Theta (10 page)

I shooed the dogs away and knelt. “Are you
well?” I asked.

“
I am old,” was the
response. Pain was in the old man’s voice. “Sometimes the sand
upsets my joints.”

I helped him sit then took his arm to help
him stand. The old man leaned heavily against me as he climbed to
his feet.

“
Thank you,” he murmured.
He took a step – and collapsed, or would have, if I didn’t catch
him.

“
Walking doesn’t suit you
today,” I said. Without waiting for an invitation to help, I bent
and swept the old man up into my arms. The elderly gentleman was
light. His baggy clothing hid his frailness well. “Around the bend,
you say?”

“
Yes.” The old man pointed.
“I’ll have you know my pride does not agree with being carried.” He
laughed hoarsely.

I had no response, because I couldn’t
understand my willingness to help anymore than I could unravel the
mystery of what I was doing halfway around the world when I needed
to be in DC.

“
What is your name?” the
old man peered up at me.

Had I thought his eyes dark brown? In the
direct sunlight, they were closer to the hue of whiskey.

“
Adonis.”

“
Ah. Your parents named you
well. Very fitting to be named after the god of beauty.”

“
It’s just a name,” I
replied, aware of how false my words rang when I’d traveled around
the world for the sake of a name. “And you are?”

“
Menelaus.”

“
I hope you had better luck
in your life with women than the king you were named
after.”

Menelaus chuckled. “Unfortunately, I did
not.”

“
I’m sorry to hear it. But
maybe you’re better off without a woman in your life.”

“
You’ve known the pain of
loving a woman, I take it?” Menelaus was grinning, revealing the
gaps in his teeth.

“
I don’t know,” I replied,
unsettled by the question but more so by my quickening pulse
whenever I thought of Alessandra. What I wanted, and what I
sometimes felt, had no place in a world as dangerous as mine. I was
a monster posing as a human, a danger to everyone around
me.

“
What
do
you know, boy?” Menelaus
challenged.

“
Only that I’m
lost.”

“
There’s something to be
said for knowing when you don’t know anything, I
suppose.”

I ignored him. As I walked along the road,
carrying the man easily, I began to doubt his mind. I had been up
and down the coast multiple times in man and beast form, and never
noticed this cottage of which he spoke.

The dogs ran around us, at times bounding
quite a distance ahead and at times darting behind us to pursue
rodents.

We rounded the bend, and I spotted the small
cottage overlooking the sea. My step slowed. How had I missed this
place?

Had
I missed it?

“
You’re far from the
village,” I observed. “Aren’t you afraid of the thieves, wild
animals, and gods?”

“
I’ve lived my life. If one
of them comes for me, so be it,” Menelaus replied. “This is my
home. I have no desire to leave. Besides, this place is said to be
enchanted. A temple of Apollo once stood here. I am
safe.”

His explanation did little
to quell my curiosity. I approached the front door and shifted the
man so I could open it. The door wasn’t locked, and I withheld my
rebuke. It was one thing to risk the dangers prevalent in the world
and quite another to
dare
them to enter. Enchanted or not, he needed to use
some common sense.

I nudged the door open and examined the
three-room cottage quickly. Menelaus owned few possessions. The
cottage contained minimal furniture, fit for one occupant, few
decorations and no pictures anywhere. It was neat and clean despite
the three dogs who circled the living space and promptly piled onto
the couch acting as the only sitting space, aside from a rocking
chair.

I went to the bedroom off the main room and
carefully set Menelaus down. I straightened and debated leaving. He
shifted with a pain-filled grimace. With nothing left to do this
day, except wait on the beach, I sat on the edge of the bed. His
eyes were dark again in the relative shadows of the house. I noted
the change without understanding why it occurred.

“
What hurts?” I
asked.

“
My knee.” Menelaus bent to
pull up the leg of his pants. “Doesn’t look too bad.”

I frowned and reached out to straighten the
man’s leg. The kneecap was off to one side, and the bony man’s knee
was swollen thicker than his thigh.

“
It’s bad,” I
said.

“
You a doctor?” Menelaus
squinted at me.

“
Not exactly.” As the head
of the SISA interrogation program, I knew as much about anatomy as
most doctors for the purpose of learning how to manipulate or
otherwise cause pain to the human body. I also recognized the
extent of damage done, in order to gauge how much more the person
could stand or how much more pressure was necessary for the desired
results.

Menelaus didn’t need to know anything other
than I was aware of how badly he was hurt.

I rose. “I’ll get some ice,” I said.

“
I wouldn’t want to keep
you from the beach.”

I said nothing. I crossed to the tiny
kitchen and the fridge that came up only to my shoulder. I wrapped
ice in a towel from the sink and returned to Menelaus.

“
I have pain pills in the
bathroom,” the old man said and accepted the ice.

I retrieved the bottle and a glass of water.
The knee looked bad enough for a trip to the hospital, which wasn’t
an option since the Holy Wars destroyed most medical centers.

One of the dogs scratched at the front door.
I opened it to let him out then stepped into the late morning. I
could understand why Menelaus wasn’t interested in giving up his
home. From this perch on the rocks, the sea stretched out in three
directions. In the far distance was the smudge of land on the
horizon. The rocking of waves against the base of the slope below
was peaceful, and the sea air was cool.

I stood at the top of the shallow cliff
running ten meters down to the sea and breathed in deeply. I had
come too far to return without finding what I sought. Isolated here
across the world, I had no access to the internet or television to
learn what was happening in DC. Restless, I tried to recall some
details of my past that might aid me in finding the plaque Artemis
sent me to find.

I circled the cottage to discover a small
vegetable, herb, and fruit garden on the other side. The dog
trotted back inside, and I followed.

