by Eliza Raine
‘I think the tendrils are like a cat’s whiskers. They feel for things its eyes cannot see,’ Theseus mused. ‘Interesting.’ With a burst of energy that made Hedone jump, Hercules launched himself upwards, higher than the creature’s head. As he leaped over its shining neck he brought his blade down. The red glow intensified as it made contact with the scales, and an even louder clang rang across the swamp. Then the blade was sinking through the beast’s neck and she could just hear the triumphant roar coming from Hercules as he landed hard on the ground. The sword had gone clean through, and the totally severed head rolled towards him. She could make out his smile as he lifted a booted foot and kicked the head towards the swamp. The red light in its eyes was fading as it rolled towards the inky liquid.
‘It is metal!’ exclaimed Psyche, pointing. The exposed stump of the creature’s neck was flailing around, bashing into the roaring second head, and Hedone could clearly see that there was no blood, just metal that glowed ice blue. The third head, previously out of sight on the other side of the swamp, appeared high above Hercules. He raised Keravnos in challenge.
But neither of the other two heads attacked. They both rose high into the mist, the necks extended. The red eyes glowed and the roaring quietened as the flailing neck slowed down. The blue glow didn’t dim, though. If anything it was getting brighter.
‘I don’t like this,’ said Theseus. Hedone was standing shoulder to shoulder with him, and she could feel him tensing up. ‘That light should be dying, not getting brighter. If this is one of Hephaestus’s automatons, given life by Athena, then this will not be so simple.’ Anxiety gripped her as Hercules bellowed.
‘Do you fear me?’ He shook his great sword at the two remaining heads.
The blue light was suddenly so bright that Hedone had to look away. When she turned back, the metal scales on the severed neck were multiplying. They were building on themselves, clinking as they interlocked, rebuilding the neck that had been removed. She gasped. They weren’t just rebuilding, they were multiplying. The neck was splitting into two as it grew. Horns were forming before her eyes, shiny liquid metal hardening into brutal points as she watched. The snakelike head was next, the slimy-looking tendrils growing from its jaw as the vicious teeth took shape. In under a minute two fully formed Hydra heads rose to meet their siblings in the mist, red eyes glowing bright.
‘Shit,’ breathed Psyche.
‘Yeah,’ said Theseus.
Hedone couldn’t speak. She had to help Hercules.
18
Eryx had never been more relieved in his life than when he stepped off the invisible bridge onto solid ground. He didn’t care that he could barely see through the thick white fog, or that he could still hear Albion whimpering behind him. He was off that infernal bridge and anything else would be easy. The only part of this Trial he had enjoyed so far was seeing Busiris forced to part with some silver. It had been the only way to encourage a boy who had seen the other crews make it to the centre of Libra to tell them how to do it. Eryx walked forward, his eyes fixed on his captain ahead of him. Tall rocky banks rose up on either side of them, funnelling them through the mist.
He didn’t like that anything could be waiting for them at the end of the path they were walking, and that they had no way out. The unforgiving rock walls looked un-scalable. His nerves hummed and he bounced as he walked, pent-up energy for the upcoming fight rocketing around inside him. He might see her again today. She would likely be there.
The thought had barely registered before he scolded himself. He shouldn’t be thinking about that blue-haired witch. She had made a fool of him. Better she didn’t have the chance to do it again.
Her face lingered in his mind, though. She had walked right up to him, sat and talked to him at the feast. Nobody had ever done that before. He knew now that her intentions were insincere, but gods did she have courage.
A flash of blue light through the fog snapped him out of his thoughts. He sped up, towards Antaeus.
‘What was that?’ he asked, quietly.
‘I don’t know.’ They picked up their pace and in moments had cleared the canyon, the fog lifting and a great swamp visible before them.
