by Eliza Raine
Lyssa had the best cabin on the Alastor. As well as a much bigger bunk, she had her own copper bath-tub and a porcelain wash-basin, which were right under the portholes in her bathroom. She watched the green-and-blue clouds swirling outside as she untied her scarf from round her head and started to scrub the mud from her face and hair.
Lyssa closed her eyes and dunked her face fully in the warm water. She hoped the lingering doubt and fear would wash away with the dirt.
I started to wonder how I might remove the skin from the creature’s dead body. ‘It would be impossible!’ I thought, because I could not cut it with any mortal weapon. It was then I was advised that I could cut the lion’s skin with one of the lion’s own claws. This I did, and had the job done quickly. I was then able to wear the skin as a defence against war.
EXCERPT FROM
Idylls By Theocritus
Written 300–100 B.C.
Paraphrased by Eliza Raine
2
Evadne stared down at the pool of gore. She was perched on the edge of a steel container on the cargo deck of the Hybris, her nose wrinkling as Hercules peeled the last bit of hide from the lion’s great body. An unexpected wave of nausea rolled through her at the thought of the vibrant-haired young woman the beast used to be.
Hercules had let Evadne tend to the shot wound on his leg in the longboat on the way back to the ship. If she had caused him any pain then he masked it perfectly. She tried to dress the wound but he would not allow her to put a bandage or gauze around it.
She admired his determination to avoid looking weak. As soon as they got back to the Hybris he had carried the lifeless creature into the biggest hauler and taken it down to the cargo deck, limping ever so slightly, before setting to work removing its impervious skin. The sight of Hercules’s bulging arms and rippling chest as he effortlessly tossed the giant beast over his shoulders had sent a thrill through her. She had followed him down and stayed as silent as she could as his frustration with trying to pierce the lion’s skin grew. Eventually, she had quietly suggested he try one of the beast’s own claws or teeth. When the yellowing ivory claw ripped silently through the animal’s belly Hercules had roared in triumph. He had then meticulously severed the skin from flesh, ignoring the innards and mess spilling out onto the cargo deck floor. He stood up straight, covered in blood, pulling the flayed hide with him. It was larger than he was. She could only guess how much it weighed.
‘I need to have this cleaned and beaten,’ he said.
‘You’re going to wear it?’ she asked, struggling not to pull a face.
‘I’m not immortal yet, girl. This hide is impenetrable. Let’s see that bitch shoot me through this.’ The last words came out as a vicious growl. Evadne pushed herself off the container, landing lightly on her feet as far from the gore as possible.
‘You need a bath. And watching you work has made me feel like one too,’ she said boldly. She knew what he’d want next. He’d want to celebrate. His eyes glinted as he smiled hungrily at her.
‘Evadne, I knew you had your uses. I’ll be in my cabin shortly. Get it ready.’ She nodded coyly and made her way to the smallest hauler. She heard Hercules say behind her, ‘Asterion, get down here now. I need you to take this hide to town and have it prepared for me. Then clear up this mess.’ They were still in port. There was no need to leave in a hurry and Evadne wondered if Hercules would go back into town himself later tonight to parade his victory to the locals.
She stepped into the hauler and it began to move slowly towards the middle deck. She wouldn’t let on to her captain how relieved she was he had won the first Trial, or how close she had come to believing he was dead. She let out a long sigh as she pictured his powerful naked body, wrestling with the lion as he’d burst from the cave. He hadn’t acknowledged her part in opening the cave mouth, but she wouldn’t push it. Asterion would be receiving punishment for days and she didn’t envy him. She figured it was better to stay quiet and enjoy his victory with him. And right now, she knew exactly how to make to him happy.
Hercules had his rooms at the back of the ship, under the quarterdeck. They took up a third of the living quarters on the Hybris. The cabin door opened onto a grand lounge, with walls lined in deep-mahogany wood panelling. Plush cushions softened expensive sofas that sat in a semicircle around a low wooden table. A bar, well stocked with wine and ouzo, stood against the right wall and three huge bookshelves lined the other. They were packed with books, from fictional adventures to encyclopedias.
