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Weapon of Olympus

 

This story is attributed to Ms. Avery Johnson. Her fascination with Greek and Roman mythology drove her to create this tale of betrayal, combat, love, and moral dilemma.

 

 

Weapon of Olympus

By Avery E. Johnson

 

Prologue

THIS IS YOUR FINAL BREATH, GIRL!!!” I had fallen to the ground with a jolt of pain landing on my already mangled left arm. I screamed so loud that all the Underworld must have heard it. Not that it was any different from the world ending around me. I had desperately looked around the fire-lit land for my sword but had found it broken beyond repair. “S-Skata…” I cursed. Everything beautiful in Greece had turned to ruin. Shadowy ground, thousands of soldiers and civilians dead. Swords dropping, hopeless screams, the thick stench of blood, roars that neither man nor animal could match. The yellowish-red sky and the poisonous ocean was proof that the Olympians either retreated or died.

Tears had fallen from my eyes like a waterfall. “It’s rather pathetic that you thought you could be a hero for them. Why would they choose a MALAKA of an OUTCAST to save them?! You were always lacking strength; it’s not worth the effort to enslave your soul. I will not spare you. I will have NO MERCY! I’m taking back what was always MINE!”  The god-like being put what looked like it’s face so close to mine I could feel my skin melting off. But I couldn’t make out what it looked like, it was brighter than the sun, making me go blind. “B-Bastard, who…are you…?” I demanded, coughing up what was probably blood and felt my skin wither away…

 

 

“Gladia? Gladia! Ξύπνα (wake up)! The priestess wants to see you!” Aniketos said, shaking me awake. “Can we just practice fighting again…?” I said groggily. My twin brother folded his arms and gave me a piercing look. I glared back and slowly got up from my kline (bed). “It’s not like I hate Artemis; I’m only training to be a hoplite (foot soldier)!”

 

“Women are not allowed to go to war according to the Greek law! Plus, we are OUTCASTS, Gladia! You know what cities do to outcasts, and it’s never pretty. Heck, even the Olympians hate outcasts! We’re lucky that a priestess risked her life and took us under her wing!” he spoke. Angelina, the priestess of the divine huntress, has been with us for seven years now, she was a like second mother to us. Well, not that I knew who my original mother was. “Spartans are the only people who fight in the damn area! I could learn to protect us!” I said, firmly.

 

My brother replied, “Bold words. Have you ever seen a female soldier? All the men will do is laugh when you ask if you could train with them, or worse, use you for target practice. Anyway, you need to play the lyre for Artemis, and I’ll pray to her. I’ll see you there” he said, walking away. “Artemis is also the goddess of virginity! She doesn’t like men! YOU should be playing the lyre while I pray to Artemis! I can’t even play that well anyway!” I yelled but got no reply.

 

I sighed. When we were little, our father taught us how to fight. Actually, he would teach my brother since males usually fought while females cook and clean. I would hide somewhere and peek to try and practice the same moves they would do. Sometimes our dad would tell us stories about the gods, and I mostly asked for Hestia’s stories since the other Olympians were show-offs.

 

Now that he passed, I’ve always used the lyre in honor of him. I could never forget that my favor-“I PRAYED TO ARTEMIS AND SHE AGREED! YOU CAN’T PLAY AT ALL!” My brother’s yell made me jump. He laughed and ran away as I chased him, hitting him with my lyre. “OW! OW! IT WAS JUST A JOKE! OW! I DIDN’T ACTUALLY ASK HER! OWWW! GLADIA, THAT ONE HURT! OW! OW!”

 

Chapter 1

The priestess placed her hand on the cool, firm, stone of the offering table and watched me as I played the lyre. I looked around for Aniketos. He was supposed to say his own prayer. Why isn’t he here? Guess I’ll have to do one for him. I sighed.

“She of the wild, untamed, and fierce. I call on you to unite me with my inner wilderness, to connect me with my free spirit. I ask that you protect me as I wander this world. Unleash the warrior within me so that I can forge my own path as a warrior to defend others and myself. I give these offerings to you, Lady of the Hunt, divine daughter of Zeus and Leto.”

