The Dark-Hunters (556 page)

I am the god, Apostolos. I am death, destruction and suffering. And I will be the one who brings forth Telikos
—
the end of the world.

That was if he could ever figure out how to use his powers. Acheron laughed at the truth of it.

Turning, he headed down the mountain and back to the throne room in Archon’s palace. No, it was his now. Sadness hung deep inside him as he realized that though he had his grandmother and mother with him in spirit, he was still alone in the world.

Completely alone.

He froze as he heard something moving behind his throne. It was a soft scurrying sound … like a large rodent. Frowning, he teleported toward it, prepared to kill whatever dared defile his new home.

What he found there stunned him completely.

It was a small demon with marbled red and white skin and long black hair. Small red horns poked through the tangles of her curls as she looked up at him with red eyes that were rimmed in orange.

“Are you my akri?” she asked in a childish lilt.

“I’m no one’s akri.”

“Oh…” She looked about. “But akra sent me here. She said my akri would be waiting. The Simi is confused. I lost my mama and now the Simi needs her akri.” She sat down and started crying.

Acheron laid down the staff to pick the toddler up. “Don’t cry. It’ll be all right. We’ll find your mother.”

She shook her head. “Akra said the Simi’s mama is dead. Them evil Greek people killed the Simi’s mama. Now the Simi needs her akri to love her.”

Acheron rocked her gently in his arms as his mother’s shade appeared before him.

Simi stopped crying. “Akra, he says the Simi’s akri isn’t here.”

His mother smiled at them. “He is your akri, Simi.”

Acheron scowled at her declaration. “What?”

“Her mother was your protector, Xiamara. Like you, Simi is all alone in the world with no one to care for her. She needs you, Apostolos.”

He looked down at those large eyes that swallowed the demon’s small round face. Blinking, she stared up at him with the same trust and innocence as Apollodorus. And he was lost to that loving gaze that didn’t judge or condemn him.

“Bond with him, Simi; protect my son as your mother protected me.”

The thought of tying someone to him terrified Acheron. He didn’t want anyone enslaved to him. “I don’t want a demon.”

“Would you cast her out alone in the world?”

“No.”

“Then she’s yours.”

Before he could protest again, his mother faded away.

Simi snuggled against him and laid her head against his shoulder. “I miss my mama, akri.”

Guilt slammed into him at her whispered words as he held her close to him. But for him, her mother would still be alive to love her. “Where’s your father, Simi?”

“He died before the Simi was born.”

“Then I will be your father.”

“Really?” she asked hopefully.

He nodded, smiling at her. “I swear to you that you’ll never want for anything.”

Her innocent smile warmed his heart. “Then the Simi has the best akri-papa in the world.” She hugged him tightly. “Simi loves her akri.” As soon as the words were spoken, she faded as his mother had done. But as she faded, his skin just above his heart burned.

Hissing, Acheron jerked up his tunic to find a small colorful dragon emblazoned on his skin. He touched it gingerly, and heard Simi’s laughter in his head. The tattoo inched its way up, toward his neck. Her motion on his skin tickled until she settled over his collarbone.

“Simi is a part of you now, Apostolos. While on your body, she won’t be able to hear you unless you call for her. But she will be able to monitor your vital signs. Should she sense you’re in danger, she will appear to you in demon form to protect you.”

“But she’s only a baby.”

“Even as a baby, she’s deadly. Never mistake that. The Charonte are by their very nature killers. She will be hungry and you’ll have to feed her often. If you fail to, she’ll eat whatever is near her … even you. Make sure she doesn’t get overly hungry. And the last thing you should know is that her kind age very slowly. Roughly one year of a human’s development equals a thousand years of theirs.”

That did not sound good. “What are you saying?”

“The Simi you have is over three thousand years old.”

Acheron gaped at the information. “Shouldn’t she be with another demon who can train her?”

“You are all she has in this world, m’gios. Take care of her. As you have said, you are her father now. You’ll be the one to teach her everything she knows.”

Acheron placed his hand over the tattoo on his shoulder. He was a father …

But how could he train and protect a demon daughter when he didn’t even know how to use his own powers?

