Styxx (Dark-Hunter 22)

Chapter Nineteen

July 27, 9531 BC

Styxx paused in the garden of the Agriosan-the sacred temple of Bet'anya Agriosa, the Atlantean goddess of misery, wrath, and the hunt. She was said to be the right hand of Dikastis, their god of justice. And she was the goddess the Atlanteans prayed to whenever they'd been wronged. The one who meted out justice and retribution. Testament to their belief in her were the numerous katadesmoi-curse stones and tablets and lead sheets-that littered her altar and gardens. Each katadesmos held the specific action the invoker wanted the goddess to take against the person they felt had done harm to them.

The harsh curses outlined in Atlantean in extremely vivid detail made him wonder how many katadesmoi Ryssa had inscribed for him at home in Didymos.

Unwilling to speculate on so great a number, he frowned at Bet'anya's statue at the end of a large outdoor atrium pool that reminded him of Athena's in Didymos. The Atlantean goddess was tall and slender, dressed in a sheer peplos that showed the outline of a perfect body while running. She held a shield decorated with a winged horse in one hand, and a spear in the other, angled over her shoulder as if she was about to throw it. A mop of unruly curls spilled out from beneath an Atlantean helm that had been pushed up on her head to expose her beautiful features. At the opposite end of the pool was the statue of a fierce male soldier who faced the goddess.

Dressed only in a chlamys that fell from his left shoulder, he stood proud and defiant in a helm very similar to the one Styxx wore. His long hair spilled just past his right shoulder. He held a xiphos in his right hand while his left held a quiver of arrows.

"Is there something I can do for you, Highness?" a priestess asked nervously.

Styxx turned slightly to see the tiny woman who barely reached mid-chest on him. He offered her a slight bow. "Forgive me, priestess, I meant no disrespect to your goddess or you. The temple door was open and I was curious about the city's patron."

His army had defeated the Atlantean city of Bettias two days ago and were awaiting reinforcements to hold it before they continued onward to the mainland. Since their occupation began, they'd been bringing wounded Atlantean soldiers to the temple next door that belonged to the Atlantean god of healing. Styxx had overseen the last of their wounded deposited into the priests' care just a short while ago, and as he'd started back for their camp, he'd spied this temple.

For some unknown reason, he'd been drawn to it.

"Are you familiar with our gods?" she asked.

"I have limited knowledge, but no real understanding. Such as the two statues here. I assume she's the goddess the city's named for, but I have no idea who the soldier is."

"It's a wise man who admits what he does not know and who doesn't pretend to know something he's ignorant of." The priestess smiled. "Theirs is a tale of supreme heartbreak, Highness. And it's why Bet'anya's the goddess of wrath and retribution. Before Dikastis was consecrated to our pantheon, Bathymaas was the original goddess of justice and order. The daughter of Chaos, she was born from the light powers to balance out her father and to keep him on the side of good. During the first war of the Chthonians, Bathymaas assembled a team of seven warriors called the Ēperon."

"As in ???T?????ί????" he asked. Ēperaspizo was the Greek word for "vindicate" or "defend."

She nodded. "The Ēperon was made up of two humans, two Apollites, two Atlanteans, and a demon who trained and led them. Theirs was a sacred band charged with protecting the intelligent species of the earth from all threats. Hand-selected by Bathymaas, each one was the epitome of courage, strength, integrity, and decency. The best of their species. And during the Chthonian war, they fought in defense of the innocent."

Styxx studied the male statue. "Was he the demon who led them?"

The priestess shook her head. "He was the greatest hero of the war. Indomitable and intrepid. It was said no army could defeat him and no hero could kill him. Not even the collective Mavromino-the darkest of all powers. And in honor to the goddess he served, he took a vow of virginity. His heart and soul belonged to Bathymaas alone."

Frowning, Styxx was confused by her story. "I don't see where the heartbreak comes in."

