Chapter 17

Greek Gods

Zeus - King of the Greek gods
Hera - Queen of the Greek gods, sister and wife of Zeus
Hades - god of the underworld, brother of Zeus
Poseidon - god of the sea, brother of Zeus
Demeter - goddess of harvest and fertility of the earth, sister of Zeus
Aphrodite - Daughter of Zeus and Dione, Goddess of love, beauty and sexuality
Artemis - Daughter of Zeus and Leto, goddess of the hunt, the moon, and chastity
Athena - Daughter of Zeus and Metis, goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.

Ares - Son of Zeus and Hera, god of war

Apollo - Son of Zeus and Leto - god of the sun and light, music and poetry, healing and plagues, prophecy and knowledge, order and beauty, archery and agriculture.

Dionysus - Son of Zeus and Semele - God of the vine, grape-harvest, wine-making, wine, fertility, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, theatre

Hephaetus - Son of Zeus and Hera - god of fire, metalworking, stone masonry, forges and the art of sculpture.

Hermes - Son of Zeus and Maia - Messenger of the gods, god of trade, thieves, travelers, sports, athletes, border crossings, guide to the Underworld

Eris - Daughter of Zeus and Hera, sister of Ares - minor goddess of discord and strife
Deimos - son of Ares, twin of Phobos - god of dread
Phobos - son of Ares, twin of Deimos - god of fear
Dolos - Personification of trickery, cunning deception, craftiness, treachery and guile
Apate - Counterpart of Dolos, goddess of fraud and deception.
Enyo - Daughter of Zeus and Hera, goddess of war and destruction, another sister of Ares

Ephus - the godling man with an unsual power.
Dr. Quinn Markov - human wife of Ephus
Aniketos - Human who is the Caspian god killer
Amaunet - sister of Aniketos, the Eternal Nile Serpent

Egyptian Goddesses and wives to Ephus

Bast - Goddess of cats, protection, joy, dance, music, family, and love Sekhmet- Goddess of fire, war, and dance Hathor - Goddess of the sky, dance, love, beauty, joy, motherhood, foreign lands, mining, music and fertility. Serket - Goddess of scorpions, medicine, magic, and healing venomous stings and bites Maat - Goddess of Truth and Justice Tefnut - Goddess of Rain, Air, Moisture, Weather, Dew, Fertility, and Water

Brothers of Bast and Sekhmet

Thoth - God of knowledge Sobek - God of the Nile, the Army, military, fertility and of crocodiles Anhur - God of war and the sky bearer - Full brother of Bast and Sekhmet Horus - Ancient God of the sky and kingship Min - God of fertility Khonshu - God of the Moon Apophis - God of Chaos and darkness Shu - God of the wind and air

Ephus was cautious as he approached the space where he’d agreed to meet. Stretching out his hands felt around feeling the two he’d agreed to meet.

Nodding after a moment he called out to them his mind. Two dark shapes appeared in the shadows, then they seemed to vanish. Shaking his head Ephus brought his hands together making the both of them scream then appear.

“Alright we believe it is you, we are here to strike a deal with you. It seems that a deal with you is by far more amicable than with Ares.”

Ephus slowly nodded his head, “true though, why in the hell would I do that?”

The hideous, misshapen form of a male seemed to emerge from the shadows. A bow to Ephus, then motioning behind him brought a misshapen, stooped over, female forth.

“It is a shame that we didn’t meet under other circumstances.” The male stated.

Ephus eye brows rose at these words. “I’m not sure that we would have met giving your allegiances and all.” Ephus replied.”

“Godling, sir.” The female started almost refusing to look at Ephus. “Unfortunately, much of why and what we do are not under our command or choice.”

Ephus looked at both of the beings before him. His arms crossed he smirked a bit ‘til an idea came to him.

“Say I believe you, even a little, I have no way to ascertain if you are truthful or not. You both are after all the god and goddess of trickery, deception, treachery and fraud. I mean I could read what is in you though, if you refuse? It would most definitely screw up your day.” Ephus said with all seriousness.

Both the male and female’s faces showed shock a moment, then they both nodded. This godling had after all, detected them when no-one had ever, they were sure he wasn’t joking.

The male was about to speak when the female stepped forward, “I will allow you to do this. It won’t be hard for me; my thoughts haven’t been mine alone for a long time.”

Ephus looked at the male who now wore a shocked look. “Apate! Why do you give this away about yourself? It could be used agan...”

“Dolos, I have more belief in this godling than I will ever have in Ares. That back stabbing god would throw us aside if it helped him get his way. I will do all I can to help him, then perhaps we can heal from what was done to us.” Apate hotly told her brother.

Ephus’s look of surprise was mirrored on Dolos’s face. “Well, if you allow me to, then I’ll finish in no time.”

