“So, you’re volunteerin’ to be the one to tell Tiger Lily, is that it? After sellin’ us out to the giants?” I clapped the Greek on his shoulder hard enough to make him wince. “Brave man. But you’re right, I’m sure she’d love to hear it from ye, directly.”
In the end, that’s all it had taken; Narcissus had opted to tag along with us.
The Greek was self-centered, not suicidal.
“We don’t have the means to fashion many weapons on the island,” Queen Adonia said as we reached the beach. Here the sand was coarser, less glittery. It crunched hard beneath her bare feet as she marched towards an array of moored boats. Now that I’d been amongst the Laestrygonians for a stretch, I could admit I found their nudity far less disconcerting than I had upon arrival. Not that I could see the appeal, mind you; sand tends to get in all the nooks and crannies, and I had no doubt the Vegiants would be shifting uncomfortably before long. “But,” she went on, “I’ve asked Obelius to bring any you might use aboard this ship.”
The vessel she showcased was of a design I’d never seen before. Low and sleek, it had a single sail and a dozen oars on either side, reminding me of pictures I’d seen of Viking longships with their long, narrow hulls and tapering prows. But it was the figurehead which struck me most of all: a three-headed crow. I froze the instant I saw it, staring, until the others were forced to slow and turn.
“Everything copacetic?” Ismene asked.
“Huh?” I shifted my focus from the ship to the giantess. “No. I mean, yes. It’s nothin’, really. it’s just that ship...it reminds me of somethin’, that’s all.”
“It belonged to the Stranger.” Queen Adonia cast an appraising eye over the vessel, clearly admiring its clean lines. “He left it here with us, taking a larger one for his own after he taught us how to cultivate the land.”
“You’ve mentioned him before,” James said. “The Stranger. Who was he?”
“We aren’t sure. In ancient times, we would have called him an Oracle. Many of us believed him a bastard son of the gods, perhaps even a god in disguise. But we never could unmask him, and he never gave us his name.”
“And the name of the boat?” I asked. “Did he give ye that?”
“He called it the Crow Boat, said it reminded him of an old lover,” Ismene replied helpfully, her voice bubbling with restrained laughter. “He talked jive like that all the time. Dude was downright funky.”
“Ismene and many others practically worshipped him,” Adonia added.
“And ye?”
“He was a strange creature, Oracle or not. He often talked in riddles, saying things none of us understood. He was ferocious when angry, but a patient teacher. Had he been here when Polyphemus’ raids began, he’d have ended this madness long ago.” Adonia shivered. “My husband always feared the Stranger’s magic. His prophecies. Even I have to admit, looking back, there was something about him that unnerved me.”
“What was it?” James asked.
“A feeling, that’s all. He reminded me of so many of the Titans who fell to Zeus and his Olympians, in the end. Doomed. That’s how I think of him, still. He was a doomed creature, and I think deep down he knew it.”
I turned to stare at the ship once more, unable to believe it sheer coincidence that a man with the ability to see the future had shown up, given the Vegiants the keys to their survival, and left a boat with a three-headed crow behind. Was it seriously possible my father was the Stranger they spoke of? And, if so, what did it mean that I was following in his footsteps? The unanswered questions swirled and multiplied, leaving me with nothing but a headache for all my trouble.
“Let’s meet our crew,” I said.
While the others may have been perplexed by my abrupt desire to end the conversation, they asked no questions. A dozen Laestrygonians greeted us as we approached, their heads bowed in deference to their queen. They began to introduce themselves at Adonia’s bequest, but I only had eyes for the largest of them.
“Ye move pretty well for a big fellow, Obelius.”
The giant who’d snuck up on me smirked but said nothing.
“Sister, don’t let this cat fool you; he’s boss,” Ismene insisted. “When Polyphemus saw him coming, he totally beat feet. Even that dip knew better than to mess with Obelius.”
“I couldn’t have chased him off alone, Ismene,” Obelius insisted. The Laestrygonian had a robust voice, booming, with an edge of hostility to it that paired seamlessly with his obscenely muscular frame. “If I could have, we wouldn’t have had to ask for help from mortals.”
