zone, Mirissa watched as Greco tried to bring the conversation back on task. “I only meant that it is secure. Your mother left this for you.”
Looking at the chest in a new light, Mirissa felt torn. On the one hand, she wanted desperately to see what was inside. To learn about the mother she hadn’t known since she was seven years old. On the other hand, she was afraid. What if whatever was inside didn’t change anything? What if, after opening it, she was still just a girl that was abandoned by her mother?
The chest was made of a beautiful dark wood with dozens of symbols carved on every side. The lid of the box was secured with iron hinges at the back and an intricately designed iron locking mechanism at the front. The center of the lock was a mirror image of her ring and Mirissa found herself unconsciously rubbing it as she studied the chest. “What do all of these symbols mean?”
Without even realizing she was doing it, Mirissa placed her ring over the lock and watched as the iron around it pulled back in a series of smooth, almost beautiful movements, and the lid popped open.
There were only two items in the chest. The first was a book that looked to be older than anything she had ever seen in any museum. There was a drawing on the front cover that looked uncannily like the woman from her dream. Above it were more symbols, and underneath, the words “Queens Myrine” were inscribed in an artful script.
Mirissa carefully lifted the book out of the chest and placed it on her lap. Her hands shaking, she opened the cover to find page after page written in the same symbolic language as was on the chest. Disappointed, she looked at Greco for an explanation.
“This book,” he began, “has been handed down to each of the Amazon queens since the time of Tritonia. When Artemis brought all of the remaining Amazons to the island, Myrine, the woman you met earlier today, was their queen. As a sign of respect for her strength, wisdom, and courage, every queen from that point forward has taken that name.”
Mirissa sat quietly for a moment, digesting this new bit of information. “So, my mother was a queen?” she asked.
“Your mother is the queen,” Greco corrected. “Each queen, in succession, has added pages to the book whenever new information came to light that needed to be recorded. You will find your mother’s entries at the end.”