Shadow Titan
The good news: I was alive. The bad: I was
in enough pain, I wished the fall from the helicopter had killed
me.
Something was wrong, and it wasn’t just the
fact I was lying in the middle of a forest in Maryland with a
broken leg and bruised body. Usually, when I put all my energy into
it, I healed at an otherworldly rate. When I hit the ground, I’d
been in much worse condition, and I’d managed to heal the worst of
it – drawing off my Titan power – until suddenly, my body stopped
repairing itself.
The forest was tranquil and dark, and I lay
still, watching the stars slowly track across the sky, until the
eastern horizon began to lighten. The moon lingered, though, as if
to watch me in my torment. Not that I blamed it. I was certain it
had some reason to resent me. Most people and deities seemed
to.
Smiling at the errant thought, I shivered
and grimaced at the pain even this small motion caused me. I healed
from the inside out, which meant my organs and bones were fine. It
was my skin and the muscle beneath it that hadn’t had a chance to
recover before my power stopped flowing. And my right leg, which
had to have been close to shattered, if it didn’t heal with the
remainder of my bones.
As I lay in agony, I dwelt on how and why my
power had disappeared. My father had the ability to restrain it,
since he was full Titan and I only half. However, this didn’t feel
the same as when he dammed it. I was able to sense my power but not
reach it when he sought to punish me. This time, I couldn’t feel
the tingling energy of my power at all.
“ Adonis, where are you?” I
whispered to my closest friend. I’d been staring at the heavens,
partially because it hurt to move but also because I hoped to
glimpse him flying by, searching for me, in his grotesque form,
which he transformed into at night. He’d come for me, in part
because we were friends. But mostly, it was because I was his god
and master. He was honor bound to help me.
Assuming he could find me. In hindsight, I
probably should have contacted him before leaving New York. I had
gone to the coronation alone, leaving Adonis at home in the condo
we shared in DC.
“ No one’s coming, Lantos,”
I told myself as dawn overtook the sky. With a grunt, I managed to
sit and gazed down at my leg. I’d seen a television show once where
someone injured in the forest had used sticks and rope to brace his
leg. “Rope,” I said aloud, my words heavy with sarcasm. “Why didn’t
I think to carry some, just in case?”
With a sigh, I rolled onto
my left side and began to maneuver myself up to standing. Hot pain
throbbed through my right leg if I shifted it as much as an inch.
Finally, after a great deal of discomfort and cursing, I was on my
feet ... or foot ,
as it were.
Lifting my head, I looked around. The forest
stretched in every direction, as far as I could see. There were no
breaks or structures or any other sign of humanity, only the
cheerful chirping of birds and the stir of animals, as if they had
no idea the rest of the world was likely destroyed by now.
I hopped. The jarring sensation sent bursts
of pain through me worse than if I tried walking on my leg.
Frustrated, I looked around until I found a stick large enough to
use as a cane and very carefully bent on my good leg to retrieve
it.
Walking was horrible, but I forced myself to
do it. Choosing a direction, I began to hobble toward what I hoped
was civilization or a road or something. I didn’t go far at all
before the muscles burning in my good leg caused me to rest.
Come on! I thought, anger bubbling forth from deep inside
me as I thought of how I’d ended up here. I’d gone with mostly
noble intentions to the coronation of Queen Phoibe, only to be
thrown out of a helicopter by her High Priestess after assuring
their safety. I’d hoped to dovetail my endeavor into something more
beneficial to me. How often did one have the undivided attention of
royalty? How often was one
The good news: I was alive. The bad: I was
in enough pain, I wished the fall from the helicopter had killed
me.
Something was wrong, and it wasn’t just the
fact I was lying in the middle of a forest in Maryland with a
broken leg and bruised body. Usually, when I put all my energy into
it, I healed at an otherworldly rate. When I hit the ground, I’d
been in much worse condition, and I’d managed to heal the worst of
it – drawing off my Titan power – until suddenly, my body stopped
repairing itself.
The forest was tranquil and dark, and I lay
still, watching the stars slowly track across the sky, until the
eastern horizon began to lighten. The moon lingered, though, as if
to watch me in my torment. Not that I blamed it. I was certain it
had some reason to resent me. Most people and deities seemed
to.
Smiling at the errant thought, I shivered
and grimaced at the pain even this small motion caused me. I healed
from the inside out, which meant my organs and bones were fine. It
was my skin and the muscle beneath it that hadn’t had a chance to
recover before my power stopped flowing. And my right leg, which
had to have been close to shattered, if it didn’t heal with the
remainder of my bones.
As I lay in agony, I dwelt on how and why my
power had disappeared. My father had the ability to restrain it,
since he was full Titan and I only half. However, this didn’t feel
the same as when he dammed it. I was able to sense my power but not
reach it when he sought to punish me. This time, I couldn’t feel
the tingling energy of my power at all.
“ Adonis, where are you?” I
whispered to my closest friend. I’d been staring at the heavens,
partially because it hurt to move but also because I hoped to
glimpse him flying by, searching for me, in his grotesque form,
which he transformed into at night. He’d come for me, in part
because we were friends. But mostly, it was because I was his god
and master. He was honor bound to help me.
Assuming he could find me. In hindsight, I
probably should have contacted him before leaving New York. I had
gone to the coronation alone, leaving Adonis at home in the condo
we shared in DC.
“ No one’s coming, Lantos,”
I told myself as dawn overtook the sky. With a grunt, I managed to
sit and gazed down at my leg. I’d seen a television show once where
someone injured in the forest had used sticks and rope to brace his
leg. “Rope,” I said aloud, my words heavy with sarcasm. “Why didn’t
I think to carry some, just in case?”
With a sigh, I rolled onto
my left side and began to maneuver myself up to standing. Hot pain
throbbed through my right leg if I shifted it as much as an inch.
Finally, after a great deal of discomfort and cursing, I was on my
feet ... or foot ,
as it were.
Lifting my head, I looked around. The forest
stretched in every direction, as far as I could see. There were no
breaks or structures or any other sign of humanity, only the
cheerful chirping of birds and the stir of animals, as if they had
no idea the rest of the world was likely destroyed by now.
I hopped. The jarring sensation sent bursts
of pain through me worse than if I tried walking on my leg.
Frustrated, I looked around until I found a stick large enough to
use as a cane and very carefully bent on my good leg to retrieve
it.
Walking was horrible, but I forced myself to
do it. Choosing a direction, I began to hobble toward what I hoped
was civilization or a road or something. I didn’t go far at all
before the muscles burning in my good leg caused me to rest.
Come on! I thought, anger bubbling forth from deep inside
me as I thought of how I’d ended up here. I’d gone with mostly
noble intentions to the coronation of Queen Phoibe, only to be
thrown out of a helicopter by her High Priestess after assuring
their safety. I’d hoped to dovetail my endeavor into something more
beneficial to me. How often did one have the undivided attention of
royalty? How often was one
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