Shadow Titan (4 page)

“
I’m all ears,” I said, on
edge.

“
Sit down. We’ll
talk.”

My Titan energy was humming and my pulse
racing. I did as she said and knelt on the cement floor,
apprehensive about what she was about to reveal.

“
It starts with the double
omega, the last Oracle in a long line of Earth-bound goddesses
whose powers far exceed those of the gods and goddesses, if the
game of powers were played fairly.”

“
Hate the players, not the
game,” I joked weakly.

“
The players perpetuate the
game!” she snapped.

I rolled my eyes.

As she began speaking again, the rest of the
world, along with everything I’d ever believed to be true about
chance, life and power, began to fall away. I listened in stunned
silence as she imparted knowledge to me the likes of which I didn’t
think was possible for any one person to know.

The longer I sat, the heavier the sense of
doom at my core became. I listened. I learned. I broke down and
cried at one point. But I didn’t leave – not when the Oracle was
giving me the keys to power and prophecy. I had always wanted to
matter in my father’s eyes. Finally, I had a way to do so. At
least, I thought so, until she revealed the price of success, the
one-way trip down a path I’d never choose for myself.

Hours later, when I left the Oracle’s
chamber and stood in the middle of the mall at the center of the
compound, I tilted my head back to gaze at the stars. Stuck in my
thoughts, uncertain what my next step should be, I didn’t register
the circling creature overhead until it began to descend and filled
my line of sight. Blinking out of the stupor I entered since
shortly after the Oracle began speaking, I forced a smile at Adonis
as the ugly, flying grotesque drew closer to the ground. I’d missed
my meeting with Theodocia; after talking to Adonis, I’d have to
find her and hope she wasn’t angry enough to try to murder me
again.

At this point, I might
welcome death,
I thought bitterly, unable
to fully grasp all I’d learned from the Oracle.

Adonis landed a few feet from me and tilted
his head. Over six feet tall, with a panther’s lean body, a knobby
bald head, fangs and lopsided features, he was terrifying to
behold, except to me. To me, his frightening features were always
welcome, especially now.

What is it?
He asked, communicating telepathically as we did
at night, when he was in his beast form. As always, he was
sensitive to my mood, my energy, my expression.

“
Imagine learning the world
is going to end. Now imagine you can stop it but you’re forbidden
from telling anyone,” I quipped.

Adonis folded his wings behind him. Their
tips trailed on the ground behind him, and his tail snaked from
side to side as he approached.

Can you tell a
monster?
He asked.

I laughed, always appreciative of the
man-beast whose mind was quicker than lightning. “Alas, I
cannot.”

Does this have to do with the voice that
sent me to find you?

“
It does. Please don’t ask
me more. You know I hate to keep secrets from you.” Aside from the
necessary ones, I added silently. Adonis would never know the
secrets I stole from his mind or the parts of him I sealed off from
the rest of him. If he did, he would never be my friend, let alone
help me pursue my goals in life.

I respect your boundaries, as always.

“
Mrs. Nettles isn’t with
you. Did you find a place for her?”

We were all provided rooms
in the palace. I dare not show you in this form, but it is
there.
He pointed to some area behind
me.

I didn’t look. After all I’d heard, sleeping
and dealing with people were off my to-do list for the immediate
future.

Are you well?
Adonis asked when I lapsed into stillness and
silence again.

I shook my head in an attempt to jar loose
the images stuck in my mind after the talk with the Oracle.
“Physically, yes. Mentally, not really.”

The gardens are beautiful. They may bring
you peace.

I started to respond and then stopped,
gazing at the creature whose mind I had erased in order to keep him
with me. Should I have felt this pang of regret? I never regretted
my actions with regards to Adonis before. But the world was
different now than it had been this morning. I had learned more
than I ever wanted to know, not only about what was to come, but
about the fates and minds of those around me.

Including him.

“
Walk with me,” I said. “I
could use the company of a friend tonight.”

Adonis complied and fell into step beside
me. We ambled towards the gardens. The scent of night blooming
jasmine and roses reached us long before we made it to the stone
pathway winding through the gardens. The laughter of fountains was
soothing, as was the presence of the monster beside me.

Is there anything I can do
to help?
Adonis asked.

“
No,” I replied. “I’ve been
thinking about something someone told me earlier today, that it’s
often better not to know some things.”

You are fortunate to know too much. I have
forgotten everything about myself, my life, my past.

“
I have a feeling you’ll
remember one day,” I said softly. For my sake, I hoped the
inevitable day was far, far off.

We entered the gardens.

“
I think we have an
opportunity here,” I said, running my fingertips over the tops of a
bush. “A good one. It might require some deception over the short
term. I’ve got to convince a lot of people I’m not who or what they
think I am.”

