‘Nemertes.’ She stepped from the stream and gracefully perched on a rock across from Hailey. ‘I am one of Poseidon’s nereids.’
Hailey tensed. ‘Poseidon? Did he ask you to kill me before he died?’
Nemertes raised an eyebrow. ‘Why would he make such a request?’
‘Because Zeus was mad at me.’
‘This has nothing to do with your father. I only learned of your existence recently. I thought you had died centuries ago, otherwise I would have sought you out much sooner.’
‘For what?’
‘Your help,’ Nemertes said, a sly smile touching her lips. ‘You see, my sisters and I have resided in Poseidon’s palace almost our entire lives. And six years ago humans stole our home. One of our sisters was weak and allowed them in, while the rest of us were banished to our chamber. And now more humans have come, these ones wickeder than the others. They wish to destroy our palace and kill us. I managed to escape without them seeing so that I could find help. You can save us. You merely need to come to the palace and use your powers.’
Hailey hugged her legs. ‘My powers kill people.’
‘These humans deserve death.’
Hailey shook her head. ‘I promised I would never kill anyone again.’
‘They are evil.’ A hint of impatience crept into Nemertes’s voice. ‘They are thieves. They will kill us if we do not attack first.’
‘Pandora, I think you should help.’
Hailey looked to the naiad who remained standing in the stream. ‘Lilaea, you know I can’t.’
‘I understand you do not wish to harm anyone,’ Lilaea said. ‘But this is different. From what Nemertes has said, these humans are not innocent—they are wicked. And nereids are kin to the naiads. You must help them.’
‘And as payment for your aid, I can offer you the one thing you have always desired.’
Hailey turned back to Nemertes. ‘What?’
‘Freedom from your powers. If you rid the palace of humans, I will take away your abilities.’
Hailey pressed her hands against the hard earth. ‘You can do that?’
Nemertes nodded.
‘I… I want that more than anything… But I still don’t know.’
‘Pandora,’ Lilaea said again, ‘help our fellow sister. The deaths of evil humans are worth the price of your freedom.’
Hailey chewed her lip.
‘If you do not help me, I will find another way to end their lives,’ Nemertes added.
Hailey swallowed. ‘Okay. I’ll do it. Just tell me how to get there.’
The healing wing swirled back into existence.
‘Nemertes told me you’d be coming to the island on an excursion to visit the dryads,’ Pandora went on. ‘She said she’d organised for a cyclops to attack you, and that I was to come to your rescue and fight it off. And then I’d be hailed a hero and you’d let me come back to the palace. I know it didn’t work out that way, but that was the plan.’
No one spoke.
Pandora’s shoulders slumped. ‘I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I hope you can at least understand why I did it. I also want to thank you for making me feel like a normal human for a little while. I promise you won’t ever see me again.’ Pandora moved to roll out of the bed.
‘Wait,’ Hailey said, sympathy still flowing strong in her.
She couldn’t let Pandora walk away thinking she hated her. Maybe it was seeing the memories a second time, or maybe it was that Pandora had saved everyone, but Hailey didn’t feel angry. Especially after watching that last memory. The nymphs in that forest were Pandora’s only friends, and even they had told her to help Nemertes. Everyone manipulated her. And if Pandora had really wanted to, Hailey was pretty sure she could have killed all the students and teachers in the first week by spreading the disease as quickly as possible. But she hadn’t. She’d spared Hailey and everyone who could help for as long as possible—and she’d saved them in the end, even when it had meant giving up everything.
Hailey smiled. ‘I forgive you.’
Pandora blinked. ‘What?’
‘You didn’t want to hurt us. Nemertes tricked you. And you never really went through with it,’ Hailey said. ‘I forgive you.’
‘Me too,’ Jayden said. ‘Centuries of misery would drive anyone crazy.’