Evadne looked at the books as she poured ouzo into two crystal glasses and set them on the table. She doubted Hercules had read a single one. They were there to impress, not to be used. She loved them, though. As a child she had spent any time she could spare escaping into the adventures of someone more fortunate than herself by reading her favourite stories. Everything she had learned in her life had been taught to her through books, not real people. And they were no poor substitute. She raised her chin, proud, as she thought about how far she had come and where she stood now. And how close she was to the ultimate prize.
She opened the wide wooden doors at the back of the living room and the space flooded with light. Hercules’s bedroom was at the back of the ship and instead of having portholes to let in light, like the rest of the ship, her captain had ten-foot-tall arched windows cut into the hull. Framed in front of the bright windows was his obnoxiously lavish bed with the ship’s cat, Ati, stretched across the sheets. She lifted her head lazily to look at Evadne, her green eyes gleaming. Evadne bared her teeth at the wrinkly cat and flapped the edge of the sheet to shoo her away. Ati hissed softly and leaped from the bed. Evadne couldn’t understand her captain’s love for the miserable animal. It was an ugly thing, with a hairless body that made her nose wrinkle in distaste.
She busied herself tucking in sheets and draping scarlet blankets artfully about until she thought Hercules would be happy. When she was done she started setting up the washroom, a curved white marble room off the bedroom to the left. She stripped off her clothes as hot water ran loudly into the copper bath. She smiled to herself the whole time. She loved the luxury of these quarters. It was what she had dreamed of her whole life. And her captain’s success today meant that she got to spend the rest of the day in them, with him. Her core tensed involuntarily as she thought about it. When things were going his way Hercules was an incredible lover. His touch took her breath away, his power and masculinity leaving her giddily defenceless. She didn’t dwell on being with him when he wasn’t getting what he wanted. Tonight he was happy, and that meant she soon would be too. An anticipatory shiver ran through her as she dipped one small foot in the hot water and heard the door to Hercules’s chambers open.
3
Epizon had been right; the crew were having a party. When Lyssa entered the cramped galley a noisy cheer went up and she didn’t have to fake her smile. They were all sat around the long table that ran through the middle of the galley and everybody was drinking ouzo. Len hopped off his chair and trotted over to her, handing her a glass of the milky liquid.
‘To the captain!’ he called, and everyone raised their glasses.
She looked at each them in turn. Epizon’s eyes were warm and shining, while Len’s were bright and eager. Abderos was smiling triumphantly and Phyleus… He looked back at her with something new. Maybe respect, she thought. He tilted his glass at her.
‘Rude not to drink a toast,’ he said. ‘Especially one to yourself.’ She put the glass to her lips and tipped the whole drink down her throat. It burned and she relished the feeling. Fire moving through her was what she needed. Not fear, or doubt. Fire.
‘I’ve cooked stew. You hungry?’
Lyssa looked gratefully at Epizon as he spoke. ‘Starving,’ she said.
The huge man turned from her and began pulling bowls from one of the many cupboards and setting them on the counter. The galley was a functional area, one wall lined with everything they needed to cook and eat their meals while next to the
other sat a table with space for eight to eat. Cupboards and worktops filled half the first wall and the other half was lined with metal and housed the sink and ovens. Epizon moved to the taller oven and heaved a battered metal pot off one of the four burner rings that topped it. The shorter oven, installed for Abderos and Len, barely crested his knee.
Lyssa made her way to her usual seat at the head of the table, her eyes lingering on the pictures taped to the opposite wall. Not long after they had hired him, Abderos had insisted on putting up pictures of his dream ships. The long bare wall in the galley had been the perfect place for them, he had said. Len had protested that he should be able to put up some of his pictures too and nobody was surprised when a picture of a topless nymph lounging against an apple tree appeared at waist height the next day. More images began to cover the wall over the years, and Lyssa regularly added to them herself. The first she had ever put up was a picture of Libra, the first place she had felt safe after fleeing Hercules on Leo. And the place she had found Epizon. Len’s questionable taste in art aside, seeing all the things that were important to her crew in one place always made her feel good, and this was no exception. They needed the Alastor as much as she did. And the Alastor needed her. The thought gave her strength and her fear receded a little more.
