A Shrine to an Unknown God

THE CROWS

MY MOTHER AND I DUCK behind my shield. She yanks my spear off my back, brandishing it over the shield's wooden rim like a porcupine quill. Like all other Apollonisian citizens, before she became a priestess, and before she had me, she was put through the agōgē and trained in combat.

"Antigone," she whispers, "what the fuck did you get us into?"

The cultists—so organized, so well-planned, so in sync—never realized where their Achilles' heel is. The only weapon any of them have is their bows. They have no shield, no spear, no sword, not even any knives or daggers. My mother and I may be outnumbered, but they're outweaponed.

As they pause and reload their bows, I take my chance.

I spin upwards and roundhouse kick Kassiani in the throat.

She drops to the floor, out-cold. Her bow slides from her hands.

Meanwhile, my mother completely guts the young boy that had been standing beside Kassiani. (My mother is a badass. Go Mom!)

Arrows are still flying. One hits the wall above my mother's head. Another finds home in my shield. As the archer that shot it goes to notch another one, I slam my shield up underneath his jaw. He spits out blood and teeth. Then his eyes roll back in his head.

A sharp pain pierces my lungs. I look down. An arrow is lodged between my rib bones.

"ANTIGONE!" my mom screams. Tears stream down her face. Her skin is splattered with blood. (Cultists' blood.) "No! No!"

Two of the cultists grab her arms while she's distracted. Her spear—my spear—clatters to the floor. She struggles fiercely against them, thrashing her entire body side to side, frantically kicking backwards.

I fall to my knees. The world blurs with pain.

Another cultist kneels beside me and holds my hands behind my back. As if I could cause any damage in the state that I'm in. I can barely move. All I can do is writhe in pain and watch helplessly as they take my mother away from me.

"You let me go you BASTARDS!" she yells, her face contorted with ugly sobs. "You fucked with the wrong family! I'll fuck you all up! I'll make your lives a living—!"

My mother, everyone.

The last remaining cultist elbows her in the face, knocking her out. The three of them drag her limp body out of the house.

All the while I'm screaming bloody murder.

"Mom! MOM! MOM!"

The cultist that had been holding me back stands. She aims her bow at me.

I spit at her feet.

"Go throw yourself to the crows."

She backs out of my house, an arrow notched and aimed at my heart. Leaving me sobbing with an arrow in my shoulder and another piercing my lungs.