Spartan Destiny

by Jennifer Estep

  I thought of how Sigyn’s statue had been cracked and damaged when Ian slammed his ax into it earlier. He had knocked several chunks out of the statue, but the goddess was still standing—and so was I. Anger roared through me, along with determination. I wasn’t going to hurt Ian, but I wasn’t going to tell Covington where the Narcissus Heart was either.

  No matter what I had to do.

  But Ian and Drake didn’t give me time to come up with a plan. The two brothers pressed their advantage, slowly driving me across the roof. Three minutes later, they had forced me up against the railing, and there was nowhere left for me to go.

  Ian swiped out with his ax, and I barely managed to bring Babs up in time to block his blow. He leaned forward, using his strength to push me back against the railing, and I couldn’t tell whether he was simply trying to cut through my defenses or shove me off the roof entirely.

  “Ian,” I rasped. “Please don’t do this… Please don’t make me…hurt you…”

  But he only growled in response, and his eyes glittered like two blood-red rubies set into his handsome face.

  “This is your last chance, Rory,” Covington called out. “Either tell me where the Narcissus Heart is or let Ian cut you to pieces. Your choice.”

  My gaze zoomed from Covington to Drake and finally back to Ian, who was still trying to kill me. Sweat streamed down my face, my breath came in ragged gasps, and my arms shook from the strain of trying to fight off his Viking strength. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold him off, but I couldn’t hurt him. I just couldn’t.

  Not even if it cost me my own life.

  So I gritted my teeth and gathered my strength, trying to hold on for as long as possible. Ian must have thought I was giving up, because he surged forward again—

  Screech!

  Screech-screech!

  Screech!

  My heart lifted, and fresh hope and strength surged through my body. I looked up toward the mountain. Three figures were zooming through the sky, quickly getting closer and closer.

  The gryphons were coming.

  They screeched again, this time in unison, and the sound was loud and sharp enough to distract Ian. He let up with his strength and his ax, just for a moment, and I shoved him back and drove my foot into his knee, throwing him off-balance.

  But Ian had a longer reach than I did, and he managed to slice his ax along my right forearm, opening up a deep, nasty gash. I yelped in pain and drove my foot into his knee again. This time, he stumbled back into Drake, and both of them fell down.

  I leaped over them and headed straight at Covington. As much as I wanted to kill the Reaper, I couldn’t let him summon more dragons to chase after the gryphons, so I focused on Fafnir’s Dagger still in his hand and lashed out with my sword. Covington used his Roman speed to spin out of the way, just as I’d expected him to, giving me the opportunity to slam Babs into the dagger and knock it out of his hand.

  Covington screamed, as though I had run my sword through his arm instead of merely hitting the artifact. I thought he might attack me to try to keep me from escaping, but instead, he ignored me and scrambled over the roof, chasing after the dagger as if it was the most important thing in the world. Weird. Why was he doing that?

  But I didn’t have time to figure out his motivations or attack him again, so I kept going, sprinting over to the opposite side of the roof.

  I waved my hand at the gryphons. “Over here!” I screamed. “Over here!”

  Behind me, Covington let out an angry snarl. “You idiots! Get up! Get her before she escapes!”

  I reached the opposite side of the roof and waved my hand at the gryphons again, then scrambled up onto the thin, flat railing to buy myself a few more precious seconds.

  Covington still had his eyes fixed on Fafnir’s Dagger, but Ian and Drake got to their feet and sprinted toward me, both of them brandishing their weapons. Ian reached me first, and he lashed out with his ax.

  I hopped over his weapon, but only one of my feet landed on the railing. I windmilled my arms, desperately trying to find my balance, but it didn’t work, and my other foot slipped off the railing.

  And then I fell.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I plummeted face-first toward the ground.

