The Demon Demigod

by Eliza Raine

  ‘You and Thom. But don’t let it get in the way of saving Tak.’

  ‘Me and Thom? There is no me and Thom!’

  ‘I see the way you flirt. It’s obvious,’ he said. I was both annoyed that he had assumed I was interested in someone else and so very relieved that he cared.

  ‘Icarus, there’s nothing between me and Thom.’ I took a step towards him and gulped. ‘I’ve missed you. So much.’

  He raised his head, his beautiful green eyes boring into mine.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes. Every day.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘You said you wanted time! And whenever I saw you, you either left immediately or seemed so uninterested. Half the time you wouldn’t even look at me.’

  ‘Because if I looked at you… I missed you even more.’

  My heart fluttered in my chest and my breath caught. Was he really saying what I had longed to hear for weeks?

  ‘Dora, I thought at the dance… I thought you’d be happier with Thom. He’s so much less… complicated than me. And probably way more fun.’

  ‘Icarus, I don’t think having a boyfriend who turns into a lethal animal would be less complicated than dating you. And anyway, I don’t want to be with anyone else! I have so much fun with you. You were going to take me flying.’

  His eyes were softening as I looked at him, the hard lines on his face easing.

  ‘I’ve got better. I reckon I’m strong enough to carry you now,’ he said quietly, a smile tugging at his soft lips. A thrill ran through me at the thought of soaring through the sky in his arms, those huge, beautiful wings beating around us.

  ‘I’d love that,’ I breathed.

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘Let’s catch ourselves a death demon!’ Neos’s voice sliced through the moment, loud and inappropriately cheerful.

  ‘This will be over soon. And then we’ll go flying,’ Icarus said, and warmth spread through my whole body as he stepped forwards, taking my hand in his. ‘Let’s get Tak back.’

  Neos had a frenetic energy about him as we laid all the ingredients out again on the rooftop. It reminded me of the way fire felt when I wielded it, excitable and unpredictable. And dangerous. He placed the box down on the roof, and I felt sick when I saw it. If I’d just left the stupid thing alone… As if hearing my thoughts Neos turned to me.

  ‘If you hadn’t opened it, I’d still be stuck in there, you wouldn’t have any power and he wouldn’t have those.’ He pointed to Icarus’s wings. Icarus narrowed his eyes back at him.

  ‘Let’s get on with this,’ he growled.

  ‘Um, did you say you’d be stuck in there?’ Thom’s voice came from behind us.

  ‘Indeed, young man. Pandora here made a judgment call last semester,’ Neos answered, and I closed my eyes, shame and guilt crashing over me. ‘She opened a box Oceanus sealed a long time ago. And out popped a death demon. And me.’ He flashed one of his wicked smiles, his red eyes roaring to life. Thom looked at me.

  ‘Is that true?’ he whispered.

  ‘She didn’t know what was in it,’ Zali said, at exactly the same time Icarus said,

  ‘It wasn’t her fault.’

  I didn’t think I could be more grateful to them but I nodded at Thom.

  ‘I opened the box and let out the demons. And I’m so, so, so sorry. But I’m going to fix it, I swear. We’re going to catch it now, and then Neos is going to help us find a god who can convince Hades to return the souls.’

  ‘I knew it. I knew it!’ a female voice seethed and my stomach lurched as Arketa appeared at the top of the spiral stairs. ‘I knew this was your fault.’ Tears were streaming silently down her face. ‘Kiko was taken because of you, you rotten, twisted Titan scum!’

  ‘I’m sorry, Arketa,’ I said desperately. ‘I’m going to fix it, right now. This will work. We’ll get her back.’

  ‘It will. This is the best chance we have,’ Zali said softly. ‘Help us.’ I snapped my head to my friend. Help us? There was no way Arketa would-

  ‘What do I have to do?’ Arketa snapped, and my mouth fell open as she strode across the rooftop towards us. ‘You think I’m going to leave something this important to you lot? You must be joking. I’m getting Kiko back, no matter what.’ She looked even more fierce than Zali had, her eyes hard under the tears. I believed her.

  ‘Nice to have you with us,’ said Neos, his arms folded over his chest. ‘The more the merrier, at this point. How did you know we were here?’

  ‘I was sneaking out to visit Kiko and I saw you, running here,’ she scowled.

