Only now do I notice the slight tremor in her fingers. “But you know how to swim, right?”
“I figured out the basics on my own. No one ever taught me.”
Another reminder that she’s an orphan. I’d like to hug her, but she’d sooner tear my head off than be the object of my compassion.
“Look. The sea is calm today. It will be easy.” I wink. “And I’ll be close by in case you need my help.”
She thrusts her chin out defiantly. “No need. I’ll manage.”
“I know.” I grin. “You always do.”
Gabriel seems confident enough. Actually, he’s positively radiant as he gazes at the vast expanse of water glistening before us. I’m fairly certain his glow is the result of Cupid’s attention rather than the prospect of a swim, but whatever causes this change in my friend, I’m grateful for it. These days, Gabriel is blossoming like the Hesperides’ apple trees.
Heracles waits in front of grandstands that have been set onto the mosaic shore. The Olympian gods lounge in enhanced sun chairs, draped in colorful silks.
“Many years ago, Odysseus was sent on a quest on behalf of the gods.”
I look for Odysseus but find all our teachers, save Heracles, absent from the shore. It is odd, but when I spot Kieron sitting on the sand further down the beach, I’m too distracted to linger on their absence. His obsidian eyes are hidden behind silky strands of white hair, but I feel their intensity all the same. My heart beats erratically in my chest as if it had slept through the past two days and just woke up.
Heracles continues with his blaring baritone. “Odysseus boarded his boat and set sail to Circe’s island with his companions. Today, we honor his exploit as well as mighty Poseidon’s rule over the sea.”
A sleek sailboat, carved in teak wood and adorned with gold, its white sails billowing in the breeze, bobs on the gentle waves. The crew is composed of the old heroes, who wave at us encouragingly, with Odysseus at the rudder. He aims it toward the horizon and throws the anchor far away from the shore.
“For this quest, you need to swim all the way to the Sirens’ island, which lies beyond Odysseus’s boat, and raid their treasures. To win, retrieve an object of power they stole from your sponsors and bring it back to shore as fast as you can. This is a race, and the last challenger to make it to shore will be eliminated from the competition.”
Amy grows more restless. I make sure she sees the determination in my eyes. I’ll be here to help her if she needs me, despite her protestations. Aphrodite does her thing, turning our garments into shimmery, navy blue swimsuits. I glare at the bikini that shows way too much skin for my taste, but at least it will be easier to swim in this than in a dress.
I step away from the mosaic floor and onto the sand, coaxing Amy to follow my example. If this is a race, we have no time to waste. The water lapping at my feet erases my imprints on the sand, as if it seeks to eradicate my presence from the pristine shore.
Triton, standing guard behind his father’s back, blows his conch shell, eliciting an excited roar from the crowd. The competition has begun.
All the contenders, except for Dane, the last of Dionysus’s challengers, run toward the waves. I dive in without hesitation, the warm waves on my skin eliciting a pure jolt of pleasure that relaxes my tense muscles. Memories of happy vacations at the beach, my mother swimming beside me, infuse my soul with a new confidence as I break through the surface. I could almost forget the competition and what’s at stake if not for the seventeen other bodies breaking the waves around me, their concentration nearly palpable.
I crane my neck to see Amy, paddling over the surface and wincing every time the backwash splashes her. I slow down so we are neck to neck in the water, ready to offer her assistance in case she falters. Predictably, Amy glares at me.
I stick my tongue out at her. “You’re not getting rid of me so easily.”
Clearly, some contenders are more comfortable in water than others. Gabriel and Heath lead the race. Both split the waves with a flawless crawl. I wish I could be with them rather than stuck behind with Amy. About ten other challengers are pulling farther ahead while the rest splash behind us. For an inexperienced swimmer, Amy isn’t too slow, thankfully.
It takes us about twenty minutes to reach Odysseus’s sailboat, a pleasant swim were it not for Amy’s constant grumbling. From our low vantage point, I can’t see the heroes, but the thought of them watching over us is comforting.
A barren island ahead, with no vegetation that I can see, breaks the monotonous blue. Gabriel and Heath have almost made it to shore when I notice their heads shaking in distress. Suddenly they stop moving, their necks straighten, and they hover in place in the water.
