Although sickness had knocked many out of the party, those left to celebrate still made a good bit of noise.
“Will so much noise not keep her awake?” Adamarcus asked after Theodoric had put Evagoria to bed and returned to where the friends waited.
“Evagoria?” Theodoric returned incredulously. “HA! Her voice, her manners, everything she does might appear as if soft as a pillow, but when her head hits that pillow, she hits it hard!” They all laughed at this. “Orcas could fall from the sky and she would just sleep through it! Come, I’ll escort you to your quarters.”
*****
Still awake long into the night, Adamarcus, Taharqa, and Persepolis enjoyed the breezy night amongst the salty air. Flames from a fire pit in the middle of a large balcony overlooking the sea kept them warm. Up above, the moon fully hid itself from their world on this crisp, delightful night that would soon bleed into morning. Without the twin torches to light the doorway and lit fire pit, even if they were right next to him, it would have been hard for Adamarcus to see Taharqa and Persepolis.
“What time is it, Persepolis?” Taharqa asked as they leaned against a thick bronze railing.
“Time for you to get a clepsydra,” Persepolis returned dryly as he gave Taharqa a not so friendly look. “I’m not your timekeeper – go look for yourself!”
The next moment, the homely, but still working clepsydra inside their quarters did as Taharqa asked and let out four dull chimes. His smirk at Persepolis made the Arachna’s joke look even clumsier than it already was. Adamarcus stood between them and could only chuckle at the silliness of it all.
The Mermaid palace was a grand structure Centaur engineers had built fourteen centuries earlier. Although so old, its granite blocks still gleamed bright. The rear base underwater, it rose out of the sea as if made of steep cliffs. This design recreated the cliffs where, in their shadows, Desdessandra had turned Thessalonika into the first Mermaid. Insane jealousy had conquered pure innocence that fateful night. Still visible today, carved reliefs in the vertical granite face retold the fabled story of love, jealousy, bewitching magic, and revenge. Adamarcus had never seen the carvings himself, but every Centaur old enough to speak knew the stories of how his kind had built the palace.
The two let Persepolis be and now gathered close to the fire to warm up. All was still. All was quiet. Persepolis, of course, had to be the one to break the calm.
“Adamarcus! Taharqa! Come over here and tell me what moves on the wall face over there.” With his pedipalps, Persepolis pointed down and to his left as Adamarcus and Taharqa rushed to the balcony’s railing. “I know something is there and moving quickly, but I just can’t make it out.”
“Oh, I see it too!” Taharqa said excitedly. “Wait, now it’s gone. No, no – there it is again!”
“I don’t see anything,” Adamarcus drawled with a yawn. His eyesight was not so bad, but probably not as good as the sight of a young Centaur should be. “It’s the lights behind us that make it hard to see,” he proclaimed after a few moments of thought.
Taharqa pulled each lit torch from its holder and tossed them into the fire. Next, he motioned for Persepolis to stand in front of the fire pit to block out as much light as possible. He rambled over and did so.
“Tell me again how it’s possible Arachna have eight eyes, yet can barely see?” Taharqa begged.
“I only have to watch my prey as it flickers by, not as I eat it!” Persepolis shot back. Although an Arachna’s eyesight was by far worse than that of any other kind that ruled their world, they were much more adept at spotting even the slightest movement.
Taharqa returned to Adamarcus’ side and they again peered down to where the palace base met the sea.
“It’s so dark, but I can make out at least a smidge,” Adamarcus said. “It almost looks like the shape of a Sapien.”
“It moves fast – very fast!” Taharqa added. “But it must be dozens of pike lengths straight down. How can this ‘whatever it is’ so easily climb such a tall vertical wall?”
The shadowy blur now bolted west. Repeated sighs behind them told Adamarcus that Persepolis was less than thrilled they were using him as a door.
“It’s gone!” Taharqa gasped.
Persepolis bounded over and looked over the railing. “What should we do now?”
“GO AFTER IT!” Adamarcus and Taharqa shouted in a single voice. And with these words, they rushed out of their quarters.
