by Nathan Wall
“Really?” He smiled. “I just don’t want something happening to him because of me. He’s already done more than enough to last him several lifetimes.”
“Yeah, I get the feeling he likes to do that.” She smiled. “But don’t be mistaken, things are different. Much different. He’s not the same and he’s made lots of enemies around here.”
“I thought you said things were different?” He raised an eyebrow while poking his head out of the cell. “I think it’s time to make our move.”
“We’re not leaving here. Not yet.” She caressed her hand down his back, grabbed him at the hips, and gently turned him around. “I have to know what they asked you... about Jarrod.”
“They didn’t ask me anything about him,” he replied, a confused look plastered on his face. “Why do we have to stay?”
“I’m trying to figure some things out,” Lian looked at his feet, rubbing his arms, “for both of us. There is something both sides aren’t telling us and the only people I absolutely know I can trust are those who are just as in the dark as I am. So far, that’s only you.”
“They asked me about a remake, but I don’t know what or who that is.” Austin put his hand under her chin and lifted her face, looking into her eyes. “They wanted to know where he was from and kept asking about my past, but I don’t know what I said. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but it’s got them spooked and it has our own people lying to us,” Lian whispered, grabbing his hand. “But I know where we can find the truth. Everything, from the very beginning, but I can’t ask you to come with me. It’s too dangerous.”
“If you can only trust those who are as in the dark as you are, then the only way this is going to work is to show me the light as you see it.” Austin nodded, smirking. His eyes flickered with the light of the dim torches. To Lian, they burned with determination to make it out of the prison. His words encouraged her. His hand on her shoulder was soothing. “We’re in this together. Besides, why else would you have come here?”
Lian nodded, conceding to Austin’s point. She sighed as if a ten ton brick had lifted from her chest. Finally she had someone strong enough to help shoulder her burdens.
She awakened the guards from their slumber, entering their minds to erase all memory of her being there and of Austin leaving the cell. Austin took her by the hand and together they walked back down the hall, once again approaching the spiral staircase.
“Take the torch,” she said, pointing at the fire at the top of the stairs. “We’re going to need the light.”
Austin grabbed it, standing behind Lian as she led the way. The light slowly pushed the walls of darkness away as they reached the bottom level. He handed her the torch and pushed as hard as he could on a massive door, finally breaking it off its hinges. He slowly shoved it open, taking the torch back from Lian as she continued to lead.
The sound of each step they took was perfectly absorbed by the walls. No echo, reverberation, or sound escaped from the entire hallway. They kept walking into the claustrophobic stone corridor. Austin held the light close to both walls, with the staircase to his back, and noticed there were no cells in this corridor.
“A dead end?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “Isolation.”
They came upon the end. Standing before them was a single door. She put her hand to the door and closed her eyes, trying to connect minds with whatever stood on the other side.
“I can’t grab hold of him,” she whispered. “I need to get closer.”
“Who is on the other side?” Austin asked, gliding the torch along the edges of the door. He noticed several clamps and levers had to be turned and snapped open at the same time in order to release the door. “It’ll take both of us to open it.”
He laid the torch on the floor and they both stood on opposite sides of the door. In unison, they turned identical wheels and pulled matching levers, trying dozens of combinations until finally all of the triggers clicked open. The door slightly swayed toward them, releasing a warm, musky odor.
Austin picked up the torch and held Lian back as he slowly pulled the door open. He stuck the torch into the room and the light illuminated a sickly figure lying in the middle of the cell with chains wrapped around every part of his body. Austin stepped into the cell first, hunching over. The light revealed the entire scope of a cell barely big enough to stand or lay in. He moved the torch closer to the floor, seeing that several bones had been torn out of the hands and feet of the prisoner.
“Some more light over here, please?” Lian asked, kneeling next to the prisoner while moving the long overgrown hair away from his face, exposing a massive beard that seemed to grow forever. She pulled at his beard and saw there was no jaw as the hair was long and overgrown from his upper lip and cheeks.