“Aww, don’t be a drag, you big hunk.”
“I am not a hunk. I’m a Laestrygonian.”
Ismene rolled her eyes but refused to stop grinning at the larger, more imposing giant. Indeed, I sensed a sort of playfulness in their repartee which suggested she enjoyed baiting her mother’s fiercest warrior. Sort of like kicking your playground crush in the shin and running away—counter-intuitive, perhaps, but undeniably memorable.
“Perhaps we should get on with this,” Adonia suggested.
“Yes, my queen.” Obelius bowed and showcased the ship. “All aboard.”
We began embarking until only I and a few crew members were left. James was there to help me up, steadying me with a hand on my arm that lingered no longer than it had to. This time when he met my eyes, there was nothing shy in them, but neither was there any heat. It seemed whatever feelings he had for me had undergone a profound shift, though it did seem as if something connected us. The tenuous beginnings of friendship, perhaps? I wasn’t sure; excluding my identity crisis in the Otherworld, I’d always had a tough time making friends. Keeping them, sadly, had proved even more difficult. For now, I decided not to pick at it; we had more important concerns to deal with.
“Ready to sail, Captain?” I asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Obelius bellowed a command, and the crew members on the shore heaved themselves against the prow, thrusting the longboat into the sea with nothing but the strength of their bodies. James teetered, off balance, and this time it was I who steadied him. We stayed huddled for a moment as the crew members leapt aboard.
“Listen, James,” I said, keeping my voice low so as not to be overheard, “don’t get yourself eaten, alright? I’d hate to survive this only to have Tinkerbell and Tiger Lily cut me into a thousand pieces.”
“I’ll do my best. Though the same goes for you, First Mate MacKenna.”
I cocked an eyebrow at that. First Mate—an amusing title to say the least—was the second highest rank aboard a pirate ship. In lieu of the Captain’s presence aboard the ship, it meant I was essentially in charge. But still, as gestures went, it was a considerate one. I smiled, squeezed his shoulder, and stepped back only to bump into an eavesdropping Narcissus.
“Watch it!” I hissed.
“What about me?” Narcissus asked, his thick lips pursed in a petulant frown.
“What about ye?”
“Aren’t you going to tell me to be safe?”
James and I exchanged glances.
“I best check with the crew and see what to expect when we get to the island,” the Neverlander said, leaving me alone with the Greek while he worked his way among the Laestrygonians.
Coward.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to respond; Queen Adonia and her daughter called to us all, bidding us goodbye. Standing together like that, I could at last see the resemblance between the two. Not in their features, per se, but in the way each stood, in the way they waved. I returned the farewell, uncertain whether or not I’d see either of them again.
“Good luck, mortals!” The queen yelled. “Obelius, return safely!”
“As you wish, my Queen!” Obelius waved back, though the set of his shoulders bore a tension I hadn’t seen before. Nerves, maybe? Was he worried about leaving Adonia and Ismene behind? Whichever, I found myself at his side as we slid through the waves, the ship bobbing unpleasantly up and down in a way it had
n’t, and I’d taken for granted, when on the Jolly Roger.
“Ready for this?” I asked.
Obelius grunted.
“Mortal, I’ve been ready for this for longer than you can imagine.”
I opened my mouth to ask a follow-up, but the Laestrygonian turned abruptly on his heel and left, leaving a sense of foreboding in his wake. I glanced at James, who was chatting up one of the Vegiants at his oar, the Neverlander’s hands weaving as he spoke. Narcissus, unsurprisingly, had decided to take this opportunity to sunbathe; he sprawled across one of the benches, posed like a Pin-Up girl. Dear Lord, I found myself praying, please let us carve up this cyclopic son of a bitch and survive this shitty ass realm.
Amen.
