Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

the fall.
     
    “Well. I never had exactly that effect on a woman before,” he muttered, staring around himself in befuddlement.
     
    “AND SO YOU STILL HAVE NOT,” a voice thundered through the room. Brennan‟s free hand automatically went to his dagger, but he found only an empty sheath.
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    “YOU THINK TO DRAW YOUR WEAPON AGAINST ME?” The voice continued, and now it sounded somewhat annoyed. Brennan‟s head tried to clear but the sheer quantity of ale he‟d consumed during the day thwarted any attempt at mental acuity.
     
    “I am a Warrior of Poseidon,” he declared, but even to himself he had to admit the claim feeble, considering his present circumstances.
     
    “YOU ARE MY WARRIOR, YES, THOUGH I WOULD BE MOCKED AMONGST ALL
    OF THE OTHER GODS WERE THIS TRUTH TO BECOME KNOWN.”
     
    Oh, miertus . This was one tsunami of an ale-induced hallucination, if Brennan suddenly thought he was hearing the sea god himself. He struggled with the limp weight of the wench, trying to move her to one side so he could rise and at least face this . . .
    whatever this was . . . on his feet.
     
    A flash of silvery blue light shot through the dark room, and suddenly the woman was gone—vanished as if she‟d never been there. Brennan leapt to his feet and whirled around and around, nearly falling down again as vertigo overtook him.
     
    “What? Where did she—”
     
    “THE WOMAN HAD NO PLACE IN OUR DISCUSSION. SHE IS NOW AT HOME IN
    HER BED, ALONE FOR A CHANGE,” came the dry response.
     
    “But why are you here—” Brennan belatedly realized that he was in no way showing appropriate deference to the sea god and dropped heavily to his knees. “My lord, accept my profuse apologies. Do you have need of me?”
     
    “WHAT SAD EXAMPLE OF GODHOOD WOULD HAVE NEED OF SUCH AS YOU?”
    the voice thundered. “YOU HAVE TRIED MY PATIENCE WITH YOUR CONSTANT
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    DRUNKEN DEBAUCHERY AND EXCESS. HADES HIMSELF, RULER OF THE NINE
    HELLS, ASKED ME TO GIFT YOU TO HIM.”
     
    “Hades?” Brennan struggled to follow the sea god‟s logic. His knees hurt from dropping to the stone floor and his head was thumping from the booming sound of Poseidon‟s voice. In fact, he was feeling quite sorry for himself and not a little beleaguered by his severe misfortune. “What would Hades want with me?”
     
    “PRECISELY. A MATTER OF A SENATOR‟S DAUGHTER, PERHAPS? BUT THE
    KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE FALLEN SO FAR, DRIVEN BY YOUR LUSTS AND
    EMOTIONS, THAT THE GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD WOULD DESIRE YOUR
    PRESENCE, SADDENS ME GREATLY.”
     
    “But—”
     
    “SILENCE! BE ADVISED THAT I AM NOT A GOD TO ENDURE SADNESS. EVER. I AM NOW AT AN END OF MY PATIENCE. NOW THAT YOUR EMOTIONS AND
    HUNGERS HAVE DRIVEN YOU INTO THE ABYSS, I WILL REMOVE ALL SUCH
    FROM YOUR LIFE FOR ALL ETERNITY.”
     
    Brennan shifted on the floor, daring to raise his head and search yet again, but the sea god had only manifested his voice. “Not to be impertinent, but when you say eternity—”
     
    Lightning and thunder crashed through the room, the percussive force smashing Brennan, facedown, into the ale-soaked stone.
     
    “DARE QUESTION ME AND YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY CLEANING THAT FILTH
    WITH YOUR TONGUE.”
     
    Brennan nodded, not daring to say another word, as the hot, slow trickle of blood from his battered head spread under the side of his face. Eternity. Silence. Got it.
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    “I CURSE YOU THUS: FOR ALL ETERNITY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS YOU MEET
    YOUR ONE TRUE MATE, YOU WILL FEEL NO EMOTION. NEITHER SADNESS NOR
    JOY; NEITHER RAGE NOR DELIGHT.”
     
    Thunder crashed through the room again, and Brennan belatedly wondered why no one from the tavern had come back to investigate the storm taking place in their storeroom before the sea god continued.
     
    “WHEN YOU DO MEET HER, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE A RESURGENCE OF ALL OF
    THE EMOTIONS YOU HAVE REPRESSED OVER THE YEARS AND CENTURIES
    AND EVEN MILLENNIA.”
     
    Poseidon laughed, and his laughter contained all the sound and fury of storms at sea and civilization-destroying tidal waves.
     
    “IF THAT ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH TO DESTROY YOU, YOU WILL ALSO BE
    CURSED TO FORGET YOUR MATE WHENEVER SHE IS OUT OF YOUR SIGHT.
    ONLY WHEN SHE IS DEAD—HER HEART STOPPED AND HER SOUL FLOWN—WILL YOUR EMOTIONS RETURN TO YOU, THUS ALLOWING YOU UNTIL THE