Night finally came in Pearu giving the citizens a chance to rest from the long day. Gain got the children ready for bed. Dyos and I stood on the wall watching Grethen and Bahmel converse with Os’ mar. Staring at Os’ mar I tried to figure out whom exactly was controlling this creature that was pretending to be Os’ mar. My mind had already convinced me it was Lilith, but there were other players who could have taken him. I thought about my father and the prisoner on the side of the cell when I’d been captured. I had thought it to be just one of the other citizens, but now that I think about it, why would my father hold an arrested citizen in the palace. It could have been Os’ mar’s body he was holding hostage. My father had been practicing spells lately. Maybe he’d learn how to take control of a creature’s body. I wouldn’t past him.
I then thought about the third player in the game. The God. I couldn’t remember seeing Os’ mar the day the Gods came into Belham. He could have still been alive, and could have been one of the ones who fled. Maybe one of the Gods that came, had chased him and killed him. He was the keeper of souls, and since the God was working with Eris, he could have needed some information from him. But Os’ mar wasn’t the type to run from the Gods. He worked for them, so why run?
Grethen got up from his seat and made his way over to us. He sipped something from his clay mug as he stood beside me, his body facing the wall, his back to Bahmel and Os’ mar.
“There is something off about your friend.”
“You’ve picked up on it as well.”
Grethen nodded. “There’s a humming sound coming from him. He also keep shifting and glancing over at you every few minutes. At first I thought because he did not know us well and you were the only one he was comfortable with. But the glances he is throwing you aren’t friendly, they’re sinister.”
“So how do you want to handle him?” Dyos asked.
“Give me a moment alone with him.”
Dyos and Grethen nodded. They walked over to Bahmel and Os’ mar as Dyos clapped a hand on Bahmel’s shoulder. “Say Bahmel, you got any more of that seaweed drink?”
Bahmel headed to the kitchen to fix Dyos a drink as he and Grethen followed, leaving me alone with Os’ mar.
“I tell ya Aristaeus, it sure is good to be back in Pearu. I almost forgot how great the air smells here.”
I chuckled. “Why don’t we go outside and get some of that fresh air?”
“Um, sure.”
I led the way out the door as Os’ mar followed. My hand gripped my demos as I led him a few feet away from Bahmel’s home. I didn’t want to jeopardize waking his children or attract any attention from the neighborhood barters. We walked into the forest as the sound of night creatures traveled through the green haven. The moment I got deep into the forest, I turned to face Os’ mar with my weapon drawn. He seemed to be ready for some sort of attack as his face changed. His true face emerged revealing his true nature. He was a Cyclops.
I didn’t give him a chance to get a hold on me as I slashed away at him. The Cyclops dodged my demos and sent a punch at me. The punch landed at the tip of my jaw as my teeth clamped down on my tongue bringing blood into my mouth. I wiped my mouth filled with anger. I wanted to subdue the creature not kill him. However, if it came to me or him, it was going to be him.
I threw my jugest in his direction catching him around the leg. I yanked as his feet were pulled from under him. He fell to the ground in a heap as I sent fire through the ropes of the jugest. He hollered as sat down on top of him, holding him into place. I kept one hand on my jugest sending heat through the rope to keep him at ease. Footsteps sounded ahead of me as Dyos, Grethen, and Bahmel stepped into the clearing.
“You’ve captured him” Bahmel said with surprise.
Grethen stared down at the creature. “Cyclops, definitely one of Eris flunkies. Did you get anything out of him yet?”
“Not yet.” I turned to the Cyclops and placed the blade of my demos at his throat. “Identify yourself Cyclops.”
“I do not answer to the likes of you puny Prince.”
I pressed the blade deeper into his throat striking blood. The Cyclops moaned in pain as he tried to shake me off of him. He was only causing himself more harm by moving. Every time he moved, he ended up brushing up against the rope burning himself.
“Let’s try this again, who are you?”
“Pathos.”
“Who sent you here Pathos?”
The Cyclops glanced at me like he was about to rebel again, but after an arch of my brow, he reconsidered. “No one sent me, I came on my own.”
“Ah, and why is that?”
“I heard the King had banned his son, I wanted to see for myself.”
“He’s lying.” Dyos said staring down at him. He placed the heel of his boot on the Pathoss hand and pressed down.