‘Grub’s up.’ Epizon turned from the worktop and began passing the bowls out to everyone around the table. Lyssa watched Phyleus as he nodded his thanks and moved his spoon in and out of the thin liquid unenthusiastically. Annoyance spiked in her and she made a point of keenly shovelling her own stew into her mouth, as if it would defend Epizon’s cooking. Although, if she was being honest, it wasn’t his best effort.
‘Cap, I’ve got an idea,’ Len announced across the galley table. She looked up from her bowl and nodded at him.
‘Fire away,’ she said, trying not to let the apprehension show on her face. She didn’t want to talk about the next Trial. In fact, she didn’t want to talk at all. Len put down his spoon and stood up on the elevated chair he used. He wasn’t much taller than when he was sitting down. Abderos, Epizon and Phyleus stopped eating and looked at him too.
‘I think we need to give her access to sunlight,’ he said. Lyssa blinked, unsure what he was talking about. ‘The thing in the tank. I’ve been studying her, and reading about races from the water realms, and I think she needs sunlight.’
‘You think she’s female too, then?’ Lyssa asked, relieved he wasn’t talking about the Trials.
‘Yeah, definitely,’ he said. Abderos snorted.
‘If Len says it’s female, then it’s female. Nobody quite like him at sniffing out the opposite sex,’ he said with an eyebrow raised. Rather than annoyed, Len looked worryingly proud.
‘We need to get her up on deck. If we’re not heading off until tomorrow I think we should do it now, while we have a breather.’
Lyssa nodded slowly. ‘If that’s what you think. Do you want to leave her up there permanently?’
‘No, no, no.’ Len shook his head emphatically as he answered. ‘No living creature wants constant exposure to light. Maybe let’s start with a few hours and see what happens.’
‘OK. We’ll get her tank up top. After I’ve finished eating.’
Len sat back down and spooned hot stew into his mouth more enthusiastically than he had before. Phyleus looked at Lyssa, but she ignored him, concentrating on her stew. She was happy to think about the tank creature instead of the next Trial, and grateful to Len for giving her something to do.
‘Are we not going to talk about the fact that we lost, or that Hercules won?’ Phyleus said eventually. Lyssa dropped her spoon with a clank into her bowl.
‘I’m done,’ she said, standing up. ‘Let’s go.’
Epizon stood up immediately, while a fleeting look of panic crossed Abderos’s face and he frantically spooned his stew in faster, desperately trying to finish it.
‘Oh, come on, you can’t just ignore this!’ Phyleus threw his hands in the air.
‘She’s the captain. She can do exactly as she pleases,’ said Epizon quietly before Lyssa had a chance to answer. She threw him a grateful look and strode out of the galley.
‘Gods, it’ll be a miracle if we survive this,’ she heard Phyleus mutter over the sound of his chair scraping back.
4
Since they began smuggling goods on the Alastor they had accrued a number of things to help move large crates around, including low steel bases with small wheels at each corner. A reasonably sophisticated pulley system designed by Abderos and Epizon helped them haul heavy crates onto these bases so they could be moved around easily.
It still took the combined strength of Epizon, Phyleus and Lyssa to roll the heavy tank into the big hauler on the side of the ship, and the task was made more awkward by the creature hovering directly in front of Lyssa as she pushed, her unblinking face inches from Lyssa’s straining one. When the creature moved the water barely rippled, making Lyssa wonder if it wasn’t water at all, but a thicker viscous substance. But she was sure she could hear it sloshing about whenever the tank moved.
