I lay back on the ground, exhausted. Pain wracked me as the venom worked deeper into my body. I felt its slow crawl. My thoughts jumbled together. I could hardly focus on anything outside of my agony. But in a brief moment of lucidity, I thought about Metis, who’d sacrificed herself for all of us. Metis, who had no special powers that I could see, aside from raw courage. Who had stayed the course and continued on the journey into Tartarus alone to meet up with us again.
Those thoughts helped me rise to a sitting position. There was no telling what other beasts lurked in this subterranean house of horrors. And I certainly couldn’t leave Metis alone. With a heavy heart, I lumbered toward her and slung her arms around my neck to help me pull her up to carry her on my back. I stumbled again on my first few steps but then got a steady rhythm going. I’d almost made it across the bridge when I tripped and fell to one knee, scraping it horribly. Metis rolled off my back and almost over the side of the bridge. My heart stopped for a beat.
I sighed deeply as I pulled her back onto my shoulders and took measured steps across the clearing to the gate leading to inner Tartarus. Once we reached the gateway doors, I had to tilt my neck backward just to see the top of them and the ceiling of the tunnel they guarded. The opening to the corridor was wide enough to drive six chariots through.
Hera, where are you? I’m at the front gate, I said.
You’re all right? She asked.
No. But I’m still alive … for now.
Where’s Campe?
In the river.
There was a long pause. And Metis?
She’s here. Not awake yet though. Pretty bad head wound. Hera, I don’t feel so good. Campe got me with that wicked tail of hers.
Hold on! We just found the Cyclopes. Stay right there. We’re coming up. Whatever you do, don’t close your eyes!
I’ll try.
I sat down just inside the soaring tunnel and lowered Metis’ head across my lap. With pain slicing through me, I stroked her hair, now matted with perspiration and ichor. My thoughts ran through the past few months. A lot had changed. I’d gained friends. And enemies. I’d almost died, several times. I’d been lied to and stabbed by someone I’d cared for deeply. For whom I still cared intensely.
At that moment though, all I could say to Metis was, “Thank you for sticking by us, and for keeping your head when some of us doubted you.” Her eyes didn’t even blink. I couldn’t lose her like I had lost Tos. Now that I’d found someone whose soul threaded so completely with mine, I wasn’t ready let her go. I whispered, “I’ll never doubt you again. Please come back to us. I promise we’ll never let Atlas touch you again.” I gazed at her, tears gathering in my eyes.
I winced, feeling like my body split in half, as I bent over to lightly kiss her closed eyelids.
My body temperature spiked suddenly. Sweat poured out of me. White spots danced in my vision and the tunnel’s darkness collapsed on me. Remembering Hera’s last words, I fought against losing consciousness.
Images flashed before my closed eyes. The wind rustling the trees on Crete’s hillsides as Tos and I played one day. Tos flashing a bright smile over his shoulder. My hand reaching out to touch my mother’s olive-toned, dimpled cheeks. Her soft eyes embracing me.
Something stirred on my lap. Metis. Feeling her move helped me find the energy to half open my eyes. Metis’ face moved in front of mine like a ghostly shadow.
“Zeus?” she sobbed. “Wake up. Please.”
I was trapped within my body, unable to respond.
“Zeus, if you can hear me, please listen,” she said between sobs. Her speech was slurred. Or maybe my ears weren’t hearing things correctly. “You mean everything to me. I need you to fight whatever is wrong with you.” She sniffled while I struggled to open my eyes or speak, and I had the energy for neither.
Metis continued, “I know I wronged you. I own what I did. And, you have every right to be angry. But you can’t hate me any more than I hate myself right now. After what I did, you found the compassion to save me from myself. Please don’t leave me alone in this cruel world.” She sobbed harder. “You make me a better person.”
Her words and her energy fueled me. I clawed my way back with new vigor.
Zeus! You’re never going to believe what we just found! Hera literally yelled into my head.
Wha– What isss it? My consciousness still waned.
