by Ravek Hunter
They all stood together in the clearing in which for so many evenings they shared communal meals and laughter and said their goodbyes. Genuine friendships and bonds had been developed that Qel hoped would last a lifetime, although he couldn’t hazard a guess as to when he and Havacian might return. It could be years or decades, and it was that thought that already had him feeling nostalgic. After he said a few words to Tridi and Vnae, he knelt down to where Tolia stood next to her mother.
“I will miss you most of all, young lady.” He pulled a small object from his pocket and put it into her tiny hand. It was a small obsidian unicorn with a silver chain wrapped around it that he had been working on over the past two weeks. It was only the night before that he added the final enchantments.
“It is a charm that will protect you and keep you safe from monsters,” he told her quietly, as if it were some vital secret between them.
“I love it!” She smiled broadly and fumbled to unravel the chain.
“I’ll help you.” Qel untangled the chain, and the charm rolled out to hang freely at the end of it. Then he placed it around Tolia’s neck under her long blonde hair.
She held up the charm to her mother, “Look, Mommy, a unicorn!”
Vnae smiled down at her daughter. “Yes it is, and it’s beautiful.”
Tolia gave Qel a big hug. “Thank you, Qel! I will wear it forever!”
“I hope you do, little one.” He was doing his best to hold back the tears that wanted to pour from his moisture-swollen eyes. “I truly do.”
Chapter 13
Hellas
Anesidora’s Pithos
Akakios was in mid-conjure by the time the Chimera turned to face the diving Pegasos that sped toward it. They were descending at terrific speed through the icy atmosphere, with high winds buffeting the Pegasos from one direction and then the other. Akakios hardly noticed the cold, and his winged mount expertly kept them on target. Far below, the Chimera was desperately trying to gather speed to meet their charge.
With a final shout to complete his spell, Akakios raised his staff above his head with his right hand, and it burst into flames. In his left hand he brought from his robes a small lead coin and spoke a few more quick words. The coin grew into a large lead spearhead, and he reached up and affixed it to the tip of the blazing spear. He was relieved that he had the foresight to strap himself to the Pegasos before the dive began, freeing up both hands to do what was required for the complex set of spells. Then he held the flaming, lead-tipped spear ready for the right moment to strike.
The Chimera rose fast to meet them, roaring with fury, tail flicking and claws extended before a stream of fire burst toward them from its lion head. Predictable, thought Akakios gratefully. The two great beasts were dangerously close, with the threat of impact imminent, and yet Akakios kept his gaze steady and his breathing calm—he was in an impenetrable cocoon of concentration. It was only in this state that he could react with the precision needed to make his plan work. The Pegasos must have understood as well, for it did not waver in its flight, even in the face of fiery death. Akakios hurled his flaming, lead-tipped spear directly into the oncoming stream of fire. It left his hand at an incredible speed, with far more velocity than he could have ever managed with his feeble physique. As the spear passed through the fiery breath, the lead tip softened to nearly a liquid state. Akakios prayed that Kronos would guide his throw to its mark.
Kronos answered his prayers that day.
The spear flew straight and true, splitting the fiery breath into several splintered streams and lodging deep inside the throat of the Chimera’s lion head. The creature coughed and sputtered and tried to swat at the fiery conveyance, but the spear had consumed itself, leaving only the molten lead that was already cooling in the enraged monster’s throat and lungs. Akakios felt triumphant for only a second before he realized that the Pegasos was too close to avoid the floundering beast. The two creatures crashed into one another with a terrible jolt.
The Chimera, unable to breathe, latched onto the Pegasos with its powerful front claws and desperately attempted to dislodge the solidified lead from its lungs with a series of increasingly violent coughs. The goat head that sprouted from the back of its lion body snapped and bit at the Pegasos’s wings whenever they came close and spat long feathers with each success.