The waves shift restlessly, as if a storm is coming. Out of nowhere, female silhouettes with indigo wings sprouting from their powerful backs emerge from the shifting sea. The front line stands between Heath and Gabriel, and the island. The rest of them circle us like a fishing net. Their beauty is otherworldly and cruel, all sharp angles and lethal edges. When the sea creatures open their mouths, releasing a song so strident it pierces my bones, I recognize them for what they are: sirens protecting their lair. Heath and Gabriel begin sinking inexorably under the waves.
Before their song can get to me, I dive further under the water so my ears are deaf to their strangely alluring tune. I pull Amy down with me to save her from their enchantments. When the attraction has dispelled and I can think clearly again, I peek out of the waves just high enough to ask a question to Amy and hear her answer.
“Can you manage on your own?” I ask Amy. “Gabriel needs help.”
She nods, her eyes wide with stupor.
“Keep your ears underwater,” I instruct her. “And stay clear of the Sirens.”
With that, I kick to propel myself to the place where I saw Gabriel last, but he’s disappeared under the waves.
I can’t hear the Sirens, for my ears are still underwater, but I see them closing ranks around us. They will protect their treasures at any cost. My breath bursts in and out as a fear like I’ve never experienced before clutches my heart.
Before reaching the island’s shores, I dive deep, looking for Gabriel. It is Heath I find instead, in a twist of fate I should have expected. His eyes struggle to stay open but he’s still awake, bubbles of oxygen escaping his half-shut lips as I near him. I wrap my right arm under his shoulders and pull him above water. A sharp resolution etches on his face as he gulps air avidly.
“Do not listen to the Sirens’ song,” I order him.
I dive back for Gabriel. Thankfully he’s still alive as well and just within my reach. I grab him and boost him to the surface. When I come up, two Sirens with seaweed-like hair and golden eyes flap their scaly tails in the water ominously. Our ears are still underwater so their screams have no influence on us, but we can’t break through the wall of their bodies.
Heath comes floating to our side, making us three against two of them. And yet I have no idea how to distract them until Madeline shows up. Her necklace, identical to Joan’s, catches the sun and makes the amethyst glow like a full moon in the night sky.
The Sirens’ unwavering stares snap away from us and toward Madeline before they launch themselves at her like a flock of feral seagulls.
The shore is deserted just long enough for us to climb onto the island to apparent safety. Madeline shrieks as the Sirens attack her, digging their cruel talons into her flesh.
My ears buzz with the Sirens’ strident calls, Madeline’s screams, the roaring of the waves—the sound of fear.
“Give them your necklace!” I scream before slapping my hands onto my ears.
A glimmer of understanding shines in Madeline’s eyes as she fumbles with the clasp of her necklace while trying to stay afloat and simultaneously resisting the assaults of four Sirens.
“It’s stuck!” My hands muffle her screams before a relentless monster drags her underwater.
Eddies swirl at the surface where she sank, followed by crashing w
aves as the Sirens fight for their precious bounty.
I stagger and fall against the beach while Gabriel stands petrified, his mouth set into a silent scream. Heath has already turned his back on the horrific scene, looking for the treasure we’ve been sent to retrieve.
I wait for Amy to arrive, forced to witness other Sirens’ attacks while I yell to the challengers who attract the monsters’ unwanted attention to part with their prized possessions. They all crawl to shore, unlike poor Madeline.
When Amy comes, I scream. “Your dagger! Give it to them.”
“No way.” She pants while fighting off a large wave.
“You have to. Hurl it as far away from you as you can.”
I’m not sure she heard my last words since she’s dipped her ears underwater to shield them from the Sirens’ song. I slap my hands against my ears again to silence them.
Amy forges on until a Siren gets dangerously close to her. Under the water, her hands fumble at the sheath that’s still belted around her waist. I could weep in relief. Amy’s face is twisted in grief as she throws her dagger into the waves and the Siren that barred her route dives under in pursuit.
I help Amy onto shore and hug her, which earns me a yelp of outrage.
