Hera, Queen of Gods (Goddess Unbound)

by Thomas, T. D.

  “We could just beat him to the Fates,” Hermes suggested. “If we free them, we can return to the Heavens and deal with him there.”

  “Fine. Let’s split up,” I said.

  I didn’t want to say it out loud, but at least if we split up and the traitor caught one group of us, the other still had a chance to save existence.

  I turned to Ian. “Where are the Fates?”

  Ian quivered, but said nothing.

  “Vows,” I said. “Fine. Hermes and Artemis, search for the Fates. If you find them, return to the Heavens. Don’t wait for us. And if you spot the traitor, stay hidden. Remember, he could be in any mortal body. Whatever you do, don’t attack him. We don’t have any idea what power he brought to the mortal world, or what other tricks or allies he might have. We meet back here in fifteen minutes.”

  Hermes vanished, and Artemis flowed into the form of a sparrow and fluttered away.

  “Ian, let’s try something different,” I said. “Take us to where you keep the artifact that gives you your powers.”

  Ian started off down a hallway. Justin, Demeter, and I followed him. Our footsteps echoed like thunder in the empty halls. Justin was shaking from exhaustion. He knew how high the stakes were, so he was pushing himself. He probably didn’t even realize how badly he was falling apart. He looked like he might drop any second.

  I wanted desperately to convince Justin to sit this out and go back home. But the truth was we needed him. The Oracle had said that only a mortal could guide us to the traitor and the Fates. I wasn’t even sure Justin would count anymore. He wasn’t mortal enough to be affected by the blocking spell we’d used to blind mortals to us. But he was the closest thing we had to a true mortal right now. I just hoped there was enough mortality left in him somewhere to point us toward the Fates.

  And though having Justin with me terrified me, it also made me feel better somehow. Stronger. Safer. The truth wasn’t just that we needed him; I needed him.

  Ian stopped in front of a set of double doors with a large “Closed” sign. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked them.

  “The metal shop,” Justin explained. “Ian must’ve made the artifact himself. He probably made the altar, too. No idea how he got a key to this room though.”

  We went inside. The metal shop looked like a garage, stark and industrial, lit by eerie, flickering fluorescent lights. There were metal worktables and a variety of wicked-looking tools on the walls. I felt uneasy, but I also felt the undeniable pull of divine power now that we were inside.

  “Something’s here,” Demeter said softly.

  “You stay here,” I commanded Ian. He obediently froze in place, just inside the room.

  Demeter, Justin, and I crept forward slowly. There wasn’t really anywhere for an enemy to be hidden in the metal shop, except the large storage room at the far end.

  I let the pull guide me. It took me right to the storage room. Of course.

  I laid my hands against the dark, rough metal doors. They felt warm. Alive. Powerful.

  “We need to get these open,” I said. “Now.”

  Justin tried the doors. Locked. Of course.

  “Ian, can you open these?” I asked.

  Ian shook his head. Damn.

  “What? He forgot that key at home?” Justin muttered.

  “We need to meet up with the others,” Demeter reminded us, “and Artemis can through these doors, no problem.”

  I nodded. “Let’s head back.”

  As we walked through the halls, as slow and careful as the first time, I heard it. Scuffling. I had no idea what would even make that strange, metallic scraping sound. But it happened again. And again. Something dragging along the ground.

  Justin heard it, too. He raised his hand, and we all froze. Carefully, inch by inch, we slid along the wall to the corner. I couldn’t tell if the scraping was getting closer. The echoes in the hallway made it impossible to tell.

  Justin risked a quick glance around the corner. The look on his face chilled me to the bone.

  “They have Artemis and Hermes,” he whispered, his voice tight.

  “What do you mean?” Demeter demanded as quietly as she could manage. “What does that mean?”

  I didn’t answer. I leaned out to look for myself.

  I saw Artemis and Hermes, dead or unconscious, thrown over the shoulders of some things I’d never seen before. Metal of some kind. Vaguely humanoid--head, arms, legs--but they had almost no torso, just a straight bar, like an exposed spine. They moved jerkily, their joints scraping.

