War God's Mantle- Underworld

by James Hunter

  Again, Myrina’s improved Intelligence showed itself. “She is Persephone, the goddess of spring, Queen of the Underworld, and wife of Hades.”

  Sucks to be her, Phoebe sent. I can’t imagine that Hades would be very good in bed. Unless you like it cold and slimy. The Rune-Caster had been around Loxo too much.

  “Does the name Persephone sound right to you?” I asked the mystery goddess.

  She paused, not answering, and canted her head to one side.

  I certainly hoped she was the Queen of Underworld. Her intel could prove vital to our operation. Yet, could we trust her? I was racking my brain, trying to remember why Persephone married Hades in the first place.

  The goddess raised her eyes to mine. They were now a blue-violet and her hair was blond. I’d never seen such a beautiful face. I couldn’t tear my gaze away. I never wanted to look at anything ever again, just her and her perfect, gorgeous face.

  Even the godstone was silent for once. The air was hushed and all that was left were those eyes on me.

  “You find me beautiful, do you not?” the goddess asked.

  Understatement of the millennium, Phoebe sent. You’re basically panting. Another five seconds, you’ll be drooling.

  I ignored that, lost in the moment, though I was aware that Myrina was being very quiet. And she kept on guzzling that wine.

  “I do find you amazing,” I said. “But can I trust you?”

  “Maybe I am too beautiful. But now that Aphrodite is dead, I have nothing to fear. Her jealousy was treacherous.” Those words hung in the air. She smiled sadly up at me. “You said my name, Persephone, and that is who I am. Memories ae coming to me. Of the Olympian War and my husband, Hades.”

  Wait—Olympian War. That sounded as if the gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon had gone toe to toe. Ares hadn’t mentioned anything about that. I couldn’t help but wonder why. Antiope’s trident could’ve been Poseidon’s. Maybe, since she wasn’t a god, she could only access a fraction of its powers. A bunch of people had held the Sower’s Glass, but only I could use it to stop time.

  “What do you recall of Hades?” Myrina asked.

  Persephone closed her eyes. Then she put her hands over her face. “I am weary, and my mind feels fragile. I remember his hate and his loathing. I remember his monstrous armies of the dead. I remember that he stole me from my mother—an act I could never forgive him for. And I could never leave him. I ate six pomegranate seeds, and they kept me trapped.”

  Yeah, I remember that part, Phoebe sent. That whole seed thing. She’d leave the Underworld to bring spring to the world, but then she’d have to go back, and Demeter would get all bummed, and bam, it’s a winter wonderland. This is why you don’t eat fruit. That and the carbs.

  “If you were trapped, how did you escape?” Myrina demanded. “What is your purpose here?”

  “I do not know. That, at least, is still lost to me. Please, let me rest.” Then the tears came, and Persephone wept.

  “Ugh, more waterworks.” I grimaced, rolled my eyes, and turned away. “So, if we survive the attack tonight, we get the goddess of boo-hoo here to lead us through the labyrinth to the Temple of Hades. We destroy the monster generators, and we kill Necro Earl and Antiope.”

  Ouch. Phoebe sent. Goddess of boo-hoo? That was part Ares being a dick, and part Jacob being dorky. I better get working on the dampening device sooner rather than later.

  “Agreed,” Myrina said, standing, a little wobbly. She had to gaze up at me since I was so huge now. “If we can establish a presence in the Temple of Hades, we could deal with his forces when they first appear. We could give you the Crystal Scythe and you could kill anything that comes up from the Underworld. Perhaps Hades himself will try to follow his wife into this world and you can slay him. Otherwise, you will level up, you will redraw the sigil, and we will achieve victory. It is a good plan, either way.”

  “Just one little hitch, maybe.” I paused and cleared my throat. “Thing is, I’m not sure I can wield the Crystal Scythe. I think it triggered my inner asshole.”

  Myrina frowned at me. “Perhaps now it does not matter if we lose you to Ares. You will slay our foe with the ultimate weapon. Then you and I will never have to talk with one another again.” She gestured with her goblet, sloshing wine onto me.

