Fires of Olympus: Books Ten, Eleven & Twelve (The Immortality Trials Book 4)

by Eliza Raine

  ‘I’d be a fool to trust you, Evadne,’ Lyssa spat.

  ‘The whole of Olympus saw her shoot him. You saw the blood yourself,’ said Epizon quietly. ‘She can help us, Captain. She’s been on the Hybris, she knows how he thinks.’

  ‘And I can give you what’s left of this,’ Evadne said, reaching into her pocket. ‘If I wanted to leave, I could sell this for a fortune. Without it I only have the clothes on my back.’ She held out a small glass vial. Lyssa stepped forward and took it suspiciously.

  ‘Len?’ she called. The satyr trotted up and took the bottle from her.

  ‘Looks like anapneo, Captain.’

  Evadne nodded. ‘It’s how we escaped from the Hybris.’

  ‘And you all think this is a good idea?’ Lyssa looked at each of her crew in turn. Most of them nodded, Abderos and Epizon enthusiastically, Len and Nestor less so. Her gaze settled on Phyleus.

  ‘If she did shoot him, he’ll kill her without our protection,’ he said in her mind.

  ‘Not my problem,’ she answered.

  ‘I think Eryx may leave with her if you kick her off the ship. And he could be really useful. Plus Athena said he was important.’

  Lyssa let out a long breath.

  ‘Fine,’ she said aloud. Eryx sagged and a solitary tear slid down Evadne’s cheek.

  ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. Lyssa did not reply, but addressed her crew again.

  ‘Everyone, back to repairing the ship. Let’s make the most of this break. As soon as the Alastor is fixed we’ll head towards Leo and Virgo: the next Trial has to be on one of them and they’re pretty close to each other. Abderos, galley duty, please, I’m starving. Make enough stew for fifteen if you can manage it.’

  ‘Aye, Cap,’ he said, and rolled off. Everyone else headed towards the massive sail laid out on the main deck.

  ‘Um, do I still have a job?’ said Epizon, from behind her.

  She turned and rolled her eyes. ‘Until she stabs us all in our sleep, sure, you can keep your job,’ she muttered.

  ‘Thank you, Captain. Len said you saved the ship but he was sketchy on the details. And the Alastor feels different. What happened?’

  ‘I’m not really sure. But it doesn’t matter now, we’re both OK. What damage have we taken?’ Lyssa felt awkward sidestepping the question, but she didn’t know how to tell him that she had apparently practically killed herself. She hadn’t even known what she was doing, just that the ship couldn’t die. She felt a surge of something under her skin and shook it off. She’d work out what her actions had cost her later.

  ‘We have a large hole in the hull, and obviously the main mast is broken in two. The ripped sails are coming along well, but we may need your strength when we try to right the mast.’

  ‘Good,’ she said and strode towards the hauler. ‘I’m going for a bath, I’ll be back in an hour.’

  ‘Before you go...’ He trailed off and she turned back to him. ‘A lot of light was let into the cargo deck when the hull was breached.’

  Lyssa sighed. She knew what that meant.

  ‘So Tenebrae is all topped up?’

  ‘I think so. She’s... She’s talking to me,’ Epizon said.

  Lyssa’s eyebrows shot up.

  ‘Talking to you? What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, I think it’s her way of talking. She shows me images, mostly of things I’m familiar with. She’s been showing me memories of my mother I didn’t know I still had.’

  ‘Epizon, I’m sorry,’ Lyssa said, sadness filling her.

  ‘It’s fine,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Actually, it’s nice. And I’m sure it’s Tenebrae causing the images. Every now and again something comes through that’s not one of my memories.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Well, they’re hard to describe. Just flashes that come and go. But she definitely lived underwater. And she loves light, but I’m not sure she actually needs it to live.’

  ‘Do you know what she eats yet?’

  ‘No. But I’m positive that it’s her who doesn’t want to go to Virgo.’

  Lyssa nodded. She had suspected as much.

  ‘OK. Maybe we can take the longboat, leave her as far from the realm as we can?’

  Relief washed over Epizon’s face.

  ‘That would be great, Captain.’

