DIMITRI

  After months at sea, on the brightest day of June, they found the port of Constantinople. They could see the church of Saint Sofia, a bright star to the town, with the crowd chatting and the smell of perfume attacking Dimitri’s nostrils. He couldn’t be happier after months of plain sea salt and sweat to smell something entirely new.

  What he was even more excited about was seeing his teacher again. He mostly spent his time in his cabin and got out only when the boy was asleep. Strange that Dimitri never saw him or his dog.

  The crew threw the ropes to the port and made the bridge to get out. Everyone looked happy with the captain patting Dimitri’s head.’’Good luck, boy. I am sorry that we tried to kill you before.’’

  Dimitri backed away and kept looking at the captain’s happy face. A few months ago, he would have been his killer, but now, the boy felt a strange warmth around that man.

  The door of his room opened, and the golden dog rushed around with his happy tail and jumped on each member of the crew. His blue eyes found Dimitri and jumped right on his body, making the boy fall as he kept licking him until it made the boy laugh.

  ‘’Down, pup’’Teacher’s voice commanded, and the Pup walked away, and Dimitri managed to stand up to see the man he had to follow glare at him, confused.

  ‘’You are still alive?’’He asked, so surprised with his brow arching up.

  Was that a compliment or an insult? The boy couldn’t tell. But Teacher Odysseuss turned to the rest of the crew, who were standing tall and serious. The man grabbed his belongings tightly and pet Pup before taking a step onto the deck.

  ‘’We are going’’said Teacher steady.

  And suddenly the whole crew, even the captain, shed tears.

  ‘’Teacher, don’t leave’’That broken voice came from the captain’s lips. The rest mimicked his words, but Dimitri couldn’t tell if they did with all the crying and wailing.

  But with that, they both got out to the port, and Dimitr could see merchants from all different places selling their fabrics, food, and perfume to customers and strangers. There was even a crew of musicians singing and playing with their drums near a crow,d with everyone to admire them.

  Suddenly, a flower girl with a beaming smile and flushed cheeks approached the teacher, trying to offer him two yellow daffodils.

  ‘’For you, handsome’’ She flirted, and the Teacher turned his gaze away from her.

  Poor lady, Dimitri thought when she found the woman wearing a face of disappointment. The woman who didn’t even know that behind all those rugs, that charming man hid a feminine beauty.

  The teacher kept walking far from the crowd with Pup and Dimitri following him.

  They walked and walked until they found themselves in a dark alley.

  Dimitri wondered why the teacher looked so serious and cold. Even though the entire crew said goodbye to him, he did not even frown out of sadness.

  At last, the Teacher stopped and moved his hand around the dark cloak of his and showed Dimitri a small sack holding the sound of coins.

  ‘’That will last you for a month,’’ said Odysseus and tossed it on the boy’s fingers.

  What?

  Dimitri stood there stunned.

  ‘’Now, goodbye to you too, boy’’ He said and took a step away before Dimitri shouted at him.

  ‘’Wait’’

  The cold man turned to the boy, confused, as Dimitri’s heart was racing fast.

  ‘’I thought…you said…’’He tried to hold his emotions and not cry in front of the scary man.

  ‘’Oh,’’pouted the man.’’I lied, obviously. I thought that you knew’’

  A lie? Why did the man who was supposed to be his teacher lie?

  The man cleared his ear with his hand out of boredom and tried to avoid the boy.

  ‘’You wanted protection at that moment, I gave you one. Simple as that. I do not need an apprentice.’’

  So that was it? He would simply watch that man walk away and leave him? He sure gave him money, but the boy knew that this was not enough.

  ‘’Why?’’ asked Dimtri, and the man stopped walking while Pup’s ears frowned down.

  ‘’Why will you leave me alone? I can help you.’’

  No answer.

  ‘’Please, I will be good. I cannot…’’

  How would a little boy survive in the darkness without protection? How could that man leave a kid defenseless?

  But the man did not respond and kept walking away.

  ‘’You are the worst.’’ Rage found Dimitri’s little boy, and tears fell from his eyes.

