City of gods - Hellenica (15 page)

“I, Körr, I am hunted my whole life,” said the creature. “They hunted my family. Killed them, were heroes. I come here yet still I am hunted, by the Norseman Rowan. If he kills me, he will be hero, have songs. Tell me, if humans need me, why they hunt me?”

Verminus thought for a moment and frowned; he then shook his head in understanding. Tommy could see small insects running in and out of Verminus’s coat, and when he walked by, his odor was overpowering.

“Sadly, Körr speaks the truth, and what’s more, he speaks the truth for all of us. We will always be hunted, and we will always be reviled,” said Verminus. “Perhaps none of you so much as myself, the Lord of the Worms. Though we build, the world
will
curse us. They’ll bring out their finest warriors to hunt us and mothers will use us to threaten their ill-behaved children. This is our plight.

“But that is my point; though the world knows it not, they
need
us. We burn their refuse and eat their dead. We clean their battlefields and save them from overpopulation. We keep areas of this earth pristine, and bleach the land when it needs to be cleansed.”

Verminus put his hand on Körr’s shoulder. Though some liquid oozed out onto the Frost Giant, Körr didn’t seem to mind, and instead listened intently to Verminus.

“Do not expect to be loved; do not expect to be prayed to. Expect to be reviled and hunted. But though they know it not, the world needs your powers. Let me give you a glimpse of what you all can do.”

/***/

They took a small break and then started their first lesson. Verminus had the mercenaries roll in a thirty-meter-long terrarium filled with countless snakes, lizards and insects.

“Within this box are a thousand creatures that can kill a man, or even a god, within twenty seconds. You’ll use your powers to walk from one end to another unscathed.”

Tommy studied the terrarium. The floor was a nest of snakes, some with poison and some that would strangle. The ceiling was a cluster of webs and flying things, and the walls were covered with lizards and tiny, brightly colored frogs.

“The first to walk through this terrarium will be the Djinn.”

The Djinn was taken aback. He snarled, and a small outline of smoke burst from his body and spread outwards. His eyes turned red and he growled. Though he looked fearsome, Tommy knew him to be shy and mostly unaware of his own powers. The Academy had picked him up from a juvenile prison in Little Riyadh after he had burned his school down.

“I can’t do this,” said the Djinn in a quiet, but deep and grating voice. “I’m just an ordinary boy. I have no powers.”

“Really?” said Verminus.

“Really,” said the Djinn. “I’m a young student unjustly accused.”

“Ah yes,” said Verminus, remembering. “Arson.”

“I’m no arsonist,” said the Djinn.

“The police saw it differently.”

“The police were wrong,” said the Djinn, now glowing red.

“We don’t know that,” said Verminus.

“I was innocent!” said the Djinn.

The Djinn pounded a flaming fist into his desk and cleaved it in two. Both halves were set on fire with the punch, and Verminus called in the mercenaries to extinguish the flames. The mercenaries couldn’t control the fire, so Körr stepped in and smothered the flame with his body. When the class calmed down, Verminus continued his lesson.

“The legend of the Djinn has been corrupted so that people think of them as
genies
, living in bottles, granting three wishes, and so forth,” said Verminus. “But the Djinns at their core are beings with
fire
in their hearts. A Djinn who knows his powers can knock down an army by himself. A Djinn who doesn’t know his powers commits arson.”

“Fine,” said the Djinn, “but I still can’t walk through the gauntlet of snakes. They scare me.”

“
They
scare
you
?” asked Verminus.

Verminus pointed at the terrarium. The creatures had huddled to one edge, terrified of the Djinn’s flames. The Djinn relaxed a bit, and after some prodding, timidly entered the terrarium. The creatures made a path for him as they scurried out of his way. When the Djinn got through, he grinned.

“Every creature is terrified of fire, even the creatures who are themselves terrifying,” said Verminus. “Your task, young Djinn, is to learn to control your inflamed anger, and unleash it at the appropriate times.”

Verminus tapped the Frost Giant to go next. At four meters in height, K
örr was perhaps the largest creature in the Academy, and dwarfed both Indra and Heracles. He was covered with thick white fur, and his fangs jutted out of his mouth at awkward angles. But Tommy sensed a sadness in him, and felt that Körr, like so many Frost Giants, just wanted to be left alone. The Norsemen had banished them to a reserve in the North, and used them to practice their hunting skills. Tommy had heard tales of these hunts on Lepros, many of them coming in the form of epic poems, but he’d always found them sad. Though they described the Frost Giants as hideous and dangerous, the Frost Giants never seemed to strike first.

