Anya said nothing to me, gave no indication even that she knew I had entered her mind. I thought I understood why. If she gave any hint at all that she recognized my presence, Set would immediately know that I was awake and active—at least mentally. The only way to keep me hidden was not to make any response to me at all.
Swiftly, wordlessly, I gave her the details of my contact with Zeus. No reaction from her, none at all. She was guarding her mind from Set with every defensive barrier she could maintain. I wondered if she really knew I was there, so completely did she ignore me.
Set was still lounging on his throne, horned face staring at Anya, tail twitching unconsciously behind him. Poor Juno’s body had been removed and the bloodstains cleaned away. I wondered how long it had been since he had smashed me into senselessness. Perhaps only minutes had passed. Perhaps days.
Anya was not in pain. Set was not torturing her or even threatening her. They were speaking together, almost as equals. Even the deadliest of foes have reasons to communicate peacefully, at times.
“You are prepared, then, to leave this planet forever?” I heard Set’s voice in Anya’s mind.
“If there is no alternative,” she replied, also without speaking.
“What guarantee do I have that you will keep the agreement?”
“Agreement?” I asked Anya, but still there was no response from her. It was as if I did not exist, as far as she was concerned.
“You have won. Your power is too great, too firmly entrenched here, for us to dislodge you. If you permit us to escape with our lives and agree not to pursue us further, the planet Earth is yours forever.”
“Yes, but how do I know I can trust you? In a thousand years or a thousand million, how can I be certain that you will not return to battle against my descendants?”
Anya shrugged mentally. “You will have destroyed the human race. We will have no means of fighting you then.”
“You could create more humans, just as you created the one called Orion.”
“No. That was an experiment that failed. Orion has been of no use to us against you.”
I burned with shame at Anya’s words. They were true, and it hurt me to admit it.
“Then you have no intention of trying to bring him with you when you leave the earth?”
“How could he accompany us?” Anya replied. “He is nothing more than a human. He cannot change his form. He cannot exist in the depths of interstellar space, where we will make our new homes.”
A shuddering horror filled me. Anya and all the Creators were indeed fleeing from Earth and abandoning the human race to extinction at Set’s hands. Abandoning the entire human race. Abandoning me.
“Then you leave this creature Orion to me?” Set’s words were half request, half demand.
“Of course,” Anya replied carelessly. “He is of no further value to us.”
Deep in my underground cell I screamed a shriek of agony like a wild animal howling with pain and fright and the utter furious agony of betrayal.