I set the offering down in front of the statue and I walked up to the priestess. I looked up at her with half-lidded eyes. “I thanked her, can I go, please?”

“That was quick! Where’s your brother?” she said. “He’s probably near the mountain again to see Sparta, Angelina, he said he would be here, but he lied to me…” I snarled, looking away from her gaze. Angelina closed her eyes and sighed. “Gladia…don’t keep letting your anger get in the way…” That wasn’t the first time she told me that. But Aniketos LIED about going to the temple with me! That little γαμημένος. He was gonna pay once I find him…

~~~~~~~

Spartans kill if they find unknown people or Athenians near their land. We only learn a few ways to practice protecting ourselves since some forms on the mountain have plenty of space. Besides, we never go close to Sparta, our father warned us about that place. “NEVER underestimate Sparta! They are known to have the strongest army in all of Greece. They won’t hesitate to kill you. Even Ares trembles when they let out their battle cry” he would say, with a firm tone. “Yet Ares was always a coward” I would reply. Then he would look up at the sky as if a divine smiting would strike us. I chuckled at the memory as I ran to where my brother was.

“If you want to be a hoplite, you must make wise decisions and don’t let pride take ov- Gladia! Did you hear what I was saying?”  Angelina shouted as I ran. Angelina pinched the bridge of her nose. “Γιος του Απόλλωνα...” (Son of Apollo)

~~~~~~~~~

I was looking for Aniketos until I spotted him. “Aniketos! You lied to me! You said you were coming with me! Artemis won’t be happy that you didn’t praise her!” Aniketos ignored me. I gritted my teeth raising my lyre to smash it over his head, but he pointed forward making me look in that direction.

There was a man was wandering outside of Sparta. “Who’s that?” I asked, trying to get a good look at him. “That’s Daimon, that’s a κώλος you should never approach. He used to be Angelina’s husband” he growled. “Why don’t you tell me these things?!” I said, frustrated. “Don’t tell mom I told you this” Aniketos said.

“Years ago, Angelina was known to be one of the most beautiful women in the city-state. Some mistaken her for a nymph and others thought she was a daughter of Aphrodite. Her father was offered many doweries to have her hand in marriage. Yet he denied all of them. Angelina was tired of seeing random men showing up and kept sneaking out of the house if she saw another man coming for her to ask her father the usual offer and question.

She was taking a walk and passed by where the Spartan army always trained. She saw Daimon in the fortress, fighting his soldiers to test their skill and she immediately fell in love. Once he beat his peers, he felt like he was being watched and looked back. He had a surprised look on his face and cracked a smile for a second before going back to training.

Later, they got together and soon enough; she gave birth to a baby girl. Angelina was so happy, but Damion was disappointed it wasn’t a boy. Without a son, who would take over his role as a commander once he was too old to fight? The thought pissed him off. Over the years, Angelina would get harshly abused every time Daimon got mad about not getting a son and blamed it on her.

One night, he got home and looked at his wife who was shaking while looking back at him, their daughter in her arms. That’s when he snapped. He told Angelina that he was sick of looking at the mistake that came out of her womb. Then he yanked his daughter out of his wife’s arms, drew his sword and killed the infant. Angelina screamed and wailed cursing him to Tartarus. He tried to kill her as well, but she managed to escape and hide for weeks in the forest. She dedicated herself to be a priestess of Artemis, built a small temple for the goddess and vowed to never marry again.”

I wanted nothing but the worst for this disgusting, terrible, evil man.

She only told my older brother she was so happy she found us and took us in. We were what she hoped her daughter would grow up to be. In return, we called her our mother even though we didn’t know who our true mother was.

“Gladia, look!” Aniketos said, snapping me out of my thoughts. He pointed at Daimon again, but he was holding some kind of sword. “Where are you going?!” he whispered. “I want him to die in the worst way possible…” I said, carefully making my way down. I could hear my brother following me probably muttering curses about how I shouldn’t be here.