  ‘What do we need to do?’ asked Thom quietly.

  ‘Mix up this potion, and then wait for the Keres demon. You’ve all taken your safety potion today, yes?’

  We all nodded.

  ‘Good. When it gets here, the potion will make it visible. You just need to get it into the box.’

  ‘How?’

  Neos shrugged.

  ‘Up to you. What are you all good at?’

  ‘Are you not going to help?’ I stared at him incredulously.

  ‘Yes, I already told you. I’m going to tell you how to make the potion.’

  ‘What about the demon!’

  ‘Oh, I can’t catch demons. I am one. That would be against all our codes.’

  Icarus gave a bark of frustration.

  ‘I told you we couldn’t trust him!’ he snapped.

  ‘Now now, wing boy. You can trust me just fine. Two Titans, a manticore and a couple of demigods should be able to take down a Keres demon. Just use what you’re good at.’

  Indecision raged inside my head. What if Icarus was right? What if Neos had planned this whole thing just to get us both wiped out in one move by the death demon? And I’d brought along my best friend, Thom and now Arketa? But if Neos was telling the truth and he had faith that we could defeat the thing… We had no other options. We had to try.

  ‘If anyone wants to leave now, that’s fine. This is my mess and I need to fix it,’ I said, loudly.

  ‘I’m staying,’ said Icarus.

  ‘I’ve already told you I’m staying,’ hissed Arketa.

  Zali gave me an annoyed, don’t be stupid face.

  ‘I want to help,’ said Thom, lifting his chin.

  My heart swelled with hope as I looked around at them all. I wouldn’t be alone.

  ‘Great. Whose blood are we using?’ asked Neos, clapping his hands together.

  25

  I held my breath, wincing as Icaus’s knife pierced my skin. It had to be my blood, this was my burden. But Icarus had insisted that nobody else took a dagger to me.

  ‘Sorry,’ he whispered as blood welled up in the little knick he’d made in my fingertip. I smiled reassuringly at him.

  ‘It’s already stopped hurting,’ I said.

  Neos appeared over his shoulder, holding a plain ceramic cup, shaped like the goblets from magical objects class. Icarus took it from him.

  ‘How much do I need?’ I asked him.

  ‘Just a few drops,’ he answered, and Icarus held the cup under my hand. I squeezed my finger, watching as three or four drops of the red liquid hit the bottom of the cup. ‘Excellent.’ Neos said, then turned back to the items laid out on the rooftop.

  ‘Now add the rust,’ he said. Icarus handed me the cup and then bent to pick up the tiny vial we’d stolen months ago. As he pulled the stopper from it, Neos inhaled deeply. ‘You’ve done well here. The wearer of this armor suffered a violent death indeed.’

  My stomach turned as Icarus poured the little vial into the cup. A small sizzling sound came from it and I barely resisted the urge to lift the cup closer to look inside. ‘Feather next. Pandora, you need to get this one.’ I handed the goblet to Icarus and picked up the feather. ‘Now burn the feather so that the ash falls into the cup,’ he instructed.

  I held the feather over the goblet and called a tiny fireball. As carefully as I could I lit the end of the feather it had taken me so long to ge
t on fire. It burned slowly, the smell unpleasant, and ash falling like dust into the cup.

  ‘Good. Fire rafe last. Crush it, then tear it up and add it in.’ It felt wrong to destroy something so beautiful, but I reluctantly crushed the flame-like flower in my fist, then tore the petals into little pieces and dropped them into the goblet. A steady stream of smoke was rising in a thin wisp from the concoction now.

  ‘How long will it take for the demon to come?’ asked Thom.

  ‘The armor rust was strong, so not long at all,’ Neos said. ‘Heat the cup,’ he said to me. I took it from Icarus and concentrated. A ring of fire appeared around the base of the goblet. The ceramic seemed to glow a faint red as it heated in my grip.

  ‘Do we need to manacle you?’ Zali asked Thom. He nodded, and then ran over to help attach the metal restraint to his leg.

  ‘How will you fight or get away if you need to?’ I asked him.

  ‘I’ll shift back to human and undo the chain,’ he said.

  I looked at him doubtfully.

  ‘Are you sure you won’t be safer untethered?’

  ‘No. Definitely not. I’ll be as likely to attack you as the demon in that form.’

