Staring at the grave markers in front of her, Tria clenched her eyes tight as she tried to cry. By all rights, tears should be flowing down her face as she read the dates of her children’s deaths, and that of her husband…but they refused to come. It could have been the shock of appearing in a graveyard that stopped the tears, or it could have been that somewhere over the past thirty years, she had come to accept the event and look at the fond memories, instead of dwelling on the events. 1
Then, her eyes fell on the one thing she never really expected to see. Squinting in the afternoon light, she bent over to run her fingers along the lettering on the gravestone, tracing the words that made up her own name. It had never occurred to her that she would be buried, since she wasn’t dead. She’d heard rumors that the ones who attacked them had been accused of taking her body after killing her, and since the body had never been found, she didn’t think she would be buried. 2
Yet, there she lay… or, at least a small grave marker, with her family, and a smaller name in the corner of hers that belonged to the child she never got to give birth to. Sarah. So, it had been a girl. She wondered how they knew that, since there was no body, but decided that it was one of the many unanswered questions that the universe held. Or, at least unanswered until she asked the right being.3
Turning away, she walked along the tree-lined path that wandered through the cemetery, feeling a little more at ease than she had in the past thirty years. Deciding to see a bit of the city she had lived in, and see how it had changed, she headed towards the distant sparkle of water in the bay, and the smells of the restaurants as they beckoned her. 4
The last time she had been here was when she had been doling out her own version of retribution before beginning a life of servitude to Artemis. Now, she was technically free from all constraints, yet still felt the restraints that bound her to a mythical duty. She could easily just up and walk away from hunting the demon, but her conscience wouldn’t allow her to let another woman suffer at Labeve’s hands. 5
Looking around at the busy streets and sidewalks, she smiled. She’d always loved coming to the wharf when she was alive, and her kids loved coming here, too. Back then, it had been busy, but could never compare to the commotion that it held today. Absently thinking that her kids would have loved the activity, she finally started crying. 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~7
~~~~~~~~~~~~8
Music wafted from the speakers on the wall, the hard rock accompanying the sudden swearing that was coming from the man standing over a workbench. Hissing in pain, Dom shook his hand as he added a few extra choice phrases before picking up the offending hammer and tossing it in the general direction of the toolbox. 9
Flexing his fingers to work out the pain, he grabbed a piece of sandpaper and went back to work. Bending low over the table, he ran the paper over the solid beech wood, buffing away any rough spots before setting it with the others to paint. Checking over his shoulder at the one piece he had already painted, he smiled at the country scene that stared back at him. 10
Wiping hands on already dirty pants, Dom reached over to flick the iPod to another play list, then grabbed the paintbrushes as the music started, accompanied by the gently hum of the air circulator system. 11
Closing his eyes, he imagined the fields and hills behind the small house he had grown up in, and where his family had eventually been raised. Capturing the image in his mind’s eye, he opened his, and started sketching. Soon the memories flowed out, like they had for the other painting, and before long he had an outline done. 12
Since he’d been alive for a rather long time, he’d had time to master certain things, such as musical instruments, woodwork, and painting. Usually, he saw no real use in painting, but this endeavourer held a specific purpose that he intended to see through to the end, and to get as close to perfection as he possibly could. It didn’t take long to paint the landscape, and soon the piece was resting beside its counterpart, awaiting final assembly. 13
Contemplating pausing for something to eat, Dom decided that this little labor of love was far more important than his stomach. At first, he’d been nervous about the prospects of having another child, and terrified that something would happen to Angie and the baby. He knew what was in the world, and how fast happiness changed. This project of his was one way to work through that emotional maelstrom and plan for the future. Plus, it had the added bonus of giving him an excuse to escape Angie’s occasional temper flair-ups while her body adjusted to the changes in her.14
“Big wheel keep on turning,” he muttered along with the song coming from the iPod. “Rolling on the river.” Exhaling, he ran a tentative finger over the first painted piece, smiling when it was dry enough to continue working with. A quick coat of gloss, and he went back to the hammer and nails, pausing long enough to grab work gloves to protect his fingers.15
