Shadow Titan

Shadow Titan

Episode Three

Theta Beginnings
Miniseries

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By Lizzy Ford

www.LizzyFord.com

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www.LizzyFord.com

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All rights reserved.

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No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information
storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from
the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote
short excerpts in a review.

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The good news: I was alive. The bad: I was
in enough pain, I wished the fall from the helicopter had killed
me.

Something was wrong, and it wasn’t just the
fact I was lying in the middle of a forest in Maryland with a
broken leg and bruised body. Usually, when I put all my energy into
it, I healed at an otherworldly rate. When I hit the ground, I’d
been in much worse condition, and I’d managed to heal the worst of
it – drawing off my Titan power – until suddenly, my body stopped
repairing itself.

The forest was tranquil and dark, and I lay
still, watching the stars slowly track across the sky, until the
eastern horizon began to lighten. The moon lingered, though, as if
to watch me in my torment. Not that I blamed it. I was certain it
had some reason to resent me. Most people and deities seemed
to.

Smiling at the errant thought, I shivered
and grimaced at the pain even this small motion caused me. I healed
from the inside out, which meant my organs and bones were fine. It
was my skin and the muscle beneath it that hadn’t had a chance to
recover before my power stopped flowing. And my right leg, which
had to have been close to shattered, if it didn’t heal with the
remainder of my bones.

As I lay in agony, I dwelt on how and why my
power had disappeared. My father had the ability to restrain it,
since he was full Titan and I only half. However, this didn’t feel
the same as when he dammed it. I was able to sense my power but not
reach it when he sought to punish me. This time, I couldn’t feel
the tingling energy of my power at all.

“
Adonis, where are you?” I
whispered to my closest friend. I’d been staring at the heavens,
partially because it hurt to move but also because I hoped to
glimpse him flying by, searching for me, in his grotesque form,
which he transformed into at night. He’d come for me, in part
because we were friends. But mostly, it was because I was his god
and master. He was honor bound to help me.

Assuming he could find me. In hindsight, I
probably should have contacted him before leaving New York. I had
gone to the coronation alone, leaving Adonis at home in the condo
we shared in DC.

“
No one’s coming, Lantos,”
I told myself as dawn overtook the sky. With a grunt, I managed to
sit and gazed down at my leg. I’d seen a television show once where
someone injured in the forest had used sticks and rope to brace his
leg. “Rope,” I said aloud, my words heavy with sarcasm. “Why didn’t
I think to carry some, just in case?”

With a sigh, I rolled onto
my left side and began to maneuver myself up to standing. Hot pain
throbbed through my right leg if I shifted it as much as an inch.
Finally, after a great deal of discomfort and cursing, I was on my
feet ... or
foot
,
as it were.

Lifting my head, I looked around. The forest
stretched in every direction, as far as I could see. There were no
breaks or structures or any other sign of humanity, only the
cheerful chirping of birds and the stir of animals, as if they had
no idea the rest of the world was likely destroyed by now.

I hopped. The jarring sensation sent bursts
of pain through me worse than if I tried walking on my leg.
Frustrated, I looked around until I found a stick large enough to
use as a cane and very carefully bent on my good leg to retrieve
it.

Walking was horrible, but I forced myself to
do it. Choosing a direction, I began to hobble toward what I hoped
was civilization or a road or something. I didn’t go far at all
before the muscles burning in my good leg caused me to rest.

Come on!
I thought, anger bubbling forth from deep inside
me as I thought of how I’d ended up here. I’d gone with mostly
noble intentions to the coronation of Queen Phoibe, only to be
thrown out of a helicopter by her High Priestess after assuring
their safety. I’d hoped to dovetail my endeavor into something more
beneficial to me. How often did one have the undivided attention of
royalty? How often was one owed a life debt by a queen?

The wealth and power I
could’ve asked for …
But I didn’t have the
chance, and now, I was probably going to die in this damn
forest.

The reality of my situation hit me then with
such force, the constant stream of thoughts in my head fell
silent.

I’d gone soft over the past few years. I was
raised on the streets after being abandoned by my mother, a human
who hadn’t wanted to deal with society scorning her for raising a
demigod child. When old enough, I earned money as a street corner
magician and used my Titan power to wow strangers for money. At one
point, until my mid-teens, I’d been a survivor, someone who had
lived through cold winters under the bridge and survived stretches
where I was too sick or injured by thugs to beg for food and money.
My wits, charm, and my power had made me successful, even before I
found Adonis to do my dirty work.

I was the son of a Titan. A forest wasn’t
going to best me.

“
You’re alive, Titan.” The
disembodied whisper was strained and faint, originating from the
air itself.

“
Oh, so you haven’t
abandoned me,” I murmured. “I didn’t think I’d be able to hear you
without my power.”

“
I’m using my power, what’s
left of it,” she replied. “You did as I asked. I’m
grateful.”