Regardless,
Körr had a good grasp of his own abilities but still needed Verminus’s advice to navigate the terrarium. Verminus told him to use his powers of cold rather than just his brute strength, and Körr gave a knowing smile. The Frost Giant put his hands on the terrarium and frosted the cage, then breathed in to cool the air inside. The spiders hid from the cold and the snakes and lizards couldn’t move. Körr walked through without a hitch, and then smiled.
Few have seen a Frost Giant smile,
thought Tommy.

Mazu the water goddess was a bit out of her element. She needed big spaces, oceans and winds to work, but Verminus taught her how to work in a small environment. She made eight small water tornadoes, and they formed a barrier as she walked through the terrarium.

“These creatures have been burnt, frozen and now soaked,” said Verminus. “They’re undoubtedly looking to take their revenge out on you, Thomas.”

Tommy was at a loss. He had powers to be sure, but he couldn’t
do
anything.
But my suit leaves me invulnerable to these small creatures,
thought Tommy.
The legged snake pinched my neck, but these creatures can’t pierce metal, and they can’t unscrew helmets.

Tommy walked forward with his suit and opened the door to the terrarium, but Verminus stopped him.

“Your powers aren’t so easy to define, Thomas,” said Verminus. “But remove your suit and you’ll see a glimpse of what you can do. You needn’t worry about getting us sick; the Elements are immune to your diseases, and you may walk freely among us.”

“I’d gladly do this,” said Tommy, “but I can’t walk without my suit.”

“Then crawl, Thomas,” said Verminus.

Tommy was insecure about taking off his armor, and looked back at his classmates.
I see
a boy drenched in fire, a mist-covered water spirit, and a frozen giant,
thought Tommy.
They won’t make fun of me
.

Tommy took off his suit and immediately collapsed to the ground. K
örr stood up in response and rushed over to help Tommy, but Verminus got in the path of the Frost Giant’s clumsy, four-meter frame. The snakes in the terrarium sensed Tommy’s weak position and slithered towards him and snapped at the glass. The Djinn’s back began smoldering and he ran to the terrarium with muscles glowing orange, ready to smash through the thin wall and put the crawling creatures back in their place. But Verminus pushed himself off Körr and stopped the Djinn as well.

“Your camaraderie is both noble and right, but this is Thomas’s battle,” said Verminus to the class. “Though he’ll not emerge unscathed, stay back and I assure you he’ll emerge stronger.”

Tommy saw both Körr and the Djinn back down, and even saw that Mazu’s beaded headdress and red robes were soaked; she’d been preparing to flood the terrarium, and perhaps the entire classroom.

“You’ve always been quick to gain friends, and your classmates look out for you, Thomas,” said Verminus. “But you must do this yourself. No help from anyone, and no help from your suit.”

The terrarium looked even larger from ground level, and each crawling creature inside looked ready to bite him.

“Now go forward,” said Verminus.

Verminus put his hand on Tommy’s shoulder. Several mealworms fell out of his sleeve onto Tommy; one was pulled back in by another insect and eaten. Körr growled in the background.

Without thinking, Tommy crawled into the terrarium. There were Indian cobras and a boomslang at the front, and a Komodo dragon behind them. Insects were flying in the air, and Tommy saw that spiders were coming from the ceiling to land on him.

He moved forward and the creatures didn’t part. Two cobras splayed their neck hoods and began to hiss at Tommy. Another snake from far off spat blinding liquid into Tommy’s eye, and though he was immune to it, the liquid stung a bit. The Komodo dragon was hissing as well and inspected Tommy from afar. Tommy crawled forward and he heard a rattle from the distance, and then some small stings as spiders on his back bit into him. The Komodo dragon let loose one more rumbling hiss, and then burst through the snakes towards Tommy. Tommy held up his hand and blocked the Komodo dragon’s bite with his forearm. The Komodo dragon let out a strange high-pitched whine and then retreated.

Tommy started scurrying forward in a panic, and the two Indian cobras bit his neck and held on. He pulled them off and one of the smaller lizards bit him. He pulled that creature off and crawled forward. There was a clear path to the exit, blocked only by the black mamba. Tommy looked around and saw that all the other creatures were now away from him, purposely keeping their distance.

