It was too crowded on the plane to discuss it and both were seasoned in the Agency’s methods to know better than try. They took their seats and waited for the seven hour flight to Moscow to end. They had a twelve hour layover there before reaching their final destination of Chelyabinsk. They would use that time to go over the mission.
The flight to Russia was awkward; thankfully, the girl slept for most of it, bundled in her hoodie and gloves. Erica knew that it would have been better for Hestia for them to take the Agency’s private aircraft, but she never felt right in the air, and being around many people somehow made her feel less vulnerable while the contrary could be said for the girl. Erica read through the reports several more times before trying to sleep as well.
It was an uneasy sleep that found her. She woke a few times thinking it had been turbulence, but knew it had been her own thoughts. She put on the headset for the onboard entertainment and flipped through the three options: cartoons, nature documentaries, or sappy romance movies. It was a poor selection, but she stopped on a documentary, hoping that the narrator’s monotonous voice would lull her to sleep. It started to do the trick.
After the platypus, the echidna is the only other egg-laying mammal. Its name comes from the monster of Greek mythology…
Echidna. She took in a quivering breath and felt her skin crawl as if the cobra tattoo on her upper arm was slithering around her neck. Her memories cast back countless centuries to the time when she had been more than a mythical monster. She had been Echidna, Mother of Monsters, a goddess of creation! Her offspring had been used by the Olympian gods to test the mightiest of heroes. It meant most had fallen beneath the sword. She had become enraged with each loss until the higher gods had cast her in chains and locked her in a cave far deeper than Tartarus. Still she was not allowed rest. Her role was to create nightmares and still the higher gods had come to lay with her. She could charm them with her pretty face and they ignored the serpentine body that they entered and from those unions came: Cerberus, Scylla, the Gorgons, all her dearest children. All had withstood memory by becoming part of myth, but for her, their mother, the role had been far smaller.
The world had long moved past need for the Olympian gods and the high gods learned how much they relied on the mortals they had toyed with. Soon they became nothing but a passing thought and myth—not her though. She had found a better way by moving past the stories she had been cast. Millenniums had gone by and she had remained: sometimes she kept herself tucked away from humans, but other times being the source of their nightmares was too tantalizing to pass up. It had been incredibly lonely, and mankind had become more accepting of the strange which made blending in among them easy, but now her past had fallen from the sky and she had to remedy it.
Eventually, the memories stopped and by the time they landed both women were well rested. Their luggage would be sent on to wait for their next flight and they had nearly a day to kill before they could continue on. Still, Erica needed to brief Hestia on what was going on and find out just how much Greely had told her. For that she found the least habited café in the airport.
Once they had their coffees and sat staring at each other uncomfortably, she brought out the case file from her messenger bag. Sliding it across the table she waited for the girl to page through the information. She watched as Hestia’s mouth dropped slightly as she got to the more interesting details and couldn’t help smiling when the girl shook her head in disbelief.
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Hestia said as she closed the folder. “A giant fox?”
Erica nodded and took a sip of her spiced coffee.
Hestia rubbed her eyes, brushing her bangs to the side. She shook her head again in disbelief. “How?”
She bit her lip and wondered again at just how much she should tell her partner. While secrecy would have been best in the long run, what Hestia didn’t know could get her killed. “The meteorite brought it last February.”
Hestia’s green eyes widened in disbelief and she mouthed a few inaudible words before speaking, “An alien fox?”
Setting down her cup, she took Hestia’s gloved hand into hers. It would be easier to just show her than to explain. Hopefully, the girl wouldn’t resent her for the contact. Clairvoyants did not trust easily, and those who abused them, did so at their own risk. “No, it is terrestrial. At least it was a very long time ago.” With the last word, she pulled the glove off of Hestia’s hand and touched the cool skin beneath while thinking of their target.
