Chapter Eighteen

## Eighteen

Her sisters looked like walking bird monsters with the feathered collars on their blacked-out ostrich-skin jackets and hoods capped with menacing beaked masks. They were, of course, goddesses beneath their costumed exterior. However, they would not be any less intimidating if they had been nude, with their tattooed, pierced flesh, and unconventional hairstyles. It was hard to tell they were the sisters of the beautiful blonde goddess that was now joining them.

 The King had his armored and pristine Throne Guard, but Hera had her harpies. Okypete, Podarke, Aellopos, Kelaino, and Nikothoe were the younger sisters of Iris, all daughters of the old sea god Thaumas and his sky nymph mate Elektra. As storm goddesses by birthright, they technically fell under the domain of Zeus and were pledged to the king, but Zeus had long ago tasked his queen with overseeing their clandestine duties.

 Mortals often called them 'Snatchers' as they would usually sweep down quickly, take whoever they had come for, and be gone before any had a chance to react. Few things were feared by the Elysians more than Hera's harpies, and they wore this fear like a badge of honor. But, of course, this made a gaping visual disconnect between their gruesome appearance and that of their leader: Iris, the goddess known for her long rainbow-colored scarf.

 There were seven harpies once, but now there were only six. With Iris stepping away to act as Hera's personal messenger, their number fell to the five. But as Iris touched down in front of her sisters assembled on the rooftop, she looked as though she had never left. She was without much of her usual accessories. Instead, today she was dressed as her sisters with black tactical trousers, a black jacket with a feathered collar, the distinct harpy cowl, and a solid purple scarf. Only her talaria-clad boots indicated her identity apart from her sisters.

 The five sisters looked at Iris as she arrived. "You're late," said Okypete, wearing the red scarf.

 "I had things to do," Iris explained, "in service of our queen."

 No one argued that. The sisters knew better than to get on Hera's wrong side.

 "Here," said Podarke, wearing the orange scarf, handing Iris a harness with holstered hand carbine. "It's loaded," she explained as they carefully exchanged possession of the weapon.

 Podarke watched as Iris fitted the harness over her jacket and trousers. "What is the situation here?" asked Iris, her eyes scanning her masked sisters for one who could answer her.

 Nikothoe was the one who stepped forward, her blue scarf blowing in the wind. She pointed to the skylight on the other end of the rooftop from where they congregated. "Haven't had much movement at all on the upper floors," she said with a stern voice. "I think that confirms our suspicions of a basement bunker."

 "How many are in there?" Iris asked. "Do we have any idea? An estimate?"

 "About a dozen," said Nikothoe.

 Iris scoffed. "Only? I could have handled that by myself. Why did you need me?"

 "We originally thought there would be more," said Kelaino, the strategist of the five, wearing the green scarf. "Something spooked them. We overheard a couple of them talking as they went inside. Something happened in Corinth. I am sure others heard of this and chose not to attend this gathering."

 Iris nodded. "When was the last time one entered?"

 "Well over an hour ago," said Aellopos, wearing her golden scarf tucked into her coat.

 "And no one has left?"

 "None," Aellopos replied quickly.

 Iris nodded. "Good. Then whatever we're interrupting is likely still underway. Let's go in quietly and see if we can't eavesdrop a little before making a scene."

 Okypete scoffed. She was, without a doubt, the most aggressive of the sisters. "Why bother? They're all heretics. I say we just butcher them and decorate the outside of this building with their corpses. Make others think twice about practicing heresy."

 Smirking, Iris eyed Okypete. "After we do some reconnaissance, Okypete... I will personally put you in charge of heretic body disposal and you can do whatever you want to them. Okay, sister?"

 Shadowed under the beak of her mask, Okypete's face had a slight smile. It was an expression Iris turned away from to approach the nearby hatch. Instead, she gave it a light tug and found it unlocked. "Not expecting anyone to drop in, I see," she said as she opened the hatch door completely, lowering it to rest on the rooftop without clatter. Iris then hopped in and fell through the hole, letting her talaria activate to absorb the ruckus of her fall and let her touch the floor below without a sound louder than a soft breeze.

