Brandor scowled at her. “You’re the daughter of Stryker?”
His question brought her suspicion straight to the forefront and put her instantly on guard. “How do you know that?”
“Morgen and Apollo. As I said, I’ve been privy to Morgen’s most intimate councils. The wordbrevalaeris fey fornothing. Which is exactly what she considers me. Therefore she never worried what I heard or saw, as she didn’t think I could use it against her.”
Falcyn narrowed his eyes on Brandor. “How much have you heard?”
“Everything.”
Blaise nodded. “She kept him literally chained to her throne or bed most of the time. I can attest to that.”
“Well, if you know so much, any idea why we can’t turn into dragons right now?”
“No, but I can tell you this. If Narishka made a bargain and you turned her down, they’ll put a hit out on you.”
“What kind of hit?”
“Ever heard of a strykyn?”
Medea had no idea what that was, but the anger flaring up in those steely blues said that Falcyn had dealt with more than his fair share of them.
“I’ve killed a few.” Oh yeah, his voice was scarcely more than a fierce growl.
“That’s what they’ll be sending… along with anything else they can bribe.”
Medea waited for an explanation, but they didn’t seem eager to elaborate. So she prompted them. “What’s a strykyn?”
Falcyn gave her a cold stare. “Children of Stryx.”
“The water witch?”
He nodded. “Yeah, and they’re what your father was named after. Fierce birds of prey who once served Ares in his larger battles. They are the black war owls with red wings and gold beaks who live on the edge of Hades where they feast on the souls of the damned and eat the carcasses of cowards.”
The ones that traveled in swarms and could bring down entire armies…
She gaped at the old legend her mother had used to frighten her into behaving when she’d been a girl. But instead of using their real name, her mother, being an Atlantean Apollite, had referred to them as Greek War Birds. “His prized birds he suckled on the blood of misbehaving infants and children?”
“Yeah. For battle or to fight, they shift into large, mountainous warriors with serious attitude problems. Bastards so irritable, they make me look friendly.”
Thatshe’d like to see.
Urian cursed. “Apollo must have seized them when he defeated Ares and the others on Olympus and took it over.”
“Would be my guess and our luck.” Falcyn cursed under his breath. “Damn it. We really got to kick their asses out of that place soon.”
Great. Medea’s head was starting to throb again. “How do we fight and defeat them?”
Brogan crossed her arms over her chest. “The fruit of the strawberry tree can paralyze them.”
“Good to know.” Medea glanced around the bleak landscape that sadly lacked strawberry trees. Too bad they weren’t allergic to drab gray ick.…
“Any other tricks?”
Brandor considered it a moment. “They can be diverted with other meats. Even if it’s raw. But if they catch you, there’s no way to escape them.”
“Beautiful.”
Falcyn snorted derisively. “Cut their hearts out. Their heads off. Incinerate them. Best of all, they taste like duck and are quite filling, if not a little gamey.”