The trio now wandered about the bowels of the palace. Their first task was to find anyone else who might have witnessed this ‘ghost’ as well, but it appeared all were fast asleep aside for a couple of Gryphons patrolling the main grounds. Smartly, they avoided these winged guardians; a spat between one of them and Persepolis would just serve as a needless distraction.
When they arrived in Atagartis two nights ago, Adamarcus had asked Evagoria about these sentinel Gryphons and any trouble they might give them. “They serve more a ceremonial role than a functional one,” she told him. “As there are so few scattered around the palace grounds, an intruder with half a brain could easily find a way passed them. Considering a half of any other brain is but a speck of yours, I’m sure you, Taharqa, and Persepolis will be just fine.”
Their meandering about the palace suddenly cut short as a messenger atop his Gryphon rushed by them; another male Mermaid now came into view.
“Oh look, its Perseos,” Adamarcus informed the others as they did their best to keep themselves hidden. Unable to make out the murmurs the Mermaids shared, only once Perseos finally raised his voice could the three sneaks hear of what they spoke.
“You are certain of this?”
“Yes, General!” the messenger replied after a deep gulp. “I saw the horrific carnage with my own eyes. The escaped Yeturi murdered one guard! The other still lives, but barely. And now – the ogre is nowhere to be seen!”
Perseos and the messenger disappeared. Their next task, no doubt, would be to awaken and gather a good many others to hunt the wild beast down. All three friends now stared at each other with the same bewildered look.
“The monster escaped?” Persepolis gasped. “But how?”
“What we saw moving, was that the Yeturi?” Taharqa asked incredulously. “Its outline shaped like a large Sapien, it did have two arms and two legs.”
“What else could it have been?” Adamarcus added. “It had to be.”
Locked in its cage – how could it have escaped?
In Adamarcus’ mind, the fiend’s objective slowly slid into view … that piece of metal in its claw! The Yeturi had not only forced open the lock to its cage, but also waited to do so until the time was right. Adamarcus had no idea how this mindless troll could do such a thing, but it had devised a means to escape and did just that. But there had to be more: The marketplace was in the eastern part of the city and close to land, yet the beast moved west.
And west was where Evagoria – what the devious monster coveted most – now slept.
“The way she told us: ‘It just seems different today’,” Persepolis waxed aloud. Adamarcus cocked his head in amazement – their two minds were suddenly one. “Sitting there as if … ‘thinking’? How it watched her with stalking eyes the whole time we were at the marketplace, how it bellowed in sorrow right as she departed. You don’t think?”
Taharqa answered these questions with another, “Is it possible?”
“Evagoria,” Adamarcus gasped. “Come on! We have to protect the princess!”
If the monster was heading for Evagoria’s tower, then so would they. Fright now turned to flight as sixteen legs attached to three bodies exploded westward. They trampled through gardens, slid along polished stone walkways, and each fell down more than once, but onward they scampered.
“There it is!” Taharqa announced.
To Adamarcus’ surprise, they found Evagoria’s tower quicker than he thought they would. The three exploded up the eastern ramp. So many signs something was amiss that had led only to worry to
this point, the wide open door into Evagoria’s chamber turned this worry into abject terror.
Adamarcus in the lead, they rushed through the entryway – what they feared most now stared back at them. Near the ledge of a large window that overlooked the city stood the bloodstained Yeturi they had seen earlier in the day. It gave them but a single deep growl. Devilish eyes flashed neither anger nor spite, but a methodic purpose.
Although there was so much more to see, even in the dark lit by just a single torch Adamarcus saw what kept Evagoria from fighting back. The Yeturi had gagged Evagoria’s mouth and bound her hands – palms away from each other. It had done this with the same fabric Adamarcus had noticed scattered around its cage floor that late afternoon. Helpless atop her watery bed, she struggled to break free but this was for naught. It was now obvious to Adamarcus: This was not some random act, but a scheme that took many days, perhaps even weeks, to plan.