Hercules was holding a huge sword, a weapon that looked like it was built for a giant rather than a human, which was glowing red as he slashed and twirled and leaped out of the way of at least a dozen terrifyingly massive serpent heads. The long necks looked as though they were tangling with each other and Eryx thought of Antaeus’s writhing snake tattoo. There was another blue flash and he watched, amazed, as a severed snake head dropped into the black swamp with a huge splash. The severed stump was the source of the blue glow and what looked like liquid metal began to flow, forming a new head. Two new heads, he realised with a start. An orange light caught his eye on his right. Theseus was near the canyon entrance, along with the two women from his crew. He had an arrow nocked in a bow, orange flames flickering at its tip. The beautiful dark-haired woman, Hedone, tugged at his arm, shaking her head. Theseus ignored her and let the arrow fly.
‘Hercules!’ screamed Hedone. Eryx looked towards the massive man as the arrow struck. It bounced harmlessly off him as he rolled under a writhing mass of necks. The beasts’ heads were starting to snap at each other.
‘Stop cutting off heads, you fool,’ shouted Theseus, shaking his head. ‘He’s going to get us all killed,’ he said and grabbed the now sobbing Hedone. ‘Pull yourself together! We need a plan, come on!’
He began pulling her towards the canyon mouth but halted mid-stride when he saw Eryx and Antaeus, then carried on, dragging the gorgeous girl with him. The older woman scowled at the swamp and then set off after them. Antaeus nodded as he passed them.
‘Leaving so soon, clever Theseus?’ he said. Theseus did not reply, just started running back down the canyon path.
19
He couldn’t keep this up. Even with unfailing strength, an impervious coat and a magic sword, Hercules knew he wasn’t going to win like this. He rolled yet again, barely stopping himself from burying the sword in yet another metallic shiny neck. It was so instinctual. He gritted his teeth as huge jaws snapped at him, desperately trying to think of a way to kill the monster.
‘Hercules!’ someone in the distance yelled. He didn’t dare look away from the snapping teeth in front of him but he heard the arrow as it sailed towards him. It bounced off his lion skin and fell to the wet ground.
He growled. So his rivals were worried about his progress? The teeth got closer, forcing him to back up further towards the creature’s body. He knew he had to be careful of the swamp, though; there was a reason it smelled of sulphur. His boot tip had sizzled and melted when he had last got too close. As he backed up slowly his eyes fell on the arrow, flames still flickering gently at its end.
Fire. Fire killed almost everything.
Hercules lunged forward, making sure he got under the head that was looming over him. He was fast, but so was the Hydra. As his fingers closed around the arrow, a black tongue as thick as his arm shot out at him. The force of it knocked him sideways and the massive sword caught in the ground.
He let go of it as he spun across the soil towards another open set of lethal jaws. Superhuman strength surged through him and he pushed hard against the ground mid-roll. His strength launched him to his feet and he threw the arrow towards the swamp. It whistled as it flew past the now seemingly countless heads and disappeared into the darkness below. A few heads had followed its motion but most stayed focused on him. He crouched, ready to lunge for his sword, when there was a ground-shaking bang. Huge orange flames shot up from the swamp, leaping up between the columns of scaly necks. They grew as he watched, all of the Hydra heads shrieking and hissing. It stamped its massive feet but did not move from the fiery pit. Maybe it was unable to leave the swamp? The flames flickered higher, burning red. Triumph seeped into Hercules as he scooped up Keravnos. Let the monster burn.
A scuttling noise was breaking through the sound of the monster
wailing. Hercules raised his sword, wary. He could hear hundreds of tapping sounds, like an army of huge ants. He looked around, confused. Spinning, checking the canyon path, he was vaguely surprised to see the giant crew stood staring at him. They hadn’t even got the courage to try to take on the monster. He laughed. The second Trial was his and once again, nobody else had got a look-in. Immortality was going to be easier to win than he’d thought.
Pain seared through his foot. He cried out and looked down. A crab, as metal as the Hydra and the size of a small dog, had a sharp pincer clamped onto his melted leather boot. He lifted his leg and tried to shake it off but it wouldn’t let go.