  My eyes filled with tears. I forced them back. There was nothing I could do for Artemis and Hermes now. Nothing. But the rage and grief I felt, those I could use.

  I’d complete our mission. I’d save existence. And then I’d wreak the bloodiest, most devastating vengeance the worlds had even seen.

  “We have to save them!” Demeter said.

  “How?” I replied. “Machines are immune to my powers.”

  “We can’t just leave them to die!” Demeter replied fiercely.

  Justin and I exchanged a glance. Demeter read our expressions.

  “They’re not dead,” she said. Her eyes filled with tears. “They’re not! They’re . . . not.”

  “If they’re still alive,” I replied, trying to keep my own voice from breaking, “then they probably won’t be killed. There’d be no reason to keep them alive just to kill them later.”

  “So you’re just going to let them go?” Demeter asked.

  I said nothing.

  “Can’t you just make Ian order them to stop?” Demeter pressed. “They’ll listen to him! Just like the harpies did.”

  “Maybe,” I admitted. “But it’s not worth the risk.”

  Demeter stared at me, too horrified to even speak. In her accusing eyes, I saw what everybody else thought of me, but never dared to call me to my face. Everybody, but Justin. And Demeter. Until now.

  I pushed my feelings aside. “Think, Demeter. Ian wasn’t the one who told these . . . things to attack Artemis and Hermes. Either they’re on some kind of autopilot, or --”

  “The traitor’s here,” Demeter realized.

  “And that’s what we need to focus on,” I said. “That’s our mission. That’s why we’re here. To save existence. It’s what Artemis and Hermes would want.”

  “But how are we going to fight the traitor and his metal thugs?” Justin asked.

  “We’ll get the artifact that gave Ian his powers,” I said. “That’ll give us the edge we need over the traitor.”

  “Only one problem,” Justin replied.

  I followed his stare to a group of machines that had just scraped into the hallway behind us. Their smooth, featureless faces were pointing right at us. A klaxon went off. It was deafening. It vibrated off the walls and smashed into us with almost physical force.

  “Run!” I yelled.

  We bolted down the hallway. Behind us, I heard the scraping of the mechanical creatures. Faster. And faster. Metal slamming into metal, screeching on tile.

  “They’re catching up,” Justin gasped, as we barreled around another corner. “We can’t lose them.”

  I heard a crash. I risked a look behind. One of the machines had smashed directly into a bank of lockers, completely missing the turn. So they weren’t agile. That was good.

  But the machine simply pushed itself off and continued after us. So they were tough. That was bad.

  At least six of them were chasing us, and there could be more. There could be an army.

  “I’m done running. I’m taking them outside,” Demeter said breathlessly.

  One of the machines lunged forward. Cold fingertips brushed the back of my neck. But they fell too short to grab me. The machine crashed against the ground, exploding tiles and spraying my back with tiny pieces.

  “You can’t--” I began.

  “It’s the only way,” Demeter interrupted. “For the mission.”

  Demeter darted to the side and flew out t
he doors leading outside. Three of the machines went after her.

  I wanted to go after her too, but she’d gone where her powers were strongest, where her chance of surviving was strongest. I only hoped she was right.

  That left three machines still chasing Justin and me. I couldn’t use my own powers against them, but Justin still had his. He could try to transport them to the Dreamlands. If machines could even go to the Dreamlands. But when I looked over, I knew with sickening certainty that he couldn’t channel that kind of power. He simply didn’t have the strength. It took everything in him just to take another step as we ran for our lives. If he paused for a second, the creatures would be on top of him long before he could summon any of his power.

  The ground began to shake. At first, I thought it was the machines stomping after us. They were getting closer.

  Then the impossible happened. I felt an explosion of power outside, a tidal wave of energy crashing into my divine centre.

  Demeter.

