Battle of the Kingdoms: Moon Born 2

Chapter 26

"A question? For me?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, nodding my head.

"What kind of question could you have for me?"

I looked around the group before taking a deep breath. 

What if she doesn't agree to this? What if she says no?

'Just ask,'  Edmond thought to me.

'She kind of scares me.'

He sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Great sphynx, we are from the mythic realm. Our kingdoms are under attack and we are searching out other mythics who may want to aid in our battle."

"Aid in a battle? Dear girl, I am the keeper of Thebes. I ask riddles. I do not battle."

"I know."

"Why would I want to help?" she questioned. "This is your battle. I do not live in a mythical realm. I am part of the real world."

"Our world is real. We're just closed off from humans. And our battle will eventually spill out into the human world. It will come here. It will probably come here first since  your Gods and Goddesses are our Gods and Goddesses."

"Go on."

"Our mother, our goddess, is Artemis. She is our protector and creator."

"Indeed?'

I nodded my head. "Not all of our Gods and Goddesses are of the same origins, but ours are the same as yours. We need your assistance."

"Who do you presume to think is the cause of the turmoil?" 

"Well," I started, "Directly, I think it is Ares, but I believe his actions are being swayed by Eyno and Hera."

"Hera? She does not have many friends."

"No, but she is the wife of Zeus."

"And Artemis is his daughter. Why does he not protect her creatures?" the sphynx asked.

"That's a really good question that I do not have an answer to."

She sat back on her haunches, it was still weird seeing this creature with the head and chest of a woman and the body of a lion and wings of an eagle. She sat like a cat, her tail swishing about. If I knew anything about cats, which was only what we were taught in school about werecats, their tails indicated their moods. An angry swishing tail meant she was annoyed.

Oh, she's annoyed with me...

"I know that we are asking a lot," Edmond said. "But we believe that it will take all of us working together to stop what is coming."

"I am usually not associated with helping. I'm typically not one of the good guys, as you might say."

"I understand that," Edmond continued, "But a battle that reaches Thebes will directly affect you. And if you have at any time pissed off Hera, Enyo, or Ares, they won't give you a pass."

She pursed her lips and stared out over the ruins that she still guarded after all of these millennia.

"My home has been ransacked and destroyed for so long. I have not lived for as long as I have without making enemies. I shall join you in the battle. I refuse to die at the hands of any of those three without putting up a fight."

"Oh thank Goddess!" Harmony exclaimed.

"Shh," I growled back at her. 

The sphynx rolled her eyes and stood. "When do we leave?"