by A P Mobley
“Oh my God,” Andy said as he chewed. “This is amazing.”
Kali winked. “Learned everything I know from my beautiful mother, thank you.”
Zoey swallowed her bite. “Where was your mother when we were in the village, anyway? We met Chief Agni, but—”
“She’s dead,” Kali said. “My mother is dead.” Everyone went quiet, and Zoey immediately felt guilty for asking. She knew how hard it was to lose a parent.
Finally, Andy spoke. “I’m really sorry to hear that. How did she pass, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“She got sick,” Kali replied.
“What was she sick with?” Andy asked. “Do you know?”
Kali sighed. “We’ll never know for sure. It came on so fast. It took her even faster, and none of our healers could decipher what it was. When Mother was alive and well, she ruled Deltama Village with more grace and beauty than any other chief’s wife has—at least, that’s what everyone tells me. And then, out of nowhere, she started to get dizzy all the time. She couldn’t even walk in a straight line. She’d get headaches so painful she’d cry out in the night, and she’d even shake uncontrollably sometimes. That went on for a few weeks until she died. I was nine years old.”
Andy set his food aside, scooted toward Kali, and rested a hand on her back. “I’m sorry for your loss. There aren’t words that can make it better. I know from personal experience. But I’m still sorry. It sounds like she might have had a brain tumor of some sort.”
“A brain tumor?” Kali said.
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s a growth in your head that isn’t supposed to be there. Back in the Before Time, my dad had a brain tumor, and it had cancer.”
“Cancer?”
“Cancer is a type of sickness. A really, really bad sickness. Before my dad went to the hospital, the same things that happened to your mother happened to him: headaches, dizziness, seizures. He even threw up sometimes. The doctors and nurses were able to keep him alive for a while, but the cancer wouldn’t go away. In fact, it kept reappearing in other places in his body, even after his treatments. I was twelve when he died.”
“I’m also sorry for your loss,” Kali said, her voice quivering.
Andy patted her back, then pulled away. “It’s okay.”
“Kali,” Darko piped up. “Since you’re Chief Agni’s daughter, are you next in line to run Deltama Village? Or do you have a sibling who’s going to do that?”
“The other children my parents conceived died during birth, so I’m the chief’s only living child. I’m next in line to lead.”
Zoey furrowed her brow. “Wait, next in line? Is that why Chief Agni didn’t want you to come with us?”
“Yes. He believed the village needed me there.”
“Why did you run away, then?” Darko asked.
Kali’s gaze hardened. “Because if the Greek gods aren’t defeated, my village will live in fear forever. Even if the monster attacks are few and far between, they still happen, and when they do, we all lose people we love. If the gods’ tyranny isn’t stopped, the people I care about will never really be free. By coming with you, I’m doing them a greater service than any other chief has.”
“When this is all over, you’re going back to Deltama Village, aren’t you?” Zoey asked. At this question, Diana leaned forward as if she was listening intently.
“I have to. I’m the chief’s only child,” Kali replied. “My father will be furious with me, I’m sure, but if I’m alive and able to go home, the gods will have already been defeated, my village free. I’ll marry a man Father picks for me—since I’ll need to produce an heir—and when Father dies, I’ll be made Chief Kali of Deltama Village.”
Zoey’s jaw dropped at the prospect of Kali being married to someone she wouldn’t choose. How backward! Zoey could believe it, though—after all, when the world ended and fell under the gods’ rule, it made sense that there would be some social regression. However, Kali had never said anything about an arranged marriage. In fact, she hadn’t said much at all about her life in the village. She’d only spoken of plans to fight the gods, trying in every way she could to help the group on their mission and, of course, had teased Diana every chance she got.
At the thought of Diana, Zoey shot the demigod a glance. The Daughter of Apollo looked disconnected from the conversation now, staring into the crackling flames of the campfire.
“We’d better hurry up eating so we can get some rest,” Diana said. “We’ve got a long way to travel before we reach Prometheus, and plenty more sparring to do.”