“What happened to him?” Austin tried to hold back his gagging. “What does this have to do with us?”
“Not us,” Lian replied. “Jarrod, I think.”
She entered the prisoner’s mind once more and her eyeballs turned back, exposing only the white of her eyes. Wind rushed in down from the staircase. Austin threw his hand into the doorway to keep the door from slamming shut and locking them in the chamber.
The prisoner’s eyes opened as Lian kept prodding into the events she’d seen before, unaware the man whose mind she was entering had awoken from his slumber. She repeatedly heard a thousand echoes, feeling the man drive a knife through a young boy’s gut.
Austin kept pushing on the door as the wind seemed to pick up even more, pushing the door so hard that it began to crush his left shoulder. The bottom of his feet slid across the stone floor as he dropped the torch. It rolled to a slow stop toward Lian and the prisoner, who he could see was slowly changing shape.
“Lian,” Austin grunted, the wind rushing into his lungs, making it hard for him to speak.
Austin looked at the prisoner and noticed his arms were growing muscular while hair sprouted out from his entire body. Bones, skin, muscle, and eventually, hair sprouted out from his hands and feet and even reformed his jaw. Lian’s eyes were still all white as she was stuck in a trance, watching the prisoner’s memories unfold. In his memories, a figure clad in purple aurascales engulfed the prisoner in lightning, changing him into a wolf-like beast for the first time.
“King Lycaon,” she said as Austin pulled her backwards, away from a swipe of Lycaon’s wolfish claw. Lian rolled across the floor, her nose bleeding, and rubbed her temples. “He’s a—”
“—Wolf,” Austin grunted, kicking at Lycaon’s face. He grabbed the torch and swiped it at the hulking wolf creature that struggled to break free. Austin rolled backwards, but the tips of three jagged fingernails dug into his back, tearing through his skin. Venom seeped into his bloodstream from the wolf’s claws.
“Sleep,” Lian shouted, holding her hand out. Lycaon closed his eyes and fell to the floor, shifting back into his human form. Lian pressed her hand on Austin’s wound, helping stop the slow trickle of blood. “You’re going to be fine, he just nicked you.”
“Still stings like a bitch.” Austin grimaced, standing up. “What’d you find out? Can we go now?”
“No, we can’t go. We have to return to our cells,” Lian said, catching her breath. “But I know why they’re scared... and I know why we should be too.”
* * *
“Shawn, I believe you know why I called you here.” Sanderson waved his hand, telling those who followed Hershiser to leave them alone. When only the two remained in his office, Sanderson walked to the door, shutting it as he gestured with a hand for Hershiser to sit.
“I assume it has something to do with my outburst yesterday,” Hershiser replied, sitting. He folded his hands and leaned forward, looking at his thumbs as they danced with one another. “I’ve lost a lot of friends, sir. I’m sorry if my tone was off-base.”
“Sorry for the tone, but not for the content?” Sanderson sat on his large sofa, propped his feet up on the shiny coffee t
able in front of him, and lit a cigar. Taking in long, exaggerated drags, he slowly released the smoke from his lungs. “I’m actually glad you said those things.”
“What?” Hershiser looked at Sanderson, squinting in a confused manner. “Why? That sort of insubordination is not—”
“—It’s what has been sorely lacking around here.” Sanderson nodded, taking another long drag. “I dare say it’s been the blind obedience that has gotten us this far into the rabbit hole with no exit in sight.”
“Sir?”
“I’m saying I don’t want you to trust me.” Sanderson cleared his throat, taking a sip of single malt. “Anyone, really.”
“I’m...?” Hershiser took a deep breath, resituating himself in the chair. “I’m not sure I completely follow?”
“That’s just it.” Sanderson nodded, tossing a flash drive onto the coffee table in front of Hershiser. “I don’t want you to follow anymore. The fact that you don’t trust me is very comforting. It means you’re starting to ask questions with a clear mind. It also means you’re not going to be tainted by what I think when you see what’s on there.”