I’ll show you when we get back up top. If we ever find our way back out.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
The ground shook with a dull rumble that grew in intensity. I strained to fully open my eyes. I forced them open just wide enough to see Hera bounding around a far corner with a torch in her hand. She smiled broadly as she approached, followed by three gargantuan, one-eyed giants whose heads could scrape the ceiling of the tunnel.
Hera ran up and knelt beside me. “Zeus! Look at you, oh my Gaia! What happened?” She handed her torch to Metis.
My voice was no stronger than a whisper. “Just a little sting.”
Hera turned to Metis. “You’re awake. How’re you feeling?”
“I’ll live.”
“Good. Nobody is dying on my watch.” Hera looked into her eyes for a moment and then smiled. “Wipe your tears. There’s no crying in the Underworld.” She turned to me. “Look who I found.” Hera thumbed back down the tunnel.
“Spruce!” Don stepped from behind one of the Cyclops. He still wore his ‘ψ’ War Games tunic.
“No way,” I breathed. My mouth gaped.
Tia followed behind him. She rifled her fingers through my hair. “Oh my heavens. How are you … ” Her words trailed off as she peeked at my wound. “That’s pretty bad. I’m proud of you, lab partner. But we need to get you out of here.”
I chuckled at her last statement, but misery flared through me. I clenched my teeth.
Shade walked up, carrying Meter.
“Hold on … what the—” I stammered.
“She’s just a little weak,” Don said. “We’ll explain later.”
“All right. Sappy reunion postponed ‘til we get back to campus.” Hera clapped her hands. Don helped me up while Tia attended to Metis. “One more thing,” Hera said. “Zeus, this is Brontes, Steropes, and Arges, the Cyclopes brothers.” She pointed to each one.
I nodded, determined to look each in the eye. Aside from the singular eye that dotted their foreheads, everything else about them seemed normal—except, you know, that they were gigantic. Muscles bulged and rippled all over them beneath their torn and tattered iron gray tunics. Their bodies bore the ashen marks and scrapes of the Underworld across their limbs.
“Nice to meet you,” Brontes said in a booming baritone voice.
“So you’re the hero we owe our freedom to, yah?” Arges asked.
“I’m no hero,” I said. “I just did what needed to be done. We all have.”
“Thank you just the same,” said Steropes. “We owe you all such a debt.”
“Let’s just get home, shall we.” Hera said. “Zeus, can you walk?”
I struggled to rise to my feet. “I think so.”
Don led us through the gateway and across the clearing toward the bridge. The Cyclopes brought up the rear with quaking steps. But just as Don and Tia reached the middle of the bridge, Campe stormed up from the depths of the Phlegethon.
Her entire body burst into flames, bluish near her vibrating scales and yellowish-orange at the fiery tips. She perched on the edge of the bridge and emitted an ear-splitting roar.
Campe twisted her head back and forth, unsure of whom to attack. Don and Tia sprinted to the far side of the bridge.
Brontes yelled, “Somebody distract her!” as he and his brothers ran back toward the Tartarus Gate.
Shade laid Meter on the ground and running to the middle of the bridge, disappeared just before the she-dragon’s head snapped forward, and spewed a stream of flames. Suddenly, Shade reappeared near the far side of the bridge, once
again disappearing just as Campe attacked. I smiled as an idea sprung to mind.
Weak as I was, I managed to rise to my feet and step forward. “Over here!”
Get back, Zeus! Hera screamed into my head. What are you doing?
Ignoring her, I fought to summon my energy. The strings formed weakly in my palms, but never fully materialized. Drained, I bent over, placing my hands on my knees.
“Over here!” Shade yelled as he reappeared on our side of the bridge. Campe’s head snapped to focus on him just before he disappeared again.
“No, no, over here!” Hera yelled. Campe reared back and hissed a stream of fire toward Hera. But just before the flames reached her, she was knocked to the side by some invisible force. Campe snarled, swinging her fire toward me. I immediately dropped to the ground, barely avoiding the heat, but it was a close call—I felt it nearly scorch my backside.