  She drained her glass in a long, glugging pull. Then she turned, grabbed the amphora of wine, took a huge swallow out of it, and stumbled out of the room.

  “Stay with the goddess,” I said to Phoebe.

  I followed Myrina out into the hall. She stomped up the steps and onto the roof. The bathing pools were full of hot water. No one else was there. The sky was cloudy, as well as dark with twilight. Magical torches winked on around us, and paper lanterns, enchanted by my Rune-Casters, floated into the air, shedding firelight onto the ground below.

  Myrina unbuckled her breastplate and let it drop with a resounding clang. She had a tunic on underneath, and that also fell away. As she undressed, she snarled at me, “What do you want, War God?”

  I stepped up to her and started undressing. I wasn’t looking for any kind of angry sex. I just wanted to get clean and clear the air with my main general. “What is your damage, Myrina? I’m sorry for snapping at you on the beach. I didn’t know we’d gotten hit on the eastern walls.”

  She blinked at me then grimaced in disgust. “What?” She slurred that single word. Okay, here we go. I’d heard stories about Myrina when she got lit.

  “I’m sorry for snapping at you on the beach,” I repeated. Then I changed tactics. “Sure, you don’t care about that. Ares would always give you shit, wouldn’t he?”

  Myrina bent to unbuckle a greave, but then she slipped and fell on her butt. She was laughing now. “I am drunk. It feels good. I have not been drunk in a very long time.”

  I crouched and helped her get off her greaves. I was naked now, and she was getting there. The godstone laughed at my old sense of modesty, and I laughed along with it. I was the god of war. I had nothing to be ashamed of. I was cut and muscled, a literal Greek god.

  Myrina laid back on the marble. “I hated Ares, even as I loved him. He was mighty and sure of himself. Then I met you, and you were so different. Weak, I thought. Insipid, fragile, and lacking confidence. How could this baby god ever hope to defeat our enemy? I couldn’t imagine it. Yet, over and over, you outsmarted our enemy, you used every resource, and you listened to reason. Most of the time.”

  “Most of the time.” I went to undo a buckle.

  She slapped my hands away. “I can do it, Jacob Merely. I want to bathe before I dress for our next battle. I did not expect you up here, frittering your time away with me.”

  I caught her hands. “I can help. And I’m not frittering my time away. Myrina, you’ve saved my life time and again. You’re amazing. The best.”

  Myrina pulled away, rolled back, and got to her feet. She unbuckled her last greave and kicked it away. Naked, she sank down into the hot water of one of the pools. She leaned back. “Not the best. You love Phoebe the best. What you feel for her, we would call philia. As for Asteria, that would be eros. Loxo, that would be ludus, or playful love. As for me? I don’t believe we have any kind of love between us. You find me troubling. No, that’s not right. You would call me a pain in the ass. Is that not correct?”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, pain in the ass. That’s you. You’re either on my butt for working too hard or bitching at me to play it safe.” I walked around and got into the pool from the other side.

  We stared at each other through the water misting around us. The hot water was relaxing me, washing away the dirt, blood, and grime of the beach battle. The torchlight flickered across the water.

  “Are you jealous of Phoebe, Asteria, and Loxo?” I asked.

  Myrina gave me another one of her disgusted looks, patent pending. “You hang too much importance on sex. You think it is this magical thing. It is an appetite. I do not hate you for liking your Mountain Dew. Actually, I find that more repugna
nt than your dallying with your Amazons. No, you and I could never make love. For you are right. I am a pain in your ass, as you are a pain in mine. I finally get used to the clever-but-uncertain Jacob, and now you swagger about as Ares—just as strong and just as arrogant. What am I to think?”

  She had a point. “Myrina, Phoebe and I are going to work on a device that will channel the power from the godstone into my body but leave my mind untouched. I still believe that I will win this as me, not as Ares.”

  “Ares failed. You will not.” She let her words hang in the air. Then she gave me the strangest look. I couldn’t figure it out.

  “What?” I asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “I would kiss you,” Myrina replied, a little drunkenly.

  I was confused. “You just said we could never be together.”

  She shrugged. “You can tell me nay, but I have been curious. I have my own appetites, you see. And you have neglected them. Perhaps one kiss will tell us everything.”

