Poseidon's Academy and the Deadly Disease

by Sarah A Vogler

  Hailey smirked. Watching Venus and the twins sink was pretty entertaining, especially since there would be some safety measure to keep them from actually dying.

  ‘Demi,’ Jayden said in a scolding voice, ‘we can’t leave them here.’

  ‘Oh, yes we can,’ Demi countered. ‘Come on, Jayden, she shoved you into the sea.’

  ‘And they won’t really die,’ Hailey added.

  ‘That’s not the point. If the roles were reversed, you’d be begging Venus to get you out.’

  Demi scoffed and crossed her arms. ‘I don’t beg.’

  ‘Just do it for me, okay?’

  ‘But they’re slowing us down,’ Demi whined.

  ‘Remember the whole point of this is to work as a team so Madam Grayson doesn’t give us neutralising bracelets,’ Jayden reminded her.

  Demi clenched her jaw. ‘Fine.’ She reached a hand towards the vines; they slithered down the dune like snakes and curled under Venus and the twins’ arms. The sand squeaked like shoes on a basketball court as the vines dragged the evil trio free. ‘There, safe and sound.’

  ‘You’re lucky you made the right choice,’ Venus snarled, storming towards Demi.

  Demi clenched her hands into fists, and Jayden quickly stepped in front of her. ‘Let it go.’

  A conch shell bellowed to their right.

  Hailey glanced over. She could see two other teams. The nearest one was throwing fireballs at the sand, melting it into glass so they could walk across. The other team was almost up to their necks in the sand, slowly being swallowed alive. Hailey guessed they’d blown the shell.

  ‘Come on,’ Aaron prompted. ‘Let’s get to the next obstacle.’

  There are no monsters on this island, Hailey reminded herself, and reluctantly advanced towards the forest with her friends. They hesitated in front of it, peering inside. Everything was so green, from the canopy above, to the ferns and saplings covering the ground, and moss grew over the trunks of the trees, making the forest smell like fresh rain.

  ‘I hate forests.’ Alec shivered.

  Aaron patted him on the back. ‘Don’t worry, this one is guaranteed monster free.’ He passed into the greenery.

  Hailey gripped her heart pendant and followed after him with everyone else. They took about three more steps before a pulse shot through the ground.

  ‘What was that?’ Demi’s eyes darted around.

  ‘A tremor,’ Alec said. ‘Which means—’

  The ground shook with such ferocity it felt as if the earth were splitting apart. The crack, crack, crack of trees splitting was all Hailey could hear, making her realise with sickening terror that a forest was the most dangerous place to be during an earthquake.

  The trees around them ripped from the ground, their roots snapping. Medusa! I’m going to die was Hailey’s last thought before the trees plummeted towards her.

  5

  Swinging Tarzan Style

  ‘WATCH OUT!’ Aaron shoved Hailey back as a tree thudded across the path ahead, sending a spray of leaves into the air.

  Hailey whirled around, her legs tensing to sprint. BOOM! A second tree crashed to the ground, blocking her exit. Another one thudded to her right, and then one to her left, trapping her and her friends.

  The earth fell still.

  ‘We almost died!’ Venus exclaimed. ‘I’m blowing my shell.’

  Aaron grabbed her hand. ‘No. This is the next obstacle. The trees fell perfectly around us. A normal earthquake would have knocked them onto us.’

  ‘So what are we supposed to do?’ Hailey surveyed the four massive tree trunks imprisoning them.

  ‘Climb,’ Alec replied. ‘Over that tree.’ He pointed to the one blocking their path ahead; the width of its trunk was slightly higher than Hailey.

  ‘We don’t climb,’ Nerissa and Cleo said in unison.

  ‘You don’t have a choice,’ Aaron said before reaching up to grab one of the tree’s thick branches. He hung from it for a second before reaching to grab the branch above it, the muscles in his arms bulging. The earth shook again, tremors vibrating through the fallen tree. Aaron’s hand slipped off the shaking branches and he thudded to the ground. ‘Well, that’s unfair,’ he griped, lurching back to his feet.

  Demi threw her hands up. ‘If things weren’t already impossible, they just got harder. This obstacle course sucks.’

  ‘Come on, we can do this,’ Jayden said. ‘Once we get past this one, we’ll only have another three obstacles left.’

