by Linsey Hall
Within a minute, the demons were all dead, their bodies disappearing back to the underworld.
Orcus stood on the steps, rage vibrating from him. The air around him shimmered, and he began to grow. His muscles bulged and rippled as they tore at his cloak. He grew, doubling in size until he dwarfed the large entryway to the temple.
Oh, crap.
Chapter Eleven
Orcus roared, and my heart beat against my ribs as fear shivered over my skin.
When he swept his hand through the air, and pain blasted through me, I doubled over, my wings losing their grip on the air. Visions of torture flashed through my mind—of me being torn apart by Orcus and consumed. Of Ana being devoured. Cade.
Was that what he’d do to us?
Yes.
I tumbled toward the ground, tears burning my eyes as agony tore through me. I could barely make out Ana, curled up on the ground, and Cade, who had gone to one knee. If I could see them, the pain had made me lose my control over my invisibility illusion.
Oh, this was bad.
I was only ten feet from crashing into the ground by the time my wings caught the air again. I managed to fly upward, wobbling and weak.
I needed to shock Orcus into dropping this torture spell. He couldn’t manage it forever or he’d have started with it. It must be costing him.
I envisioned flame ripping through the street, bright and orange. It popped to life, roaring toward him. I avoided Cade and Ana, just in case. I knew it wasn’t real flame, but no need to risk it. I still didn’t understand the extent of these powers.
Orcus dropped his arms and stepped backward.
Illusion was a much rarer gift than fire. He had no reason to think it wasn’t real.
To have any shot at defeating him, we had to attack as one.
As if he’d read my mind, Cade looked skyward and raised a fist, giving the signal for a unilateral attack.
Hey, maybe this fight training stuff with the Protectorate was as handy as Jude always said it was.
As the flames boxed Orcus against the wall of the temple, I flew down toward him, my sword ready. Ana and Cade raced for the wall of flame.
As they neared it, I allowed it to part in one small section. They raced through. Cade leapt high, his sword aiming for Orcus’s heart. The evil god swiped out with a large fist, but Cade dodged.
At the same time, I flew for his neck, narrowly avoiding his fist and plunging my blade in deep. Blood spurted.
Ana went for his legs, cutting them out from under him.
Orcus roared, his magic swelling on the air. The pain shot through me again, visions of me being dismembered tearing through my mind. Bile rose in my throat as I faltered, my blade pulling out of his neck. From down below, Ana screamed.
Orcus swayed, then fell, the wounds to his legs, chest, and neck enough to take him down. He fell with a crash, then disappeared in a blast of golden light.
I slammed to the ground, pain shooting through my shoulders and wings.
Ana and Cade were on the ground next to me, struggling to rise.
“Did we get him?” Ana asked.
“Aye,” Cade said. “If he survives, it will take him a long time to recover. I believe that golden light meant he was returning to his godly realm.”
“Like a super fancy transportation charm?”
“Aye.”
Aching, I managed to sit. My wings hurt like the devil. “Let’s go. I want to get through this temple before any other monsters show up.”
“Agreed. That was enough for tonight,” Ana said.
A small smile tugged at my lips, but somehow, I knew this wouldn’t be the last of the monsters.
I stood and then turned toward the entrance to the temple. I stepped through, my breath held.
When it didn’t suck me through to another realm, my shoulders dropped. “Not a portal.”
“Too easy,” Cade said.
“True. They wouldn’t make it easy for us.” Not that those demons had been easy, but still. “And it didn’t look like a portal.”
I inspected the interior of the huge building. Half the roof was still intact, which was incredible after three thousand years. The floor descended on three large levels, like giant stairs that were only a few feet lower than each other. In the center of the second level, a flame burned.
“The eternal flame,” Cade said. “Burned for Melqart.”
“Still, after all these years?” I asked.
“Belief is powerful. So is magic.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Ana said.
I inspected our surroundings, looking for any kind of clue. No fancy carvings or statues of gods here—just austere stone and hard angles. That didn’t leave us a lot to work with.
“There are doors down there.” Cade started toward them.
We followed, hurrying across the floor. We descended to the middle level and passed by the eternal flame. It drew my eye, but I kept going toward the doors.
When we reached them, we stopped.
There were seven, and each gleamed like a portal.
“This has to be it,” Ana said.
“I agree.” Cade approached and held out his hand to feel the magical signature. He frowned and withdrew his arm. “But which door?”
I approached one, wincing at the prickly feel of the magic. I stopped at each door. They all felt different, but none of them felt welcoming. Not that the proper door would.
“What about the windows above?” Ana pointed to the high windows that sat between each door. “Could the entrance be through one of those?”
“I’ll check.” I unfurled my wings, taking off into the air.
Every time, flying was a joy. But every time, it hurt.
I flew by each of the windows, holding out my hand. “Every single one feels terrible. They’re portals, too, but none of them is clearly the one we want.”
I landed.
“There must be a clue here,” Cade said. “Well, if we’re lucky, there is.”
“Spread out,” I said. “Let’s find it. I don’t want to pick at random. The odds are awful, and those portals feel even worse.”
“Agreed.” Ana nodded.
