Akrivi’s cursed state boiled down to a single instinct: kill whoever or whatever was before him. And he almost always succeeded, save for when a stronger force knocked the feral instinct out of him. In this mountain, no such person existed.

  Poor dove.

  The thought was a fading whisper as Akrivi sat up, the curse already settling within him and suggesting tactics. Doves, boors, it hardly mattered; victory was the goal.

  He frowned internally as a subtle feeling of discomfort grew into a throbbing pain in both shoulders. Her daggers were embedded deep, and now that black had overtaken the wounds, he could only smell the blood he had lost.

  Both weapons vibrated with a strange energy. Divine-crafted then? He grabbed them, ignoring the burn as he pulled each free. When he failed to sense who crafted the daggers, he tossed them aside.

  I should make this quick, he thought as he pushed to his feet.

  The girl had not fled; instead, she watched him without a whiff of fear. Interesting. A command in Theos Tongue would handle that. He flash-stepped, snatched her and slammed her against the wall of the mountain.

  The plan was to snap her neck, but something interfered, preventing his grip from tightening beyond a point. He eyed her pauldron with distaste, noting the strange energy pouring off it. Perhaps it offered her some protection. “This thing wouldn't let me kill you. Should I get rid of it?”

  She slashed at him instead, but Akrivi barely felt the cuts. “Fear,” he commanded, and waited and waited.

  Her expression remained blank. He cocked his head. This person wasn’t even remotely scared. If anything, she was more at ease than she was at the beginning of their clash.

  “How? How are you not terrified?” Was she a deity? Impossible. “How are you resisting?”

  Laughter sparkled in her eyes. She looked like she was enjoying herself.

  “Akrivi,” she wheezed, “you're full of interesting surprises.”

  Clarity cooled the fire of his murderous intent. “Do you… know me?”

  Looking at her face, there was nothing familiar about it. She was a redhead and moderately pretty; nothing else stood out. Yet, even if he met her in passing, he would have remembered her. Redheads weren’t so common. Or were her words a strategy to confuse him? For all he knew, the red god may have told her his name.

  “Say, have you ever seen a gorgon?”

  Before he could answer, Aether twisted around her as her transformation began. Flesh-coloured, sharp claws made an appearance. Then she grew taller, her body taking on the curve of a woman rather than a girl. When Akrivi looked at her face, he was thankful his cursed state only allowed him a stupefied blink.

  Still smiling, she easily ripped off his grip and stepped around him. His gaze followed her as if under a spell. How could a gorgon look like that? Granted, he had never met a gorgon before, but what he read of the beast, and the drawings he had seen... Gorgons were hideous winged beasts, more animal than human, and they had serpentine limbs. This woman walked on two legs, and possessed an otherworldly mix of stunning beauty and monstrous… attributes.

  Those snakes, the way they moved, reared up and hissed with bared fangs. Her eyes, bearing slit pupils, glowed green and scales in subtle shades of green and black faded into the fair lines of her face. As she moved, he noticed translucent scales across her arms and the curious way they refracted light.

  She observed him, too, gaze now serious and calculating. Her daggers were out of sight, and she paced with a lethal smoothness that was previously absent. As she watched him, it felt as though her snakes were locked into his every movement.

  “What are you?” Though he wanted to yell the question, his words came out measured and halting.

  She snickered. “What am I?” Akrivi spied fangs. “I could ask you the same?”

  Pausing her pacing, she smiled again. “What are those horns? And are those gills?” She pointed at her neck, her soft voice rising a notch with her curiosity. “I don't have gills, but I'm an excellent swimmer. My skin breathes for up to a horia in the water. Fascinating, right?”

  Akrivi said nothing, refusing to be distracted. For all he knew, this could be a ploy to lower his guard. And he was sure that the token was beneath the pauldron. Its energy starkly clashed with hers, and he could see ropes of red leaking past its hiding place.

  When she noticed where his focus was, she touched the spot and quietly said, “I'm sorry, Akrivi, but I can’t let you take it. In two days, I must win a fight. And there are faces I must see. I know they’ll be there. Exposure training, you know?”

  Akrivi's brow twitched in confusion. Though he had little information on when the Fate of Heroes would start, he was reasonably sure it wasn't in two days. Maybe she was insane. There are stories of blood-carriers consumed by madness in their pursuit of growth.

  That hardly mattered. His master trained him for moments like this, even going so far as to give Akrivi his blood. Failure wasn't a choice. Sorry to this girl… or woman, but he planned to use even the deadliest of his abilities to win.

  With that thought, he submitted to total transformation. A burning itch raced across his back, then it grew to tearing pain. Wings, bony, membranous and blue-edged, burst out and unfurled. He hadn't used them in years, but this level of preparedness was necessary. Even though they were yet to clash, he sensed it. Give your all, or you’ll be flattened.