~~~~~~~~~~~~16
~~~~~~~~~~~~17
Looking around the pristine beach, Roan smiled at the familiar surroundings. Not much had changed on Neratiti in the past few millenniums, although she knew that really meant nothing to the man that called this little slice of paradise his home. 18
Speaking of which, she sensed his presence behind her and turned, only to stop in surprise. Walking beside the universe’s ultimate loner was a woman, and by the way his arm was draped over her shoulder, Roan could tell that there was deep affection between the two. Okay… so maybe some things on Neratiti had changed. 19
Although his expression didn’t alter as he drew closer, she could feel a slight change in the air around her. Also, as the couple approached, Roan realized that the woman was a Were-Huntress, which brought both disbelief and an unfamiliar jealousy in the goddess.20
“Roan,” Savitar said as the couple stopped a few feet from her. A surfboard materialized in his hands, then he bent low to give Aiden a small kiss on the temple before vanishing. 21
Continuing to stare at the woman, Roan couldn’t believe it. Savitar displayed a lot in public; usually rage, disdain, uncaring and a general lack of respect for most things, but this was the first time she’d ever witnessed him demonstrating affection where someone else could see it.22
“Can I help you?” Aiden asked, jolting the other woman from her staring.23
“Who are you?” Roan demanded.24
“Might ask the same thing,” Aiden responded, taking an immediate dislike to the woman in front of her. 25
“Don’t care if you like me or not,” Roan snapped, reading her mind. 26
“That makes things a lot easier then, doesn’t it.” Taking a seat in the sand, Aiden turned her attention to Savitar surfing.27
Not liking being dismissed, Roan raised a hand to blast the eagle, surprised when nothing happened. Trying again, she growled in annoyance when she recalled that the island itself was magical, and occasionally took offence to people hurting things on it. The only person that had complete control was Savitar.28
Speaking of the man, she couldn’t believe that he’d basically swept right by her and gone for the waves. Then again, it did fit in with the memories of him. She watched as he rode a wave in, smoothly gliding to the shore, then hoisted the board up and stared at her. 29
His gaze softened as he looked at the woman sitting on the beach, which brought another prickle of jealousy from Roan. “Meet you at your place in about an hour,” he told her.30
“Would that be a ‘Savitar’s hour’, or a ‘reality hour’?” Aiden replied.31
“Reality,” he said, smiling. The smile faded as Aiden vanished and his gaze went back to Roan. ”What do you want?” he asked in a low voice.32
“I need your help.”33
“Needing help,” he said thoughtfully as he pushed the surfboard in to the sand. “Interesting. Like, when I needed yours and you ignored me?”34
“I was scared,” she admitted.35
“Try a knife between the shoulder blades,” he replied. “Works real well for the fear.”36
“Can you ever get over that?”37
“Nope,” he said, fighting the urge to blast her to oblivion. “What did you need help with?” 38
“Labeve is back,” she said, knowing he would recognize the name.39
“I know.”40
“You… know?” she asked in confusion. “Are you’re doing what about it?”41
“Nothing.” 42
“Why?”43
”Why should I?”44
“Oh, I see,” Roan said in a spiteful tone. “Fucking an animal is more important to you than the deaths of friends.”45
“One, I have no friends,” Savitar said in an even tone. “And two, she’s Arcadian, not Katagaria.”46
“Like it matters.” Turning, she shook her head. “She belongs to a breed of being that never should have been created in the first place. They’re a disgrace to the natural order of things.”47
“Gee, Roan,” he said in a snide voice. “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?”48
“Are you going to help?”49
“No.”50
“Fuck you.”51
“Your chances at that are long over,” Savitar said in a low tone. 52
“You’re a complete prick.”53
He shrugged, not really insulted. “We can fight about the past for the rest of eternity, but it won’t change a thing.”54
“Fine. Look, I need help, and as much as I hate it, you’re the only person that can offer that help.”55
“I’m not the one you need.”56
“Come again?” Standing, Roan paced slightly, more to put him on edge as she wandered around the sand. “This the standard Savitar brush-off, or are you just not as powerful as you’d like others to believe?”57
“I doubt you’re really looking for a display of my power, so I’m just going to chalk this up to your usual bitchiness.” Annoyed and bored, Savitar covered a yawn. “Could you speed this up?”58
“I ask for help, and I get apathetic grumbling.” 59
Sighing in annoyance, Savitar looked at the ocean for a moment, then back at Roan. “Do I have to spell it out for you?”60
“Apparently so.”61
“Have you ever wondered why you’ve been unable to track Labeve?”62
“Do your stupid questions have a point?”63
