The Dark-Hunters (861 page)

The gallu can turn humans into one of them with a bite. They have two rows of razor-sharp teeth and unlike Daimons can walk in daylight. If you can catch it early enough, you can cauterize the bite wound and stop the poison from spreading through your body.

The poison in their bite could infect even gods and make them demons as well. Daimons can also become gallu … and faster too, since Daimon metabolism is so high. (A Daimon gallu does not die with a pierced heart
or
head.) A gallu Daimon is serious shit.

The only way to kill a gallu is to behead the creature (hit it right between the eyes or sever the spine) and burn its body. (They explode … and stink when they do.) It is the only way to completely destroy the bite poison and to keep them from regenerating.

Sin, Zakar, and Sin’s daughter Ishtar imprisoned the Dimme and the gallu millennia ago. However, after the death of the Sumerian pantheon, the gallu began working their way free of their prison. They became smarter and more organized.

Mirrors show the gallu for what they are. They won’t go near them. Nor can gallu infiltrate the dreams of someone they’ve never met; they must have physical contact first. It should be noted that you cannot kill a gallu in the dream realm. Lucky for us, they can’t kill us either.

The gallu are quite prolific. After sex, one female can lay two dozen fertilized eggs. (They are born from eggs, so that they would survive if the mother is killed. The eggs are nearly indestructible.) Their venom is weak when they’re young, and their victims will not turn right away.

Godbolt
    (aka: Astral Blast) A bolt of lightning from out of the hand of a god or demigod. It takes a Dark-Hunter quite a long while to heal after being hit by one of these puppies.

Goibniu
    Irish smith god of Art, along with his brothers Creidhne and Luchtaine. His weapons were always lethal, and he brewed a beer that made the drinker immortal. Hail Ale!

Gorgon
    Gorgons guard the barrier between the Outerworld and the Underworld. They are women with green, scaly snake’s skin, red eyes that glow, fangs, and breath like toxic waste. Only men turn to stone when looking at Gorgons (not gods or Shades).

Hades (Aides, Pluto)
    Zeus’s brother and god of the Underworld. He is also known as the god of Wealth, for the precious metals to be found buried within the earth. Not an easy fellow to warm up to (which could be why they named an icy planet after him), but Hades is always just. He just doesn’t suffer fools. Period.

He has no temples, and any statues or images created in his honor are extremely rare. Once a body entered the Underworld, that person was forbidden to leave. (One of the only known survivors was Orpheus, who escaped with his life … but only his life and not that of his recently departed wife.)

Hades abducted Persephone, daughter of Demeter and Zeus. He permitted her no food or drink, in order to persuade her to marry him. Hades was forced to let her go, but first he tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds, which bound her to him for a few months out of the year. Some myths say that she fell in love with him and ate the seeds so that her parents would be forced to allow her to return.

Hades is always open to a good bargain because he hates the other gods so much (and the feeling is mutual). He has no fear of anyone or anything, and enjoys torturing the souls in the Underworld when his wife is gone. His main chamber room is the only part of his realm open to outsiders. There he sits on a throne made from the bones of Titans, clad in his black leather armor.

H
AIR
: black

Hayar Bedyr
    The Forsaken Moon (Sumerian). The title of Sin’s brother Zakar. (See Zakar.)

Hecate
    Goddess of Wilderness and Childbirth (Thrace). Zeus has always had a soft spot for Hecate. Sometimes called the Queen of Ghosts, today she is known as the goddess of Witchcraft and Wicca.

Hel
    Daughter of the trickster god Loki, and ruler of the Underworld in Germanic literature. It is said of Hel that she is half human and half rotting corpse, she eats human flesh, and she smells. And those were the nicer comments about her.

Helen
    Daughter of Zeus and Leda; queen of Sparta. Also known as the famous beauty Helen of Troy. She had many suitors, not the least of which was Paris, the prince of Troy … the affair that caused the Trojan War.

Helios
    Greek god of the Sun (often identified with Apollo).

Hephaestus (Vulcan)
    The misshapen blacksmith god of Fire and husband of Aphrodite. Hephaestus made the dagger worn by Eros, as well as his arrows. He also created the chains to hold Julian while Grace attempted to break his curse. (Only a god or a key can open chains forged by Hephaestus.) He was responsible for Athena’s shield, the chariot of the Sun god Helios, and the weapons of the Dolophoni.

