As the man sat in the forest clearing, he tapped his foot nervously. The pond in front of him was frozen over, the land around him blanketed by snow. The trees were dead, for the moment at least. Snow was all around him, concealing well him thanks to his white clothing and rather pale complexion.
He was taking a big risk, getting ready to feed them the information he had. It was valuable, and his Lord would see to it he received a punishment worse than Prometheus' after betraying the Gods and giving the humans fire. To add to the risk, he was currently in the territory of The Wolf.
The Wolf was one of the most scary monsters that he had ever seen. He had been hunting for his next meal (Hopefully someone tasty) when he first came across him. Whereupon he had been toppled to the ground, and told that if he ever stepped foot into The Wolf's land he would be torn to shreds.
He shuddered involuntarily, his white cap shaking some of the snow off in the process. His eyes shot up when he heard the telltale crunch of snow, indicating someone approaching.
He stood up, brushing the snow off himself and preparing to fight to protect the envelope. It had taken him forever to get this information, and he would see it safely into the right hands.
The woman walked into the clearing. She was.. younger, than he'd been expecting. He mentally began to run through his checklist to make sure she was the right person. Reddish hair, check. Silver eyes, check.
His senses immediately screaming at him "DANGER, DANGER, GET THE FUCK OUT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL." Check.
The young woman was quiet for a time, before waving a hand, as if to beckon some invisible force to back down.
"Cyclops. From what I understand, you come bearing information from that place?" The girl asked, careful not to use names. Names had power. A few misplaced words and they'd all end up dead or worse.
The Cyclops, his one brown eye peering at her, nodded and pulled out the envelope. "In return for this information, I wish to become a smith for Atlantis." The Cyclops was clearly anxious about something, she noted. While originally she had boiled it down to being nervous of an Olympian Goddess, she saw him looking over his shoulders again and again, like he was watching for something.
During her analyzation of the Cyclops, there was a pause. "If the information proves valuable, I will ensure your safe passage to Atlantis as a smith." She said. She had a dislike of monsters - probably more like a hatred of them, but she was a woman of her word.
She took the envelope from the cyclops, feeling it packed with paper, to the point you'd need a giant cutter to slice it. As she read through it, the cyclops jittered nervously. The Wolf would not be pleased to find him here.
The girl's eyes widened. The information was highly valuable indeed.
"This is good enough. I will take you to Atlantis shortly." She said, as the cyclops let out a sigh of relief.
That was when he heard the telltale howling of The Wolf.
He panicked, quickly sprinting to the other side of the clearing.
"Oh, you sweet summer child. What did I tell you about coming into my territory?" A voice behind him said, his evil grin practically in front of him, though it approached from behind him. The Cyclops turned, seeing blood red eyes staring into his soul. The man grinned, showing sharp teeth that declared his monstrous nature. He gently placed a finger under the cyclops' chin, making a small cut with his long fingernails.
"Do you have a death wish? Not only intruding upon my hunting grounds, but betraying information of the rise of Kronos to an Olympian?" The man grinned, leaning in to his ear.
"Explain why I shouldn't make you my dinner for tomorrow, right now." His voice was chilling, carrying a darkness about it.
The Goddess realized who the… intruder was.
An Alpha monster.
Alpha monsters were the progenitors of the monster race; And therefore, direct descendents of the Mother of All Monsters, Echinda.
Their powers were scarily strong. The most powerful of them could take on a Golden Age Titan and come out on top. She had heard rumors that they were going to begin reappearing soon, but she had dismissed them.
She paused for a moment. Having an Alpha monster's head on her mantle would be quite the achievement for her and her hunters.
That was until the cyclops had finished explaining to the Alpha, and he heard him laugh.
"Cyclops, you are lucky I plan on aligning myself with Olympus for this next war. Otherwise I would slaughter you to gain favor with Kronos." The Alpha said, his blood red eyes shimmering with some twisted form of mirth.
"You are an Alpha monster, no? Why side with Olympus?" The girl had caught his attention, and The Alpha understood who she was immediately.
"Because child, Kronos and I don't get along. I want to see him kneeling before me, crying and begging for mercy before I eat him for my lunch." She flinched at this. The Alpha was clearly sadistic. But having an Alpha Monster would be a good advantage. A being who was only bound by the Ancient Law of not interacting with Mortals.
"I am the Goddess Artemis. I will take you to Olympus, if you wish to side with us." She said. Artemis shoved her pride to the back of her mind - she would not lose a chance to have such a powerful ally in the next war.
The Alpha grinned, his eyes glimmering with savage glee at the sheer thought of the slaughter to come in the next war. "Lead the way, Goddess." He said, grinning from ear to ear as he stepped out of the shadows. He was thin. Blood Red Eyes, Black hair, and sharp teeth and nails.
With that, he stepped toward the girl, towering over her measly 4 feet in her current form with his 6'5.
She placed a hand on his arm, before they disappeared in a flash of silver light.