He brought Keravnos down, easily severing the pincer from the crab’s body, but his triumph was short-lived. Crabs were pouring from the inky-black swamp, moving through the flames like they were nothing. He looked up at the Hydra heads, now lined up and quiet. As one, they bellowed, a mechanical screeching sound that made him drop Keravnos and fling his hands over his ears. He heard a giant behind him yell. Then the crabs swarmed over him and he could hear nothing but the clacking of metal pincers.
20
Lyssa gave an involuntary fist-pump as Hercules disappeared under the wave of crabs. Phyleus frowned at her.
‘You know we have to get past the crabs as well?’ he said.
‘I couldn’t care less about killing the Hydra if Hercules is dead,’ she snarled.
‘Even though it nearly killed you just now?’
‘It didn’t nearly kill me. I outran it easily,’ she lied. She had outrun it but it certainly hadn’t been easy. Sometimes being the girl who ran could have its uses. In truth, not only had the Hydra nearly killed her, she had no idea how they could kill it, crabs or not. They’d stayed out of reach of the beast since her close call and she had been unable to think of anything, watching in horror as Hercules slashed off heads with his ridiculous divine sword. The man was a maniac. The thing now had more heads than she could count.
‘Captain, I think I have an idea,’ said Len. He was pale, his bravery on invisible bridges not apparent when it came to enormous flesh-eating monsters.
‘Thank the gods for that,’ she said.
‘I think one of the heads has different-coloured eyes. That one might control the rest of the being.’
Lyssa frowned at him.
‘How in Olympus can you tell that? I can’t even count the heads, let alone see differences in them. Is this another time where you can see different things to humans?’
‘Maybe. I don’t know. There are fourteen heads. I’ll point it out to you,’ Len said, his voice hitching at the last bit. They all turned from Len to the Hydra. It was ignoring the pile of crabs trying to tear Hercules apart, and all its heads were now snapping at each other or the huge flames that surrounded it. The firelight flickering off its metal scales made it look like it was made from gold. It was breath-taking, really, and she started to understand why Athena would create such a thing. It was both an engineering and strategic masterpiece.
‘That one, there, at the back, fighting with the other two. It’s got a lighter ring in the middle of its eyes, almost yellow.’
They all squinted.
‘I can’t see it,’ said Phyleus.
‘Me either,’ said Epizon.
Lyssa looked hard. The eyes all seemed red.
‘I’m sorry, Len, you’re the only one who can see it.’
He paled further. ‘I’m going to have to go out there, aren’t I?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
‘So do we need to cut off that head? How we going to get to it? We can’t just bait one of fourteen heads,’ said Phyleus.
‘We’re going to go straight to it,’ said Lyssa, staring at the snapping heads high above them.
‘How?’
‘We need a little help. I’ll be faster on my own. Stay here,’ she said, and sprinted towards the canyon mouth.
21
The fog had enveloped her before she made it a few feet into the canyon and she slowed, wary of the heavy silence and limited visibility. She trusted she couldn’t go off course with the rock faces penning her in, but nevertheless she walked slowly, aware that the edge of the island was just ahead of her. Her eyes were fixed on the ground and she tested the soil with her toes before she committed any weight to her hesitant steps. She was so tense and careful that she nearly knocked Phyleus out when he said her name.
‘Gods, it’s only me!’ he exclaimed as he ducked only just in time for her punch to sail over him.
‘What the hell are you doing here!’ she yelled, her temper soaring with the shot of adrenaline. ‘I told you to wait, and I’m your CAPTAIN.’ She grabbed his shirt front and shouted the last word into his face. ‘If you can’t follow orders, then you are off the crew!’
Phyleus had both hands raised above his head in submission.
‘It was Epizon’s idea, not mine! He said you might need help. I told him I doubted it.’ She glared at him. He stared back, defiance dancing in his deep brown eyes. She knew he wasn’t scared of her. He had seen her fight. He had seen her fuel the ship, he had seen her sling dead bodies overboard. He had seen her escape from harpies and shoot at enemies. But he had never seen her truly lose her temper. He had yet to see the Rage when she couldn’t contain it.