  ‘Do you think she’s dangerous?’ The fact that she could hide from a god proved she was, but Lyssa wanted to know what Epizon thought. The idea of the weird creature inside her best friend’s head was not sitting well at all.

  ‘Yes. But not to us.’

  That was a good answer, Lyssa thought.

  2

  Evadne watched the little satyr trot off with the anapneo, heart still hammering in her chest. Had she just made a massive mistake? That vial was her ticket to freedom. They may have used most of it, but there was enough to sell to get her passage home. She watched Eryx lurch past her, to the splintered mast in the middle of the deck. Nestor and Phyleus were laying out the sails, finding the tears and pointing them out to the satyr, who began stitching them back up.

  ‘Eryx, can you help us with the hull, please?’ called Epizon. Eryx nodded and followed him to the massive cargo hauler. Evadne’s stomach flipped as she realised she was now standing on her own.

  ‘What can I do?’ she asked loudly, speaking to nobody in particular. The lost feeling was threatening to swamp her.

  ‘Can you sew?’ Phyleus asked her.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Good. Come help Len.’ She obliged, quickly. Doing something was definitely better than doing nothing, even if she would rather have been wherever Eryx was.

  The satyr gave her some coarse thread and a thick needle and she set to work on the nearest rip.

  ‘I’m the ship’s medic,’ Len said gruffly, after ten minutes of working in silence.

  ‘I’m... I was a gunner.’

  ‘Huh. No guns here,’ he answered.

  ‘Good,’ she shuddered, remembering the crossbow bolt thunking into Hippolyta’s stomach.

  ‘Can you climb?’ asked Phyleus, appearing around the broken stump of the mast.

  ‘Yeah. Pretty well, actually,’ she said, standing up.

  ‘Great. You can help me re-tie the top sail on the front mast.’

  She followed him to the base of the shorter, intact, mast and looked up. The top sail was drooping unnaturally. ‘Can you climb out to the right boom and check all the knot-work?’ he said.

  ‘Sure,’ she replied.

  Phyleus nodded, then pulled his shirt off and she blinked. He was way more muscular than she had realised. She supposed being dwarfed by men like Epizon, Hercules and Eryx must had made him look smaller than he really was. He hooked his arms around the pole and began to climb up the mast easily, and she pushed her hair back from her face, then hurried after him.

  They worked on the sails for another hour, then Lyssa insisted everyone stop for food. The galley was too small for them all to eat there, so Evadne helped bring up bowls of stew to the main deck, where they sat around on the tired old planks. Conversation was awkward and stilted, but not painfully so. Slowly, Evadne’s racing heart was calming down.

  ‘I don’t know how we can fuse the mast back together, Captain,’ Len was saying to Lyssa. ‘It’s not like the holes we fix, we can’t just nail new wood down. And we don’t have anything on board strong enough to hold a mast that size up.’

  Lyssa’s face was pinched and worried.

  ‘Can we tie it?’

  ‘Maybe. If we had bigger staples we might be able to do something more robust.’

  ‘Staples?’ Lyssa flinched.

  ‘Cap, the ship’s not going to be good as new. It’s only ’cos of you it’s still flying at all,’ Len said gently. ‘We’ll have to try something temporary until we can get more materials.’

  She sighed.

  ‘Do you have any favours you can call in? Some help from Athena, perhaps?’ Evadne asked tentatively. Lyssa snorted.


  ‘I know that’s how it works on the Hybris, but we’ve had no help at all from our patron goddess. In fact the only time we’ve seen her was when she asked about...’ Lyssa trailed off and looked at Epizon. ‘Ep, do you think Tenebrae could help us?’

  The big man raised his eyebrows and tilted his head.

  ‘I could try and ask her,’ he said slowly.

  ‘Who’s Tenebrae?’ asked Eryx, the spoon he was holding looking tiny in his big hands.

  ‘You probably noticed the big tank in the cargo deck?’ asked Abderos. Eryx nodded. ‘The thing in it. She’s called Tenebrae.’

  Interest surged through Evadne.

  ‘What is she?’ she asked.