  My mind spun around at the sudden change in elevation, and the wind tore Babs out of my hand. I also felt the chimera scepter fly out of my back jeans pocket. Babs screamed, although I couldn’t make out what she was saying over the shriek of the wind in my ears. It didn’t matter anyway. I was going to be dead in another second as soon as I hit the ground—

  Something sharp raked across my back, making me yelp with pain, and I jerked to a stop in midair. My brain rattled around inside my skull, and it took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t a bloody stain on the grass. I looked up.

  Balder, the leader of the Eir gryphons, had caught me by the back of my shirt, five feet before I would have slammed into the ground. He flapped his massive wings and gently lowered me to the grass, before landing himself. Brono, his son, zipped down and landed a few feet away, pecking his beak at something in the grass, and a third adult gryphon landed on the quad as well.

  Eagle heads, lion bodies, powerful wings attached to their backs. In many ways, the Eir gryphons were a mishmash of creatures, just like the Typhon chimeras and the Fafnir dragons. But instead of being monstrous and frightening like the other creatures, I had always thought that the gryphons’ bronze fur and wings were sleek and lovely, along with their eyes, which glowed like rich, polished bronze. Even more important, I knew that the gryphons would never hurt me, and I definitely couldn’t say the same for the other creatures. Even the chimeras I had summoned with Typhon’s Scepter probably would have killed me if they’d gotten the chance.

  My feet hit the ground, and I stumbled forward, trying to find my balance, since my brain was still rattling around inside my skull. But I still remembered what—or rather whom—I had lost.

  “Babs!” I screamed. “Where are you?”

  The sword yelled a response, although my head was still spinning and aching so badly that I couldn’t tell where her voice was coming from. What I did see was this weird shadow that was growing larger and larger on the grass beside me—

  Balder whipped out his massive wing and knocked me back, making me fall to the ground.

  Thunk!

  Ian’s ax landed blade-first in the spot where I had been standing. It would have skewered me if Balder hadn’t pushed me out of the way.

  My head snapped up. Ian was leaning over the roof railing, along with Covington and Drake. The Reaper leader lifted his hand. Instead of Fafnir’s Dagger or the Chloris Amulet, he was now holding a large black feather pen with a silver nib on the end—Serket’s Pen, the artifact that could summon basilisks.

  I scrambled to my feet. Balder must have realized the danger, because he gently nudged me with his wing, telling me to climb up onto his back.

  “No,” I said, my words slurring. “I can’t leave. Not without Babs…”

  Brono bounded over to us with the silver sword clutched in his black beak. He must have fished her out of the grass where she had landed. For once, Babs wasn’t complaining about the baby gryphon slobbering all over her.

  “Rory!” Babs yelled. “We have to get out of here! Now!”

  I nodded and stumbled forward. Somehow I managed to climb up onto Balder’s back and dig my hands into his bronze fur. The second I was on top of the gryphon, he flapped his wings and shot up into the air like a rocket. Once again, the sudden change in elevation made my head spin, but, like Babs, I didn’t complain.

  Brono and the third gryphon flapped their wings as well, and together we all soared up into the sky and flew away from Mythos Academy.

  * * *

  Balder zoomed through the air, his wings pumping hard, flying faster than I had ever seen. Brono flew to my right, with Babs still clutched in his beak, while the third gryphon was off to our left.

  The wind s
creamed in my ears and threatened to unseat me, so I sank my fingers even deeper into Balder’s fur, holding on tight with my hands as well as my legs. When I felt steady enough, I glanced back over my shoulder, expecting to see a Serket basilisk or maybe even a Fafnir dragon chasing after us. But the blue sky was empty, except for the puffy white clouds. I let out a relieved sigh, although the wind tore it away.

  The three gryphons quickly left the academy behind and zoomed over the town of Snowline Ridge. I glanced at the streets below, but traffic was flowing, and people were strolling along the sidewalks like normal. It looked like Covington had only poisoned everyone inside the Library of Antiquities and hadn’t gotten around to spreading the red narcissus venom through the town yet.