The priestess pulled a handful of herbs from her pouch and dropped them into the flames at the goddess's feet. "Our virgin goddess fell in love with her hero, even though it was forbidden, and that it'd been foretold that should she ever know a man carnally she would be punished severely.... All she could think about was how much he meant to her. They kept their relationship secret until one day, an enemy discovered it. Jealous and angry, their enemy spread word to all of what the two lovers had done. To protect his lady's honor, our hero challenged their betrayer to combat. But before he had the chance to battle and restore the goddess's good name, a jealous god who'd wanted Bathymaas for himself tricked her into shooting an arrow of lead into her beloved's heart. He died in the arms of his goddess, swearing to her that if it took him ten thousand lifetimes, he'd return to her and that he'd never love anyone save his precious Bathymaas."

Styxx flinched in sympathetic pain. He well understood that sentiment and would do the same for his own lady.

"When he died," the priestess continued, "he took her heart with him to his grave. She, who had been a goddess born of light, embraced the darkness with everything she had, and she went after the god who'd taken her hero from her. That was the moment when ruthless retribution was first born. Yet she couldn't kill the god-not without destroying the world. And even though the other gods warned her of this, she didn't care. She refused to stop until justice had been served and she bathed in the blood of the god she hated."

"I take it, since the world is still here, that they stopped her."

She nodded. "With no choice, the other gods banded together to kill her. They chased her deep into the desert where they cornered her, but before they could take her life, her father, who was a primal god, stopped them. He removed one half of her broken heart-the part that had belonged to her hero-and had her reborn as Bet'anya, which means House of Misery. It is said that she will be a goddess of darkness until the day her Aricles is reborn and makes her heart whole again."

Styxx frowned at the familiar and unexpected name. "Aricles?"

The priestess inclined her head to him. "He was the brother of the prince who founded your royal lineage. After he died, his younger brother took his name to honor him."

That baffled him even more. "And so you honor a Greek hero in the temple of your Atlantean goddess?"

Her eyes flared with indignation. "Atlantis has never honored any Greek."

But if that was true ... "Are you telling me I'm Atlantean?"

"Didymos was our outermost island at one time."

Strange ... he'd never heard that before and he wasn't sure if he should believe it.

"If you doubt me, Highness, there are maps still in existence in the city's capital building that show it."

Fascinating. "When did we become Greek?"

"Twelve hundred years ago, the king married a Greek princess. His heir was just a babe when he died and the queen invited her brother to rule until the child was old enough for the throne. Her brother immediately began converting the Atleantean temples to your gods, and the child grew up with them and their ways, thinking himself Greek. His mother never told him differently. Didymos has belonged to Greece ever since."

Styxx started to deny it, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Didymos was physically closer to Atlantis than Greece-which was why it was so important to hold it strategically. It would also explain why the Didymosian temples had more in common with Atlantean temples than Greek. "Am I part Apollite, then?"

"No. Your lineage was pure Atlantean. From one of our oldest houses. But sadly, your blood is polluted now. There is very little Atlantean left inside you."

Still not sure he should believe that, Styxx returned the conversation to the previous topic. "So does the goddess now sit and wait for her Aricles?"

"Sadly, she has no cognizance of him at all. To keep her from mourning him, her father removed the memory of Aricles with her heart. She holds no knowledge of her previous existence and role."

"How is that possible?"

"Her father had her reborn from Sorrow and she was told that she is a descendent of Bathymaas and that they share some powers. But until her hero returns, she will never know the truth. The world can't afford for her to."

Styxx scowled at the story. "How is it you know something your goddess doesn't?"

"Because I was there when it happened and I was one of the creatures who helped bind her."

Styxx stepped back as the priestess transformed into a tall, robust demon.

"How dare you defile the temple of Agriosa, Greek pig! You may have been born of the House of Aricles, but you are not he! You are nothing but a human dog, unfit to breathe Atlantean air." The demon shoved him back. "And our goddess has a fierce bounty on your head that I intend to collect."