They said nothing, finishing their dinner quickly. Within the next hour Diana and Darko paired up to watch for monsters, as it was their turn, and the rest of the group slept.
For the next several days, the group traveled toward Prometheus, training every night for several hours before dinner. Zoey took turns fighting with everyone. Diana continually insisted that Zoey was improving, even just a little—but Zoey wasn’t so sure.
On the afternoon of the group’s fourth day flying, dozens of levitating rocks in various shapes and sizes began to pop up throughout the sky. Diana yelled over the wind, “We’ve almost reached Prometheus.”
Zoey peered into the distance, and as the group descended from the fluffy clouds, she spotted him.
He stood on a floating boulder, his ankles shackled with iron chains bolted into the rock. His wrists were bound with similar chains on a separate, smaller rock hovering above his head, and tons of other rocks and boulders levitated around him, as though he were imprisoned in the center of an asteroid belt. A jagged canyon resided hundreds of feet below, surrounded by mountains and forest.
As the group flew closer, weaving between boulders, Zoey could see Prometheus was a behemoth of a man. His bulging muscles were draped in grimy, blood-covered white robes that, although filthy, still accentuated his dark-olive skin, his black hair falling in shiny curls over his shoulders.
The group reached the edge of the boulder where he stood trapped. It wasn’t big enough for all of them to land, so instead they circled it on their pegasi.
Prometheus looked to them, his face wrinkled as if he was in pain. “Who are you people?” His voice was deep and gruff. “What are you doing here?”
“I am Diana, Daughter of Apollo,” Diana said. “And these are my companions. We’re on a mission that will determine the fate of the world, and we need your help.”
He chuckled. “What makes you think I could help you? Can’t you tell I’m a little tied up right now?”
“The Fates themselves told us you could.”
“And what makes you think I would?”
Zoey peered over Diana’s shoulder at the Titan. “Prometheus, sir,” she began. “From what I’ve heard about you, it sounds like you care a lot about humanity. You made people, and you stole fire from the gods for them. If you help us now, we could save humanity from the gods. We could give them back free will. In doing so, we could restore the world to what it once was.” She eyed the chains binding him. “And you could be free.”
Prometheus looked to Zoey. “Who are you?”
“My name is Zoey, and I come from the Before Time. Andy and I”—she gestured at Andy—“are the Chosen Two of the Prophecy.” Prometheus stared at them blankly, and for a few moments no one said anything, waiting for him to respond. Wind whipped Zoey’s curls backward.
Finally, Prometheus threw his head back and belted out a laugh so loud it echoed over the canyon. “You say you’re the—HAHAHAHA—Chosen Two of the—HAHAHA—Prophecy?”
Andy rolled his eyes. “Well, yeah?”
“Oh my—HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Prometheus’s face turned redder than a cherry. “You kids honestly believe in all that? You think you can change the world? That you can take on the gods? Look, the gods might be morons, I’ll admit that much, but I’ll tell you what they’re not: weak and mortal, w
hich both of you are. I can smell it from here. There’s no way in Tartarus you’d last a second against them. They’d just blast you off Olympus, let you fall to your death, and call it a century.”
“You’re wrong,” Zoey snapped. “We defeated Hades and Persephone in the Underworld and stole the Helm of Darkness. If we can steal Poseidon’s Trident and Zeus’s Master Lightning Bolt, we can—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Prometheus said. “Let me stop you right there. Do you really expect me to believe you defeated Hades, King of the Underworld? Seriously? Do I look like an idiot to you?” He paused and glanced at the manacles binding his hands. “Actually, don’t answer that question.”
Kali reached into the sack tied around Luna and pulled the Helm of Darkness out. She held it high for Prometheus to see. “I guess you can choose not to believe them, but here’s the evidence. How else do you think they got the Helm, other than defeating Hades?”
“Either it was pure luck—which I’m guessing is going to run out soon—or they didn’t steal it on their own. Probably the latter.” He looked to Zoey. “Who helped you?”