  Now, once again, he was alone. And the man lied again for one more thing. The money lasted for two weeks before running out and going hungry on the streets. Unlike Heraklion, Dimitri didn’t know the streets of the city, the escape routes, or anything. So he had to learn from scratch.

  Picking pockets was difficult, too, with soldiers lurking on each corner. A few time,s he got caught with so many warnings and bruises that the boy gave up and ended up like a beggarono the side walks.

  He was watching rich carriages, cargoes moving around his eyes, and wishing someone to take him from there. Feel pity for him and take him, raise him as his child.

  He wished that he were smarter and returned to the ship.. But Dimitri didn’t want to see the men laughing at him because he got ditched by their teacher. Or that their teacher, the one that they admired so much, was so cruel.

  Hungry for a loaf of bread, Dimitri found an old, cranky woman begging next to him and looking down at the floor. She was muttering nonsense from her starvation, and everyone was turning away in disgust. Dimitir wondered if the rest of the people also were disgusted by him.

  One day, the clouds covered the bright sun, and after a few weeks at sea, the boy knew that there would be a storm coming for him. So, he got out of his spot and started running to find a hiding place. But there was no heaven from him. Every door closed, every alley occupied with soldiers. He looked to the now dark clouds and noticed that on one of the roofs, a silver hawk was watching him. As if he were expecting him to be his next meal.

  No, he wouldn’t die like this. So the next thing he thought was to open the first door he could lay his eyes on.

  And he found the door belonged to a brothel.

  Red fabrics all scattered to the ground, the thick smell of alcohol and opium hitting Dimitr’s nostrils. And his eyes were darting as he could see right in front of him naked women and naked men letting out strange sounds.

  The boy was all flushed now. He tried to look away from all the naked pleasures and kept walking in secret so he wouldn't catch any sickness and die from it. When he was at Crete, he could find easy passage down below, where the rest of the street rats were calling those caves a shelter and home from wild storms. Sometimes, there would come a priest, trying to give them food and salvation for the Lord. But that time passed when the soldiers caught the priest for holding in his household pictures of the Savior and His Mother.

  Why was Dimitri thinking of those memories? Maybe because his gaze found a pair of soldiers inspecting a beautiful raven girl with deep bronze skin. She couldn’t be far older than the boy, as her gaze was facing the soldiers in distress. One of them tried to speak to the girl, but she remained silent.

  ‘’Come on, we have a warrant to search.’’The first soldier laughed. And the other leaned closer.

  ‘’Perhaps you hide something suspicious?’’He was so close to the girl, one breath away, and he could have kissed her with his dry lips. But the girl decided to spit on him. Now, both of the soldiers were furious. The one who had saliva on his cheek grabbed her by her red fabric and pushed her to the ground, trying to enter her room.

  ‘’Intazaar!’’ She screamed out loud, and the young boy, distressed by her dark eyes bursting to tears, rushed to her side.

  The boy grabbed her hand and helped her stand up while the rest of the half-naked women with a deep oil scent rushed to both of them.

  ‘’What’s the matter, Ishani?’’ One of the eldest of the women spoke to her.

  The girl simply cried and pointed at her room. The elder woman glared at Dimitri. ‘’Who are you?’’

  Dimitri did not speak as he was amused by her golden hair. He had never seen such a woman with straight blonde lashes and bright blue eyes.

  ‘’Nahin’’ The girl with the name Ishan shouted and moved in front of Dimitri.

  ‘’Greek Ishani’’The woman stated.

  ‘’A friend’’The girl’s voice stuttered.

  A friend? Dimitri was surprised by those words, but he had no time to process as the soldiers returned, disturbed, faces all pale.

  The elderly woman frowned at their appearance. ‘’I already told you, what you heard about people dying here is just a rumor-’’

  ‘’You hide a demon’’The soldiers’ voice screeched.

  Now, everyone entered the red silk room that was reeking with the stench of sweat and rotten corpses. Dimitri knew that smell well, growing up on the streets with famine and sickness.

  But the corpse that was lying in bed was not a corpse at all. It was a young woman, probably the same age as Ishani, with skin and hair pale like snow. Her blue eyes were wide open while her red lips were mouthing strange words.