The beast flung Evagoria, who at most weighed one-third as much, over its right shoulder. Upside down and her head cocked just enough, Evagoria and Adamarcus shared a hopeless look.
“YOU CAN’T HAVE HER!” Adamarcus screamed as he charged the Yeturi, his front hooves kicking high in the air. He had no weapon, no shield, no armor, and did not care.
A single swoosh of the fiend’s free claw smashed flush into Adamarcus’ lower chest and he now tumbled wildly into multiple pieces of wooden furniture. Through blurred eyes, he watched eager ones become slits. With a triumphant growl, the monster then leapt through the window with its prize.
Adamarcus quickly stumbled up and joined Taharqa and Persepolis at the open window. Luckily, every scratch and cut was on Adamarcus’ much tougher horsehide. There was a good bit of blood smeared on him, but he felt barely any pain from his wounds.
“WHOA!” Taharqa shouted. “It must be five pike lengths down, yet the monster made the leap as if skipping down a few steps!”
As if it wished to watch until the dawn commanded it not to, the moon was now out in its fullest glory. The monster still held Evagoria and now scampered further west atop the rooftops below.
“Oh no!” Adamarcus gasped. “Why is Evagoria not moving?”
“When you rushed the monster,” Persepolis said quickly, “I saw her head get knocked against the stone side of the window. I think she is just unconscious.”
“I hope so,” Adamarcus begged. A sudden urge to continue the chase coursed through him. “Its continuing west – come on, we can’t give up now!”
With just a couple of leaps and bounds, they landed at the bottom of the western ramp and now bolted into the bowels of the palace. And what they saw was pure chaos. Comings and goings of Mermaids and Gryphons in every direction – they seemed to possess no direction at all! They were leaderless, but Adamarcus would fix this. He pushed Taharqa one way while he and Persepolis leaned to go the other.
“Taharqa – find Perseos or Theodoric,” Adamarcus shouted over the clatter of the others around them. “Let them know what direction the monster is headed. Tell them,” he gulped harder than a Yeturi is nasty, “tell them it has Evagoria, but that she is alive.” Taharqa nodded and peeled off to find his target.
Adamarcus and Persepolis exited the main palace hall in a mad sprint.
“Although brave, lunging at a Yeturi is really not all that brilliant! Maybe I should be the one to do so next time?”
Although he would usually smile at this quip, Adamarcus could not muster one.
“Careful what you wish for, my friend!” he shot back through gritted teeth. Adamarcus was no longer fearful, but angry that the monster dared steal Evagoria. “Many years left to live, you might someday get your chance to be beaten up by not just one Yeturi, but a whole troop of them!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
RED SKY IN MOURNING
A towering glacier of filth that now grips my beloved twin sapphires and countless ropes of gold in its greedy claws; wretched head raised to the sky – “SMILE YOU SON OF THE DEVIL!”
– Adamarcus, Aeropid Centaur
– Mid-Fall, Year 4,253 KT[30]
A shadowy form from high above blocked out the fading moonlight. The marble avenue where Adamarcus and Persepolis ran suddenly turning as black as pitch – both looked up and saw a stunning sight. Many dozens of Mermaids mounted on Gryphons soared through the air in search of their treasured princess. Armed with far more knowledge of the city’s layout than the brute they chased, Adamarcus knew it would not be long before they cornered the beast.
“THEY FOUND HER! THEY FOUND HER!” Persepolis shouted as Gryphon screeches tore about the sky. “Come on, Centaur! FASTER! FASTER!” The soaring Mermaids and Gryphons soon far ahead of them, Adamarcus galloped as swiftly as he could, but felt as if a sloth compared to Persepolis.
Eight legs better than four at least on this day – a breeze to help push him along or at least dry the sweat dripping from his body would be nice!
As they drew closer to the screams, screeches, and growls no longer trying to outrun them, Atagartis grew uglier. Despite the terror dead ahead, Adamarcus immediately noticed and found strange this city blight; he had never seen a part of the Mermaid capital that was neither polished nor gleaming. As he and Persepolis arrived at the crowded scene, he refocused on Evagoria and pushed this quirky thought out of his mind.