Savitar glared at her. “You can’t track that which you create.”64
“Say what?”65
“One of your little minions gave a grieving woman the power to destroy another woman… by sucking the soul from her unborn child.”66
“No, no, no, no, no,” Roan said, shaking her head. “They wouldn’t be able to do that without me knowing.”67
“Yeah… you’re real observant,” he commented in a sarcastic tone. “You didn’t know four Chthonian gods were playing you for a fool, so why would it be hard to believe that you didn’t notice the deals one of your flunkies was making in your name?”68
“Who?” she demanded, wanting to turn the anger she was feeling for Savitar on to some other subject.69
“Camere.”70
“Camere?” she repeated, the image of a tall blonde demon coming to mind. “He’s been dead for a long time.”71
“Yeah, well, he pissed me off,” Savitar said as if it didn’t really mean a thing. “Giving Labeve power was the last straw.”72
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”73
“Because you pissed me off, too. And since you were ultimately responsible for this mess, you needed to clean it up.”74
“I’ve never hated you more than I do right now.”75
“Funny,” Savitar replied slowly, realizing he was about to admit the truth. “I don’t hate you. I despise what you did to me, and I feel sorry for you, maybe even indifferent, but the hate’s just not there any more.” 76
“I don’t know what I ever saw in you!”77
“Power,” he said. “Pure, unrestrained power.” Shrugging, he took a step back. “So, now you know the bare hard facts, and you know what you have to do to get rid of Labeve.”78
“I do?” she asked through clenched teeth as murderous thoughts ran through her mind regarding the man standing across from her.79
“Yes. You do.” Giving her a charming smile that only grew as he read her thoughts, he sketched her a small bow. “And now, at the risk of sounding rude, get your ass the hell off of my island.”80
~~~~~~~~~~~~81
~~~~~~~~~~~~82
Checking the call display on the cell phone before flipping it open, Aiden smiled. “Hey, wolfie.”83
“Eagle,” the gravely voice came back. “Up for some charming company?”84
“You’re bringing someone with you?” Aiden asked, innocence lacing her words.85
“Oh, ha ha,” Fury Kattalakis replied. “I have some interesting gossip for you, too.”86
“In that case, phase on over.” Aiden had barely closed her cell phone before a body appeared just inside the patio door.87
Fury smiled slightly, then stopped and looked around the living room. “You…redecorated,” he said slowly, taking in the mixture of pastels and earthy tones. He sniffed, detecting the faint tang of salt air. “Or rather, Savitar did. Back, is he?”88
“Popped in the other day,” Aiden confirmed. “So, you mentioned gossip?”89
“You bet your feathered rump I did. Never guess who-“ Stopping suddenly, he turned and reverted to wolf form, snarling at a spot in the middle of the living room. 90
Tensing, Aiden watched as a small light formed, then quickly morphed into the figure of the woman who had been on Neratiti earlier. Giving a look around, the woman’s eyes first fell on Aiden, then the snarling wolf on the floor. 91
“What is your name?” she demanded, completely dismissing Fury as he circled around her, looking for signs of danger.92
“Aiden.”93
“A boy’s name.”94
Annoyed, Aiden sniffed derisively. The Fates had decreed that her mother only have boys, and her mother had used her own magick to conceive a girl. In a vain attempt to trick them, her mother had given her one daughter a male’s name, hoping to hide the truth amongst her brothers. 95
Fate is never so easily tricked, and to get back at the eagle for defying them, they made Aiden barren. She could have easily changed her name to one of the more feminine spellings, but kept the one that her mother tempted fate for.96
“What’s it to you.”97
“Nothing, really.”98
“What do you want?” Aiden asked.99
“Call your mutt off,” Roan said, “Or I’ll neuter him.” 100
Aiden jerked, momentarily forgetting that Fury had been there. “It’s okay, Fury.”101
Changing back to human and dressing quickly, Fury still seemed to have the wolf pacing as he made his way to a spot by Aiden. 102
Roan’s eyes fell on him, and curled a lip in annoyance. “Another hybrid?” she asked, then tilted her head. “A Katagaria and an Arcadian, chumming around like the best of friends? Is nothing as it should be any longer?”103
“Who the hell his this?” Fury asked, still not getting any distinguishing scents from the woman.104
“Someone Savitar knows,” Aiden replied in a hard voice.105
“Yeah? She got a name?”106
“It’s Roan,” Roan said, irritated at being ignored by these two. 107
“Roan?” Fury asked. “As in the song?108
“Song?”109
“Yeah,” he said, knowing it would be a mistake to say it, but unable to stop the smart ass in him from proceeding. “You know, ‘Roan on the River’?” 110
Aiden moved faster than Fury had ever witnessed before, placing herself in front of a completely pissed off looking Roan. “Whoa, hold on.” 111
“Out of the way, eagle.” No one, especially an animal/Apollite hybrid made fun of her. The only way to teach someone like that a lesson was through pain and a whole lot of suffering. 112