  Smoke was now billowing from the cup I was holding, and it was swirling around me in fat ribbons. Suddenly, I felt cold. I found Icarus’s eyes across the rooftop and he shook his wings out behind him. Then Neos let out a bark of glee.

  ‘Put the cup down on the roof!’ he shouted, and I did as he said, gratefully. Immediately, the smoke leapt from it, thickening instantly and totally engulfing us. All I could see was Neos’s glowing red eyes, facing me through the haze. The smoke didn’t choke me, like I would expect normal smoke to, instead it felt more like mist, light but tangible on my skin. It smelled like iron and fire. Adrenaline rippled through my body as I heard a high-pitched keening sound. I pushed my senses out, feeling for the ocean, drawing on its strength.

  ‘Dora?’ I heard Zali’s voice hesitant voice through the smoke.

  ‘I’m here,’ I called back, looking in the direction I thought she was. There was a snarl, and I moved cautiously, suddenly aware that I could no longer see if I was within reach of Thom. I also realized, with a start, that I could no longer see Neos’s glowing eyes. Where was he?

  The keening sound dipped in pitch, and I froze as a shadow appeared in front of me. The cold I had felt earlier settled fully over me, my skin feeling like it was too tight for my body. Fear gripped me and before I’d realized I’d summoned it, water was swirling around both my hands. I raised them towards the shadow.

  ‘Little Titan,’ a voice hissed. It was like the sound of a sword being unsheathed, a slicing, awful sound. ‘Frightened little Titan.’ The shadow was growing, approaching through the swirling fog. My heart hammered in my chest, sweat mingling with the water in my palms, my thoughts erratic and useless. Where was Icarus, and Zali? Where was the box? What in Olympus was I thinking facing this thing? Why had I opened that box?

  There was a rustle and a thud behind me and I stifled a shriek as I jumped and heard Icarus’s voice.

  ‘It’s me,’ he said, and my hair lifted from my face as his air magic whirled around him as he stepped up beside me. The smoke didn’t react to it though, heavy as soup.

  ‘Two little Titans,’ the voice hissed, the shadow rippling.

  ‘And a mermaid!’ I felt Zali on the other side of me as I heard her shout. A terrifying keening cackle came from the thing but was drowned out by a roar behind us. It was Thom, adding his voice to ours. Strength bubbled in my core. We could do this. Together.

  Glowing green vines suddenly blasted from my right, reaching for the demon. As soon as they touched the shadows though, they withered and died, turning deep black and falling harmlessly to the floor. I heard a yell of frustration from the thick smoke. It was Arketa. The demon turned slowly in her direction.

  ‘Try again, Arketa,’ I yelled and raised my hands high. As the shadow began to move, the vines flew forwards again and I launched my water at them, willing it to wrap protectively around them. They did, and this time, when they hit the shadow, they stayed green and bright. Slowly, they began to wind around the shadowy figure.

  ‘Find the box!’ I yelled. ‘Somebody find the box!’ I heard Icarus’s wings, then felt a blast of air as he took off. I added my strength to Arketa’s vines, feeling the struggle of the creature beneath them. Its keening unearthly wail was getting louder. Suddenly it stopped struggling and fell utterly silent. Suspicion welled inside me. It wouldn’t be that easy to subdue, I thought.

  I was right. With a sudden blast of power it burst from our restraints, the force making me stumble backwards. I heard Arketa yell, and was about to throw my power back at it when I realized it was solidifying. Terror, true and crippling took hold of me. Only fifteen feet in front of me now, the thing was like something from my worst nightmares. Wings three times the size of Icarus’s framed the shapely body of a voluptuous woman. But everything about her was wrong. Her skin was jet black and leathery and covered in huge gashes and open wounds, her wings rotten and torn. Her face was twisted into a permanent, hideous scream and her glinting eyes were as soulless as she left her victims.

  ‘Foolish little Titan,’ she hissed as she came closer. Her gaping mouth didn’t move as she said the words and for a heartbeat, I felt so sick with fear I could barely think. But a pulse of energy from ocean rocked through me, clearing the fear and haze from my mind and strengthening my muscles.

  ‘Now,’ I shouted, and vines flew at the demon again. This time, as soon as my water coated the vines and they latched onto the creature I felt a blast of cold from beside me and they began to freeze solid, pinning the thing in place. Zali was freezing the water, I realized. The demon writhed and hissed as Arketa shot more glowing vines at it, and I covered them with life-giving water before they hit the rotten flesh of the Keres demon, Zali freezing them in place.

