the world again. As it is, most of my kind have accepted the rise of mankind and their desire to rule themselves, but some still feel usurped.”
I hadn’t even thought about that. At one time the gods held sway over the world, but now they worked in conjunction with it, and their powers here were limited by treaty and agreement. What if a few power-hungry gods decided to break the treaties, under the guise of trying to help fight against Typhon? Would that lead to a war? Going up against the dragons was hard enough. Going up against a group of gods intent on taking over the world would be suicide.
“All right, so does this mean we have authority over the police?” Viktor asked.
“Not unless it directly relates to Typhon, the undead who follow him, and the rest of the dragons. What concerns me is this. What if the Luminous Warriors convince the UC they’re on our side and ask for membership for the Dragonni in the United Coalition? Once they established themselves, it would be so easy for them to con people into complacency. Then, when the world wasn’t expecting it, they could easily rise up and smash down everyone else.” Herne leaned back in his chair, staring at his tablet. “I’ve warned the governor about it. She promised she’ll fight against their inclusion, should that happen.”
His thoughts were worrisome, but could dragons really be that subtle?
“Do you think they could possibly manage the reserve to achieve that? I mean, they aren’t exactly low-key.” I poured myself another cup of coffee and held up the pot. “Anybody want any more?”
Talia raised her hand. “I wouldn’t mind another cup.”
I refilled her mug, then Viktor’s, before setting the coffee pot back on the warmer. Then, snagging a couple of cookies from the plate on the counter, I returned to the table.
Herne waited until I sat down to answer. “You have only seen a small side of the Dragonni. Do you know why Typhon was sent into stasis?”
“I don’t,” I said, biting into the peanut butter cookie. “Why?”
“Long ago, when the world was very young and the Titans ruled, back when humans were barely beginning to establish civilization, Typhon grew jealous. His mother, Gaia, was having more children. She left Tartarus and slept with Uranus, who fathered with her, among others, Cronus. Typhon managed to keep his disgruntlement to himself until his half-brother Cronus fathered Zeus. When Gaia announced that her grandson Zeus would become the father of the Greek gods, Typhon felt cheated. He saw that this new breed—the gods—were displacing the Titans.”
“So he wanted to lead the gods?”
“Not exactly, but he sure didn’t want the gods to grow in power. So he made his move. Now, this part isn’t documented in the history books, but we know it happened. Typhon kidnapped Zeus when he was a baby and was about to sacrifice him to Tartarus in exchange for more power when he was caught.”
“Uh oh,” Talia said.
“Uh oh is right. The Fates realized that Typhon’s greed could disrupt the entire progression of history, so they ordered that he should be bound into stasis. Now, here’s the part that we’re having trouble with. We don’t know who actually forced him into stasis or how. We have to find out in order to return him to that state. But when he made his plans, Typhon was careful. No one expected him to move against Zeus, and nobody knew what he was planning. Not even his wife, Echidna.”
Herne shrugged. “So Typhon managed to kidnap his half-brother away from the gods who were caring for him. No one knew how he did it, and he almost succeeded in disrupting the balance. It’s believed Echidna helped the gods bind her husband-brother away from the world, and to banish her children to the Forgotten Kingdom.”
“How did he break out of stasis?” Viktor asked.
“We don’t know that either. There’s so much we don’t know. Most of the gods weren’t hanging around Olympus or Greece at that time. For those of us who aren’t a part of the Greek pantheon, this is a fight we never reckoned on, but we have to deal with it anyway because it involves the entire world.”
Herne looked rattled. He really didn’t want this fight, but it had been dumped in his lap.
“Is there any way we can do research?” Angel asked.
“I wasn’t born when that happened,” Talia said, “but when I was young, I do remember hearing stories about ‘Be good or