I debated how to answer.
The Oracle of Delphi had spoken to me out of the blue three days
ago. She was powerful, if she could talk to me without being
present. One of the perks of being the son of the Titan of the
Unseen – I lived in shadows and secrets. But she’d
seen
me somehow when gods
and goddesses could not. She’d then tracked me down. I hadn’t
expected to hear from her again after doing as she bade me and
warning the Queen about the impending danger.

I wasn’t going to perish in the woods, but
did I dare trust her intentions were good? I knew better than to
trust anyone with supernatural power; they were generally arrogant
and manipulative, same as I was.

“
You can show your
gratitude by driving out here to pick me up,” I replied
wryly.

“
That’s not possible,” the
Oracle said. “But I can alert someone to help you. They cannot be a
human or a god. If you know a priest or priestess, or another
demigod, I can speak to them.”

“
For anyone else, that
might be a problem,” I said with a pained laugh. “Adonis, my
companion, is neither god nor human. He’s not a priest or demigod,
either. I’m not sure how to classify him, except he’s half
monster.”

“
Where can I find
him?”

“
Can’t you locate him like
you did me? Suddenly and in such a terrifying manner, I didn’t
sleep for two nights?”

“
You are an odd man,
Titan,” she said.

Was she amused or irritated? I couldn’t
tell, except there was a note in her voice I hadn’t heard
before.

“
It took me quite some time
to discover you,” she continued. “If you want him here soon, you’ll
tell me where to start looking.”

I rolled my eyes then wondered briefly if
she were able to witness the act. “He’s at our apartment in
downtown Chevy Chase.”

Silence.

I waited a few breaths.

“
Do you need more
information? Or will that suffice?” I asked, unable to sense her in
any form.

“
That was enough. He’s on
his way to you.” She paused, and this time, when she spoke again, I
recognized the suspicion in her tone. “What did you do to him? His
mind is dark.”

“
It’s not your concern,” I
replied. “So you can see me when no other goddess can and peer into
the minds of strangers at will. What else can you do?”

“
There are few limits to my
abilities.”

“
Meaning what? You’re more
powerful than a goddess?”

“
My power is derived from
this world, which gives me the home advantage.”

Along with my curiosity
about her power, I’d been trying to figure
her
out. At times sarcastic and other
times compassionate, she was very much human and yet distinctly
not. “Thank you for alerting my friend. Shall I assume you’re
contacting me for another reason, other than rescuing me?” I began
walking aimlessly again.

“
I have a second request of
you.”

I said nothing, uneasy with the commands
issued from a person I could neither see nor touch but who could
find me anywhere, anytime. I shared a similar ability but had never
been on the receiving end of it. Was this what it felt like to
others when I crossed their paths?

“
You will visit me,” she
said.

It wasn’t what I expected. I was more
relieved than I let on. “That doesn’t sound so bad,” I replied.
“Unless you’re located somewhere outside of the safe zone.”

“
I’m at its heart, in DC,
on the compound belonging to the Sacred Triumvirate and their
government.”

My thoughts went to Phoibe, and I couldn’t
help wanting to know if she’d made it there. Why did one woman’s
fate matter to me? Her life had always been important to me, and I
never fully understood being compelled to her. “It’ll take some of
my power to sneak onto such a place. I imagine it’s guarded by an
army right about now.”

Energy fluttered through me. I recognized
the flow of my power. There wasn’t quite enough to heal and turn
into a shadow and travel through the dark parts of the world, but
the pain in my leg began to ease.

“
How are you doing that?” I
asked, unsettled by the idea she was controlling me. “That is you,
isn’t it?”

“
I am the bridge between
this world and that from which your power originates. I’m allowing
you a piece of your magic so you can do as I request.”

“
I don’t want to be owned
by anyone.”

“
Funny, considering I chose
not to do to you what you did to your toy Adonis. I have the
ability.”

“
It was for his own good,”
I replied.

“
And yours,” she retorted.
“Do as I ask, and I can give you what you have long
sought.”

“
A ride home?” I
quipped.

“
The kind of power and
influence that will win you a place at your father’s
side.”

She’s good,
I thought. “So I get what I want if you get what
you want.”

“
Exactly.”

I understood this kind of deal too well. I
was quiet for a moment, wishing Adonis were present to provide his
insight. Despite having his memories and mind mostly wiped, he
remained by far the greatest strategic thinker I had ever known,
and he had an innate sense for people that rivaled any god’s. He
was smart and ruthless. We worked well as a team to increase our
wealth and standing in the world. At least, we had, before
everything began to fall apart last night.

“
Why don’t we discuss it
when I come to visit?” I asked at last.

“
Agreed.”

Gazing around at the green forest, I ceased
hobbling. “Which direction do I need to go?”

“
I can’t
see
you in real time,”
she replied, amused. “I’m an oracle. I
fore
saw you and then traced the
visions backwards until I identified a point where I could find and
approach you.”