Echidna was curled around the clutch of her newborns. They were varied and ugly to look at but she loved them all. Each would have their own destiny and she whispered to them sweet promises of the life they would have outside the dark walls of her prison home. She knew nothing of what those destinies would be, only that they would terrible in their grandeur. At her breast the fox nursed. It was unlike the others because of the softness of its fur. It lapped the milk and gingerly nipped at her wanting more.
The god of wine and festival, Dionysus, stumbled into her home and demanded one of her children for a task of vengeance. He reached for the fox, but it stayed out of his grasp. It bit at his fingers and the god laughed. This was the beast he wanted. If a god could not catch it, then nothing ever would be able to, was his decree. Echidna lulled the fox to sleep and handed it to Dionysus, who then set it loose on the city of Thebes. It became the Teumessian Vixen, a terror that ate the children and the people begged the gods to make it stopped.
It was not the gods who answered, but a hunter with the dog, Laelaps. Laelaps could catch whatever he was sent after. The hound chased the fox for months, creating a paradox that even the great Zeus could not ignore. Eventually, both animals were turned to stone and set in the heavens to forever chase each other across the sky.
Erica let out a slow deep breath and withdrew her hand from Hestia’s. “The meteorite that fell in Chelyabinsk was actually the Teumessian Fox and it is hunting the Russian countryside. Certainly after two thousand years, it is not happy.”
Hestia rubbed her hand and stared at her. “How could you know all that?”
The left corner of her mouth lifted in a half smile. With everything that she had seen in the Agency’s service, the girl wasn’t up to the task of believing in the monsters of the past. She would need another tactic and they had hours before their flight. “I was there,” she said in a hushed voice. “I am Echidna.”
Hestia pushed away from the table, knocking her chair over in the process. She pulled her cell from her pocket and left the café.
Erica stayed where she was and finished her drink. She was certain that more than what she had wanted to show her had been passed along. That was the tricky part of dealing with anyone with ESP talents. She wished she could have just telepathically linked her thoughts, but according to the Greely, the girl could no longer receive messages. Still, she felt that the girl’s own clairvoyance would help her believe it. It amused her that Hestia, a girl clearly named after a goddess herself, was having a hard time with the revelation that it was all real.
She sat alone for three hours. The table was covered in empty cups and plates. For some reason she was hungrier than normal and she doubted it was nerves. Remembering those times with her children had awakened a deeper power in her and she was feeding that instead of her body. The waiter didn’t mind, she had assured him a large tip if he didn’t question.
Eventually, Hestia came back. She was pale and clearly shaken. She set her phone on the table. “I spoke with Greely and he confirmed everything you said.”
Erica nodded.
“One thing he couldn’t answer is, if you’re some badass snake goddess thing, why am I here?”
“No agent goes into the field alone when facing a major threat. I assure you the fox is unlike anything that you’ve dealt with before.” She put a hand up to stop her protest. “Yes, I know your dossier and your encounters with vampires and a few other nasties, but those were the creations of mankind and had reasoning capabi
lities. The fox is from a power long forgotten in this world, born from the darkness and nursed on hatred. This is a beast to her core.”
“A beast you birthed,” Hestia replied bluntly.
She pushed her chair away from the table and leaned back. “You saw what I was and how I was kept. How could anything beautiful come from that?”
There were more people around them as the airport was reaching its peak traffic times. Hestia eyed the crowd before leaning closer and whispering. “How have you hidden what you are? You’ve been a teacher at the Institute for…” she paused searching for the number.
“For nearly twenty years and I don’t look a day over thirty,” Erica finished with a smile. She swept the mass of her black curls over her shoulder. “I’m not the only one there who doesn’t look their age, child, even Greely is almost forty and you’d hardly guess it looking at him.”
“Fine,” Hestia shook her head, her short hair swinging back and forth violently. “How do I help, Mommy Dearest?”
Erica clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “No need for names. We’re going to be tracking the beast in the foothills of the Ural Mountains. I’ll need you to touch things and see if you can sense if we’re on the right track.”