Demi sniffed and wiped at a rogue tear in the corner of her eye. ‘I want to stay mad at you. You almost killed me, and you let the perfect opportunity to torture Venus pass you. But you have had a pretty sucky life. And it was really Nemertes who caused this whole mess… I can’t be mad at you anymore.’
Tears streamed down Pandora’s face.
‘I guess I forgive you too,’ Alec said. ‘After all you did spare me from the disease until the end, so I appreciate that.’
Everyone looked at Aaron. ‘One thing doesn’t make sense to me… your mission was to infiltrate the school by stopping the cyclops and winning everyone’s trust. But you came after us. You tracked us down after the cyclops threw us and protected us from the arachne—you saved me from its poison. If you were planning to kill us anyway, why bother? Why not leave us to die?’
Pandora shrugged. ‘Being scared and alone in a forest with monsters stalking you isn’t a death anyone deserves.’
‘I don’t think you ever really planned on killing us, Pandora,’ Aaron said. ‘But on the plus side, you fixed my mistake. You weakened PET enough that we could get rid of them. So thank you for that.’
‘PET’s gone?’
Aaron nodded. ‘Left an hour ago. You saved Poseidon’s Academy.’
More tears streamed down Pandora’s face.
‘Time to go.’
Hailey’s head snapped around to Amathia. ‘Why can’t Pandora stay? Nobody else knows the truth about the disease, and she can’t hurt anyone now that she’s wearing a neutralising bracelet.’
‘Yes, please let her stay,’ Demi begged. ‘We’re not angry anymore.’
‘I am afraid I cannot allow that. If anyone ever discovered the true identity of Pandora, it would not end well. Fear would wreak havoc upon the school, and humans do misconceived things when they are afraid—such as hunt down and kill the person they are afraid of. I do not wish to risk that,’ Amathia explained. ‘And Pandora is over sixteen-centuries old, hardly young enough to be in high school.’
‘But—’ Demi began.
‘It’s okay,’ Pandora interrupted. ‘Amathia is right. And I’m excited to see the world again.’ She climbed out of bed.
Demi sprang on her, yanking her into a hug. ‘I’m going to miss you.’
Hailey joined the hug. ‘Me too.’
Pandora was crying again when they released her. ‘Thank you for showing me what being human is like.’
‘Come, let us find you a new home.’ Amathia slipped a travelling necklace over her head and reached her slender fingers towards Pandora.
Pandora waved goodbye and clasped Amathia’s hand. She swirled into a mix of colours, like a rainbow ice-cream, before vanishing altogether.
Epilogue
Nemertes perched on a rock in the middle of the infinite sea, glaring at Poseidon’s palace, which was close enough for her to see humans running around in the grounds. Grounds that never should have been soiled by their filthy race. Something lurched in her stomach. A growling monster that wanted to claw out and take the palace back. To kill every last human that had stolen her home.
Nemertes held the monster at bay, placating it with the thought that their end was nearing. Soon the gods would return, and humans would once again take their rightful place kneeling at their creators’ feet.
Though she doubted these humans would be fortunate enough to serve the gods. No, if they remained here when Poseidon returned, he would slaughter them. She could see it now—their laughter turned to screaming.
‘Nemertes, why are we here?’ Nesso asked, anxiously gazing about as if she expected someone to attack them. ‘Amathia banished us. We cannot be here.’
The monster inside Nemertes reeled again, roaring to be set loose so it could punish Amathia for betraying them. ‘Our sister will pay dearly for handing our home to humans and then banishing us. She is fortunate I did not tear out her throat.’
‘You know you cannot,’ Maera countered. ‘She is protected.’
‘Not for long,’ Nemertes spat back. ‘Soon we will reclaim our home, and the gods will rise again.’
‘How? Our plan failed. Pandora—’ Ligea began
‘Do not speak her name!’ Nemertes hissed, balling her hands into fists as the roaring inside her grew louder. ‘That traitor brought us so close to victory and then snatched it away. I will make sure Poseidon punishes her.’