  The ground in front of us shot upward. Justin and I fell back. I hit the ground hard. When I looked around me, I saw the machines splayed on the ground.

  I was back on my feet in an instant. The ground was still shaking. I could barely stand, but the only advantage we had over the machines was our agility.

  I grabbed Justin and hauled him to his feet. He gave me a grateful smile.

  But then a metal hand clamped on his arm. One of the machines had crawled over to us instead of trying to get back up. I tried to pry off its fingers, but it was impossible.

  The ground shook again. It was splitting apart. It slid under our feet like someone pulling a rug out from under us. I tipped backward. Justin caught me before I plummeted into the fissure opening up behind me. In the same fluid motion, he knelt and let the momentum of the vaulting ground catapult the machine over him. His wrist tore free of the machine’s grasp. Clutching at the air, the creature fell into the fissure and vanished from sight.

  The earth continued to pitch and roll, roaring all around us.

  “We have to jump it,” Justin told me, rubbing his wrist and nodding at the fissure.

  The two other machines still couldn’t stay on their feet. They kept getting up, only to be knocked back down by the trembling ground. But that wouldn’t last forever.

  The fissure stood between us and freedom.

  With one last look at Justin, I ran and I jumped.

  I landed neatly on the other side. But Justin wasn’t so lucky. Whether it was exhaustion or just bad luck, he landed too close to the edge. He began to topple backward. I grabbed him and flung us the opposite direction.

  We landed with bruising force, but we were still alive.

  “Two left,” Justin panted. “If we split up, they might both go after one of us. The other can try to get the artifact.”

  “They might split up, too,” I said.

  Besides, you can barely stand. You need me.

  “It’s worth a shot,” he insisted. My face must’ve betrayed my doubts. “Trust me.”

  I looked at him critically. The ground beneath us continued to heave and shake, but the tremors were weaker now. The machines would be back on their feet soon.

  “We’re almost at the metal shop,” I argued. “There’s no point splitting up now.”

  “Even if we get there together, those things will get there with us,” he said. “One of us needs to get there alone, so we can get into the storage locker.”

  “Fine,” I snapped. “If you want to run off on your own and die, go do it.”

  Justin sighed, but instead of arguing, he ran off as fast as he could.

  I heard the scraping. Springing over the fissure came the two remaining machines.

  One of them ran toward me--but the other spotted Justin and charged after him. So much for one of us getting to the storage locker alone.

  The machine easily caught up to me. But I’d expected that. When it swung its arms to grab me, I dropped straight down and kicked with both my legs, aiming directly for its knee.

  If my kick had landed anywhere else, it probably wouldn’t have done anything. But their joints were weak.

  Its knee bent with a screech. The machine collapsed.

  But it clawed its way toward me, its metal fingers digging into the ground. I pushed myself up and bolted. Behind me, the machine got to its feet and limped after me. It was fast, but with a broken knee, it wasn’t faster than me.

  I swung into a room on my right. A science lab. Perfect. Maybe all that homework would finally pay off.

  I crawled between the islands in the room. The creature would be here soon; I needed more time.

  I heard the scraping outside the door. It might not have noticed me come in.

  But the scraping got louder. Closer. I crawled as quickly and quietly as I could toward the glass cabinet where the more dangerous chemicals were kept. It’d be locked, of course. I hadn’t figured that part out yet. But there was no time to plan. Just to act.

  The scraping stopped. The silence that followed was far worse. I turned my head. The machine was right behind me. Looking down.

  I threw myself forward, but it was too late. The machine grabbed my ankle in its viselike grip. I struggled and I kicked. I grabbed the side of the island. But slowly, I was being pulled back. I couldn’t hold on much longer. The machine was just too strong.

  Then a bit of good luck. One of my wild kicks hit its damaged knee. The machine wobbled, letting me go as it tried to stop itself from falling again. I raced forward as fast as I could.

  The machine regained its balance and limped after me. This close, I could see its eyes--I could see where its eyes should’ve been. But there was nothing. Just flat metal. Unseeing. Terrifying.

