Free People's Champion by Lizzy Ford Page B

the knowledge she would one day want to be
on her own, alone to face the world. I understood too well how dark
and disgusting the world was, how twisted and deceitful people
could be. I wanted to save her from those things.
    Aware it wasn’t fair or possible, I likewise
couldn’t help thinking I wanted her to stay a child forever. I
glanced at her. Her cheeks remained red from embarrassment. I
didn’t want to press the issue and decided to talk to the priests
about her development. I was not a traditional father figure, and
her life was not normal. If some part of how I was raising her was
interfering with her growing into a woman, even if I didn’t really
want her to, I needed to know.
    Hectate gasped, drawing all of our
attentions. She was gazing up at the night sky.
    “Meteor shower!” she exclaimed and
pointed.
    I looked up, and my jaw went slack.
    The streaks of light crossing the sky weren’t
meteorites or anything else natural. They were too low – barely
higher than the tendrils of fog drifting inland from the Maryland
coast – and consisted of orange fire rather than the cold burn of a
meteorite.
    The girls stood, excited, and started to file
through the forest to a clearing nearby, where they could see what
was happening better. My eyes lingered on the sky as I tried to
sort out what exactly I was witnessing.
    As I watched, more streaks filled the sky,
until the night was lit up as bright as twilight. I stood, alarmed
by the unnatural display.
    The cell phone in my pocket vibrated. I
pulled it free as I followed the path the girls had taken to the
meadow.
    We need you to return now
with the girls. Quickly. The message
originated from Father Cristopolos, who was the head of the
priestly order managing the orphanage.
    “Lyssa, Leandra, Hectate!” I bellowed. “We’re
going back to the orphanage.”
    “But, Herakles, we have to see the –“
Alessandra objected.
    “Now, Lyssa.”
    She knew better than to argue when I used
that tone. Assured they would obey, I returned to the camp and put
out the fire then swiftly picked up our camping supplies and loaded
them into my rucksack. I handed Lyssa her pack when she appeared
and then stood aside for her to lead us all back towards the center
of the forest refuge.
    They were excited, oohing and aahing at the
night sky, while I grew more perplexed. Such a display wasn’t
manmade, and it was located too close to the little girl we were
hiding from the world to be coincidence. Had the gods or
politicians – both of which were feared by the priests – figured
out where we were? Was this some kind of attack? If so, why were
the fireballs crisscrossing the sky without striking our
refuge?
    Three hours later, we reached the manor house
at the center of the forest unscathed. The other nymphs were
gathered in the greens, most lying on their backs, as they watched
the show overhead.
    Lyssa went to join them, as did Leandra and
Hectate, while I hurried inside to find Father Cristopolos.
    “Herakles!” a voice called behind me. “Come
quickly!”
    I spun and struck off, following the smallest
and youngest priest – Father Renoir – as he rushed through the
corridors on the ground level of the manor house. He had hiked up
his brown robes to help him move faster, and I kept pace with him,
sensing his urgency in his pace and quick breathing.
    He led me past the halls and conference rooms
that had been turned into classrooms for the girls and into the
instructors’ break and administrative area at the end of the
hallway.
    I entered the break room, and Father
Cristopolos closed the door behind me. The other priests were
gathered in front of a television.
    “It’s everywhere,” Father Cristopolos said in
a tight voice. With a sturdy build and baldhead, he was the only
one of the priests who ever took me up on the offer to teach them
to fight.
    “What’s everywhere?” I asked.
    “This firestorm. The Gods are setting fire to
the world.”
    Although critical of the