  ‘Hold on!’ I heard Icarus shout from somewhere above us, and I widened my stance, pushing more energy into my magic. Wind began to whip at my hair, then a human sized tornado descended into the smoke. There, in the middle of it, I saw the box swirling around and around, moving closer to her.

  She roared when she saw it, a guttural animal sound, and I felt the vines inside the water slacken for a moment. It was all she needed. The ice made a sharp cracking sound as she burst free, launching herself upwards with her great, hideous wings. Fear for Icarus shot through me and I ran towards the tornado. I reached out, grabbing the box from its center and looking up, desperate for a view of the Keres demon. I felt a massive burst of energy and threw myself to the ground just before the tornado exploded, air blasting across the rooftop. I heard a grunt and then the keening cackle again and I rolled over. The smoke was gone, the tornados explosion clearing it completely. The sight of Icarus and the demon wrestling in the air had me scrabbling to my feet, and I launched my water ropes at the massive wings of the demon. Arketa’s vines shot up too, wrapping around her waist. Together we pulled, dragging her back down towards the rooftop, and the box. She clawed at Icarus, her gnarled hands refusing to let go of him as she dragged him down too. Then, with another unearthly roar, she threw him from her and he soared backwards, a trail of shadows coming from his body. I screamed his name and was half turning to race towards his falling body when I heard Neos.

  ‘No! You’ve got her, don’t let go!’

  My eyes flicked back to her thrashing, flailing form, Arketa’s vines dragging her down towards the open box.

  ‘I’ll get him!’ shouted Zali and I felt power flood my body as I heard the thud of Icarus hitting the ground. My water ropes tightened and sharpened, and I tugged the demon down hard, straight towards the box I hated so much. She shrieked as her outstretched arm touched it, then swirling shadows leapt up from it, wrapping around her, seeming to fold over her whole horrible body. For a heartbeat her twisted face and soulless eyes fixed on mine, then in the blink of an eye, she was sucked into the box. Arketa
launched herself at it, slamming the lid down. At the same moment, I heard a scream from behind me. I turned from Arketa who was wide-eyed and shaking, and my world seemed to slow to a stop.

  Icarus had landed on the rooftop right by Thom. Who was fully shifted, and had his manticore stinger raised over Icarus’s unconscious body.

  26

  I blasted water at the manticore before I could think. It hit him square in the chest and he leapt back, batting at the solid jet. Zali darted forwards and ducked low, trying to get to Icarus, to pull him out of the way, but the manticore roared and faster than I thought was possible, ducked under my barrage of water and scooped Icarus’s arm up in his massive jaws. He clamped them down and started to drag him across the rooftop, his wings trailing. I screamed as I saw the blood pouring from his arm and the manticore froze, blinking. Did he recognize my voice?

  ‘Thom! Thom, it’s me. Put him down, please,’ I called, as calmly as I could, stopping the water and approaching slowly. It’s grip on Icarus’s arm lessened as it blinked again.

  ‘Thom, the demon is gone. Come back to us now,’ I said, as calmly as I could manage, my whole body shaking with worry for Icarus. The manticore slowly opened its mouth, the bloodied arm dropping to the ground with a dull thud. Nausea rolled through my stomach as I glanced at it.

  ‘Come back to us, Thom,’ whispered Zali. The manticore looked at her, crouched down, amber eyes huge and round. There was a rippling of light around him, then Thom was there in its place. Horror spread across his face as he saw Icarus.

  ‘No, no, no, no,’ he whispered, the color draining from him completely. ‘Please, please tell me I didn’t do that.’ I was at Icarus’s side in a flash, turning him over gently.

  ‘You didn’t knock him out,’ I heard Zali tell Thom. ‘Just, um, the arm bit.’

  ‘I need something to stop the bleeding,’ I said, a horrible numbness taking over as I stared at Icarus’s deathly pale face. Zali pulled her sweater over her head and handed it to me fast. I didn’t know if he’d survive the fall, let alone the massive wound, but there was no way a sweater was going to make a difference. I laid my shaking hand on his chest. I could barely feel his heartbeat, and it was too slow. He was dying.