ghostly children. âSomethingâs wrong with me,â he blurted out. âI can see ghosts.â
Akastos set down his beaker and looked at him.
âItâs horrible, I hate it!â cried Hylas. âI never know when Iâm going to see themâand when I do, my head hurts.â He touched the scar on his temple. âWhy is it happening? Why me? I never could before!â He appealed to Akastos, the wisest man he knew.
But all the wanderer said was, âYou still havenât told me what youâre doing here.â
Hylas blinked. âIâIâm trying to find Pirra.â
âWho? Oh, I remember, your girl.â
Hylas flushed. âSheâs not my girl, weâre just friends.â
Akastos snorted. âYouâre what, nearly fourteen? You expect me to believe that?â
Hylasâ flush deepened. âI donât care what you believe,â he said crossly. âSheâs somewhere called Taka Zimi, itâs high on Mount Dikti, but I donât know where.â
âStop stirring, itâs ready,â said Akastos.
The wine was strong, the porridge delicious, and Hylas forgot about being annoyed and ate two bowlfuls, then scraped the pot. Feeling pleasantly giddy and beautifully warm, he mustered his courage. âWhat about you?â
âWhat about me?â said Akastos without looking up.
âWhat are you doing here?â
He could see Akastos deciding how much to tell him. âIâm trying to find some people I used to know who hate the Crows as much as I do.â
The Crows. In his mind, Hylas saw their black rawhide armor and their harsh faces smeared with ash. Out loud he said, âAre the Crows here on Keftiu?â
âIf not yet, then soon.â
âWhy would they come here?â
âWork it out, Flea. After whatâs happened, Keftiu is the weakest itâs been in years. The Crows are bound to invade, itâs what they do.â His tone was bitter. Long ago, the Crows had invaded his homeland. Heâd fought alongside the rightful High Chieftain, and they might have won, if Outsiders from the mountains had fought with them. But the Outsiders had refused, and because of that, the High Chieftain had been killed, Koronos had seized Mycenae, and Akastos had lost his farm and fled.
A gust of wind burst open the door, letting in a blast of snow. Akastos slammed the door shut and Hylas wedged it with a piece of wood. When he sat down again, he was shaking. That felt like a message from the Crows: Wherever you are, we will find you.
All winter, heâd tried not to think about them, but now in his mind he saw Koronos, their lizard-eyed leader. He saw Telamon, whoâd been his own best friend until heâd turned his back on friendship and sided with his terrible grandfather, Koronos. He saw Koronosâ murderous spawn: Pharax, Alekto, and Kreon. And he remembered the terrible night when the Crows had attacked his camp, killing his dog and separating him from Issi.
Thinking of it made him dizzy and sick, and he clutched his upper arm, where the Crowsâ black obsidian arrowhead had dug into his flesh.
âSo now, Flea,â said Akastos, wrenching him back from the past. âOnce again you just happen to cross my path. All I know about you is that you may or may not be the Outsider in the Oracle. Itâs time to tell me who you really are.â
âWh-what do you mean?â stammered Hylas. âYou know who I am, Iâmââ
âWhere do you come from? Why do our paths keep crossing? Who were your parents?â
âI donât know,â said Hylas. âThatâs the truth. I never knew my father, I donât know anything about him.â
Akastos gave him a long, searching stare. âWhat about your mother?â
âAll I remember is she had dark hair and she told me to look after Issi. She left us on Mount Lykas when we were little, wrapped in a
Heidi Betts
Terry Ravenscroft
James Morrow
Issa Rae
Carole Nelson Douglas
Irina Shapiro
Soman Chainani
S. K. Rizzolo
Brenda Adcock
Stephanie Julian