  ‘They keep getting harder,’ Demi whined.

  ‘Yeah,’ Hailey agreed. ‘I don’t think Madam Grayson expects us to finish the race anyway. I’m sure it’ll be enough that we tried.’ Hailey hated quitting anything, but this obstacle course was ridiculous, and she really wanted to get out of the forest.

  ‘I want that tiara,’ Venus declared. ‘We’re doing this.’ She grabbed for a branch like Aaron had, slipping off almost immediately. ‘My nails!’ she screeched, examining her chipped and broken pink nails. ‘That’s it, no tiara is worth this.’ She lifted the shell.

  ‘Wait.’ Alec held his palm up to stop her. ‘I can get us past this obstacle without having to do any climbing.’

  ‘And you tell us this after I ruined my nails?’ Venus looked ready to strangle Alec.

  ‘Don’t talk to him like that,’ Demi snapped.

  ‘I don’t know if I’ll be strong enough,’ Alec admitted hesitantly. ‘But I can try and use my Heracles power to lift it.’ He slid his hands under the trunk, the tree’s leaves rustling as the tree lifted a few inches off the ground.

  ‘Come on, Alec, you can do it,’ Jayden cheered him on.

  Alec grunted, the tiny muscles in his arms straining, and pushed the tree higher, just enough that they could crawl under. ‘Go,’ he wheezed.

  Venus dove under the tree, followed by Nerissa and Cleo. Hailey went next, sliding under as quickly as she could. Alec’s face was so red, she thought his head might actually explode. Demi and Jayden made it through next, and then Aaron moved to crawl under.

  ‘Ahhh!’ Alec groaned, right before the tree smashed towards Aaron.

  Aaron flipped onto his back, his hands shooting up. The tree froze inches from his face, his force field rippling as it strained to keep the tree from crushing him.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Alec puffed out.

  ‘It’s – okay.’ Aaron was the one with a strained voice now. He wriggled out from under the tree and aimed his other hand at the trunk, the ripples tearing through his force field calming a little as he amplified his powers. ‘Come through.’

  Alec crawled under, the tree thudding to the ground the second he was clear of it.

  ‘That was easy.’ Demi wiped the dirt off her hands. ‘I didn’t have to do anything.’

  ‘You okay, Alec?’ Jayden asked.

  Alec was hunched over, trying to catch his breath. ‘Yeah – I’ll be fine.’

  Aaron patted him on the back. ‘You did good. Let’s keep moving. But slowly. I don’t want the next obstacle to take us by surprise like this one did.’

  Hailey heard a thoo, quickly followed by Aaron shouting. He stumbled backwards, gingerly touching his right shoulder where a wooden dart stuck out.

  ‘What in Tartarus…?’ Demi uttered.

  Aaron yanked the dart out, sniffed it, and then tossed it away. ‘They’re just darts—they’re not poisoned or anything.’ He said it so casually, like being shot with darts was no big deal. Well, Hailey disagreed. She’d rather wear a neutralising bracelet.

  Aaron bent down and picked up a rock. ‘Let’s see how many there are.’ He pitched it. Thoo, thoo, thoo. Darts fired from the two lines of trees ahead, their pointed tips embedding in tree trunks.

  ‘I’m not walking through that,’ Venus declared as a conch shell sounded in the distance.

  How many teams have surrendered? wondered Hailey. Two? Not that it mattered, because they were probably next.

  ‘Why would you walk?’ Demi said. ‘Clearly running is
the only way to get through.’ Demi bolted forward. She got about a foot further than Aaron had and received a dart in the ankle as a reward—plus one in her arm. She yelped and dashed back.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Hailey asked her, plucking the dart from her ankle, while Demi pulled the one from her arm.

  ‘No. I got attacked by trees. Trees! I’m a freaking Demeter, that’s just embarrassing.’

  ‘Technically, it’s not the trees attacking us,’ Alec pointed out. ‘I think a Hephaestus used their powers to implant the darts in the trees. And if I had to guess, I’d say they did it by—’

  ‘Who cares,’ Demi cut him off. ‘How do we get past them? How about your force field, Aaron?’

  ‘I’d only be able to protect us on one side. The darts on the other side would hit us. But they don’t hurt that badly. We can make it through.’

  ‘No!’ Venus stomped her foot. ‘I refuse to get shot.’

