by Eliza Raine
‘Hercules,’ growled Psyche.
The giant reached the mares first. Their snickering and scrapping stopped abruptly and they all turned to the huge man in unison. Their silver-white tails flicked back and forth and a high keening sound started.
Then there was an earth-shaking boom and Hedone gripped the tree involuntarily. There was another boom, and another, and the giant froze in place. Hercules kept moving, though, and she realised he was now only ten feet from the horses.
‘Who visits me and my mares this night?’ The deep voice rang through the air and Hedone’s skin felt tight as anxiety prickled at her. The booms got louder as a man stepped out of the stable building. Not a man, she realised, as she watched. A giant. He grew as she stared, each booming step he took adding a foot to his height. By the time he reached the brazier, the horses bobbing their heads and moving aside for him, he was at least twenty feet tall.
He looked around slowly, catching sight of Albion.
‘I asked who you were,’ he cried.
‘Albion,’ the smaller giant grunted.
‘Why are you here, Albion?’
The giant stared mutely up at him.
‘You’re not here to take my mares, are you?’ roared the still-growing giant. ‘You would dare to steal from me? The great Diomedes?’ He threw his arms out as he bellowed, and Albion took a stumbling step backwards.
Hedone couldn’t keep her eyes on either Diomedes or Albion. She was watching Hercules, who was still creeping closer to the horses. He was only three feet away from them now, and she watched with baited breath as he crouched low, trying to go unnoticed. With a flick of its tail one of the horses turned around and Hercules froze in place. The horse moved its head slowly, then let out a screeching whinny as it opened its mouth. Hercules threw his cloak up over his face as the stream of fire engulfed his body and Hedone cried out, taking half a step away from the tree before Psyche grabbed her arm and yanked her back.
‘What in Zeus’s name are you doing?’ the woman hissed at her.
‘Hercules!’ Hedone whimpered, unable to see him through the bright light of the fire. Diomedes began to laugh, a huge, echoing sound, and the screeching stopped as the jet of fire ebbed and died away. Hedone’s hand went to her mouth as she stared. Hercules wasn’t there. She scanned the landscape frantically, looking for him, and almost collapsed when she saw a dark figure, moving fast and close to the ground in the opposite direction. His cloak had saved him.
‘Leave!’ bellowed Diomedes, and her attention snapped back to the huge giant as all four mares turned to face Albion, fire visible in their slowly opening mouths. Albion ran, falling over his feet as he scrambled to get back behind the stables, and Diomedes laughed again as the mares shot their flames at his retreating figure.
Nobody said anything as Diomedes walked back towards the stables, shrinking as he approached them, his booming footsteps steady and terrifying. As he disappeared inside, Psyche spun Hedone around to face her.
‘What were you thinking?’ she demanded, anger on her face.
‘I…’
‘She’s in love with Hercules,’ said Theseus. Psyche looked over her shoulder at him, her mouth falling open.
‘That can’t be true.’ She turned back to Hedone. ‘Is it?’
‘Hera made him do it. Those things, years ago, it wasn’t him,’ she answered fiercely, pushing her chin out. ‘He’s a good man. A proud, strong man.’
‘Hedone, he’s a monster! He left Busiris to die on Capricorn, he tried to kill his own daughter on Scorpio—’
‘She tried to kill him!’ Hedone exclaimed. ‘She’s not the hero everyone thinks she is. She’s… she’s a tool of the gods. Just one more test for Hercules to overcome, before he can be at peace.’ She turned away from Psyche, wishing the woman’s incredulity didn’t upset her so much. Why couldn’t Psyche see Hercules as she could?
‘Hedone, please, think about it, you know that’s not true.’ Psyche spoke softly and tears filled Hedone’s eyes. She had so much respect for the woman. Since they had been training together, she had fallen for her abrupt manner and honest attitude. She admired her. But if Psyche wanted to come between her and Hercules, then their friendship was over.
‘You’re wrong,’ she breathed, refusing to turn and look at her.
‘Theseus, do something!’ exploded Psyche.
