TWENTY
Screams erupted around us as we raced through the large marketplace. Barters hurried out of our way holding their goods, all the while cursing our entire family name. Grethen ran in front of us, not once looking back as he led us away from the marketplace and deeper into Arwid. I had no idea where he was leading us, but I had a feeling that if we were to turn around and head back, the barters would not welcome us as kindly as they did before. I was pretty sure that by the time we arrived back, all our bags and cases will be on the streets empty of their contents. Hopefully Dyos, will have a plan how to help us there.
Grethen ran into the forest as Dyos slid to a stop.
“Why are you stopping?”
“Aristaeus, I think this guy is leading us into a trap. There is nothing out here besides forest lands.”
“Maybe that is why no one can find him. He’s probably built a home out here out of reach of the barters and citizens of Arwid.”
“I don’t know Aristaeus.”
I ignored him. Grethen was getting away while we were standing here debating. “Fine, you stay here, I’m going to find him.”
I left Dyos standing there and raced into the forest. There was silence behind me for a few minutes before I heard the sound of Dyos boots following me. I slowed a bit to allow him to catch up.
“I just said it was stupid. You didn’t have to leave me.”
I shushed him as I looked around the forest. Grethen was nowhere in sight. I wanted to yell at Dyos and tell him that this was all his fault, but I didn’t. While we might have stopped for a few seconds, it wasn’t enough time for Grethen to get that far away. Removing my demos, I glanced around the forest area. He had to be somewhere close. He didn’t just disappear into thin air like that.
Following my lead, Dyos removed his sword. Together we crept through the forest taking turns sweeping the ground and the trees. The further we moved into the forest, the colder it got. It was strange since the temperature of Pearu rarely had a chill. Every now and then, there would be a breeze with the wind, but never nothing of this icy temperature.
“There’s a spell here.”
Just as the words left my mouth, Grethen flew down from the trees. He landed in front of Dyos, and immediately began to fight Dyos. Dyos held his own against the demon as he tried to control the fight with his footwork. However, Grethen appeared to not be your typical member of The Courant. Most members of The Courant relied on the guards to defend and protect them. Grethen with his excellent swordsmanship and footwork was proving that he did not need anyone to fight his battles for him.
I inched forward with my weapon waiting to get an entrance into the fight. Unlike mortals, creatures of the damned did not fight all at once. Our battles were always fair, one on one combat. It was only when you feared your partner might lose, that you jumped in to relieve them of an approaching death.
Grethen’s footwork proved to be too much for Dyos as he made a near fatal move second guessing where the demon would hit. It was because I had a quick hand, that I saved Dyos from what could have been his death. My blade landed in front of Grethen’s, as I took one hand and shoved Dyos back so he could regroup. The demon did not seem to mind his new opponent as he turned his attention to me. Our blades clang together, as our boots danced back and forth in the dirt. The demon realized that my swordsmanship was far better than Dyos and the fact it would take more than some fancy footwork to throw me off. Pulling a dirty move, Grethen called forth fire and shot it at me. The flame flew towards my face as I jumped back to protect myself. I tripped over a tree trunk behind me as I tumbled over.
Grethen ran towards me ready to pierce his sword in my chest. Dyos blocked his sword and tried to knock it out the demon’s hand, only to be sent flying into a tree on the left side of me. With no one to stop him, the demon raised his sword and lunge it towards my chest. My hands shot up and caught the blade in my hands, as I tried to detour its route. The demon stared down at me, his eyes showcasing my death sentence. The blade turned in my hands as my ring gleamed against the shine of the blade.
The demon caught sight of my ring, and quickly withdrew his sword, the blade slicing my hand. He took a step back and pointed the sword at me. “Who are you?”
“Shouldn’t you have asked that, before you started attacking us?” Dyos moaned from his spot by the tree.
“Silence!” Shouted Grethen. His focus was all on me. His eyes roamed over me, taking in my appearance. The Orc from earlier hadn’t taken the time to do the same since his mind was on the amount of dragon scales he would be receiving for his bread. Grethen was an alert one however. Being on the run had made him cautious. As he stared at me, it did not take him long to realize who I was.
“You are Aristaeus, the King’s son.”
“Prince Aristaeus!”
“Silence Dyos.” I said standing up. “Yes, I am Aristaeus, Prince of Pearu.”
Grethen nodded and placed his sword in its sheath. He walked over to Dyos and helped pulled him up. Dyos mumbled something to him that sounded like curses as he made his way over towards me.
“You’re far away from the City young Prince.”
