Demigod Tales

Chapter Ten

This is dangerous. I can't let myself fall in love when so much loss awaits me. The mission has only just begun, and I have no idea what the future beholds. But I don't move a muscle. I'm still looking at her. Her eyes are beautiful; they're not really blue, more like violet or something. Her hand is cold and mine is warm, our fingers are intertwined. This is perfect. Then I hear sniffing sounds and tilt my head, looking to the other side of the rock. That's Thyen. He bows his head as I caress it but then looks away. I find that irrelevant as for what's next, so he does it again; bows his head and looks away, then I understand he wants me to look that way. I do, and I see Lux's hand waving at me. I wave back. He stops waving and rolls his eyes, then he gestures for me to come. Alec is laying on the ground, his hands relaxing on his heaving chest. I stand up, and help Adriane get to her feet. She's looking at me, then she looks to the ground. "Priam."
I take her hand.
"You're the one good thing going on in my life right now."
I sigh. "I'll keep you safe."
We start walking towards my friends.
When we get there, Lux looks at me, then at Adriane, and then at our hands. The right corner of his mouth curls into a smile, and he claps his hands together. "We need some wood for the night. It might get cold. Priam, I'm counting on you. Thyen will go with you to keep you safe. Adriane, you stay here with Umbra and help her prepare dinner." She nods. "As for me, I'll explore the area, see what I can find, then I'll join you, Priam, into the forest."
Everything's clear. It doesn't really matter to me, who's in charge, as long as everything's under control. Alec seems to be sleeping. I repeat his name over and over again in my head yet he doesn't answer. He's peacefully breathing in and out, with a smile on his face. This fills me with energy, so I lean in, take my bow, some arrows and a piece of rope, and head towards the forest.
I'm halfway there, and I look behind. Umbra and Adriane are sympathizing, they're laughing. Umbra's making herbs appear to their feet which Adriane carefully picks as she's got her arms free. Lux is walking to the opposite side I'm walking towards, strongly, confidently. His shine is always growing stronger, and this is really great for us. Days would have been dark if he hadn't been there to brighten them up. Thyen is circling around my feet, so I continue my walk and step inside the forest. The ground is covered with dead branches and chunks of wood that will prove to be great for a fire, so it won't be really hard for me to look for.

I've been doing this for an hour or so, collecting dead branches, tying them up, sending Thyen running, dragging them behind him. I look towards our camp and realise there's already a huge pile of wood there but I don't stop. I keep repeating the same thing over and over again, yet when I'm done with collecting the branches and tying them up, I look around and don't see Thyen. Instead I find myself staring at the bare chest of Lux. I look up, as I'm kneeling on the ground, to look at his face. He's frowning, but I know this look. Something's on his mind. "Hey, did you find something?"
"I did, yes. But I'm not sure if I should be telling you all about it."
"You don't trust me well enough. Is that it?"
"I would trust you with my life. But I don't want more attention drawn to you. I don't want to put you at risk."
"But I'm already at risk. And I might die at any second -"
"Exactly. You can't die. You cannot. We're all here to protect you."
He sits down on a nearby rock.
"Look, there will come a time when one of us will die and another will disappear for good. You need to keep going. No matter who these people are. Even if..." He takes a deep breath and looks away, then looks back at me. He doesn't blink. "Even if Alec dies. You will need to keep going, you understand me?"
"Why are you telling me these things?"
"Look what I found."
He puts a hand to his pocket and takes out what seems like a mirror. Its frame is golden and encrypted with rubies. "Come, stand behind me."
I do. I look above his shoulder, I see his reflection. But his eyes are staring vaguely at something. Then I realise his face is starting to change. I wait a few seconds in total surprise and now in front of me is a portrait of who - I'm guessing - is Apollo himself.
He's alive and well, through the mirror.
"I think the mirror only shows us who our god parent is. This is an instrument of truth. One day it will be yours."
I'm tempted to take the mirror and look at it. But what's the point? Seeing my mother will only hurt me; it will upset me and drive my ideas away from what I'm supposed to be thinking of. Lux takes a handkerchief from his pocket, covers the mirror and pushes it back inside.
"That's not the reason why I'm here. I also wanted to give you this."
He puts his hand to his other pocket, and takes out of it three vials, and inside of each one something colored is swirling.
"I found a box while digging behind a rock. The ground there seemed to have been disturbed earlier so I knew something was there. The box contained the mirror, these vials, and a couple of other things.
When I first put my hand on this vial," he held the vial which contained a yellowish liquid between two fingers, "I opened it and felt that something was being absorbed out of me, right from my chest. It was like I was being drained, only I wasn't. I later understood, when the vial was filled and closed, that it now contained bits of my power that can be released at any moment, as soon as the cork was removed. Take it."
He puts it in my hand, along with a vial filled with a greenish liquid, Umbra's, and a white one, Alec's.
"We all agreed that it was best you carried these with you. You need them. This is your mission and we are only here to help. You might become on your own when what Hera announced to us in the beginning happens." He holds out his hand and puts it on my shoulder. He taps on it twice and whispers to me, "you are one brave, brave hero, and I am proud of you."
He stands up.
"Lux."
"Yes?"
"Don't you dare."
"What?"
"Don't you dare leave us. You don't die, okay? Don't die."
"Your survival is the only thing that matters. But I'll try to stay alive, I promise. Come, we should get going."
Thyen comes running, takes the loose end of the rope between his teeth and starts running, dragging the branches behind him. We're walking towards camp, and I haven't noticed how time had run, it was already dark out there. Alec had woken up, and he has already prepared the hearth of the camp fire, disposing big rocks in a circle.