‘But how will the six of us reclaim the palace when it is swarming with humans?’ Nesaea asked.
A wicked smile touched Nemertes’s lips. ‘I have another plan. And this time, it will not fail.’
Did you enjoy joining Hailey for her second year at Poseidon’s Academy? For newbie authors like me, reviews are really important, so if you can find the time to leave one on your favourite book website, such as Amazon or Goodreads, it would mean a lot to me.
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About the Author
Unlike Hailey, Sarah attended an ordinary high school, and a villain-free university—The University of Queensland—where she completed a bachelor’s degree in writing and ancient history, and a master’s degree in writing, editing, and publishing.
Prior to that, Sarah spent her younger years watching Xena: The Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, which sparked her interest in Greek mythology and saw her spend entire days by her bedroom window, waiting for a pegasus to swoop out of the sky and take her on an adventure worthy of Homer. When it was clear no pegasus was going to rescue her from her ordinary life, Sarah turned to writing her own adventures.
First Published in Australia by Enchanted Inkwell
This edition published 2019
Copyright © Sarah A Vogler 2019
Publisher: Enchanted Inkwell
Typesetting: Prepress Plus
Cover design: Simon Critchell
The right of Sarah A Vogler to be identified as Author of the Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN number: 978-0-6484701-4-4 (Kindle)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication entry:
For Lauren, for always giving me a pep talk when I needed it
Greek Mythology Pronunciation Guide
(Note: this is a general guide only. Certain names have varying pronunciations.)
THE GODS
Anemoi: uh-nem-oy
Aphrodite: afro-die-tee
Apollo: uh-pol-o
Ares: air-eez
Artemis: ar-tuh-miss
Asclepius: as-kleh-pee-uhs
Athena: uh-thee-na
Chione: key-own-knee
Demeter: deh-mee-tur
Dionysus: dio-nice-us
Eris: air-is
Hades: hay-deez
Hebe: hee-bee
Hecate: hek-uh-tay
Hephaestus: huh-fes-tus
Hera: hair-uh
Heracles: hair-uh-cleez
Hermes: her-meez
Horae: hawr-ee
Hypnos: hip-nos
Persephone: per-sef-uh-nee
Poseidon: poh-sigh-den
Thanatos: than-uh-tos
Tyche: ty-key
Zeus: zoos
NYMPHS
Dryad: dry-ad
Naid: ney-ad
Nereid: neer-ee-id
Oceanid: oh-see-uh-nid
MONSTERS AND CREATURES
Arachne: uh-rak-nee
Centaur: sen-tor
Chimera: ky-meer-uh
Cyclops/Cyclopes: sigh-clops/sigh-clo-peez
Erinys/Erinyes: e-rin-es/e-rin-eez
Harpy: hahr-pee
Hippocampus: hip-uh-kam-pus
Lamia: lay-me-uh
Lycaon: lie-kay-on
Medusa: meh-doo-sa
Minotaur: min-uh-tor
Nemean Lion: nee-me-un lion
Pegasus/Pegasi: peg-uh-suhs/peg-uh-see
Siren: sigh-ren
Sphinx: sfingks
PLACES
Elysium: e-lee-zee-uhm
Olympus: uh-lim-pus
Styx: sticks
Tartarus: tar-ta-rus
Prologue
Tiny beads of gold ichor dripped to the ground, spilling over the dirt like melted gold. Poseidon stared at his slashed arm, waiting for his skin to knit back together, but blood continued to dribble from the cut. If he wasn’t healing that meant his powers were weakening, which meant this battle was pointless. ‘AHHHHH!’ He slammed his trident into the ground with a thundering CRACK!
Clouds of dirt sprayed into the air like a dust storm as the ground shook and moaned, the earth splitting into a ravine that swallowed the human foolish enough to have cut Poseidon.
