The Gift From Poseidon: When Gods Walked Among Us (Volume 2)

ALSO BY J.A. GINEGAW

The Fifth Codex
When Gods Walked Among Us: Volume 1

A Crimson Shadow Cast
(Early 2016)
When Gods Walked Among Us: Volume 3

The Gryphon Exodus
(Late 2016)
When Gods Walked Among Us: Volume 4

Text Copyright © 2015 by J.A. Ginegaw

Illustrations Copyright © 2015 by Tiffany Kuan

The events and incidents contained in this publication can be neither confirmed nor denied in either their totality or their partiality.  It can be confirmed, however, that they are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.  Furthermore, any resemblance of characters to actual persons – known to be living, barely living, almost dead, or confirmed dead – is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of both the copyright holder and the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1517310714

ISBN-10: 1517310717

The Gift from Poseidon • Kindle Edition v1.2

Five codices of copper encased in gold,

Sapiens rising, the prophecy foretold,

Magic harvested from the

darkest roots of a world long past.

Sinister strings woven from my frost-drenched heart,

Ensnare fleshy puppets playing well their part,

The golden prairies of Lapith Fields

cringe as doomed armies mass.

Death partaken serves a feast of dead men’s screams,

Ruined mystics grant reborn children’s dreams,

As rage united splinters the

shields of warriors aghast.

Mighty crowns awash in guiltless blood and gore,

Heathen gods free to walk among us no more,

Desdessandra’s timeless wrath

unleashed, a crimson shadow cast.

Untold secrets spoken set free hurting cries,

Mourning rains plunge from sorrow-blackened skies,

Whilst the breaking of our world

brings forth the end of days – at last.

– The Witch Queen

MAPS
 

IN THE BEGINNING

ONE
Submission

TWO
Procession of Nations

THREE
Friendly Enemies, Dangerous Friends

FOUR
Harpastum

FIVE
Eruption

SIX
Feed the Gods

SEVEN
The Last Leaf Falls

EIGHT
Suffering

NINE
Laying Down the Law

TEN
Permanent Recollections

ELEVEN
The Gift from Poseidon

TWELVE
Stressed to Impress

THIRTEEN
A Bold Approach

FOURTEEN
Legend Forged and Thrust Forth

FIFTEEN
An Enchanted Wariness

SIXTEEN
A Tiny Treasure

SEVENTEEN
The Golden Clepsydra

EIGHTEEN
Don’t Pet the Troll

NINETEEN
Just a Bit of Fun

TWENTY
A Grim Wish Granted

TWENTY-ONE
It’s Complicated

TWENTY-TWO
Invitations and a Journey West

TWENTY-THREE
A Covetous Mind

TWENTY-FOUR
Adventures in Eating

TWENTY-FIVE
Stalking Poseidon’s Gift

TWENTY-SIX
Red Sky in Mourning

TWENTY-SEVEN
Bloody Pieces to a Gruesome Puzzle

TWENTY-EIGHT
A Day to be Thankful

TWENTY-NINE
Second Impressions

THIRTY
A Path Becomes Her

THIRTY-ONE
Chances Are

THIRTY-TWO
A Certain Point of View

THIRTY-THREE
A Glorious Entrance

THIRTY-FOUR
A Shameful Exit

THIRTY-FIVE
Winning Time

THIRTY-SIX
A Sunrise Surprise

THIRTY-SEVEN
The Sneak, the Scribe, and the Spell

THIRTY-EIGHT
Deceptively Deadly Demands

THIRTY-NINE
Two Souls Enter, One Soul Leaves

We were gods once.  Gifted with great magic and long life, thousands of Sapiens walked my world.  But that which was, no longer is.  And that which now is, could not have come to be if not for our downfall.  I am Komnena, the last Sapien historian.  Just how do I know of our beginning, our approaching end, and so many grand tales in between?  Because I was there when much of it happened.  Because no others remain who can reveal to you a world that existed before the one you now know.

For reasons lost to history or simply before it – my ancestors were banished!  Although the true gods love death as much as mortals love life; just this once, the ethereal enigmas somehow found the strength to temper their morbid lust.  Sentenced to die, these men and women wandering the tundra in barely more than their skin stumbled upon not their demise, but paradise.

Terra Australis unlike anything these mindless, hopeless wretches had ever seen; from the most fearsome to the most charming, field and forest alike overflowed with all manner of life.  Ten centuries came and went, yet aside from growing in numbers, these simpletons achieved nothing of note atop this lush land.  My world deserved better, and the gods would reward her patience.

Brown and orange of rock and flame suddenly consumed the skies; for many days, stone ablaze bombarded Terra Australis.  Most too stupid to stay hidden, these wretches fled in every direction and from every direction were turned into ash.  A fog not of mist, but of fire, swept across the land and consumed all life foolish enough to cross its path.  Smoke and flame devoured most, but a few of the strongest survived.

A single body of water – a small lake – stayed clean amongst this wrecked filth.  Its waters glittered, glimmered, even moved
in unnatural ways.  Despite tiny creatures wiggling about these waters, parched mouths continued to drink, and the survivors huddled around the Pool of Torment and Discovery as if waiting for the Grim to collect the rest of them.

But gifts would come instead.

Surrounded by chaos, a new dawn lit the horizon.  Eyes blurred by misery looked upon a world still broken, but suddenly bendable to their will.  And to their will they bent it.  Wretchedness began to wonder, wonder led to learning, learning brought about seeking to own an existence above mere survival, and the Rise of Sapiens begat the Knowing Time.

The first great sorceress, Cynisca, united the scattered tribes four centuries later.  Her mystic might came by way of a secret others had yet to learn: Potions cannot hold spells for long, but charmed objects of a fantastic nature and enchanted dust made of rare things forever can.  Those who resisted her rule turned into stone; she built the foundation of the first great city, Elkabydos, upon their backs.  To push the boundaries of magic, she brought together the land’s most talented mystics and established the Magic Guild of the Sapien Realm.  Queen Cynisca rode to the crown on a wave of war, but her queenship would bring to Terra Australis a prosperous peace.  A peace forever broken once enough mystics learned how to call upon magic that dwells in the darkest roots of the world.

Mystic rage rarely the right answer, it became the common one.  Greed – jealousy – envy – revenge, some temptations are simply too great to resist.  Even when misused, no matter how heinously, wrathful gods do not steal back their gifts – they turn them against you.  This time would be no different.  By way of pestilence, pettiness, and ruinous wars against both ourselves and the other nations, the Fall of Sapiens began.

Mermaids and Gryphons of the West and Centaurs and Arachna Majora of the East dominate Terra Australis now.  Elkabydos abandoned long ago, we few Sapiens still left occupy the northernmost prefecture of the shared city, Antediluvium.

You are no doubt saddened to hear of our stunning decline, but temper your pity for us.  Some still skilled with magic, my sorceress queen far beyond driven to cast a crimson shadow upon our world, an ancient prophecy that promises to plunge the other nations into eternal darkness so Sapiens can rise again.…

We are not dead yet.