  ‘’No demon, sick’’ defended Ishani.

  The soldiers did not care much about Ishani’s words as they tried to talk to the elder woman, trying to call a priest. But the woman had other plans.

  ‘’I will call the apothecary.’’She said and walked away with the soldiers.

  Now, Dimitri walked closer to the pale woman and could see that her hands were painted red too. The rest of her body was all worn out with strange marks all over her skin.

  Ishani walked close to him and narrowed.

  ‘’Kripaya’’ She whispered in her native tongue. ‘’Vah, nahin.’’

  Dimitri didn’t understand what she said, but he could see the pain in her eyes, her trembling fingers that were now caressing the girl’s pale locks.

  The half-dead girl’s eyes turned slowly to Dimitri, and her gentle face turned all wild and rough.

  ‘’Away’’She screamed, and her body stood up with her hands trying to reach for the boy.

  ‘’Away’’Her voice broke as she grasped Dimitri’s throat tightly, making it hard for the boy to breathe. Till his head could go numb, his body could not fight the horror as he could see the pale woman spitting blood, her nails digging into his skin, and Ishani standing right next to him…

  Smiling widely.

  ‘’Get out of my way’’A brute voice commanded, with a dog barking in the hallway.

  ‘’Sir, we are here for protection.’’ said one of the soldiers

  ‘’Wrong, you are here to interrupt my job.’’

  Such a familiar voice. Dimitri wished he could see the man behind him.

  ‘’Rukana’’The man spoke a word in a clear accent, shame as Ishani’s.

  The woman’s body relaxed, and she moved her hands away from Dimitr, making him cough and fall to the ground.

  The man began to walk closer while his golden dog found Dimitri’s face and his long tongue licked his hooked nose.

  ‘’What the…’’The boy muttered and looked above to see Odysseus facing him with the same shock as he had.

  ‘’What are you doing here?’’They both asked in sync.

  Dimitri pouted and spoke first. ‘’I wanted a shelter for the storm.’’

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  ‘’I gave you money’’said Odysseus strictly.

  ‘’You are cheap’’Dimitri shouted and looked around the walls, and he could still hear pleasurable moans.

  ‘’You are an apothecary?’’He turned back to Odysseus.’’ Here?’’

  He expected to see Odysseus embarrassed by those words, but instead, the man smiled.

  ‘’The girls here love to look at a handsome man with skills like mine.’’ He said, flipping his rich hair.

  ‘’And a man that cannot rise it up?’’ Smirked Dimitri, inspecting that this could make the man ashamed, but instead, he faced him, shocked. Right. This man was a woman in disguise.

  ‘’Do you know this boy, doc?’’The blonde woman spoke from behind, with the two guards inspecting everything.

  ‘’No-’’The man lied for a second, and he took another glance at the boy. The blonde woman would kick him out and die from sickness and the storm. He would die like he was expecting back in Crete.

  ‘’But he can stay’’He sighed.

  Dimitri’s face brightened.

  ‘’But I need privacy’’

  And with that, the blonde woman grimaced and closed the door.

  Dimitri looked back at Ishani, who was now weeping. His teacher turned to her, too, and knelt.

  ‘’Theek hai’’He whispered, stroking her cheek with his fingers.

  ‘’Greek’’Her voice trembled.

  ‘’It’s alright Ishani’’The man corrected himself.

  ‘’Do you know her?’’ asked Dimitri.

  ‘’I know that she and that girl on the bed were bought a few years back. Ishani was taken by some slave traders in Agra, and she met the girl here.’’

  ‘’Agra?’’ Dimitri asked.

  ‘’India.’’

  ‘’You spoke Indian the whole time?’’

  ‘’Hindu, anyway’’Odysseus took a deep breath.’’I also know that the people here are very fond of how pale like snow the girl looks and how many people she served.

  ‘’Stop it’’Ishani wept.

  ‘’The soldiers said that there is a demon.’’

  Odysseus chuckled.’’Yes and no. There is a demon here.’’

  ‘’Stop it’’Ishani repeated herself.

  ‘’Satan?’’ asked Dimitri, thinking the man with horns would appear any moment.