“Oh goodie,” the girl replied flatly, her shoulders sagging. She rolled her eyes. “Why do I ever leave the country? It never goes right.”
She laughed and patted the girl’s knee. “Don’t worry. Once you spot it, I’ll take care of it.”
“Any ideas how to do that?”
She shrugged. As much as she wished to give her an answer, Erica wasn’t sure how she would capture the creature. It wasn’t ever meant to be caught, and she didn’t have Zeus’s power to turn it to stone. Ultimately, she hoped to lure it close to her, but then what? Rock it to sleep like when it was a pup? Not likely, she would have to fight it and fight it in her true form. She hadn’t transformed in a long while, nearly twenty years now.
The rest of the time at the airport and the second flight was uneventful. They attempted to talk strategy, but until they landed there was little for them to do. There had been news reports of slaughtered cattle in the hills not far from where the meteorite had struck. They had rented a car in Chelyabinsk, but they couldn’t get near the crater, not that the fox was anywhere near there so they turned toward the last killing. They spent nearly half a day wandering, trying to pick up some information about the fox’s whereabouts.
The sun was nearly setting when the stench drew her attention to the western ridge. The sweet metallic odor of fresh blood mingled with the rancid taint of ruptured bowels. The scents weren’t strong enough for Hestia to register, but it was clear the girl knew they were close; her partner had dropped to one knee and was feeling the stones with her bare hands.
Erica inhaled deeply and started toward the hill to their left. Her instincts were confirmed when Hestia dropped the rocks and followed her.
“Not far,” the girl whispered. “It’s on the prowl.”
Erica nodded. She didn’t want to confirm that it had killed without seeing what had died. She didn’t know how the girl would react if she told her how she knew it had killed. Instead, she put a finger to her lips to keep her quiet. Erica crouched low and began a slow ascent up the hill. The wind was starting to change and she didn’t want to give their location away. By the time she crested the hill she was crawling on her elbows and belly. She looked over her shoulder and saw Hestia was attempting to imitate her with little success. She waited for her to catch up before returning her attention to the valley below them.
There it stood; the bright vermillion of its fur standing out against the dry yellow of the valley grass as it towered over its kill, a full grown bull. It was larger than she remembered it. It had been the size of a large wolf when Zeus sent it to the sky, now it was almost the height of a Clydesdale stallion. The beast was gorging on the fresh meat and only when the wind changed direction, carrying their scent into the valley, did it pause and lift its head. Blood stained the silver fur around its muzzle a deep brown and it dropped the flesh from its mouth as the upper lip lifted in a snarl.
“Heavens,” Hestia said under her breath.
The fox’s black tipped ears perked. It stood taller, lifting its nose into the air. They could hear the low rumble of its growl and the bark that followed echoed off the hills. It started to circle around the carcass. They had already been compromised by the wind. There was no helping that now. If it started to run toward them; they would have no chance of outpacing it. Erica shook her head. “Stay here.”
Her body began to tingle. The tattoo on her arm was writhing along her skin causing a friction that burned. As the fox stalked closer she felt power that she hadn’t unleashed for many years wanting to spill out. She regretted not explaining things better to Hestia during their layover, but if this was the worse the girl ever saw then she was lucky. Erica unzipped her coat and let it fall to the ground. The air was cold and she hated it for being so. She pulled her blouse over her head and let that fall as well. It would only get in her way if she left it on; the same went for her boots. The jeans were stopping the transformation. Now she remembered why she had loved the eras when women were required to wear skirts!
She caught a glimpse of her partner as she finished undressing. Her face must’ve already started to change because the girl recoiled when she smiled down at her. Then again it could have been the fact that she was standing in nothing but her bra on a hillside in Russia with a moving snake tattoo. The cobra twisted around and sunk its inked fangs into her skin. She let out a scream at the sudden pain at the same time the fox gave a howl.