Kali put the Helm back in the bag, and Zoey cleared her throat. “Well, technically Persephone beheaded Hades right before we were about to fight him, but she turned on us and sicked the Furies on us, and then we had to follow her all the way to the edge of—”
“Just as I thought,” Prometheus interrupted. “You couldn’t have stolen it yourselves, and that’s why you’re here now. You think you’re big and bad for taking on Persephone . . . HA! Let me tell you, no matter how powerful she seemed, she’s nothing compared to the Olympians. Especially Zeus.
“You’re just a couple of mortals. Not that mortals can’t be amazing in their own right—I mean, I made the first few of ’em, of course they’re amazing—but up against the gods . . . I’m sorry. I’m sure you have good intentions. But I won’t help you. I can’t.”
Zoey creased her brow. “We’re not just any mortals, though. The Fates themselves told us we’re special before we even went on our first quest. And even if we don’t know what they mean by that yet, they said we’ll figure it out in time. I’m sure you’re right about Persephone not being as big a threat as Zeus and the Olympians, but the Fates’ input has to mean something to you, right? I mean, they’re ancient and all-knowing.”
Prometheus sighed. “Tell you what. You think you’re so special, go ahead and prove it. Break these chains and get me outta here. If you can pull that off, I might think about helping you.”
The group exchanged nervous glances, and Zoey squeezed Diana. “Do you think we could break the chains?”
“I don’t know,” Diana replied. “It was only possible for Heracles and Prometheus when they combined their power. Which is crazy, because Prometheus is a Titan god, and Heracles, as a demigod child-of-Zeus, had super-strength. Unless . . .” Diana directed Aladdin toward Prometheus, then stepped off the pegasus and onto the boulder Prometheus stood on. In one hand, she conjured a blazing sphere, and with the other, she snatched an arrow from her quiver.
“What’re you doing?” Andy asked.
“I’m going to try and break these,” Diana said, kneeling next to the shackle around one of Prometheus’s ankles. “Just give me a minute.”
Prometheus laughed. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not gonna work.”
Diana pressed the sphere of light against the shackle. “I have to try.” She allowed the sphere to sit against the shackle for quite some time, until finally she raised the arrow above her head and slammed the head into the metal. The arrowhead shattered, not even making a dent in the metal.
“Gods dammit,” Diana said, hurling the broken arrow off the boulder, then climbed back onto Aladdin.
“What’d I tell you?” Prometheus said. “Regular heat, regular weapons—those things don’t do anything to chains forged by Hephaestus himself. Don’t you think it’s all been tried before?”
“What can we do, then?” Zoey asked.
Before Diana could answer, a bird’s screech sounded above their heads, and the group directed the pegasi to turn toward the sound.
“It’s the Caucasian Eagle!” Diana shouted. And it was an eagle all right—if eagles were the size of helicopters. Its snow-white feathers shimmered, its eyes the color of blood.
“And the beastie returns, ready to eat my liver,” Prometheus said. “Guess you can’t bust me outta here if he’s alive, so you better kill him first. If I’m being honest, though, I don’t think you’re gonna last five minutes, so it was nice knowing you. But thanks for providing me with some entertainment.”
The Caucasian Eagle squawked, diving for the group.
CHAPTER FOUR
STATUE
As the eagle advanced for them, zigzagging through rocks, their pegasi whinnied and scattered. Zoey clung to Diana, her stomach clenching.
Darko readied his bow and arrows while Diana conjured a sphere of light. Kali took two spears out of the bag Luna carried. “Heads up,” she said, tossing one to Andy.
He caught it and nodded. “Thanks.”
Zoey wrapped her handless arm around Diana, trying not to slip backward while she grabbed her dagger with the other, but Diana looked back at Zoey and shook her head. “Just sit this one out.”
“I can’t just do nothing while you guys fight this thing,” Zoey said.
The eagle threw his head back, screaming again, then spun through the air and veered toward the group. Diana chucked her sphere of light at him. They collided, and the eagle went somersaulting backward. “You need to do as I say,” Diana said. “I’d rather you do nothing and stay safe than try to help and fall to your death.”
