Chapter 1
Nebiru led her into camp under the cover of night, with much of the occupants already retiring for the night. Still, what few were awake stared from behind their fires, their faces ruddy and harsh, with eyes that peered past every wall she had. Low whispers swirled in her wake, salacious rumours that twirled and spun themselves into fantastic stories. She caught her name in snatches of conversation. It seemed her ‘infamy’, which she’d always dismissed, had filtered down into the lowest ranks the army.
She clutched her single bag, packed with three sets of issued uniforms, a thin blanket and a few assorted items given to her out of pity by Persephone. There was nothing she owned inside, not from Earth anyway. There hadn’t been time to take anything before she left, not even for goodbyes – though, that had been intentional. She knew if she had said goodbye she would’ve hesitated, maybe even run away.
With a deep breath she lifted her gaze from the dusty road that divided the camp, like territory lines, and focused on the back of Nebiru. He hadn’t said anything since demanding he be the one to take her to the camp. Not for Fay’s lack of trying. Eventually, she gave up and fell into step behind him. She tore her gaze from him and eyed the rest of the camp, stared down those who eyed her off until they backed down. When they did she studied the tents, all in neat rows that stretched back as far as she could see, a city unto itself. Small scraps of coloured fabric were stitched to the front apex of each tent in what seemed to be a method of organisations – a ranking system, maybe. Beyond that, she spied around some of the fires, were racks which held sparring weapons, others where clothes were out to dry. One she even spied had meat drying. Her stomach twisted. She didn’t want to think about what meat it was. Beyond that, there seemed to be very little else to look at, which wasn’t bad since Nebiru stopped at that point. She stopped sharply, having almost run into him, blinked and realised they’d apparently arrived at their destination.
The tent’s entrance was peeled open and a young woman, likely Fay’s age, stepped out, holding the entrance open. Nebiru strode in, Fay close on his heels. She glanced at the woman, saw the icy blue eyes mirrored, then hurried on. The interior was plain, a dozen beds on either side, neatly made and a plain trunk at the foot of each. It seemed like something out of a movie, not at all what she expected, and she kept thinking someone was going to jump out at any moment. No one did.
The girl reappeared behind them. “Sir, the squad is out doing remedial training. They won’t return until the morning.”
“That is fine. Which bed is hers?”
“At the end by the rear exit, the right corner,” she said. “There’s no more supplies for sparring swords, so we’re short for her.”
“Make do for now. I’ll have something readied and sent over later,” he said calmly, barely even acknowledging her existence. He went to leave but Fay grabbed his arm. In the corner of her eye the girl stiffened, shocked by the display.
“You’re just going to dump me here?”
He turned slowly and removed her hand. “As opposed to what?”
“We haven’t spoken about what happened. You’re not worried it might happen again?” She dared with a low, steely voice.
His eyes narrowed fractionally but he said nothing; rather, he yanked his arm free and stalked to the edge of the tent. There, he lingered, the tent entrance parted slightly.
“This is your life now.”
“This isn’t over, Nebiru.”
He glanced back. “For everyone’s sake, it should be.”
Fay folded her arms defiantly, feeling sullen, frustrated. “She was right about you. No wonder she pushed you away.”
The word dealt the blow she wanted. He stormed out.
For a moment she stared, then spun around in and stalked over to her assigned bed. It was cold, hard, plain, and the trunk was just big enough for the items she was given. When everything was packed she drew out a cotton shirt and matching shorts, laying it out on the bed. She was aware of the girl watching her the whole time, silent, studying.
Finally, Fay snapped and spun around. “Yes?”
The girl blinked, lifting those blue eyes from examining Fay’s boots, and met her gaze. “You’re different from the hounds we’ve gotten before.”
“So, I’ve been told.”
“I didn’t say it was a good thing,” she said calmly and went to the rear exit, peeling back the flap. “Here, different is bad. Dangerous. The name’s Juno, by the way, not that you asked, Fay.”
Juno slipped out.
The morning began with the arrival of the aforementioned squad. They bustled in just as Fay tugged her new squad jacket in place, chatting animatedly, looking weary but relaxed. It seemed fairly even between men and women, though most bore classic Grecian features; rich olive skin, dark hair, hellhound eyes, and lean, athletic frames. There were a few of darker features, and even one whose skin was as white as snow, ghostly with her fiery orange hair braided down her back. She saw Fay first, stopped boldly and stared. The others soon followed suit until the whole room looked at her.
Silence fell.
Juno stepped into the tent, the squad parting for her. Their eyes lowered in respect as she walked past, then lifted again to Fay as Juno stood beside her.
“This is your new squad mate, Fay Childers,” Juno introduced.
A low murmur rippled throughout the squad, displeased at the news. Eventually a tall, dark olive-skinned man with curly black hair stepped forward, silencing the murmurs with a flick of his hand.
“Juno, we’ve been training to earn the right to undertake the Tartarus expedition. With her we’ll lose. Can’t one of the lesser squads take her?”
“This comes direct from Hades himself, Remus,” said Juno with a clipped tone. “He wants her in this squad. Train her.”
Remus glanced critically, fleetingly, at Fay, then back to Juno. “She’s a child – how much talent could she really have?”
