Son of Apollo

Note: This story is a sequel to The Sisters

Yuri bowed his head before the statue, and placed a laurel wreath at its feet. He stood at the front of a line of young men, all of them with shaven faces and heads. Each carried a sacrifice, and wore white robes bearing the crest of Apollo: a lyre at the center of the sun.

“Lord of the daylight, master of song, I bring you this gift that you might bless me in all pursuits,” Yuri murmured. The wreath caught fire without even a spark of ignition. As it burned, Yuri felt a hint of relief. The guilt at the back of his mind did not vanish, but the god had either not noticed, or had decided to forgive the boy. “I pledge my life to your service.”

Yuri bowed again, and stepped aside. The last laurel branches crumpled to ash, and were swept away. As he left the altar, Yuri’s hand slipped into a pocket, and he felt a piece of paper. It was still there. He relaxed further, and began to hum a candid song of praise.

The interior of the temple of Apollo was lit only by torches and candles. Priests were permitted to conjure orbs of fire that floated above their palms, but these lights must not outshine the light of the sun itself.

Rich banners of red and orange were draped at intervals along the marble walls. Through a narrow doorway, daylight streamed into the windowless room. A gentle stream of robed figures flowed in and out of the prayer room. As Yuri walked towards the door, he replaced the hood over his bald head, and fell in line behind a fellow acolyte.

They stepped outside, and into a dazzling courtyard. The temple was horseshoe-shaped, and wrapped around a shallow amphitheater. At the center, a massive statue of Apollo stood atop a stone pedestal. His skin was gilded, and his tunic was sculpted as though it was rippling in a breeze. Apollo’s fingers were poised to pluck the strings of a lyre that he carried. All around the statue, along the stairs, and in the shade of the towering columns of the temple, a crowd of worshipers went about their business.

Some of them were human, but there were also dwarves, elves, goblins, bird-folk, turtle-folk, all manner of folk. Though only human men could become priests (for they were created in Apollo’s shape and of his beauty), all creatures and spirits were welcome to the temple.

Yuri split from the group of acolytes, and walked towards the edge of the temple building. He rounded one of the massive columns, and took the folded paper out of his pocket. He began to unfold it, but heard a man’s voice calling his name. As well, he heard footsteps coming closer, and he stuffed the paper back into his pocket.

Just as Yuri was assuming a candid pose, an old man in priest’s robes stepped around the column. The man was also bald, but his untrimmed, grey eyebrows were determined to make up the lost hair. The man’s eyes were a vibrant green that seemed to glow, even when not in direct light. His skin was smooth and tan from the years worshipping beneath the open sky.

“Ah, there you are,” said the man.

“Father Pliamus,” muttered Yuri, and the two bowed to each other. Yuri smiled, but his voice quivered as he spoke. “I-- I didn’t hear you call--”

“No need to panic, boy,” the old priest chuckled. “You’re not in trouble. No. No such thing.”

“How may I serve you, then?” Yuri asked. He raised his chin, putting all of his effort into looking confident, assured. But not too confident, he hoped. He lowered his chin a bit.

“You have shown great promise, Yuri,” said Father Pliamus. “Your study habits have clearly improved, as your essays can attest. You give strong arguments, demonstrate an understanding of the creeds, and provide cunning insight into the nature of our lord. I suspect great things await you. Perhaps, one day, you may find yourself the high priest of this very temple.”

As he spoke, Father Pliamus lowered himself to sit on the temple steps beside Yuri. He smiled up at the boy, and motioned for Yuri to take a seat, which he did.

“High priest?” Yuri asked. He felt overwhelmed by the notion. His heart leapt, and he couldn’t help but smile as he pictured himself donning the gold-threaded robes of the high priest. A pang of guilt struck him, though, as he remembered the note in his pocket. He looked back at Father Pliamus. “Do you really think so?”

Father Pliamus nodded. “I do not get to make that choice. I may not even live to see it. But the works of one so devoted rarely go unrewarded.”

“I don’t think I deserve it,” Yuri said. “I’m not wise enough, and I’ve barely learned to wield Apollo’s powers.”

“Power and wisdom, pah!” Father Pliamus laughed. “Leave power to the kings and nobles. Let the scholars in the college find all the wisdom and knowledge they desire. You have something more important: a devoted heart.

“We swear away our love for a purpose. We men who love only the gods will be chosen to do their will.” Yuri felt the note in his pocket like a weight chained to his heart. Father Pliamus placed his hand on Yuri’s shoulder. “Listen to Apollo, and he will guide you. Never let anything stand between you and our lord.”

Yuri scratched his head. He wasn’t sure if he should feel encouraged or disheartened.

“But, forgive me, I ramble,” continued Father Pliamus. He began to search through the folds of his satchel. “I did not seek you out to fill your head with petty worries. Ah, here we are!”