It was everything Akakios could do to avoid the thrashing of both embattled creatures, and he feared one or the other would kill him incidentally before he could release the straps that held him fast. The Pegasos was screaming savagely from the wounds caused by the Chimera’s dangerous grasp as it furiously kicked at the beast, but its claws were long and penetrated deep into its flesh.
Unable to bear the additional weight of the creature, even the might of the Pegasos wings failed, and they started to lose altitude. Thrashing about desperately, the Chimera continued to hold tightly, and it wildly threw its lion head back and forth, unable to inhale the sweet air its lungs desired so desperately. Their initial slow descent became a rapid spiral, with the shrine’s landing seemingly rising up to meet them. Akakios prepared himself to jump, but he worried they might miss the landing altogether in their twisting descent. And then the fall was interrupted by the jarring impact of the two beasts’ heavy bodies crashing down at the very edge of the landing. For just a moment, Akakios was dazed and disoriented. The wildly flapping wings of the inseparable creatures twisted the two so violently that they started to roll. Akakios, free of the constraining straps and with his wits scrambled, took this chance to jump clear of the Pegasos and prayed his blind leap was in the right direction. His face and arms scraped against the hard stone of the landing, and his knees nearly shattered from his hard impact. Akakios didn’t care—he was alive. He looked back toward the edge of the landing just in time to see the Pegasos vigorously pumping its legs, struggling to gain traction on the polished stone as the much weightier Chimera pulled it over the side. The shrill screams of the poor animal diminished as they fell farther down the mountain until it was drowned out by the rushing winds below.
Clearing blood from his eyes, Akakios was acutely aware of how quiet and serene the shrine was in contrast with the life and death struggle he had endured just moments before. It was odd that the strong winds had suddenly died down to almost nothing. He felt like he had just awoken from a violent nightmare into another dream, it felt so surreal. And then, with his adrenalin fading away and too exhausted from the previous spell to cast another, he shivered violently from the startling frigid cold and looked around for a place to get warm.
Braziers set within the entrance to the shrine burned bright and barely flickered, beckoning to him with the promise of warmth. Akakios could recognize the landing as the background from which Anesidora called to him in his dreams. Yet she was not here. He supposed that she must be waiting for him somewhere within the shrine. Standing within the circle of warmth cast by one of the braziers, he took a few moments to gather his strength and prepare a few spells, unsure what he might face inside, then marshaled his courage and walked through the open doors.
Inside, the passage was warm from more braziers that lit the wide corridor. There were no other doors or hallways that intersected that Akakios could see, and soon he found himself staring into a large circular, domed room filled with incredible things. Statues of Metis in different poses circled the perimeter, and to his utter astonishment, there were life-size statues of the Pegasos and the Chimera, each standing defiant and regal. To his even greater amazement, he spied sculptures of the two Paein and the three Harpyia he encountered during his journey standing on the other side of the room. Akakios had to pause and wonder what game of the gods he found himself embroiled in. Thinking back on his experiences over the past few days with the Paein, the Harpyia, and now the Pegasos and Chimera it all felt contrived.
Akakios looked up at the massive domed ceiling, half expecting to see the gods staring back down at him, laughing at his folly. Instead, the dome was covered with beautiful
ly carved and painted reliefs reflecting stories about the gods he had known from childhood, stories that were comfortable and familiar. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched, but with the exception of the lifelike vacant eyes of the statues, he saw nothing alive.
And no sign of Anesidora.
He walked toward the center of the room, where seven steps led up to the highest platform of a raised dais. There stood a large pithos almost the height of a man and too wide at its midsection to put one’s arms around. Upon its blue-and-ivory painted surface were figures and symbols showing scenes of people acting in sinful displays. To look at them made him blush. Not that he was a prude or had any moral objection to what the scenes were acting out, he just hadn’t experienced much intimacy in his lifetime, at least not since he retired from his days as an explorer.
Akakios ascended the steps to stand next to the large pithos. He noted that the lid was sealed with wax and stamped with a medallion carved with the image of the face of a Demon that he didn’t recognize. He certainly wasn’t an authority on Demons, he mused to himself, but many of the more important ones’ likenesses were depicted in the old legends, and this was not one of them. Perhaps it was just a symbol to frighten away anyone who was curious about what was inside.