  He would, though. He probably already had his Reapers going from building to building on the main quad, using those smoke bombs on every single person they encountered. Now that he was on campus, Covington would solidify his position and make sure that he had everyone at the academy under his control. After that, I wasn’t sure what he would do, since I had ruined his initial plans by hiding the Narcissus Heart. I just hoped I had bought myself enough time to think of a way to stop him.

  The gryphons left the town behind and started climbing up the mountain. Once again, I glanced back over my shoulder, but the sky was still clear. I frowned. Why wasn’t Covington chasing after us? What was he waiting for? I didn’t know, which worried me even more than if a couple of Serket basilisks or Fafnir dragons had been flapping along behind us. Or maybe the Eir gryphons were flying so fast that whatever creatures Covington had summoned simply couldn’t keep up with them.

  The gryphons climbed to the top of the mountain. Down below, I spotted the crumbled walls and other heaps of stone that made up the Eir Ruins, along with the main courtyard with its colorful wildflowers. Not too long ago, I had faced Covington in the ruins, when he had first revealed himself to be a Reaper and had bragged about murdering my parents. My fingers fisted even deeper and tighter into Balder’s fur. I should have killed Covington back then when I’d had the chance. Now everyone else on Team Midgard was under his control, and I had no idea how to save my friends.

  But first I had to save myself, which meant not doing the obvious thing.

  “Not the ruins!” I shouted. “That’s the first place the Reapers will look! Take me somewhere else!”

  Balder screeched, telling me that he understood, then flapped his wings and veered off in a different direction, flying away from the ruins. Brono and the third gryphon followed us.

  A few minutes later, Balder spiraled down, down, down and landed in a clearing in the evergreen forest that covered much of the mountain. Brono and the third gryphon dropped down into the clearing as well. Just like at the Eir Ruins, a carpet of colorful wildflowers stretched out in front of us, although I was too weary, worried, and heartsick to truly appreciate their beauty.

  I slid down off Balder’s back. My whole body was trembling, so I dug my fingers into his fur again, then leaned forward and rested my forehead against his powerful wing. Balder stood absolutely still, letting me hang on to him and soak up some of his quiet strength.

  I didn’t know how long I stood there, just breathing in and out and trying not to cry. A few hours ago, everything had been fine, but now Covington had taken control of my friends.

  I had been expecting something like this to happen. Had been dreading and fretting and worrying about it for weeks. But now that it had actually happened, now that all of my deepest, darkest fears had come true, I felt like I had been stabbed in the back and left to bleed out on the floor, just like my parents had been when Covington murdered them.

  But as much as I wanted to collapse to my knees and just scream and cry and pound my fists against the ground, I couldn’t do that. I was the only one who hadn’t been poisoned, which meant that I was the only one who had a chance to stop Covington. So I drew in a deep, deep breath, filling my lungs with air, and then slowly let it out, pushing away all of my fear, worry, and dread along with it.

  At least, I told myself that I pushed them away, even though I could still feel all those emotions and more bubbling like hot lava in the pit of my stomach, ready to flare back up and burn right through me at any time.

  But I felt a tiny bit calmer now, so I lifted my head and looked at Balder. “Thank you for coming,” I whispered. “For saving me. I don’t know what I would have done if you guys hadn’t shown up.”

  He let out a soft screech and gently nudged me with his wing. I smiled, reached up, and scratched his head. I went over and did the same thing to the other adult gryphon, then turned toward Brono.

  The baby gryphon bounded across the flowers to me, then leaned down and spat Babs out of his black beak. The sword landed point-first in the ground, swinging back and forth like a clock pendulum for a few seconds before she slowly stilled. Babs cracked her eye open and glanced around the clearing. When she realized that we were safe, at least for the moment, she fixed her green gaze on Brono.

  “Ugh!” Babs said. “You slobbered all over me again! How many times do I have to tell you that I am not a bloody chew toy?”

  Brono’s wings drooped at her chastisement, and he dropped his head and pawed at the ground.

  I reached down, poked my finger into Babs’s blade, and gave her a stern, pointed look.

