The War God's Woman

56. Monster Hunter

Zahira was putting her key into the lock of her flat, when she heard the presence of someone standing close behind her. She turned and stiffened in surprise, recognising Dante. And the giant was glaring at her.

"You didn't pick up your phone." He growled.

"I'm sorry." Zahira apologised quickly. "My battery died." She guessed that he'd called her to tell her to be in to accept a package – only she hadn't been available. "It won't happen again." She promised.

Dante nodded slowly, closing in on her. Zahira glanced around. There wasn't any sign of her neighbours, and there wouldn't be either. If you screamed in this block – nobody would come running. They'd all been conditioned to not seeing what was going on around them. Dante moved suddenly, punching her hard in the stomach.

Zahira crumpled to the ground, rasping for breath. Her eyes filled with tears and she gasped in air.

"You're right." Dante growled. "You won't do that again."

Zahira nodded her head, unable to say a word. Dante swept out of the block, stomping down the concrete steps. Zahira bowed her head low as he left, too scared to look up. 

She clutched her middle and concentrated on breathing. Her phone had died because she hadn't taken a charger with her to Orion's place, that was why she'd missed Dante's call.

Zahira's breathing steadily returned to normal. She sniffed and wiped away her tears. Her legs were shaking badly and it took a couple of attempts to get up on her feet. But finally, she managed it. 

Zahira retreated gratefully inside her apartment and closed the door behind her.

**

                  Orion walked down the city streets with a sparkling glint in her eyes. This was his favourite time. The hunt. Orion left the noise and bustle behind and slipped like a shadow into the Teaser District. This neighbourhood was supposedly derelict and abandoned. After the docks had been closed and the city's shipping industry had been left to rust, the poor sailors who lived here had moved on. 

Frost glistened on the paving slabs and Orion's breath fogged the night air. The dim glow of a discarded cigarette caught his attention.

Orion stepped over the stub. Not entirely abandoned then, just as he'd suspected.

The thugs and gangsters were wary of his attacks now. They hid and dispersed like rats into the city's filthy crevices. But Orion wasn't after the pimps or drug pushers tonight. He was after the one they called the Mad Dog.

Orion stepped into a deserted warehouse. One of the Star Immortal's followers had tipped him off that the gang leader would be hiding here tonight. Dead leaves skittered across the warehouses' cracked flooring. Orion sniffed the air. Whilst the place looked abandoned, the air wasn't bad and damp as it should have been. He was in the right place. Orion walked deeper into the building, his gaze flitting sharply about the place. He wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for yet, a false wall or perhaps a trap door...

His elongated shadow engulfed the room. Orion came to a deliberate stop and looked up. Above him, was a door. It was barely visible in the gloom and didn't appear to have a handle. The door was on the second floor but with no steps leading up to it. Orion's gaze narrowed as he scanned the ground, seeing where the dust suddenly stopped.

A menacing hiss stopped Orion from investigating further. He snapped his head up and watched in surprise as a serpentine demon emerged. Lamia slithered menacingly toward him. Jaw set, Orion flexed his hand. Glowing charms flowed from his palm and wafted gently to the ground where the symbols glowed brightly. Lamia stopped, eyeing these traps warily. She knew that if she touched them, she'd be rendered immobile.

The symbols vanished, leaving no trace. But Lamia knew that they were still there.

"Hunters tricks." She hissed scathingly.

"You should run from me, Lamia." Orion retorted. "I hunt down and kill monsters."

She laughed, but it was a harsh sound.

"Oh, Star Immortal." She sneered. "Still pretending that you're a hero? We both know you're just as monstrous as I am."

Orion's nostrils flared angrily.

"I destroy monsters."

"So, you're a monster who eats monsters." She shrugged. "That doesn't change what you are, gorgon." She grinned wider, pleased to see the way Orion's face changed.

"I am the son Poseidon."

"And the son of a gorgon. A creature far eviler than me." Lamia reminded him. "I do hate hypocrites."

Orion's bow materialised in his grasp, but too slow. The waspish swipe of Lamia's tail caught him in the chest and sent him flying backwards. Orion landed on his back and grunted in pain. He sat up, wincing, and his insides went cold. Lamia had vanished. But the sound of her slithering body seemed to circle him. Orion moved quickly to his feet and notched his bow.

"You're stronger." He admitted, as he turned slowly on the spot – trying to find her. None of his traps were being sprung. How was she avoiding them? He saw her tail cross a pool of light and a shiver danced down his spine. She was growing bigger. Lamia hissed, much too close for comfort.

"So, you do remember me. Do you remember what you did to me?" She asked. 

Orion made no reply. He didn't want to think about that day. He'd been following orders. He'd been killing monsters. That was all he wanted to remember. 

"Monster hunter, do you remember?" Lamia hissed, her snake eyes glowing. "Do you remember the day you killed children? My children!?"

Orion fired his bow but missed. He notched and aimed again, firing in quick succession but it was no use. "I found them where you left them, their tiny bodies discarded." She lashed out suddenly, demolishing a crate of boxes. Orion dodged out of the way.

"I swore vengeance that day. Against the bitch who ordered their deaths." Lamia showed herself, her colossal tail encircling the Star Immortal. She glowered at him. "And against the hunter who performed the deed." 

Orion looked around for an escape route. He didn't want to think about that day. He'd been killing monsters, he told himself. 

Lamia shrieked and Orion covered his ears, stunned by the hellish sound.

"You drank their blood." He realised, horrified. No normal blood had given her this strength. She'd consumed the blood of Zeus' heirs. And now she fought with their strength.

Orion braced himself. 

Lamia launched herself at him, venom spraying from his foul mouth. Orion recoiled in disgust and wrestled with her in a fight to keep her fangs away from his throat. The door above swung open and the Mad Dog emerged with a gun in both hands. Ezekiel fired down, aiming not for the giant serpent but for Orion.

Sweat gleamed on the Star Immortal's face. His powers were being divided between healing and fighting. The two monsters had allied against him and now – the scales were no longer weighted in his favour.

                    Orion's nights changed. They were longer an easy hunting game. Now, it was a battleground.