‘Is this a game to you?’ she demanded, letting go of his shirt. He brushed it down so it hung straight, and the sight of his vanity set her temper flaring inside her again. ‘Leave your bloody shirt alone!’
‘You may be my captain now but I can still dress myself, and take pride in how I look,’ he said, standing up tall. ‘And yes, it is a game to me. And to you, and to all the other heroes in this. A game devised by the gods. You are willingly participating.’ His eyes held hers, challenging her.
‘Willingly? You think I’m doing this willingly?’ Her nails were biting into her palms.
‘Who doesn’t want immortality? Don’t start your martyr bit about stopping Hercules, you wouldn’t still be trying to kill the Hydra if you only cared about that.’
As he shot the words at her, Lyssa realised that they may be true. Why was she still trying? If Hercules wasn’t dead under all those crabs, then winning Trials was the best way to stop him, she reasoned. She opened her mouth to tell him this, but was cut off by a scream, long and high. They both turned towards the sound, which had come from the opposite direction to the swamp. Lyssa started towards it, dropping to her hands and knees as she reached the island edge, feeling for the invisible bridge. Phyleus moved further along and began to do the same. It only took a moment to find the cool glass. As she was already kneeling she crawled out onto it, using her hands to check for the solid surface before shuffling forwards.. She moved along on her hands and knees as quickly as she could, with no choice but to look down. There was nothing below her but endless blackness and she sped up as much as she dared, desperate to be back on opaque ground.
When she thought she was about halfway across she realised there were others on the bridge ahead of her, not moving. She scowled. She had passed the giants, standing seemingly awestruck at the canyon mouth, so it must be Theseus.
‘Are you all right?’ she called. Two heads turned to her. She shuffled faster. It was Theseus, and his first mate, Psyche, standing on the bridge. They were bent over Hedone, who was crying gently, half lying down. ‘What happened?’ she said as she reached them.
Hedone was truly stunning, even with tears streaking down her face. Psyche looked down at her, annoyance plain on her dark face.
‘Hedone fell,’ Theseus answered. Lyssa’s muscles constricted. She’d be a crying mess too if she’d fallen on this bridge. ‘She’ll be OK, but we need to get her back to the islands.’
‘Why were you coming back over the bridge?’ asked Lyssa, carefully standing up. Theseus looked at her but said nothing. Maybe he had the same plan she did. Lyssa could play this game, she decided.
‘Can I help you?’ asked Phyleus’s voice behind her. He was talking
to Hedone, she realised. Hedone gave him a wobbly smile.
‘I just need a moment, then I’ll be OK. I slipped and…’ She faltered. Lyssa felt a wave of sympathy and found herself wanting to hear more of Hedone’s husky, sensual voice. She wondered fleetingly what it would be like if her own power was to be ridiculously sexy instead of bad tempered.
‘It’s OK, take all the time you need,’ Phyleus told Hedone, his warm brown eyes earnest. Lyssa grunted.
‘We don’t have all the time you need,’ she parroted. ‘We need to get back to our crew and kill that thing, remember?’
‘Right. Sure.’ Phyleus nodded, not taking his eyes off the beautiful woman. Theseus reached down and gently pulled her to her feet. She didn’t struggle but fear filled her eyes. Lyssa felt another pang of sympathy but squashed it. She needed to focus.
22
As soon as they got to the island Hedone dropped to her knees, stroking the earth beneath her. Lyssa would happily have done the same, but she had a plan to see through.
‘Is there anything—’ Phyleus started to say but Lyssa grabbed his arm and yanked him towards the other side of the island and the bridge.
‘She’s not our problem, Phyleus. If you’re here to help me, then you’re helping me.’
‘I’d be more help to her. You just yell at me all the time,’ he protested.
‘That’s because you’re deluded, self-obsessed and bought your way onto my ship instead of earning it.’ She jogged towards the bridge, ending the conversation. It was a relief to use the glass handrail, and to be able to see the next island clearly and close. They sped back the way they had come, moving too fast to speak.