‘We need to win this Trial,’ he said, ‘then we’ll talk about it.’
Psyche barked a noise of frustration.
‘Fine. How do we win?’ she snapped.
‘We lure the horses somewhere they can’t reach us. We need shovels, and we need to dig a trap.’
14
‘Those horses are an abomination,’ Nestor said, her severe face set and angry. ‘Aphrodite should know better than to create such beings.’
‘Any ideas on how to catch one?’ asked Lyssa, her eyes fixed on the creatures. They were hiding in a small copse, barely large enough to conceal them all, about forty feet from the stable front.
‘What do you think she means by catch one?’ said Abderos. Lyssa looked at him. ‘Like, does that mean, get a saddle on it and ride one? Or does it just mean incapacitate one for a minute or two?’
‘That’s actually a good question,’ said Phyleus, looking at her. A pulse of lingering desire shot through her when his eyes met hers, and she shoved it away. She needed to concentrate.
‘Let’s assume the latter, and if that doesn’t work try something else,’ she said.
‘So we need a net or something,’ Abderos said.
‘A net?’ Len guffawed. ‘They breathe fire, Ab. A net’s not going to last long. Unless it’s made of metal…’ He trailed off as he said it.
‘The giants,’ Lyssa breathed. They fashioned a giant metal net on Scorpio. If they got back to their ship… She looked to where the crew of the Orion had been hiding, behind the side of the stable, but they were no longer there. She scanned the sky, looking for longboats or anything moving, but just saw swirling purple clouds.
‘Could we get their net?’ Phyleus asked.
‘From their ship? I… I guess we could try.’
‘But, what if they get it first and then you’re just wasting time searching the Orion for it?’ Abderos sounded worried. ‘Maybe we should wait for them to get it, then steal it from them here.’
‘The giants are not clever,’ said Nestor. ‘They may not think to get it at all.’
‘Busiris is,’ Abderos said. ‘I was in the cage with him on Capricorn and he’s not like the others. He’s smart.’
‘None of this deals with Diomedes,’ said Lyssa. ‘Someone will need to distract him.’ Everybody looked at her. She swallowed.
‘He’s not as big as a Hydra.’ Phyleus shrugged. ‘And you did all right with one of those.’
‘We lost against the Hydra,’ she growled at him. ‘Half my boat got eaten and I nearly fell into a pit of flaming acid.’
‘Then it’s a good job there’s no flaming acid this time.’
Lyssa closed her eyes.
‘Right.’
‘Cap, I don’t think anybody except you could lift that net,’ said Len thoughtfully.
‘I can’t fight Diomedes and throw the bloody net!’ she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. ‘Gods, I wish Epizon was here,’ she said under her breath, screwing up her face.
‘I may be able to lift the net, said Nestor.
‘With my help,’ offered Phyleus.
‘Fine. We don’t even have the damn thing yet anyway. Len and I will go back to the palace and look for a longboat. We’ll sneak on board the Orion and try to get the net. If they’ve already got it, we’ll come straight back and steal it from them. Then I’ll distract Diomedes and you two can catch a horse.’
‘But, Cap…’ started Abderos, but she continued speaking over him.
‘Nestor, Phyleus, Abderos, stay here. Avoid Hercules at all costs. If he comes anywhere near any of you, run, don’t fight. Do you understand?’
Phyleus nodded along with Nestor but she heard his voice clear in her head.
‘I don’t want to leave you.’
‘I need you here, Phyleus.’ She waited for him to argue, to tell her she was wrong, that he needed to be there to protect her.
‘Yes, Captain.’
She blinked at him. Epizon’s words swam through her mind. Phyleus respects who you are. He doesn’t want to challenge you. He just wants to prove himself to you.
Epizon had been right, all this time.
15
Hercules crouched, snarling, as he flung off the burning-hot lion-skin cloak.
‘Is it damaged?’ asked Evadne quickly, leaning to inspect it.
‘Of course not,’ he barked. ‘It’s just hot. Asterion, these beasts are your kin, are they not?’