  ‘We don’t know, and her presence here is a secret. If you tell anyone she’s here, I’ll throw you off the ship from a height you won’t survive,’ said Lyssa, shooting her a look.

  ‘I’ve seen her chuck bodies overboard. It’s as alarming as it sounds,’ said Phyleus.

  ‘OK,’ Evadne said, burning to go and look at this thing in a tank.

  ‘Would we need to bring her up here again?’ asked Abderos anxiously. ‘It’s just, it wasn’t very nice last time.’

  ‘I dunno, Epizon is the only one she—’ Lyssa’s answer was cut off abruptly as the fallen mast lifted suddenly from the planks of the deck. Nestor shouted, leaping sideways out of its path and Phyleus yelped, dropping to the ground as it whizzed over his head.

  ‘Sorry, Captain! I just asked her, I didn’t think it would work!’ Epizon called out.

  Evadne’s mouth fell open as the mast straightened vertically, high above them, then dropped onto the severed stump. There was a searing flash of red light and as it died away Lyssa leaped to her feet. She ran to the mast, and Evadne pushed herself up quickly to follow. They all crowded around, gaping.

  ‘Well. Would you look at that,’ said Len, and let out a long whistle as Lyssa reached out and tentatively touched the wooden mast, perfectly fused back together. ‘As good as new.’

  3

  Once the main mast was back up, it took no time at all to hang the repaired sails. They didn’t sit quite right, pinched and pulling where the rips had been sewn up, but the feeling that rushed through Lyssa’s body when they secured the last one and the light shimmered across it, told her the repairs were enough. She wanted to find out if she could pour her power into the ship from anywhere, not just right next to the mast with her hands on the wood, now that her connection was so strong; but it seemed too soon to push the ship, and the pulsing life she could feel thrumming from the sails was enough for now.

  ‘It’s all yours, Ab. Let’s see if we can get halfway between Leo and Virgo.’

  ‘Aye, Cap.’

  She felt the Alastor move beneath her, hope and that blissful feeling of freedom easing her mind for a moment. But the feeling was short-lived. They had over a day until the next announcement. And she had some serious thinking to do in that time.

  Although she knew she needed to untangle her thoughts about Evadne and Eryx coming on board, about Tenebrae and how they were going to keep her away from Virgo, about how they were going to stop Hercules and win the next Trial, her brain kept pulling her back to the same thing: I can only pray that one day you feel as strongly about me as you do about this ship. Phyleus’s words were playing over and over in her head. She couldn’t ignore them any longer.

  She told everyone to get some rest and went quickly to her own cabin, where she threw herself down on her bed with a sigh. Phyleus deserved better than her scattered, unsure, lust-fuelled kisses. There was no point trying to avoid it, she needed to make some decisions. She sat up and closed her eyes, trying to picture herself with Phyleus. She remembered the feeling of the Alastor slipping away under hands, the unbearable fear and loss she felt at losing the ship, losing her freedom, losing part of her own life. Were those really her own feelings? Or was her bond with the ship so deep that she had felt its fear as her own?

  Her life had begun anew when she bought the Alastor. Before that, the thought of owning a ship and escaping on it had been a dream, a shining beacon, something to cling to throughout her darkest times. And when she finally stood on the deck with Epizon for the first time it had been everything she had wanted and more. When they took Len and Abderos on board she had felt like she had a family again, something she had never thought possible. The Alastor wasn’t just her home, her livelihood, her way out. It enabled and supported her whole life, her crew’s lives. It was a part of her.

  She reached out to it, gently. The pulsing power was different now, light and energetic, dancing and free. They were sailing through the skies of Olympus, just as the ship wanted to. It was happy, she realised, as a broad smile spread across her face involuntarily.

  If she’d lost Phyleus, would she have done the same thing? She thought about Abderos, torn and bloody at the feet of the monstrous horses, and knew without hesitation that she would give herself up for him. She thought of Epizon bloody and lifeless in the ocean, and knew the same was true for him too. But they were like brothers to her; she already knew that she loved them. Did that make Phyleus right when he had said that she was already sharing herself with others, that being with him would be no different? But it would be different. If she let him in, let those fierce sparks of lust turn to love... What if she lost him? A vision of her mother, bloody and screaming as she tried to shield Lyssa’s little brother, filled her mind.