  “Yeah, I’m not sure any kind of romance will help us work better together,” I said. The Marine Corps had a no-fraternization policy for a reason. Compromise of the chain of command? Appearance of partiality? Potential for good order, discipline, morale, or authority to be undermined? Yeah, having sex with Phoebe and Asteria seemed to be fine. But with Myrina?

  But then the godstone’s lust swept through me like a tsunami. Before I knew it, I was up against Myrina—her naked body, my naked body, lots of hot water, and a sunset in the distance.

  She gazed into my eyes.

  “How drunk are you?” I asked.

  “Not too drunk to know what I am doing.” She touched my hair, trailing her fingers over the edge of my ear. A grin curved her lips. “I have thought of us like this. At times. When you were not being too dorkable.”

  I didn’t correct her slang.

  My heart pounded. My breath was coming quick. Myrina smelled like leather and sweat, and yet, she had a subtle perfume about her. I’d spent days fighting next to her, so I was familiar with her natural smell, and I liked it.

  She wanted me to kiss me, so I kissed her. Her lips were full and soft, perfect, and she gasped as our tongues met. Then she growled, pulling me onto her, and the godstone flared. I knew that it would give me the energy to bed every single one of my Amazons and the goddess. Ares had been insatiable, and he’d passed that on to me.

  Myrina was the strongest Amazon on the island, and I felt that as her muscles tensed and she gripped me to her. Our kiss was furious and passionate and filled with desire and longing. And then she tossed me back.

  “What now?” I snapped impatiently. “Aren’t we going to do this?”

  Myrina gave me a mischievous, knowing grin. “And there is the Ares in you. No, we are not going to do this. I said a kiss. You gave me a very good kiss, but, no, Jacob. Ares hurt me. I will not let you do the same. Perhaps if you were still Jacob, but now you are a mixture of the two.”

  That all pissed me off. “Let me get this straight. You didn’t like me when I was human, a normal guy, a baby god. Now that I’m strong and more Ares-like, you don’t like that either. What the hell?” I slapped the pool.

  She stepped up and out of the bath, water dripping down her muscled body, firm in the right places, squishy in the better ones. This was not helping my lust or my rage.

  “What the hell?” She smiled wistfully at me. “In my heart, I am a woman. And a woman wants what a woman wants. And sometimes she wants the exact opposite. We are not meant to be, Jacob Merely. We are not meant to be.”

  She walked away, perfect ass swaying.

  I was left alone, mind spinning, the godstone super pissed at being left with blue balls.

  Insane Levels and Sane Jewelry

  WE ATE A HUGE MEAL in the mess hall with braziers and torches lighting up the place; more enchanted paper lanterns loitered along the ceiling, shedding dancing orange light from above. We’d get another attack at ten, and we’d need to get through it to launch our offensive. Sabra and our Forest-Witches had roasted up a dozen big sheep. The greasy mutton went well with flatbread, cheeses, and olives. Grilled marinated vegetables rounded out the meal. I think I ate a whole sheep, if not two, all by myself.

  After dinner, our troops went back to their barracks to rest, but Myrina, Phoebe, and Asteria stayed with me. Along with Persephone, of course. No way were we going to leave her alone. It would have been great to have a full contingent of Battle Wardens on hand, but they needed rest—besides, if I couldn’t handle Persephone with the help of my top three generals, we had bigger problems to worry about. She didn’t seem like a threat, though. She’d grown a lot more comfortable around us, and her true self was finally coming out. No more crying. More smiles. Unfortunately, her memory still had the consistency of Swiss cheese—whole in some places, and extremely spotty in others.

  Sophie and Loxo went and ran recon along with Toxaris on Flutterhoney. The dumb names didn’t stop there. Phoebe had dubbed the mount of one our new bull riders Funkyhoof. I wish I were kidding.

  I could access the gaming system naturally now, without a helmet, but Phoebe still had to use her orb. We worked on our character sheets, since we’d all leveled up after the most recent attack. For every level, we received ten Attribute Points and one Ability Point.

