Page 12 of Legend of Scorpio
Then again, people could do incredible things when determined. Look at those who walked on coals without injury.
“You’re pretty spry for an old guy,” she muttered under her breath.
He still heard. “I like to keep fit.”
“Are all these other Zodiacs built like bodybuilders?”
“Yup. In our line of work, we can’t afford to be weak, or it could spell our demise.”
“So, you’re not invincible?”
He flashed her a grin. “No. But I wouldn’t recommend plotting my death, as I am tougher than most.”
“You aren’t affected by the cold, but you definitely feel pain,” she observed.
“Yes, but we recover more quickly than a regular human. Heal faster. Most illnesses have no effect on us.”
“But some do?” she questioned.
“While rare, it happens. The most recent case being from a crypt discovered in Egypt. Pisces got hit by a lingering curse. Took him a few weeks before he didn’t look like a walking pustule.”
“Now you’re telling me curses exist?”
“Oh, yes. Magic is real, but those who can wield it are rare. It takes a very gifted person to wrangle the esoteric forces around us.”
“I take it you can do that?”
“Me? No.” He chuckled. “The best I can do is starbeam, which, for lack of a better term, is astral physics. Although I know Virgo likes to call it magic.”
“Do none of you have real names?”
“We give those up when we become a warrior. Our meld with the constellation erases our connection to our past lives.”
“You don’t remember who you used to be?”
He shook his head. “I do, but I had to leave that behind. In order to serve, we need to sever any emotional ties.”
“But you said Libra had a wife and baby.”
“He does.”
“Doesn’t that compromise him?”
“It does. Those who commit to a partner have a weakness that can be exploited.”
“In that case, why make you forget the past if your future can reform emotional bonds with new people?”
He shrugged. “I don’t make the rules.”
She noticed he didn’t offer to pull the sled, not that she needed help, but for an alpha male, he sure lacked in some respects. She huffed as she heaved her load over a rocky patch. Some areas were windswept and flat. Others? Humped and bumpy.
“I’m going to climb and see what’s around us,” he suddenly stated before clambering like a goat up the glacier. No rope orpicks, nothing but his hands and feet. The spears dangled down his back in a sling made from the blanket she’d given him.
Let him play king of the mountain. She was almost to the spot. She skirted a pool of water and rounded the sizeable mountain of ice. A shiver went through her as the new angle blocked the sun, leaving her in the much chillier shade.
Hopefully she wouldn’t be there too long—if her equipment cooperated. She parked her sled and began unloading and setting up. Soon, she’d forgotten Scorpio as she took measurements and pictures. She set up her radar and had it scan the ice, only to frown as it blipped.
She leaned over the screen and eyed the spot. In the shade, and with the ice so thick, she couldn’t actually see anything. Not yet, at any rate. Could be nothing, or simply a rock or an animal frozen in the glacier. Still, her mind went right to Scorpio and his mysterious object.