Read Online Journey Into Nyx by Jenna Helland - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jenna Helland
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else that’s happening, why are you concerned with him?” Anthousa asked.
“There is some connection between the Nyxborn creatures and the siege,” Cymede said. “The minotaurs who built the wall—they are Nyxborn. When we captured the satyr, he claimed he was an oracle trying to warn us of the Nyxborn threat.”
“Could that be true?” Nikka asked.
“Perhaps, but now we can’t find out,” Cymede said. She peered first at Nikka, then Anthousa, and finally her dark eyes settled on Elspeth. “He refuses to talk to us anymore. In fact, he won’t talk to anyone except a single person.”
“Who is that?” Daxos asked.
“A woman named Elspeth,” Cymede said, and everyone at the table reared back as if she’d dropped a snake in front of them. “The general said I would find her here.”
“I am Elspeth, but I know no satyr,” she said. “What’s his name?”
“He calls himself the Stranger,” Cymede said. “Please, will you come inside and meet with him? In my heart, I feel he has the answers that will break this wretched siege.”
Once inside the Kolophon, Daxos didn’t want Elspeth to see the satyr alone. He warned her that it could all be a mage’s trick. Elspeth assured him she would be careful and left him fuming with Cymede. She heard the queen reassuring Daxos that someone would stay with her at all times while the guard led her down to the prison level.
When the guard opened the iron door to the tiny cell and Elspeth saw the satyr, she knew Daxos had worried for nothing. “Stranger” looked so small, even forlorn, chained to the wall in the windowless cell beneath the Kolophon. He was shirtless and shivering, and red paint flaked off his skin. He had a raw and weeping scar on the left side of his chest. When the door opened and he saw Elspeth, his features brightened for a fleeting moment, and then he looked crestfallen once again. When her eyes met his, she remembered the Temple of Deceit where KING STRANGER had been written on the walls. With a sense of revulsion, Elspeth remembered the bodies in the dark corridor that led to Phenax’s temple and the man who had intruded into her mind. The memory caused her throat to constrict, and she took a deep gulp of air.
“Do you want me to come inside with you?” the guard asked.
Elspeth shook her head, so the guard retreated to the hall but left the door cracked open.
“Unfortunately, I can’t offer you a seat,” the satyr said.
“What do you want?” Elspeth said. “And how did you know my name?”
“I have a friend who speaks highly of you,” the satyr said. “His name is Sarpedon, but you may remember him as the Priest of Lies.”
“I met Sarpedon once,” Elspeth said. She felt disoriented. The satyr was talking about the very thing she’d been thinking about. “He barely knows me. What’s your name?”
“In Akros I’m called Stranger,” the satyr said.
“King Stranger?” Elspeth asked.
The satyr looked surprised. “My own people call me that. I’m surprised it’s traveled so far into the human world.”
“What do you rule over as a king?” she asked.
“It’s just a little joke among my people,” he said. “It’s a misinterpretation of my given name.”
“I saw your
people
,” Elspeth said, referring to the satyrs at the Takis Estate. “They were absurdly violent in your name.”
“I have no control over the satyrs,” King Stranger told her. “I am king of nothing.”
“So why did you ask to see me?” Elspeth asked. She felt irritable. Her skin felt like it was too tight. She wanted the satyr to hurry up and speak his piece.
“As I was trying to tell you, Sarpedon told me about you,” King Stranger said. “He fell out of favor with Phenax shortly after you spoke to him. But he’s taken up with another god, a god who would like to claim you for himself.”
“I’m not interested,” Elspeth said.
“Because you are Heliod’s Champion?” the satyr asked.
Elspeth took a deep
“There is some connection between the Nyxborn creatures and the siege,” Cymede said. “The minotaurs who built the wall—they are Nyxborn. When we captured the satyr, he claimed he was an oracle trying to warn us of the Nyxborn threat.”
“Could that be true?” Nikka asked.
“Perhaps, but now we can’t find out,” Cymede said. She peered first at Nikka, then Anthousa, and finally her dark eyes settled on Elspeth. “He refuses to talk to us anymore. In fact, he won’t talk to anyone except a single person.”
“Who is that?” Daxos asked.
“A woman named Elspeth,” Cymede said, and everyone at the table reared back as if she’d dropped a snake in front of them. “The general said I would find her here.”
“I am Elspeth, but I know no satyr,” she said. “What’s his name?”
“He calls himself the Stranger,” Cymede said. “Please, will you come inside and meet with him? In my heart, I feel he has the answers that will break this wretched siege.”
Once inside the Kolophon, Daxos didn’t want Elspeth to see the satyr alone. He warned her that it could all be a mage’s trick. Elspeth assured him she would be careful and left him fuming with Cymede. She heard the queen reassuring Daxos that someone would stay with her at all times while the guard led her down to the prison level.
When the guard opened the iron door to the tiny cell and Elspeth saw the satyr, she knew Daxos had worried for nothing. “Stranger” looked so small, even forlorn, chained to the wall in the windowless cell beneath the Kolophon. He was shirtless and shivering, and red paint flaked off his skin. He had a raw and weeping scar on the left side of his chest. When the door opened and he saw Elspeth, his features brightened for a fleeting moment, and then he looked crestfallen once again. When her eyes met his, she remembered the Temple of Deceit where KING STRANGER had been written on the walls. With a sense of revulsion, Elspeth remembered the bodies in the dark corridor that led to Phenax’s temple and the man who had intruded into her mind. The memory caused her throat to constrict, and she took a deep gulp of air.
“Do you want me to come inside with you?” the guard asked.
Elspeth shook her head, so the guard retreated to the hall but left the door cracked open.
“Unfortunately, I can’t offer you a seat,” the satyr said.
“What do you want?” Elspeth said. “And how did you know my name?”
“I have a friend who speaks highly of you,” the satyr said. “His name is Sarpedon, but you may remember him as the Priest of Lies.”
“I met Sarpedon once,” Elspeth said. She felt disoriented. The satyr was talking about the very thing she’d been thinking about. “He barely knows me. What’s your name?”
“In Akros I’m called Stranger,” the satyr said.
“King Stranger?” Elspeth asked.
The satyr looked surprised. “My own people call me that. I’m surprised it’s traveled so far into the human world.”
“What do you rule over as a king?” she asked.
“It’s just a little joke among my people,” he said. “It’s a misinterpretation of my given name.”
“I saw your
people
,” Elspeth said, referring to the satyrs at the Takis Estate. “They were absurdly violent in your name.”
“I have no control over the satyrs,” King Stranger told her. “I am king of nothing.”
“So why did you ask to see me?” Elspeth asked. She felt irritable. Her skin felt like it was too tight. She wanted the satyr to hurry up and speak his piece.
“As I was trying to tell you, Sarpedon told me about you,” King Stranger said. “He fell out of favor with Phenax shortly after you spoke to him. But he’s taken up with another god, a god who would like to claim you for himself.”
“I’m not interested,” Elspeth said.
“Because you are Heliod’s Champion?” the satyr asked.
Elspeth took a deep
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