 Iris' sisters followed suit but used the ladder to avoid detection. Once all five had descended, the sisters found themselves behind Iris on a long walkway that hung over a grand library of some sort, its ceiling raised to accommodate the extensive shelving that took up several floors. The spacious room below them was an absolute marvel of architecture and would make many architects drop their jaws in awe.

 The center of the room was open from the ground floor to the ceiling, with a little scenic indoor pond at the center of the ground floor, styled as a 'nymph garden' with artificial grass and small statues of nymphs and satyrs gathered around the pool. Surrounding the courtyard built around this pond were large columns of Corinthian marble that stretched to the ceiling. The higher levels ended with a railing-protected balcony that overlooked this small pond.

 The sisters ventured along their narrow passage to a ladder connected to the library's highest floor. "Fan out," said Iris, seeing a spiral staircase nearby. "Each sister take a floor," she commanded, directing her sisters' attention to the nearby staircase. "Clear your floor and then descend to the next."

 Okypete was right behind Iris. "I got this floor," she said as she held her carbine ready in one hand and a serrated blade in the other. She had disappeared behind a row of shelves to hunt her prey in another moment.

 "Would you like the next floor?" Aellopos asked Iris.

 "No," said Iris, shaking her head as she grabbed the railing and sprung over. With incredible speed, Iris fell to the ground floor, having her landing softened by a magical cushion of air that stalled her descent in the last few moments. As she got her bearings and scanned her immediate surroundings for hostiles, Iris' attention was drawn to the nymph garden. She felt a snarl form on her lips as she realized that the nymphs' statues had been chipped and defiled with vulgarities carved or painted into their faces or backs. More than one was missing limbs or head. "Heretics," Iris said, shaking her head. "No respect for their betters."

 Iris turned her back from the pool and walked between two stacks of books. She did not draw her weapon but rested one hand on the grip of the holstered weapon as her other hand's fingers stroked the bindings of the books as she passed by. She was sure that these were the oldest books in the collection, as they used natural bindings with primitive techniques. If this place had lower levels, it was likely where older literature on parchment scrolls and chiseled tablets could be found. She removed a glove and ran her hand over the bindings, letting the tactile sensation wash over her to remind her of a different time. And then, she noticed the thick coat of dust on her fingertips.

 Seeing the amount of dust caked on her fingers and the accompanying absence of sound, Iris chose not to bother with actually clearing the entirety of her floor. Instead, when she reached a doorway to the rest of the compound, Iris felt confident enough to step out of the library. The first room she came upon was the lobby. Iris' place in the doorway to the library was near a reception counter with a large coat closet behind it. Iris thought to check the coat check area first.

 Iris found a dust-covered guestbook behind the counter where an attendant would have stood in this building's heyday. She pulled the book from its place on the shelf and dropped it on the countertop, causing a cloud of dust to form around it. Iris waved the dust away and eyed its cover. "The Orchard," she read aloud as she ran her fingers over the gold-leaf title. "This was a meeting house of the old Orchard Society," she said to herself, fondly recalling the few private Orchard parties she had been to over a hundred years ago. Iris curiously opened the tome, causing its bindings to crack from neglect. She paused then and closed the book to spin its back toward her for examination.

 Iris shook the thought aside and turned the book again to search its contents. Contained inside were thousands of signatures and dates, mostly the same couple of dozen names repeated, recording their attendance throughout the last few years of the society's life, with the filled pages suddenly empty. Upon discovering the first blank page and confirming the ones behind it were all also unfilled, Iris flipped to the last page, which was dated and bore signatures. Only twelve names were logged in that day. Nevertheless, Iris recognized them all, even the date itself. Reading these now caused the light to go out in her eyes as she recalled the associated event from memory.

 "What is the matter?" asked Aellopos as she and her four sisters walked into the foyer.

 "This is the old Orchard House," Iris explained. "Did any of you know that?"

 "Impossible," said Nikothoe. "All of the Delian League's meeting houses were torn down."

 "Not all of them," said Iris, with a sigh. She slapped the book closed. "This one was spared by divine decree."

 "Whose decree?" asked Podarke. "Why spare the heretics? Who stayed their hand from punishing them?"

 Iris sighed as she lowered her head. "We did, sister. We did."

 Aellopos scoffed. "Nonsense."

 Okypete agreed with a bold step forward and smacked the book from under Iris' hand, causing it to spill on the floor and its pages to scatter. "You're a liar, sister! What has gotten into you?"

 Iris looked at Okypete, then over her shoulders to the other four. "Our mistress commanded it, and we obeyed. Do you not recall?"

 Taking another step forward, Okypete gave Iris a slight shove. "We killed many heretics in the Delian Uprising. That I do recall. If we were tasked to kill the Delian League, then we killed the Delian League. I am certain of that much. We would not have rested 'til it was so."

 "And if commanded to spare a few, would we not do the same?" asked Iris.

 "We would, regrettably, but fortunately that was not asked of us," said Alleopos, speaking for her sisters. "Come now, Iris... We still have the lower levels to search."

 Taking a step forward, Iris shook her head but kept her tongue still. The goddess sensed mind games at play but walked forward without further mention. Intuition told Iris that the door to the staircase granting access to the lower levels was behind the massive fireplace at the rear of the lobby. As Iris found the door and opened it, she confirmed her suspicions. She had been here before. However, she disregarded that sense of the familiar. Instead, Iris descended into the depths of the unknown with her sisters behind her.

 The long staircase was part of a large spiral and continued into the depths of the earth, with lit torches in small alcoves on every turn of the decline. As she passed the third torch, Iris wondered how deep she had walked and how further she had to go. The fourth torch brought her mind back to a state of inquiry. What could have caused her and her sisters to forget about this place? The fifth alcove passed, and Iris wondered why she had vague recollections while her sisters did not. Iris felt she may have been lured into a trap by the time she reached the seventh torch. By the tenth torch, she regretted suspecting that sort of thing from her sisters.

 Eleven torches, and Iris began to hear sounds coming from below her. Her pace quickened but remained measured and quiet. The twelfth torch was beside a door at a landing that signaled the end of the impressive stairwell. The voices came from behind the door. Iris touched the door and cautiously tried it. It opened without restraint, and Iris stepped inside. Inside was a long corridor with barred cells on either side, each one separated from the next by a thick wall of brick speckled with adamantine dust and sealed with mortar made from Underworld mud.

 "By the gods," Iris said as she stepped in and saw the voices coming from nymphs and satyrs, the occupants of the cells. Iris ran up to the first cell. Behind its bars, the cell held a dryad nymph. Iris pulled at the door. As Iris touched the bars of the adamantine cell and pulled against them, she felt a sharp pain surge through her. This foul sensation caused Iris to pull her bare hand back with a pained hiss. Her eyes looked at her hand and saw it crippled in a deformed, gnarled position. "What is this?"

 The nymph in the cell slowly backed away from Iris and her sisters. A sense of dread wore on her face.

 Iris sighed, massaging the sensation back into her affected hand and seeing it quickly regain its vitality. "Do not be alarmed, young one. We shall find some means to rescue you. I swear that to you in Hera's name."

 Okypete crossed the corridor to where keys hung on hooks. She extended her gloved hand, took a key from the hook, and walked toward Iris. "Allow me, sister," said Okypete, sidestepping around Iris to open the cell door. As she swung the door back, Iris noted her gloved hands were not affected.

 "Thank you, sister," said Iris, who stepped up to the opening and waved the nymph toward her. The prisoner, however, did not budge, only pressing her back tighter against the rear wall. Iris sighed and pulled her hood back. "No need to fear. We are the harpies. My name is Iris. I am Herald of the Queen," Iris said, stepping into the cell and reaching toward the nymph with her unaffected hand. "Please, let me help you."

 The nymph looked over Iris' shoulders, looking beyond the cell to the harpies in the shadows. She then looked back to Iris and trembled.

 Iris channeled her endowment as the Goddess of Hope to flood the nymph with optimism, comforting her concerns. Then as Iris took one more step in the cell, the nymph took two toward Iris. Iris took two more steps, and the nymph reached out and took Iris by the hand and pulled her in for a tight embrace, wiping her tears on Iris' sleeve.

 "You truly are here to save us?" the nymph barely managed to ask.

 "Yes," said Iris, as she swung her partially paralyzed hand to brush the nymph's hair, feeling the sensation still returning to her extremity.

 The embrace continued until Iris broke away but kept holding the scared nymph's hand. Then, finally, she turned around to face her sisters. "Okypete and Nikothoe, begin freeing the others. The rest of you descend down the corridor and find the heretics."

 "I have found the heretics," Okypete said as she swung the door closed and extracted the key. "And they are where they belong."

 Iris gasped as she took a step forward, gripping tightly to the nymph's hand as she tried to back away and flee to the rear of the cell. Iris glared at her sister. "What is the meaning of this?!"

 "Our mistress commanded this be done," said Aellopos, averting her eyes from Iris as she inched toward the door to the stairwells. "You will be safe here, dear sister... Safe until the revolution is over."

 "Revolution?" Iris asked, taking a step forward even though she had to drag the nymph with her. "What revolution? What have you done? I demand to speak with Hera! Let me see my queen!"

 Okypete chuckled as she turned her back to Iris and followed the other four harpies as they disappeared back up the steps.

 "Sisters"! barked the goddess, unholstering her pistol. "Sisters, do not make me do this!"

 Nikothoe scoffed and folded her arms. "Go ahead, sister. A hundred talents say you don't have it in you to shoot one of your sisters."

 Iris screamed with frenzied rage. She did not like her bluff being called. Iris lowered her aim, focusing on the harpy's shin as that would not kill her sister. Then, with a clenched jaw, Iris pulled the trigger.

 Nothing happened, causing Iris' eyes to jolt wide and open. Nikothoe and the others laughed as they strolled away. Though she was careful not to touch the bars, Iris stood close enough to feel the unholy energy coursed through them. Then, after opening her weapon and realizing she had been given an empty weapon, she hissed and threw it to the floor. "Sisters, get back here!"

 Iris let out a loud sigh as she heard the door lock behind the harpies. Iris then emptied her lungs and faced the nymph. She took in the stale air of the cells and locked gazes with the prisoner. "Tell me everything you know about this place, how you came to be here, and what is happening. Spare me no details."

 The nymph moistened her lips with her tongue and then let out a soft sigh. "Your mother is Elektra... the Okeanid of the Nephelai tribe."

 Iris nodded. "Yes... That is correct," she said, slowly moving toward the tree nymph. "Do you know her?"

 The nymph was silent, but she nodded after a long and deliberate pause. "I met her once."

 Iris nodded. "You're a dryad," she said, "if I'm not mistaken."

 The nymph nodded. "My name is Karya."

 "Greetings, Karya," Iris said. She looked about the sparse cell for a moment and approached the wall. "Please, if I know what is happening, I might be able to help."

 "You want to know what is happening?" asked a voice outside the cell. The sound of heavy hooves on the stone floor caused Iris to turn around and squint into the darkness. Across from her cell, behind the bars of another confine, was the tall and proud centaur Kheiron. "Perhaps I can tell you..."

 "Kheiron?!" exclaimed Iris. "They caught you? The God of Centaurs?"

 Kheiron shook his head. "I may be immortal, but I am hardly a god..." he said, weary and weak. "I was a god once, but I surrendered my purview to focus on my kind," he explained, pausing as he looked upon Iris. "But even if I were a god, that would not give me the power to leave this place... as your presence clearly demonstrates."

