Page 27 of Destinies of Diamond
I shelved the thought for later when Brendan’s voice sounded over the coms yet again. “We’re approaching the coordinates. Brace yourselves. We might find unpleasant things down there.”
We all agreed and together, landed our chimeras. And as we headed underground, toward the shelter that was presumably keeping Selene from us, I made a decision.
I’d speak with Selene and the others first. I’d tell them about the Great Mother’s warning. I’d even tell Selene what the apsid leader had said about her baby. We’d already kept enough secrets and that had blown up in our faces.
But no matter what she and anyone else said, I’d still protect her with everything I had. And if that meant sacrificing another innocent life, so be it.
Medusa
Selene
“Is there really no other way? Do we really want to become slaves to the humans?”
“It wouldn’t be slavery, just cooperation. And no one is forcing you to do anything, Hydra. If you don’t want to join this project, you don’t have to. There are plenty of us already involved and we’re more than enough to make it work.”
I stood in the cavernous hall and watched my fellow creatures bicker back and forth. So far, we’d yet to reach a conclusion that was satisfying for everyone. Most of us were understandably wary, but some were willing to take a leap of faith anyway. Others disagreed.
Hydra, for example, believed that it wasn’t worth it to compromise our integrity, even for something like this. Minotaur, on the other hand, admitted that taking the humans up on their foolish offer was a risk, but it was a necessary one.
I agreed with him. Our physical bodies had died long ago, and our existences would ultimately wither away altogether into oblivion if we didn’t take steps. Our souls had endured by the grace of the gods, but how much longer could we continue existing in this strange state of limbo?
“Let’s not rush to make a decision,” Sphinx said. “We need more information before we settle on our final course of action. What would we have to do if we agreed to the humans’ offer? And could we go against their commands, or would we be stuck obeying them?”
Minotaur snorted, a bovine sound that still managed to convey a very dismissive attitude. “The humans are idiots. As metallic constructs, we would depend on our pilots, yes. But we’d also have a direct neural link to the brain of our respective human. In other words, they might intend to force us to obey them, but the current designs mean things will be the other way around.”
“Oh, I like the sound of that,” Charybdis said. “Basically, we could take over the minds of the humans at any time.”
“Yes. Human psyches aren’t built to withstand the amount of pressure we create, and they can easily break if we so desire.”
I wasn’t as enthusiastic about that idea as the others. “Do we really want to go into this with a specific plan to attack the people who are supposed to be helping us?” I asked. I kept my words deceptively soft, but clopped my hoof to emphasize my point. The reverberations of the sound echoed through the marble tiling, into every creature that had come to our meeting.
All eyes turned to me. “I know you don’t like the idea of harming humans, Pegasus, but sometimes, you have to start thinking about yourself,” my mother said with a sigh. The snakes in her hair hissed, but the sound soothed me instead of scaring me.
“Yes, I’m aware of that,” I told her. “But still, if we start from the premise that we’ll automatically be turning on these people, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
“I agree with Pegasus,” Cerberus offered after a small pause. “If we go into this, we have to consider the possibility that the humans will become our pack, in which case, we’ll be duty bound to protect them.”
I was happy that at least one of my fellow creatures agreed with me and not surprised Cerberus had offered me his support. He might officially be a hell-hound, but he still had a fundamental canine nature that made him prone to loyalty and togetherness. Typhon, Medusa, and the others didn’t like that.
I turned toward the Centaurs and the Harpies, who had been quiet until now. “What do you think?” I asked. “Are you interested in getting involved?”
Zephyrus shared a look with the other Harpies and nodded. “We are,” he replied, “although we’d prefer for our bonds with our humans to stay a little less strong.”
“I agree,” Cheiron offered. “Collaboration with humans is something we’ve accomplished in the past with great success, but it can also lead to tragedies.”
And he would know best, since he had died in horrible pain because of a half-human’s reckless actions. As far as I knew, Cheiron no longer blamed Herakles for that unfortunate incident, but others of our kind weren’t so inclined to forgive.
“You’re at liberty to take whatever approach you wish,” Typhon finally declared. “Either way, I will be joining this project and I’ll do my utmost to supervise all our activities.”
Since Typhon was the one with most authority here, the others soon fell in line with him. Hydra still wasn’t one hundred percent sold on the idea, but decided to give it a chance. She also made us promise that if something happened that bound her to her new metallic form against her will, we would destroy the shell in question and free her from her trap.
“I’ll take responsibility for that,” Medusa promised. “You need not be concerned. I won’t allow anyone to enslave us.”
I believed her, since she understood traps and slavery better than anyone here. Like Cheiron, she too had died at the hands of a demigod. What still made her angry was not the death itself, but the fact that she’d been denied the chance of raising me and my brother.
Since I hadn’t known any better at the time, I’d ended up as a mount for my mother’s killer. That didn’t fill me with too much pride. Maybe in this quest, I’d learn some new things about humans and make my peace with what had happened and some of my past choices.
That brought us back to the Sphinx’s earlier inquiry. “All right. What are we supposed to do then? What exactly are they planning?”