Startling him from his thoughts, a delicate, feminine voice from nowhere whispered, “Free me, my love.”
His heart almost leaped from his body, and his head swiveled, trying to look in every direction at once, but no matter where he looked, he could not find the source of the disembodied voice.
Blood rushed through Akakios’s body with an excitement he had not felt since he was a youth. She was here. He knew from his dreams that this voice was his beloved Anesidora’s. “I am here for you, love!” Akakios shouted to the room. “Call to me again, and I will find you!”
The voice of Anesidora came again, weaker this time and full of distress. “Here, my love.” Her voice was nearby. “I am imprisoned in the pithos,” she began to cry piteously. “Please release me! Hurry, there is little air remaining, and I cannot breathe!”
Without hesitation, Akakios broke the Demon head medallion and conjured a complex fire spell, weaving it like thread around the wax sealing on the lid to melt it away without causing the air inside the pithos to heat up. There was something strange about the seal, and an urgent warning nagged at him from the recesses of his mind. No one could reduce the wax that sealed the pithos, not the most potent wizard or priest from any kingdom, not even an Atlantean. Only a Fire-Bringer of Kronos—Akakios. The warning that nagged before began to scream, but it didn’t matter; he had to save Anesidora. Seconds later, the wax melted away and the lid was loose.
This was it. Everything was silent, even the screams inside Akakios’s head. It was as if the world held its breath, waiting for what was to happen next.
Akakios knew what would happen. He would release his love, and they would be together forever. It felt like a dream. He knew he was old and she was young, but that did not matter. She loved him, and he loved her. It felt impossible that he was finally here on the cusp of his life changing forever. He didn’t care if he was the Ta Hiera anymore, or even a priest of Kronos. He would be a lowly shepherd for all he cared if he was with her. Nothing mattered anymore, except removing the lid . . .
Firmly gripping the heavy ceramic cover with his knobby-fingered hands, he pulled forth the lid and opened the pithos.
There was a rush of air from inside the pithos so violent that Akakios was thrown from the dais and the lid shattered on the floor. Then a shrill scream of many voices erupted so loudly that the pithos vibrated brutally and cracks spidered down its length.
The pithos burst, violently sending a thousand shards in every direction. Akakios covered his face to protect his eyes from the flying debris and scooted away from the steps, pushing fearfully with his single whole foot.
Immediately, several large dark shadows and many smaller ones emerged from the shattered pithos and rushed through the room and around the perimeter of the dome, screaming with a shrill laughter of multitudes that almost took his sanity. He covered his ears to keep out the sound, but it didn’t help, and then the shadows, blacker than black, flew down the short corridor and out the open doors of the shrine. There was something purely evil about them that was so palpable they left Akakios trembling on the floor as he watched them depart. Their screams echoed with laughter into the night beyond, and it filled him with dread.
The room was silent. Akakios fearfully glanced around at his surroundings, but he was alone again. What happened? he asked himself. What have I done? Where is Anesidora? Was she been trapped in the pithos with the things that I released? What are they, and why would Anesidora implore me to open the pithos if she wasn’t there? His mind was swirling with questions unanswerable. What he did know was that he had unleashed something terrible and evil into the world. He could feel it in his bones.
It was in this moment of abject humility that he prayed to Metis for forgiveness and swore to Kronos that he would dedicate his life to finding the evil beings he had released and destroy or capture them. He also worried for Anesidora. Did the evil things abduct her for their evil purpose? He would seek her out as well. Slowly he rose from the tiled floor and, with resolve, he strode from the shrine.
The chill of the air was waiting for him outside along with the absence of wind, just as before. It was as if nothing unusual had occurred with the release of the shadows just moments earlier. He needed to return to the Hierophant and tell him what had happened. He had been tricked into doing something irreversible that could change the course of history, would change the course of history, if he didn’t find a way to stop it. He hobbled around the landing, desperately seeking a way down. There must be a way. So engrossed in his search, he noticed the fog only after it nearly covered the landing.