Aiden’s close association with both Savitar and Ash had taught her a thing or two in reading the facial expressions of gods… especially when they were ready to lay a smack down on someone. “You want him, you’ll have to go through me.” 113
Roan shrugged. “That’s totally acceptable.” 114
“Touch her and you die.”115
Stopping, Roan turned slowly to look at the person who had appeared behind her. “Pardon?” she asked, anger simmering below the disbelief.116
“You heard me,” Savitar said, not bothering to hide his annoyance at her. “And I’ll make unbelievably painful.”117
“What is your problem?” she asked, the two Were-Hunters completely forgotten. “Since when does anything matter to you?”118
“A lot of things matter to me,” Savitar said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Some things more than others.”119
Her eyes were drawn to the mass of tattoos visible through his open shirt, and sneered at the image of the golden eagle that was over his heart. “The world is getting screwed, and you’re content playing surfer dude with a beach bunny!”120
“The world is always screwed,” he replied. “Has been since it exploded on the scene. And I happen to like surfing,” he added. “You should try it… maybe help get your panties out of the knot they’ve been in for the past nine thousand years.”121
Gaping in disbelief, Roan stared. “You arrogant-“ Stopping in annoyance, she turned and stormed away, vanishing before she got five steps. 122
~~~~~~~~~~~~123
~~~~~~~~~~~~124
Shuffling slightly from foot to foot, Fury looked at the couple in front of him. All three had been silent after the departure of Roan, and Fury couldn’t help thinking that he’d come fairly closed to major pain. “Uh…thanks for saving my pelt, Aiden, and I think I’m going to go wander around someplace for a while.”125
Nodding as he vanished, Aiden continued to stare at Savitar. “Who was that?”126
“Roan.”127
”Ah.”128
“That all you’re going to say?”129
“Would you tell me if I asked?” 130
Savitar raised an eyebrow. “Never know until you ask.” He took a step back, transporting them both to the ‘pool’ he had created in the wilderness. “I think better around water.”131
“I hadn’t noticed,” Aiden muttered as he slipped in to the water, and then turned to look at her. Sitting down in the sand ‘beach’ on the side of the pool, Aiden dipped her feet in to surprisingly warm water and regarded him steadily. 132
They were silent for a few minutes, each staring as he held on to the side of the pool. Although he would have preferred a real beach or even a natural lake, the pool designed to look like a lake, and fed by a waterfall was fine by him. Besides, most lakes in Switzerland were rather chilly, and Savitar liked his comfort. 133
After a few minutes of looking in to her eyes, he finally decided to break the silence. “Roan and I were once... well…”134
“Together?”135
“Yeah.”136
Surprised that he’d be willing to discuss this, Aiden pushed back an unfamiliar jealousy. From the looks of what she had witnessed, the only feelings that Savitar had for Roan bordered on hatred. “Does she have anything to do with that dream?”137
“Yeah.”138
“Thought so. Your anger is at about the same level,” she said. “Then again, I just met her and she’s already pissing me off, so it’s completely understandable.” 139
Chuckling slightly, he grew silent for a few moments, then decided to push on. “My own brother warned me about her, but I was too stubborn to even listen.” Leaning back in the water, Savitar let himself float for a moment before looking at her again. “What?”140
“You have a brother?”141
“Yeah,” he said. “Anyway, Roan was a little too much like me, so right there I should have known to stay the hell away from her. But, I do what I want, so any warnings would have been ignored anyway.”142
“What happened?” Aiden asked, suspicious that he skipped right over any explanation of a brother. As far as she knew, he didn’t have family. Then again, the things she didn’t know about him far outweighed that which she did. 143
“Short version,” Savitar began. “We seduced each other, she was gullible to believe some brethren, slipped the pendant over my neck, and then simply took off when her buds showed up and whisked my ass out of her palace.” 144
Even though he was talking in an even tone, Aiden could feel the anger and stress emanating from him. “If you’d rather not talk about it…”145
“No, it’s… it’s okay.” He looked at her. “I’m trying to be more open to you.” For some strange reason. Maybe I need my head checked, or kicked a few times. “And by knowing, it might come in handy if she shows up again.”146
“Why would she come back?”147
“Because she can, and because she knows it’ll piss me off.”148
“Oh.”149
“Yeah.” Putting his hands on the sides of pool, he pushed himself up and sat beside her on the sand. “Gods I thought were my friends stashed me in a cold, dark, damp room for a few weeks, or months…taking stabs, literally, at me, and doing the taunting thing that most idiots do. During one attack, the pendant was knocked to the side, and I had all that pissed off anger that had been building in me, and I let loose.”150
