Chapter 2

I woke up blurred and broken in a pitch-dark ravine. Pain leaked out of my battered bird body. Moros looked at me with pity. He drew a blade and sliced my brow. Warm blood gushed into a gleaming obsidian bowl.

The agony ripped through me. I shook and couldn't scream. I fought to keep from passing out. I caught a glimpse of a towering shadow of a man lying on a stone bed. Before I could see more, blackness swallowed me whole.

Moros ran his hand gently down my feathers. "Hold on, little one. Only your blood can save Ares now."

He carved open the man's arm and merged my magic blood with his. Divine power hummed in the air. Once he was done, he brought a cold chalice to my beak. It was Olympian water.

First he bled me dry, and now he tried to heal me? It felt like divine roulette. But my survival instinct took over, and I gulped it down. The chill burned hot. A rush of fire coursed through me and sealed every wound I had.

I barely had time to catch my breath before Moros picked me up. He dragged my limp body to the edge of a forgotten abyss.

The next time I woke up, I was nowhere near the golden skies of Olympus. I was in a wasteland blanketed with death and gray mist. It was the Fields of Erebus. This was the borderland between the Underworld and the mortal realm. It was the playground of the god Erebus. Here, the ground cracked and cursed magic steamed up. Monsters prowled and damned souls cried in the darkness.

I staggered to my feet and flapped my crooked wings. I was desperate to fly, but I found a wild boar instead. It had yellow tusks and drool stringing from its lips. It slinked out of the fog and locked its hungry eyes on me. A wicked sneer crossed its face.

"Well, well. Erebus delivers a real treat! I didn't expect a snack today."

Terror ripped through me. I fought to get away. "Stay back! Get away! Don't touch me!" My tiny voice chirped frantically.

The beast's snout twitched as it sniffed me. It drank in my scent. "So sweet. God-blood tastes different. If I eat you, I'll level up!"

Slobber splashed everywhere as it dove for me. Its razor tusks tore through my wing. I blacked out. I was sure I was dead.

But then, I saw a light. A burning gold shield appeared and surrounded me. The boar slammed into it and snarled. It was catapulted through the mist. Its huge body spun mid-air and crashed into a tree. The impact snapped the tree clean in half. Blood spilled out of the boar’s mouth.

"Damn it! What the hell?" the beast grunted.

Before it could get up, a man dropped out of the sky. He was tall and broad. He slashed his sword, and silver flashed. The metal bit into the beast’s flesh. The brute squealed and shuddered in agony as blood poured from its jaws. It kicked twice and then died.

The man scooped me up in his enormous hand and nestled me in his palm. He fastened a necklace around my throat. It was plain, but it glowed with divine gold. He didn't say a word. He mounted his beast and carried me to a wooden hut deep in the Fields of Erebus.

I was half-conscious, but I felt his warmth as he put me down. As I faded again, I saw the outline of his powerful back vanishing into the gloom.