As the eagle gathered his composure from Diana’s attack, Darko sent an arrow at the monster. The projectile pierced the eagle in the stomach, and he screeched in contempt. He shot Darko a glare and flew toward Andy and the satyr. Darko nocked another arrow while Andy directed Ajax straight toward the eagle.
Andy readied his spear as he and the eagle came head-to-head, but before he could stab the eagle, the monster shot upward, seizing the spear with his beak. He flew high above them and clamped the weapon in his beak, snapping the spear in half.
“Shit,” Andy said. Darko shot his arrow for the monster, but it just barely grazed the feathers of one of his wings.
Behind them, Prometheus laughed. “Oh gods, this is fun. Looks like the beastie wants to play with his food before eating it.”
Kali directed Luna toward the eagle. The eagle screeched and flew toward the pair. Kali raised her spear above her head and let out a fierce battle cry, then hurled the weapon at the eagle. The monster swerved to the side, then continued flying toward Kali and Luna.
Kali made Luna dart beneath the eagle. He squawked, flipping around to come after them. Luna whinnied and darted out of his way. Diana threw a sphere of light at the monster, while Darko sent another arrow at him. He dodged their attacks with ease; it was as if the monster was anticipating their every move now.
Zoey gritted her teeth. “Guys, I’m not sure the usual monster-slaying methods will work on this guy.”
“Well, do you have any bright ideas?” Diana asked, flinging another miniature sun at the eagle. He dipped out of the way of the attack and turned toward Zoey and Diana.
Zoey recalled how easily the eagle snapped Andy’s spear with his beak, then how Diana had said it would be difficult to free Prometheus from the manacles. “I think I do, actually.”
“Care to share?”
The eagle flapped toward them, and Zoey swung her legs onto one side of Aladdin. She planted her feet on the edge of his stomach.
Diana conjured another sphere of light. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I have an idea, okay?” Her heart skipped. “Well, sort of.”
As the monster reached them, Aladdin veered to the right, toward P
rometheus and his boulder. Zoey held her breath and focused. This was it.
As the pegasus’s body jerked to the side to go the other way, Zoey used her legs to fling herself off his back. Time seemed to slow as she flew toward Prometheus. The rest of the group shouted her name.
She slammed chest-first into the edge of the boulder, her head ricocheting off it. Stars blinded her, the wind knocked from her lungs. She dug her nails into the rock to keep herself from plummeting into the canyon, her legs dangling over the edge.
“Well, that was valiant,” Prometheus said. “And also very stupid.”
Zoey pulled herself up and clambered to Prometheus’s side, then crouched directly in front of one of his giant chained ankles, faced the eagle, and waved her hand in the air. “Oh, Mister Caucasian Eagle,” she sang. The monster looked to her. “Don’t you think I look scrumptious? You should fly over here and eat me instead of those guys.”
Diana directed Aladdin toward Prometheus’s boulder. “Zoey, stop!”
The eagle let out a vicious scream. He flapped his wings, making gusts of wind so strong Diana and Aladdin were pushed backward through the air. They crashed into a cluster of floating rocks, Diana clinging to Aladdin’s mane. The eagle flapped toward Zoey.
“What exactly are you trying to accomplish?” Prometheus asked.
“We’re about to find out,” Zoey said, eyeing the clusters of floating rocks dozens of feet beneath Prometheus’s boulder.
The eagle clacked its beak and dove for Zoey. She leapt off the boulder’s side toward the rocks below.
A shrill clang pierced the air, reverberating across the canyon, and Zoey crashed into one of the boulders. Upon impact it teetered dangerously. She yelped, grasping its ridges, pain racking her knees and shins.
Above, the eagle let out a furious screech, and Zoey glanced to where she’d been crouched before, satisfaction rushing through her. The eagle’s beak had rammed into the chains binding Prometheus’s ankle to the rock, the metal fractured like a broken eggshell.
