by Linsey Hall
Fates, this was creepy.
Queen Penthesilea sucked in a breath. “If you want to speak to the Great One, you must walk through the flames of the portal and face your greatest fear.”
“Knowledge does not come without sacrifice, and the Great One demands that you earn your way into her audience.”
I’d known this wouldn’t be easy.
“My greatest fear is death?” That didn’t sound quite right.
I didn’t want to die, of course, but I’d never thought that was my greatest fear. If I died, I’d just be…dead. I wouldn’t be around to be miserable about it.
“Look closer.” Queen Penthesilea pointed at the portal.
I squinted, gasping when I spotted the pattern that flickered red and black around the eyes. “My sisters.”
They were dying amongst the flames, the fire devouring their forms.
“That’s not all,” Queen Hippolyta said.
I blinked, looking harder. There were more people in the fire. Jude and Hedy and everyone I’d ever known. They were all dying. Even the Protectorate castle was going up in the inferno. So was the Amazons’ headquarters.
“As far as fears go, I’d say that one is fairly common,” Queen Penthesilea said.
“Losing everything and everyone I love?” I shivered.
“Yes.” She tapped her chin. “Though the dentist is a popular one too. Also, a tax audit.” Queen Hippolyta turned to me, her expression more serious than her voice. “Except that you have a very good reason for your fear, given your current circumstances.”
“Are you ready?” Queen Penthesilea asked.
I wasn’t, but it didn’t matter. I had to be ready. Because Queen Hippolyta was right. I did have a very good reason for my fear.
The misery I was seeing within the portal could happen. It wasn’t some random nightmare. With the Titans on earth, this vision could easily be the future.
Last week, I’d failed to stop the Titans. I may have succeeded in limiting their magic, but the three massively powerful Greek deities were still out there, hatching a plan that would result in the death of everything and everyone I loved.
I swallowed hard and nodded. “I can do this.”
Queen Penthesilea squeezed my arm. “Good. Because you don’t have a choice.”
“We believe in you, though,” Queen Hippolyta said.
Their confidence bolstered my confidence. I hadn’t been an Amazon for long since I’d only come into my power a couple weeks ago. But in that amount of time, I’d grown to love my new sisters-in-arms. The queens were intimidating, but I respected them. Cared for them.
And they were here to help me find the answers to stopping the Titans. Even though they were telling me to step into the mega scary death-portal, I knew it was for the best.
I straightened my shoulders and stepped through the flames.
Immediately, grief stabbed me like an icicle through the heart. I gasped, doubling over. An agony of loss tore the muscles from my bones and pulverized my brain. I felt like a mass of jello, or some kind of sea slug that was glued to the bottom of the ocean by the weight of millions of tons of water.
Holy fates, this was awful.
I wasn’t just confronting the idea of the loss of everyone I loved. I was experiencing what it would feel like.
I’d rather die.
No question.
I sucked in a ragged breath that burned my lungs. I couldn’t die. I had to keep going, because if I didn’t stop the Titans, this horrible future would come true.
“Keep going.” Queen Penthesilea’s voice echoed through the pain that nearly broke my hearing.
“You can’t stop,” Queen Hippolyta said. “Prove your strength.”
I clung to her words as I forced my foot forward, feeling like I was walking through a swamp of pain. Visiting the Amazons’ Great One was a rare honor—I had to earn it.
It took everything I had, but I forced myself to walk through the misery of the portal. Finally—finally—the ether caught hold of me and sucked me in, spinning me through space and delivering me to my final destination.
When I was thrust out into the bright sunlight of a summer day, I staggered, going to my knees.
Groggy, my head aching like a piano had fallen on it, I blinked. Soft green grass sprouted up from between my fingertips. I dug them into the earth, grounding myself.
Fates.
Memories of what I’d seen echoed through my head. Flashes of burning bodies and tortured faces. My loved ones.
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head so hard my brain rattled.