Don and Tia waved their hands on the far side of the river. Campe attacked with a fiery burst. Don pushed Tia to one side and dove to the other. The fire missed. So far, all we were doing was dodging … but we couldn’t do that forever.
Campe landed on our side of the bridge. She swung her poisoned barb straight for me, when Brontes came up from behind her and slammed one of the huge, iron gate doors down on top of her tail. She thrashed her tail about so vigorously, I thought it would separate and spew poison everywhere.
Arges heaved the other gate door toward Campe. The impact knocked her backward. However, this time the metal of the iron door melted on impact and slid off her volcanic, scaled back. The halo of flames around her body was that hot. The iron door that had trapped Campe’s tail also melted.
I labored again to summon energy. My body temperature spiked as my mind focused. Heat flashed through my torso and down my legs. Hot torrential gushes. My skin felt like it would melt at any moment.
Painful pricks pushed through my palms. Sizzling strings of energy flickered and snapped between my hands, filling out into a pulsing, yellowish-white, crackling sphere. I rose slowly to my feet, holding the excruciating energy mass in one hand. It stretched out into a long, jagged, crackling shaft against my palm. The throbbing pain grew so immense that I thought my arm would fall off at the shoulder. Ignoring the agony, I took three steps like the Kouretes had taught me and sailed the bolt toward the she-dragon with as much power as I could muster.
It struck Campe squarely in the chest. A boom of thunder shook the cavernous space so much, I thought the ceiling would collapse on top of us. The bridge rattled as Campe struggled to grip the edge. Chunks of bridge crumbled and fell. Her wings flapped twice and then she plunged back into the Phlegethon once again.
I fell to my knees and closed my eyes. Vision tunneled, hazy on the edges. Voices around me muffled, some closer, some farther away. I felt lighter than goat’s fleece when someone picked me up under my armpits. Their pointy fingers seared my skin.
Then, someone placed my hand on top of a Hurler and everything blurred more than it had.
The next thing I heard sounded like several female voices arguing.
“We have to get him to the bathhouse,” one insisted.
I sucked in quick, ragged gasps, each shorter than the last.
“He’s hyperventilating. Hurry!”
I closed my eyes. Hot fingertips bit into me as cool air swept over my prickly skin.
Slap. All of a sudden, my cheek stung. As I snapped my eyes open, I saw Don’s face, surrounded by steam. Then Hera’s face appeared through the mist.
“Is he all right?” Hera asked with a trembling pitch my ears had never registered coming from her lips.
“I think he’ll be fine.” Don turned to me. “You are going to be fine, aren’t you?” He held his tightened fist in front of my face. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“None,” I breathed.
“Yeah, he’ll be good as new soon.” Don palmed my head and rocked it back and forth slowly. “I thought you were a goner, Spruce.”
I chuckled. Then I remembered something. “Wait. Where’s Metis?”
“She fainted when you did. Poor thing,” Don said. “Tia’s looking after her.”
“And what about Meter?”
“Shade took her out to the quad to soak up some sun,” Don said. “Apparently, lack of sunlight depletes her energy stores. I never knew that. Did you, Hera?”
Hera shook her head. “Zeus, can you walk?”
I stood up from the bath, dripping wet. I nodded.
Hera stared at me, her face hung with equal parts admiration and caution. Without a word, I knew the source of each.
I felt reborn. My wound had closed and healed just like after the dagger incident. I guessed Campe’s venom would always be a part of me, like the iron from the knife. I could only hope it wouldn’t cause major problems in the future.
Don led us all to Metis’ cabin. When we arrived, Tia held a goatskin with some water. Meter arranged some flowers she’d picked along the path. Her flowers must’ve regained their vitality as she did.
I silently reveled in all the attention they showed Metis. She’d had such a black smudge on her since coming back to school, but in the end, everyone rallied around her. As we should have.
Like Don once said, “We all come together as a team. And keep everyone else out.”
Omegas. Olympians.
“How did Metis even get down there with you all?” Tia asked, dabbing a damp cloth on Metis’ forehead.