We split up, pacing through the building that sparked with magic.
There was nothing on the walls or floor, but the eternal flame drew me toward it.
I stepped to the edge, realizing that the flame burned from a pool of water. The base of the pool was an amazing mosaic. Firelight glinted off the many colored stones. The designs were strange, almost random.
I squinted at them, turning my head to the side. “Hey, guys, I think I found something.”
“Good,” Ana said. “Because I’ve got nothing.”
They joined me, leaning over to look into the water.
“What is it?” Kade asked.
I pointed at the weird little shapes made by the tiny tiled stones. “I think those are Phoenician letters. They may be telling us which door to take.”
“Can we send a picture to Florian?” Ana asked. “He could interpret it.”
“Send it to Caro,” I said. “I doubt Florian has a phone. He’s not exactly that generation.”
Ana grinned, then pulled her cell out of her pocket, started snapping away, and typed out a message.
“There are only two primary shapes,” I said. “The triangle and the thing that looks like a bent rake.”
“Hopefully Florian will recognize them,” Cade said.
Ana’s phone dinged and she grinned. “A video call is coming through.”
Ana held up her phone so we could see Florian’s excited face as he started to speak. “That is most interesting indeed! Normally, simple letters would not be much help. But the letters of the Phoenician alphabet are derived from words.”
“Which words are these?” I asked.
“Window and door,” Florian said. “The triangle is the door, and the bent rake is the window. So it looks like you have a pattern. You just need to figure out what it is.”
My heart sped up. “Thanks, Florian. We can work with that.”
Ana hung up.
“Good job recognizing the Phoenician writing,” Cade said.
“Thanks.” I peered at the letters. “Let’s just figure out the pattern.”
We circled the fountain, studying the letters. I pointed to one of the triangles that seemed to be out of line compared to the others. It was higher. “That one’s different.”
Cade squinted at it. “That could be our door. But which one does it represent?”
Ana pointed to a large mosaic flower that sat between the letters. “If we assume that this is the start of the line of doors, the one that we want is the third from the left.”
I paced around the fountain to see what she was talking about. It clicked into place. “Yep! I bet that is our door.”
“Let’s try it, then,” Cade said.
We hurried toward the lower level and found the appropriate door. It felt prickly and a bit miserable, like all the rest, but I trusted Ana’s judgment.
“Together?” I held out my hands.
Cade took my hand. “We’ll have to go in a line.”
True. The door wasn’t very wide.
He moved to the front. Ana took my hand, and we went through the door. Magic snapped against me like rubber bands, but the door wasn’t a portal. We didn’t get sucked into the ether and transported through space.
Instead, we stepped out onto the back side of the temple, right where it butted up against the large, man-made harbor. It was square, carved right out of the rock.
“Wow, this is old,” I murmured.
“Amazing,” Cade said.
Golden light glowed brightly from the door behind us, then lit up the stones at our feet. The shiny glow traveled through the stones on the ground, zipping across to the harbor into the water.
I hurried after it, following it to the edge of the quay. The golden glow sank into the water.
“Weird,” I whispered.
I could feel the golden magic in the water. It was like a call. But what was it calling to?
We all peered hard into the glowing water. It took everything I had not to lean too far out and fall in.
When the sea monster leapt from the depths, I screamed and stumbled back. Cade and Ana followed.
I landed on my butt, pain singing through me, then scrambled up. The creature hadn’t followed us onto dry land, but a splashing sounded in the harbor.
I called my sword from the ether. Cade and Ana did the same, each reaching for their weapons of choice. Shield for Cade and a sword for Ana. Though she might normally prefer daggers, this beast was big enough to require a sword.
“What is it?” I asked as I approached the edge.
“No idea,” Cade said. “Didn’t get a good look.”
We leaned over, careful not to get too close to the water. A weird animal swam at the surface, head out of the water and eyes keen on us.
“It’s a horse with wings,” Ana said.
She wasn’t wrong. The head was equine and the wings were huge.
“It has a fish’s tail, though,” I said. The scales gleamed green in the moonlight.
“It’s a hippokampoi,” Cade said. “Worshiped by the Phoenicians and Greeks alike.”
“Cool.”
The hippokampoi neighed at us, a weird sound that burbled like a fish but still sounded like a horse.
I reached out a hand. Valkyrie had winged horses. Maybe this winged horse-fish would like me. The golden light had called the hippokampoi to us, so I assumed we needed the creature’s help.
It sniffed at my hand, then backed up, shaking its head.
Dang. “If only I had a treat for it. Like Mayhem always has her ham.”
Mayhem appeared at my side, an excited gleam in her eye.
“Did she hear you?” Cade asked.
Mayhem gave a little bark in her throat. The ham clutched in her jaws prevented a full bark, fortunately.
“Hey, you have a ham,” I said.
She gave me a look that said, “I always have a ham.”
I held out a hand. “Can I have your ham? I promise I’ll get you a bigger one.”
She gave me a suspicious look, tilting her head and glaring hard with her left eye.
“I promise.” I pointed to the hippokampoi, who was now looking at the ham with interest. “I don’t know if winged horse-fishes eat ham, but I need him to be my friend, so I want to try.”