  She coolly watched his transformation, her eyes only widening when she spotted his wings. “Ares used the sky a lot. He’d trash me from above, slicing off my fears.” She beamed at him. “Perhaps he saw this day. Saw that I will fight a winged person.”

  He flapped his wings as he took to the air. Pressing his claws tightly, he held up his arm and shot down.

  She dodged by a whisper, an imperious smile on her lips as she smoothly slipped past him. Then she whispered something in his ear.

  Stiffening, he faltered, and she took the opportunity to slash at his wings. Burning lines raked across the membrane. His flight faltered, but he pulled aether and landed roughly on his feet. “How do you know her?”

  Her face was straight, that mocking smile nowhere in sight. “Know who?”

  “You shouldn’t joke about the dead.”

  Instead of answering, she gave a nonchalant shrug and flicked something at him. Needles? Too fast. He shot above while looking down. They exploded in succession. Five times more powerful than what he saw May manifest. The dust dispersed, revealing two shattered craters. If that attack had touched him—

  She leapt, propelled by an impossible burst of aether, and reached for his wings again. Scowling at the obvious move, he twisted away only for her to twist around with a speed he couldn’t follow. She went for one of his horns, snatching it with an ease that jarred him.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He slashed at her arm, but his attack slid off like iron against iron. He tried again and again, and she let him. What sort of shield—

  An ocean of aether crashed down on him. She was screaming, fangs bared, serpent hair spread out, wave upon wave slamming down as she held on to his horn.

  His eardrums ruptured and leaked blood. Breathing was impossible as his flesh stretched under the assault. His aether shield cracked, then shattered.

  She let him go then, falling with him as they tumbled to the ground. The wind snatched at his hair, whipped past his ears, but… I can't hear a thing.

  Then she used him to cushion her landing. The bones of his wings shattered upon impact. She was upon him again. Fist balled, glowing serpentine eyes wild as she struck. His brain shook within his skull. Ringing in his ears. Sound had returned.

  A dizzying uppercut. “Surrender.” Her voice was no longer as soft.

  An abundance of aether trashed around her, causing a ripping gale and ruining his ability to think.

  “Please, end this, Akrivi.” Another punch. Harder this time. “Poison is a no-no. Surrender.”

  His earring; if he could just—

  “What’s this?” She reached for his earring as if they shared a thought. Before he could react, she ripped it off.

  No!

  The protest froze on his lips as the world around him ruptured. Black consumed his vision as a flood of raw aether rushed in. Everything burned. His bones, flesh, eyes. Like he was weeping magma. By the gods, he hated this sensation. Almost as soon as the reaction started, it ended. A dark, familiar expanse spread before him. This place… he had intended to use it as a last resort. But, where was her soul?

  He turned, staggered and fell. How was her soul this tall? At least thirty akona tall.

  “Titan?”

  “Oh, a domain… but different.” Her glowing form took a mighty step forward. Akrivi shivered. This girl… woman. He was never a danger to her from the start. What have I done? Why did I create a domain? She’ll rip my soul apart. I’m dead.

  “That punch you gave me at the start. It felt strange. Grazed my soul.” She touched her stomach. “Quick, tell me, who is your father?” How was it that he could tell she was smiling even though her form consisted only of light?

  Some of his apprehension lessened. Maybe he wasn’t dead yet.

  “Go on. Speak.” Her voice was soft like the gorgon’s.

  Well, that was the problem. The combat method that went so far as to affect an opponent's soul didn't belong to his father. “I can't… I can't tell you that.”

  She cocked her head. More of that feeling that she was smiling. “That’s where you’re mistaken, my friend. You came here to trap me, but look. Who is in control?”

  Even without looking, Akrivi could tell this was no longer his domain.

  “I can know whatever I wish to know. It's even easier because now I have the key.” She took another step and shrank to regular size.

  Relief washed over Akrivi’s soul as visions of getting crushed like a bug faded from his mind.

  “I must know who birthed such a… fine weapon.” She extended a glowing finger as she spoke. “What you attempted with my soul was fascinating. Tell me, boy. Who is your father?”

  Akrivi stood completely powerless, unable to move. This was the strongest soul or curse he had ever encountered. Hers even felt stronger than Hades’.

  Her finger, warm and gentle, finally touched his forehead. He sensed it when she saw the truth.

  “Oh.” Her glow dimmed as she withdrew her hand. Though he couldn't see the features of her face, the change in the air was unmistakable.

  She turned from him. “Go.”

  He opened his eyes to the gorgon peering down at him with an unreadable expression.

  “I’m leaving.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Don’t try to stop me.”

  Akrivi sighed and flung an arm across his face. “That was humbling.” He touched his earlobe, feeling for his stabiliser. At least she was kind enough to return the earring.

  What was this murky feeling in his chest? Shame? Nonsense! If anything, he was also a victim of Poseidon. The god had kidnapped his mother, tortured her for months until she was broken, and I'm the result of all that… brokenness.