The Yeturi now found itself backed into the deepest part of an emptied pool. This pool was at least three pike lengths deep and owned a filthy, sloping bottom that looked as if drained ages ago. Adamarcus watched Diedrika and Theodoric arrive on one end of the pool; right after, he noticed Perseos and Xavier land on the opposite side.
Evagoria still draped over its shoulder, the hunted looked up with pleading eyes. The many hunters who now formed a tight circle above and around the monster glared back. Every Mermaid atop his or her Gryphon holding a drawn bow, twitching fingers begged Diedrika to order them to slay the wicked thug clutching their gift from Poseidon.
“Give the word, my queen, and I will carve up the monster myself!” Xavier screamed as he thrust a claw skyward, its talons outstretched. From the lip on other side of the pool, Judiascar’s roar ending in a piercing screech shredded the air around them.
Trapped and Evagoria its only bargaining chip, the begging eyes of the monster turned to that of pure fury. It shifted the princess and now draped her across its front. She moaned as it did this, but then turned silent once more.
Thank the gods – she was still alive!
Evagoria’s back across one arm and body curved downward, her flukes scraped along the pool bottom’s scruffy surface. The troll then pushed the sharpened nails of its free claw against Evagoria’s graceful neckline.
The air suddenly turned colder. Connecting clouds of frost now following every heaving breath out of the monster’s mouth ––
Were the greedy, grimy fingers of the Grim closing in on the crumbling pool?
“Lower your weapons my archers,” Diedrika commanded in a trembling voice. “Look closely at the thick crown atop the beast’s head. There is no ‘kill shot’ from above and I do not wish to mourn a decapitated daughter.”
These Mermaid archers cursed and groaned as they lowered their weapons, but the Yeturi kept the same menacing stance and stare.
Adamarcus swiveled in every direction. Taharqa having finally caught up to them, he and Persepolis moved in for a closer look. Now alone and confused, for the first time in his life, the polymath who was supposed to know everything had no clue as what to do next.
“If you have the courage to be a hero, I can show you how,” said a soft voice behind him. Adamarcus spun around and locked worried eyes with Penelope. She turned slightly so that he could see what she had strapped across her back: a compound bow with arrows at the ready. “As historian, I am forbidden to place myself in danger, but this does not mean I cannot help.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to if it means saving Evagoria.”
“We’ll see about that now, won’t we?” Penelope looked
all around, but none looked back; all eyes on the Yeturi, no one cared about them or their conversation. She then pointed to where its feet met the pool bottom and Adamarcus’ gaze followed. “The ogre straddles a drain. If you have the courage to enter the dingy pipe that leads to this drain, if you have the courage to risk your own life to save Evagoria,” she smirked as if doubting his resolve, “then follow me.”
With a stiff nod, Adamarcus bid Penelope to lead the way.
The snarky Mermaid had obviously not noticed the bloodied claw marks across this Centaur’s lower chest!
The entry into the pipe was about fifteen pike lengths away from the horrifying scene. Drains such as the one Penelope pointed out scattered about the pool bottom; because Centaurs had built much of Atagartis, the pipes that led to these drains tended to be large enough for one to fit through.
As Adamarcus and Penelope scuttled clumsily through this sneaking path below the pool bottom, he heard various shouts and growls above them. He needed to hurry – with each passing moment, the monster sounded angrier, and this put Evagoria in even more danger than she was already in.
Dusty shadows helping to hide them, they were now just below the Yeturi. Through the long, narrow slits in the drain, Adamarcus had a clear view of the happenings above. The monster growled and howled even more than before. A couple of times it took threatening steps toward the others, but would then retreat.
“You only get one shot at this, Centaur,” Penelope hissed as she handed her bow and two arrows to Adamarcus. These were standard wooden arrows, but talented Mermaids could bronze-make their own when needed. A bronze-made arrow was more deadly at close range because it was heavier, but less accurate. And if he needed anything now, it was accuracy.
The Gift From Poseidon: When Gods Walked Among Us (Volume 2) Page 28