“They will pay,” she mutters, walking away from the sea. “Not Precious.”
“I’m sure you’ll get it back,” I say to assuage her temper, sprinting after her.
“Where’s this damn treasu—”
Beyond the dune where we stand, a large hole has been hollowed in the sand, like an immense bird’s nest. But instead of eggs it cradles the Sirens’ treasure.
Amy’s eyes glaze over with the yellow sheen of greed. Before I can stop her, she dives into the precious treasure, grasping handfuls of jewelry and stuffing them inside her bathing suit, like padding for her nonexistent breasts.
“You’ll never get away with it,” I warn her. “We’re only supposed to look for the one object of power.”
“An eye for an eye,” she replies, adding a cuff of solid gold to her décolleté.
Gabriel, Heath, Kara and Sara scour the treasure as well. I join them, scanning the ground for something that reminds me of Hades. Instead, a mother-of-pearl gleam catches my eye.
“Gabriel, this must belong to Aphrodite,” I say as I pick up a ring encasing the largest pearl I’ve ever seen.
He takes it from my hands and slips it onto his pinkie, the only finger slender enough to wear it. “That’s definitely hers. Thanks.”
He keeps looking down. “What about you? Do you see anything that belongs to Kieron?”
I pause. “Kieron? I was looking for Hades.”
“But Kieron is your true sponsor, isn’t he?”
Considering he wants nothing to do with me, I doubt it. But thanks to him, I now have a dilemma to contend with. Whose object of power am I looking for? Hateful Hades, or his cold-hearted son?
I kneel down to get a better look at the objects surrounding me. A forked key of onyx reminds me of the entryway to Erebus. This would refer to both my sponsors since they both live in the underworld.
But as I reach for it, Josh comes out of nowhere and steals it for himself. I glare at him. He came after me and yet he’s first to fulfill his mission. I keep searching because I don’t have time to waste arguing, especially not with this boy I’d rather pretend doesn’t exist.
An ebony box with inlaid ivory brings me back to Kieron’s cottage. I unlatch the box and find watercolors inside. This has to belong to Kieron.
Before someone else can claim it for himself, I pick it up. The watercolor box is surprisingly light, as if it were the embodiment of Kieron’s paradox—dark and hefty-looking on the outside, luminous and light on the inside. Or maybe I want to believe there is light within when there isn’t. His treatment of the losers doesn’t attest to his kindness.
Amy strolls in my direction, her swimsuit bulging oddly from her bounty. On her head is a platinum winged helmet.
“Are you ready?”
Both Gabriel and I nod in answer.
“Let’s go back then.” She climbs the dune in direction of the sea.
Three Sirens have slithered onto shore, their movements awkward away from their natural element. They clutch to their bare chests the riches they’ve stolen from the contenders.
Amy snarls when she spies her beloved dagger in one of the Sirens’ fists. It gives me an idea.
“Why don’t you trade with them? Your steals against hers?”
“You think it would work?”
“It’s worth a try at least.”
Amy takes a tentative step toward the Siren. She plucks the cuff out of her swimsuit and throws it on the sand, close to the Siren’s tail.
“Give me back my dagger and I’ll give you the rest.”
The Siren doesn’t speak, but her golden eyes glow with understanding. She contemplates the dagger in her hand, running a finger on the blade without getting cut. Then she launches it toward Amy, who barely has time to duck before it can skewer her.
Amy silently unloads her bounty onto the beach as she promised.
We start walking away but the Siren shrieks in protest. I clasp my hands onto my ears to shield myself from her spell. The three Sirens slink toward us with murderous scowls.
“She thought you’d give her everything!” I scream to Amy who’s protected her ears as well. “Hermes’s helmet as well!”
Comprehension paints itself across Gabriel and Amy’s faces as we all shift to a run, dunking under the water faster than humanly possible to get away from the island’s sentinels. We swim away without looking back, careful to keep our ears underwater. In a matter of minutes, we’ve made it to Odysseus’s boat, which is surrounded by angry Sirens. They launch their powerful bodies against the hull, slamming holes into the wood with their sharp tails. Water seeps inside the hull as the boat bobs dangerously in the furious waves the Sirens conjure up.