It only worked a little. There were still faded images lurking at the edges of my consciousness, but I didn’t have time to focus on the misery. I needed to keep going.
Keep moving.
Keep working.
Or the Titans would win.
I surged to my feet, head spinning, and looked around.
I stood in a beautiful field full of fresh spring grass and wild flowers. The sun beat down warmly, making the flowers gleam like jewels amongst the emerald blades.
I blinked.
Well, this was different.
So…nice.
Such a contrast to the portal.
In the distance, a glowing golden light shined brightly against the grass. On instinct, I walked toward it. Magic rolled toward me, intensely powerful.
There was someone sitting within the light. I could make out the faintest outline of a person. A woman. But it was her magic that really slapped me in the face.
Holy fates, she was strong.
As I neared, the light faded until it revealed a pale golden ghost of a woman. She sat cross-legged on the grass, and her body was so transparent that I could barely make out her features when her head tilted up toward me. She looked like a modernist watercolor painting done in shades of gold.
“You are the Dragon God.” Her voice echoed with power that made my muscles tremble.
“Um, yeah.” I held out my arms. “Do I live up to expectations?”
“That is, as of yet, unclear.”
I swallowed hard and nodded, suddenly nervous. “Fair enough.”
“Sit.” She gestured.
I followed her command, my insides thrumming with tension. I hoped she’d just blurt out some useful information for me—maybe all the answers to my problems. But since that sounded too good to be true, maybe she’d let me ask some questions.
I had a seemingly impossible problem, after all. It was the perfect kind of thing to ask someone called the Great One. How to stop the three most powerful magical beings in the universe?
Would she even be able to help?
“I can feel your doubt.”
“Sorry.” Dang it, keep it together. “It’s just that I’ve got a really big problem.”
“They all do.”
I nodded. “Well, this is the biggest problem for right now.” It was an understatement, actually. “And I think it’s the reason you called me to you.”
“Indeed, it is.” The shadowy golden figure stretched out her arm and turned her palm upward. “Give me your hand.”
I didn’t hesitate. This was way easier than talking. I stuck my hand out, shivering when it touched the golden glow of her palm. Magic streaked up my arm, sparkling and bright.
Damn, she was powerful.
The seer gasped. “Exactly as I expected.” Her head tilted up until I could feel her gaze on me. “This is a big problem.”
Told you. I bit my tongue on the words, obviously. Even I was smart enough not to piss off the Great One before she’d told me the good stuff. “Do you know how to help me?”
“No.”
“Then why did you call me here? I’m at a dead end. I can’t find the Titans, and even if I do, I don’t know how to stop them. I hoped you’d have answers.”
“I can point you in the right direction.” She squeezed my hand. “I can feel something within you. A bit of magical Morse code that the Titans placed there when you
saw them last.”
“Magical Morse code?”
“It’s like a connection with your soul. In the Greek Pantheon, powerful beings are all connected. When you met the Titans, the connection ignited. It’s like a calling card, and they’d like to speak to you.”
A jolt of cold fear raced through me. “Why are you only telling me now? Couldn’t you have contacted me sooner?”
“Because I didn’t know about it before. I’m a magical conduit, and they’ve used me to call you to them. I think they knew you had access to me because you are an Amazon.”
“What do you mean, call me to them? I don’t want to go to them.” And why had they waited until now?
“You must. If you want answers, it’s your only choice.” Before I could so much as blink, she reached up and touched my forehead. “Sleep.”
Panic flared in my chest, and my heart nearly broke through my ribs. I wanted to get up and charge away from her, but my muscles had stopped working. Within a half second, I collapsed to my back, sleep stealing over my consciousness.
2
A moment later, I blinked my eyes open.
Around me, the world was dark. Lightning flashed in the distance, an electric white light that was followed almost immediately by a thunderous boom that rattled my bones. The air stank of sulfur and death, rotten eggs along with decay.
