Theta

by Lizzy Ford

  We exited the headquarters. Many members of the army had brought families or close friends with them from DC. Those who were not official soldiers or support staff lived in the adjacent buildings of a strip mall across the street but still well within our protected compound. The lights were out in the other buildings, and it was quiet this time of night.

  I had no place designated for prisoners of war, since I never planned to take any, and was curious to see where the soldiers kept the imprisoned deity. I sensed the god before I saw where we were headed.

  Fitting, I thought, amused for the first time in weeks.

  They’d placed him in the livestock barn, which was constructed out of material left over from one of the destroyed anchor stores. Safe inside the defenses, we didn’t guard the livestock except to place young men and women in charge of making sure the animals were well. Four guards stood in front of the barn doors, confirming my suspicion the god was inside.

  The guards opened the doors when we reached them, and all four of us entered.

  The barn smelled of horses, cows, pigs, sheep and hay, and light glowed from the lamps ensconced along one wall.

  In front of the bales of hay and straw, a man in his twenties sat bound to a chair. He appeared the worse for wear, as if my men had beaten him before he managed to talk his way out of the fate I declared for every deity. His clothing was ripped and bloody and his dark hair mussed – but he bore no bruises or signs of injury. He was relaxed and dozing.

  “Is it one of them?” Herakles asked me quietly.

  I nodded.

  “Give her room,” he instructed the others and waved them back, towards the door.

  Ever my protector, he stayed close to me when I stepped forward.

  Who are you? I demanded of the god.

  He jerked awake and lifted his face to see me. His skin was dark caramel – but his eyes were brilliant blue.

  “Your Majesty,” he said and dipped his head. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

  I repeated my question.

  “Paeon.”

  My eyebrows lifted.

  “Who?” Herakles asked.

  The god appeared surprised briefly before he responded. “I am … I was the personal physician to the gods and goddesses,” he replied.

  “A god doctor. I didn’t know they needed such a thing.”

  Paeon didn’t seem to know how to respond. I waved Herakles back a step, impatient to interrogate the prisoner before I put him to death for stealing a human body.

  “But I didn’t steal it.”

  I blinked. For several weeks, no one around me had been able to hear my thoughts. I was becoming lazy in guarding them.

  “He was dying. I offered to heal him, if he volunteered to host me,” Paeon explained.

  Volunteered? I repeated skeptically. Your kind has been usurping the rightful spirits and forms that belong to the humans!

  Paeon blinked – and his eyes turned from brilliant blue to dark brown.

  “He’s telling the truth.” His voice became deeper, softer, and the sense of being near a god … changed. Became fainter. “My name is Kyros. I was beaten and left for dead by thieves after my food.”

  Was it possible for someone to be half-possessed?

  Has he hurt you? Tried to eject you from your body? I asked warily.

  “No. Never. We take turns, and he keeps my body healed and healthy, no matter what.”

  I studied him critically. The sickly sweet scent of rotting flesh was not present, and there was a healthy glow to this man’s features. I had never heard of a god possessing a body and allowing the human soul to remain.

  So you share? I asked.

  “Yes. We both needed help.”

  I perked in interest. Why would a god need help?

  Kyros shook his head. “He says I shouldn’t have said that.” He smiled, a strangely unguarded display. “We don’t always agree. It’s been a learning experience, having someone else in my head.” He blinked – and his eyes turned blue. His expression became more guarded, and he sat up straighter.

  I had never considered the possibility that a god could co-exist with a human soul inside one body. It left me even angrier with those deities I’d murdered. They didn’t give the humans a chance to share but stole the bodies.

  Why is your kind doing this? I demanded.

  “I’m not here to discuss this,” Paeon said firmly. “That is not for you to know.”

  Startled by his words, I stared at him. If my men doubted me, they at least kept their feelings quiet and obeyed my orders. Not even Herakles would challenge me. How had I forgotten the natural arrogance of a god? Perhaps because those I crossed paths with now were desperate and more likely to beg than allow their substantial egos to speak on their behalves.

  “I have a message for you from someone you seek,” Paeon said.

  I waited.

  “He says to stop seeking him. He says, you must focus on what is happening inside the city, because we are all in danger. He sent me as an olive branch. I am to serve you and help your soldiers heal from battle and sickness and any other malady that might befall them. When you are ready, I am authorized to broker a peace with you and work with you to defeat our common enemy.”

  I ignored his nonsense about a common enemy. I had one real enemy: the gods. Cleon was a very annoying obstacle standing between me and the military forces I needed to defeat the gods.

  Zeus sent you? I asked.

  “Yes. I’m here to help you.”

  “Or to spy on us,” Herakles said. “There will be no truce after all your kind has done. Not ever.”

  “I see neither of you trust deities. It does not surprise me that you do not, strong one, but I am surprised by you, Your Majesty.” Paeon studied me. “Have you forgotten your special bond with us? Have you forgotten how blessed your family is? Have you forgotten Zeus, the king over all the gods, chose to become your patron?”