“
Menelaus, I’m going back
to …” I trailed off as I reached the door to the old man’s
bedroom.

Menelaus was sound asleep. One of his dogs
had leapt onto the bed and knocked the ice pack off.

I straightened it and lingered. How had
someone this old, and in this shape, survived out here on his own
for five years? My guardian instincts stirred. As the warden of a
kingdom, and a protector for the gods’ temples, I had spent most of
my life in the role of protector. If ever anyone needed a guardian,
it was the feeble old man snoring peacefully in his bed.

I closed the door to the bedroom and went to
the living area. It was too cramped for my preference, so I propped
the front door open and went to sit on the cliff overlooking the
ocean. Hours stretched between now and when dusk fell and I could
dive beneath the surface of the sea to search for the ruins of a
four thousand year old kingdom.

One of Menelaus’ dogs joined me, and I sat
in silence, brooding and still, guarding the sleeping stranger as I
had the temple of Artemis long ago.

“
Anytime, Artemis,” I
whispered. “We both know what’s at stake if I don’t return
soon.”

The sounds of waves crashing into the cliff
were my only response. When I became too drowsy to remain seated
much longer, I stretched out onto my back to sleep.

I slept until it was almost dusk, at which
time I rose and went into the house. Menelaus slumbered deeply. I
turned on the lights for the old man, in case he awoke later, then
left the house. Peeling off my clothing, I shivered as the chilly
evening breeze grazed my skin.

I closed my eyes and let the fire of
transformation take me, contorting my body into that of a
grotesque. My senses came to life with the night, and I unfurled my
long wings to stretch them before I leapt into the air. Powerful
strokes sent me skyward and warmed the muscles of my shoulder and
back. I circled Menelaus’ cottage several times, checking the area
for anyone or anything that posed a threat to the incapacitated old
man, before I turned in the direction of the nearby beach.

I soared over the beach and outward. Folding
my wings, I dived downward, beneath the surface of the sea. My
beast eyes were able to see in the dark water, and my senses far
better attuned to my surroundings, even underwater, than they were
as a human. Unaffected by the cold water, I dived downward. My tail
and powerful legs propelled me to the bottom of the sea in seconds,
and I caught myself against the soft sand with my hands.

I began to search with all my sense for
anomalies in the sand that might be ruins of the kingdom I once
ruled. The sandy floor of the sea was bare, aside from a few clumps
of corals and rocks. I swam from object to object, surfacing every
few minutes for a new breath of air.

I searched until hunger seized control of my
beast body. Only then did I leave the water to hunt for dinner.

By dawn, I’d fed and spent another two hours
searching the sea floor.

No remnants of any human settlement, ancient
or modern, remained beneath the sea.

Disappointed, I returned to Menelaus’
cottage and transformed into my human form again. Dressing, I
watched the sunrise, let the dogs out, and settled onto my belly
for a nap. My thoughts fluttered between the world I’d left behind
and the frustration of being no closer to finding the great secret
Artemis sent me here to uncover.

The sound of breaking glass caused me to
snap awake when the warm sun was directly overhead, and I sat up,
body tense and senses alert.

“
Menelaus?” I called into
the cottage as I pushed the door open.

The old man was on the ground of the doorway
to his bathroom, as if he’d made an attempt to walk out of the
restroom and crashed to the ground. One of his hands was bloodied
from the tumbler he’d been carrying, and shards of glass glittered
on the floor around him.

I hurried to him and picked him up. I dusted
off the glass from his body before replacing him on the bed.

“
I thought you’d be gone,”
Menelaus said with a smile. “Or do you not know where to go,
either?”

I wrapped the dishtowel that had contained
the ice the night before around Menelaus’ hand to stop the
bleeding. For reasons I could not explain, Menelaus’ words troubled
me.

“
I’m looking for something
that may not exist,” I said.

“
And you think it’s
here?”

“
Yes.”

“
I’ve lived here my whole
life. What is it you seek?” Menelaus asked.

I hesitated. “A relic of a bygone era.”

“
Are you a treasure
hunter?”

“
No. This thing is of no
value to anyone but me.”

Menelaus was quiet. I glanced at him.

“
Could I trouble you for
fruit?” Menelaus asked. “And water. I don’t trust my leg to carry
me to the kitchen.”

I went to the kitchen and lopped off a chunk
of bread, slathered it with honey, then sliced up figs and apples
for the old man.

“
Do you cook your own
bread?” I asked, noting the items in the kitchen that seemed out of
place.

“
One of the residents of
the village takes pity on me and brings me cured meat for the dogs
and bread for me once a week,” Menelaus answered. “I trade him for
herbs and vegetables from my garden.”

I brought the breakfast and a glass of water
to the old man before I returned to the kitchen to feed the
expectant dogs. I then began to sweep up the glass sparkling on the
floor.

“
If it is not treasure you
seek, what is it?” Menelaus asked between mouthfuls.

“
An engraved stone
containing an epithet of an ancient prince. I think it’s buried
beneath the sand offshore a short distance.”

“
Then it’s
gone.”

I paused in my cleaning and looked at the
old man.

“
Typhoons,” Menelaus
explained. “Several natural disasters swept everything off the sea
floor and sent what was there either deep into the ocean or
somewhere far from the coast. Before the world ended five years
ago, college professors tried to find ruins and relics off the
coast and concluded nothing remained.”

I absorbed the words as I might a blow. For
a long moment, I couldn’t speak. Why had Artemis sent me here, if
what I sought didn’t exist? How was I ever to understand why my
name was important enough that it was the one detail of my past I
was unable to remember?

“
With everything that’s
happened in the world today, how can you be searching for a museum
piece?” Menelaus asked, brow furrowed. “It is worth nothing, if you
try to sell it. The world does not value its past as it once
did.”