“I’ve come on a quest to find a certain creature. A female creature that sells moonstone rings. I figured you could help me.”
Grethen laughed. “So you came all the way to Arwid to ask me to help you find a female. How did you know I was here?”
“We didn’t” Dyos said. “Someone recommended you to us in our search when we got here. It was you who freaked out and ran away as if you’d done something wrong.”
“Trust me, I have done many things wrong. Besides I know how to spot the King’s men even in civilian clothing.”
Grethen walked towards the tree he’d jumped down on us in, and began to climb it. Dyos and I shared a glance of curiosity. He came back down the tree holding a brown saddle bag that he slipped over his shoulder. Turning in the direction he’d been running earlier, he walked away from us. It was only when he was a few feet away that he shouted over his shoulder, “Are you two hellions coming?”
Dyos and I followed behind the demon as he led us deeper into the forest. Once again, the chill temperature of the forest put us at unease. Despite Grethen being someone that I needed to talk to, I did not trust him fully. I kept my hand on the hilt of my demos just in case he was leading us into dangerous territory. The dangerous territory turned out to be a small stone cabin in the middle of the woods. The cavern was one of miniature proportion as the branches and grass covered it hiding it from view. Grethen walked up towards the cavern and removed the stone door that covered the opening.
“Close that back once you’re in.”
Dyos stepped through the opening after Grethen, as I followed, turning to roll the stone back into place. The room was dark, but we could still see thanks to our sight. Grethen gave us even more sight, as he walked over to the hanging lanterns and lit it. One by one the caverns lit up around the room, revealing a nice size home. We stood in what appeared to be the sunroom. The sunroom was filled with one chair and a couch. An oak table sat in the middle covered in throngs of books and scrolls. Off to the left was a kitchen, and towards the back were two more rooms that could have been his bathroom and bedroom.
Grethen gestured over to the seats. “Have a seat. I’ll get you something to drink.”
I walked over to the couch and sat. Dyos plopped down beside me and leaned over to me. “Aristaeus, remember we do not know this guy. Do not drink anything from him.”
“That is a very rude thing to say in someone’s home.” Grethen voice rung out from across the room. We turned to face him as he made his way over to us carrying a tray filled with a pitcher and two cups. “Since you’re at the Prince’s side, I’m sure you’ve been taught some manners.”
“Of course I have, but those are only reserved for the elite, not backwater leeches.”
“Dyos!” I shouted.
Dyos shouted me a look as to say “what.” Dyos mouth is what often got us into trouble back in the day. While it used to be funny then, it wasn’t so much now. I needed information and he was doing his best to be an unruly houseguest.
“Never mind your friend.” Grethen said placing two clay mugs in front of us. “You’d do better to take notes from him young Prince. Your friend is right when he says that you can’t trust everyone, no matter how bad you may need them. His mistake was allowing me to overhear him. In someone else’s home, it could have meant his death.” Grethen walked over to the chair across from the coffee table and plopped down. “As it is, I find him to be quite funny.”
I didn’t know what to say to that and neither did Dyos. I stared down into my mug to see a black liquid. The color of the liquid was almost hardly identifiable because of the darkness of the mug.
“What is this?”
“Seaweed tea. It’s good for your muscles after a battle or fight. Not that you will need that Aristaeus. I bet you’ve healed already.” Grethen said.
I turned to look at Dyos who shrugged his shoulders. He’d yet to drink from his cup. Putting my trust in the runaway demon across from me, I raised the cup and sipped the liquid.
“Aristaeus!” Dyos shouted. He tried to take the cup from me, but I moved it away.
“It’s okay Dyos. It’s bitter, but it’s drinkable.”
Grethen laughed as he sipped from his own cup. He took a big gulp before placing the empty mug on the coffee table. “Now, let’s get to the reason you’re here. You claim to be looking for a female selling moonstone rings.”
“Yes I am. The woman sold my mother a moonstone ring a couple years back before I was born. It was this ring actually.” I rubbed the white moonstone ring as thoughts of Kiowa came to me. I could not forget to get the cure before I took my leave. “The woman who sold the moonstone ring gave her this ring despite the one she wanted.”
“What’s the problem in that?”
“This woman also prophesized that my mother would have a son despite she could not give birth. Later that night, a member of my father’s Courant, delivered a male baby to her. That member, was you Grethen.”
Grethen rubbed his face. “It is true. I delivered you to your parents.”
“Can I ask you for what reason did you have to bring me them? Did you get the order from the woman in the marketplace?”
“To answer your last question, yes. I got the order from the woman in the marketplace. To answer your first question, I did it because she requested it.”