“Alright!” He screamed. “The Courant sent me.”
“The Courant?”
“Yes The Courant. They captured me a while back and were holding me as leverage to get Eris to show her face. It was becoming clear that Eris would not show herself, even for a bottom feeder like me. She left me to rot at the hands of the King, so I betrayed her.”
“You creatures and your betrayal.” Grethen said shaking his head.
I ignored his comment. “Why did they let you go?”
“They let me go to find you. They had a feeling that you would try to stop them from going to war with the Gods, or better yet tell them their plans.” There was a gleam in the Cyclops eye as he relayed this information. “You’ve been caught Prince, they know that you and your friend over here found out about the maps for the battle. The King has banned your little friend as well. You’re both enemies to the King and Pearu.”
“What about the General?” Dyos said stepping forward.
“Dead.” Pathos smiled.
I turned to stare at Dyos as the news hit him of his father’s death. Letting out a growl of rage, he ran forward towards the Pathos as Grethen grabbed his arms, holding him into a lock. Dyos wrestled against him as Bahmel joined to hold Dyos back. Grethen whispered something in Dyos ear as he began to pull him back from Pathos. I wanted to go and comfort my friend, but I knew I had to finish getting answers from the Cyclops.
Turning back to face the Pathos, he still held that smile on his face as he watch Dyos battle with the loss of his father. I punched him in the mouth knocking the smile off his face. The Cyclops shook away the dizziness of my punch and turned to glare at me.
“Why did the King kill his General?”
“Why do you think? If he couldn’t govern simple information how could he lead an army of soldiers to the Gates tonight?”
I stared at the Cyclops as if I did not hear him right. “What do you mean tonight? The King is going to war tonight?”
The Cyclops simply smiled up at me with blood coating his teeth. Loud booms sounded in the air as I turned my attention to the sky. Smoke was in the air as a horn blew through the land. I turned to stare at Dyos who’d stopped struggling against Grethen and Bahmel at the sound of the booms. They glanced towards the sky and over at me.
“It’s started. The war between us and the Gods have started!”
They ran over to me as I lifted off of Pathos and walked over to them. “We have no time. We have to get to the marketplace and gather as many creatures as we can to fight. We don’t have time for long speeches to convince them. We have to hurry.”
Dyos turned to Grethen. “I thought you said the plague would arrive in three days.”
Grethen looked just as confused. “Something’s not right.”
“Your precious Samr has tricked us!” Dyos shouted.
A light flash in the sky as it touched the ground near me. We turned to face the light as it cleared revealing Astraea.
“A God!” Bahmel shouted removing his weapon.
“Touch her and die!”
Bahmel turned to me and stared in confusio
n. He put his sword away as Dyos touched him on the shoulder and shook his head. I walked over to Astraea as she pulled me into a hug. I pulled back and stared at her. “What are you doing here?”
“Our world is preparing for battle. I’m worried Aristaeus, my father has called for the archangels as well. The Archangels never come out to fight a war with the Gods. I think the plague is coming tonight.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I assured her. “We will be ready.”
There were voices outside of the forest as creatures came out to see what was going on. It was night so there was no way anyone should have been up. I also found it strange that a war was going on when it was considered night in Pearu. My father should have been sleep— the sky was proof of this.
Astraea seemed to read my thoughts because she said, “Aristaeus, I think your father has found a way to move about throughout the night without being sleep.”
“I have to get to the palace. I have to get Kiowa somewhere safe.”
The Cyclops laughed behind me as I turned to face him. He stared at me as he grinned brightly. “You’re a little late on that as well Prince. Your Queen is dead.”
I froze in place as I pointed my demos at him. “You lie!”
“I do no such thing. The Queen died the moment you left the palace. The King buried her today. Such a shame you couldn’t have been there to say goodbye.”
Astraea placed a hand on my shoulder as I stared at the creature on the ground. I wanted what he was saying to be a lie, but his eyes showed the truth. The Queen was dead. Kiowa, my mother, was dead. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.
Growling with rage and pain, my true face pushed its way forward. Lifting my demos in the air, I removed the laughing Cyclops head from his body, as it rolled into the trees. Falling to my knees, my body shook with sobs, as I stared up at the smoky purple sky.
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