You excel at shadows and
deception,
Adonis observed.

One of the statues at the center of a
fountain we were nearing caught my attention, and I stopped to gaze
up at it. A young man in a loincloth carried a jar over his
shoulder. The opening of the jar poured water into the warmly lit
basin below. It wasn’t his chiseled features that caught my
attention, but the mask he wore over his eyes. Was I prepared to
wear a mask? I had kept the secret of my Titan birth father my
entire life, but the level of misdirection I’d need to harness over
the next few years made hiding my taboo lineage appear to be the
easiest thing I had ever done in my life.

I think everyone is too
concerned about what they’re calling the Holy Wars for them to pay
attention to one man,
Adonis
added.

“
Let’s hope so. I need to
move us into pretty prominent positions as discreetly as possible,”
I said. What my friend didn’t realize was that I’d have to master
deceiving
him
,
too.

Wars make for excellent distractions.

“
True. It might be possible
to fuel the fire as well. Keep my opponents divided. I can’t reveal
everything, but I can tell you that the gods and goddesses are
trapped on Earth for now, cut off from their sources of power.
They’re vulnerable in one way but still powerful in a different
way.”

If this is true, they will turn on each
other easily. If you mean to distract them while you move into
position where your Titan heritage may be suspect, it will require
little effort on your part. Play off their fears and egos. If you
mean to distract the humans, they, too, are already at each other’s
throats. Offer them a solution to their current woes. The world
will fall at your feet.

I glanced at Adonis. I
shouldn’t have been surprised by his mind, but I was. Whenever I
began to feel overwhelmed or discouraged, he knew exactly what to
say to reinvigorate me. In his distant past, he had been a Greek
prince and successful war commander at the head of vast armies. He
knew a thing or two about waging war. It was me who hadn’t really
thought about our situation in this light. But he was right. We
…
I …
was waging
my own war, and the Oracle had just given me a powerful weapon with
which I could accelerate my status significantly.

That is, if I were willing to do as she
foresaw. At the moment, I was torn between serving my own interests
and expanding my narrow view to include the fate of the entirety of
humanity. It was a huge leap for me, one I didn’t look forward to
making.

Why
me
? Of all the questions remaining,
this was the one that baffled me the most. I was selfish and the
last person to be trusted by anyone, and the Oracle had not only
revealed great secrets to me but had given me the most selfless act
of all.

“
You’re a good friend,
Adonis. I don’t know if I thank you enough for being my friend,” I
murmured.

It’s an honor, Lantos.

It wasn’t, but he had no way of knowing that
after what I had done to his mind. “Have you hunted yet?”

No. I waited for you.

“
I’ll be fine. Go hunt. I
need to fulfill a promise to the High Priestess you met earlier.
Her mind is hurting her. I can silence it.”

As you do mine when it becomes agitated with
strange memories?

I glanced at him. The brilliant, loyal,
ruthless monster who was my friend had no idea what I really did to
him when errant memories emerged from the depths of the mind I kept
purposely darkened. “Yes, the same,” I lied. “I’m going to help
her.”

I will not be gone
long.
Adonis stepped away from me and
unfurled his wings.
Mrs. Nettles is
waiting for you.

I smiled. “I’ll give her a huge hug when I
find my way to her. Hunt well, Adonis.”

Do not weigh yourself down with such heavy
thoughts, Lantos. You will never have to face what comes alone. I
will always help you.

“
I know. Thank
you.”

He leapt deftly into the air with physical
strength that always left me envious. Adonis soared straight up
towards the night sky, his wide wings beating steadily and
powerfully as he ascended.

I did not doubt him. Ever. But I also knew
that the future the Oracle revealed would one day deprive me of my
only friend.

“
Not tonight,” I told
myself. I’d worry about the future of my friendship another
night.

Tonight, I had to decide between my destiny
and the fate of the world. It was a much harder decision than it
probably should have been, because I didn’t particularly care about
the rest of the world. Given the choice between what I needed to do
to win over my Titan father and protecting my only friend, I was
stuck.

In the end, I had a feeling I already knew
what choice would win out. Perhaps this was the real reason I
experienced regret looking at Adonis. Wiping his mind was merciful
compared to what I was faced with doing down the road. Even if my
future actions were for the greater good, even if they would end up
serving my personal interests, I couldn’t decide with ease to lose
the faith and friendship of Adonis.

“
I hope you’ll understand
one day,” I whispered to the night sky. “If there were any other
choice, I’d make it.”

I sat on a bench in the gardens and closed
my eyes, soothed by the fountains, singing crickets and rustling of
leaves in the soft breeze while my mind fought to justify a
decision I never dreamt I’d have to make.

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