Chapter 2

Iptomas did as his father commanded but promised himself that Zeus would one day pay for his cruelty towards his father. Visualizing one of the small patches of forest below he transported himself there in the blink of an eye. Sensing a strange presence he turned to see a young man wearing winged sandals sitting on a tree stump nearby.

"Greetings Hermes what brings you here?" Iptomas asked the young man who was caught by surprise.

Hermes had not expected his sudden appearance to be noticed. He had been instructed to find this new god who had appeared from out of nowhere. He was shocked to hear the stranger speak his name though they had never met and Hermes knew nothing of him.

"How do you know me?" Hermes asked.

"I have heard of you. As far as explanations go that will have to suffice, now speak, for I am sure you have come on the behalf of Zeus." Iptomas replied unwilling to reveal too much about himself including the fact he had also seen Hermes just as he was now, in his dreams.

He was good looking in general but a little scrawny. His dark hair was cut short no doubt to keep it out of his eyes as he flew Iptomas surmised.

Hermes was greatly impressed as he answered, "King Zeus my Father and ruler of the Gods has commanded your presence on Olympus. I am to bring you before him."

Taking in the beautiful scenery around him Iptomas seemed to ignore Hermes for a moment before replying, "I am not inclined to obey his commands, particularly since he judged my father Prometheus so harshly. If I meet him, he must wait for a better time, a time of my choosing, perhaps tomorrow. Until then it was a pleasure meeting you Hermes, good day."

Hermes was forced to watch aghast as Iptomas walked off no longer concerned with him or his message. He did not foresee his father Zeus taking to the news kindly, but Hermes could hardly be held responsible, he was merely the messenger and the message had been delivered to the stranger.

Taking off he headed back home unsure of what to make of the stranger. As far back as he could remember no one refused a command of Zeus.

"What? Who is this immortal that he should defy me so?" Zeus shouted banging his right fist on the arm of the throne in anger.

"He says he is the son of Prometheus. He mentioned it as one of the reasons he refused to come." Hermes said.

Zeus guessed that he must have been the one who had killed the vulture he had set upon Prometheus earlier that day, and managed to postpone Prometheus' punishment until the following day.

"Did you at least get his name?" Zeus asked still greatly annoyed.

Not liking his father's mood Hermes hesitated to answer.

"Well?" Zeus roared glaring at him.

"Forgive me father I didn't get the chance. He seemed disinterested in speaking further." Hermes answered sweat appearing on his brow from the stress.

He did not like to be the bearer of bad news.

"Calm yourself husband. What is all this about?" Hera asked entering the scene.

"It appears some upstart new god refuses to pay his respects." Zeus said.

"Perhaps because he is young and they can be foolish. Why not send Demeter? She is a good friend and has a way of soothing even the most savage of hearts." Hera suggested trying to soothe her enraged husband.

Zeus could not help but agree. It was one of the things that had attracted him to the Goddess Demeter, though she had rebuffed his advances. Demeter had no intention of being his consort especially since he was already unfaithful to his wife.

She was attracted to more honorable men; still Zeus wanted to punish the young god for his daring in defying him. For such a purpose Aphrodite was a wiser choice. She would most likely relish the chance at a new conquest if he presented the idea properly.

Hera did not like the mischievous look that crossed Zeus' face as he seemed to ponder on the problem with the stranger. Hera had seen the look too many times to not know trouble would soon follow. She would ask Demeter to become involved and perhaps her friend could find out what Zeus was up to, because he would surely not tell his wife if he was about to make trouble.

Iptomas was walking when he had the sudden feeling he was in danger. Looking around he spotted a horse running riderless in his direction. He saw no other possible danger and was quite certain he could stop the horse without injury to either of them, so he ignored the feeling for now.

Stepping directly into its path he reached out with his mind to calm it. The horse slowed, allowing him to handle it. He rubbed and patted it gently trying to calm its nerves.

Reading the animal's mind he tried to discover what had happened. Apparently it had seen a female horse and in a rush to mate with it had thrown off its rider a young woman.

Gently grasping the reins he continued to soothe the animal waiting patiently for it to calm itself. It did not take long and he led the horse back to its mistress using its memory as a guide. Eventually they found the woman still tangled in the bushes.

Tying the horse to a nearby tree Iptomas made his way down to her. She was a beautiful woman with soft skin golden hair and deep blue eyes like the sky itself. Trying to extract the lady from her predicament proved difficult and her clothes soon became torn revealing much of her naked skin underneath.

Averting his eyes Iptomas gathered leaves and summoning the power he needed grafting them into a green robe to cover her. She was still weak and had injuries including bruises and some scratches. After healing the scratches on her skin he bent down to pick her up and carried the strange woman to her horse. It was then that he discovered that he had fallen into a well laid trap.

Springing at Iptomas and catching him by surprise Aphrodite tackled him. Smiling she bent down to kiss Iptomas pleased with her little plan and how well it had worked. She had taken no chances and had used the best ploy she had at her disposal. Now that she had him at her mercy she would claim her prize.

Iptomas however would prove to be a too elusive prey. Disappearing into thin air he left Aphrodite planting herself face first into the dirt on the side of the road. Spitting sand and wiping her face angrily she tried to figure out where he had gone.

No god could do what he had just done. They could travel quickly and unseen but not ever that fast. When her anger subsided about being thwarted, a new feeling of excitement soon grew to replace it. It had been a long time since she had a man that could escape her and that was when this game was only new to her.

Not sure what you had in mind for this sentence. Thought you might want to reword it.

The fact that she had become quite good at it made it all the more interesting that he had managed to pull off the feat. Smiling to herself as she made her way back to Olympus she would make a point to try to learn more of this beautiful young god. In a way Iptomas had made the problem worse by showing her something she could not have.