I look toward the shore, watching all the other contestants swim away toward victory without a care of what happens to the heroes. Gabriel and Amy’s wistful gazes indicate they want to join them. It is the perfect opportunity. The Sirens are so absorbed in sinking the boat they don’t pay us any heed. But I can’t forget what I’ve seen and go my way. The heroes, our teachers, need help.
My right arm is tired from holding the watercolor box while swimming with the left arm, but if I let it go, I’ll lose this quest.
“We have to help. They’ll sink!” I plead with my friends.
“No, they won’t,” Gabriel says. “They have more powers than all of us together. Besides, they are immortals.”
“No, they aren’t. They can die! And they are outnumbered.”
Amy struggles to stay afloat with the waves crashing against her. I make a decision.
“Gabriel, take Amy back to shore. I’ll stay and help.”
“That’s crazy!” Gabriel yells.
“I don’t need help!” Amy protests.
I turn my back resolutely to them. “Go!”
I stare at the boat and the Sirens attacking it, coaxing my brain to come up with a plan. The heroes send projectiles from the deck, aiming for the Sirens. A few reach their targets, but the Sirens’ numbers are overwhelming. When one disappears under the waves, two more pop up and strike the hull.
There’s only one of me, and I’m useless. If I ever could reach the boat, maybe I could use my powers to heal the hull, but the Sirens would take me down way before I had a chance. I need outside help.
I scan the depth of the sea underneath me. The swirling water answers my prayers—Nereus! He will help if he hears my pleas. I read everything I could about the benevolent god after he saved me. He’s the patron of sailors and souls lost at sea. Surely this situation deserves his attention.
I dive under to be closer to him and scream his name over and over again, like an incantation, until my lungs are empty and I must return to the surface to replenish my oxygen supply. A massive gap has opened on one side
of the hull, and some Sirens get inside, sinking the boat faster with their weight.
I dive down again to call for Nereus. The eddies increase in strength, whirling me round and round until I’m dizzy and my vision blurs. Black spots flicker before my retinas until I’m forced to come up for air.
The boat is now tilted at a forty-five degree angle, displaying the heroes strapped to the rigging in an attempt to stay onboard. The sea is now a giant Jacuzzi, bubbles burbling at the surface, and it exudes a heat that makes me feel faint. I don’t know how this is the Sirens’ doing, but I know I have to get away. I’m useless on my own, and I will die if I stay.
I strike out for shore when the first face pops up above the water next to me. It belongs to a Nereid, her sleek green hair floating behind her on the waves while her aquamarine eyes are locked on the boat ahead. Like the diaphanous foam on the crest of the waves, a multitude of her sisters surround us in a matter of minutes.
A powerful wave, tall as a tsunami, rises to the mast’s level. Surfing on it is Nereus, the epitome of grace and power. He morphs into a jade sea monster, with hundreds of tentacles ending in spikes, and dives straight at the Sirens with a powerful roar. At their father’s signal, the Nereids launch an attack, torpedoing any Sirens that have escaped Nereus’s tentacles.
The water rises in formidable waves as a result of their combined attack, filling me with equal parts awe and fear as they threaten to overwhelm me. When I finally feel myself succumbing to their strength, warm hands clasp around my shoulders. I crane my neck and stare into Doris’s kind eyes.
“It will be all right, my child,” she whispers as she drags me away from the battle.
I watch for as long as I can, until Nereus in his monstrous shape gently picks up the heroes and drops them on his back. Once we’ve escaped the worst of the whirlwind, Doris lets go of me.
“You have to swim back on your own or you’ll be disqualified,” she explains. “The shore is near.”
I’m utterly exhausted, but the adrenaline from the battle still courses through my veins—it will suffice to get me back to dry land. I squeeze Doris’s hands to express my renewed gratitude and set forth, knowing full well I’ve lost the race anyway with all the time I’ve wasted just now. But I can’t make myself care. I’ve saved my teachers’ lives, and this is worth a thousand victories.
Olympian Challenger Page 18
