Trials for the Gods

Rebecca J. Sotirios

Description

Greek gods? Just myths, right?
My name is Iris Dimitriadis, daughter of Zeus, the supreme ruler of the gods.
A few years ago, my whole life changed the moment I received a prophecy.
If you’ve stayed up to date with my life, you’ll know I was one of the prophesied demigods that helped save Mount Olympus from destruction.
The world has changed significantly since then…The barrier between the gods and mortals was demolished the moment the gods came to reveal themselves to the mortals of Earth.
Zeus has decided to further showcase their might and power. To prove they are the ‘Rulers of Humanity and only true gods’, an event was established, where demigods must compete annually via a set of perilous Trials.
The Trials take place yearly after the cold season has ended, on an island named H N – Hirakleia Nissos.
Meaning the Island of Hercules.
As demigods we are now solely trained to survive these Trials.
Thus, creating a modern form of entertainment for the gods.
The offspring of Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and Apollo are in a deadly predicament once again.

Sujets

• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris AU
• Date de parution: 15 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669887515
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

TRIALS FOR THE GODS








REBECCA J. SOTIRIOS

Illustrations by Zhanna Kii



Copyright © 2022 by Rebecca J. Sotirios.

Library of Congress Control Number:
2022905357
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-8753-9
Softcover
978-1-6698-8752-2
eBook
978-1-6698-8751-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.






Rev. date: 07/18/2022





Xlibris
AU TFN: 1 800 844 927 (Toll Free inside Australia)
AU Local: [phone] ([phone] from outside Australia)
www.Xlibris.com.au
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This book is dedicated to a lot of people:
Dad, for his never-ending support and help with revising my novels;
Colin, for editing my novels;
Charlize, for her character inspiration;
Voula, for encouraging me to publish my novels;
Anna, for the Greek translations;
and to you, the reader.




CONTENTS
Meet The Twelve Olympian Gods
Meet The Characters
PART 1
The Chosen
Prologue Η Αρχή The Beginning
Chapter 1 Ηράκλεια Νήσος
Chapter 2 Η Εκλογή The Choosing
Chapter 3 Οι χαμένοι ημίθεοι The Lost Demigods
Chapter 4 Χορός Μεταμφιεσμένων Masquerade Ball
Chapter 5 Μην παίζεις με τη μοίρα Don’t Tempt Fate
Chapter 6 Σχολή άμυνας School of Defence
Chapter 7 Κόρη της Εκάτης Daughter of Hecate
Chapter 8 Κατάλαβε τις ικανότητές σου Understand Your Abilities
Chapter 9 Αδέσποτο Stray
Chapter 10 Τέχνη Θεραπείας και Ιατρικής Art of Healing and Medicine
Chapter 11 H Φωτιά The Bonfire
Chapter 12 Μυθικά Τέρατα του Νίκου Λακοβίδη Mythical Monsters by Nikos Lakovidis
Chapter 13 Μεσονύχτιος Επισκέπτης Midnight Visitor
Chapter 14 Αθήνα Α.Ε. Athens Enterprise
Chapter 15 Βασικός Οδηγός The Basic Guide
Chapter 16 Μαντείο των Δελφών Oracle of Delphi
PART 2
The Trials
Chapter 17 Οι δοκιμασίες The Trials
Chapter 18 Το νησί The Island
Chapter 19 Ο φάρος Lighthouse
Chapter 20 Γαληνεύσατε τους Ίππους του Διομήδη Calm the Mares of Diomedes
Chapter 21 Προσοχή όφεις Beware of the Serpents
Chapter 22 Οι τρεις Γοργόνες The Gorgon Sisters
Chapter 23 Χωροδία χίλιων φωνών Chorus of a Thousand Voices
Chapter 24 Οι εφτά γίνανε έξι Seven Became Six
Chapter 25 Πανσέληνος Full Moon
Chapter 26 Η κατάρα του Λυκάνθρωπου The Hex of the Lycanthrope
Chapter 27 Κάθε ελπίδα χάθηκε All Hope Lost
Chapter 28 Ο Καταραμένος Θησαυρός του Δράκου Dragon’s Cursed Treasure
PART 3
The Aftermath
Chapter 29 Ξεχασμένοι οιωνοί Forgotten Omens
Chapter 30 Ένα χρόνο μετά One Year Later

About The Editor
About The Illustrator






Map of Greece








Hirakleia Nissos ( Ηράκλεια Νήσος )




MEET THE TWELVE OLYMPIAN GODS

Zeus
Zeus is the god of the sky and the king of the Olympian gods. He is the ruler, protector, and father of all gods and humans.

Hera
Hera is the goddess of marriage and childbirth. She is the queen of the gods and the consort of Zeus.