  ‘’No, not your demon,’’ said Odysseus and turned to Ishani, who kept her hand on her head.

  ‘’Hers’’

  Her dark eyes snapped, and her body stood up.

  ‘’I have never seen an Asura king up close’’said Odysseus, amused. Ishani looked at him, confused.

  ‘’And I have never expected you to hide in a little girl’s body.’’

  Ishani now smiled with her teeth turning red.’’My, such a smart man.’’

  That was not Ishani’s voice. That voice was male, deep, and rough.

  ‘’Why are you here, Mara?’’ Odysseus narrowed.

  And now, Ishani showed herself as an example. ‘’She prayed for me, such a loyal girl to her friend…’’

  There was rage coming from Odysseus' eyes.

  ‘’Ever since this girl became sick, she prayed for everyone to die, for the people who hurt her to perish and oh…’’

  Dimitri looked at the coughing girl. So she was a decoy? While that creature, Mara, was possessing Ishani?

  ‘’So, she promised to have her body and feast to all the souls and hearts I pleased ultil the end of time.’’

  ‘’And in return, I suppose you would heal her friend’’Odysseus smiled for a second before it faded.

  ‘’But you are a demon of death.’’

  Mara laughed. ‘’Oh, I love smart people like you…I need a new body as it seems this new one…’’

  Ishani has now begun coughing blood and trying to fall.’’ It’s at the end.’’ Her eyes turned deep red. ‘’How about…’’

  Now, Dimitri took a brave turn. He understood nothing at this moment, but he knew that he had to speak. To lie.

  ‘’Wait. You cannot do that.’’His voice trembled.’’Because my…’’He turned his gaze over his shoulder and looked at Odysseus, who was facing him with the stupidest expression.

  ‘’My teacher will heal the girl, no doubt.’’

  Mara now laughed harshly. ‘’This man can do that?’’

  Dimitri looked once again at Odysseus, who was now smiling. And then, he showed the bag he was holding and he opened it, letting out jars filled with probably medicine.

  Can he actually save the girl?

  ‘’If you could, you would have done it weeks ago,’’ Ishani growled. No, Mara, Ishani. She was angry with him.

  ‘’Then how about a deal?’’Odysseus smiled. ‘’If she doesn’t get any better after the storm ends, you can have my body for yourself. If not, leave and never return to this kingdom.’’

  Ishani licked her lips. ‘’Very well, but one more bargain,’’ Mara said and took a step closer to Dimitri. ‘’Before feasting on both of the girl’s souls and taking over your body, I will eat the boy right in front of you.’’

  What?

  ‘’Deal’’

  Dimitri looked at the rough rain while he was expecting his ending. How could Osysseus agree with something like this? Either he was so sure he would succeed, or he finally found a way to get rid of him.

  ‘’Don’t worry’’ Odysseus reassured him while he was moving a strange powder inside the girl’s mouth. But how could he not worry when Ishnai was sitting and crying? Seems that Mara wasn’t inside her now. So he tried to talk to her by sitting right next to her on the ground.

  ‘’So who was that?’’He asked curiously.

  ‘’Mara, one of the Asura kings.’’She explained.’’God of death and rebirth, one who was against the Buddha.’’

  ‘’Isn’t Budha your god?’’ asked Dimitri. ‘’Why didn’t you pray to him?’’

  For a second, she faced the window and watched Pup, who was staring all sad at the thunderstorm. Then, Odysseus was speaking.

  ‘’High fever, harsh breathing, pulse…’’

  ‘’Have you ever prayed to your God?’’ Ishani asked.

  He could remember that when he was five, he prayed to God to give him a proper family. Fine food on the table. A mother to give him hugs and kisses, and a father to show him the ways of men.

  ‘’Yes’’He replied all shyly.

  ‘’Did he ever answer?’’

  Hours passed as they both watched the storm and wished it would never stop. For a second, Dimitri tried to close his eyes with his gaze turning to Ishani. He didn’t expect to see a face so strange. Full eyes red, long fangs over her lips, and eyes in the shape of a half moon.

  ‘’Times up’’Mara spoke.