“What is on here?” Hershiser leaned forward, snatching the flash drive up with his index finger and thumb.
“I’m not going to tell you.” Sanderson shook his head. “I want you to see for yourself. You’re right to be suspicious. Things are only going to get worse around here. I can no longer, in good conscious, be a passive participant. But I’m afraid my clout is all but gone, and I’m in no shape to take charge. You are. People believe in you, Shawn. If I can convince you of the coming storm, despite all your mistrust in me, then perhaps we’ve a shot at getting out the other end with our heads intact.”
“You don’t want me to trust you, but you want me to believe what’s on this?” Hershiser shook his head, waving the flash drive. “Seems counter-intuitive.”
“Not at all.” Sanderson finished off the rest of his scotch, and then emptied the remainder of the decanter into his glass. “You’re smart enough to know when people are full of shit, and you’re smart enough to know when the facts are being skewed. Once you see everything on there, you’ll be able to make up your own mind. You’re not the kind to take things on faith. You’re like me. You need to see things. For us, truth is in the visceral.”
“And when I find the visceral for myself, what then?” Hershiser shoved the flash drive in the pocket of his shirt. “What would you have me do?”
“I wouldn’t have you do anything,” Sanderson said, hiding his face behind a plume of smoke as he exhaled. “Like I said, it’s not about what I’d have you do. Not anymore. I don’t want you to do anything I would say. I’ve seen enough from you to know when I don’t have to take things on faith. Your actions over the years have shown you to be one of the most courageous and honest people this world has developed. You’ll know what to do.”
“Is that it?” Hershiser shrugged, throwing his hands up and plopping them down onto the arms of the chair. “You called me in here to give me some ominous speech about truth and crap, smoking your cigar, and I’m supposed to just walk out of here and not watch you?”
“No. Quite the opposite.” Sanderson put the cigar out and scooted down the couch closer to Hershiser. “I want you to question everything. Keep your eyes open all the time. Just don’t focus only on me...”
“Yeah, I bet.”
“I’m not intending to misdirect you,” Sanderson replied, shaking his head. “I just don’t want you have nothing to look at when I’m gone. Which I fear may be sooner rather than later.”
“Anything else?” Hershiser chuckled under his breath, snapping his fingers. “Can I go?”
“Yeah, one more thing you need to know.”
“That is what?”
“When you’re done looking at everything on that flash drive, destroy it.” Sanderson grabbed Hershiser’s wrist and pulled him close. “The game is best played when no one else sees the cards in your hand.”
* * *
Maya and Charon stood next to each other on a large balcony overlooking the slow flowing river. The wind blew fiercely, flapping her robe high up in the air. She swirled the wine around in her golden chalice and took a sip from it. She swished the wine around in her mouth for a bit, breathing in slowly and allowing the aromas to implant themselves on her senses.
“The time draws near,” Charon said, lifting his chin into the breeze. The hood of his cloak fell back and his thinning hair fluttered about. “The tide between realms will soon be at its strongest. That will be when I can bring the largest army over.”
“Yes, of course.” She swallowed and turned, resting on the banister. She shook her head in a contemplative manner before looking at Charon.
“You feel uneasy, Princess?” Charon tilted his head, stepping closer to her. “I assure you, I can handle a rift of that magnitude.”
“You, I believe in.” She placed the chalice on the banister, stretching her arms out.
“Then what is the problem?”
“Control, Charon. Control. We are soon to launch an assault on their land—their terrain. There are elements we know not of and factors we cannot control. Despite the weapons we have acquired recently, I am not sure I am confident in our success.”
“Then what shall you have us do?” Charon asked. “Are we to delay until the next time the tides align?”