  Tommy looked forward and the black mamba was now crawling towards him. It stopped at his head and then slithered around him like an affectionate cat. Tommy stayed still, and then felt a pinch as the black mamba bit his shoulder. Tommy winced and then turned around; the black mamba released its bite and then stared at Tommy for a moment. After another moment the black mamba was off, scurrying towards the other creatures. The path was clear and Tommy exited the container. Verminus picked him up and brought him to his suit. Tommy strapped his legs in, and then brushed off the mealworms that came from Verminus’s cloak. After he stood again, his classmates applauded him.

“Your classmates’ powers are less esoteric than yours,” said Verminus. “Körr freezes, the Djinn burns and Mazu drenches, but what do you
do
? You’re immune to both poison and disease, and can spread both. But what can you
do
?”

Tommy had no answer.

“You’ve always protected the weak, the ugly children, those that are crippled, broken and shunned,” said Verminus. “But now you’ll also be a friend to the terrifying, the reviled, the creatures with eight dull eyes, foul odors, caustic breath and rough scales. We will set the creatures in this terrarium loose, and they’ll spread the word with their own forked tongues and silken webs of who you are. 

“So when you’re in the forest and feel something pinch your neck, or when you’re in the sewer and feel something slither by your leg, know that this is your friend.”

Tommy wondered if the unseen creature that attacked him earlier in the day felt the same way.

“Elemental powers are neither cute, nor sweet, nor clean,” said Verminus, now addressing the class. “Our powers are terrifying, ugly and cruel. But when the beautiful gods fail in their heroic gambits, society will rely on us to do our dirty work to save them. And when that time comes, we will not fail. We cannot.”

THE AMAZON DEMON

Kayana’s fifth class of the day started late at night; it was a class on dream manipulation. Her professor, an Etruscan god named
Mantus,
had brought in a Spartan mercenary named Dion. Mantus was at the front of the room with his hands spread across a gurney where Dion was laying. Dion wasn’t small, but Mantus was a tall god and dwarfed the Spartan like a father in front of his sick child. Mantus had a large, broad face and a thick mane of black hair that was short on top and long in the back. Mantus’s eyes were a single color, with neither white nor iris, and they glowed brightly, shifting in color depending upon his mood. He was staring at Dion and speaking calmly, and his eyes were presently a shade of dark blue.

“You will sleep, young man, strongly but not deeply,” said Mantus. “You will stay on the light edges of rest, where words become thoughts, and thoughts become dreams. If pain comes, you’ll not feel it, and if death comes, you’ll awake.”

“I will do this, Praetor,” said Dion, addressing the god by his title.

Dion relaxed into the gurney and two of his Spartan cohorts strapped him in like a condemned prisoner. The assistant teacher and Praetor Mantus’s wife, a goddess named
Mania,
administered an IV into Dion’s arm and then injected a dark fluid into his body. Dion became woozy, moved his head, and then fell asleep.

“It is done,” said Mania. “He will dream the rest of his life, if we so desire.”

She stepped away from the gurney while wringing her fingers. Mania’s pale face twitched twice, and she started nervously tugging at her dry, straw-like hair.

Praetor Mantus stood in front of the sleeping mercenary to address the class. Kayana had three other classmates, and except for the ghoul, they looked surprisingly alive. Dog-faced Anubis was there, alert and hanging on to Praetor Mantus’s every word. There was also Ereshkigal, a young Mesopotamian goddess. Though death was her domain, she looked like a fertility goddess; her skin was a pale yellow, and her body was voluptuous and supple. Her black hair fell perfectly over her shoulders, and Kayana found her quite beautiful.

Kayana’s third classmate was the Arabian ghoul Asra, and she appeared to be sleeping.
I wonder if she can understand our words
, thought Kayana.
Perhaps a ghoul doesn’t need to
.

They were all standing in a semicircle around Dion, and the students had their own gurneys behind them. Mantus sat in front of his own gurney, which resembled a stone sarcophagus.

“Every culture has a death god that they fail to worship,” said Praetor Mantus. “The Norse don’t kill in Hel’s name, nor do the Greeks build temples for Hades. We’re not hated, loved or even
feared
. Death just
is
. This is our plight, and this is our advantage. Let the other gods negotiate promises and petty arguments from their constituents; we’ll wait for them at the end of their life.”

