The New Gods

Chapter 3

-Guardian of the Skies-

She ran. She didn't stop. Adira ran past the houses. Past the street lamps. Into the woods. To the one place she thought would give her answers.

Adira collapsed in the small clearing. She landed on her knees. She gasped in confusion and fear as tears fell down her face.

"Oh, my poor child," a woman's voice came from the right of her. Adira stopped and turned slowly to the sound.

"Who..." she started, but trailed off once seeing the woman hovering beside her. She had long brown hair that seemed to glide in non-existent wind. Her eyes glowed green. She stood with grace, elegance. And the woman smiled. A smile so bright that Adira swore she could feel herself warming up.

"I'm Acacia, daughter of the trees. A satyr," the woman said simply. Adira hadn't noticed before, but the woman had brown furry legs with hooves for feet.

Adira turned to the woman, finally getting herself to stand. She wiped away the tears that made her vision blurry. Were her eyes and ears deceiving her?

"A satyr?"

Acacia's face fell. She sighed. "So much to explain, but so little time." She looked up at Adira once more. "Please, sit with me." She gestured to a fallen log nearby. Adira didn't hesitate. She wasn't sure why. She just had this overwhelming calmness with Acacia.

"Now, my child, there is much you must understand. Have you ever heard of the Greek Gods?"

Adira nodded slowly.

"Well they are real. And they need help."

Adira looked at the woman with a small smile. She scoffed, "You're telling me the Greek Gods are real? That's insane!"

"And the symbol on your wrist isn't?" Acacia pointed to her arm and Adira instinctively covered it with her other hand. "Or the monster that attacked you in your own home?"

Adira fell silent.

"Listen to my words carefully child. The gods need help. There is a great evil that is coming and will wreak havoc on the world. But they, the gods, cannot fight it. As Delphi the Reader of the Prophecy speaks, the evil must be vanquished by a group of mortal beings, but those with godly abilities.

"You, my child, have been chosen by Zeus, the King of the Gods and the ruler of the skies to take his abilities and stand in this battle."

Adira started at the woman blankly. She had to be dreaming, right? This couldn't be real. This couldn't be her. Maybe if she just went home everything would return to normal. The monster would be gone. The symbol would be gone. Everything. Just. Normal.

"But why me?" Adira asked, barely able to get the words out of her mouth. Her tongue felt like sandpaper. Her head a spun.

"Adira," Acacia spoke in her soothing tone. "I know this is difficult to understand. But you must. Here. Let me show you something."

Before Adira could protest, the woman put her index finger on her left temple. The world spun around her and suddenly, all at once, she was remembering.

Adira reached out to touch the orb. There was a flash of light as lightning struck down on her. But instead of Adira falling to the ground, she stood tall. The lightning sizzled and buzzed around her, coursing in and out of her veins. Her eyes glowed completely white. She started to raise off of the ground. The lightning still swirled around her. A voice boomed through the chaos.

"Hail, Adira Davenport, Ruler of the skies. Guardian of lightning."

The world came back to her in a flash of motion. She was in the clearing. In the daylight. Adira stood up, her hands holding her head as she stared at her feet in shock. So it is real.