50 BILLION REASONS FOR REVENGE

PAINFUL ESCAPE

The royal guards swarmed the bedroom like locusts. Gabriel stood by the window, his face a mask of fake grief that quickly shifted into a sneer of triumph.

"Seize him!" Gabriel shrieked, pointing at Zeus. "The traitor has strangled the life from my father! Do not let him speak! Do not let him breathe!"

Two guards grabbed Zeus by the arms, slamming him against the stone wall. Zeus, still reeling from the sight of Lord Mathew’s body, struggled to find his voice.

"I loved him!" Zeus cried out. "Gabriel, you know I loved him like a father! Look at his neck—those aren't my marks!"

Gabriel stepped forward and slapped Zeus across the face. "Silence, dog! You were greedy. You wanted his gold, and you killed him for it. Guards, take him to the courtyard. I want his head on a pike before the sun fully clears the horizon."

As they dragged Zeus down the spiraling stone stairs, his heart hammered against his ribs. He thought of Maria. He thought of Leo and Sara. If he died here, they would have no one to protect them from Gabriel’s madness.

Near the servant’s entrance, one of the guards tripped on a loose rug. In that split second of imbalance, Zeus channeled every bit of strength he had. He slammed his elbow into the ribs of the guard on his left and kicked the legs out from under the one on his right.

"Hey! Stop him!"

Zeus didn't look back. He bolted through the heavy oak doors and into the morning mist. He knew every inch of the estate. He dove through the thick hedges of the garden and scaled the perimeter wall, his hands bleeding as he gripped the jagged stones. He dropped onto the dirt road outside and ran toward the forest.

I have to get to Maria, he thought, his lungs burning. I have to get them out.

But as he reached the tree line, he saw a troop of mounted soldiers galloping toward his cottage. He was too far away. If he ran to them now, he would be captured before he reached the door, and they would all die together.

"I have to hide," he whispered, tears blurring his vision. "I have to stay alive to save them later. Please, God, let them be safe."

Back at the palace, Gabriel paced the throne room. He was no longer pretending to cry. He was agitated. The fact that Zeus had escaped felt like a thorn in his side.

"He got away?" Gabriel yelled at the captain of the guard. "A gardener? A floor-scrubber escaped twenty armed men?"

"He was fast, my Lord. He knows the woods."

Gabriel’s eyes turned toward the window, looking in the direction of the servant’s quarters. A dark, twisted smile spread across his face.

"Fine. If the father won't face justice, his blood will pay the debt. Captain, take your men to the cottage. The woman and the children. Kill them all."

The Captain hesitated. "My Lord... the children? They are barely past toddlers. And the woman has done nothing."

Gabriel walked up to the Captain, his voice a cold whisper. "Are you questioning the new Lord of this city? They are the seeds of a traitor. If you leave them alive, they grow into rebels. Do it now, or your head will join theirs."

The Captain bowed his head, his face pale. "As you command, my Lord."

An hour later, the deed was done. In the center of the village square, under the cold light of the morning sun, the lives of Maria and her two children were snuffed out. Gabriel watched from the balcony, sipping wine, feeling the heavy weight of his father’s ring on his finger.

Zeus spent the day huddling in a damp cave miles from the city. He was shivering, his clothes torn by thorns. He told himself that Gabriel was a human being—surely, he wouldn't hurt a woman and innocent children. He planned to wait for nightfall, sneak back to the cottage, and whisk them away to the northern territories.

Exhaustion eventually claimed him. He fell into a deep, heavy sleep.

In his dream, the world was filled with a soft, golden light. He was standing in a field of tall grass. In the distance, he saw Maria. She was wearing her favorite white dress, the one she wore on the day they were married. Beside her stood Leo and Sara.

"Maria!" Zeus shouted, running toward them. "I’m here! I’m coming for you!"

Maria didn't move. She didn't call out his name. She simply looked at him with a look of profound sadness and peace. She raised her hand and waved slowly. The children copied her, their small hands moving back and forth.

"Wait!" Zeus cried. "Why are you waving goodbye? Come back!"

As he reached out to touch them, they began to fade into the light. Maria blew him a kiss, a single tear rolling down her cheek, and then they were gone. The golden field turned into a void of blackness.

Zeus woke up screaming.

The silence of the cave felt like a physical weight. He sat up, gasping for air, his chest aching with a pain he had never known. He knew. In the marrow of his bones, he knew.

"No," he whimpered. "No... please, no."

He crawled to the mouth of the cave and looked toward the city. The wind seemed to carry the scent of ash. He began to wail—a long, broken sound that echoed off the trees. He tore at his tunic, ripping the fabric until his chest was bare to the cold night air. He rubbed dirt into his hair and fell to his knees, mourning the loss of everything he had ever loved.

"Gabriel!" he thrieked into the night. "I will have your soul for this! I will see you rot!"

For three days, Zeus wandered the wilderness like a ghost. He didn't eat. He barely drank. He was a man waiting for death to take him so he could reunite with his family.

On the fourth morning, as he sat by a stream staring blankly at the water, he heard the snapping of twigs. He didn't even look up. He didn't care if it was a wolf or a soldier.

"Look at this one," a gruff voice said. "Looks like he’s lost his mind."

Zeus looked up. A group of five men stood around him. They weren't Gabriel’s soldiers. They were dressed in mismatched leather armor and carried heavy iron chains. They were slavers—men who prowled the borders to catch the displaced and the broken.

"He’s built well," another man said, kicking Zeus in the ribs. "Scrub him up and he’ll fetch a high price in the southern mines."

Zeus didn't fight back. When they threw the iron collar around his neck and snapped it shut, he didn't even flinch. The cold metal against his skin was nothing compared to the coldness in his heart.

"Stand up, dog!" the leader barked, pulling the chain.

Zeus stood. His eyes were dead, staring at nothing.

"What's your name, slave?"

Zeus remained silent.

"Suit yourself. We’ll call you 'Ghost.' Move out!"

As the slavers led him away, chained to a line of other miserable souls, Zeus looked back one last time toward the city of his birth. He was a slave now, stripped of his name, his family, and his freedom. But deep inside the hollow shell of the man, a tiny spark of silver remained.

He was an obedient servant no longer. He was a man with a singular, burning purpose. He would survive the mines. He would survive the chains. And one day, he would return to the Obsidian Estate to finish what the nightmare had started.