Joely Sue Burkhart

Set up:  this is another scene from Beautiful Death.  Hades and Charon are aliens, exiled to Earth by their ruler, Megaskyr Kleopatra.  Then a horrible virus broke out, twisting them, killing them, and then jumping across to humans until most of the population was wiped out.  Hades wants vengeance against the Megaskyr almost as much as he wants Isabella.

If you read last week, you know New Olympia is a futuristic collection of City-States based on ancient Greece.  The characters are loosely based on Greek mythology.  Plus aliens and a virulent virus.   

Hades, as Philip of Macedon, is loosely based on Philip II of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great.  Kleopatra (sometimes spelled Cleopatra, not to be confused with the Egyptian Cleopatra) was married to him (not Alexander’s mother, though); some believe she and/or her lover were behind Philip’s assassination.  Skyr is an ancient Greek term meaning “master” or “lord” and so you know what Megaskyr means.  Sarissa is based on the Macedonian spear.  Drakon is Greek for dragon.

Hades stepped out into the night and the airlock whooshed shut behind him. Those poor ignorant Citizens, locked inside their protective prison dome all these years. They didn’t know what real air smelled like. They didn’t know what real life was like.

Most of all, Isabella had no idea how her life was about to change. Guilt ate at him but couldn’t suppress his surging desire, his hope, his longing. Touching her had been sweet torture. Leaving her behind in Athens made him clench his hands into fists to keep from razing the City to the ground.

All these years, he waited, never dreaming the response he would feel in his own aura. The spark of her fledgling power called to him even now.

Charon glided out of the shadows and paced beside him, silent and dark. The Enforcer’s skull gleamed in the moonlight. He looked left and right, prowling like a beast in a cage. He would need to transform soon. His drakon loved its freedom when the light of the full moon brightened the night.

“Any trouble?” Hades asked.

“Nope. Everybody’s staying away from the City, exactly as you ordered.”

Hades detected an edge to his Enforcer’s voice. Was it the restless beast demanding freedom, or frustration with the Master himself? The centuries of politics and warfare between their races were hard to forget, no matter the personal debt and bond between them. Perhaps a reminder was necessary. He would face enough challenges bringing Isabella to heel without his Enforcer turning feral on him. “I need to be at full strength in the days to come. You will feed me tonight.”

Charon jerked to a halt. His golden eyes gleamed in the night. As bright as his eyes, his aura tightened around him, crouching, preparing for battle. A hint of black feathered wings shadowed his back.

Hades drew on his power. Molten rock moved sluggishly through his veins. Mostly dormant all these years of exile and devastation on this barbaric planet, his power was slow to respond. He strained harder for the glorious rush that should have come automatically at his first thought.

Isabella. His blood was in her veins and her time was near. He must be at full strength to keep her.

She will be mine.

Power rocketed through him and he threw his head back, reveling in the raw pulse of energy. If just the thought of her sent his energy levels soaring, how much would a true feeding expand his strength?

Without moving a muscle, he seized the rising drakon. He chained it in burning silver power, caging its wings and paralyzing its fearsome body before it could flow from energy into reality. And then he thrust his mind into Charon’s.

The bond Hades established by sharing blood with his Enforcer was still there, though weakened these years away from their homes. Bonds took power to maintain, and he was forced to conserve his energies. Besides, even pleasant chains chafed after a time.

Hades pushed deeper, filtering through memories, dreams and nightmares. His Enforcer’s mind was a tangled seething mess of hatred and frustration. And then there was that curious dark area beyond the last shield. A shield he’d never been able to penetrate these long years of exile.

Charon was a time bomb waiting to explode, whether from madness or whatever hid behind the shadowed shield. Groaning, he fell to his knees. “Do it, Philip. See who’s hiding there.”

Hades grimaced at the use of his true name. When New Olympia was founded, the humans took Greek names from Earth’s ancient history, a dedication of sorts to the new age of civilization. It was only appropriate that he take such a hated and feared name as Hades, Lord of the Underworld, when so many of his people were murdered outcasts.

He was tempted to push through that last shield, but he felt the blazing pain in his Enforcer’s mind just from his touch on it. Trying to force a way through could kill them both. Whoever crafted it was skilled, more skilled than he. Unfortunately, he feared he knew exactly who placed that shield strong enough even his bond could not penetrate it.

The question was not if Charon betrayed him, knowingly or not. But how much.

“Kill me and end this misery.”

Dampening his power but maintaining the silvered cage, Hades gripped Charon’s chin with one hand and ripped the black shirt away from his shoulder, baring his neck. Old scars from an early human weapon told of the hard years of survival they both endured. “Who do you fear more, me right now or the Megaskyr weaving her poisonous webs on Macedon?”

Charon closed his eyes. “Neither of you scare me.”

“What does scare you, my friend?”

“Never standing before my father and telling him how my brother died. Dying before I find my mate.”

Hades leaned down to the scarred but inviting expanse of flesh. He hungered. He needed power to keep the precious surviving few Masters and Enforcers under his control. Power to conquer Isabella, to chain her to his side, to protect her from others who would use her. Power to overcome exile, even if it meant defeating an invincible Megaskyr.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the Enforcer he wanted to taste.

Fangs lengthened painfully in his mouth. Although the virus corrupted his hunger into darker desires of flesh and blood, every cell in his body ached to introduce Isabella to a true feeding in the manner of his species.

Charon shuddered, his rumbling voice raw and broken. “We’ll never get off this forsaken rock.”

How much to promise him? Staring into the kneeling Enforcer’s eyes, Hades decided to take a small risk. “Isabella is my sarissa. With her at my side, my power will be nearly limitless.”

Charon’s eyes gleamed like the predator he was. “Power enough to topple a Megaskyr?”

Hades let a slight smile curve his lips.

“Take what you need from me, Master.”