  Asteria thought the whole exercise was silly. She couldn’t care less about points. She’d eat, kiss me, dance around, and then become a snake to eat some more. Then she took a turn as a spider before becoming human again. A revolving door of different animal forms, interspersed with more kisses and more dancing. She said dancing as a human was only a little less satisfying than dancing as a bird—the blue-footed booby to be exact. I was glad Loxo wasn’t around because the words “blue-footed booby” would’ve set her off.

  That girl had a mind dirtier than a Bangkok gutter.

  “Asteria,” I growled, momentarily losing my cool, “you have to use your fucking points.”

  “Fucking points?” Asteria asked, genuinely, adorably, sincere. “Do we get points for doing that? Perhaps your game is not as tedious as I first thought.”

  Phoebe had to help her, but finally Asteria added an Ability Point to her Durability. She divvied out her Attribute Points to increase her Strength, Willpower, and Fortune.

  Her character sheet hung over the orb.

  <<<>>>

  <<<>>>

  SHE HAD NO DESIRE TO be smarter, which was mildly amusing.

  “Intelligence would only make me sadder,” Asteria said in explanation. “I am very happy being me, though you think I am silly sometimes.”

  Myrina nodded. She’d slowed down on the wine, but she wasn’t quite sober yet. “I do not think you are wrong, Asteria. Not at all. And now it is my turn to improve myself, so we may serve the war god better. Too bad I cannot change my hair or alter the color of my eyes. Then I might please Jacob more.”

  Phoebe arched her eyebrows. “Jealousy does not become you.”

  “I am not jealous,” Myrina muttered, folding her arms sullenly. “Jacob and I had a moment in the bath this evening. It was very pleasant for me. However, I believe I left him unsatisfied.”

  “Focus, ladies,” I said. This was why doing anything with the Amazons was a risky proposition for me. We had a war to fight, the world was hanging in the balance, and it was only too easy to get caught up in personal drama.

  Myrina touched the orb on the table and saw that, like Asteria, she was at level fifteen. Luckily, I wouldn’t have to max out Artemis’ Blood until she neared level twenty. Then I could expand the cap to twenty-five.

  The Battle Warden increased her Durability and Rapid Regen before adding most of her Attribute Points to her Strength, which upped her Health.

  <<<>>>

  <<<>>>

  SHE NODDED AT HER CHOICES. “Yes, I believe that will do nicely. Thank you, Jacob, for letting us choose how we want to improve ourselves.”

  “No matter how Ares I get, that is my
master plan,” I said. “I want you Amazons at your best because we are stronger when we work together.”

  Persephone, dressed in her gauzy gown, gave a little shriek. “By the Libido of Zeus, I find that surprising. You do not want the glory for yourself?”

  “No,” I said, shrugging one shoulder.

  The godstone opened my mouth. “Yes, I do.”

  I wrestled back control. “No, really, I want to win the war. That is our mission. If I could sacrifice myself right now to seal off the Underworld, I would do it in a minute.”

  And, bam, we die in the process, Phoebe sent. Remember, Jacob, you die, we die.

  I had a question about that, I replied. Let’s say I left the island and went home. What would happen to you all?

  That would fall into the category of things that make me go hmmmm. I have no data. I would imagine we’d be okay, but then again, I’m kind of fuzzy on Lycastia’s relationship to your world. So, yeah, you’re not gonna be able to duck out any time soon.

  That’s just fine with me, I sent.

  The sadness in her eyes was apparent. You say that now, but at some point that may change.

  Myrina clapped her hands. “You two stop it. It is very rude. If you have something to say, say it out loud for us all to hear.”

  “Glory doesn’t matter in this,” I said to the goddess. “That’s what I meant to say.”

  Persephone filled up her wine glass and drank some more. “I find that very refreshing. A war god more interested in victory than in personal spoils. It is so new and delicious. I wonder what else has changed since I’ve been underground. I myself am positively silly with excitement to find out.” She’d gone from brooding and occasionally introspective to giddy with excitement in the span of about ten heartbeats.

  I raised my eyebrows. So the goddess of spring changed her personality like she changed her hair color. There you have it.

  “Okay,” I said. “Phoebe is next.”