  His self-assurance, along with the light accusation I heard in his questions, blinded me with fury as few things in this world were capable of. I crossed to him and slapped him hard, hating the words flowing out of his mouth. He was so confident, so certain what his people did to my family was a blessing when we lived under a curse that enslaved us for all time in stone – an inescapable, living death meant to last for eternity! My soul, and the souls of everyone who came before me in the Bloodline, would never go to Hades, never find peace, because of this blessing!

  Too angry to deal with this creature anymore, I whirled and left the barn. Herakles followed me. I walked blindly for several minutes before realizing where I was, at the edge of the forest.

  Releasing a breath, I shook out my upper body without freeing up my chest, which felt like it was being squeezed by an angry god. My breathing was ragged and shallow. Tears of anger stung my eyes. My emotions had been bubbling just beneath the surface since we left DC.

  Herakles was a silent presence behind me. He said nothing as I struggled to regain my composure. Gradually, as the humid night breeze swept by me, I was able to pull away from the hate and rage that filled me whenever I thought about my destiny and the fates of everyone in my Bloodline.

  I had long ago decided the curse of the Bloodline would end with me. I would not perpetuate the curse the gods had placed upon my family, and I didn’t intend to allow it to befall me, either.

  I had to find Zeus. I didn’t care what message Paeon carried from my patron god. I owed neither of them any loyalty.

  Facing Herakles, I was about to motion to the notebook he kept at his waist when he held it out to me. I gave him a tight smile and wrote my latest orders in as few words as possible, aware of his literacy challenge.

  Find Zeus. Do whatever it takes.

  Handing it back, I watched him read it slowly. He nodded.

  “If I may ask …” His gaze dropped to the envelope sticking out of my waistband.

  My anger softened. I missed my mother figure, Theodocia, and Herakles ached for the girl he
had adopted, the next Oracle of Delphi, Alessandra. She had been taken prisoner by the Supreme Magistrate before he attempted to destroy my army and drove me out of the city. Theodocia stayed behind, coining the moniker DC Mama, as she led the insurgencies inside the city. My code name was NOVA Mama, referring to the local parlance for Northern Virginia.

  Herakles and I were both suffering from not knowing the fates of our loved ones trapped in the city. Tugging the letter free, I scanned through it briefly. Theodocia rarely said much, in case the letters were intercepted before they reached me.

  Our insurgency was not going well. She gave no specifics. At least, not to the naked eye. Because we both possessed the ability to speak to the gods, and were touched by the magic of more than one deity, we were able to communicate in code only a god could understand.

  The message I alone was able to see was encoded in a drop of blood at the bottom of the letter. I touched it, and Theodocia’s recorded message whispered into my mind.

  I hope you are well, Phoibe. Know that I am safe, and so is Tommy, she said, referring to her son, the little boy who had become like a brother to me. SISA is getting close to our location, and the military closing in on yours. Cleon’s control of the Oracle grows. Artemis believes Alessandra is in great danger. Keep Herakles focused out there. I think it’s time we start discussing a coordinated attack. If we wait until winter, we’re going to face the additional challenge of snow and ice. If you can meet, when and where?

  The blood message ended. I shivered involuntarily. The eerie sound of her voice in my head, when she was so far away, left me momentarily distracted by my feelings. I missed her more than I ever thought I would. We’d been together for twelve years.

  Shaking my head, I handed the bland letter to Herakles.

  “She says Lyssa is doing good,” Herakles said, relief crossing his features.

  Theodocia’s lie was safe with me. Herakles was unable to read the encoded message. I needed him here, as my trusted advisor, or I would reveal Alessandra’s difficulties to him. Theodocia had been reporting that there was something wrong with the Oracle for the past few weeks without specifying what exactly the problem was. Either she didn’t fully know, or it was of a nature she did not feel comfortable sharing, even through our encoded messages.

  I wrote another short message for Herakles and handed the notebook to him.

  “Safe place to meet near DC?” he asked. “Your Majesty, I don’t think there is such a thing right now.”

  I lifted my chin.

  He smiled. “But I’ll find one. You want to meet with DC Mama?”

  I nodded.

  “Then I will make it happen.” He returned the letter to me. “I know and agree with your position on deities stealing human bodies. But I feel we can use Paeon, and I grow weary of the nightly wakes. If you will agree to let him care for our sick and injured, I will ensure he stays bound and guarded at all times.”

  I studied Herakles. He was never arrogant or forceful. He was always honest, another trait we did not share. At times, I needed his perspective, when my own was frustrated. My instinct was to murder Paeon this night, but Herakles’ gentle argument held a ring of truth I wasn’t able to ignore. If we continued to lose soldiers to bad water and on missions to find food, we would have no one left to attack the protected zone and take the city.

  I nodded once to give my permission, in spite of my reservations. I would keep an eye on Paeon, too, and ensure he wasn’t masking his real intention in being here.

  “You need rest,” Herakles advised.

  I raised both eyebrows, unaccustomed to being told what to do, even if he often said those very words.

  “Queen or Oracle, I know that look.” The skin around his eyes crinkled with warmth. “You may not like to hear it, but it is true. I am not sending you to bed without your dinner. I am advising you that you have not slept in two days, and you are as mortal as I am. Take it how you will.” He ended his speech with a deferential bow of his head.