“That’s not a good reason.” Dyos scoffed.
“It is the only reason I can give you.”
“Who is she?” I asked. “The woman in the marketplace.”
“You already know the answer to that young Prince.” Grethen said. “You’ve only come here to confirm it.”
I stared at Grethen as he smiled. He was right. I knew who the woman was already. I just needed confirmation that the woman in my vision and the woman in the marketplace were the same one.
“Samr. Her name is Samr.” I said. As I breathed her name out, I felt a surge of relief go through me. It felt good to finally be able to say her name.
“Yes.”
“Who is Samr?”
Grethen sat back in his chair as he got comfortable. “That is a good question young Prince. Samr is not a creature of this world or of the mortal world. Samr is not from the land of the Gods, yet she has lived there in the past. She is more powerful than the King of Pearu, but not as powerful as Zeus. Her species is unknown for she possesses the powers of shape shifting.”
“I don’t understand?” I said confused. “How is her species unknown?”
“You would be surprised the types unknown of creatures that exist within our universe. Surely you did not think there were only three worlds.”
“You mean there are more.” Dyos asked. “Why aren’t we aware of the other worlds?”
“Because it is not in our purpose.” Grethen said. He glanced over at me to see how I was taking it all in. “Do you wish for me to continue? I haven’t even gotten to the good parts yet.” I nodded letting him know that he could continue. My mind was still reeling with the information of there being more worlds and Samr being a fallen God, but I pushed it to the side so that I could fully concentrate on Grethen’s story. “Samr was not a planned creature. She was an experiment by the Goddess Artemis. Artemis as you know was the Goddess of the moon. She prided herself on maidenhood and chastity, but had a temper worse than those of the Titans. One day, Artemis went to Zeus, to ask him if she could create a companion. She’d been stationed away from her friends and found herself to be quite lonely. However, the Goddess had forgotten the rule of creating without the consent from the Creator. Zeus reminded her of this, leaving the God filled with sadness. Leaving the castle, Artemis stumbled upon Athena, who was enjoying a golden staff that her father had gifted her with. It became clear then how unfair she and her siblings were treated when it came to Athena. Athena received everything. Filled with anger, Artemis stole the book of Fate, glamouring herself from the sight of the Gods. Opening the book to the spell that would give her the companion she so desperately hoped for, she stole remnants of the Moon and Sun from their guardians, using them in her spell. And thus, Samr was created. As you must know, Zeus was not happy about this.”
“What did he do?” Dyos asked engrossed in the story. He was so enraptured that he was unaware of that fact that he’d drunken from the mug. Grethen seemed to notice the same thing as he chuckled.
“What could he do? Samr was already created and it would be cruel of him to eradicate her because of Artemis disobedience. So he allowed her to live in their world, as long as she followed the rules. And for a while, it worked. It was only when Apollo, Artemis twin brother started to take notice in the beautiful Samr, that things began to get chaotic. Apollo had fallen in love with Samr and began to follow her around. Samr, however, did not feel the same, and often tried to avoid the Sun God. On the day she fell, Apollo came to her to confess his feelings. He couldn’t stand being away from Samr, and wanted her to be his wife. When Samr denied him, Apollo was filled with a heavy rage and hurt. Acting on his emotions, he cursed Samr, taking away the Sun that Artemis had stolen from him, branding her to live by the light of only the moon. Samr fell from the sky, falling into unconsciousness. Artemis, arrived to see what her brother had done and tried to undo the curse, but it was too late. Samr had somehow fallen away from the sight of the Gods, never to be seen again.”
“I bet Apollo felt bad after he’d cursed her.” I said.
“Of course. He even went to Zeus to plead in his help to find her. The Gods searched the worlds for her, but she was nowhere to be found.”
Dyos scoffed. “This is ridiculous. The Gods could not find one of their own.”
“You forgot the Gods can glamour themselves Dyos.” I said. “I’ve seen them do it. It’s a small power gifted to them that allows them privacy. If Samr lived with them, I’m sure she learned how to do it as well.”
“Correct you are Aristaeus.”
“So she fell never to be seen again, but somehow you’ve met her, and she has created me. How was she saved?” I asked. “Who saved her?”
“I’m sure you know the answer to that question as well. Our creator saved Samr and preserved her powers, locking them within her until there came a time where evil would try to destroy the universe. When that time came, Samr was to create three leaders who would fight and save their world from complete annihilation. That time has come.”
“You mean Eris? She’s the evil that the God warned of?”
