Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

END
    OF YOUR DAYS TO REPENT BRINGING DISHONOR UPON THE NAME OF THE
    WARRIORS OF POSEIDON.”
     
    Brennan, robbed of any coherent response as the enormity of Poseidon‟s curse sank in, just lay on the floor, stinking of blood and ale, still too drunk to comprehend the full extent of what was happening to him.
     
    With a final crack of thunder, the sea god disappeared with a booming admonition.
    “REMEMBER.”
     
    The peculiar feeling of heaviness that always accompanied great power disappeared, and Brennan‟s ears popped with a sizzling burst of pain as they adjusted to its absence.
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    Warmth pooled in his ear canals, and he wondered what had burst in his head and whether the healers would be able to repair what Poseidon himself had wrought.
     
    Dragging himself up off the ground, slowly and cautiously lest Poseidon reappear and smite him, Brennan patted his chest and arms, reassuring himself that he was still whole. Once he found that he had sustained no bodily injury, he laughed in relief.
     
    Except . . . he did not.
     
    He did not laugh, and he did not feel relief. He felt precisely nothing, save for a vast, bleak emptiness in the wasteland of his soul where—just moments ago—his emotions had resided.
     
    What Brennan did not know then was that he would not laugh again for more than two thousand years.
     
    GLOSSARY OF TERMS
     
    Aknasha —empath; one who can feel the emotions of others and, usually, send her own emotions into the minds and hearts of others, as well. There have been no aknasha‟an in the recorded history of Atlantis for more than ten thousand years.
     
    Atlanteans —a race separate from humans, descended directly from a mating between Poseidon and one of the Nereids, whose name is lost in time. Atlanteans inherited some of the gifts of their ancestors: the ability to control all elements except fire—especially water; the ability to transform to mist and travel in that manner; and superhuman strength and agility. Ancient scrolls hint at other powers, as well, but these are either lost to the passage of time or dormant in present-day Atlanteans.
     
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    Atlantis —the Seven Isles of Atlantis were driven beneath the sea during a mighty cataclysm of earthquakes and volcanic activity that shifted the tectonic plates of the Earth more than eleven thousand years ago. The ruling prince of the largest isle, also called Atlantis, ascends to serve as high king to all seven isles, though each are ruled by the lords of the individual isle‟s ruling house.
     
    Blood pride —a master vampire‟s created vampires.
     
    Landwalkers —Atlantean term for humans.
     
    Miertus —Atlantean slang for excrement.
     
    The Seven—the elite guard of the high prince or king of Atlantis. Many of the rulers of the other six isles have formed their own guard of seven in imitation of this tradition.
     
    Shape-shifters —a species who started off as humans, but were cursed to transform into animals each full moon. Many shape-shifters can control the change during other times of the month, but newly initiated shape-shifters cannot. Shape-shifters have superhuman strength and speed and can live for more than three hundred years, if not injured or killed. They have a long-standing blood feud against the vampires, but old alliances and enemies are shifting.
     
    Thought-mining —the Atlantean ability, long lost, to sift through another‟s mind and memories to gather information.
     
    Vampires —an ancient race descended from the incestuous mating of the god Chaos and his daughter, Anubisa, goddess of the night. They are voracious for political intrigue and the amassing of power and are extremely long-lived. Vampires have the ability to dematerialize and teleport themselves long distances, but not over large bodies of water.
     
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    Warriors of Poseidon —warriors sworn to the service of Poseidon and the protection of humanity. They all bear Poseidon‟s mark on their bodies.