“Any chance you can bring back the scene we walked in on? I mean, just for background noise,” Croak said, shooting an apologetic look at Terena as Gabriol slapped him across the chest.
“They’re not real. Those are Relics. Mortals I can bring back from memory for short periods of time. They look and feel real, but are essentially a figment of my mind. That is how I amuse myself sitting in here waiting on the Heir that was promised. The boy is a Relic, too. Another test for the Heir.”
“The Heir?” Rydon said, his eyes widening. He glanced at Terena, her gaze already on him.
“Aye,” Melanos said. He reached out and plucked a fig from a plate before them. “Athena came to see me once, long ago. Before they were banished. She said the Heir of Ares would come find me. And when that happened, the Heir would free me, but only if I helped the Heir take Bethana’s fangs.”
Terena put a hand to her head. “I’m sorry. What?”
“How did Athena know she’d come?” Gabriol asked.
Melanos shrugged. “She’s smart.”
“And how does Terena free you, exactly?” Rydon asked. He was concerned about Terena. She clearly looked more shaken than he’d expected.
Melanos stared at Rydon while he chewed. “That I do not know. Hoped you would,” he said with a glance at Terena.
When she didn’t respond, Rydon nudged her arm. Terena blinked at him, then looked up at Melanos.
“I will do it if I can,” Terena shrugged.
“Fantastic,” Melanos clapped his hands, startling Croak. With a wicked grin, he leaned forward. “Let’s get started then.”
“What isthe real story behind the myth of Melanos and Bethana?” Gabriol asked.
All eyes pivoted to Melanos.
He chewed thoughtfully as he regarded them. “By the looks on your faces, I can only imagine what you’ve all been told and believe as truth.”
“The story I know,” Terena said after it became apparent no one else would speak up, “is that you and Bethana fell in love after she saved you. You’d been fatally wounded in battle. Though we all thought you were a demigod, so mortal, and that your love for each other saved you.”
Melanos snorted.
Terena went on. “But Poseidon was in love with her, found you two together and killed you. And then turned Bethana into a serpent.”
“He was in love with her,” Melanos agreed softly into the thick silence that followed. “And he did find us together. But I am immortal and he could not kill me without risking my father’s wrath. So he cursed me to this cave. It wasn’t until Athena found me that I had any hope of leaving. Of course, you took your time about it.”
“Right,” grumbled Terena, twisting her lips. “So I have to kill Bethana?”
Melanos spit something at Croak, who flinched back.
“Well,” the god said with a big exhale. “Technically, you only need her fangs. I’ve had a long time to think about it. She’s my lover, afterall, and since I’d be very upset over her death, perhaps there’s another way to fulfill this part of your labors without killing her.”
“My labors?”
Melanos gave her a flat stare. “You’re not yet two and twenty, are you?”
“No,” Terena said, her brow furrowed.
“You’re destined to bring back the Olympian gods,” Melanos said, pointing a finger at her as he leaned toward her. “This is the test the Fates have created for you. You think they’re just going to let you bring them back? They almost destroyed this realm.”
“The Fates don’t want the gods to come back?”
Melanos only stared back at her.
“What does my being twenty-two have to do with it?”
“That’s when you come fully into your powers. And when you’re supposed to start your trials. For some reason, you started early, which is why you keep failing.” He popped a piece of cheese in his mouth and chewed. “How do you not know any of this?”
