The sss and the Beast

Prologue

PROLOGUE

In the Chaos dimension…

He found the baby in the trash. Riz looked down on rosy skin and a tuft of jet-black hair that was put in a basket. It was lucky that the vermin hadn’t gotten to it yet, but that luck wouldn’t last much longer.

The medusas had already smelled the fresh meat and slithered to their prey. Their snake-like bodies curled up aggressively and their tongues slid out of their hissing mouths.

Tasssty.

Juicccy.

Sssuck the marrow from the bones.

It wouldn’t be long before the women, with the bodies of snakes, pounced on the baby before they had to share it with hungry wolves or giant scorpions.

A gust of wind rushed past him and then a familiar voice sounded.

“Hey, boss, what’d you find?” Ronin had already drawn his sword.

The boy could barely stand still. He was like a vibrating shade next to the other four boy soldiers who had gathered around the infant.

Riz stepped forward to claim the baby and the medusas crept away hissing.

One of them was left hanging too long and ended up under the oversize paw of the young werewolf Kuno. When the medusa was crushed, Kuno climbed onto the garbage dump and circled the baby. It was in the wolf’s nature to protect a pup, but the baby was no pup. No one on Chaos was as they first seemed. It was just another unwanted child the parents had gotten rid of. Chaos was, after all, the dimension where cast-off mythos were dumped.

Riz knew the werewolf probably didn’t understand this, and he wasn’t sure if he could explain it to him. He’d found Kuno as a pup, and he had never seen him in his human form. Chaos was a dangerous place to walk around as a human given that they were such weak creatures. Though, to be honest, compared to his glory days he himself was almost as weak as a human. That is, as long as he was trapped in this hellish dimension. An old bitterness crept up from his stomach and settled in his heart.

“How could anyone throw away a baby?” Qasim asked indignantly.

“They tossed us out too,” Kartal muttered.

“Not me. My father loved me,” Ronin said. He sounded proud and a bit forlorn. “It was my uncle who dumped me here.” His fingers tightened on his sword. “One day I’m gonna find him and kill him.”

The other boys nodded in solidarity.

“But we weren’t thrown away when we were this young,” Qasim argued. “Nobody sends a baby to Chaos.”

Riz realized that the boy was right. “I don’t think this is a regular baby,” he said.

“We can use him–” Kartal began.

“–to make more fireballs, boss,” Qasim continued. “A baby’s energy is pure and powerful.”

“Oh, no, not more fireballs,” Ronin groaned. “What is it with you djinn and fireballs? If you want to kill something you should just cut off its head.” He made a swishing motion with his sword. “Like this.”

“When we saved your ass from that swarm of medusas–” Kartal said.

“–you were all too happy with our fireballs.” Qasim snickered.

“Like a couple of slimy snakes could even touch me. I danced circles around those low bellies,” Ronin said, offended. “We should just kill the puny thing. He won’t survive the night anyway.”

The suggestion earned him a growl from Kuno. The werewolf leaned over the baby and began to lick it. Miraculously, the little one kept sleeping.

Riz thought about the proposal by the djinn twins. They were always looking for new fuel to feed their magic. An infant’s soul, regardless of its race, contained a purity which yielded a lot of power.

His eyes moved to the youngest of their group, who until now had kept silent. Levi, the dhampir, stood at a distance, as always.

“We should give him to Moloch.” Levi finally spoke. “In exchange for water. Our water well is almost dried up. We’ve already lost too many soldiers while defending it.”

His suggestion didn’t surprise Riz. Dhampirs were born as humans and were vulnerable until they reached the age when their body was at its strongest and became immortal. Only then were they able to turn mortals into vampires so they could provide them with blood. As the weakest among them, Levi had learned at an early age to use brains over brawn. The abuse that he’d experienced in the slave halls of Chaos had taught him to negotiate. First, over his own body. Now, also over that of the child’s.

Kuno bared his razor-sharp teeth and positioned himself in front of the baby.

“Moloch!” Ronin hissed and he made a stabbing motion with his sword. “I’d rather kill this thing myself.”

Riz pondered his options. He knew that the boys would fall in line, whatever he decided. As the oldest and strongest among them, he had been automatically selected by them as their leader. They were the last five of his army. He’d trained them by teaching them how to fight. So he was surrounded by only the best warriors Chaos had to offer. To test their endurance and loyalty, he had tortured them for days, but none of them broke. With the baby, their group consisted of seven mythos, a sacred number. Would it be enough to escape from this cursed dimension?

He looked to the north, where the wasteland of black ruins slowly changed in the high gates of the icy realm of Hel. The unattainable goddess guarded her domain with an icy fist. In the south, the black ruins gradually changed into scorched sand and showed the way to a dark tower where Moloch reigned with fire and ash.

The baby wouldn’t last a day in Chaos, not even an hour. Time in this dimension went by slowly. It would take a hundred years before the child was old enough to defend himself. The rest of the boys had been teenagers when Riz started training them. The baby was just an extra mouth to feed. Killing him would be an act of mercy. Unfortunately, he was not merciful.

“Water,” Levi repeated tightly.

“Fireballs,” the djinn said in unison.

The most shocking was Kuno’s reaction, though. For the first time, the werewolf shifted into a man. He took the baby in his arms.

The boy’s mouths dropped open. They all stared at Kuno’s massive frame. His silver hair fell in long strands down his broad shoulders. It was clear that the blood of the wolf god flowed through his veins.

“You’re huge, brother,” Kartal said, impressed. “And here I thought you always walked around like a wolf because as a human you were puny.”

Kuno licked the baby’s face. It would take some time before he lost his wolf-like habits. “Brother,” he said, with which he claimed the newborn.

Riz studied the rest of the boys. Stealing a claimed pup from an alpha werewolf was highly dangerous.

“What’s a baby good for anyway?” Kartal asked.

“We could all teach him a thing or two,” Qasim suggested.

“I can teach him to fight with a sword like my father taught me,” Ronin said and his chest swelled.

“I can build him a cage,” Kartal said, stroking his blue Mohawk. The djinn could build anything from steel.

“So no one can eat him until he’s strong enough,” Qasim finished his thought.

Riz continued to be amazed at how quickly the boys closed their ranks. How different it had been in his family. The only time they’d ever worked together was to banish him when he refused to bow down to them. Then, they had practically erased any trace of his existence from history.

“What are we gonna call him?” Ronin asked. The boy had clearly accepted the baby and wanted to give it a place amongst them. “He’s going to be a warrior like us, so his name should sound really important.”

“Achilles,” the djinn said immediately.

Riz was starting to regret telling the boys myths and legends. Those stories were meant as life lessons, not to name a pet. He had wanted to teach them that a warrior needed more than just his strength and weapons.

Kuno cradled the baby in his massive arms. The blanket the baby was wrapped in fell down and revealed a new surprise.

Ronin gasped. “It’s a girl!” he shouted accusingly.

Riz stiffened when he saw two tiny symbols, a hieroglyph and the sign of Ares, on the baby’s buttocks. He was about to make his decision when the baby opened her eyes.

Her gold-colored pupils flickered for a moment and his breath caught in his throat. She wasn’t just a girl–she was an sss. Riz suddenly knew exactly why his gaze had been drawn to the trash dump and how the little one ended up in this dimension.

The boys moved closer to the baby, staring at her, looking mesmerized.

Riz saw it happen right before his eyes: the shock that went through Levi when the baby wrapped him around her finger, Ronin, who lowered his sword, the twins, whose eyes turned soft.

Then, the baby did something much more dangerous: she smiled, and her newfound brothers changed into her willing slaves.