by Eliza Raine
‘He’s one man, Lyssa, and you’re already beating him.’ She looked at Epizon. ‘Athena thinks you can win and you’re already proving her right. Hercules just practically admitted that you’re a threat to him. He should be scared of you.’ Epizon smiled at her and she gave him a small one back. ‘Come on. We need to get out of this volcano.’ He gave her shoulder a squeeze, then walked slowly past her, continuing towards the lava fall. Lyssa took a long breath, her fists still clenched so hard that her nails were biting into the skin of her palms.
She was no longer the girl who ran. And she hadn’t run, even though she’d wanted to. She had stood her ground. Athena thought she could beat Hercules. She had to beat him.
Epizon had been right about the lava holes. And it wasn’t as bad as she had thought it would be. The holes were massive, easily big enough for a giant to fit through. The rock was rough enough that it was not difficult to climb above the slow-moving flow of fiery liquid, where they found a long ledge running along the shaft.
The lava flowed down from a vertical tunnel about twenty feet into the tube, and when they reached it she pressed herself flat to the wall, carefully inching her way past the waterfall of lava. The heat was fierce, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut until she was past. When she opened them again, she gasped. There was a wall of water at the end of the tunnel. She held her hand out in amazement as she reached it, touching the ebbing, rippling surface.
‘What do you think it’s going to be like, being able to breathe under water?’ she whispered.
‘Slightly alarming at first, I imagine,’ answered Epizon.
‘Huh.’
‘Let’s find out, Captain,’ he said.
Lyssa nodded and took a long step off the ledge and through the wall of water.
The Arabian desert is home to Stymphalian birds which are as dangerous to men as lions or leopards. They fly at those who hunt them and wound them with their powerful straight beaks and are the size of a crane.
EXCERPT FROM
Description of Greece by Pausanias
Written 2 AD
Paraphrased by Eliza Raine
9
Hedone held her breath as she stepped through the wall of water, into the ocean beyond. She couldn’t help it, it was instinctual.
Delicious coolness washed over her hot skin as her eyes widened. The floor of the ocean was not far beneath them and it was carpeted in vivid life. Rocky outcrops covered in bright plants and tiny colourful fish dotted a blanket of dark green moss. Her lungs started to burn and as she realised she needed air a flash of panic gripped her.
It’s OK, she told herself. Hephaestus said we would be able to breathe, we’ll be able to breathe. Take a breath, she commanded herself. But her body refused to obey.
She looked around wildly for Theseus and caught sight of his dark skin in her peripheral vision. She spun in the water, focusing on her captain’s bare chest as he hovered in place before her. He waved calmly at her and took a very long, obvious breath. He was doing it! He was breathing under water. Chest aching, Hedone closed her eyes and breathed in.
The water did not even enter her mouth. She felt clear cool air filling her lungs and laughed aloud in relief, her eyebrows rising in surprise when she realised that she couldn’t hear her own voice. Theseus drew his hand across his neck repeatedly, the meaning clear. They would not be able to speak.
Suddenly something silver shot down between them, the water moving so hard it rocked both of them backwards. She followed the projectile’s motion until it thudded into the gargantuan volcano they had just emerged from, and gasped. It was a metal spike, shaped like a blade, the size of her forearm.
She craned her neck in the opposite direction, trying to see where it had come from, and her face contorted. The water was crystal clear and between the brightly lit surface, where she could see the shadows of the four ships above, was a huge flock of metal birds. A few of them were darting out of the group towards them and she could see them clearly as they fired metal feathers at her and Theseus from their angular wings.
Except for their silver wing feathers they were a gleaming brass colour and almost as large as she was. They had tiny black eyes set in bulbous heads and short sharp beaks that quickly snapped open and closed as their wings propelled them through the water.
Theseus grabbed her arm and pulled her downwards, breaking her mesmerised stare. She swam fast with him, towards the busy ocean floor. How were they going to kill three of these beasts? How would they even get close to them? Hedone had volunteered to come not for her fighting skill but for her ability to swim. She had hoped she would be able to get to the nest while the birds were distracted by Theseus and the other heroes. But she didn’t have any idea where the nest even was, let alone if she had the courage to try to get past these vile things.
Theseus dragged them down behind a large lump of rock teeming with sea life and frowned at her. She shrugged back at him, then started as she saw movement behind him. This wasn’t another silver-sharpened feather, though. It was a telkhine, she realised in surprise.
The creature hadn’t seen her, and he was swimming fast along the ocean floor, darting between the outcrops. Unlike the ones in the forge, who had been wearing bronze armour and leather face gear, this telkhine was shirtless, his short dark fur plastered to his chest, and a longer mane running down the back of his neck and spine. He carried a small trident with glowing amber stone in the centre.
Hedone pointed frantically, but by the time Theseus had turned around the telkhine was gone from view.
10
Eryx ducked once again behind a big leafy plant that rippled in the water as a metal feather sailed past. If the birds’ aim had been any better the plant would have provided him with little protection.