Squeezing his hand lightly, Aiden was rewarded with a small squeeze back from him. It meant a lot that he was sharing this part of his life with her, and she wanted him to know that she was here for him, and appreciated the sacrifice that he was making to his naturally enigmatic nature. 151
“All through the…torture, I guess, I could feel small tendrils of death reaching out for me, signifying when something I cared about was destroyed. I had a small palace in the countryside, surrounded by people that depended on me. I felt it being attacked.” He paused. “When a god dies, their powers flow back to the universe. If another god does not absorb it, then it could get rather nasty. When I killed them one by one, I forced myself to absorb the power, which strengthened me, but also messed with the brain a bit.” He looked at her. “Which is completely normal by the way, and soon passes.”152
“Good to know.”153
“I was pissed, mad, and out for blood. First stop was my home…” Trailing off, he stared at the water for nearly a minute as indecision played through his eyes. There was telling her the history involved with Roan, then there was admitting the things that he did afterwards to people whose only involvement was being in the path of his fury. 154
“Everyone was gone,” he said, reaching the decision to lay it all out, and let Aiden decide whether she wanted to ever see him again after hearing. “Everyone…from those in the surrounding villages, to my palace concubines and their children, to anyone unlucky enough to be passing through.” He paused for a moment. “They trusted me, and I let them down. I should have been able to see it coming, but I let friendship and love cloud my vision. They killed every one, and left the bodies to rot in the sun.”155
Aiden stared, then blinked. Concubines and their children. “You had children?”156
“I was gone too long,” he said, not responding to the question. “Even I’m not powerful enough to bring people back to life after what they did to them. I was too angry to even think straight, and first order was to dole out some of which I got. 157
“I destroyed every follower of every god that was involved, destroying their cities, villages, palaces, whatever. No place was safe, and there was nowhere anyone could hide. Just like my followers, their god wasn’t there to protect them, and I had the need to let them know fear.158
“I saved the best revenge for last, and when I made it to Roan, she was ready. Didn’t really matter, since I was too angry and worked up that she could have killed me a thousand times over, and I’d still be aiming for her. She was smart, though. She hid her followers, so all that was left were empty buildings… which I destroyed.”159
“How…” Aiden paused, morbidly fascinated by the tale. “How did she survive?”160
“She played on my sympathy,” he said bitterly. “Pleaded innocence in the whole thing, stating that she thought she was doing right. I could read her, and she was a stupid pawn in all of it. But… she left me there. She didn’t raise one finger to help, and she let my people die. She had the nerve to blame me for not running to help her when she was attacked.”161
“So…” pausing with a sigh, he held out his hands. “Now you know.”162
Staring at him as she processed all the information, Aiden found it hard to connect the man she knew with the past he was telling her. Although she was aware he had a dark side to him that was full of anger, she never really thought it would be that bad. 163
Nor did she think that the inner pain she sometimes glimpsed in his eyes would ever hint at something so heartbreaking. He was a proud, stubborn, independent being, and not being able to stop an event like that from happening must have torn him apart. He’d lost his pride, heart and respect in himself in one fell swoop. 164
“I…don’t know what to say.”165
“I don’t want pity, and I don’t need sympathy,” he told her. “I don’t want to think about it, and I don’t want to talk about it any longer.”
In a list
Please tell me what you think
Comments
-
Damn.....poor guy. That will really get you down. That's why you don't mess with a God. Good filling out this part of his background.
beginning: 5, language: 5, plot: 5, ending: 5, dialog: 5.
-
Very interesting read. I giggled when she threatened to neuter Fury lol. The characters are interesting the plot is alive keeping me fully intrigued and entertained. This is the kind of story I love to read. Thanks a lot for sharing and I look forward to reading more.
-
Roan on the river.
oh, Fury, you so funny 
That's such a sad background. No wonder he left everything behind.
Stupid Roan.
-
-
I left it vague enough to create more questions, but non-vague in certan areas so one can understand why he's pissed off. Notice the 'yeah' he answers with.... I've noticed that a lot of people do that in certain situations to gloss some things over.
-
Adding your comment:
