Styxx (Dark-Hunter 22)

"Sixteen." Styxx picked his clothes up and went behind a screen to dress.

"Damn, that was harsh. My father refused to let us near battle until we were past our majority. He waited so long, it was actually embarrassing." Urian took a step back and gestured toward the door. "Would you like to come up to the main hall with me? Dinner should be about ready."

He would love to, but he knew better.

Styxx shook his head as he came around the screen. "I'm not welcome there. Acheron would have a fit to find me in his temple."

Sadness darkened Urian's eyes. "Don't worry. I won't tell bossman you're here. Stay as long as you want."

"Thanks, Urian." Styxx went to hang his towels up to dry.

"Hey?" Urian called. "Would you like me to bring you some dinner?"

"Gods, yes, I'd kill for some." Those rushed, heartfelt words were out before he could stop them. Embarrassed by the emotion he'd betrayed, he cleared his throat. "Yes, please. I'd appreciate it."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

Styxx stared after him for a few minutes as it dawned on him that Urian was barely older than his son Galen would have been. The two of them could have played together and gone to war as friends.

That knowledge made him strangely protective of a man who was physically older than he was. And while Urian wasn't quite as tall as Styxx, he was more muscular. How weird. The boy would be highly offended if he ever learned Styxx was protective of him.

Trying not to think about it, Styxx went to finish his chores before it got too dark to see.

A few hours later, he was pulling out his dried clams to eat with coconut milk when Urian returned with a backpack that he set on the table beside Styxx.

He frowned at Styxx's dinner. "What is that?"

Styxx shrugged then returned the clams to the urn where he stored them.

Urian's scowl deepened as he tipped the chipped clay cup to see the coconut milk in it. "Ew! Really? You were really goingb to drink this shit?"

"??ά?æ? ?? ' ??? ??T? ??ά????????," Styxx said simply.

Urian laughed. "Not even the gods fight necessity ... nice. You said that to your men right before the battle for Ena."

"Did I?"

"You don't remember?" Urian paused as he set out a bowl of something Styxx had never seen before, but it smelled wonderful.

"Honestly, no, and I can't really take credit for it. It was something my mentor used to say to me all the time."

"And what would he say about this?" Urian held up a bottle of wine.

"Broma theon." Food of the gods.

Urian handed it to him then dug out the opener and two glasses. "I'm going to hazard a wild guess that you're a little short on supplies. Would you like me to bring you something?"

"I can make do, but some fresh water would be nice. It doesn't rain here, and it doesn't get quite hot enough to make a lot of condensation. It's been difficult to desalinate the river water, which I can't figure out why it's salty..." But it was. And there weren't any streams or ponds that he'd been able to locate.

Urian scowled. "Why didn't you stay where your supplies were?"

Styxx dug a fork out of the backpack and sat down to eat the ... strangest food he'd ever seen. It was like white worms only really long and coated in some kind of red sauce. "I haven't received any."

Urian was aghast. "What have you been living on?"

Closing his eyes, Styxx savored the unfamiliar taste. It was even warm ... He swallowed and wiped his mouth before he answered. "Clams mostly ... whenever I can find them. Coconuts. Some greens I discovered out back." He took a drink of wine then sighed at how good it tasted. The last time he'd had this was years ago in New Orleans.

He felt Urian staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing."

It wasn't until then that Styxx realized Urian was one of the few people whose thoughts he couldn't hear. He had no clue what the man was thinking.

Urian grabbed the backpack up. "I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"

Styxx nodded as he kept eating the ... "Urian? What's this called?"

"Spaghetti."

"It's really good. Thank you."

"Parakalo."

Once Styxx finished, he washed out the bowl and dried it then took his wine to the pool. He didn't know why he liked to stay in this room. There was just something about it that soothed him.

Rolling up his pants leg, he saw that the fabric was starting to fray. He needed to be more careful washing it and wearing it. Since there wasn't anything here to replace it with or animals to use for pelts, he'd have to make it last. He dipped his feet into the pool and sat alone in the silence.

He'd just finished off his wine when Urian returned.

"Is this what you do at night?"

Styxx got up and pulled his jeans down. "There's nothing else to do, really. Sometimes I go outside and stare at the moon."

"You must get a lot of sleep."

"Not really." Even now, he couldn't sleep through a night.

"How are you not crazy?"

Styxx snorted. "Who says I'm not?"

Urian released an elongated breath. "I couldn't take three days of this boredom without being stark-raving mad."

"As far as prisons go, trust me, this isn't so bad. No one's sticking hot brands on me or beating me, and I'm not chained to anything or drugged. Best of all, I don't have to bend myself in half to lie down."

"When were you a prisoner?"

Styxx laughed bitterly. "Honestly? In the whole of my extremely long life, I've only spent roughly a high grand total of fourteen years where I wasn't imprisoned for one reason or another."

"Imprisoned for what?"

"Being born Acheron's brother ... well, except for when Apollo and the Atlanteans held me here. That was entirely my fault. Turns out, gods don't like it when humans defeat them and invade their homelands. Who knew?"

Styxx swung his arm around the room. "Did you know this temple belonged to Bet'anya Agriosa ... the Atlantean goddess of misery and wrath? The next temple on the right belonged to Epithymia, their goddess of desire. She was a royal fucking bitch. Vicious. Cold. Lived to hurt others. It always made me wonder if Aphrodite was anything like her." Styxx paused as he caught the expression on Urian's face. "Sorry. I'm not used to having anyone to talk to."

Urian wasn't sure what to make of Styxx. From what little Acheron had mentioned of his brother, he'd expected some arrogant, demanding prick who looked at the people around him like they were dirt.

The man in front of him was definitely not the brother Acheron had described. There was no arrogance in him. He had a very quiet, suspicious nature. He reminded Urian more of the gators that called the swamps home in Louisiana.

Styxx kept his eyes on everything around him, assessing each corner and shadow as a possible threat. Though he seemed to be at ease, there was no doubt he could launch himself at your throat and roll you under for the kill before you even saw him move.

Yeah, Urian could easily see in Styxx the legendary general he'd read about. The one who didn't complain over anything and who had sacrificed and sold his own personal effects to buy supplies for his men. Just the physical scars on his body alone made a mockery of the person Acheron thought him to be.