  ‘No way,’ Nerissa agreed.

  ‘Definitely not,’ Cleo said.

  Yeah, I’m with them, Hailey thought, but she wasn’t actually going to say the words—she would never agree with Venus unless her life depended on it, and even then she wasn’t sure that would be enough.

  ‘Hailey could use her powers,’ Alec suggested.

  ‘Me? What can my powers do?’

  ‘In PE you made a wall of wind that kept blowing me and the others back. I think that might work on the darts too.’

  Hailey thought about it for a second. Shooting darts were a lot faster than someone running, but they were also considerably lighter. ‘Maybe. I’ll try.’

  ‘You can do this, Hails.’ Demi clapped her on the back.

  Hailey raised her hands to the small patches of blue she could see through the canopy of trees. Warmth flowed down her arms and through her fingertips, shooting towards the sky. The trees creaked and swayed in the building wind, and the earthy smell of nature swirled around her.

  Please let this work, Hailey thought, aiming her hands at the dart-spitting trees and stepping into the gale, her ponytail whipping against her neck. She heard a thoo and tensed, waiting for the dart’s sting. But it never came. She smiled. ‘It’s safe.’

  The others gathered behind her, and the wind shoved them through the path of trees. Thoo, thoo, thoo. The darts spat at them one after the other, but the wind flung them away before they could make contact.

  ‘Nice work, Hails,’ Demi said once they cleared the obstacle.

  ‘I thought it was pretty unimpressive for a Zeus,’ Venus sniped, prancing away.

  A wall of fire ignited, sending Venus stumbling backwards with a scream. Her hands flew to her face. ‘Thank the Tyches I still have eyebrows.’

  ‘More like don’t thank them,’ Demi murmured to Hailey, who snickered.

  Alec gaped. ‘I can’t believe they started a fire in a forest. This whole place will go up in flames.’

  ‘Look.’ Hailey pointed to the trees around the fire. None of them were burning. In fact, even the leaves on the ground were flame free, and she couldn’t even smell smoke. ‘A Hecate must’ve used a spell or potion to stop the foliage from catching fire.’

  ‘Anyone know how to get past a wall of flames?’ Jayden scratched his head. ‘There’s no water around, so I can’t help much here.’

  ‘We have to climb.’ Alec pointed up to the tree canopy, where vines dangled from branches. ‘There are vines up there we can swing from. And look, there’s a platform,’ he said, noticing a eucalyptus tree in front of the fire that had a small wooden platform attached to it, about a hundred feet above them.

  ‘And if we fall into the fire?’ Demi inquired.

  ‘They’ll be safety measures,’ Aaron said as a conch shell sounded in the distance. ‘Dems, can you give us a lift?’

  ‘Your wish is my command.’ Demi aimed a hand at the eucalyptus tree. Leaves scattered down, and the tree moaned as it shrank low enough for the platform to touch the ground. ‘Everyone on board.’

  Hailey stepped onto the platform, which was just big enough to allow the eight of them to have a tiny bit of personal space between them. The fire’s heat tightened her skin and sent sweat pouring down her back. Every breath felt as though she were suffocating. It reminded her of when she’d been in the Underworld and had had to walk through an abyss with a lava sky—but that had been much hotter. She could handle this.

  Venus pressed a hand to her chest. ‘I can’t breathe.’

  ‘My skin is melting.’ Nerissa wiped at the sweat beading down her face.

  Everyone stared at Cleo, waiting for her complaint. She shrugged. ‘It’s not that bad.’

  ‘Hold on tight.’ Demi raised her hand, and the tree moaned again, stretching towards the canopy.

  Hailey sucked in mouthfuls of fresh air when the tree jerked to a stop, way above the fire, inhaling the leaves’ minty eucalyptus scent. She spotted another tree with a platform, about twenty yards away. Three vines led towards it—three vines she would somehow have to swing across.

  Jayden grabbed the vine hanging in front of them. ‘Does anyone know how to swing from this?’

  ‘It’s all about physics,’ Alec explained. ‘Your trajectory needs to be—’

  ‘Boring.’ Demi cut him off. ‘I’m going to Tarzan it.’ She snatched the vine from Jayden. ‘Woohoo!’ Demi squealed, leaping from the tree and swinging forward.