32
The island of the Cyclopes, which supposedly Polyphemus alone inhabited, was a cragged, steeply angular thing which rose up from the depths of the sea like the horn of some primordial god. It’s funny, I thought as I stared at our destination, how I used to enjoy metaphors like that. Of course, that was back before I’d actually encountered deities. Since then, I’d lost all sense of size and scope, my appreciation for the natural wonders of the world irreparably altered by the mere existence of the unnatural. Take the young, handsome man on my right, for example: a twenty-something whose lineage could be traced to a storybook villain I’d found oddly charming, even as a child. Or the Laestrygonian looming to my left: a giant whose very existence called into question everything I’d ever read in a history textbook. I gazed out upon the rest of the crew, knowing deep down that I’d never see the world as I had only a few years before—not with these eyes, at any rate.
“We’re getting close,” James offered.
I nodded, unwilling to break the silence I’d cultivated since we left the island of the Laestrygonians behind. Instead, I watched that sword-tip landmass grow, expanding until I could make out nothing of the sky beyond. Somewhere on that foreboding island was a creature I’d never thought to see: a one-eyed Cyclops. The son of a sea god. A unique breed of giant who supposedly dwarfed even the Leastrogynians. I had to admit, it was a strange world—a serendipitous existence—I’d found here in the Land of Titans. How had I gotten here of all places? How had I managed to sail across an uncharted sea on a boat that may have once belonged to the man I thought to call my father? How had I survived Boston, New York, Moscow, Salem, the Otherworld, and Neverland?
And now, this place. Would I make it out alive here, as well? Or would this be my last adventure? I wanted to tell myself that wasn’t the case, that I would triumph here as I had in those other places. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t that naive—not anymore. I’d seen too many people die to think myself, or anyone else, invincible. The question, then, was whether or not it was worth dying here. I wasn’t sure about that, either. Frankly, I had too many unanswered questions. Too much to worry about and not enough time to think of a better solution. And it seemed what little time I might have had was up.
“There,” Obelius said, pointing to a gap in the rocks which stood like sentinels between us and the shore. The other Leastrogynians adjusted their strokes, turning the prow at an angle until we sailed perpendicular to the beach, barely squeezing through the narrow opening. For a moment it seemed as though the three-headed crows moved before my very eyes, jostling one another, but I knew it was merely a trick of the light; overhead, the midday sun blazed. Though a breeze drifted across the water, I felt its oppressive heat press against the back of my neck, across my shoulders. Indeed, it seemed we’d left a temperate climate for an inhospitable one; I felt as though I were being baked the moment we landed on the shore. What sort of masochist would choose to live here, I wondered? Our vessel ground to an abrupt halt, jerking us all forward.
“Are we sure this is the only way to get the Jolly Roger off that beach?” James asked after he’d regained his footing. “I don’t like the look of this place.”
Truth be told, neither did I. It wasn’t just the sun bearing down on us like a domineering parent, either. There was something about the rocky shoals, the pebble-laden beach, the steep crags, that made me think of a stone oven. But then, it wasn’t the island we’d come here to deal with. Our objective was Polyphemus. Take him down, flee, and we’d have all our needs met the moment we returned—provided Queen Andonia kept her word. Of course, if she didn’t, there was nothing we could do about it. The Queen of the Vegiants had us between a cascade of rocks and a hard place, and she knew it.
“We don’t have a choice,” I replied. “Come on, let’s go.”
“I’ll be coming with you.” Obelius motioned to his fellow giants, who quickly passed him a heavy wooden shield and spear as though they’d been waiting for the declaration. A snap of his fingers saw James and I presented similar options. “The crew will take the boat to the other side of the island, where Polyphemus lives, but stay out of sight until we’ve dealt with him.”
“But I thought Queen Adonia wanted us to do this on our own,” I said as I took the most serviceable weapon I could find—a long-shafted, leaf-tipped spear with a spiked bronze butt to keep it balanced.
“My queen asked that I ensure the mortals fulfill their end of the bargain. This is me doing so.” The Laestrygonian curled his lips in contempt, his fists clenched so tightly around his weapons I could hear wood creak under the strain. “Polyphemus has grown too dangerous, too bold. I won’t let him return to our island to take anyone else from us.” Obelius hesitated then, and I heard something in his voice that I should have expected, but hadn’t considered until now: grief. He’d lost someone. Maybe more than one person. Even before his rampage, Queen Adonia had made it clear that Polyphemus had been a terror, a monster who abducted Laestrygonians in the night. No wonder he’d been so eager to sail to this island. His was a vendetta to rival anything I’d ever known: an individual determined to end a genocide by any means necessary. “I mean no disrespect,” he added, “but I don’t know if you can succeed, and I will not risk failure.”
