Manto frowned, stuck their arm in and foraged around. “I think there’s a few obols in here...” They paused, their brow wrinkling. They glanced around the platform then pulled out something palm-sized, wrapped in a scrap of brown cloth. Carefully, they lay the object flat on their hand and unwrapped it.
It was a piece of obsidian rock. The sunlight glinted off its sharp edges. Through the haze of her memory, Danae pictured the oracle’s chamber and something black and gleaming, lying just beneath the cracked lips of stone.
“What is it?” she whispered.
“It’s a prophecy stone.” Manto quickly wrapped it back in its cloth. “My father used to divine from it. I’ve been waiting to give it to you.”
“It can tell the future?” Danae stared at it as Manto carefully pressed it into her hand. “Have you ever divined from it?”
“No,” Manto said quickly. “My father told me never to touch it with my bare skin, only keep it safe and give it to the last daughter.”
As Danae’s fingers closed around the stone, she felt a tingling sensation through the wrapping. “How do I use it?”
A smile tweaked Manto’s lips. “By doing exactly what my father told me not to.”
Danae began to peel back the cloth.
“Not here.” Their hands closed around hers. They looked around again and took back the stone, careful to keep it covered. “Why don’t I keep it safe for now.” Manto slipped the stone back into their bag.
“Haven’t you ever been tempted?”
There was a pause before Manto replied, “I keep my promises.”
After that they both sat in silence for a while, the murmurs of the other passengers and the crash of the sea wrapping around their thoughts.
“What’s your father like?” Danae asked.
Manto smiled. “He’s...eccentric. I think you’d like him. He doesn’t care much for society’s rules. He believes that foresight should be for everyone, not just those who can afford it.”
“What happened to him?”
Manto sighed and looked up at the sky. “When I was young, we used to travel around Greece. My father would trade a prophecy for a bed and a hot meal. One day he saw a vision in the stone and said we had to go to Delphi, and that he was to become the watcher and wait for the last daughter. He thought he could keep on telling the future in the holy city, but the priestesses—” an edge crept into Manto’s voice “—they didn’t like someone giving away what they charged for. Eventually they came for him.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Manto looked at her with fire in their eyes. “We’re going to tear down the whole fucking pantheon.”
Lithos was growling. Danae sat up and rubbed her face. The warmth of the sun had lulled her into a stupor.
“What is it, boy?” Manto stroked the dog’s back, but his teeth remained bared, his hackles raised.
Nothing seemed untoward as Danae glanced across the ship, then back at Manto, who shrugged. All around them was calm, empty ocean. She tilted her head to the sky, shading her eyes against the glare.
Three specks of black blotted the sun. For a moment she thought they were gulls, but as she watched, the shapes grew larger. They appeared to be heading for the boat.
Then a woman shouted.
Next to her, Manto was already standing, Lithos barking beside them. The men stopped rowing. Passengers and crew stumbled to their feet, staring at the dark shapes heading toward them.
Danae’s heartbeat slowed then rapidly sped up again. They were too large to be birds, larger even than eagles, and their shape was all wrong.
The ship had become eerily quiet. She looked around for the captain and saw his jaw fall slack. Then people began to scream. As quickly as the fire had ravaged Delphi, panic spread through the boat. Some passengers threw themselves into the water, others fell to their knees, muttering desperate prayers to Poseidon, God of the Sea.
The creatures were nearly upon them. Up close, they were the stuff of nightmares.
Vast leathery wings spread from their lithe, scaly bodies, and their long, muscular legs curved into taloned feet. There was something eerily human about their snarling faces, matted hair and the breasts that sagged from their chests. But their keening shrieks were the cries of predators closing in for the kill.
Manto grabbed hold of Danae’s arm, their nails digging into her skin.