  Hailey flinched when Demi reached for the second vine, imagining her best friend slipping and falling into the fire below. Are there really safety measures? Because Hailey had yet to see any. And the fire had felt pretty real down there. She exhaled when Demi caught the second vine and swung to the third one, landing on the platform.

  ‘That was awesome!’ Demi hollered. ‘And it’s as easy as leaping from a swing. Come on.’

  Everyone stared at each other, unsure of who should go next.

  ‘We’ll go,’ Nerissa and Cleo volunteered.

  Hailey cocked an eyebrow. ‘Really?’ She’d expected them to refuse altogether.

  ‘Yes,’ Nerissa said.

  ‘Just do what you saw Demi doing,’ Aaron instructed them.

  Nerissa and Cleo exchanged smirks.

  Cleo took the vine first and leapt. As soon as she was on the second vine, Nerissa grabbed the first one and swung after her.

  To Hailey’s surprise, the twins were incredibly graceful, shifting to each vine like a professional jungle person. She supposed it helped they were sirens. Sirens were similar to nymphs, at least in the way of being gifted with beauty and grace.

  Cleo flipped from the last vine, twirling in the air before landing on the platform. Nerissa mirrored her sister’s dismount, leaving Demi staring wide-eyed at them.

  Hailey was pretty sure her face was making the same dumbfounded expression. How did they flip through the air and land so perfectly?

  ‘Wow, the twins are actually good at something, who would have thought,’ Aaron remarked.

  ‘They used to be gymnasts,’ Venus explained, her tone bored.

  ‘Alec, you should go next.’ Aaron put a hand on his shoulder. ‘It’ll be better if you get it over with.’

  Alec was as white as a Thanatos’s victim. ‘I don’t want to.’

  ‘If the twins can do it so can you. And it was your idea.’

  ‘That was before I got up here and saw how high it is. It’s one thing to read about how to do this stuff, and it’s another to actually do it,’ Alec argued. ‘Can’t we walk across on your force field?’

  Aaron shook his head. ‘My force field doesn’t extend that far.’

  ‘Oh.’ Alec paled, his fingers slowly reaching towards his conch shell.

  ‘You’ll be fine.’ Aaron pulled his hand away from the shell and shoved the vine into his palm. ‘And remember, it’s all about physics.’

  Alec clutched the vine. But he didn’t move. He just stared at it.

  ‘Just go,’ Venus snapped, ‘before I push you.’

  Alec jumped off the platform so fast
Hailey worried Venus had pushed him. But he quickly swung across the vines and landed beside Demi and the twins, where he stared back towards Hailey, Jayden, and Aaron, blinking as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just done.

  ‘Hailey,’ Aaron said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your turn.’

  ‘No,’ she said automatically. She hadn’t thought about the fact she’d need to swing across like everyone else. What if she slipped? What if a vine broke?

  ‘There are safety measures, remember?’ Jayden said, as if reading her mind.

  She wasn’t so convinced about that, and she didn’t want to be the one to discover Amathia and Master Anderson had lied about the safety measures by getting herself barbecued.

  ‘You don’t want Venus to see you scared, do you?’ Jayden added so quietly only she could hear.

  Not fair, Hailey grumbled in her head. She did not want to give Venus the satisfaction of seeing her scared. Especially when it was probably what Venus hoped for, so that she had an excuse not to jump herself and could spend the rest of the year mocking Hailey for her cowardice.

  Hailey whipped around to Venus. ‘If you push me, I’ll summon a gale of wind to knock you into the fire.’

  Venus screwed up her face but kept her mouth shut. Hailey’s hands trembled when she took the vine from Aaron.

  ‘Come on, Hails. You can do it,’ Demi called out.

  Hailey fiddled with her gold necklace, summoning the courage to jump. She made the mistake of glancing down at the raging fire, imagining herself falling into the flames and her skin melting off. She forced her eyes back on Demi and Alec. They were only fifteen yards away, but to her it felt as though she had to pass a gorge to get to them. She tightened her grip on the vine.

  Safety measures, she reminded herself and leapt. Jumping was like receiving a shot of adrenaline to her heart. Her survival instincts took over, quashing her fear and sharpening her focus. She swung towards the second vine, her hand automatically reaching for it. She felt as though her body had taken over, and she was merely watching as she zoomed through the air, grabbing for the third vine before landing on the platform.