I wrapped my arms around my knees, trembling like a leaf in a windstorm. Andrew was down, but he wasn’t dead. Thanatos wouldn’t find me, not in this obscure hallway. I was alone. Powerless. Forced to listen to the guttural screams of my people as the harpies descended upon the city below.
Sobs shook my body. My prophecy could never have prepared them for this. For all the love and wonder my sight had given to me, it could do nothing to counter the destruction raining down upon Halieis. I was fragile and helpless. Useless.
Except…
Except my sight had given me Thanatos. And Thanatos, with a little help from Apollo’s oracles, had given me the answer.
I stared out through the breach in the facade. My lovely Death. I had seen him, loved him, worshiped him. But had I ever truly faced him? The chaos unfolding before me was more than a calculated risk, more than an accepted inevitability. I had never felt him so close, yet so far away.
The meaning of a mortal life is a reflection of your beauty.
And my lover was ruinously beautiful.
I couldn’t hide behind helplessness. Leon needed a chance,deserveda chance.Iwas the Oracle of Hades, and there was a hole in the wall of my cage.
My breathing steadied. I stood, lifted the hem of my dress, and climbed through the mess of crumbling blocks.
Rough stone pieces pushed into my feet, and my soles stung as I moved through the debris. I ignored the pain, traversing the rubble as nimbly as I could, until I emerged from the shadow of the temple. I made it through with only scrapes. On the other side, I stumbled down the sloping hill, past a trail of fallen rocks. The main road stretching into the lower city was in sight, just around the corner.
I squinted in the sunlight, my senses on high alert. I swallowed my terror and suppressed the distraction of the din. Where would Leon be? He lived with the other collectively raised children, so I should check the orphanage first. But how could I find it?
I frantically scoured my memories. I was certain I’d seen the home in the past, on one of the few occasions I was permitted to step onto these streets. I envisioned the processions I’d walked before and scanned the mental crowd: the children, where were the children? Where did they stand? Where—yes. Yes, I remembered.
I took off running toward the main thoroughfare, but on arrival, I realized that it would be foolish to take this road. Throngs of panicked people were sprinting down it, and where they screamed, the harpies followed, chasing after the promise of flesh. More of the creatures were still landing, joining the hunt, screeching horribly from their ladies’ lips.
At the sight of the danger I swiftly took a left, narrowly avoiding a collision with a fleeing, red-faced citizen. I poked my head out from the cover of a side street, and my nausea intensified.
Nearby food carts were abandoned and overturned. A heavy trail of blood began at the foot of one of them, winding across the stones until it disappeared around the corner. People ran screaming, tugging their children along as they desperately searched for shelter. And still the harpies crashed down from the sky.Boom. Boom. Boom.
I dashed back into the alley just as a squadron of six soldiers marched into view, willing myself to focus before I could stop to judge the effectiveness of their defense. My insides twisted in protest, but I forced myself forward through the narrow side street. It was all I could do to concentrate on staying hidden while moving parallel to the main road.
Luckily, my sense of direction did not fail me. The orphanage was just where I remembered it to be. When it came into view, I gathered my courage and darted out of the cover of the dark alley. I circled around to the building’s entrance as fast as my feet could carry me, and before anyone or anything hadthe chance to notice my presence, I barreled through the home’s forest-green front doors.
I heard several gasps as I came crashing through the entryway, but I made sure to secure the doors before turning toward their source. When I looked, I saw a huddle of people at the back of the long room, sitting frozen in surprise—it seemed all of them were sheltering here together, as far from the windows as they could possibly get. I recognized almost everyone right away: two adult carers, five teenagers clutching tightly to nine smaller children, and in the corner of the crowd…Leon, sitting terrified with a toddler on his lap. Thank the gods, he was here.
“Leon!” I screamed, far too loudly and desperately. The boy winced in surprise upon hearing his name, and he stared back at me, horrified, with eyes full of questions. A murmur spread through the group at the sound of my voice, but I shut the rest of them out.
“Leon,” I called again, more tactfully this time. “Please come with me.” I beckoned with my hand and willed it not to shake, focusing only on him, the unknowing demigod.
He winced, but the intensity of my demand startled him to action. He set the child down and stood, meeting me in the center of the room.
“Is there a back way out of here?” I asked him first.
“What? I mean, yes, there is, but…aren’t you a priestess?” he choked out. “By the gods, what is going on?”
My emotions churned, but I steadied my voice. “Leon, I need you to show me the way,” I said calmly, never breaking eye contact. “Yes, I am your oracle, and my sight has revealed the path we must take to survive this. I need you to bring me to the back, please. Now.”
Thank goodness for my station, else he would’ve thought me a crazy woman spouting nonsense in the end times. Buthe knew that my words carried the authority of the gods. He swallowed, nodded, and started toward the hallway behind the crowd of his peers.
“Leon, where are you going?” cried a child as we passed, but Leon raised a finger to his lips.
“Don’t worry,” he said softly, and we continued on our way.
He led me through the halls, turning one way, then another, until we reached the lobby to what was presumably the back door. It was a small space, rectangular, with one chair and one shaded window. We stopped there, alone, and he motioned nervously for me to explain, his hands shaking.
Fuck. How was I supposed to say this?
“Leon, I need you to listen to me very carefully,” I started, and I didn’t continue until he nodded in response. “You know that I am a seer. I see the wills of the gods, and I see things that others cannot. And I need to tell you right now thatyouare the hero of my prophecy.”
