(eng) Naomi Kritzer - Dead Rivers 03 by Freedom's Sisters

Author:Freedom's Sisters [Sisters, Freedom's]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“What’s going on?”

“We’re watching the sunrise,” I said.

“Oh.” Xanthe ducked back into the palanquin, and I thought she’d gone back to bed, but she emerged again with her own blanket. “It’s cold,” she said. “Where are we?”

“The foothills of Zeus’s mountains,” Zivar said. “Hey! Maybe after we free the river we can go let Zeus out of his hell. They say he’ll grant us all immortality if we can find a way to free him.”

Sunrise over Zeus’s mountains happened in pieces. The first rays of light broke through the teeth of the mountain peaks. Then the snow on the peaks turned pink, then gold. Streaks of cloud like ribbon wound through the peaks, and finally, the sun was truly up, the sky blue, and, warm in the summer sun, we’d dropped our blankets to the ground.

“When Alexander defeated Zeus, they say he dragged him from one end to the other of the empire he founded.

Then he brought Zeus here, to the mountains of the djinni, ripped the tallest mountain from its roots, and imprisoned Zeus beneath it,” Xanthe said, staring calmly at the peaks. “I never understood why they could say Zeus’s hell was lost, when it was also supposed to be under the tallest mountain. I guess now I do, because I don’t know how you’d know which one’s the tallest.”

“I’ve never seen Zeus or Alexander,” Zivar said, echoing what the worshippers of the djinni said about the gods.

“I’m not worried about either one.”

“They say that Alexander took care not to make the mistake Zeus made when he imprisoned Prometheus. His chains were forged, not from metal, but from Zeus’s own immortal bones.”

“I’d never heard that,” I said, shivering a little. “That doesn’t make a lot of sense. How would you get the bones out without killing someone?”

“Well, Zeus is immortal,” Xanthe said. “Prometheus had his liver eaten every day until he got loose, didn’t he?

And he never died. It grew back. Same with Zeus’s bones.”

“You’d think a mountain would be enough,” I said.

“Not for a god.” Xanthe pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.

“I don’t know how you’d break chains made from a god’s bones,” I said. “I guess it makes sense that he’d be grateful if you could manage it, though. Prometheus granted Arachne immortality, why wouldn’t Zeus grant you immortality if you freed him?”

Xanthe gave me a quick, half-lidded smile. “I’ve also heard that there are slaves who say that Zeus will make the river return.”

“I’ve never heard that,” I said. “Is this something slaves say in Penelopeia?”

“Maybe.”

“We should get back into the palanquin,” Zivar said. Xanthe looked at it with loathing, then climbed back in.

We found the track of the old river a few hours later and followed it up through the valleys and crevices where it had once flowed. In the height of summer, it was bone-dry. As I peered down, I caught a glimpse of something brightly purple, fluttering in the summer wind. “What is that?” I asked, and leaned out for a better look.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.