Page 109 of Styx

‘Your father brought me diagrams.

He says they came from prophetic

dreams of the Titans. He calls them

divine weapons.’ She reached out

and touched the edge of one,

letting out a harsh hiss when

its sharpness cut through her finger,

golden ichor spilling from it.

Immediately, Pallas was up from his forge

taking her hand in his and examining

the wound. ‘It’ll heal,’ Styx said shortly,

but he was already binding it

with a piece of cloth ripped from his robes.

‘It will not heal quickly,’ I told her.

‘That’s what adamantine does.’

Styx looked around at the weapons.

And I saw a shadow pass across her face.

Pallas was still holding her hand.

Her face cleared to something softer and she said,

‘Thank you.’

I raised an eyebrow and caught Perses’s eye.

He smiled at me and winked.

A warmth came to my cheeks.

Perhaps this was the first of many such

moments between Pallas and Styx.

The Carvings

The next evening,

Perses and I met by the docks.

I had whispered to him yesterday

before leaving that I had a plan.