There was something unnatural about how it moved across the pavers that gave him pause, and he worried that it might envelop him and send him to obscurity like the landing upon which he stood. Then a shadowy image appeared just outside the hazy light of the braziers at the edge of the shrine’s landing. A slight luminescence surrounded the figure as it stood with dense fog at its feet. Akakios recognized the figure as Anesidora, solid before him and more beautiful than his memory of his dreams would allow.
She lived!
Akakios’s mind raced. She must have escaped. She must have fled the pithos, unable to find him until now. She extended her arms toward him and in a voice full of love and joy told Akakios, “Come to me, my beloved, so we may finally embrace and be together for all eternity.”
Akakios was enthralled and filled with overwhelming emotions of love, joy, and yearning. Forgetting everything about the evil shadows he had released, he made his way slowly toward Anesidora, dragging his useless foot behind him. He no longer had his staff. It was somewhere far below, charred splinters in the maw of the Chimera. He moved in jerks and fits from the other side of the landing toward her, ignoring the fog, his eyes fixed upon her and her alone.
“A gift for you, my love.” She clapped her hands and held her arms out to receive his embrace.
A sensation ran through his club foot like a feather across his skin, and his movement became steadier and assured. Akakios stopped and looked down, nearly bursting into tears when he saw it; his foot had mended and formed fully like the other.
“Come, my love. Quickly now.” Anesidora beckoned reassuringly.
Akakios was so focused on his need to join her, he forgot the unusual events that brought him here. There were the odd inscriptions on the pithos, the Demon head–inscribed medallion, the urgent pleas of Anesidora herself to free her from the pithos, the evil that emerged from it, the unusual nature of Anesidora’s current appearance, the odd words she used to bring him to her, and the precarious nature of his current location. The details were in his head, and his wary nature struggled for clarity to recognize them. But with the lovely being standing in front of hi
m, so willing, so available, to be his, nothing could distract him from this moment, and he suppressed every distraction that might take his focus away from her.
Only a pace away, his feet felt as if they were walking on air when he reached to embrace her. A part of Akakios’s mind registered that his arms closed through her a split second before the sensation of falling. He was confused and unable to comprehend that in seconds he would be dead. As he fell, he heard a disembodied, conversational female voice ask someone, “Why did you let the human die?” It was the voice he knew from his dreams as Metis.
A deep male voice that he did not recognize replied, “He was the Fire-Bringer, destined to destroy us.”
Akakios did not feel anger or fear. Nor did he have sorrow for the loss of his love or his life. He felt only sadness that he did not understand . . . and then nothing at all, forever.
~~~
It was the middle of the night, and Kyros was startled awake by a loud noise. He was sure it was a bang or cracking sound like lightning, but sharper. Maybe it was his imagination or the ringing in his ears, but the sound seemed to still echo off the mountains surrounding the city. Theokleia was lying next to him, and she was also awake.
“My husband, are you awake?”
“I am, wife,” he said.
“Did you hear that sound, or was I dreaming?”
“I heard it as well, unless we were in the same dream.”
Her voice was fearful. “Maybe someone broke down our door? I am frightened, Kyros.”
“Do not worry, love. I will check the house.” Kyros picked up the heavy forge hammer on the floor next to their bed.
He walked through the small house, his senses and awareness heightened and ready to lash out at any sudden movement against him. Everything was quiet; nothing was disturbed. He continued through the connected storefront, and there too, all was well. Kyros lit a lantern and walked into the large back courtyard where his forges stood. The nearest was the older forge, and everything was in order as he would expect, except for a tong that was on the ground. It must have fallen off a hook. He left it where it lay. It would be an excellent excuse to lecture his apprentices on the care and organization of the forge tools in the morning. Next, he walked over to his newest forge and everything looked in order here as well.