Legend has it that Hephaestus was born crippled, so his mother Hera cast him from Mount Olympus (don’t hold it against her—the Spartans did that kind of thing all the time back then). He landed on the island of Limnos, where he was cared for by its inhabitants. In revenge, Hephaestus forged Hera a beautiful golden throne … that entrapped her. Hephaestus only let her out when she promised him Aphrodite’s hand in marriage. (And after Dionysus got him
reeeeally
stinkin’ drunk.)

He is known to sport a beard, and walk with the aid of a stick or cane.

Hera
    Queen of Olympus, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and wife and sister to Zeus (don’t ask). Hera has a full-time job staying jealous of Zeus’s affairs, and her fury is legendary. She is often worshipped as a goddess of Marriage and Birth. She recently had a reputed affair with a well-known N.Y. cover model, which might have remained a secret had Eris—the goddess of Discord—not ratted her out to Zeus.

B
IRD
: peacock, crow

A
NIMAL
: cow

S
YMBOL
: pomegranate

Heracles/Hercules
    Demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene and the greatest of the Greek heroes. He was known for his strength, courage, and wit. Many know the tales of the Twelve Labors he was set to perform, the last of which involved capturing Cerberus, the three-headed guardian dogzilla of Hades.

Hermes (Mercury)
    Son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of Atlas. Born in a cave on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, Hermes is sometimes referred to as Atlantiades or Cyllenius. He is the fastest of the gods, and his position was messenger to Zeus and all the other gods. He was the Divine Herald, the solemn guide who knew the road to hell and would lead the souls of the dead down to the Underworld, after Thanatos (Death) did his job.

Hermes is also the Greek god of Commerce and the Market, as well as the patron of all gymnastic games. He is believed to be the inventor of sacrifice, and so protects all sacrificial animals.

Hermes is cunning, shrewd, and a master thief. Watch this guy … or not. If he means to have something, he’ll find a way of having it, to be sure. He plays a part in most of the myths you hear about; he’s got his fingers in every pie.

The heralds’ staff (called
kerykeion
in Greek) was given to Hermes by Apollo. The white ribbons surrounding the staff were changed into two serpents by later artists.

He’s always in a hurry, so no one’s really sure what he looks like, apart from a blur of a man whooshing by.

S
YMBOL
: winged hat and sandals, heralds’ staff

Hestia
    Goddess of the Home, Hearth, and Family.

S
YMBOL
: the eternal flame

Honos
    God of Chivalry in Roman mythology.

Hypnos
    Greek god who holds dominion over all the gods of Sleep. Son of Nyx and Erebus, and twin of Thanatos. He oversees the physical punishments of the dream gods, who are whipped when they don’t stay in line.

Icelus
    Son of Hypnos and one of the Oneroi. Icelus creates human shapes in dreams, and is father of some of the more erotically addicted Dream-Hunters. They live for sex and drift from dream to dream, seeking new partners.

Ichor
    A mineral found in the blood of the gods that makes them immortal. (Artemis originally injected Zarek with ichor to give him his Dark-Hunter powers, because she did not want to touch him.)

Ilios
    Atlantean god of the Sun, conceived when Asteros seduced Epithymia. Their passion was such that two balls of fire were placed inside the womb of Epithymia. In one day, she birthed the Sun (Ilios) and the Moon (Nyktos).

The twins were taken from their mother and placed in the sky so that Asteros could share his domain with them. He split rulership of the sky between his sons, giving Ilios control of the day and Nyktos control of the night. It is said the two brothers often embrace each other as they pass, thus giving the times when both the sun and the moon are visible to those who reside on earth. Those are the days dreaded by all Dark-Hunters.

Ilithvia
    Greek goddess of Childbirth. (Spellings of her name vary.)

Iris
    Greek goddess of the Rainbow.