JUNE
30, 9527
BC
ATHENS, GREECE

Acheron was desperate to find food for Simi. He’d awakened to her this morning after she’d bitten into his hand. Luckily, he’d stopped her before she did anything other than break his skin.

“You’re not supposed to bite your father, Simi,” he’d told her kindly, but firmly.

“But the Simi’s hungry and akri was lying there all still and yummy looking.”

And he’d thought the worst that could happen was to look yummy to horny humans …

But now as they wandered through the streets of a once great city, he realized just how much damage his mother had done in the brief time she’d been released. The world he knew was gone. Roads and buildings had been leveled. People lay dead all over Greece …

Apollymia Katastrafia Megola.

Apollymi the Great Destroyer. While a small part of him was flattered by her love, the other part was horrified by what she’d done. So many lives gone. The entire world scattered into debris. All of Atlantis was now lost. Mankind had been thrown back into the Stone Age. All their technology and tools had been lost.

The survivors wailed in the streets that the gods had abandoned them when the truth was, they’d have been better off if they had. All of them were unfortunate victims of a war they didn’t even know had been fought.

He gripped Simi’s hand as they walked around, searching for a marketplace. In human form, she’d taken on an appearance very similar to his. They both had long black hair and while his eyes were the same swirling silver, hers were a light blue. She looked like any small girl out with her father.

“Hey, Simi. I have something for you to eat.”

Acheron jerked around at the deep masculine voice that called out to them. There was a tall, dark-haired man whose beard was thick. His skin was dark like a Sumerian and yet he spoke flawless Greek. Acheron held Simi back to keep her from running to him. “Who are you?”

The man stepped around a fallen column to kneel before Simi. He set a basket down at her feet and uncovered loaves of bread, fish and cheese. “I know you’re hungry, sweet. Dig in.”

Simi let out a squeal of delight before she set on the food with a vengeance.

The man stood up and offered his arm to Acheron. “My name is Savitar.”

Acheron frowned at the tattoo of a bird that marked his forearm before he shook it. “How do you know Simi?”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “I know lots of things, Acheron. And I’ve come to help you learn your powers and to understand your simi demon. She’s too young still to be left to callous care and the last thing I want is to see either one of you hurt because of it.”

“I would never hurt her.”

“I know, but the Charonte have special needs you must understand. Otherwise she could die … as could you.”

Acheron felt the brush of hackles rise and he wasn’t sure why. There was something about this being that rubbed against his godhood and made him wary. “Are you threatening me?”

Savitar laughed. “I never threaten. I just kill whatever annoys me. Stand down, Atlantean. I’m here as your friend.”

Once Simi had devoured every crumb, Savitar picked her up in his arms to carry her while he walked through the crumbled streets. “She’s impressive, isn’t she?”

“My mother or Simi?”

Savitar laughed. “Both, but I was speaking of your mother.”

Acheron looked around and sighed at the destruction his mother had wrought. “Yes, she is.” And as they walked, Acheron realized something. “I can’t hear your thoughts.”

“No, you can’t. And you never will. You’ll find that many of the higher beings of the universe will be silent to you. Some gods, demons, and other special creatures. We all have our secrets, but the comfort to you is that most won’t be able to hear yours either.”

That
was
comforting. “Can you hear them?”

“The answer you seek is no, but the truth is, I hear you, Acheron, and yes, I know all about your past.”

He cursed at what he didn’t want to hear. “What of the others? Will they know my past too?”

“Some will.” Savitar shifted Simi in his arms, then paused to look at him. “I don’t care about your past, Acheron. It’s your future that matters to me. I want to make sure that you have one and that you comprehend how important you are to the balance of power.”

Balance of power? “I don’t understand.”

“Apollo cursed his Apollites.”

“And my mother killed them all.”

Savitar shook his head. “Many died with Atlantis, but there are thousands of them who have spread over the Mediterranean and who live in many other countries now, including Apollo’s own son, Strykerius. All of them have been cursed to die on their twenty-seventh birthday.
All
of them.”

“Then how are they a problem? If they all die in a few years, they’ll be extinct.”