The minotaur shifted uncomfortably. He was hardly visible in the dim light, his fur blending into the dark, but his red eyes shone.
‘Not exactly, Captain.’
‘Can you communicate with them?’
‘Yes, Captain, but it will not help. I’m sorry.’
‘Why in Zeus’s name not?’ Hercules spat, fury rolling through his body. Those damn horses had made a fool of him, forcing him to run away.
‘They are mad, Captain. All they do is repeat words.’
Evadne looked over at the snickering, screeching animals as she asked, ‘What do they say?’
‘Blood, mostly.’
Evadne shuddered and Hercules glared at them both.
‘I need Keravnos.’ He was furious with Aphrodite for sending them straight out on this Trial. Had he known, he would have brought the sword to the feast.
‘Then we need to find a longboat,’ Evadne muttered.
‘Obviously,’ he growled.
‘Asterion, stay here. Watch the others. Do whatever it takes to stop them winning.’ He turned to Evadne, who was hesitantly touching the cloak, testing the temperature. ‘You stay too.’
She looked at him.
‘Yes, Captain,’ she said.
He ran back towards the palace, fast, his cloak firmly back around his shoulders. He needed this win. The competition was too tight, with too few Trials to go. He never would have dreamed that the others would do so well. They all had help from the gods, he thought, snarling. Aphrodite surely wouldn’t dare help her favourite on her own Trial, though; it would be too obvious.
At the thought of Theseus, Hercules’s mind slipped back to Hedone, and his legs pounded the earth harder, the palace growing larger. Soon. Soon she would move onto the Hybris with him, be with him forever.
He slowed as he reached a grand marble arch, signalling the entrance to the palace gardens. Somewhere there must be a longboat dock, he thought, scanning the twilight carefully. He jogged towards the closest out-building he could see.
As he got near he heard neighing and realised it was a pegasus stable. A pegasus wouldn’t be able to fly high enough to reach the Hybris, he thought, dismissing the building and running to the next one. On his third try, he gave a shout of triumph. Tethered to short posts inside a squat marble hut were two rows of longboats.
Movement caught his eye in the back of the dark building and he stilled, wishing he could see better. A flash of red made him step forward.
‘Lyssa?’ he called. A figure moved towards him, taking form as she neared the light.
‘Hercules,’ his daughter answered. She really had inherited his fierceness, he thought, savouring the hatred leaking from her.
‘How’s that big slave of yours?’
‘Epizon is fine,’ she spat. ‘He’s not my slave. And I’ll make sure you pay a hundred times over for what you could have done to him.’
‘I doubt that,’ he said, folding his arms across his chest. He did not want a fist fight with the girl. Not now. Every moment he was talking to her, Theseus and the giants were getting ahead of him. Lyssa had clearly had the same thought, as she took a step backwards, her fists flexing at her sides.
‘Just wait, Hercules. I need to win this Trial, for a friend who’s more important than you, but next time, I will kill you.’ Venom dripped from the tiny girl’s voice and a shiver of excitement rippled through Hercules.
‘I’m looking forward to it, daughter.’
Rage flooded the girl’s face and she reached down and tore a longboat from its tether. He ducked as she roared and launched the boat at him. It flew harmlessly over his head.
‘You have more strength than I thought,’ he said, chuckling as he straightened up. ‘But you’re no match for me.’
‘Go to hell, Hercules,’ she hissed, and disappeared into the dark again. A second later a longboat shot from the back of the building, sailing over him and out into the sky.
He would enjoy killing her, he thought, as he untied the nearest boat and climbed in. He really would.
16
‘I’m telling you, Captain, we have the perfect tool for this!’ insisted Busiris as they came to a stop behind the stable.
‘No,’ growled Antaeus, cracking his knuckles. ‘We go after Diomedes.’
‘That won’t help us capture a mare! We need the net you made on Scorpio.’ Busiris was doing a poor job keeping the frustration from his voice.
‘We fight Diomedes,’ huffed Albion, and Bergion grunted in agreement with his brother.