“Impregnate a soldier’s daughter without a dowery to marry her?!” Daimon said, like he was mocking someone else. “Any man would pick her for a wife, I got there first, but the dowery was as a much as a herd of cattle. If the gods can get any woman without pay, then so can I” he said, laughing to himself. “I loved a certain one, but she had a maláka of a child.” he muttered, admiring the sword in his hands. High chance this man was still insane. But I couldn’t shake off the anger about how he talked about Angelina like that.

Aniketos’  eyes were as red as fire and his fists clenched until they turned white. He’s never been this pissed before, I know this wasn’t like him. “Brother--” I was cut off. “He has that same sword…” Aniketos growled. Daimon continued to talk to himself. “That tramp of a woman was-” Aniketos ran from our hiding spot in the blink of an eye and cracked Daimon in the jaw. “DON’T YOU DARE CALL MY MOTHER A TRAMP!”

 

 

Chapter 2

My eyes widened in horror. Aniketos just punched the crazy Spartan in the jaw. The man wiped the blood from his mouth with no expression on his face. Aniketos stared at Daimon with fire in his eyes. Before I knew it, I was running towards my brother and got his arm. “Aniketos!” I said, desperately trying to get him to run. He yanked his arm from my grip and grabbed my arm and practically dragged me behind him. What was he doing?! Daimon cracked an insane grin at my brother. “I just did, what chu’ gonna do bout’ it, champ?” Daimon said, cracking his knuckles.

Aniketos didn’t have time to respond as Daimon brought his fist down upon Aniketos’s head. He yelled in pain, clutching his head. His hair was matted with blood. He tried to get up, but Daimon kicked him so hard in the abdomen that he was pushed about five feet across the ground before throwing up.

 

I lunged at Daimon, as I socked his jaw like Aniketos did and bit his left arm, hoping he would drop the sword. He threw me to the ground and stabbed my hand as I felt the steel going through my bones. I screamed in pain, and he grabbed the collar of my tunic. Aniketos grabbed a spare Xiphos (short sword) hanging in the arsenal and stabbed him in the leg, making Daimon drop the sword. I fell to the ground and backed up to get some space.

 

The Spartan grabbed at my brother, Aniketos dodged and tried to swing at him from behind, but Daimon drop-kicked him, grabbed his neck, and slammed him to the ground. “You’re nothing but a joke, boy…” Aniketos started gasping for air and tried to pry the Spartan’s hands apart, but all his energy was drained, and his arms fell limp.

 

Daimon put his knee in Aniketos’s stomach, and he grabbed me threw me right into the arsenal along with the sword. I felt the Xiphos go into my leg. I groaned in pain and tried to get up, but my body was sore, bleeding, and broken. Aniketos’s face was pale, and his eyes were half-lidded. Then something came over me. I carefully pulled the Xiphos out of my leg, trying to run while limping over to them and before Daimon could process what I was doing, I stabbed him in the chest, letting out a strong battle cry. What the-? I didn’t even know I had the skill or strength to actually fight…

 

Daimon clutched the gaping wound and dropped my unconscious brother. I limped as fast as I could over to Aniketos and crouched beside him holding his wrist to feel his pulse still beating. Daimon’s chest started to melt, and he screamed in pain. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. His left arm, his shoulder, and his ribs melted off to show his organs and muscle that almost made me sick. He fell to the ground with his body still melting, lots of blood pouring out.

I killed Daimon. I Killed Daimon. I KILLED DAIMON!

