Twins of the Hunt - Book 3: The Rescue ✔️

Chapter 1: We Kill A Lion-Human-Scorpian Thingy

2257 words

"See Orion?" I pointed toward the stars.

Pax squinted at the starry sky. "No, I can only see Ursa Major and Ursa Minor."

"Here." I grabbed her wrist gently and directed it so it was pointing at the Orion Constellation. "See it now?"

"Oh, yeah!" Pax said excitedly. "I can see his club and shield! It's so cool!"

Yeah, Agro barked from my left. It really is.

I grinned. "Good. Are you feeling any better?"

I'd been patrolling the perimeter with Agro and Zade when I heard Pax muttering fearfully and tossing and turning. Turns out, she was having a nightmare. I'd woken her up, taken her up into an oak tree to show her the constellations, and distracted her from her fear.

"A little bit," said Pax.

"If you don't mind me asking," I said gently, "what were you dreaming about that scared you so much?"

A spasm of dread crossed Pax's face.

"It's okay," I said hastily. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No," said Pax. "I want to talk about it." She took a deep breath. "In my dreams, I stood in a dark room. I couldn't see anything. An icy voice spoke to me from the darkness."

Pax imitated the icy voice. "Why are hiding, little hero? Why deny your true feelings? You feel abandoned by the gods. You're angry and resentful of them. Join me and seek revenge."

I was silent for a moment.

"Was that it?" I asked.

"No," said Pax, shifting her weight on the branch. "The dark room dissolved eventually, and I found myself on a huge cruise ship. Pacing the deck in front of a blonde guy with a scar on his face was a teenager with auburn hair."

At these last words, my jaw tightened and I touched the scar across my eye.

Zade, who was resting on my shoulder squawked, Aidan.

"What?" Pax asked blankly. "Who's Aidan?"

"No one," I said. "What else happened?"

Pax still looked puzzled and curious but continued all the same. "Well, the auburn person spoke to the blond guy. They said 'Everything is in position, Luke. She will be trapped.' The blonde guy nodded and said threateningly, 'Good. Do not fail this time, Aidan. Otherwise...' Then, you woke me up."

Pax looked sideways at me. "What do you think it means?"

I didn't answer immediately. I was thinking about what Aidan had said in the dream: she will be trapped. Did that mean me or someone else? And what was in position?

"Do you know the story of the Titan Kronos?" I asked Pax abruptly.

Pax looked surprised. "Yeah, I do. Kronos swallowed his kids because his father told him his son would overthrow him. Zeus escaped though. And when he was grown, he freed his siblings, and they fought against the Titans and won. Zeus tossed Kronos and most of the other Titans into Tartarus."

I nodded. "That's right."

"But what does that have to do with my dream?"

"It has to do with your dream," I said, "because the icy voice was Kronos, baiting you to join him."

Pax's face paled to the color of the snow. "What? Kronos was speaking to me in my dream?"

"Yes," I said. "He's rising again. And the more people join him, the stronger he gets."