  Hot tears burned at the back of her eyes as stark realisation hit her. She knew what her problem was, why she wouldn’t let him in. She didn’t know how she would ever recover if she lost someone she loved that intensely again.

  ‘Cap, about the ambrosia.’ Len’s voice in her head punctured her spiralling sadness. ‘You need to let me know if you feel weird at any point. Weak or dizzy.’

  ‘Oh, right, um...’ She shook her head, taking a deep breath. ‘I don’t feel weak at all.’

  ‘You won’t yet. You should feel like a million drachmas. But tell me immediately if you start getting crippling headaches tomorrow.’

  She screwed her face up.

  ‘Right. Will do. While we’re talking, do you have any ideas about Epizon’s connection with Tenebrae? Should we be worried, from a medical point of view?’

  ‘Even if I was worried, there’s nothing you or I can do about it,’ he said, matter-of-factly. ‘If she’s in his head, we can’t get her out.’

  ‘Right,’ Lyssa answered, her shoulders drooping. She supposed it was true, although that didn’t make her feel any better.

  ‘Sleep well, Cap.’

  She tried to sleep, but her racing mind wouldn’t allow it. As the light dimmed outside the portholes she decided to go up to the top deck, in the hope that everyone else would have retired to their rooms. Deep violet clouds corkscrewed over her head as she stepped out of the hauler, and a warm breeze whipped at her hair. They were moving fast, and she took a long breath, savouring the feeling of motion.

  ‘Hi,’ said a quiet voice. She turned to see Phyleus leaning against the railings. Her stomach flipped uneasily.

  ‘Hi,’ she said, walking over to him slowly.

  ‘Trouble sleeping?’ She nodded.

  ‘You too?’ He looked at her, silent for a long moment.

  ‘I don’t think I’ll sleep for some time,’ he said eventually. She frowned at him.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You don’t get it, do you?’ His voice was filled with frustration and she stepped closer to him as he pushed his hands through his hair angrily. ‘Lyssa, I feel it when somebody is about to die. Today I knew for certain that the woman I love was going to die.’

  Understanding washed through Lyssa as she looked at his wild, red-rimmed eyes, quickly followed by guilt and a feeling she couldn’t quite identify.

  ‘Oh, Phyleus, I didn’t think... I’m sorry,’ she said, moving close to him, her heart hammering.

  ‘Why? Why did you do it?’ he asked, hoarsely.

  ‘I didn’t make a con
scious decision to die, Phyleus. I just let my power take over. The Alastor is a part of me, it’s not just wood and metal.’

  He turned back to the clouds, taking a deep breath.

  ‘I know that. I just...’ He trailed off.

  ‘Phyleus, I’d do the same for you. I swear it.’

  He turned back to her.

  ‘You would?’

  ‘Yes. I’ve been thinking. And I know why we can’t be together.’ He stilled and Lyssa swallowed. ‘Losing my mother and brother nearly destroyed me. I don’t think I ever properly got over it, even now. I mean, I’m hardly normal. Hercules is the most dangerous man in Olympus, and there’s nobody he wants to hurt more than me. Which means he will try to kill you. If he wins the Immortality Trials and we survive, then he will hunt us. Forever. And if he killed you to get to me... I don’t think I could recover. I can’t go back to that place again.’ She could feel the burning tears roll down her cheeks as she spoke, but for once she didn’t care that someone could see her crying. She wanted him to know how hard this was for her.

  ‘I would run with you. He’ll hunt you with or without me, and I would run with you.’

  ‘I can’t watch you die.’

  He said nothing and it was all Lyssa could do to keep sobs from escaping her throat.

  ‘This ship and its crew needs you,’ he said eventually. ‘I understand.’

  Lyssa was sure she could actually feel pain in her chest as he said the words. Had she wanted him to fight, to convince her otherwise?

  ‘I’m not leaving your side until after the Trials, though. If he kills me before the end, then—’