I dropped the handle of the unnatural sword as the words kept repeating in my head until I passed out in horror of my actions.

~~~~~~~~

I opened my eyes and felt a tingling sense of sunlight in my entire body. I sat up and realized I was home. I looked down and saw that my body seemed like I never fought at all except the wrapped piece of cloth around my wound. This was clearly Angelina’s doing...right? Wait, Aniketos. I quickly looked around the room but there was no sign of him. I got up from my kline and felt a little loopy. I searched every room, and he wasn’t in any of them.

Something caught my eye in the window, it was the same Xiphos laying on the base. How did it get here? I walked over to it and noticed I wasn’t limping anymore, that’s good! I picked the sword up and gripped the handle. This was the weapon that caused Daimon to melt away. There is no doubt that this sword belongs to a god. However, there was one thing I couldn’t understand, how could I handle the weapon of a deity without any effort at all? I’m mortal, how could I even control such a thing? Well, I did wish Daimon to have the worst death…

I looked out the window and found Aniketos sitting beside a tree looking at the beautiful mountains. I put the Xiphos under my kline and walked out the door to join him.

~~~~~~~

I walked over and sat down next to him staring ahead at the view with him. “Gladia?” I looked over at my older brother. “Yeah?” Aniketos was healed just like me. The blood matted hair and the bruise in his abdomen were gone. The only mark remaining on him were scars around his throat from Daimon’s nails digging into it.

“You were right about Artemis…” I was stunned at the words that came from his mouth. “What do you mean I was right about Artemis?” I said, tilting my head. “I didn’t get a sword” he said pointing at the window where the sword used to be. I got up and was going to get it, instead he stopped me. “I’m kidding, Gladia” he grinned weakly and I sat back down. “The real reason why I’m telling you this is because I didn’t praise Artemis like you said. I think she punished me by filling me with so much rage to make me attack him and made sure my bones got broken in the end. Worst of all, my anger got you horribly injured…”

Silence filled the space around us for a while as I looked back at the view and nervously fiddled with my fingers. “When I almost passed out, I saw unusual anger in Daimon’s eyes. I think he could be a son of Ares” he nervously looked at me. I choked on my own breath. “You could have been blurry or something…” I coughed. “He really knew how to fight, and he got increasingly violent as we fought back. I know for a fact that was more powerful than a war veteran” I couldn’t argue. But Aniketos continued, “Will Ares come after us? Like Artemis’ wrath came after me?” I inhaled and responded, “I doubt it, Ares doesn’t love his kids; all he expects from them is violence and bloodshed. If he loses some, so what? He’ll have more.” I explained. “That’s…harsh” he said. “You bet. It’s the cold, hard, truth.” I smirked.

“I don’t think Artemis was angry at you. She probably forgave you and wouldn’t let you die as soon as I stabbed Daimon. It’s rare that she was protecting a male child.” I said, smiling a little. Aniketos said nothing, got up, and walked towards our home. I silently cursed myself if I said something wrong and started ripping the grass up.

 

Chapter 3

 

Pain jolted through my body. I looked around realizing I was no longer laying on the bloody battlefield. I was in a tent with bandages wrapped around my legs and left arm. The tent was racked with weapons, armor, and they reeked of dried blood. I heard male voices outside along with grunting, metal clashing against metal, hurried footsteps, and sunlight peeking through the flaps of the tent. I sat up wanting to peek outside but recoiled and hissed at the pain knowing my mangled arm wasn’t fully healed. I heard someone approaching the tent. I quickly laid down and closed my eyes pretending to be asleep.

“You’re not that good at acting” a male voice chortled. I opened my eyes to find a handsome, well-built man with light-brown skin, dark black hair, and astonishing gray eyes. He was wearing a gray tunic and leather sandals. “Are you…an Olympian?” I said with amazement. “Thanks for the compliment but I’m no Olympian. My name is Patroclus.” He grinned, reaching a hand towards me. I hesitated at first. I have never seen this man in my life. I’ll bet at some point, he’ll probably strangle me, curse me, or even draw a sword out of his ass. Might as well get this over with. “I’m Gladia…” I murmured, shaking his hand with my right one. Why did my face suddenly feel hot?