  My temperament was less befitting my position than normal. I’d reached out of anger to Paeon when normally I was capable of calmness in any situation.

  Nodding in reluctant acquiescence, I turned away from my trusted advisor and returned to the headquarters building. My quarters consisted of a private manager’s office converted into a small bedroom with simple necessities: a bed, box of clothing, a chair and desk, and my own private bathroom with a shower installed by the engineers in my army.

  Stepping into the quiet room, the tension in my shoulders and neck began to release. My accommodations were plain but comfortable.

  Leery of what nightmares awaited me if I dared sleep, I opted for a shower to scrub the blood off my skin. Hot water trickled over me, and I sighed deeply. My mind was on Theodocia’s hidden message, and I closed my eyes.

  There was another reason I approved of her idea of attacking by winter, another reason for hating Lantos. Another reason my temper was short, and I was afraid to sleep, in case I missed the opportunity to locate Zeus before it was too late.

  I allowed the water to wash away all my worries, to cleanse my skin and soothe my mind. Recent developments of a personal nature led me to believe I was not likely to live long past the start of the New Year, several months away.

  Chapter Four: Grotesque Prince

  A few seconds before the fire of transformation flew through my body, I dropped to the ground from my perch in a branch in the massive olive tree overlooking a beach. The first rays of dawn crested the horizon as I changed from monster into man.

  “I’m still waiting,” I whispered.

  With my challenge of turning into a monster at night, I’d had to select my transportation across the ocean carefully, choosing the kind of companions who didn’t ask questions once enough money was exchanged. My trip in total took two weeks to reach this point, and I’d spent the rest of my time searching every beach within kilometers.

  The nearest village to this part of the coast was surrounded by a handmade moat. While peaceful, the towns and cities I had encountered thus far on my journey rarely welcomed strangers. I could think of dozens of reasons, ranging from limited food stores to the fear of possession, a reality I had initially chalked up to paranoia, until I met the first god in human form. I passed civilization by without stopping. I traveled half by night, half by day, hunted for food at night in my monster form and feared neither man nor god.

  My progress was slower than I liked, though generally unimpeded by anyone. But, after weeks of searching, I had lost any real hope of finding the plaque Artemis had tasked me to recover or of running into any god who might assist me.

  “Please. Just let me go,” came a wan voice from the base of the tree where I’d spent the night.

  I glanced at the rotting body of the teenage boy without a drop of pity. The god possessing the youth had identified himself as Cyamites, a minor terra god, and had made the lethal mistake of crossing my path in search of a new host several days ago.

  “When you pass my message to the goddess I seek, I might consider it,” I replied. “I know you all can communicate telepathically.”

  “I’ve told you every day since you found me. She will not answer me.”

  “Then you will not live.”

  “I have never harmed a human before I was forced to. Look at all I’ve done for this world,” the god pleaded. “You can’t let me die here, like this!”

  “The world will survive without the god of beans,” I replied, amused.

  Cyamites sighed. His body had disintegrated to the point he could barely move, which left me free to explore without worrying about the god wandering off to seize someone else’s body.

  I strode from the orchard, neglected and weedy, across a narrow, dirt road to the beach. It had seemed much larger when I was young, four thousand years ago. The stretch of sand ran for a kilometer along the brilliant, blue green Aegean Sea and was capped on either side by jagged rocks. Over the past few weeks, since arriving, I had used
my human brain and my beast strength to alternately inspect and then tear up every inch of beach in the hopes of finding the elusive plaque Artemis had sent me around the world to find.

  The sea breeze ruffled my hair, and I stood, listening to the sounds of the waves rushing up the beach. I was at a loss as to what to do next. Every day I remained here, I placed the woman I cared about in more danger by leaving her alone to face the political madhouse that was DC. I had faith Alessandra could handle herself, especially when she possessed the powers of a goddess, and my most trusted friend, Lantos, was there to shield her from others if needed. It was more of an instinct that had been needling me. I kept seeing her face in my thoughts and dreams, and she was distraught every time.

  I hadn’t been able to shake the sense something was wrong. Alessandra hadn’t used our connection to summon me. Even so, I should have been able to feel her presence in my soul, as I had since we became reacquainted several weeks ago.

  “I have to be missing something,” I murmured and began to pace along the beach. I was not the kind of person who overlooked any detail. Ever. But the idea that I sought wasn’t here, and I’d been sent away out of some unknown motivation by a fickle goddess, left me furious with myself as well as with her.

  Half an hour passed. The sun perched on the horizon, and I grew impatient. Returning to the olive tree I had adopted as my temporary home, I sat on a boulder nearby, upwind, so I didn’t have to smell the rotting god seated at the tree’s base.

  “If you’d tell me what we’re doing here, maybe I could help,” Cyamites said, not for the first time.

  “Unless you were on this beach four thousand years ago, there’s nothing you can do to help me.”

  “Well that’s simple. This beach didn’t exist four thousand years ago. No one was here.”