by R. D. Brady
“And a greater chance someone else could find them,” Helen said.
“That is true as well,” Ajeet said softly. “But the risk was thought to be worth it. And there is one other safeguard in place to assure that the fallout should anyone but the ring bearer find the weapon was contained. Now come.” He led them to a series of panels on the opposite wall.
Helen inspected them. “These look newer.”
“These show why our numbers are so small,” Ajeet said quietly.
Helen looked at him in surprise. “I thought it was due to time, or illness.”
“No. When I was born we numbered two hundred. But then one of the evil ones arrived.”
“Someone else scaled the cliffs?” Barnabus asked.
“Yes. Only the most determined have ever been able to do so. This man—he was determined. He demanded a tuari stone.”
Helen started. “You have one?”
Ajeet shook his head. “No. But he knew some had escaped the destruction. When he learned of our existence, he thought we must have had one here."
“This man that came to you, he was a Fallen?” Helen asked.
“Fallen have sought us out over our history." Ajeet nodded at Helen. "Our order has met many of you throughout time—sometimes a man, sometimes a woman. But your job has always remained the same: to keep the Fallen in check. To protect those of us without power from those who would abuse theirs.”
Helen looked at the panels. In the first one, a man arrived alone, confronting the priests. “This man—he abused his powers?”
“Oh, yes,” Ajeet said softly. “He killed over half of us.”
“By his sword?” Barnabus asked.
Helen could feel Ajeet’s sadness. “No. He used trickery. When he arrived, we knew he was a Fallen, but we did not know if he was good or evil. Some Fallen have been born into our ranks. Some have joined us and helped us, staying on the side of the light.”
Helen glanced back toward the fire pit. “Like the man with blond hair.”
Ajeet smiled. “I thought you recognized him. But the evil one, he initially acted as a friend. He stayed with us for days. We thought he wanted to join us. Too late, we realized he was only trying to learn our ways and search for the stone. Then one night, he poisoned our food. We lost half our numbers to the poison. They died in their sleep. He slaughtered the ones who survived.”
“How did you survive?”
“Our greatest weapon—we deployed it against him. I had been on watch when I heard the screams. My father was with me, and he knew immediately what had happened, without even seeing the camp. He had the gift. He ran to help, after instructing me to run for the weapon as quickly as I could.” Ajeet took a shaky breath. “I did, along with these men. But I was not fast enough. When we returned, we were all that was left.” Ajeet looked away, but not before Helen caught the look of horror in his eyes.
After a moment Ajeet continued, his voice subdued. “The evil one was waiting for us at the camp. He smiled as we approached. I remember his words as if they were yesterday. So you have finally brought the stone.”
“I pulled the satchel from my belt. He snatched it from my hands and emptied four smooth stones into his palm. I sliced my knife across his forearm. He leaped back and sneered. You cannot kill me.”
Ajeet smiled, although there was little victory in it. “I said, ‘Before you were right, but now, I can. Look at your arm. You are not healing.’
“The evil one looked down, and the blood continued to flow. He backed up, but I stalked him now. ‘You think you are a god, but your powers are gone. You are mortal. And you will die like one.’ I raised my knife to finish him off, but he escaped. I gave chase, but he slipped into the night."
"He was too fast?" Barnabus asked.
"No. He ran like a normal man. But I stopped chasing him when I saw our temple and all my brothers and sisters lying dead." The horror of that moment was etched across Ajeet's face.
The image stayed in Helen's mind but so too did what it meant. “The greatest weapon of Dwarka—he believed it was a tuari stone but it's not. It's something even more powerful in its way."
“Yes,” Ajeet said softly.
"I don't understand," Barnabus said.
Helen looked from Barnabus to Ajeet as the full impact of Ajeet's words hit her. She felt as if the earth had shifted under her feet. “The Fallen—you figured out how to make them mortal. That’s what the weapon does.”
Chapter 95
Helen stepped back. The ancient priests of Dwarka had found a way to remove the Fallen’s abilities. They could make them human. They could level the playing field. "It's a potion," Helen said. "You dipped the knife you sliced the evil one with in it."
Ajeet nodded.
“A potion that can remove powers? That’s not possible,” Barnabus said.
“I assure you it is. It is why Dwarka was destroyed. Before the city was leveled, a group of twenty Fallen slipped into Dwarka. They wanted the weapon. We had Fallen on our side, but not enough. We could not fight them. But we needed to make sure that the weapon remained safe. So our brothers and sisters made the ultimate sacrifice and destroyed the entire city—with the Fallen inside.”
“All to protect this weapon,” Helen said.
“We call it the Omni.” The Omni—her mother had mentioned that phrase before she died.
"And the stones in the satchel? What were they?"
"Nothing—just a distraction."
Helen’s head spun. Zeus and his minions had been wreaking havoc across the land. But if she had a way to remove a Fallen’s ability, she would easily be able to stop him and his men. She wouldn’t even have to take all of their abilities—once she removed the abilities of a few, fear would keep the others at bay. And if she found Zeus and removed his . . . She turned to Barnabus. “Can you imagine?”