It had recognized her. She let the transformation take over. Her legs fused together and scaled over. The thick scales came up to her navel and lengthened out until she was nearly seventeen feet long. Her fingers, nails, and teeth elongated to sharpened talons and fangs. The muscles of her lower half were weak from being so long encapsulated, but still she managed to hold herself upright. She could not show weakness to her child. The fox knew her scent, now it saw her for who she was. She slithered down the hill. She didn’t take her eyes off the fox. She did not see Hestia’s reaction to the transformation into the Mother of Monsters, Echidna.
The fox’s instinct was to flee but something deeper was pulling at it and the fox took a few tentative steps toward her. Its back bristled and arced as it got closer. Crouching down, it readied itself to pounce, but it was looking behind her. She hoped that Hestia was smart enough to get out of sight and let her take care of this. She dared not look back, the fox was fast and this could be their only chance to capture it.
“My child,” she called out to it, spreading her arms wide to welcome it into an embrace. “You’ve been gone a long time.”
“Mother,” it growled. “Where were you?”
Echidna paused a moment. She had not been questioned before and was uncertain how to reply, but she attempted a response. “I was locked away.”
A deep growl resonated in its chest. “Warm in your cave! While I was frozen! Encased in stone and thrown to the sky! I did only what you sent me to do, Mother!”
She licked her lips, unnerved by the fork that spread over her dry skin. “We all did as we were told. It was your father who sent you to Thebes.”
It let out a bark. “The drunken god did not cast me to the sky!”
It had allowed her to get within striking distance, but she forced herself to remain nonthreatening. She could not risk it running from her. “No, Zeus did that.”
“Then take me to the great god!”
She bowed her head, still keeping an eye on the beast. “He has faded to myth.”
The fox snarled and shook itself, drool flinging from its muzzle. “No! You are here! I have returned! He must be alive as well!”
She let herself lower closer to the ground so she did not tower over the beast. She put a hand out to try and stroke its thick fur, but only her fingertips grazed. “I’m sorry…”<
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It cut her off by lunging at her; its claws ripping into her stomach and its snapping jaws falling short of her neck. It tried to twist away and get out of her reach. It wasn’t as quick as her though and she was able to twist and curl her lower body and tail around it. The fox’s bite was deflected by her scales, but it kept going and soon pulled a few away and began gnawing into her underbelly.
She hadn’t felt such pain in a very long time and tried to let out a screech that didn’t sound like her. Her vision reddened and she began fighting back. Never before had she actually fought one of her kin, but the blood rage was upon her and she couldn’t stop. Echidna pried the fox’s mouth and let her own defenses come forward, releasing some of the toxin from her talons. She felt the venom dripping from her fangs and dribble from her chin. When the fox came back around to claw at her face she spit the venom into its eyes.
The fox let out a howl as it was blinded.
Echidna wrapped her arms around its neck, hugging the beast close. She hummed the old lullaby in its ears before grabbing deep into the scruff and pulling its head back. She sunk her fangs into its trachea and ripped it from the body. She wasn’t sure if tears or blood were clouding her vision, but this was the mission she had been sent on. The world had moved past monsters and mankind kept themselves in check. The Teumessian Fox hadn’t been caught. If it had run, she would never have found it again, instead it attacked, and it knew that its time had ended and that it was never meant to have fallen back to Earth. She kept humming as she rocked the beast in its death throes. She had begun and ended its life cycle.
When at last the fox stopped moving, she dropped it and let out a scream that radiated from deep inside her. The tortured cry continued and she curled her serpent’s tail around the body, cuddling close to it as she sobbed into the blood matted fur. She didn’t even feel the transformation as her legs split into two and the snake tattoo reformed on her arm. She didn’t feel the cold wind even though the only warmth came from the fur of the dead fox.
Rise of the Goddess (****All proceeds from the Rise of the Goddess anthology will go to benefit the Elliott Public Library**** Book 1) Page 12