  She cleared her throat. “But I suppose I can’t complain too much, since you saved me from the Reapers. I’m sorry. Thank you, Brono.”

  The baby gryphon perked right back up, bounded over, and grabbed Babs again. He gave her a playful little shake, then set her back down on the ground, much more gently this time.

  Babs’s green eye rolled around and around for a few moments, as if she was jarred by the sudden motions, but she smiled at the baby gryphon. Then she turned her gaze to me. “Now what? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in serious trouble, Rory.”

  “Believe me,” I muttered, “I’ve definitely noticed—”

  Caw!

  Caw-caw!

  Caw!

  My stomach clenched, and my head snapped up at the loud, familiar cries. For a moment, I didn’t see anything, but then three black shapes appeared high in the sky. From down here in the clearing, they looked like regular Black rocs, but their sharp, piercing cries told me that they were really Serket basilisks. I shuddered, thinking about the creatures’ spiked rooster combs and tails, all of which were filled with poison. Covington must have used Serket’s Pen to conjure the basilisks and ordered the creatures to search for us.

  “We can’t let them find us,” I said. “We need to get out of the open.”

  Balder nodded, loped away, and disappeared into a dark hole in the rock wall at the opposite end of the clearing. The other two gryphons followed him. I grabbed Babs and hurried after them.

  I stepped through the opening and into a large cavern. The walls were made of a shiny, phosphorescent rock that gave off a soft, golden glow, making it look like hundreds of lit torches were continuously flickering in the stones. The walls led up to the cavern ceiling, which arched a hundred feet overhead, providing plenty of room for the gryphons to fly around and stretch their wings.

  I had been to the gryphons’ home several times before, and I had always enjoyed wandering around the cavern and looking at the rock formations. But right now, I was so exhausted that I stumbled forward and sank down onto a thick bed of fragrant pine needles and dried summer grasses spread out in front of a series of shallow pools at the back of the cavern.

  Normally, several gryphons, ranging in age from babies to teens to adults, would have been in here, but the cavern was empty today. The gryphons had several different nesting areas, and I was glad this one was deserted. I didn’t want to put any more of the creatures in danger than I already had.

  I propped Babs up against a nearby rock. Maybe it was the adrenaline from all the fighting and running around finally wearing off, but I was suddenly bone-tired, and I slumped down beside the sword.

/>   Babs frowned. “You’re bleeding.”

  I glanced down. She was right. Ian had cut through my shirt and sliced a nasty gash down my right forearm, although so much had been going on that I hadn’t paid much attention to the wound. But now that I was staring at it, I realized the deep cut was painfully throbbing, and every beat of my heart was pushing more blood out of the jagged wound.

  Ian had hurt me—he had actually attacked and hurt me.

  Oh, sure, Gwen had told me all about how Logan had almost killed her when he was under the influence of the Apate jewels. She had told me that story more than once, but deep down, I had never thought that Ian would ever do anything like that. Not to me. I loved him. How could he ever want to hurt me? But he had, and he was just as lost to me right now as Logan had been lost to Gwen back then.

  Numb, I watched more blood well up out of the wound, drip down my arm, and spatter all over Freya’s Bracelet on my wrist, along with Pan’s Whistle, the heart locket, and the winterbloom. My blood turned all three of the silver charms a dull, rusty red, along with the bracelet itself.

  But the gash wasn’t my only injury. My back stung from where Balder had raked his talons across my skin in order to catch me. Blood trickled out of those wounds as well, and my head, arms, and legs ached from all the running and fighting.

  I reached for my healing magic, trying to call it up so I could heal my wounds, but the cavern started spinning around and around, and I just couldn’t get a grip on my power.

  “I need to lie down for a minute,” I mumbled.

  “Rory?” Babs asked in a concerned tone. “Rory!”

  Even though the sword was right next to me, her voice sounded faint and far away. Her green eye was the last thing I saw before my own eyes slid shut, and the blackness swept me away.