Praetor Mantus smiled.

“Perhaps that’s why they don’t build temples to us, because that is all we do:
wait for them at the end of their life
. We greet them after their desires are met, after their cards have been played out; we act when they’re old, withered and useless. We are essentially powerless.”

“I disagree completely,” said Anubis, raising his hand.

“You do?” said Praetor Mantus. “Please tell me then of your great powers.”

“Death gods are the final judges,” said Anubis. “We place souls in their final resting spot for eternity. Society gathers its morality from us, and from this morality, empires are built.”

Praetor Mantus let out a laugh—a low, grating laugh.

“Then tell me, dog,” said Praetor Mantus, “If Lugh’s army were to amass outside the Academy’s gate, what could we do?”

Anubis had no answer.

“Kayana would kill a few with her bare hands, perhaps the ghoul would scare three away,” said Praetor Mantus condescendingly, “and you would
judge them
as they marched through our gates and destroyed everything we own.”

Anubis looked down in momentary defeat. Praetor Mantus walked over to Dion and placed his hands on the mercenary’s forehead.

“This is where we can influence humanity,” said Praetor Mantus. “Man spends a third of his life living here, in dreams. Though we’re not gods of sleep, sleep is the cousin of death, and dreams easily become our domain.”

Anubis picked up his head and sneered.

“So if Lugh’s army were to attack our gates,” said Anubis, “we’d wait for them to fall asleep and visit their dreams?”

“No,” said Praetor Mantus. “We’d have visited their dreams long ago and they wouldn’t be attacking us in the first place. We’d have given them
fear
.”

“We already give them fear,” said Anubis. “All men fear final judgment.”

“If only that were true, there would be no sin,” laughed Praetor Mantus. “But tell me, class, what does
true fear
mean to you?”

“The unknown,” said Ereshkigal. “Humanity fears it like no other. Distant lands, deep water, or even a small insect with a frightening face brings fear.”

“This is partially true,” said Praetor Mantus. “I’ve seen a warrior slay ten men in the morning, and then fail to approach a young girl at a dance in the evening. Why? The girl’s reaction to him is
unknown
.”

Praetor Mantus paused to take a sip from a bronze goblet at his side; it held a steaming, dark liquid that smelled thick. Kayana wondered if it was blood.

“But though individuals fear the unknown,
societies
do not,” said Praetor Mantus. “Societies seek out new land, new ventures, risk and unknown reward. Societies will pay a great price for intrepid spelunkers and cruel conquerors; anyone who can make the unknown
known.
So tell me, what
else
is fear?”

Praetor Mantus walked by Asra the ghoul, and looked at Kayana.

“Ms. Marx,” said Praetor Mantus, “what is fear?”

“Fear cannot be defined,” said Kayana. “It’s not an on/off switch. A masked assailant is terrifying to a woman, but exciting for a gladiator. Snakes, spiders and even large predators are pets to some. Even death itself may not cause fear; it scares many, yet young males instinctively seek it.”

“You’ve eloquently stated what fear is
not
,” said Praetor Mantus, “but what
is
it, Kayana? What
is
fear?”

“You answered that just now,” said Kayana. “Fear just
is
. It’s a state unto itself, nothing more.”

Praetor Mantus took another drink and exhaled deeply. His breath was so cold that Kayana felt it from ten meters away.

“That’s it,” he said. “Fear is a neurochemical state, nothing more. Take the bravest Spartan ever and flood his system with adrenaline and cortisol; he’ll soil himself each and every time you do so.”

Praetor Mantus pointed at the Spartan on the table and looked at him admiringly.

“Dion is one such man without fear. He’s not only volunteered to let you four enter his dreams, he’s allowed us to bring a nightmare.”

Mania got up and spoke in clipped tones. Her voice was quick and brittle and she couldn’t make eye contact.

“You must be careful,” said Mania. “Think of yourself as the surgeon and Dion the patient. Any missteps you make while you’re in his dreams can have drastic ramifications elsewhere. So do exactly as my husband Mantus tells you, and nothing else.”

Praetor Mantus scanned the class, but soon focused directly on Kayana.

“You may feel powerful in his dream, like the god that you always wanted to be. But you’re not a god whilst in Dion’s head; you’re a student. Treat him with respect and do exactly as I tell you. If you fail in this, I’ll know, and there will be consequences.”

