Centaur Legacy (29 page)

Frustrated with her reaction, I asked,
“So, that’s it? You waited around in a dilapidated church for hours
to tell me you were taking the arrow, and I’ll have the honor of
living out the rest of my life as half a man. Thanks for
nothing!”

“No. I waited to share with you that my
mother is aware of your circumstance. She is considering whether to
lobby Zeus on your behalf, but you must be worthy. The last time
mother asked Zeus for a favor she ended up with my brother Priapus,
so she needs to be sure you’re worth it.”

“Priapus? Who’s he?”

“Priapus is the god of livestock.” I
couldn’t tell if she was trying to be funny, but she continued,
“Look him up and see what Hera did to him when she got jealous of
my mother’s conversation with Zeus. You’ll understand why my mother
won’t lobby for you unless it’s really worth it.”

I winced. I didn’t need to look him up;
I had heard the stories of what Hera had done to him. I flinched at
the fact that in Harmonia’s eyes, maybe I was merely livestock. A
plan started to take shape in my mind. I took several steps in her
direction, only a mere arm’s length away. I wanted to snatch it
from her, take back my life.

Harmonia’s tone was contemptuous when
she answered, “Despite your new physique, you are but a mortal. Do
not attempt to take the arrow from me. Crossing me would not be
wise.”

Ashamed she had so quickly seen my
plan, even before I could commit to it, I bowed my head and
answered, “I beg your pardon, Goddess Harmonia. May I plead my case
to you?”

“I have what I came for, and I have
left you with some hope. There’s nothing more I can offer
you.”

I had to delay her, come up with a way
to keep her from making off with the arrow. “How did you find the
arrow?”

“It was built by immortal hands. Think
of it like a plane’s little black box. It gives off a signal so
immortals can find it.”

“But why did you wait for
me?”

“I could have located you, but I’m an
immortal, so time doesn’t have the same meaning to me. Waiting for
you reduced any chance of running into a human.”

“But, you didn’t just take it. Is there
anything I can do to convince you to leave it with me?”

She smiled, “I’m afraid not, Drake.
Things have a way of working out. As I’ve said, hope is not lost.”
She didn’t leave me with hope. She was carrying what little hope I
had in her hand. It felt as though she had wielded a sword that
sliced my soul into pieces. My head stayed bowed as she walked past
me, through the door, and out into the forest.

All of my hopes vanished with her into
the storm. The arrow was lost, and with it, the life I had hoped
might still be in my grasp.

I abandoned my plan to raid the
deepfreeze of the farmhouse. Food was no longer important. Instead
I returned to the barn where just hours before I had held Cami –
maybe for the last time. I remembered my promise to call her in the
morning. I had made her promises I would no longer be able to keep,
but this was one of the few I could.

I walked to the pumphouse to retrieve
my cell phone, now holding a full charge. A voice mail was waiting
for me. It was from Cami; my hand shook as I stared at it. I wasn’t
sure I possessed the strength to listen.

When I got inside the barn,
I closed my eyes, pressed
play,
and braced myself for what I was about to hear.
Her voice was beautiful, much as I’d imagined an angel’s might
sound like, “Hey, it’s me. I know you’re freaked out. I wanted you
to know, I’m not. You know when I was freaked out? When I didn’t
know where you were or if you were okay. I can handle anything as
long as I’m with you. Don’t disappear again. I’m pretty sure losing
you one more time would kill me.” There was a long pause before she
added, “I love you, Drake.”

The voicemail ended and I pressed
“play” a second time. Then a third. Finally a fourth.

I looked down at myself. How could she
love this? How could she willingly give up her future for me? The
ache in my chest began to intensify. I couldn’t tell if my heart
was swelling or breaking. I listened to her voicemail a fifth
time.

A single tear rolled down my cheek. She
wouldn’t abandon me, but what kind of a life would it be for her?
Hiding in shadows, sleeping in barns, for what? Without thinking of
the repercussions, I began shouting into the night. “Dammit! Damn
Zandra for making us believe we would never be safe. Damn Chiron
for holding onto the arrow to begin with. And Damn Zeus for letting
this whole situation happen!”

The barn began to shake; snow fell in
through a hole in the corner of the roof. I could feel the ground
rumbling underneath me. I squatted down, wondering how often
earthquakes happened in this part of the country. I’d been wrong:
the earth wasn’t shaking, just the structure. A booming voice
echoed through the barn, “Be careful, Centaur. Be mindful of the
seventh tenant.”

Without thinking about which god the
voice could belong to, I shouted, “Go to Hades!”

The same booming voice made the walls
vibrate again, “Drake of the Nash herd, be mindful of the seventh
tenant!”

The seventh was one of the
easiest to avoid:
Never speak ill of the
gods
. With more rage than I could ever
remember coursing through me, I shouted, “Strike me down. Take away
my Centaur blood, do whatever the hell you want. My life’s over
anyway!”

The booming voice responded, “You are
not worthy of my gifts. You have broken the seventh
tenant.”

The words:
my gifts
echoed in my
head
.
Zeus was
talking to me? I had just told the father of the gods to strike me
down? I had more than broken the tenant; I had thrown it in
his
face and told him to
strike me down. Before I could do anything else stupid, I came to
my senses and forced myself to be quiet.

“You have nothing to say in your
defense?”

Oh right, let’s see, maybe he didn’t
notice I have hooves or a tail. Yeah, right. I needed to get it
together. I was a mortal. I knew better than to provoke the gods.
Asking him to strike me down would accomplish nothing, and if he
did, what would happen to Cami?