“No, not at all.” She shook her head. “I am uncertain as to how much longer I can keep the girl under my dominion, if I even have her at all. We need a victory, Charon, to show those who follow me that I can lead them to a new home. Not only will we establish a new Troy in their realm, but we will do what my father never could and rebuild Olympus on their graves. If we are to exploit the girl’s abilities to our advantage, we need to strike fast while she still feels she is in some sort of control.”
“I fear you have me bewildered.” Charon shrugged.
“If we cannot control the elements, then I do not want our enemy to control them either.” Maya smiled, unable to hide her giggles. “A fight on neutral ground should keep the girl occupied and keep her from turning against us. And just when they think they have narrowly escaped the jaws of defeat, we rise from the ashes and take them at their most vulnerable.”
“Where should this neutral field be?”
“Remember the one who decapitated his comrade for my love? What he said of their enemies? If we give them more than one army to fight...”
“The losses, Your Highness,” Charon said, swallowing as his heartbeat quickened. “The losses are sure to be great.”
“The loss of life will be great on all three sides, Charon.” Maya smiled, sweetly touching her hand to his face. “Many people are going to die, but it will all be for the greater good of our kind. Our Corner will rise again with me as Queen.”
“And Lord Zeus as your King.” Charon nodded. “Right, Princess?”
“The more powerful the deity at my side the better, I suppose.” Maya cackled, her voice capable of chilling the warmest blood. “Whoever it is will surely be putty in my grasp.”
“Do you not think Oreios will come through on his end of the bargain?” Charon followed behind her, scooping up her wine in the process. She turned around and he handed her the chalice. “Assuming we are unable to defeat this new remake, Lord Zeus will surely be the only one powerful enough to stop him.”
“I fail to see how any of it matters in the end.” Maya took a sip of the crimson liquid. “If I am unable to kill the remake, Lord Zeus will. If Oreios decides to run away with the stone, I shall hunt him down and kill him, and free our Lord anyway. If he does free our Lord, I will still kill him. Either way, he will die.”
“And what if you are able to kill the remake?”
“Then I hardly see what Oreios does having any consequence at all.” Maya laughed, finishing off the wine.
“Princess Maya,” Argus called out, walking into the chamber. “The girl is here to see you, as you requested.”
/> “Thank you, Argus,” Maya said, handing the chalice back to Charon. She extended her arms and embraced Lian, kissing her on both cheeks. “My dear, please assure me you have been resting well in your new bed.”
“Everything is far more wonderful than I ever could have imagined.” Lian smiled, beaming with joy. “What is it you wanted to speak with me about?”
“Our plans, dear child. The art of battle dictates that we need to evolve them.” Maya wrapped her arm around Lian’s shoulders and walked with her. “We are going to deviate in that we will not be striking at the heart of the remake. Instead, Charon and I feel it is best to have it out on an equal-advantage battleground.”
“Oh, really?” Lian shrugged, nodding in agreement. “However, don’t you think having the vulnerability of those he loves on hand will be a greater weapon than a neutral playing field?”
“How perceptive of you. We have considered that.” Maya nodded. “That is why the boy we have in captivity, his friend, will be on hand as well as a sacrifice of last resort should the remake prove to be too much for us. Do you agree not that such a sight would bring him to his knees? After all, you did mention they were like brothers.”
“Yes, that would be enough.” Lian gulped, breathing in deep. “I just thought he would stay behind as extra insurance. That is all.”
“It would be good to have that, but I am of the mind that the remake, this Jarrod, will not believe a word we say regardless.” Maya turned Lian around to face her, looking deep into her eyes. Maya’s stare began to glow with an orange hue. “You will alert them of your presence when Charon tells you to, will you not, my lovely girl?”
“Yes, I will.” Lian nodded, smiling as her heart filled with a desire to please Maya. “Anything for you.”
“Excellent.” Maya smiled, pulling Lian in for a long hug before sending her on her way. “Rest well. The battle commences in the morning.”
“You are certain this shall work?” Charon whispered as Lian left the room. “Will your song remain in her heart long enough for us to reach the next stage in our plan?”