“What’s going on out there?” I said, pointing at the entrance. He put his hand on the back of his neck. “Frustration, training, planning, Y’know, war stuff” he said, sitting down next to me. “War stuff?!” my eyes widened. He nodded, face unreadable. “A war against who?!” I said. He grabbed my head looking at the top, finding a reaction to pain on certain part of my head. “You're one of the lucky ones. People who have damaged their hippocampus or any other part of the brain, slowly die…” He took his hands off my head and looked me in the eyes. “Of course they die! You can’t get stabbed in the head and shrug! Do you think I’m an idiot?” I said, throwing my hands up.

 “No, but you should already know the war is still going since that’s the memory section of your brain. Two or three soldiers found you passed out on the battlefield and brought you here. I was surprised you were still breathing. Some of them tried to get you for a bed slave” he said, glaring at the tent flaps. “But Achilles and I reasoned with the soldiers, and we brought you here. I bandaged your wounds and let you sleep” he grinned. My mood changed from anger to surprise. This dude was innocent enough. “Um…thanks Patroclus, tell your friend I said thanks as well…I guess…”

Just then, a man in full blood-soaked armor came in the tent. He yanked the tent flaps, almost ripping them, pulled off his helmet and threw it on the ground making a loud sound that made Patroclus jump in front of me for protection. The man turned and looked at the both of us. “Achilles, what’s wrong?” Patroclus said.

This is the famous simpleton everyone talks about? People would say was more handsome than Patroclus, but I absolutely disagree. Achilles was well-built, with blonde hair that reached his shoulders, eyes as blue as the ocean, and he may have a big temper… “Agammemnon dishonored me” he said, venom lacing his words.

~~~~~~~~~~

Aniketos blinked twice and I planted my sword in the ground with a neutral expression on my face. We were training in the forest again, working on dodging and parrying now that I ‘borrowed’ a sword. It was my turn to make his attacks miss. I’m impressed that he can still fight with a damaged head. “So, you’ve been having dreams like that?”  he said, tilting his head. “That was last night.” I replied. “This could be a sign from the Moirai or the gods” he said, crossing his arms. I shivered at the word, Moirai. The Fates always had a horrifying reputation. “It could be our local Olympian” I said, while looking at the statue of Artemis running with a bow in one hand and drawing an arrow with her other one. Aniketos shrugged.

“Maybe, I don’t know… You’ll probably have to leave if your dreams are an order from Olympus.” My heart stopped for a second. The thought of leaving my home meant leaving my brother. It made me feel lonely, depressed, and angry all at once. “No, I need you. I’m not leaving you behind! If Olympus threatens to strike me, so be it.” I said, folding my arms. Aniketos shook his head.

“I’ve been wanting to teach you something that involves your legs.” He got into a battle stance. “Do as I do.” he pulled his knee up towards his chest. I mimicked the same pose as my hamstrings screamed at me to stop. “Here, you can build power in your leg and thrust outward to hit your opponent.” He demonstrated. “In case your arms get chopped off, you can use this attack to defend yourself” he said. “Yeah, so I can bleed out and get a slow death instead…” I said, sarcastically.

My brother rolled his eyes as I picked my sword up. Then, I saw his eyes light up at the metal weapon and looked back at me. “Try to attack me!” he said, with determination in his words. “What?!” I said, with a worried look. He glared at me. “I said try to ATTACK me Gladia! Don’t hold anything back!”

I cringed and lunged at him. He moved to the left and thrusted his right leg out and slammed into my ribs, knocking the breath out of me. I don’t know how much power he put into that limb of his, but it was painful enough to grit my teeth. He stamped my right hand making me yelp and drop my sword. Apparently, he has no remorse for stepping on my used-to-be broken hand.

He held his hands together forming a fist and brought it down upon me. I caught it with surprise and reflex. I wasted no time jumping up to avoid his outward sweep and retrieved my blade. “Καλή δουλειά μικρή αδερφή!” (Good job, little sis!) he said, grinning.

He rushed forward as I took another swing at him. He ducked and used his left foot to smack me across the face, and I was knocked down. How much flexibility does my brother have?! I tried to get up, only to have him pin me to the ground, wrap his legs around my waist, squeezing the air out of me. I clenched his legs, pried them open with all my strength, and slipped out of the tight grip.

I gripped the handle and thrusted my sword out and he purposely fell back and rolled just in time as I struck the earth instead. I felt pain in my bicep that felt like it was on fire. Did I get a shock from stabbing the sword in the ground too hard? My thoughts of the strange feeling were interrupted by Aniketos drop-kicking me, flipped me over on my stomach, pinned my arms down again and sat on my back.

“Cheater…” I said, breathlessly. “I didn’t cheat; you just suck at this” he smirked. We kept practicing until Selene was peeking through the mountains. I was skilled with my feet but I needed a lot of work on my sword. I wanted to practice my fighting stance, and I told Aniketos he could go home if he wants. Apparently I didn’t need to say it twice as he took off at the speed of light.