Father Pliamus pulled a small scroll out of his bag. The seal was shaped like the crest of Apollo, but instead of a lyre at the center of the sun, there was an eye. He handed the scroll to Yuri.

“Is that…?” Yuri breathed deeply, and hesitated to touch the seal. If he touched it, maybe it would vanish. He held the scroll delicately, and noticed an uneven weight at its center.

“The oracle has named you,” said Father Pliamus, “for an unknown task. You will be tested, but I know you have the strength to overcome the challenge. Do not break the seal. It will open when the time is right.”

Father Pliamus rose from his seat, and began to trudge away. After a few steps, he paused, and turned around. Yuri was still sitting, frozen on the steps. Adrenaline rushed through his veins like fuel stirred into a fire.

“Remember,” said Father Pliamus, “you will not have a second chance. The oracle rarely deals with anything less than lives. If you hesitate, you may lose yours.”

Yuri pried his neck free of the trance that had overtaken him. He looked up at Father Pliamus, set his jaw and his brow in a look of determination, and nodded.

Father Pliamus smiled. He raised eyes to the sky, said, “The light shines always from above.” Then, he walked away.

Yuri turned the scroll over once again. He examined the wax, the paper, looking for any hint. From what he could see, there weren’t any ink marks bleeding through from inside. The scroll was tightly wound, and couldn’t be twisted any farther to expose a sliver of the contents.

Yuri stood, and began walking along the outside edge of the temple. He often paced between the columns when he was nervous or in deep thought. Now, he traced his usual path without thinking. Back and forth he walked, for some time.

Suddenly, a light voice startled him.

“Hey mister, I’m looking for a handsome worshiper of Apollo. Am I in the right place?”

Yuri looked down at a young gnome girl, about Yuri’s age. She was as tall as his elbows, wearing a dusty cloak and carrying a small pack. Jaz looked back at him, smiling.

“What are you doing here?” asked Yuri. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the temple. “It’s dangerous for any of them to see us together. Dangerous for both of us.”

Jaz laughed as they ducked into an alley beside a building.

“I’m not the one who vowed to be single my whole life,” said Jaz. “From where I stand, you breaking the rules is completely your fault, dangerous or otherwise.”

“You shouldn’t be so… obvious about it.”

Jaz raised an eyebrow, and said, “I waited at the fountain for half an hour before coming here. Didn’t you get my note?”

Yuri took the paper out of his pocket. It was still folded up. He looked behind them, but nobody seemed to have noticed the two of them.

“Didn’t get a chance to read it yet,” he said. “Besides, I--”

Yuri was cut off as Jaz pulled him close and kissed him.

“Enough fighting,” she said. “Are you taking me on a date or what?”

“Oh? I kinda thought this alley was nice enough for us. Look at all the scenic garbage, and the leaky pipes, and-- was that a rat I just saw?”

“Come on!” Jaz laughed. She pulled on his arm. “Where are we going? Seriously.”

“I need to change into street-robes before we go anywhere.”

“I thought you’d say something like that. So, I brought these.” Jaz unpacked a pair of silver and blue trousers, and a fine, silk shirt. She tossed them to Yuri. “They’re a little wrinkled from the trip, but they looked like your size. You take forever to get ready. Just change here, and we can go.”

“Here?”

“Uh huh.”

“In this alley?” Yuri blushed. He looked up at the open windows and back towards the street they had escaped from. “Where everyone can see me?”

“Pshh,” Jaz said, “Sure, anyone can see you, but nobody’s going to. Here, look, I’ll turn around and everything.”

Jaz spun to face the opposite direction. Yuri looked down at the bundle of clothes, then back at the street again. He grumbled something unintelligible, then started undoing his robes. As he changed, he came across the oracle’s scroll, still in the pocket of his ceremonial robes. Yuri made sure to transfer it to one of the pockets of his new dress garb.

“There,” he said when he had finished. Jaz spun back around. Yuri struck a scholarly pose.

“Hey, not too shabby,” said Jaz. Yuri folded his robes and handed them to Jaz, who packed them away.

“So,” said Yuri. “Dinner?”

“Sure, I’m starving.”

The two of them set off together into the heart of the bustling city.

---

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask…” Yuri said. “What does your sister think of this… of us?”

Yuri and Jaz held hands as they walked through the marketplace. Street vendors crowded in on all sides, but the gnome girl and human boy ignored them all. It was getting dark, and they could hear the first roars of a crowd echoing from the colosseum a block away. Street lamps were lit. The market was dying down, but a few stragglers still shuffled from stall to stall.

“Nidala?” said Jaz. “She’s still moody about the whole thing. I feel bad for lying to her. It was just easier, because of how sudden everything happened, and you were already keeping it secret. Am I a bad sister?”