Ishtar
    Daughter of Sin but not by blood … or so his unfaithful wife told him. Very shy and wary of strangers, Ishtar loved animals and playing in fountains as a girl. After she and Sin destroyed Anatum, Ishtar absorbed her powers and replaced her in the Sumerian pantheon. She was ultimately killed by the gallu and buried—along with the Rod of Time—in a tomb concealed by ever-changing sands and guarded by a spell that hid it from mortal eyes.

Isle of Padesios
    Region in Katoteros where Ash allows the Shades a facsimile of paradise.

Isorro
    The Atlantean god of Moderation and Temperance, of Wisdom and Harmony. Isorro is the eldest son of Archon. He was said to be the chief mediator between his parents and the intercessor between the gods and mankind.

Kalosis
    Atlantean hell where Apollymi is imprisoned, and where once sat the palace of Misos. Kalosis is also home of the Spathi Daimons, and is accessible to Daimons through bolt-holes and laminas. No Dark-Hunters can enter, and few Were-Hunters survive long after visiting this realm of perpetual darkness.

Katoteros
    Atlantean word for “heaven.” Katoteros is a small netherworld between dimensions where the ancient gods once lived, and where Acheron currently makes his home. Apollites and Daimons dream of being able to reclaim their right to rest here.

Kerir
    Sumerian apocalypse, brought about by the freeing of the seven Dimme.

Kessar
    The leader of the gallu demons, whose brother Sin and Katra killed while helping Zakar escape. In retaliation, Kessar attempted to form an alliance with the Dimme and unite the gallu against the gods. When that didn’t work, he teamed up with our favorite Daimon, Stryker. After all, the enemy of his enemy …

H
AIR
/E
YES
: caramel blond/bloodred

Kori
    A handmaiden of Artemis. All the koris live in Artemis’s temple in Olympus.

Kyklonas
    One of the ceredons guarding Apollymi’s temple in Kalosis. His name means “tornado.”

Lachesis
    Nickname: Lacy. The middle Fate. Responsible for weaving the pattern of fate.

Lera
    As justice nymph, Astrid’s half-sister was called in to judge those who had fought against Artemis during the war with Bast. Lera found all guilty except the Were-Hunter pup Sasha, who was deemed too young to be held accountable.

Loki
    Norse trickster god. Lover of Morginne, and onetime possessor of the soul of Wulf Tryggvason. In order to swap Morginne’s and Wulf’s souls, Loki used a thistle from the Norns (that lets someone swap souls for a day), and then made it permanent with his blood. That Loki, he’s a clever bastard.

Lyta
    Greek nymph who was two halves of one person. She made herself and everyone else miserable, until a Greek soldier came along and joined her two halves.

Macha
    Irish goddess of War and Kingship. Macha was sister to Badb and the Morrigán.

Marking Medallion
    When a god bestows this medallion upon a human, no one above, on, or below the earth can kill them without making that god very,
very
angry.

Marsyas
    A satyr who discovered the first flute after Athena invented it and then discarded it. (Eros almost died laughing at the face she made when she played it, and teased her about it mercilessly.) Marsyas then challenged Apollo to a music contest (you’d think he would have learned from Arachne). Apollo won, of course, but instead of transforming Marsyas into something ugly or monstrous, he just flayed him alive.

Megeara
    One of the Furies. (See Erinyes.) She is the root of jealousy and envy, and causes people to commit crimes such as adultery. Her name is the root of the Spanish word for “woman.” (Not that I’m implying anything; I’m just tellin’ it like it is.)

Meliae
    Sisters to the Erinyes, the Meliae sprang from the same blood spilled when Cronus castrated Uranus. They are nymphs of the ash tree, and a lesser version of the Fates.

Melpomene
    Muse of Tragedy.

Metus
    Greek god of Fear.

Minos
    Son of Zeus and Europa, brother of Rhadamanthus, and former king of Crete. Namesake of the Minoan civilization. He is the judge of the Greek souls that enter Hades, and the tiebreaker when Rhadamanthus and Aeacus differ over a ruling.

Misos
    The Atlantean god of War and Death, Misos is the son of Fegkia and Chaos. His chief aides are Pali (Strife) and Diafonia (Discord), who are said to run about in battle and confuse and outrage soldiers and commanders to incite more bloodshed. During times of peace, they take on the form of humans in order to stir up mayhem and trouble between nations.