Chapter 7: Azora

The war has been going on for two years now. Both sides seem exhausted. People are losing hope and more lives have been heinously taken. Achilles has grown impatient and angry to kill the person responsible for his friend's death. He still refuses listen. His revenge is useless.

"Why are we doing this again?" Achilles asks.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

"You're do realize it's not me, right? You don't exactly like the idea of having a—"

𝘗𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰. 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦.

"How do you know?"

𝘡𝘦𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘈𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴.

"And yet, you follow their orders."

𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘵. I pause. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

"Where are you getting at?" I step out and allow Achilles to catch his breath before I continue.

"It means that we have been narrowed to three options." Achilles sits down on a boulder at the end of the tree line.

"Which are?" He is getting in over his head.

"Shall I demonstrate?" Achilles smiles and motions for me to go ahead. I summon a sword and swing towards Achilles. The blade becomes a whip that wraps around Achilles, binding him.

"Didn't you say that was a basic—" I punch the ground, cracking it and causing the boulder that Achilles is sitting on to sink slightly.

"The last one should be used when we have no options left. This is one that the others have been authorized to use."

"Which is?" Achilles ask, finally getting free from the whip. I spread my wings and aim at a tree beside me. Feathers shoot out, going straight through the thin tree and into the next. The four holes and the other tree where the feathers hit begin to disintegrate. I look at Achilles, who just stars at the trees.

"I'm gonna sprout—" Achilles raises his hands up and flaps his fingers.

"No. I will appear in shadow form above you and will unleash them. Only those who will be pierced with the feathers will see me." Achilles nods and smiles nervously.

"Isn't that a bit much?" I shake my head.

"It is the only physical thing that you would be able to bear. The only problem is, you can only use this ability once. You cannot summon more than one weapon at time. On top of that, only three weapons can be summoned one after the other until you need a fifteen minute break." Achilles nods.

"What about the others?" I sit.

"I can only tell you the physical attributes."

"Okay. I'm fine with that."

"Teleportation via shadows, poisonous vines, tattoo weaponry, and fire breathing. I believe the owners are quite obvious."

"So, let me get this straight. One can teleport using only shadows. Another can summon vines that can kill someone with poison. Yet another one can create weapons using tattoos on them. And finally, one can burn someone to a crisp. Somehow, I still find your gift a bit..." Achilles shift his hands up and down like a scale.

"They have restrictions, too. Only shadows can be used during the day alone. The poisonous vines already are existing vines and can only grow so long. The tattoos are permanent and only so many can be added and used at a time. And the last can only use it once or burn from the inside."

"You gods are scary." Achilles says with a shudder.

"I know." I respond. "Just be happy that you receive no real consequence."

"What's the worst that could happen to me?" I stare off into the distance before finally looking at him in the eye.

"I kill you myself." Achilles raises an eyebrow.

"I'm immortal. No one know—"

"I will figure it out." I growl and walk away.

Over the past few days, I have been noticing signs of Zeus calling for my attention. I ignore every single one of them. I duck, swinging my sword as I do. Achilles roars in frustration as our sword connect and I push him back. He skids to a halt, using his sword to keep him from falling back. He rips his sword out of the ground and charges. I move to the side and kick him in the back, sending stumbling into a nearby fallen tree. Achilles turns, throwing he sword aside in frustration.

"Are you even giving me a chance?" He yells.

"No." I respond.

"All you've been doing is bullying and dragging me out of the actual war! When do I—" We both hear a stick snap and freeze instantly. A little girl bursts out of the trees. She run towards me and hides behind my skirts. Four dogs followed by two men burst out of the trees. The girl holds onto my skirts tightly and begins to cry for help.

"Return the slave!" One of the men yells. His dogs bark and growl at me. I glare at them, causing them to whimper and hide behind their owner.

"What is a slave?" I ask Achilles. Achilles stares at me in fear.

"A slave's—"

"Are you 𝘪𝘭í𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘢, 𝘴𝘬ý𝘭𝘢?"