  The storm stopped, showing a beautiful, calm night. And the girl was still asleep.

  Dimitri’s heart dropped as he could not breathe. This couldn’t be the end, no.

  ‘’Now’’Mara growled and moved Isnai’s hand on the boy’s throat.’’Shall I start from your limbs?’’ Ishani’s body moved him up, losing all trust in the ground.

  ‘’Or your eyes? Your heart? Oh, little kids have the sweetest.’’

  ‘’You shall leave that body, Mara’’Odysseus spoke calmly. ‘’You lost.’’

  Mara let out a laugh with Ishani’s lips moving so wide that it made her own skin open halfway.

  ‘’I lost?’’ Ishani’s nails were sharper than the girl’s, one more pressure and Dimitri would breathe.’’She isn’t healed.’’

  ‘’That was not the deal now, was it?’’

  Ishani raised one brow, and Mara snorted like a pig.

  But Odysseus let out a cunning cat smile.’’Our deal was that if she got better when the storm got better, you would leave. And she got.’’

  ‘’What?’’ Raged Mara, but Dimitri could hear Ishani trying to fight it.

  ‘’Her fever is gone, her breathing and pulse are steady. She got better than before.’’

  Furious as the demon was, Dimitri thought that his end came right in the instant. But Inshani fought it her making sure Dimitri would be free from her hand when she was now rushing to the girl’s side.

  ‘’Mera pyarr’’The monstrous girl now cried.’’My love,’’ She said again in Greek. ‘’Can you see me?’’

  ‘’Stop fighting it’’Mara now said. ‘’Stupid girl, STAY SILENT.’’

  ‘’Come on, Mara, a deal is a deal’’Odysseus's grin grew wider. ‘’Let her go and leave.’’

  But Ishani’s head shook and her mouth opened wide, making her face split in two and her tongue let a thick smoke out. The smoke, too slowly, is the true form of a man with a round red belly and eyes on his chest. His few black hairs were moving with the wind the man was creating, and from his mouth, a snake was getting out.

  Dimitri wished to have the courage to scream like Pup, who was barking.

  The door was now knocking and knocking. Sounds of soldiers and crying women were echoing as they were trying to get inside.

  ‘’I will get your body and eat your boy.’’

  Odysseus’ gaze darkened while Ishani fell down cold. Dimitri tried to take care of himself, but he couldn’t stop seeing what was happening. Mara rushed on Odysseus’ side, trying to get into his body. But with one breath away, the demon stopped.

  ‘’What is…’’ Mara gasped. ‘’Why can’t I..’’He tried to move closer, to get inside him. Nothing.

  ‘’What are you?’’

  ‘’Leave’’The man commanded.

  ‘’Oh,’’ laughed Mara as he realized something.’’ You are already taken, aren’t you? One of your gods’’

  And Odysseus' face grew even more furious.

  ‘’Acting so brave, but you are no better than this whore’’Mara kept howling from laughter. ‘’You are just another slave to another god, you are noth-’’

  And Odysseus now spoke calmly in a very emotionless tone.’’Agha Mara’’

  That name made Mara furious.

  ‘’Leave, or I will have to send you to Naraka myself. And trust me, I will find a way.’’

  And with that, the god gave up by disappearing like a coward.

  What just happened?

  The door finally opened with the two soldiers breaking it to the ground thanks to their great, sharp swords. The blonde woman followed with a furious look as she gazed at the ruined and smelly room.

  ‘’Doc, what happened?’’She asked and looked at the fallen Ishani. Dimitri expected her to comfort the girl, but instead, the woman let out a hard kick on Ishani’s stomach.

  ‘’What have you done to your face, you pathetic girl?’’She growled, kicking her again.’’Now, I cannot make any profit from you.’’

  Odysseus approached the woman with a calm look. ‘’They are both dead, Ma’am.’’ He reassured me. At first, the woman did not believe him, and she turned to Dimitri.

  ‘’Is that true, boy?’’

  True? What was the truth anymore? He saw a demon getting out of a girl’s body, calling Odysseus a slave to a god. And that slave made the demon disappear like it was nothing. How could anything be anything else than a bad dream? But Odysseus did say that the pale girl was now steady. Why would he lie?