That was it, Fay thought with a hiss. She was tired of people assuming things about her, of treating her like a frail thing, then a ticking time bomb. That decisions had to be made for her. She stepped past Juno and moved in front of Remus. He blinked, startled she’d been so bold.
“You’ll find I’m full of surprises.”
Remus stared her down, then sniffed, unimpressed. “I doubt it.” He glanced past her to Juno. “She’ll be expected to keep up. I don’t care if she’s new. If she costs us this mission I’ll have her head.”
Juno merely smiled. “Then you’ll answer to Hades.” Her gaze flickered to Fay. “He likes this one.”
Remus glanced down at Fay, met her stormy eyes. “I’ve heard the rumours. That doesn’t mean she’ll be useful to us.”
“Just use her, okay? This isn’t a request. It’s an order,” said Juno dismissively.
Remus bowed his head. “As you wish.”
Juno nodded and headed out. Fay went to speak but Remus had turned to his squad. “Eat up. We start sparring after this. I think we should see what this new recruit can do. Diana, you’ll go first with her.”
Diana, the red-haired girl, nodded, shooting a curious look at Fay. It seemed she’d heard the rumours and wondered about the newcomer, and if she was really worth the attention of Hades himself. She smiled, smugly, as if seeing an easy fight, then turned to a small group of hounds as the rest of the squad dispersed.
When no one came over to Fay she lingered and then followed the squad into the rear section where rows of tables were set up. Everyone took their seat, leaving Fay at the very end, right across from Diana. A moment later a couple hellhounds, these few poorly dressed in comparison, ferried in trays of cooked meats, roasted vegetables and rolls of bread. It was a simple feed but more than Fay had expected from what she’d seen so far.
The meal was not what she expected for breakfast but everyone ate hungrily, clearing off plates of food easily. Fay could only manage several bites before her stomach twisted, protested. She’d been throwing up only hours before, nervous, restless.
“So, got any talents?” A guy asked with a lazy smile.
Fay looked up, saw the curiosity in his eyes – like she was some sort of freak, a side-show to be examined, laid bare for their amusement. She wondered if that’s how Andromeda felt at times; not quite human yet not a Goddess, an oddity destined for dark things.
“Your definition of talents?” Fay asked carefully.
She hadn’t really decided how she was to play these people if she wanted to get close. Really, she was only starting to scrap together a plan, decide her next moves. After all, she had no intention to stick around.
“You can do shadow magic?” Another asked, a girl with rich black hair and equally dark skin. “Anything else.”
For a moment she considered telling them all she could do but that didn’t feel right. She wanted to keep some of her secrets, hide the aces in her sleeves.
“Shadow magic, teleportation, shadow prisons, some offensive attacks – that about cover it?”
The girl leaned in, curious. “Nothing else? Demon summoning, perhaps?”
Fay wanted to say something but Diana, seated close by, snorted derisively. “Like she could do that. Only a couple in Nebiru’s circle can do that and at best it’s a couple low level demons. Only Hades can command an army of them.”
Just like she had, thought Fay eerily. Andromeda might’ve filled her with power but the ability to summon large numbers of demons, to have them naturally drawn to her, had been there before Andromeda’s assistance. Even before the visions.
“Oh, bugger off Diana. It’s not like you can do it either,” retorted the curious girl. She dismissed Diana’s scowl and looked at Fay, considering, judgement for the moment reserved. “If you have our esteemed master’s eye then there must be something extraordinary about you. We’ll just have to find it. I’m Nadia, by the way.”
Fay wondered idly if Nadia’s sudden kindness on her, given how it leveraged her over Diana, was more a ploy, rather than an act of kindness. To her, Fay was a pawn, something that instantly rattled Diana – or distracted her. Was the whole squad like that? All determined to find ways to one up each other, to tear the others down? How could a team like that even function, let alone win anything? There had to be something she hadn’t yet seen.
“Out of curiosity, how often do you get newcomers like me?” Fay asked Nadia, as the man from before had seemingly dismissed her entirely.
With Diana’s scornful attention temporarily diverted Nadia’s appeared to wane; what scrappy bits of attention remain lingered to answer the question.
“You’re the first in about a hundred years. There was a time when a lot of us were born, hence why most of us are only a few decades apart. Now, our numbers are few and far between. You and that other girl were the first born. What happened to her by the way? We sensed her, briefly, untethered and thought she’d come here – instead here you are, with Hades as your master.”
“We traded places. I cut my bond so she could have my old partner,” murmured Fay, garnering a few stray looks from the others.
So, they are paying attention to me, even when it seems like they’re not, she mused.
Nadia stared at her like she was an alien. “Why?”
“Because she deserved to know what it’s like not to be controlled. I was the reason her master was dead, even after I tried to sever her bond another way, to find another way – something on her terms. So, it was partly out of guilt but mostly because I had known relative freedom, she hadn’t,” said Fay honestly.
“And now you’re just another hellhound like us,” mocked Diana.
Her barb didn’t sting like she must’ve wanted it too. Fay had come to terms with her decision and there was no regret. No matter how many times she might’ve had the chance to go back her decision remained the same. Though it was likely that one day Amanda would come to the Underworld anyway at least she would’ve known freedom, if only for a time.
So, Fay lifted a glass of water and smiled boldly back at Diana. “Better to know freedom for a day then not at all.”
And I’ll be my own master, one day, one way or another.
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