~~~~~~~~~~

As I was done practicing, I was walking home while inspecting my sword until I spotted a dim light. I carefully crept to it and held back a gasp. Spartans. This was a Spartan camp, seven soldiers in all. One who was drinking, two sharpening their dory (spear), and four practicing sparring. My body was trembling, hoping they wouldn’t see me and think I was preparing to attack them. I need to get out of this forest. “…Outside the city, slowly melting and gallons of blood flowing. He’s still alive…or so I heard…” a Spartan soldier said. “Sounds like he pissed off a god. I guess they wanted him to keep suffering and not get relief in the Underworld. He must look like a corpse if he’s still alive.” a second one said. “I heard he was a son of Ares, did the war god stop him from dying?” a third one questioned.

They’re talking about Daimon. I never wanted to believe this. He couldn’t possibly  still be alive after the amount of damage I did to him. My palms felt clammy, my breath shaky, and trembling with fear. I reassured myself that he wouldn’t find my family and I in this forest, but that wasn’t enough to calm me. The third soldier looked at the drinking soldier who was uninterested and pointed at him.

“Doesn’t fight like a warrior though, too distracted by women and wine” he said, barking a laugh. The soldier rolled his eyes and put down his cup. “At least I don’t screw around and avoid my post” he said, smirking at the third soldier. The leader of the camp stood up and slammed his fist on a wooden table. “STOP TALKING ABOUT A F---ING RUMOR! ONLY FOOLS BELIEVE THAT SHIT! FOCUS MEN! KEEP SEARCHING THE AREA!”

I was trying to get farther away so I couldn’t be seen, but my right foot accidentally stepped on a stick which made a loud crack. The drinking soldier turned around and looked where I was with his eyebrows raised. He got up and walked to where I was hiding. I didn’t dare breathe, I desperately tried to remember all the moves I trained for and gripped the sword handle on my back ready for any attack. How stupid I was to spy on Spartans.

“Hey Dion! Where are you going!? It’s your turn to spar!” Dion mumbled something under his breath and walked back to the camp. I took my hand off the handle and carefully crept away before I took off running. A little while later, I had a very difficult time finding the path home and trying to remember certain trees I came across when I was here in the day, but it was too dark, and all of the trees looked the same.

I was lost in the woods.

I took deep breaths and tried not to panic but the occasional crunching of dead leaves made me jump and pull my sword out. Wild animals, maybe more Spartan camps, even Artemis’ comrades could be hunting in this very forest for all I care. I climbed a tree to get high enough for cover and found a sturdy enough branch to sit on as I leaned back and stared at the moon, taking in stories about the moon titan, Selene, daughter of Hyperion and sister to Helios and Eos to try to forget about the danger I was probably in.

Her presence in general was soothing and shy. Her children dotted along the pitch-black sky forming constellations like Orion, one of the best hunters in all of Greece and Artemis’ first and last crush. Hercules, the strongest and most well-known man who did twelve deadly tasks. Orpheus’s lyre, the best musician who ever lived and could surpass the Muses and even Apollo’s music. So many more stories were told in the sky.

