Chapter 8: Reunion

On the one hand, it was genuinely nice to know that Davos cared enough to drag the others into looking for her. On the other, Synto took her Divinity. Sure, she may have gotten something better, but this was twice he’d taken what was promised to her. Adriana took a deep breath and pushed past Davos on the way to their crew’s leader.

Synto and Mykos didn’t look especially happy to see her, but the feeling was mutual. They stayed at the mouth of the cave when she came out, Davos trailing behind. They stood their ground as Adriana came right up to them and immediately went for it.

“What the hell were you thinking, taking my Divinity?” She barked.

Synto raised an eyebrow, and then looked her up and down. “You were way uglier before, and didn’t glow. You must’ve found something of your own, and a good amount if it brought you to the second ascension.”

Adriana bared her teeth, but he wasn’t wrong. Now that she looked at him, he looked better too. Less oily, more confident and dangerous. “I should be at the third ascension by now. Give it over.”

Synto pretended to think about it. “Hmmm….No, I don’t think I will. I had every reason to believe that you were dead, and you found something anyway. Unless you want to fight me for it.” The corners of his lips twitched.

She became acutely aware of Synto’s hand on his club, and the way Mykos looked at them both. His own hands went to his daggers. Adriana wasn’t armed, but she had incredible new powers. Problem was, so did Synto, apparently.

Davos came to the rescue. “Look, you both got more powerful. Good for you. Do you really want to fight about it now, or should we comb the beach and look for any other treasures to pass out? We’ve got a lot of Bestia, but we might want to grab what we can and then get the fuck off this island. There’s no telling if the Maw or her creatures are going to come back.”

Adriana and Synto glared at each other, and the seconds ticked by slowly. Finally Synto relaxed and crossed his arms over his chest. “As always Davos, you are smarter than you look. There’s bound to be some more loot for us to grab. And then, when we sell it, maybe we part ways. You take your share and you can buy whatever Divinity you want.”

She stared him down a moment longer, then nodded. “Yeah, I can live with that. We grab what we can, leave, split the loot, and part ways. But Synto? If you try to screw me again, I will end you.”

Synto smirked before walking away. Mykos hesitated, then followed after him, leaving Adriana and Davos alone as the two men made their way back through the jungle to the beach. Davos waited until they were out of earshot before he turned his attention back to her.

“What happened in there?”

“Hessius fell, and I fell with him,” she said. “He died, and gave me his power. And now I’m at thirteen percent Divinity.”

Davos made a face. “Just thirteen? You’d think being the God of the sun, he’d have more.”

A strange feeling passed through Adriana. She shrugged and said, “Maybe there was less because he was so injured. Or maybe he’d given enough of his power to others so there wasn’t as much left. Either way, I am stronger than I’ve ever been in my life, and I’m going to use it. Once we leave Synto, we can find a real crew, or make our own.”

“And who’s going to lead this new crew?” Davos asked with a raised eyebrow. “You?”

“Well, why not?” Adriana said. “I’m strong, I’m decisive, I’m --”

“A hothead,” said Davos. “And now even more so, taking in the power of the sun.”

The worst part about Davos was how smug he could be when he was right. Nothing in his tone or face changed, but he didn’t continue. He didn’t need to.

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“So what, then. You as the leader?” The more she thought about it, the less funny it was.

Davos shook his head. “I’m not leadership material. Never have been. But I don’t think you are either. But if you’re really so strong, we can probably spend a month or two feeling our way around, find some good jobs, and maybe get a little stronger before we brave working with others.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Adriana conceded. As much as she hated to wait or take things slow, this was a huge, life-changing amount of Divinity. But then, Hessius’ dying words echoed in her head. “What if…we went to Hessiopolis? He wanted me to warn his followers that he died, and to gather the Children of Stephanos.”

“It’s as good a place as any,” he said. “Warning others is probably a good idea, but…I’m not looking forward to the panic when people find out their greatest champion is dead. For now, let’s keep our heads down and get through today.”

Dawn crept towards them slowly as they ran through the trees and back to the beach. The sky lightened, but the sun had yet to peek over the horizon. The battleground waiting for her didn’t surprise Adriana. With that many bodies, humans and monsters, the survivors would talk about the night before for the rest of their lives. The night when the Maw of Chaos slew a God.

She shivered upon seeing a mass of tentacles and crab claws on the shoreline. It had been as big as a ship once, and now pieces of it floated off to sea as the waves crashed against it. The push and pull of the ocean would reclaim the monster, and the scavengers on land would pick apart the rest in a day or two.

“Synto brought us here,” she said when she and Davos slowed down. The other two members of their crew were in sight, crouched over a pile of corpses. “Do you think he knew about this battle?”

Davos shrugged. “You could ask, I guess, but there’s no way of knowing. I think he knew something was going to happen, but he didn’t know how big. If he had, I don’t think he would’ve gone for it. Despite being a bastard, he’s cautious…until he isn’t.” He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“I think I will ask,” she declared. Adriana closed the distance and reached them right as Synto pulled a small, dull orb of Divinity from the sand.

“Ah, there you are,” said Synto. He tossed her the orb. She caught it and looked at it. Red and yellow swirled in a chaotic pattern. “It’s from Iosephos, I believe. As a heartfelt apology, I’d like to give this to you. Divinity from the God of food and festivals!”

Adriana sneered and chucked it back at him. “What is that, one percent Divinity? Of one of the lesser Gods? Fuck you, Synto. I want the prize that was promised to me.”

“Oh well,” said Synto. He handed it over to Mykos, who didn’t hesitate to pop it into his mouth. The flash of red and yellow light was barely anything. He didn’t even seem to be in much pain during it all. “You’ll get what you deserve soon enough, I’m sure.”

Mykos shuddered and then grinned at Adriana. “Your loss. I know exactly what I’ll do with this gift.”

Adriana ignored him and focused on Synto. “How much did you know about the battle here last night?”

Synto’s smirk dropped. “I knew there would be a gathering of a few medium powers here. I didn’t know about the Maw, or Hessius showing up. Is that where you got your power, Adriana? You have the last bit of the sun God in you?”

He was goading her, and she knew it, but she couldn’t help but respond. “Yeah, it was. He gave me the last of his power and a quest. A quest that would be a lot easier if I had the Warmaster’s Divinity.”

“Oh? And what quest is that?”

Her cheeks flushed. “He told me to fight and kill the Maw of Chaos.”

“Oh, is that it? We’ll get that done on the way back to town.” Synto smiled again, but he seemed to look at her in a new light. “Let’s get back to the boat, and I’ll give you the full power of the Divinity I took. I don’t want to do it while we’re vulnerable. Is that acceptable?”

It was better than Adriana expected, and she didn’t trust it for a second.

“Yeah,” she said. “That’s acceptable.”

“Great,” said Synto. He bowed theatrically and motioned for her to get moving.

Adriana took off without looking at him again. Davos caught up to her, and together they headed north along the east coast of the island. They walked past corpse after corpse, and marveled at the size of some of the monsters in the thick of the fighting. The smell was terrible, but at least the sea helped mask some of it.

The sky continued to brighten, and the first few rays of light struck them. After a night of fighting, nearly dying, and the rest, fatigue had settled in and threatened to drag Adriana down. Now, she felt some of her energy returning. Faster and faster, warmth and energy filled her, until she wanted to ignore the loot and sprint to the boat.

“Adriana?” Davos said in alarm.

“Yeah?” She turned to him.

“You’re…You’re on fire!”

She looked down. All along her arms, flames came to life, flickering in the cool morning breeze.

“Huh.”