Barnabus looked a little pale. “For me, it is frightening. The idea that such a thing exists—if it were to fall in the wrong hands…”
Helen frowned at Barnabus's choice of words. Why had the Fallen attacked Dwarka for the weapon? They must have known it would take their powers. Why risk it? Unless . . . She turned to Ajeet. “As with all things in this world, there must be a balance. There’s a way a way to return the Fallen’s powers as well, isn’t there?”
“Just as the Omni has the ability to take their powers, the same weapon can return their powers to them.”
Helen studied Ajeet. “Return them? Or create them?”
“Create them.”
Helen was dumbstruck. By the gods. “You can create abilities in someone?”
Ajeet nodded.
“Why would your people have created such a thing?” Barnabus asked.
“It was not our intent. My ancestors were looking for a way to remove the powers of the Fallen. Only by accident did we find that the same potion could also create them.”
The idea of someone being able to create an army of Fallen, of Zeus being able to create an army of Fallen… He will rule the world.
“You used it on the evil one. So you have it here," Helen said.
Ajeet shook his head. "No. Each group was given only one dose. We used ours to protect ourselves."
"You said a third group from your original group hid the Omni. Do you know where?"
"Yes. We know where our group's hiding place and the two hiding spots as well. I fear two of the locations are buried too deep for you to reach it now. But one remains. " He paused and then spoke words Helen had the feeling he had memorized and repeated to himself time and time again over the years. "The weapon was hidden where man first split from the way of the righteous. But then the sands of time began to reclaim this ancient site, and it was moved to the kingdom whose walls were created by the gods. It resides there to this day.”
Walls created by the gods. Helen recognized the description immediately and felt sick at the knowledge. Apollo and Poseidon had been rumored to have worked together to push this island from the sea floor. But th
is island was not their only creation. According to the legends, the two had also worked together to build a wall around a city that would never be breached.
Helen went cold. “Troy. The weapon is in Troy.”
Chapter 96
The weapon was in Troy. Helen finally understood. It all made sense. The reason Zeus had arranged for her to be taken by Paris was so that the world would bring its might against the impenetrable city.
It was all so Zeus could get inside Troy.
She looked back at the panels on the wall. “The Fallen who came here. He was not just any Fallen, was he?”
“No.” The old priest was quiet for a moment. “He was much more than that.”
Helen felt a chill steal over her. It couldn’t be. “Samyaza.”
Ajeet nodded.
Samyaza had been the one searching for the tuari stone. Samyaza was the one who had lost his powers. From what she had read and what her mother had told her, she knew power was everything to Samyaza. He would stop at nothing to get his power back—even if it meant the death of thousands.
“His ambition knows no bounds. He led the men that infiltrated Dwarka before its destruction,” Ajeet said.
Barnabus balked. “But that’s not possible. Are you saying he is thousands of years old?”
“No. But he has been reborn time and time again. And in one of those lives, he was the leader of those Fallen in Dwarka. He died along with them.”
Ajeet paused. “He does not remember the details of his past lives but his greed, his ambition remain constant throughout his lifetimes. Samyaza, no matter his form or when he is born, is always after the same thing—complete domination. And each time, it is the ring bearer’s duty to push him back. He must be stopped. He must not be allowed to find the Omni. Our seer has seen what will happen if you do not stop him. The deaths of the war will be but a drop in the ocean of death should Samyaza succeed.”
“The Fallen who came here. Samyaza. He’s also the one claiming to be Zeus.” Her mind whirled. But how could Zeus know the Omni was in Troy? “Ajeet, do you know where the other Omnis can be found?”
“Yes. We have all the locations.” Ajeet walked to the edge of the ruined temple and beckoned to the Fallen among his people. The man joined them and pulled a stone tablet from the satchel he wore slung across his shoulders. He extended it to Helen.
Helen took it reverently, running her hand lightly over the engravings. One included the words Ajeet spoke moments ago. Two other locations were described as well. “All three groups have one of these?” she asked.
Ajeet nodded.
“What are you thinking?” Barnabus asked.
“Zeus must have found one of these, sometime after he left here. That is how he knows of Troy. Is that possible?” Helen asked Ajeet.
"We lost contact with the other two groups eons ago. It is possible they have not survived to the present day. We have barely survived. So yes, it is possible that the tablet of the Omni was unguarded and found."
“How would he have found it?” Barnabus asked.
“I don’t know. But I would guess that after he came here, he knew about the weapon. And he went looking. It is the only thing that makes sense.” Her gaze strayed back to the panels. “The evil one—what did he look like?”
“He looked like a white man with dark hair and dark eyes,” Ajeet said. “He was only a youth then. But that was years ago.”
Helen considered bringing Ajeet with her, on the chance he would recognize Samyaza. Or perhaps someone younger—having watched Ajeet squint at the panels, she feared his eyesight was failing.
“Do you think any of your men would recognize him?” she asked.
Ajeet shook his head. “It has been so long, and he has undeniably changed. We would never be able to be sure.”
Helen knew he was right. Dark hair could be lightened by the sun. A strong youth could grow into a fat man. There were so many ways his appearance could change, especially if he wanted to disguise himself.