Then I closed my eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

I opened my eyes to find myself in the same area of the woods, but it looked… different. The moon was a little brighter, no wind, no sound of animals. All I saw were stags. Two were eating as three of them looked up at me and bounded into the dark woods. “Where am I?” I muttered. I heard a ‘whoosh’ and quickly looked back. Nothing. Then a ‘hussssh’ and turned forward. Nothing. I looked everywhere around me, fearing for my life. The stags that were eating now laid across the ground with an arrow, each sticking into the head of the dead animals. I felt a chill go up my spine and slowly turned around.

It was a woman. She had black hair made into a braid, green piercing eyes, and an upside crescent moon on her head like a tiara. She was wearing a light green hunting chiton, and a crescent moon shaped silver bow on her back. She looked cold and brighter than the moon. I immediately knew who this was. It was none other than Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through me as I stared at her intimidating form.

I started hearing noises everywhere around me. The release of the bowstring, the dying sounds of animals, hurried footsteps, the shuffling of the quiver. Artemis was still in front of me. Staring, unblinking, with her sharp, green eyes. She eyed me like prey and before I could react, a male lion with fur the color of the moon was standing next to her, and it let out a roar before lunging at me.

~~~~~~~~~

I woke up breathing fast and adrenaline shot up my spine. I fell asleep in the woods. It was still night, and the forest seemed completely normal, I didn’t trust it for a second. I looked around to see if I was any predators’ dinner before climbing down the tree. The nightmare I had, maybe Artemis was telling me to get out of her forest. Aniketos was right, what if I somehow made her mad. “AT LEAST I WORSHIP YOU! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LEAVE WHEN I’M LOST IN THE WOODS, ARTEMIS! WHAT DID I EVEN DO IN THE FIRST PLACE?!” I yelled angrily.

I stomped south until I heard a growl behind me. I slowly turned around to find the same silver male lion from my dream standing there in an attack position. I froze. It seems like I  angered Artemis further by yelling at her. It snarled causing me to flinch.

C’mon Gladia! You have a γαμημένος sword on your back! But I couldn’t move, we stared at each other, seeing who would make the first move. The huge lion roared and I took off in the opposite direction. I then realized it was a stupid decision to run from a beast twice my size that runs as fast as Zephyrus. I could hear it coming after me and I knew I didn’t have enough time to climb any tree again. “SKATA! SKATA! SKATA! SKATA!” I screamed.

I wasn’t surprised when it caught up to me and snapped at my legs making me run even faster. I actually had time to wonder about how I could almost outrun a lion. My sword was slowing me down and my legs felt like they were on fire with each step I took. I knew I couldn’t run any longer or I would collapse from exhaustion.

I had to face it.

I dived left just in time before the lion tried ramming into me. I quickly made sure I got good footing on the ground, drew my sword and got in an attacking position as I glared at the silver beast. It started circling around me while growling and I snarled back, ready for a fight I probably wouldn’t win.

My heart was racing, eyes still on it. It wouldn’t stop circling around me, and I slowly kept turning to keep watching it, but I saw a familiar area when I turned. It was home. The temple of Artemis, Angelina’s house, the tree with a beautif—the lion growled once more, snapping me out of my daze. It was just… standing there, its eyes focused on mine. I glared at it.

“What do you want?! Did the Lady of the Hunt send you to kill me?!” I said, firmly gripping my sword tighter. It huffed and blinked, looking everywhere but me. How is it not tearing me apart right now? Artemis controls all wild animals and this predator wasn’t trying to kill me. Was I wrong this whole time about angering her? Most importantly, was the lion waiting for me to drop my guard? I guess I’ll find out the hard way.

I carefully approached it, flinching as I felt its breath, already predicting my hand would be torn off. I held my breath as I idiotically put my hand on its head, squeezing my eyes shut. I heard the beast made soft growling noises in his throat. I slowly opened my eyes seeing it crouch down to my height and put its head under my hand. “Okay then…” I said, slowly drawing my hand back as it stood up again.