“None taken,” I said, lightly. “But when we report back to your queen, I want your word you’ll see our bargain honored.”
Obelius locked gazes with me for a moment, then nodded. It seemed we had an understanding; I wouldn’t get in his way, and he wouldn’t get in mine. Frankly, I was glad to have the giant on my side. Stealth was great in theory, but it always helped to have brute force available in a pinch. Which left only one loose end to tie up.
“I’ll leave Narcissus with your crew, as well.”
Obelius frowned.
“He’s a liability, Obelius. I think we both know that. There’s no sense in draggin’ him along into a fight. Besides, if we fail, someone will have to tell Queen Adonia what happened. What better messenger than Ms. Chatty Cathy?”
Obelius barked a laugh
“Very well.”
“Did I hear my name up there?” Narcissus yelled from the other end of the boat.
I grimaced but quickly moved to confer with the Greek, one arm wound around his slender shoulders. “Listen, I’m not sure what your real motives are, or what Helen truly hopes to accomplish on this little adventure of ours, but I know you’re not a fighter. Helen was right. We do need ye as a navigator. Ye know these waters, you’ve studied that map, so keepin’ ye alive is a priority. Which is why I want ye to stay here.”
Narcissus flashed me his characteristically gorgeous smile, though this time it went all the way to his eyes. “You can count on me. I’ll keep an eye on these giants, make sure they don’t try to run off and leave you stranded on the island as bait.”
Shit. I hadn’t thought of that.
“Good man.”
“Listen Narcissus,” James interjected as he came upon us, “if we don’t make it back, I want you to tell Tiger Lily and Tinkerbell...tell them to find our home. I worry about what will happen to them if they stay here too long.”
“If we don’t make it back,” I added, putting strong emphasis on the first word of that sentence, “then tell Helen to send t
hem home and request aid from Queen Adonia. She may not be inclined to give it, but I believe the Laestrygonians are kinder than they seem. I doubt they’ll leave ye stranded indefinitely.”
But Narcissus was already shaking his head. “I’ve studied that map for decades. Although it only made complete sense to me once we got here, I’ve always known one thing for sure. There is no exit.”
“No exit...” James echoed.
Narcissus twitched.
“What d’ye mean, ‘no exit’?”
“I mean,” Narcissus drawled, “that we knew where to look for the entrance. Past Gaia’s temple, following the sun until we reached the storm that never moves. But the map says nothing about an exit. If you leave the archipelago, you’ll find nothing but open sea. Helen thinks its possible we’d simply circle back somehow, but I’m not so sure. I think we’d find nothing but open sea.”
James turned to me, panicked.
“Don’t worry. We’ll just have to find one,” I reassured the Neverlander, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. “Ye and I will get back to the others, one way or the other. Then we’ll take another look at Narcissus’ map. I’m sure he and Helen missed something.”
The Greek raised a finger as if planning to refute that, but I jabbed him in the gut with an elbow before he could say a word. Inwardly, of course, I was as upset as James to learn we’d booked a one-way ticket. Not that I was surprised; shit like this always seemed to happen to me. But no, I reassured myself, everything was fine. After all, all we had to do was take out Polyphemus, journey to the Underworld, find Atlantis, stop Ryan, and get the Neverlanders home before they keeled over.
No sweat.
“It’s time,” Obelius called from the shore, reaching out with both hands for James and I to join him. We passed over our weapons first, then took them, our own hands like those of children in his massive paws. Thankfully, the Laestrygonian maintained his grip even after lowering us to the shore, or I’d have toppled the instant my feet hit the ground.
Sea Breeze: Phantom Queen Book 8 - A Temple Verse Series (The Phantom Queen Diaries) Page 18