‘One giant can’t beat three,’ he said.
‘Exactly,’ agreed Antaeus.
‘But, Captain, the mares are still dangerous,’ Busiris tried again, calmly this time. ‘We need a way to get close to them without being burned by their flames.’
Although he was reluctant to admit it, Eryx agreed with Busiris. They’d gone to great lengths to make that chain net, and it was exactly what they needed.
‘Maybe two of us should go back to the Orion and get it,’ he said quietly. Antaeus glared at him. ‘Captain, nobody else has anything like it. It might be what tips the balance.’
Antaeus pushed his hand through his dark hair, his face screwing up in thought. ‘Fine,’ he said eventually.’ Busiris, you go. But just you.’
‘But, Captain—’ Busiris started to splutter.
‘I’m not losing any fighters! If you want to go, go now. There will be longboats at the palace.’ Antaeus pointed to where they could just see the huge building, framed in the dim light. Busiris looked from Antaeus’s face to his pointing hand, then closed his mouth. With a final scowl he turned and began to jog into the darkness.
‘Will he be able to lift the net?’ Eryx asked hesitantly.
‘Of course he will. He may be small but he’s still half giant,’ his captain snapped.
Eryx said nothing, but thought about when he’d carried the net through Hephaestus’s forge. There was no way he would have been able to carry it without Antaeus.
17
Hedone didn’t want to be digging a hole in the dark. She didn’t want to be avoiding Psyche’s disappointed glares. She wanted to be with Hercules, walking on the beach, watching the glistening water, sharing her hopes and dreams while her fingers entwined with his.
‘How much more?’ she asked, her voice strained.
Theseus straightened up and looked at her. He’d broken off large branches for them to dig with, and he and Psyche had made much more progress than she had.
‘Quite a bit,’ he said from the middle of the hole they’d made. It barely reached his knees. ‘The horses are a lot bigger than I am.’ He smiled. She groaned, and dug her stick into the ground angrily.
‘Concentrate on making it wider, not deeper,’ said Psyche. ‘It’s easier on your back.’
‘What do you care about my back?’ she grumbled. Psyche sighed and said nothing, digging her own much larger branch into the earth.
They dug for what seemed like an eternity to Hedone. Psyche had been right about her back. Just a small amount of bending began sending aches through her muscles, and she found sticking to the shallower edge and widening the pit was easier.
‘I do c
are, you know,’ said Psyche quietly, from behind her. Hedone glanced at her.
‘Then you would be happy for me. This is what I’ve wanted my whole life.’
‘I thought you wanted… someone else.’ Psyche shot a pointed look at Theseus, who was still digging, not looking at either of them.
A flash of memory pulled at her gut, the uneasy feeling that had been coming less and less often clawing at the edges of her mind.
‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I wanted love. Real, true love.’
‘We all want that, Hedone. But love makes us blind.’
‘You don’t know him. You know what others say about him, what the gods want us to think. If Zeus loves him, that should be testament enough!’ She stood up straight, turning to Psyche. Theseus stopped, and leaned on his branch.
‘Zeus has his own agenda, Hedone,’ he said.
She glared at him. ‘So you’re on her side?’
‘It’s not about sides—’ Theseus started, but Psyche cut him off.
‘Yes, Captain, it is. Hercules is not on our side. If she’s with him, then she’s not with us.’
Pain twisted in Hedone’s stomach at her words. They were going to throw her off the crew. Wasn’t that what she wanted? She wanted to be with Hercules, on the Hybris. She needed to be with him. Then why did she feel so betrayed, so panicked?
‘She doesn’t need to choose yet,’ said Theseus gently.
‘Stop talking about me like I’m not here,’ Hedone snapped, hot tears stinging her eyes again. ‘You always treat me like a child. I’m sick of it!’
‘Shhhh!’ said Theseus, across her. She whirled around, about to shout at him for proving her point, when she saw the frown on his face as he peered out of the now shoulder-deep pit. Two male voices were just discernible in the distance, and she fell silent, listening.