He kicked, looking around the ocean floor for something sturdier to hide behind. Antaeus pulled at his arm and he turned. His captain pointed at the volcano and Eryx frowned. What was over there? Antaeus gave a shout that Eryx could not hear but was plain to see, then kicked away from him, towards the volcano.
Eryx swam after him, wondering what they were doing. They stuck close to the rocks as they swam, the birds’ missiles mostly losing momentum by the time they reached the sea bottom. Hercules was drawing a large proportion of the fire by swimming up out of the cover of the plants on the ground, his lion-skin cloak wrapped around him.
Antaeus ignored the others, though, only stopping when he reached a tube in the side of the volcano that led back into the forge. He gripped the side and dragged himself through. Eryx followed.
The heat hit him again the moment he cleared the water, wobbling on the ledge for a second, until Antaeus gripped his shoulder and steadied him.
‘What—’
‘We’re giants,’ Antaeus growled. Eryx blinked at him. ‘There’s nothing that can defeat those birds, other than Hephaestus’s own metal.’ Eryx continued to stare at him and Antaeus closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. ‘We need to find something forged in here that can kill them,’ he said slowly. ‘And if we can’t find something, then we’ll make something.’
It was genius, thought Eryx, his mouth hanging open slightly.
‘Excellent idea, Captain.’ He nodded and Antaeus grunted, turning to make his way back along the ledge and past the molten flow of lava.
‘Aren’t you hot?’ asked Eryx as they ran along one of the platforms, looking for a vat tended by fellow giants. So far they had only seen telkhines and cyclopes, neither of which Antaeus thought would be as inclined to help them.
‘That’s the human part of you,’ muttered his captain. ‘Giants don’t feel heat. Here!’ Antaeus slowed as they approached a massive vat, with just three huge anvils attached. A giant five feet taller than Antaeus was dipping the largest hammer Eryx had ever seen into the burning lava.
‘Greetings,’ Antaeus called.
The giant was more scarred than anyone on board the Orion. He turned slowly towards them and scowled.
‘W
e are looking for something that could kill a stymphalian bird,’ Antaeus continued. ‘Do you know of anything?’
‘Nothing can kill a stymphalian bird. They are not alive.’ The giant grunted and turned back to his hammer.
‘Disable one, then?’ Antaeus tried.
The giant paused, then turned back to them.
‘You are the giant crew? The sons of Poseidon?’ he asked slowly. Antaeus nodded up at him.
‘We are. You have heard of us?’
The giant nodded.
‘We have flame dishes here.’ He stared at Antaeus for a few moments. ‘I can help you make a net from the same metal they are forged from. It will work,’ he said eventually.
Antaeus put his hands together and dipped his head in thanks.
‘We will be indebted to you. What is your name?’
‘Hyperion,’ the massive man answered, dropping his glowing hammer on the ground beside him.
‘I am Antaeus, and this is—’
The giant cut him off before he could introduce Eryx.
‘I do not care to know the halfling’s name. Come,’ Hyperion said, and the platform thudded with each step he took towards a pile of metal sheets.
Eryx’s face burned, but he said nothing as Antaeus looked at him, mildly apologetic.
‘It is the old way, Brother,’ his captain muttered quietly. ‘Do not let it bother you.’ He clapped him on the shoulder and trotted after Hyperion.
Eryx scowled. He would prove that a halfling was worth a name, he decided, and followed Antaeus.
11
A feather blade hit Hercules hard in the shoulder and he spun through the water until the light coming from the surface helped him right himself. If it weren’t for the lion skin he wouldn’t have survived any of the blows he had received. Every time he got past a few missiles, more would come and he was forced to back off again.
He bared his teeth, frustration and anger building in him, and swam back down to where Evadne was crouched behind a large rock, swiping at the bright fish that swarmed around it, her blue hair in a tail that floated around her head. When he glared at her she shrugged, and he lashed out at the rock.
Hundreds of fish burst from it and Evadne jumped, moving away quickly. He gestured away from the rock, trying to get her to realise she should be looking for the nest. That was the only reason she was there, the only way she could be helpful.
She followed his pointing finger and glanced nervously up at the flock of birds. With clear trepidation, she swam out from behind the rock, sticking closely to the mossy floor, and began pulling at plants and peering into holes in the rocks. It was a good job he wasn’t so damn cowardly, he thought as he swam back up towards the stymphalian birds, his lion skin pulled high over his head. How would he kill them? Pulling heads off worked with most creatures, he reasoned, and the Hydra had been a metal automaton too. That monster had died.
A flash of red caught his eye and he turned in the water. Lyssa was kicking up, moving behind a bird that was swimming much lower than the rest of the flock. So far it hadn’t noticed her, instead firing its missiles at her hulking first mate, who was darting about below them, avoiding the feathers relatively easily.
Anger swept over Hercules as he saw her reach the bird, draw back her fist and power it into the creature’s shining brass head. It froze for a moment, clearly stunned, and she wrapped her arm around its neck, using her legs to pin its lethal wings to its sides. She twisted, her red hair fanning out around her at the sudden movement, and the bird went limp in her grasp. She let go of it and swam back towards the black man, pumping her fist in triumph.