The creature looked exactly as she had since they brought her on board, an iridescent shimmer across thousands of tiny scales and wide green eyes that looked eerily intelligent. Once the tank was in the hauler the three of them all crammed in around it and they began to move up towards the open deck. Phyleus was out of breath and panting slightly, but when he noticed Lyssa looking at him he stood up straighter and tried to shorten his deep breaths. She couldn’t deny the satisfaction she got from knowing he wanted to impress her.
The hauler stopped moving and the doors slid open. The tank creature’s gaze snapped immediately to the open deck. She moved, quicker than they had seen her do before, so that she was at the front of the tank. Then she looked from Lyssa to Epizon and began swimming in wide circles, the water hardly moving around her but her speed increasing. Lyssa shrugged, unable to quell the nerves the creature gave her.
‘Let’s hope she thinks this is a good idea too,’ she said, and Epizon and Phyleus got behind the tank with her to start pushing.
Len and Abderos were topside to meet them, but neither said anything as the tank was heaved out of the hauler and onto the deck. The further into the brightly coloured light of the sky she got, the slower the creature’s circles became. When the whole tank was out and exposed, Lyssa stepped back and Epizon and Phyleus followed her lead. The creature was now totally still, in the centre of the tank. Her face was tilted towards the sky and for the first time Lyssa couldn’t see the vivid green of her eyes because they were closed. For a few minutes nothing happened. The only movement visible on the deck of the motionless ship was the gentle swirl of the clouds, pinks and purples rolling past them. Phyleus shifted impatiently, drawing her attention. Len suddenly took a sharp breath and she snapped her head towards him.
‘Look,’ he whispered, pointing to the tank. The creature’s scales were starting to change colour. Lyssa raised her eyebrows.
‘Looks like you were right…’ she started to say, but before she could finish, pain lanced through her skull. She dropped to one knee as she threw her hands to her head, screwing her eyes shut against the pain. She was dimly aware of shouts around her, then, abruptly, the pain was gone.
She was no longer on the Alastor.
From her position kneeling on the floor, Lyssa looked around at an opulent room. It was a large open area, with white stone columns spaced at regular intervals all around. She stood up cautiously and turned around on the spot. All she could see, stretching in every direction, were the columns. The room was endless.
‘Hello?’ she called. Her voice echoed back at her but she heard nothing else. She took a tentative step forward. When nothing happened she tried another. A figure stepped out from behind the closest pillar, and she gasped. It was Hercules, holding a fireplace poker dripping with blood. Her breath caught. The poker… Involuntarily she looked to floor at his feet, already knowing the source of the blood on the weapo
n. A body lay shimmering at his feet, its red hair flashing in and out of focus. Tears filled Lyssa’s eyes as she stared down at her mother’s body.
‘You’re next,’ Hercules said. He grinned maniacally at her.
‘Murderer!’ she screamed, as the Rage exploded through her, replacing every other conscious thought. Unarmed and barely aware of her actions, she threw herself at him. But she never made contact with his huge frame. Instead she kept falling, the pain seeping back into her head. She shut her eyes again, trying desperately to make sense of what was going on.
‘Captain!’ she heard somebody shout, and then felt hands on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and looked up. She was back, kneeling on the deck of the Alastor, the gentle clouds swirling about on either side of her. She took a huge, gasping breath, her body shaking with anger. The hand on her shoulder tightened. She turned, expecting to see Epizon, and to her surprise saw Phyleus’s worried face instead.
‘What happened? Are you all right?’ he asked her urgently.
‘I don’t know what happened,’ she said dazedly. ‘Where’s Epizon?’
‘He shouted and fell too, but…’ Phyleus paused and stepped to the side so Lyssa could see the huge black man sprawled on the deck. ‘He’s unconscious,’ Phyleus finished.
Lyssa leaped to her feet. The quick movement caused a wave of dizziness to roll over her, but she ignored it as she ran to Epizon. She crouched beside him and put her hand on his hot face. His eyes were screwed shut and his breathing was shallow.
‘Len!’ she called.
‘He’s gone to the infirmary to get something to help,’ said Phyleus.