  “Useless thoughts.” A dead chuckle escaped. “At least half my blood is pure.”

  The sky was clear, and the bird's call faded as she went farther down the mountain. I didn't even catch her name.

  He sat up, noting distractedly that he was back to his human form. Rising to his feet, he stretched and hummed at the sound of his joints popping. Thanks to his curse manifestation, his aether reserve was full to bursting.

  What was it she said during their combat? “May is alive.”

  A derisive laugh escaped. He had seen May die, carried her corpse, and watched Demeter attempt healing, only to fail. The gorgon’s combat strategy was shameful. Using the dead like that… He shook his head.

  Leaping once, twice, and a third time, he made it over the rim of the crater. As he continued down, worries barraged his mind. He was not naive enough to believe Poseidon had given up on him. Demeter had an agreement with Zeus regarding his custody, but now that Akrivi was under Ares’ house, was his protection gone?

  He finally made it to the foot of the mountain, then to the training ground where the red god, a frowning, muscular woman and the gorgon waited. The gorgon had returned to her human form.

  Trudging forward, he stopped next to her. She didn't spare him a glance. Not that he cared. Maybe he did, but only a little. Lonian was the only mortal who knew his father was Poseidon, thanks to Hermes. Now a stranger knew as well. He winced internally.

  “You have done well,” Ares said as the muscular woman pinned a golden badge to the gorgon's tunic.

  “Thank you.” The gorgon’s voice was flat, and expression even flatter. “I would like to leave. My water cat is awake.”

  “Very well. But come to my study before dusk. There is something you must know before standing before Zeus.”

  As she bowed and strolled off, Akrivi's gaze followed her. There was a nagging in his mind; that air of cool detachment felt familiar…

  “You failed.” Ares’ expression gave nothing away, so Akrivi couldn't tell if the god was mad or indifferent. “I expected more from the boy Hades trained.”

  The woman's eyes widened at the revelation. Even Lonian didn't know who trained him; now another stranger had his secrets. Marvellous.

  “You may leave, Lysander.” Ares motioned to Akrivi. “Walk with me.”

  Akrivi silently trailed after him, conflicted on how to act. He had had his fair share of being around scary gods. Hades, being one of the most frightening, exuded a cool, dark energy, but the red god felt like chaos barely contained. Coupled with his grim outward appearance, his presence was so intense that it made it impossible for Akrivi to relax around him.

  “What did you see when you faced her? Tell me everything.”

  Akrivi had not expected that question. “She… she is a gorgon.” An ironically stunning one at that. He dared to ask. “Why is she not hideous? Is that a trick?”

  Her beauty did not erase the fact that she was a terror to look upon. But there was an uncanny feeling he couldn't shake off, some sorcery at play maybe. “It’s difficult to explain, but there was this… this need to look at her face when we clashed.” Perhaps it was no sorcery but me getting swept away by her looks.

  Ares nodded; not a whisper of surprise on his face. “Was there anything else of note? Did you feel like she could kill you?”

  “Yes.” She had felt dangerous the first time he met her, but that feeling had multiplied a thousandfold when he encountered the glowing form of her soul… or curse?

  “I triggered Hades’ domain.”

  “Hmm.” Still no outward show of surprise.

  “An imitation,” he quickly added. His space was empty, but he had used it in the past to trap a person's soul temporarily. “The domain triggered when she ripped off my stabiliser.”

  If Ares was surprised, it still didn't show. “And?”

  “I met a… I met her soul or curse? Not sure. She was as tall as a titan.”

  Ares stopped and faced him. His usually grim expression had taken on a sharp focus. “What was it like?”

  “I felt like an ant. But there was no murderous intent. She even seemed… friendly.” At first, before she learned who my father was.

  Ares observed him for a tense, silent moment. “Very well. You may leave.” He turned but did not resume his stroll.

  Could he… could he risk asking? Gulping, Akrivi discarded caution and barrelled ahead. “Master Ares, is it possible that…”

  His words faded when Ares' gaze slid in his direction. He appeared mildly annoyed. “Go on. Speak.”

  “I know I failed the trial.” He clasped his trembling hands. “Still, I beg you. I am pleading. Do not make me immortal. I will do anything else you ask of me. I have skills, useful skills.”

  For a heavy moment, Ares fixed him with a dispassionate stare. Then he gave a nonchalant wave. “Your pleading is needless. We will all die in the end. This I promise.”

  Ares resumed his stroll, leaving Akrivi both confused and terrified. We will all die in the end. “Huh?”

  Me? I'm in the absolutely-hideous-beast team (true to the roots and all that), but, BUT, BUT, in this story, there's no way in hell I'd make my dear Medusa Snekhead and her albino sisters hideous. Haha.

  Anyhoo, until next Saturday.