There are conflicting schools of thought on the origination of the Apollyon and his purpose. Popular belief states the gods who hold court in Olympia bestowed the gift of the four elements and the power of akasha, the fifth and final element, upon Ethos as a measure to ensure no pure-blood’s power superseded that of their masters. The Apollyon has a direct linkage to the gods and acts as the Destroyer. The Apollyon is known as
“The one who walks among the gods.”
Since the birth of Ethos, one Apollyon has been born every generation as dictated by the oracle…
The section then proceeded to list the names of the other Apol yons, stopping in the year 3517 in the Hematoi calendar—1925 AD.
We so needed updated textbooks.
I skimmed past that part and turned the page. There was another part describing the characteristics of the Apol yon and another passage I was unfamiliar with.
My breath caught as I read it once, then twice. “No way.”
Throughout time, only one Apollyon has been born to each generation with exception of what came to be known as “The Tragedy of Solaris.” In the year 3203 ED (1611 AD), a second Apollyon was discovered in the New World. The palingenesis awakened Solaris (last name and parentage unknown) into power on her eighteenth birthday, setting in place a chain of startling and dramatic events. To this date, there has never been an explanation of how two Apollyons existed within the same generation or why.
I read the section again. There were never two Apol yons. Ever. I’d heard legends when I was a kid about the possibility of two, but I’d chalked them up as… wel , legends. Continuing on, I quickly ascertained I didn’t know jack.
It is believed the First sensed the marking of another Apollyon upon her eighteenth birthday and, unaware of the consequences, joined her in the New World. The effects of their union were chronicled as vast and damaging to both pure-bloods and their masters, the gods. Upon meeting, as if they were two halves meant to be one, the powers of Solaris shifted to the First Apollyon, therefore the First became what has always been feared: The God Killer. The power of the First became unstable and destructive.
The reaction from the gods, particularly the Order of Thanatos, was swift and righteous. Both Apollyons were executed without trial.
“Whoa… ” I slammed the book shut and sat back. The gods, when threatened, didn’t mess around. One Apol yon acted as a check and balance system, able to fight anything, but if there were two of them at once?
There was an Apol yon now, but I’d never met him. He was kind of like a celebrity. We knew he was out there somewhere, but we never actual y saw him in person. I knew the Apol yon focused on daimons instead carrying out justice against pure-bloods now. Since the creation of the Council, pures no longer thought they could take on the gods—or, at least, they didn’t say so openly.
I sat the book aside and turned off the lamp.
Poor Solaris.
Somewhere, the gods had goofed up and created two. It wasn’t like it was her fault. She probably hadn’t even seen it coming.
***
As the excitement of the Summer Solstice bubbled through the Covenant, I settled back into the life of a half-blood in training. The thril of my presence had worn off, and most of the students who remained at the Covenant during the summer grew used to having me around. Granted, the fact I had kil ed two daimons secured my awesomeness.
Even Lea’s bitchy comments became less frequent.
Lea and Jackson broke up, got back together, and as far as I knew, were broken up again.
During the times Jackson was a free man, I developed a routine of avoiding him. Yeah, he was pure sexiness, but he was also super-fast with his hands, and on more than one occasion I’d had to remove them from my butt. Caleb was always quick to point out I had no room to complain since I’d brought it on myself.
Another sort of odd routine developed, but this was between Aiden and me. Being that I was always crabby in the morning, we usual y started off practice with stretching and some laps—basical y anything that prevented us from talking. By late morning, I was less likely to bite off his head and more receptive to digging into the real stuff. He never mentioned the night he’d busted me at the party and we’d talked about each other’s need to become a Sentinel. He also never real y explained what he’d meant by, “I remember you.”
Of course, I came up with a crap ton of ridiculous explanations. My talent was so amazing that everyone knew who I was. Or my antics in and out of the training rooms had made me a legend in my own right. Or I’d been so stunningly beautiful he couldn’t help but notice me. That last one was the most absurd. I’d been gawky and a total dweeb then. Not to mention someone like Aiden would never look at a half-blood in that way.
During training, Aiden was stern and rigid in his methods. Only a few times did he seem to slip up and grin when he thought I wasn’t looking. But I was always watching.
Who could blame me? Aiden was… hotness incarnate. I alternated between staring at those ripped arms and being envious of how he moved with such fluid grace, but it was more than just his ability to make me drool on myself. Never in my life had I met someone so patient and tolerant of me.
Gods know I’m annoying as hel , but Aiden treated me as if I were his equal. No pure real y did that. The day I’d embarrassed myself by chal enging my uncle seemed forgotten, and Aiden did everything to make sure I was coming along as expected.
With his guidance, I was getting used to the demands of training and the tol they took on my body. I even put some weight on. The dweeb part was stil up in the air. Aiden still wouldn’t let me get within ten feet of any of the cool-looking weapons.
On the day of the Summer Solstice, I tried approaching the wal of destruction toward the end of practice.
“Don’t even think about it. You’d cut your hand off… or mine.”
I froze, one hand inches from the wicked dagger.
Dammit.
“Alex.” Aiden sounded a bit amused. “We only have a little bit of time left. We need to work on your blocking.”
Groaning, I pul ed myself away from what I real y wanted to learn. “Blocking again? That’s al we’ve done for weeks.”
Aiden folded his arms across his chest. Today he wore a plain white tee. He made it look good, very good. “That’s not al we’ve done.”
“Okay. I’m ready to move onto something else, like practicing with knives or defense against the dark arts.
Cool things.”