“I have something of his, though. Perhaps it will help you.” Ajeet walked over to the wall that depicted the evil one’s destruction. He removed one of the stones, reached behind it, and pulled out a bundle of fabric. Slowly he unwrapped it. It was knife.
Shock made Helen’s thoughts slow. “This was his?”
“You recognize it,” Ajeet said. It was not a question.
Helen nodded. The need to return to Troy burned through her.
Barnabus looked dazed as he stared from the knife to Helen. “But that’s— It can’t be—”
On the pommel of the knife, the seal from the house of Mycenae was engraved.
“Agamemnon,” Helen said. “He’s Samyaza.”
Chapter 97
Helen had known Agamemnon since she was a child, yet she had never even suspected anything remotely like this. At the same time, she had to admit—she wasn’t as surprised as she should have been. Agamemnon was always on the edge of troublesome situations. And now, he was leading the charge in Troy.
“How is this possible? Agamemnon has never had powers,” Barnabus said.
“People come into their powers at different times. He must have gained his after leaving Sparta and lost them before returning.” Helen thought of all the tales her mother had told her of Samyaza—strong powerful, ambitious, and drawn to power. “If he believed a Belial stone was out there, he would have stopped at nothing to find it.”
“Why would he risk his powers?” Barnabus asked.
“He couldn't have known about the Omni." Helen said. "He never would have chanced his powers. If he had known, he would have sent someone else. Remember, Agamemnon had just reclaimed his kingdom. The sting of having lost it was branded on him. For years he was adrift, an emperor without an empire. He would never have chanced being in that position again. But finding a stone that would grant him even greater power? Oh that would have enticed him.”
As she thought about it, something else occurred to Helen, bolstering her conviction that she was right. When he was younger, Agamemnon had bested almost everyone in a fight. But then one day, he just stopped fighting; he let his reputation do his fighting for him. Helen always thought it was because it was the smart move—but what if it wasn’t? What if he stopped fighting because he had lost his powers and could no longer fight the way he did before? What would happen to his reputation if he was bested?
And what will happen to the world if he gets his powers back?
Even without his powers, Agamemnon had marshaled all the armies of Greece and placed them under his command. His kingdom spread to all the habitable lands. If he regained his powers, he would be a god. And he would demand to be treated as such. All would suffer under his reign. This was a man who had sacrificed his own daughter out of spite. Helen didn’t even want to imagine what he would do to the world.
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” she asked Ajeet.
“The hiding spot you will know by this symbol.” He knelt on the ground and traced two intertwined triangles.
Of course. “You said there was one last safeguard.”
“Yes. In the hiding spot, there is only a small supply of the Omni. But the instructions for how to create more will be with it. They however only be revealed to the one who bears the ring.”
“Well, that’s good news,” Helen said. “Samyaza can’t create an army of Fallen—he won’t have enough of the Omni. But he can still get his own powers back, which is bad enough—plus perhaps create one or two more faithful Fallen followers.”
“We need to get to Troy,” Barnabus said.
“Immediately,” Helen said. But she feared they might already be too late.
Chapter 98
Helen felt a sadness at leaving Ajeet and his men. Meeting with her, being guardians of the Omni—it had been the whole point of their existence. And now, their mission was complete. She had the tablet of the Omni and was one her way to retrieve it, hopefully before Samyaza was able to breach Troy's walls. “What will
you do now?” she asked.
Ajeet smiled. “Perhaps I will find myself a wife. Besides, even though you have arrived, there may be need of us again. We will continue on as we have, slipping into the shadows until the world needs us again.”
“I wish you peace, Ajeet.”
“I wish I could offer you the same. Instead, I will wish you success. For all our sakes.”
The voyage back to Troy was rough; barely a wind stirred, and it was up to Helen to urge it along as much as she dared. She did not want to risk burning out her abilities—she would surely need to be at full strength when they arrived—but the knowledge that Agamemnon was at the heart of all of this only added to her feeling of urgency. He had been so close this whole time—and so well hidden. He was within striking distance of those she loved. Menelaus would never recognize his brother for who he was. And her brothers would never suspect Agamemnon.
Gods be damned. She knew the man was evil—even as a child she had not liked him. But she had never considered this. And her sister—how would she handle the news? Doubts, worries, and fears plagued Helen the entire journey.
But finally, after six weeks of travel, the coast of Turkey appeared in the distance. But this only brought to mind more doubts and fears. Who knew if the weapon was still there? What if she couldn’t find it? What if she did? How would she stop the war? How would she convince anyone that this, all of this, was nothing but one man’s thirst for power?
But all she could do as she watched the coast of Turkey draw closer was pray. Please let us not be too late.
Chapter 99
Once again, Helen and Barnabus departed the ship alone. If they did not contact Aegisthus within two days, he was to set sail and take Orestes and Achilles to Proteus.
Barnabus ran ahead. He would find Helen’s brothers and Achilles and instruct them to meet at the prayer henge. Helen cursed her slowness as he left her to make her way to the prayer henge by herself. It was not the first time she’d wished for the Fallen’s speed. It took her hours to make her way across the land. As she recognized the hill before the henge, a tingle ran over her. Barnabus' familiar figure jogged up to her.