Yuri laughed, and said, “I’ve never had a sister. But, if I had one, I don’t think a little lie would make her a bad one.”

Jaz frowned, and Yuri felt her fingers squeezing his.

“Have you apologized, at least?” Yuri asked.

“Yeah, but only the once. You know... when she found out.”

Yuri grimaced. He remembered almost being stabbed by a gnome girl who had appeared out of nowhere just as he and Jaz were about to go on a date. Nidala was furious. A slurry of profanity spilled from her mouth. While Jaz tried to defuse the situation, Yuri stood to the side, keeping an eye on the throwing dagger Nidala was swinging with each wild gesticulation. Aside from a run-in with some of the city guards, Yuri guessed it was the most danger he had ever been in.

“Anyways,” Jaz continued, “since then, she’s been stalking off by herself. I caught her following me a couple of times when I was actually going to the library to study.”

“Maybe she’d like me if we ever met,” said Yuri.

“You’re welcome to visit the castle whenever you want, but you enter at your own risk. Trust me, if she’s still angry with me, then she’s definitely not going to be receptive to talking to you.”

“Well,” said Yuri, “I don’t think you’re in the wrong. If Nidala doesn’t like that you’re in a relationship, why should that bother you?”

“Because,” said Jaz. “She’s my sister. I’m all she has, and she’s all that I have.”

“You’ve got me, though,” Yuri said, a little bit hurt. “Right?”

Jaz laughed, and said, “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Of course I’ve got you.”

Jaz leaned into Yuri, resting her head along his arm.

“I think,” said Yuri, “you should stop worrying about it. Think about what’s best for yourself for once. She’ll come around.”

“Maybe you’re right,” said Jaz.

The two of them walked in silence for a while. They moved away from the marketplace, and found themselves in the backstreets near the college. At one point, Jaz spun around, suddenly alert.

“Did you hear that?” she asked.

“I didn’t hear anything,” said Yuri.

“I thought I heard footsteps,” she said.

Yuri looked up and down the street, but it was just the two of them.

“There’s nobody else here,” he said.

“Hmm…” Jaz murmured. They kept walking. Jaz felt tense to Yuri. She gripped his hand tighter, and seemed to be intentionally looking only ahead. They came to a corner, and she stopped.

“What--” Yuri started to say, but a glare from Jaz stopped him. She squeezed his hand twice, then continued walking.

“Freeze!” came a man’s voice. A dwarf stepped out of the shadows, pointing a knife at Yuri. “Empty your pockets,” he said.

“Please don’t hurt us!” Jaz screamed. She cowered behind Yuri. “Yuri, he’s got a knife. Stay calm! Do what he says.”

“It’s alright,” Yuri said. He held up his hands. “We’ll just give him what he wants, and everything will be alright.”

“Empty your pockets, now!” said the dwarf. He pointed the knife at Jaz. “And you, take off your pack.”

“Alright,” Jaz said, “But it’s heavy. Here, don’t break what’s inside.”

The dwarf inched closer, and, still pointing his knife at Jaz, reached out to take the pack. As soon as he got close, Jaz shouted, “J’Kuna!”

There was a spark of light, and the dwarf was flung backwards through the air. The knife went flying from his hands, and his back slammed into a wall, knocking the breath out of him.

“Come on, Yuri,” Jaz said calmly. She picked up the knife and tucked it in a back pocket. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it.”

The dwarf lay on his back, gasping.

“What was that spell you used?” asked Yuri.

“Oh, that?” said Jaz, “Just a simple force spell. He’ll be fine. I’m glad it was just a street bandit behind us. I thought we might have picked up some of your friends from the temple.”

“J’Ku-ma?” asked Yuri.

“J’Ku-na,” said Jaz. She kept walking. “Like I said, it’s a beautiful night. Let’s enjoy it.”

---

Yuri snuck back into the Temple of Apollo. The marble statues and columns glowed in the moonlight. He ducked through a door and down a stairway into the underground chambers, where the priests and acolytes lived.

He yawned as he stepped into the dim hallway, lit only by torches on the wall. None of the other worshipers were awake, and Yuri made sure to step carefully, so as not to make too much noise.

Yuri lit a candle in the chamber of the sages, and burned a blessing signet. As he was making his way back to the bedchambers, he noticed a shadow passing behind him. Yuri spun around, but there was nobody there. He frowned.

The shadow had passed from left to right, and Yuri followed in that direction. As he turned a corner, he saw a patch of white -- barely visible in the dark tunnel -- dart through a doorway ahead.

Yuri crept to the doorway, and pressed himself against the wall. They were almost to the oracle’s chamber. There was nowhere else the intruder could have been going.

