Page 166 of Styx

Someone or something must have taken her.

On her quest to find ingredients,

someone may have stolen her.

An outrage burst through me.

Who had the audacity to trap a Goddess?

Who had thought they could get away

with such a sacrilegious, vile deed?

My hands balled into fists.

‘We need to find her. Now.’

Eurus pointed and said,

‘She is in a cavern three mountains

away from here. It is the only cavern

upon that mountain.’

She contemplated something,

then looked at us carefully.

‘I wish you good fortune.

And safety.’

The Mouth of the Unknown

I was immortal enough to rarely feel pain,

but there was discomfort in walking

mountain ranges with a baby within my womb.

Asteria and Pallas both helped me

where they could, often exchanging worried

glances. We were headed into the belly

of an unknown beast and I was now so swollen,

it was clear I had a child within me.

A child destined to complete a prophecy.

Just before nightfall we reached the cavern.

This was nothing like Asteria’s and my own

hiding place, which was comforting and familiar.