Around Poseidon the battle raged on. Swords clashed and clanged. Lightning exploded with thunderous booms. Crackling fireballs flew left and right. Humans fell by the hundreds, their bodies piling on the ground and tainting the air with the metallic scent of blood. And then, everything stopped.
‘AH!’ the gods cried out, their tortured screams piercing the sky as they began collapsing one by one.
Poseidon had no intention of dying. A tornado of water encircled him, carrying him away from the battlefield to the bottom of the sea. In the distance, his palace gleamed like a jewel. He longed to return to the safety of its walls, but his life depended on him staying away.
A nereid stood before him, her dark wavy hair floating gracefully around her in the water. Her green eyes softened with relief before widening. Her slender fingers reached for his arm. ‘You’re wounded,’ Nemertes said, her voice ringing clear through the water.
Poseidon snatched his arm from her reach, his ichor tingeing the water gold. He was angry at himself for appearing vulnerable, and painfully aware that with every passing moment he came closer to being like the minor gods who lay writhing in pain on the battlefield. ‘Listen to me, Nemertes. I do not have much time. The battle is lost. My race is dying.’
Nemertes shook her head. ‘No. The gods cannot be defeated. Especially by humans,’ she spat the last word as though it were poison.
‘Zeus has a plan to save the Olympians, but it requires someone loyal to us to succeed.’
‘What do I need to do?’
‘When—’ Flames erupted in Poseidon, scorching his organs and boiling his blood. He doubled over and roared with pain.
Fish fled far and wide to escape the bellowing god.
‘Poseidon!’
Poseidon shoved Nemertes back when she rushed forward to help him. ‘When humans are weak enough to be ruled again go to Olympus,’ he growled through gritted teeth. ‘You will know what to do when you arrive.’
‘I am a spirit bound by the earth. It’s impossible for me to enter the sky.’
The flames burning within Poseidon intensified, and he was sure he’d crumble to ash at any moment. ‘Find a way,’ he snapped. ‘Ask your sisters for help, but tell no one else of our survival.’
Nemertes nodded. ‘I will not fail you, my love.’
A tornado of water swept up Poseidon, evaporating to mist the m
oment it dropped him in the large open entryway of Olympus’s palace. He expected to be greeted with the normal sight of the entryway sparkling as sunlight poured down from the glass ceiling onto the diamond floor. Instead, he found the minor gods writhing on the ground, having abandoned the battle. Ichor poured from their various wounds, forming a lake of gold blood.
I will not let that be my fate. Poseidon straightened, fighting against the pain clawing at his stomach, and walked with his head held high towards the throne room, ignoring the gods’ pleas for help. They are not worthy. They are only minor gods. We Olympians are the ones who matter. The ones who must survive. It will be good to return to a world with less gods to contend with.
Someone’s hand latched around his ankle, fingers digging into his skin like their life depended on holding on. He glowered down at the goddess insolent enough to have touched him. Her black hair usually shimmered with the colours of a rainbow, but now it was as dull as a mortal’s. ‘Unhand me, Iris.’
‘Help,’ she croaked out, ichor dribbling from the corner of her mouth.
Poseidon kicked his leg, shaking her hand loose.
A shudder tore through Iris, her whole body convulsing as if she were about to explode, and then her eyelids drooped shut and she fell still.
‘Farewell, goddess of the rainbow.’ Poseidon moved to take a step, but pure incomprehensible horror held him in place.
Iris’s skin turned translucent, and her entire body faded away before Poseidon’s eyes. Shimmering gold sparks was all that remained of the goddess. Poseidon reached to grab them, but the sparks fell through the floor.
‘NO!’ Poseidon roared, realising the gods’ powers would fall to the vile unworthy humans who deserved nothing but endless torment. The sudden urge to return to the ground and obliterate as many of them as he could clutched at him. He could create an earthquake big enough to tear the earth in two.
‘POSEIDON!’ someone yelled his name from the room at the end of the entryway, their voice echoing around the vast space.
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 62