“But she’s just a Rakshasa.” said Dyos.
“Eris is more than that Rakshasa. Do not forget her father was the Hindu God of creation. They are higher up than that of the Olympian Gods like Zeus which is why the King of Gods has not killed her yet. She is
more powerful than him. And now, she has in her possession the Cosmic Orb.” Grethen said.
“What is the Cosmic Orb?”
“The Cosmic Orb is the life force that keeps the worlds running. Eris’s father was the guardian of the orb. However, as a last final act of disobedience against the creator, he cast a spell creating a plague upon the orb. As the day came for him to be sentenced, the Hindu God hid the orb among one of the worlds, hoping one of his daughters would follow in his steps in destroying all the creator held dear. Eris has followed in his footsteps. In seeking revenge against her father’s enemies and hers, she went on a search to find the orb. Now she has the orb, and has gathered enough souls to unleash the plague.”
“Pearu.” I breathed out. “Eris plans to destroy Pearu first, because it was where she was sentenced to live. Add to it her dethroning by Zeus and my father as well as the closing of the Gates of the mortal world. It makes the perfect place to strike.”
I now understood why Eris was now striking war in our land. The attacks that were delivered was just what we assumed, it was all an act. Due to my father consorting with the Gods and the different attacks in Pearu, the citizens had begun to lose faith in the King turning their backs on him, just like they did her. She did not care if the creatures of Pearu backed her up for they were already in her mind set as betrayers. But where did Lilith play into all of this.
“What about Lilith? Why is she here in our world?”
“In another world, Lilith and Eris are close friends. It is the world Eris disappeared to after her dethronement. I don’t know all the details of what happened in that world, but it was enough for Lilith to pledge her loyalty to Eris, and follow her here.”
“Am I the first ruler that Samr created?”
“Yes.” Grethen answered. “Samr knew about the box hidden among the waters of the mortal world not because the Gods had feared it, but the Creator had told her where to find it. She traveled to Earth and retrieved the box. Samr studied the soul for days before she finally understood how to control the soul of the Sacrilege. In order to control the Sacrilege, the soul would need to live in that of a mortal infant.”
I stared at Grethen confused. “What good is the soul in a mortal infant? Wouldn’t it still be the same as it was before?”
“Unlike before, the soul would be mixed with that of a mortal soul.”
“But there wasn’t a mortal soul in the infant. I saw it in my vision. Kithara placed the soul in the infant’s body only after it was gone. I watched it leave the infant’s body.”
Grethen laughed. “You only saw part of what happened young Prince. Yes, the soul of the mortal infant was released from the body so that of the Sacrilege could enter, and then it returned. Kithara disappeared before you could see it. The minute she teleported, the mortal doctors arrived in the room to revive the infant. The soul was still hovering between worlds. But when it felt the tug towards Earth, it returned to its body, meshing with the Sacrilege soul calming it. It is why you feel sympathy for the mortals.”
“I thought it was just because I was a Reaper.”
“Yes, Reapers feel sympathy for having to endure the mortal world, but the second their contract ends, so does their feelings. They return to Creatures of the Damned and their harboring hate for the mortals.”
“So when does this plague get released?” Dyos asked. “How long do we have to prepare? I mean how we are supposed to fight something we have no clue about.”
Grethen stood and walked over to a rusted calendar on his wall. His finger ran down the page stopping on a date. “The plague will arrive in four days. In four days you will have all the answers you will need.”
“There is a battle coming up.” I said quietly. “My father plans to go to war against the Gods.”
Grethen turned to face us tucking his hands behind his back. “It was bound to happen Aristaeus. Do not worry yourself over such things. The Gods know how to handle themselves.”
I opened my mouth to say something else to Grethen when I heard the voice again.
Aristaeus.
I glanced around the room expecting to see her, but it was only the three of us. I glanced over at Grethen who stared at me with a smile on my face. His eyes told me that he knew what was going on. The voice called for me again and this time I found myself standing.
“Aristaeus, are you okay?” Dyos asked with concern. He looked from me to Grethen, alarm growing on his face. “It was the tea, wasn’t it?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s her. I can hear her again.”
“Who? Samr?”
“Stay here.” I said walking past him and heading towards the stone that was covering the entrance. Dyos jumped up to follow me, but Grethen placed a hand on his shoulder stopping him. The two exchanged words as I moved the stone from the door. Stepping through the opening, I took a few steps before I saw her. There she was in front of me, standing in the midst of the trees looking the same as she did in my dream. Only now I could see her face.
Raising a hand out to me she said, “Hello Aristaeus.”