 Iris' shoulders slumped. "I... I was duped," she said. She paused to approach the cell bars. "You could have warned me, friend."

 Scoffing, Kheiron shook his head. "I was asleep when you entered. By the look of you, I assumed you were one of my captors."

 "Captors?" asked Iris before she realized what she was wearing. With a scoff, she took off her mask and jacket. Tossing the clothing aside, Iris groaned. "What is happening here? Why would my sisters do this?"

 Kheiron's eyes shot down into the dark depths of the dungeon. "Do you see what awaits at the end of the chamber?"

 Iris' divine eyes slowly revealed the darkness as she acclimated. A shallow trough was found, with chains suspended from the ceiling above it. Beyond that was a rack of bladed instruments, most rusted and worthless, but a few more recent and well-maintained with sharp edges. Iris averted her eyes once her mind made the connection.

 "You have heard the rumors?"

 Iris nodded. "Ritual sacrifice," she began, "of nymphs and satyrs," she said, followed by a heavy sigh. "I did not want to believe such things could be accurate, but Persephone told me she had witnessed it."

 Kheiron nodded. "I felt the same when I first heard, even though we all knew it was true... I wanted to doubt it. I wanted to believe it could not be the truth... and yet."

 The dryad approached from the cell's rear, interested in hearing from the centaur. "Before you came here, I had a cellmate."

 Iris blinked. "And she is-?"

 The nymph looked toward the darkness. "A week ago... Her screams still haunt me."

 "A week ago?" asked Kheiron. "That would have been just before my arrival."

 The nymph nodded.

 The centaur stroked his beard. "Were there any others that were sacrificed since her?"

 "Just one," said the nymph. "Vanko, the satyr."

 Kheiron nodded. "I remember," he sighed. "That was three days ago. I fear we only have one more night until the next sacrifice."

 Iris shot the centaur a startled gaze. "Why only one more night?"

 "I think they killing one of us every four days."

 "Not always," said another voice that Iris could not see, coming from her adjacent cell. The tone was gruff and masculine, likely belonging to a satyr. The faint sound of tiny hooves on the stone floor confirmed her suspicions. "Sometimes it's three days, other times it is four or five. Once we were down here for seven days without such torment, they took two of us that night."

 Iris approached the wall closest to the voice. "Friend, who are you?"

 "I'm Yehor," he said with a scoff.

 "How long have you been here?"

 "I don't know," he admitted. "Hard to tell without the moons, but judging by the number of times they've bothered to feed me, I'm guessing I've been here for about a month."

 "A month?" asked Iris.

 "Yeah, everyone I was rounded up with has been taken already," confessed the gruff voice of Yehor. "I figure my number has got to be up this next time or soon after."

 Iris looked over to Kheiron. "Is there nothing we can do?"

 Kheiron shook his head solemnly. "I have tried much but..."

 Shaking her head, Iris refused to accept that. "No," she said. "We can..." she paused and winced. "I left my caduceus in Olympus. If I had that, then I could-"

 Kheiron shook his head. "I doubt even that would help," he said, pointing to the bars. "The dark magic in here counters our magic. The nymphs cannot bond with the earth, and I cannot channel the strength of the wild."

 Iris nodded. "Yes, but that is elemental magic. The caduceus used divine power and maybe that could-"

 Kheiron shrugged. "Fair, but what point is there in wondering? You do not have the relic in your possession."

 "What about those?" asked the nymph, pointing at Iris' feet. "What do those do?"

 Iris looked down at her shin-shod talaria. "They help me channel the power of the air to raise me in the air or-" Iris clicked her heels together and felt a spark of power. The output was weak but present. "Hmm... I have an idea, but I'm going to need your help. All of you..."

## Characters

### Gods

* Iris
* Okypete
* Podarke
* Aellopos
* Kelaino
* Nikothoe