I swallowed what was left of my pride,
“I humbly apologize for my outburst. I meant no disrespect, only
that I . . . only that. . . my circumstances are dire.“

I stood motionless, waiting for him to
take his vengeance on me. Whatever he decided would be over soon. I
couldn’t imagine anything he did would be worse than me telling
Cami what happened with the arrow. His voice was still strong and
unyielding, but his volume much lower, “Drake of the Nash herd, I
am aware of your plight. It was not my curse that transformed you
into the shape of your ancestors.”

Not his curse? Was this Zeus? It
couldn’t be. Zeus didn’t deliver messages to mortals. He had lesser
gods and demi-gods to deal with us. If it was Zeus, he must already
know as soon as I pulled the arrow from the book, I transformed
into a real Centaur. Of course, it was his curse. “Will you tell me
how I was transformed, if not at your hand?”

“My dear friend Chiron was immortal,
were you aware?”

“Yes, your grace.”

“When he took his place in the stars to
watch over his children, all the remaining magic he had was put
into the arrow. The arrow has protected his family ever since. I
can transform you into what you were before you touched the arrow,
but that transformation carries a price.”

“Anything, your grace. I’ll do
anything.”

“Let me finish before you agree. I am
not unfeeling and believe you should know the repercussions before
I set things as they were. You have been chosen by Chiron’s last
Centauride heir, Camille.”

I nodded my answer and he continued.
“You are aware that not only does she belong to Chiron, she is also
part of the Tak family. The Tak bloodline was cast out by me with a
death warrant placed on their heads. Until recently, I believed
they had been expunged from existence. Once again, I had been
deceived when I learned the Tak bloodline still roamed the earth.
Their powers are too dangerous. They are deceitful and my order
stands. A Centaur Council meeting will be held soon: a messenger of
mine will attend and will reiterate my decree.”

Forgetting who I was addressing I
blurted out, “But Cami isn’t dangerous! She would never hurt
anyone, she . . . she. . . she didn’t even know she was a
Centauride. She grew up as a human. You have to spare her
life!”

“I will not make the distinction.” A
long pause echoed loudly in the silence of the night. “But out of
respect for Chiron and his attempt to save his last remaining
female heir, I share with you what will happen soon, so you may
make an informed choice now. I can transform you into your human
form, just as you were before you touched Chiron’s arrow. Or I can
leave you as you are now, the fierce warrior who is capable of
defending Camille should she be attacked.”

“I was a warrior in my human form. I
would lay down my life protecting her.”

“Ahhh, that is exactly the choice. You
were recently in a situation where you were attacked by four
Centaurs and your strength and determination were not enough to
save her. Do you remember? What happens when you are attacked by
eight, or ten, or twenty? You do not stand a chance to protect your
beloved if you are human. Chiron still watches his children, and
your transformation is his way of protecting his
daughter.”

“You are offering me my old body back?
No strings?”

“Yes. I have watched your every move
since your transformation. You have proven your worthiness. Should
you wish your previous form, I will make it so.”

“But if you change me back, you don’t
believe I’ll be strong enough to protect Cami?”

“I know you won’t, son. When I
reiterate my decree with the Centaur Council, Camille’s life will
be in danger. She will require a true warrior at her side. Out of
respect for my friend, Chiron, I leave the choice up to
you.”

I thought back to the
morning in the hotel room and the helplessness that I felt when
Phineas and his goons took her away. After Cami had been kidnapped,
not knowing where she was or what they were doing to her, I thought
I would go insane. My gaze fell onto this body, this
form
Zeus had called it.
He was right. I was strong, powerful, and the diluted warrior I had
been as a human had been reconstituted when my body
morphed.

If I told Zeus to change me back, I
wondered if Cami and I could hide. If we could find an obscure home
away from all Centaurs and humans, we might spend the rest of our
days wrapped up with just the two of us both in human form. As much
as I savored that thought, I knew it to be unlikely under normal
circumstances; if every Centaur on the planet were after her, it
would be impossible. We would never be able to start a family as
our children would also carry the Tak blood and would be targets,
as well.

“I need your decision, Drake of the
Nash Herd.”

“Thank you for the choice, your grace.
I choose this form. I must remain a warrior.”

“Very well. You are a noble warrior and
when the time comes, I promise you a warrior’s death.” I don’t know
why, but talking to thin air felt odd, and I kept expecting a body
to materialize in front of me. Instead I heard his voice growing
distant, “May the Fates be your friends, and may death always be a
stranger to you.”

A ferocious
BOOM
let loose. If there
had been an aircraft overhead, I would have sworn the sound barrier
had just been broken. Instead the walls gave one final quiver, then
folded in and the structure came down on top of me.

I lay buried in the rubble. I felt
around in the dark, my fingers grasping at the dirt floor while
hundreds of pounds of weathered wood lay on me. When I didn’t find
my backpack, I scooted another few feet to the left. The lantern I
had used was still lit; I turned it off before it could catch the
old wood lying atop it on fire.

I fanned my hand out again, and found
the canvas of the backpack – it was all I had in the world.
Clutching the backpack in one hand and my lifeline to Cami in the
other, I used the massive strength in my legs to kick the fallen
wall away.

Splinters of wood flew in all
directions as what was left of the wall holding me gave way. I
righted myself and stepped over the pile of rubble. I walked a few
feet into the tree line; the wind blew hard and the snow nearly
blinded me. The blizzard had arrived. I had no arrow, no shelter,
and would now never have Cami the way I longed for her.

I stood there in shock, hearing the
words from Zeus echo over and over in my mind. I would live in this
form for the rest of my life. I wanted the words to stop playing in
my head, but I couldn’t drown them out with thoughts of anything
else. I tried to concentrate on the memory of Cami, not anything
specific, just the warm memory of her love engulfing me. Even the
memories I carried with me would not drown out the knowledge that
I’d just chosen this form for the rest of my life. I would remain
this half a person until I died.