Hercules’s anger turned to fury. How had she, that pathetic, insignificant child, killed one of these things before he had? His muscles clenched and his fists balled as his incredulity grew. Then, suddenly, pain lanced through his calf as a feather caught his exposed leg. The memory of Lyssa shooting him in the same leg after he killed the lion, bringing him to one knee in front of the world, flashed in front of him, and Hercules roared as his vision clouded and he shot towards Lyssa.
12
Evadne didn’t want to be roaming the ocean floor, a potential target for those lethal feathers. Her initial awe at the beauty of the underwater volcano and the vivid ocean floor had quickly been replaced by fear when she’d seen the bronze birds.
She took a shallow breath as she pulled aside the large flat leaves of yet another plant, looking for anything that resembled a nest. The salt water made her buoyant and it took little energy to hover in place. Although she’d read the water was warm in Scorpio, it still felt strange.
But she hadn’t thought she would be so uncomfortable breathing under water. Try as she might, she just couldn’t bring herself to take deep breaths in, it was just so unnatural.
Movement caught her eye and her attention snapped from the black-and-white striped fish in front of her, and over to her left. She saw a large dark tail as it flicked and vanished around a large rock covered in pastel-coloured growths.
Evadne frowned. Was that a fish? She kicked tentatively towards it, casting regular glances above her to ensure she did not have the attention of any of the stymphalian birds. She reached the rock, and tiny fish pulsed out from it in alarm before returning to whatever it was they had been doing before she had disturbed them. So much for a stealthy approach, she thought.
She swam cautiously to where she’d seen the tail disappear, but when she peered around there was nothing there. She sighed, slightly disappointed, then noticed more movement in her peripheral vision. She spun around quickly, the water pulling at her clothes, and this time she saw more than a tail. It wasn’t a fish. It was a telkhine, bare-chested and fierce-looking, with a long mane that rippled as he swam between plants and rocks. Evadne moved quickly, following the creature.
He seemed to be heading back towards the volcano, which unfortunately for Evadne, was also where most of the birds were. But if anybody knew where the nest was, surely it would be the natives? She didn’t know if the telkhine would or could speak to her, but it seemed like a better idea than just looking behind every plant on the ocean floor.
His squat tail flicked as he swam thirty feet in front of her, swerving and weaving easily through obstacles. Her progress was much slower, not helped by constantly needing to check for sharpened feathers flying her way. She was becoming tired trying to keep up with him and her shallow breathing was making her feel worse.
When the telkhine reached the foot of the volcano he didn’t start moving up as she expected him to, but instead carried on around the base of the huge rock edifice. She would be completely out of sight of Hercules and the other heroes if she followed him, she realised.
She looked up, trying to locate the others. She could see Lyssa’s red hair clearly, and it looked like she was engaged with one of the metal creatures. If she beat it and went on to win, life on the Hybris would be unbearable.
Evadne closed her eyes, forced herself to take a deep breath of cool dry air, and kicked her way around the mountain.
13
Theseus beckoned to Hedone and she moved cautiously, unwilling to venture too far from the cover of the rocky floor. Where did he want to go now?
With little other option, Hedone followed her captain as he swam, sticking low to the mossy ground, keeping her back towards the volcano. When they reached the giant rock he headed straight up, still staying close to the surface, avoiding the attention of the birds. Soon they reached one of the tubes that led back into the forge and she watched, confused but slightly relieved, as Theseus pulled himself through the hole. She quickly followed him, dropping into a crouch on the narrow ledge and breathing in the hot air heavily. Theseus leaned against the rock wall and pushed his wet hair out of his face.
‘We need a new plan,’ he said.
‘You’ve got one?’ She looked up at him, wringing out her own dark hair, the water cool as it dripped down her back in the stifling heat.
‘These birds were made by Hephae
stus, and so are most weapons in this forge. There must be something in here we can use,’ he said.
‘We?’ Hedone looked at him doubtfully. Almost every creature that worked in this forge was three times her size and weight. It was unlikely she would be able to wield any weapon they found in the volcano.
‘Come on,’ Theseus said, and held his hand out to pull her back to her feet. They edged past the waterfall of lava, the heat drying their clothes almost immediately, and emerged onto a platform next to a vat tended by four cyclopes. The creatures cast uninterested glances at them and continued hammering at enormous lumps of glowing metal.
Theseus started looking around, before jogging towards a pile of metal sheets stacked against the shadowy wall.
‘What are you looking for?’ Hedone asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Theseus muttered. ‘Anything that might help.’
Hedone scowled. While it was a relief to be out of the water and away from the birds, she couldn’t see Hercules from inside the mountain, and didn’t know if he was OK. She didn’t want to be in here long.
Theseus heaved the stack of metal sheets aside, the muscles in his shoulders rippling. Hedone cocked her head. How had she ever thought him more beautiful than Hercules? He was practically puny in comparison.
There was nothing behind the sheets, and Theseus cursed quietly.
They jogged on to the next vat and pile of metal. Theseus shifted and dug through discarded lumps of misshapen steel and iron, Hedone becoming increasingly anxious to get back out into the water, until he finally exclaimed in triumph.
