Daughter of Poseidon: Chapter Three

Cover illustration and design © Gabrielle Ragusi

Syrena has a chance to make a difference, and so long as there's a chance, she has to try.

Five hundred years after the Greek gods destroyed the modern world, Syrena, Daughter of Poseidon, lives under the gods' tyrannical rule. However, a centuries-old prophecy says a war will be waged on them. And if that means there's a possibility to help those the Olympians have hurt, a possibility to change things for the better, Syrena will do anything to bring this prediction to life.

Even if it means losing everything she loves.

"Daughter of Poseidon" is a short story that serves as a prequel to War on the Gods, a completed series perfect for fans of Greek mythology and dark YA fantasy. Binge it today!

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Missed chapter two? Read it here, or go back to chapter one here.

CHAPTER THREE

ESCAPE

By the time Syrena and Diana bolted out of the palace and into the long wooden pegasi stables, Syrena was gasping for breath, her brunette curls stuck to her neck and back with sweat. She didn’t usually have to sprint that fast unless she was chasing someone on a mission for the gods. And now I’m on a mission against them, she remarked to herself. I’m the person the other demigod warriors will be tracking next, no doubt.

The pair unbound and mounted two white pegasi, and after they gave the winged horses a few kicks the creatures leapt into the air, out of the stables, then soared toward the edge of Olympus. As they flew away, Syrena glanced back.

Zeus’s pearlescent palace glistened under the moon and twinkling stars. It stood high, with its various towers and stairways and balconies, atop a giant mass of floating rock. The boulder was the same piece of land the palace had been erected upon for millennia, although it had been moved around quite a bit in the last few thousand years. In the old days, the ancient times, it had been located in Greece. However, as humanity grew independent from the gods, and as the gods’ celestial forms weakened from lack of worship, they transported their home into space, then onto another plane of existence to preserve their power. But after the Storm five hundred years ago, after they took back humanity’s worship, they became strong enough to live close to Earth and in the physical plane once again.

The sight of the palace made Syrena wistful despite the painful memories from her time there. After all, other than Diana all her friends still lived there, the only family she’d ever known besides her sister, Pearl, and her father, Poseidon. But Pearl was gone now—killed because of the gods—and Syrena had only lived with Poseidon until she was ten years old. Once she’d come of age, she’d been plucked from his undersea palace to live on Olympus and become a Warrior of the Gods. And even when she had lived with him, he hadn’t paid much attention to her anyway.

Maybe someday, she thought, the other demigods will understand, and we’ll all work together to bring peace to the world. But even with that happy thought, sorrow weighed down her chest as she remembered Spencer and Karter. If she could be reunited with no one else, she hoped at least she could see them one last time. I will, someday. I have to.

Once the pair were far enough from Olympus that it disappeared from sight, the land below an endless sea of lush pine trees, Diana yelled, “I think we should fly until tomorrow afternoon, get a good head start, and then try to summon the Fates and ask them what we have to do to fulfill the prophecy.”

Syrena opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say a word, hot orange light like brilliant flames exploded before them. Syrena cried out, covering her eyes. The pegasi shrieked and reared back.

“I intend to speak with you, little demigods.” The powerful voice of a woman echoed through the air. “You have no idea what trials lie ahead.” The glow was so bright against the night now it blinded Syrena even as she shielded her vision. A goddess, she thought, breath caught in her throat. A goddess has already found us.

Read chapter four here.