  He turned down Ishani, the girl who wanted everyone to die in that place. From her hatred and anger. The girl who was passed to the ground and got hit in her stomach because of her now monstrous face.

  ‘’Yes’’Dimitri lied.

  The woman’s eyes opened wide, and she gave up by letting out a heavy breath.

  ‘’How did they die?’’

  ‘’You let any kind of man touch them, clean or dirty’’There was anger inside his voice. ‘’Did not matter to you when their pockets were filled, right?’’

  The woman pouted.

  ‘’Diseases, he explained after, and took both of the girls, each one on his arms like they were sacks of dirt. And he walked with Pup away.

  ‘’Where are you going?’’ The soldiers asked.

  ‘’To bury them far away,’’ explained Odysseus. ‘’Their corpses will infect everyone.’’

  And with that, he walked away without any warning. And this time, Dimitri decided to follow him.

  He ran in secret so he wouldn't be noticed by him. Minutes and hours passed by until he found Odysseus and both of the girls, who were now standing tall, in front of the port, right close to the ship Dimitri had been on for months.

  ‘’Give her these herbs for a while.’’Taught Odysseus to Ishani, giving her a small bag. Ishani nodded. And then, he showed one more and pointed at her wounded face. ‘’And this for your face .’’

  Ishani’s eyes trembled with the moonlight.

  ‘’She will get better and I promise none of those men at the ship will hurt you, they know better than to mess with-’’

  Ishani interrupted him by embracing the man tightly. She cried with joy and tried to laugh, but she was muffling the world, thank you over and over again. Odysseus did not react even when his hands were trying to reach his arms to her waist, mocking her hug. Dimitri kept watching from afar in the dark; the girls were on a ship that was sailing far. And now, the pale girl touched Ishani’s wounded face softly, moving herself closer and letting a sweet kiss on her lips.

  When the ship was finally far away from the horizon, Odysseus spoke.

  ‘’You know far too many secrets.’’He said, turning on Dimitri’s hiding place.

  The boy got frightened. ‘’Will you kill me?’’ He asked, and Pup rushed back to him and licked his feet.

  Odysseus sighed. ‘’Why are you still here? You saw what happened; if it happened again, you will probably die.’’

  But Dimitri did not care. He would have been dead in Crete, he would have been dead from the woman on the ship, he would have been dead from the storm. He could have died in so many ways, and yet, he was still alive because of Odysseus. No matter how cruel he looked, it seemed that half of it was an act.

  Odysseus groaned.’’If I say hypothetically, I need a chore boy’’He walked closer to him.’’You will do whatever I say, and each rule will be worse. If you need a father to look up to, go to an orphanage and wait for him.’’

  Such harsh words. ‘’And if you do break any of my rules, I will make sure you won’t forget-’’

  ‘’Will you leave me?’’Asked Dimitri. He has seen worse men doing far worse things than he was promising. He did not want a father or someone to look after him. He wanted to belong.

  ‘’What?’’Odysseus blinked.

  ‘’If I break one of your rules, will you leave me?’’

  Silence. Dimitri’s gaze moved around, only to find a hawk, silver like the moon, gazing upon them near the marketplace. Strong wind blew, making leaves fall on Dimitr’s face and making him lose the image of the bird.

  ‘’No, I won’t.’’ He finally said.

  ‘’The boy smiled and kept looking at the sad Odysseys. His slender fingers now touched his neck.

  ‘’That demon…’’Mymbled Dimitri. ‘’Said that you are a slave to a god?’’

  They both now kept walking to the streets with the Teacher staying silent until they found themselves in front of a door.

  When the Teacher opened it, Dimitri was disgusted by the entire mess. How many piles of clothes can a man have? How many books and herbs were scattered to the ground? No wonder he wanted a chore boy. But inside all the mess, there was a clean corner where a vase was holding two bright flowers. One was a yellow daffodil and the other was …

  ‘’Teacher, what’s that?’’Asked Dimitri, pointing to the white buds of the flower. That question made his teacher wear a worried-looking expression.’’ It’s just hemlock.’’