  I was at the cabinet. I pulled on the doors. Locked. Of course. I considered smashing the glass, but there was no time. The creature had already reached me.

  It swung. I ducked. Its arms smashed into the cabinet, sending glass and wood flying in all directions.

  I covered my head. The creature reached down. I grabbed a large piece of wood that had landed nearby and rammed it as hard as I could between the metal pieces of its other knee joint. Then I pushed against its twisted leg with all my might.

  The machine toppled over, landing with enough force to shatter the floor tiles. It struggled to get back up, but with two damaged knees, it had more difficulty than ever--and that gave me time.

  I grabbed whatever bottles and beakers hadn’t been shattered. One by one, I threw them at the creature. Nothing happened. Where was some industrial-grade acid when I needed it?

  Finally, I caught sight of something I recognized. I snatched it. But as I turned, the machine finally rose to its feet, inches away.

  I splashed the bottle in its face.

  The machine sizzled and steamed. It made no sound. It had no mouth--but if it had, it would’ve screamed.

  Grabbing the last bottle from the cabinet, I ran.

  The creature followed. At least they were predictable.

  I hurled the last bottle on the ground behind me as I flew out the door. The machine slipped and fell yet again with a resounding smash. I didn’t look back. I was looking ahead. Looking for something.

  There!

  I darted forward. The creature was slipping and sliding but slowly scraping its way out of the lab toward me. I stopped and smashed the glass on the fire extinguisher cabinet. I pried the extinguisher free.

  The machine lumbered toward me as fast as it could. I waited. I readied myself. Then, with all my might, I swung.

  But, at the last moment, the machine fell. My swing missed, and the creature crashed into my legs, bowling me over. I smacked my head against the hard tiles.

  Before I could come to my senses, the creature seized one of my legs, then the other. It began to crawl up my body, hand over hand. I swept my arms around wildly. Finally, I hit the fire extinguisher with one hand.

  The creature grabbed my other hand. It began to pull. My arm felt like it w
as going to tear off. With my free hand, I grabbed the fire extinguisher and brought it down as hard as I could directly on the creature’s head.

  Nothing. It reached up to grab the fire extinguisher. Before it could, I smashed it with the fire extinguisher again. It paused, dazed. I smashed again. And again. And again. And then I raised the fire extinguisher as high as I could and swung it down with all the force I had left in me, directly on the machine’s face.

  The creature went limp. It was such a lifelike reaction, I thought it might be faking it. But after several agonizing seconds, I risked dropping the fire extinguisher to pry myself free and push the creature off of me.

  Still, it didn’t move.

  I picked up the fire extinguisher again and pummeled the machine over and over. For me. For Justin. For Demeter. For all of us. By the time I was finished, its oval head was an unrecognizable lump. But just to be safe, I smashed both of its knees before I dropped the extinguisher.

  I ran as quickly as I could back to the metal shop. I slipped inside and locked the door behind me. The lights were still on.

  My heart soared when I spotted Justin near the storage doors. He whirled when he heard me. He had a large crowbar in his hands.

  “You really should’ve locked that door,” I said.

  “You’re alive!” he exclaimed. He ran over and hugged me roughly.

  “Of course I’m alive,” I said.

  I pulled myself loose, and went over and examined the storage doors. I could see the marks where Justin had tried to pry the doors open and the dents from where he’d tried to bash his way in with sheer force.

  “I’m out of ideas,” Justin said.

  “There may be chemicals in one of the labs,” I suggested.

  Justin shook his head. “You really want to go back out there with those things? Besides, that’s an awfully long shot. And we don’t have time for a wild goose chase.”

  “It’s better than nothing,” I argued.

  There was a scraping sound at the door. We froze. Someone was trying the lock. I held my breath. The doors began to shake. Someone was trying to get in.

  Justin stuck the crowbar between the storage room doors and pried with all his strength one last time. The doors shook. He shook. But in the end, nothing.