Page 95 of Styx

my own throat. A piercing cry

of fear escaped my lips,

waking Asteria next to me.

‘Styx?’ Asteria asked with worry.

The look on her face

reflected the fear clawing at my heart.

‘Asteria,’ I said breathing heavily,

‘I did not mean to wake you.’

She shook her head.

‘Tell me what you saw.’

Asteria knew the aftermath

of a prophetic dream well enough;

her own came frequently.

‘I…’ I struggled to find words

as she handed me a goblet of nectar.

‘My father’s palace…

Something is…

something is coming, Asteria.’

She waited patiently as I gathered

my thoughts. ‘It was a God I did not know.

A God emerged and he destroyed—’

The fear closed my throat again.

I took a deep shuddering breath.

‘Something is coming for us all.’

Resignation

Asteria’s hand clasped mine.

‘You are safe here, Styx. And whatever

comes, we can face it together.’

I winced and shut my eyes.

‘No. This was… this was bigger.