Poseidon
Poseidon is the god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses.

Demeter
Demeter is the goddess of agriculture.




Athena
Athena is the protectress and the goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason.

Apollo
Apollo is the god of archery, music, poetry, art, prophecy, plague, healing, and sun. He is the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother to Artemis.
Note: Also spelt by the ancient Greeks as ‘Apollon’.




Artemis
Artemis is the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation, virginity, and childbirth. She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo.

Ares
Ares is the god of war and the spirit of battle.




Hephaestus
Hephaestus is the god of fire. He is known as the blacksmith of the gods.

Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the goddess of sexual love and beauty, fertility, and marriage.




Hermes
Hermes is the messenger of the gods and the conductor of the dead to Hades. He is also known as a dream god.

Dionysus
Dionysus is the nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, but mainly known as a god of wine.




Hades
Hades is the god of the underworld. Although Hades is a major god and was a part of the first generation of Olympians, his realm is the underworld, which is far from Olympus, and because of this, he was not usually considered one of the Olympians.
Note: Also spelt by the ancient Greeks as ‘Haides’.



MEET THE CHARACTERS
Name: Iris Dimitriadis
Age: 23
Parent: Zeus
Gender: Female
Height: 5’9” (175 cm)
Abilities: Command over the
domain of heaven



Name: Alexandros Papatonis
Age: 25
Parent: Hades
Gender: Male
Height: 6’2” (188 cm)
Abilities: Command over the underworld
and Dark Arts





Name: Anastasia (Tia) Papathanasiou
Age: 23
Parent: Poseidon
Gender: Female
Height: 5’8” (172 cm)
Abilities: Command of the sea



Name: Theodore (Theo) Drakos
Age: 24
Parent: Apollo
Gender: Male
Height: 6’1” (185 cm)
Abilities: the art of music, prophecy,
archery, healing, and light.





PART 1
The Chosen



PROLOGUE
Η Αρχή The Beginning
F ive years have passed since our prophesied demigods completed their quest against Zorander, defying the odds and slaying their evil fiend. The outcome of such a prophecy has left the gods at a loss of what to do; they could not afford another Titan to avenge them of their wrongdoing/s.
Our prophesied demigods have been worshipped as heroes amongst the other godlings since they fulfilled their prophecy. To make matters worse, there have been rumours that the four demigods are more powerful than the Olympian gods themselves . . .
So the gods decided to intervene . . . revealing themselves to the mortals of earth. As you may have guessed, it did not go as planned . . .
The mortals of earth retaliated; they refused to kneel before the gods of Mount Olympus, resulting in an uprising on earth— gods against mortals.
Within a week, millions of mortals had lost their lives because of these so-called natural disasters caused by the supreme deities, the gods themselves.
The mortals were left with no other choice; they knelt . . .
Zeus, the king of the gods, then concluded that the mortals weren’t even worthy of their attention. To further show their might and power and to prove that they were the one and only true gods , they established an event that only demigods would compete in annually via a set of Trials.
This isn’t the first time something like this had taken place; it occurred in Ancient Greece. Demigods compete in Trials to prove their worth to their godly parents.
The gods had previously promised the Ancient Trials would come to an end if someone was able to complete them. You may very well know who the winner was. His name was Hercules, son of Zeus and Alcmene, courageously known for his twelve labours, the strongest demigod of all time.
1. Slay the Nemean lion
2. Slay the nine-headed Hydra of Lerna
3. Capture the elusive hind of Arcadia
4. Capture the wild boar of Mount Erymanthus
5. Clean in a single day the cattle stables of King Augeas of Elis
6. Shoot the monstrous man-eating birds of the Stymphalian marshes
7. Capture the mad bull that terrorised the island of Crete
8. Capture the man-eating mares of King Diomedes
9. Take the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons
10. Seize the cattle of the three-bodied giant Geryon, who ruled the island Erytheia
11. Collect the golden apples kept at the world’s end, guarded by a hundred-headed dragon named Ladon
12. Bring the head of the triple-headed dog Cerberus from the underworld.
Those twelve labours are the Trials.
So, to the anger of Zeus, and for once keeping his word, the Trials came to an end . . . or so we thought.
The majority of the current demigods don’t have the strength of Hercules; they’re not from the same mould as him. Instead, they have control over the elements their godly parents’ rule over.
However, a minor few have evolved with time, and this didn’t go unnoticed by Zeus.
Zeus, wanting to gain control of the demigods, decided to herd and cull the cattle, bringing back the Trials.
The gods then created an island, naming it Ηράκλεια Νήσος —Hirakleia Nissos, meaning ‘island of Hercules’.
If selected, the demigods are taken against their will to a supernatural island, where they must surv