Savitar stroked Simi’s head before he started walking again. “They’re not going to die, Acheron. They will live and they will procreate many times over.”

“How?”

Savitar sighed before he answered. “A goddess will lead them and show them how to prey on human souls to circumvent Apollo’s curse.”

Acheron was appalled. “I don’t understand. Why would anyone do such a thing?”

“Because the universe is complicated and there’s a delicate balance in all things that must be maintained.”

“Yes, but if you know these people will die, can’t you stop the goddess from teaching them?”

“I could. But it could unravel the very essence of the universe.”

Frustration ran deep through Acheron. He didn’t understand. Why would someone fail to help another if they had the power to?

Savitar picked up a random stone from the ground and held it in his hand. “Tell me what happens if I throw this with all my power.”

Acheron frowned until he saw an image in his head. It was the stone traveling through the air … it sped until it hit a man in his shoulder, wounding him. No, not any man. A soldier. His arm now lame, the stone’s wound forced him to become a beggar …

Eight score people would then die because the soldier could no longer protect them in battles that wouldn’t even be fought for years to come. But out of those people who died …

“It goes on and on and on,” Savitar said. “One tiny decision: Do I throw the rock or do I drop it? And a thousand lives are changed by one innocuous decision.” He let the rock fall to the ground.

Now it was harmless again and history wrote itself forward the way it was supposed to.

Savitar smiled down at Simi, who’d fallen asleep in his arms. “You and I are cursed to understand how the tiniest decision made by every being can go onward to affect the rest of the universe. I know what should happen … what needs to happen. And if I stop something as simple as a rock throw, it could cause catastrophic consequences. However, unlike you, I don’t see the future until
after
I act. The moment I do something, I then see everything unfold from that point on. You are lucky. You will always see the future
before
you act.”

“But I didn’t see my sister’s death.”

“No. The Greek Fates, when they cursed you, blinded you to the fate of those closest to you. Anyone you care about will be your blind spot.”

“That’s not right.”

“Well, kid, brace yourself. This one’s even worse. You also will never be able to see your own future or the future of anyone who seriously impacts your future.”

Acheron ground his teeth at the injustice. “Can you see it?”

“It’s why I’m here.”

“Then tell me what you see.”

Savitar shook his head. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. If you knew what was ahead of you, you’d avoid doing the very things you must do in order to have it unfold properly. One small innocuous decision and your destiny will be altered forever.”

“But you can see your future.”

“Only after I’ve set it into motion and can’t change it.”

Acheron shook his head as he pondered which of them was the most cursed. The one who was blind or the one who saw it instantly and was powerless to stop it.

Savitar clapped him on the back. “I know how confusing it is for you to have all this power and knowledge and not know how to channel it. Or tap it.”

Acheron nodded. “It is hard.”

Savitar smiled. “That’s why the first thing I want to teach you is fighting.”

“Why fighting?”

Savitar laughed as they walked. “Because you’re going to need it. There’s a war coming, Acheron, and you have to be prepared for it.”

“A war? What kind of war?”

Savitar refused to answer. Instead, he shook Simi awake. “Little one, I need you to return to your akri and stay on him while he fights. Don’t worry, though, it’s only pretend fighting. No need for you to come off him to protect him.”

Simi nodded sleepily before she obeyed. She drifted onto Acheron’s arm.

“Move up, Simi,” Savitar said to her. “Go to his neck where you won’t be hit.”

Acheron frowned at his orders. “Can she feel a blow when she’s on my skin?”

“Yes, she can. And if she’s stabbed while she’s there and it wounds you, it will wound her too. Guard your demon, boy.”

The next thing Acheron knew, they were alone on a beach. “Takeshi!” Savitar shouted.

Black smoke roiled out of the earth.

Acheron stepped back as the smoke cleared to reveal a man in armor the likes of which he’d never seen before. Blood-red, it was made of shining metal. Wickedly carved blades curved up over his shoulders while a neck piece came up to cover the lower part of his face. All that could be seen were his eyes and the red scrollwork tattoo that was drawn across his forehead.