“Long story,” Shade replied, drawing out the word long. He then shot a glance toward Hera and me.
“In many ways, she saved our butts down there,” I responded. “Shade was being all invisible and stealthy on the Tartarus side of the bridge. Hera had just energized on the Hurler, but had no real weapon. I powered up on the Hurler, but remained weak. Campe attacked, and Metis threw herself into the fray, taking one for the team.”
“Metis is pretty mean with a spear.” Hera flashed a wry smile.
Don looked at Metis. “Wow, I have a new respect for you, girl.”
Tia rose from Metis’ bedside and finally gave me a huge hug. She certainly hadn’t seemed like herself down in Tartarus. No flamboyant tunic. No flower. But her effervescence had returned. She radiated anew.
“From that first day I showed you around,” Tia said. “I knew there was something special about you.”
“We’re all pretty special,” I countered. “Besides, it was your maps of the Underworld that helped us find you all.”
Tia’s green eyes brightened as she smiled.
“I’d have to agree that you’re all special,” Brontes boomed, looking through the window from outside. “But, I’ve never seen such command of energy and matter before.”
“Yeah,” Meter said as she hugged me. “What was that all about? And what did you do with the Hurlers again?”
“Yeah, seriously,” Don added.
“Well—” I began.
“That’s a long story too,” Hera interjected. “But suffice to say that again, it was something Tia had done, or rather begun, that made all the difference.”
I explained how we acquired the sacred scroll from Kreios and how it encouraged us to climb up near the Sky Throne and absorb as much cosmic dust as we could into our bodies.
“You actually sat on the Throne? Are you crazy?” Tia gasped. She looked me up and down. “And it didn’t kill you?”
“And then we all got deity magic,” Shade beamed. “Look, I can turn invisible.” He did so. “And produce fire from my palms.” Two little blue flames appeared out of nowhere, and then Shade reappeared. His hands anchored the two flames that had appeared in mid air. His grin showed every tooth in his mouth. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“I’d say.” Meter’s eyes widened. A warm smile crept across her face as she held Shade’s gaze. “I was wondering what in Gaia’s name was happening to you in the Underworld. I chalked it up to me being underground too long and losing my vision. Wha
t can you do, Hera?”
Hera looked squarely into Meter’s eyes and smiled. In typical Hera tone and cadence, she said, “I can read minds.”
“She’s right,” Shade said. “Just like Headmistress.”
“Well, that could be useful.” Tia was always trying to remain positive. Though, I had to admit that Hera reading minds on a regular basis could be quite interesting, if creepy.
Hera cut a glance toward me and I smiled.
“Students,” Steropes said through the window, massaging his full beard. “I would like to thank you again for coming after us. As you likely already know, Kronos wanted us to make killing weapons for the War Games. And when we refused, he threw us into the bowels.”
“How in Gaia’s name did Kronos get you down to Tartarus in the first place?” Shade asked.
“The Hundred-Handed Ones, the Hecatonchires,” Arges answered.
“The Heca who?” I asked.
“Big bullies who are out of control. Ouranos had cast them into Tartarus for being unruly and at odds with the learning process we were building here at MO Prep,” Arges said.
“They clamped these shackles to our hands and feet while we slept,” Steropes continued. “And we couldn’t seem to break free. Something odd about those black cuffs.”
“Then Kronos promised to free ‘em early if they helped to imprison us, yah,” Arges added. “But Kronos tricked ‘em after they took us down. And that wench dragon intimidated us all with her horrendous breath. We had no possible way to defeat her until you all came. Did ya see what happened to that iron door?”
We all nodded.
“It was all Zeus,” Shade said.
“Yeah, about that,” Don said. “So how did you get that particular deity magic?”
I shook my head and shrugged. “I don’t have a good answer for that. It just came to me when I mounted the Sky Throne. I can tell you this though. I am still bone tired from all that energy casting. Took a lot out of me. I may sleep for weeks.”
The Sky Throne Page 27