Suddenly, a voice whispered in Yuri’s head, Yuri… it is time… There was a snapping sound from Yuri’s pocket, and he felt inside. The scroll was still there, but the seal had broken.

Yuri’s heart leapt. Now? It was so sudden, and he wasn’t prepared. Then he remembered the words of Father Pliamus. If he hesitated, his own life may be at stake. Or, worse, the lives of one of the priests or the oracle itself. The entire temple was asleep, and he was the only one who could prevent whatever danger they were currently in. He steadied his heart, and unwound the scroll.

The paper unfurled, but before he could read it, something heavy fell out into his hand: a ceremonial dagger. It was cold to the touch, and words written in some ancient language were inscribed along the copper blade. A single line of script was scribbled across the paper:

Kill the girl.

Yuri blinked. But there was no time to doubt. He had already pledged everything to Apollo, and now the direct agent of Apollo had told him what he must do. For his own sake -- for the sake of his future -- he must obey.

Yuri spun through the doorway, and saw a young gnome girl leaning against the door to the oracle’s chamber. She was peering through the lock hole, and holding a hairpin in one hand. As Yuri stepped into the hallway, the girl looked up.

For a moment, Yuri thought the girl was Jaz. She had a similar face, and she held herself in a similar posture. But the eyes were different, and Yuri realized that no, it wasn’t Jaz, but he had met this girl before. The last time they had met, she had been holding a knife, and had caught him by surprise.

“It’s you!” Nidala whispered.

Yuri’s hand began to sweat. He felt the weight of the knife as though it were getting heavier.

“Hey, jerk,” Nidala said. She held up her hands and shrugged. “I’m sorry to come barging in here, but I wanted to see what kind of people my sis was getting involved with.”

Yuri still didn’t move. He imagined the voice of Father Pliamus. Lives were at play. The voice of the oracle. Now is the time. Kill the girl.

“You’re-- You’re not allowed down here,” he said. He was buying time for himself more than actually expecting an answer.

“Look, I’m sorry for what happened last time. I over-reacted. But I heard some creepy old guys talking about something dangerous in here, and I want to know what it is.”

Nidala pointed to the door with her thumb.

Yuri stepped closer. His heart was racing.

“Was that you, earlier?” he asked. “Following me and Jaz?”

Nidala sighed. She said, “Alright, you caught me. Jaz always had the best ear for a tail.”

“I--” Yuri swallowed. “I can’t let you leave. You’ve seen too much already.”

Nidala narrowed her eyes. She looked at the dagger in his hand.

“You’re joking, right?” she said. But she could see that he wasn’t.

Yuri pointed the knife at Nidala. He thought of Jaz, what she would say to them. Maybe this was the point all along. He had tried to cheat Apollo, to hold something back. How could he expect to get away with it? But then, none of the priests had mentioned his relationship. And it wasn’t Jaz that he had to kill, it was her sister. There was still a chance that it could all work out. Then, his mind turned back, and it seemed hopelessly clear. He had one chance. The consequences didn’t matter. He had to obey.

Nidala took a step toward him. Her face was calm, but her eyes were angry.

“Yuri,” she said. “Put the knife away.”

Yuri shook his head.

“Jaz deserves someone smarter than you,” she said. Then, Nidala leapt at Yuri.

Yuri closed his eyes. There was no time. He had to act.

The dagger dropped from his hands, and landed with a ringing sound that seemed to echo through the hallway. Yuri held up his hand, pointing to Nidala.

“J’Kuna!” Yuri shouted.

There was a spark, and Nidala’s eyes widened with surprise. As though a rope had pulled her back, she was snapped through the air, and her head hit the stone wall with a crack! Nidala fell to the floor, motionless. Yuri rushed to her side.

He felt her nose and mouth, and felt a breath.

A moment later, there was a sound from the hallway of doors opening and feet scurrying. Father Pliamus rushed into the room, accompanied by armed acolytes. He surveyed the scene, and his face softened when he saw Yuri.

“My boy,” Father Pliamus exclaimed. “You have been blessed.”

“She’s still alive,” said Yuri. One of the acolytes stooped down to examine Nidala’s unconscious body. Father Pliamus pulled Yuri away from the girl.

“The oracle chose correctly, Yuri. You have protected us from danger.”

“Will she be alright?” asked Yuri.

“Yes,” Pliamus nodded. “We will tend to her, and deal justice as appropriate. But you, Yuri, have a bright future.”

Yuri watched as the acolytes carried Nidala’s body away. He shivered.

“My son,” said Father Pliamus, “You’re future is all but guaranteed to be bright.”

Yuri nodded. He smiled at the priest, and felt a glow from the praise. But beneath it, there was something else -- something he couldn’t name.

Father Pliamus smiled back, and said, “The light shines always from above.”

Yuri nodded. “The light shines always from above.”