Praetor Mantus swallowed his blood-red concoction and Mania refilled his goblet. She then poured four more glasses and gave them to the students. Mantus prodded them to drink, and Kayana downed her glass. It was thick but it wasn’t blood; it tasted like liquid smoke. She soon felt light and airy, and felt connected with the world, and especially with Dion.

“Now,” said Praetor Mantus, “we’re ready for our first lesson.”

/***/

All four of them laid on gurneys next to Dion, and Mania gave them another glass of the thick liquid; she called it
smokewine
.
Praetor Mantus explained that they would learn to enter dreams by themselves later on, but for now this substance would help them make the leap.

“I repeat,” said Praetor Mantus, “if you do anything outside of my purview, there will be dire consequences when you awake.”

Mania put a mask on Kayana, and then put some electrodes on her forehead. Kayana took a look left and right and noticed that all of her classmates were laying down in the same manner, including the ghoul. Kayana closed her eyes and her connection to Dion became overpowering. She forgot where she was until Praetor Mantus’s booming voice woke her up.

“Pay attention,” he said. “It’s all too easy to become lost in the dream yourself.”

Kayana shook her eyes open and she was no longer lying on the table, nor was she in the Academy. She was in Dion’s dream, flying above land coated with darkened mist.

“The trick is to maintain your lucidity,” said Praetor Mantus, still unseen. “If you lose focus, stop what you’re doing and
concentrate on the moment
. You’re not in control here; you’re a small visitor to the dreamer’s land, under the dreamer’s rules.”

Kayana focused on the land around her; she was only ten meters above the earth, and the mist was simply fog covering the ground. She looked through the haze and saw dead bodies all around, mostly soldiers, but some young boys as well.

She looked to the left and right and saw little flying balls of light circling around her. One was flickering and would just barely turn into the shape of a woman before turning back into a ball of light. Kayana concentrated and noticed that it was the body of Ereshkigal.

“You can look like yourself if you choose to,” said Praetor Mantus. “It’s best to stay as something else. If you want to control someone through their dreams, it’s best to come in and out unnoticed, or at least unremembered. But Dion isn’t focusing on us, not now, so concentrate on your old self.”

Kayana jumped from the ground again and looked at her feet to see nothing; she was also a ball of light. She focused on her legs, and then her arms, and envisioned them growing. They sprouted out of her torso, but then she looked down and realized she had no torso. She concentrated on growing her whole body; she visualized that it would just come into existence and
be
.

Her body came, and she bounded over a dirty pool of water and blood in the battlefield. She skimmed above it and waited until she could see a reflection; her head was not quite made, so she envisioned it, and it too came to life.

She looked at her classmates. Ereshkigal had morphed into her own voluptuous body, and Anubis was struggling. She skimmed next to Anubis and whispered into his ear,
“You are who you are, just be
.” The ball flickered, and then he emerged whole. She looked to the left and the ghoul had managed to turn into her normal self and was running across the land on all fours, like a wolf.

Praetor Mantus then showed up in the middle of them; she could only see the outline of his body. He was barely visible, as if he was trying to be unnoticed, but not unseen. Kayana concentrated on just leaving the edges of her body in existence, and soon she was just like Praetor Mantus.

“You can be anything you want here,” he said, “but the rules of Earth don’t apply; there is no advantage to being a giant or a terrifying monster, though there may be some advantage in becoming a hidden imp. Strength, ferocity and courage don’t exist; secrecy and hiding do.”

“We’re approaching Dion,” continued Praetor Mantus. “Lose your body and become small, lest we be noticed.”

Anubis and Ereshkigal flickered into an outline, and Asra the ghoul vanished into nothingness while still running on all fours. She left footprints on the ground and splashes in the pools of blood when she ran, but was otherwise invisible.

We think of the ghoul as mindless,
thought Kayana,
yet she understands every word the Praetor says, and grasps his instructions faster than we.

Kayana turned herself into a shadow and then shrunk herself down to the size of a fly. She maintained her speed so her tiny size made the ground below fly a lot faster. She skimmed over the giant dead bodies of the battlefield, mostly soldiers. She soon noticed women standing in the battlefield, alive and snarling.

This is an Amazon raid
, she thought.
The women are looting the men for captives and female children
.

“Praetor Mantus,” she whispered, “it appears we’re too late. Someone has already put fear in Dion’s mind.”