Mayhem sighed, then fluttered closer and handed over her ham.
“Thanks, Mayhem.”
She barked, a clear, “Keep your promise about that bigger ham, lady.”
“I will.” I turned to the hippokampoi and held out the ham. “There’s only a couple bites out of it. I think you might like it.”
The hippokampoi swam forward, sniffing delicately at the ham. Curiosity gleamed in the creature’s eyes, then it shook its head and swam backward.
“Dang it.”
“Hang on, I think it was interested,” Ana said. “Not that I’d expect a horse-fish to like ham, but there’s a first time for everything.”
“Hmmm.” I eyed the hippokampoi. “So this is almost to your taste, but not quite?”
“Maybe he doesn’t like cold ham,” Cade said.
Not a bad point. I turned to Mayhem and held out the ham. “Can you warm this up a bit?”
She nodded, tongue lolling out of her mouth, then breathed a blast of fire at the ham. An image of a dragon flashed briefly over her doggy face, then disappeared.
I rotated the ham so that she could warm it evenly, then withdrew it. “Thanks, Mayhem.”
She barked, something that sounded like, “Anytime, pal.”
I held out the slightly charred ham to the hippokampoi. The horse lunged for it, chomping it between big white teeth. The creature swallowed it whole, then swam up to the edge of the dock and snuffled my hand. Warm ham breath wafted over me.
“Hi, buddy,” I said.
The hippokampoi raised its back. Mayhem barked and flew down to sit on the creature. The horse-fish shook her off, then raised its back again for us.
“I think we’re supposed to get on,” I said.
“Agreed.” Cade frowned. “But aren’t we all too big?”
The hippokampoi snorted.
“Doesn’t sound like he thinks so.” I peered out into the harbor, noticing that the exit shimmered with gray light. I pointed to it. “I think that’s the portal to the stronghold in the ether.”
“We should deploy Hedy’s temporary portal here, then,” Cade said. “Last thing we need to do is get into the stronghold and lose our chance.”
“Agreed.”
Cade pulled a piece of glowing chalk from his pocket, then crouched and drew a large square on the stone. He stood, put the chalk back into his pocket, and withdrew a glowing orange vial of liquid.
“Step back.”
We did as he commanded, and he poured the potion over the chalk line. Light burst from the space, and a shimmery orange portal appeared.
“Whoa, cool,” Ana said.
“Indeed.” Cade stowed the empty glass vial in his pocket. “Leads straight to an alley in Edinburgh, which we’ve got guards patrolling.”
“Nice.” I grinned. “Hopefully we’ll settle this today and won’t have to use the portal, but it’s a nice backup.”
“This is just recon,” Cade said. “We’re going to play it safe until we have backup.”
I saluted, then turned to the hippokampoi. His scales glinted in the moonlight, and he looked at me with quizzical eyes.
“Ready?” I asked.
He snuffled. I took that to be a yes, and retracted my wings before I sat on the stone ledge. The hippokampoi swam closer. With my breath held, I slipped off the dock and landed on his back.
He was cold and wet beneath me, and my boots dangled in the chilly water. But I didn’t mind—not when I was riding a real, live hippokampoi.
I petted his green scale
s as Cade climbed on behind me, and Ana behind him.
“This is awesome,” Ana said.
“I know, right?” I gave a little shriek as the hippokampoi took off, much faster than I anticipated.
It zipped through the water toward the harbor exit, leaving a white wake behind it. Water dragged at my boots, and I clung to the hippokampoi’s small wings.
Mayhem flew beside us, barking excitedly, little blasts of fire emitting from her mouth.
The hippokampoi snuffled, as if shushing her. She zipped her lip.
At the exit of the harbor, the air shimmered with a faint golden glow. The hippokampoi swam right through, snuffling at the feel of the magic that prickled as we passed. The air was briefly golden and blinding, then we were in a new harbor.
Except, it was full of boats. Big, fat-bottomed vessels that floated, tugging at their lines as the wake from the hippokampoi jostled them.
“Holy crap,” Ana murmured. “A real Phoenician city.”
“Sort of.” The whole place glowed with a strange light, but it definitely looked like an intact Phoenician city. As if the magic had created a place that was a mirror of the ruins on the other side of the portal. But the air felt weird. Almost like jelly or something.
“It’s definitely a halfway realm,” Cade said. “Feel that in the air?”
“Yeah. I don’t like it.”
“Neither do I,” he said. “It takes great magic to keep a place like this going. Earthly realms and godly realms really exist. These places only exist through magic and spells.”
“Well, we’re going to find a way to break that spell,” I said as the hippokampoi swam up to an open space in the dock between two fat boats. Despite the many boats, the docks were empty due to the late hour. The moon had disappeared behind some clouds, giving us even more cover.
I scrambled off of him, Mayhem at my side.
“Thanks, friend,” I said.
The hippokampoi snuffled.
“We’ll need a ride out of here,” Ana said. “Will you wait? We won’t have ham, but we promise to bring you more sometime.”
Mayhem gave her a disapproving look.
“Not your ham, Mayhem,” I said. “But thank you for sharing.”