Ephus started toward Apate, then was blocked by Dolos. “If you harm her, I will do all I can to destroy you.”

A smile crossed Ephus face, “that I believe, was the first honest thing, I have heard out of your mouth.”

A looked of heated hatred crossed Dolos’s face ‘til Apate elbowed him in his ribs. “Don’t even think about it, if anything happens to him, I will hold YOU responsible.”

“Sister,” Dolos started to protest.

“I mean it brother, if anyone can help us it is him. Now,” here Apate closed Dolos’s open mouth. “Keep it closed, believe me, I trust him nearly as much as you.”

Dolos’s mouth snapped shut again after Apate spoke those words. Though his eyes were still wide.

This time Apate walked to Ephus, “please start, as I said I am open thanks to all that Ares has done to me. Well, actually to the both of us.”

Ephus nodded as a serious look crossed his features. He hesitated ‘til Apate nodded her head.

His face drew tight in concentration, his hands started to slightly glow. Ephus only touched Apate for a few moments, then he withdrew cocking his head slightly at Apate.

“I believe you; I also think that you should have a bit more freedom.” Ephus said a crooked smile on his lips.

“Freedom?” Apate said confused a moment. Within a few moments Apate’s eyes were wide. “What have you done?” She said her bottom lip trembling. “I can’t feel...”

A loud roar issued from Dolos as he started to power up. “I told you I would ugh!” Dolos started, then doubled over from the elbow, that hit him square in the stomach.

“I told you what I would do if anything happened to him.” Apate said.

“How can I not? After what you started to say, that you can’t feel any longer.” A clearly upset Dolos said.

A small growl came from Apate’s throat, “had you listened to me and shut up. You would have heard me say that I can no longer feel Ares.” A now smirking Apate said.

“WHAT?!” How can this...” Dolos started.

Again Apate growled as she, for a third time, elbowed Dolos. “As I said, you should shut up, let him help, then we can talk later.”

Trying to straighten up, Dolos had a look of astonishment on his face he then glanced at a now widely grinning Ephus.

“It appears that I have gotten much better at the bond breaking. I wouldn’t even attempt on you Dolos, though, I made your sister a promise while I was looking in at her. I will start when you are ready, though as stubborn as you are, I am afraid it might hurt a bit. No, I am not doing this to punish you.” Here Ephus snorted, then quietly said, “though I should.”

Dolos’s eyes stared at Ephus, “I thought you said...”

“I made a promise to her,” here Ephus indicated Apate. “Unlike so many of the gods in the Greek realm, I do all I can to not break my promises.”

Dolos stared at Ephus a moment then looked at his sister. Apate looked into Dolos’s eyes, then nodded her head vigorously.

Dolos issued a sigh then turned toward Ephus. “What need I do?”

Again gaining a serious look on his face Ep0hus said, “do not fight me, just watch me. The more you resist the more it will hurt. This will be a pain you may never, have experienced before.”

Dolos waited a few moments taking a few calming breaths, then nodded to Ephus. Ephus concentrated, then his hands started to glow as they had before. Touching Dolos, everything was fine for a moment then Dolos started to scream

Between his clenched teeth Ephus hissed, “STOP IT! Let me in or this is going to grow even more painful.”

“Brother!” Apate shouted gaining Dolos’s attention. “Stop this, let him in just like you let me. It matters not what we know or have done, Ephus doesn’t care.”

Dolos’s body immediately relaxed as almost all the pain faded from him. This time, Dolos let his mouth drop open. By all the power of the realm, Apate had been correct! He couldn’t hardly feel anything of Ares, it was truly amazing.

Longer than he had worked on Apate, Ephus finally released Dolos. “There I think that the both of you should be far freer of him than ever before.”

Dolos started to shake Ephus’s hand when his mouth dropped open again as he was staring at his sister.

“So,” Bast said stepping to the front of the others. “You’d be willing to help defeat your brother?”

Enyo looked from the others to Bast and back. A small smile formed on her lips, so the true leader of the bunch had appeared. Nodding her head, she could see that this one was far smarter than the rest.

“Defeat him? No, I want to crush him, to humiliate him. To pay him back the betrayal that he subjected me to. So, defeat him? No, I want to do far more to him than something as simple as defeat.” Enyo spit out with much venom.

Bast smiled a moment then looked closer at Enyo. Bast’s smile rapidly faded as she pointed a finger at Enyo. “In case you think that you can lie to us, remember we are all fully entrenched in our power now.”

Maat stepped forward about to speak when there were three whooshes of power. Artemis, Aphrodite and Maat’s equal in the Greek realm, Athena, appeared.

All six of the Egyptian goddesses growled slightly. “Hail wives of Ephus, though you do have a right to her. She is unfortunately still our sister. If you would allow me, I will dispense justice,” turning to Maat, Athena said, “I would also agree to your help.”