My eyes darted as I stood in this awkward moment. “Well…uh, thanks for not ripping me to shreds…” I said, turning around and started walking to Artemis’ temple thinking it would be a good idea to get answers from the hunting goddess. I heard the lion following me and I kept looking back just in case and kept walking. When I arrived, I looked at the statue of Artemis running with a bow in one hand and drawing an arrow with her other one. I turned around and saw the silver beast laying down on the ground outside the temple as it yawned and shook its mane. I turned back to the statue.

“Care to explain what the hell is going on? The beast isn’t trying to kill me, instead he follows me. My brother and the priestess will freak out and probably kill him…” I muttered. I turned back to the lion who was sleeping and then turn to the statue again. “What exactly do you want from me? Is this supposed to be a sign of a bad omen?” I put my hands on my hips. I waited for a response before I knew this was a waste of time. It was best I got some sleep tonight anyway.

I walked outside and started stroking the lion’s moon ray-like mane. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times trying to adjust his focus. "Look, you can stay here until she gives me an answer” I said. The prideful beast just closed his eyes again. “Goodnight, Theron” I said, patting his head.

I thought Theron, meaning  ‘hunter’ suited him perfectly. It was impressive he could sneak up on me with no sound at all. I started walking to Angelina’s house, replaying everything that happened tonight, in my mind. Did Artemis want me to get rid of those Spartans and gave me a lion to help out?

What have I gotten myself into?

 

Chapter 4

 

Aniketos and I woke up to hear screaming from the temple. Aniketos immediately ran out the door as I groaned and facepalmed. “Skata…” I said, tiredly. I slowly got up from my kline, bringing my sword that leaned against the wall. I ran out the door and squinted my eyes from the bright sunlight and my body was still sore from running last night. I rubbed my eyes as I reached Artemis’ temple to find Aniketos and Angelina staring wide-eyed at Theron who was sniffing the air and exploring our small territory.

“Gladia. Don’t. Move.” my older brother said, fearfully. “It’s fine, watch!” I whistled and Theron perked up and started walking up to me, rubbing his head against my shoulder, making a deep purring sound.

What a dork.

“YOU NAMED THAT THING?!” Angelina yelled. “Mom! Stop yelling! It’s a male, not a ‘thing.’ Artemis gave him to me! I have no idea why… I got lost in the forest last night—" I was cut off by Aniketos giving me a sharp glare. “Oh boy…” I muttered, knowing things were definitely going south. I would explain the Spartan camp but I decided to leave the ‘Daimon-Isn’t-dead’ incident out of the explanation so my brother wouldn’t worry even more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once I finished explaining myself, Aniketos let out all his emotions while ranting on and on about how ‘I could’ve gotten killed if the Spartans saw me’ while poking me harshly in the chest. I was quiet the whole time feeling guilty and was actually disappointed in myself for once. Aniketos shut up and stopped poking me when Theron got in front of me, growling. “No, Theron…” I said, gently grabbing a bit of his mane to hold him back. “I’m sorry, Ketos…” I said, giving him a sad look. My brother sighed. “I’m just glad you’re okay, but from now on, I don’t care what happens, you stick with ME! Got that?” I nodded.

Angelina hummed. “An unusual silver lion from Artemis, strange dreams, and a sword that burned Daimon alive…” Angelina muttered. I whipped my head at Aniketos, giving him a ‘you-told-her’ look and his lips went into a thin line as he gave a quick nod. She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Gladia…It sounds like a call, something the Olympians need you for.” My face turned pale. “I told you…” Aniketos said. “Oh no, no, no! I don’t want to be some PAWN for the gods! I’m not getting tangled up in their mess! Besides, why do they even need a sixteen-year-old girl?!” I said, fury coursing through me.

“GLADIA! ENOUGH!” Aniketos yelled, dragging me by my hair until I was face-to-face with him. “You have MULTIPLE SIGNS that the gods need you! YOU SAW ARTEMIS, A WAR, AND SOME KIND ‘END OF THE WORLD’ THING IN YOUR DREAMS! I SWEAR IF YOU COMPLAIN ONE MORE TIME I’LL—" Aniketos was cut off by Angelina glaring at him. He let go of my hair and huffed.