"What did you say?" I growl, stepping forward and terrifying the child cowering behind me.

"A slave's kind of like a servant! Except that they're treated worse than cattle!" Achilles jumps out in front of me. I stare at him in shock.

"What?" I mutter.

"It's sick and—There's nothing you can do— Azora!" I begin to mutter under my breath as I try to get past Achilles. The men and their dogs don't seem so sure anymore as the look at each other and back away.

"Azora! Slavery's been around since the dawn of time! There's nothing you can do about it!" Achilles yells, snapping me out of my frenzy. I look down at the frightened child and scoop her up with one arm. I place her on my shoulder.

"Kill them." Achilles laughs nervously.

"There's nothing that we...Right, you're immortal and scary." Achilles takes a deep breath and draws his sword. "Close your eyes, kid." The little girl hides in my hair as Achilles slaughters the two men and dogs.

"Child, guide me to the place you have run from." The little girl comes out of my hair and looks at me with wide black eyes. Her curly hair has been shaved to the scalp and she has been starved to fit a small cloth that barely clothes her. I tear off a piece of my garments and cover her. She takes it and points at the trees where she burst out from.

"Are we really gonna do this?"

"Any better ideas?" I grumble. Achilles looks away and shakes his head.

"Do you plan on going like that?" He asks, pointing his sword at me. I look down and notice I had instinctively merged into my human form.

"Yes." With a nod, the three of us head off with the child's guidance. We eventually come up a major trade market on the outskirts of a small village. The inhabitants themselves are either dirt poor or filthy rich. Merchants and shop owners yell over each other, trying to be heard amongst themselves as travelers pass. At the very center of this chaos, a small stage made out of mud and sandstone holds enslaved men, women, and children. They sing amongst themselves and clang their chains as passerbys stop to watch.

A short fat man yells at the top of his lungs, bidding each slave off like cattle. We slowly approach them. The child on my shoulder hides her face within my hair. I take her off my shoulder and set her down. Holding her hand, we stop at the front of the stage.

"They found the runaway!" Someone yells. Immediately, a tall man approach us followed by the short fat one. Achilles covers my back as men surround us.

"Thank you. For capturing the slave." I recognize his human form. A dark skinned man with curly black hair, hazel eyes, and a slight beard. He's quite built. His white robes barely do him much good.

"Ananke." The god smiles.

"So, you can tell."

"Kid!" The human form of Hermes bursts through the crowd and pushes past Ananke. He's shorter with dark brown hair, black eyes, and has more of an athletic build. His robes match one of a travellers.

"You are behind this, too?" I yell. I grab Hermes by the throat. He begins to panic, making up excuses as he trembles in fear.

"No, no! I just—I'm the god of merchants, thieves, and—" I punch Hermes, sending him stumbling into Ananke, the god of slavery. The fat man orders the men to attack, but Ananke raises his hand.

"Zeus authorized it, sweetheart. Nothing can be done with the—"

"Shut it!" Hermes snaps. He looks at me, his eyes full of hurt as he massages his his jaw. "I know you're angry. I don't even know how you know what slavery is! But this isn't as bad as you think it is! These—" I punch him again.

"Achilles, clear the area of humans." Achilles nods, He picks up the little girl and runs off. Hermes shakes his head as Ananke grabs his shoulder and drags him back.

"But we're friends! Do you really want to do this?" He shoves Ananke off and tries to approach me.

"Hermes, those who enslave their own kind will flourish for a time under their suffering. But eventually, no matter how big and mighty the nation or empire is, it will fall to ruin or divide itself. They will slay their own in battle. And those they call their slaves will be set free to forever walk among them as a sign of what they have done." Hermes nods at my words and steps back.

"Then...By Zeus' order, I'm to stop you from getting in the way. I'm sorry, Azora." I shake my head.

"You will always be Zeus' messenger boy, huh?" And with that, Ananke attacks.