Pure terror streaked through my veins as I climbed to my feet, my legs feeling like jelly. Stone walls towered around me, reaching high into the sky. I blinked.
Holy fates, I was standing in some kind of massive fortress. An animal instinct to run and hide streaked through my mind.
I resisted, though barely. Instinct told me that I needed to stand my ground.
I stood right next to an enormously tall wall. I’d only ever been in one other place that was so huge.
The Titans’ old headquarters.
The wall itself glittered with a dark sparkle. I reached for it, but my fingers passed right through the wall. I grinned, trying again. My hand passed through the wall a second time.
Good. I wasn’t really here. That might keep me alive.
I turned around and looked up, searching the tops of the walls for guards who might be looking down upon me. They were so high up that vertigo made my head spin.
Through the darkness, I caught sight of a black stone tower spearing into the air. There was a huge golden crystal sitting atop it. The thing sparkled despite the darkness, and magic radiated from it.
But what the hell was it?
“The little rat has arrived.” The voice boomed through the courtyard, vibrating through me.
Who the hell was speaking?
And were they talking about me?
I searched for the voice.
Three massive figures stepped through the darkness at the other end of the massive courtyard.
The Titans.
I swallowed hard, my skin ice cold.
Cronus, Crius, and Theia. The three of them stood at least fifty feet tall, each wearing fine golden armor. They were all attractive in a terrifying way—true gods. Cronus wore a huge crown, while Crius had the horns of a ram. Theia’s eyes glowed with sparking light, an eerie reminder of her ability to shoot fire right out of them.
Their magic seethed around them, bringing with it the sound of battle and the feeling of death. At their feet, a horde of demons and Magica gathered. Though the demons looked normal, there was a maniacal light in the eyes of the Magica.
Oh, shit.
Just like the ones at the castle.
These were the followers they’d converted. Just like the ones we’d seen at their island fortress, except so many more.
“You think you’ve defeated us?” Cronus bellowed. His golden crown gleamed beneath the lightning.
His voice shook my bones, but I stiffened my spine. “Well, not yet.” I shrugged as if I didn’t care. I totally care. “But we’re going to. Soon.”
He barked a laugh, and I couldn’t sense even the tiniest bit of bravado or worry in the sound. He was pure confidence, and it made me even more nervous.
“Why am I here?” I demanded.
“We await you.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
He made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “It’s quite obvious. You have become an annoyance, and we would like to eliminate you.”
In the old myths, Cronus had eaten all of his children because a prophecy had said that one would overthrow him. So he was clearly a guy who liked to get out ahead of the problem. Only this time, he wanted to eat me.
“Is that why you sent an army to the Protectorate castle?” I asked.
Theia nodded. “You’re clever enough not to walk out into their arms.” Her expression said that I was barely clever enough. “But we wanted to encourage you. Your life will never be the same again, so come to us. Defeat us.”
A laugh echoed through her words, indicating how unlikely she thought that was. I didn’t bother reminding her that I’d nearly beaten her last time. I’d gotten so close that they’d run for it.
“We will give you the location of this fortress,” Cronus said. “It is your fate to come here and fight us. Finish it.”
An image flashed inside my mind—a map, with a little white dot flaring brightly. It was the location of this fortress, and suddenly, I knew exactly where we were. I could navigate my way back here.
Cool. Except…
This was totally a trap. No way they’d make it so easy for me. “So, let me get this straight. You want to get rid of me, so you’ve invited me to your fortress.”
Crius nodded, his large horns bobbing. “Precisely.”
“This is obviously a trap.”
Cronus shrugged. “Clearly. We intend to win and kill you.” He swept his hand out. “And we have a huge army with which to do it.”
“Why would I ever come here if certain death is waiting for me?”
“You are fated to be the only one who can stop us, and you know it. It is your duty, and you wouldn’t want to ignore that, would you?”
I didn’t want to, no, but I couldn’t make this easy for them. “Hmmm. I’m just not finding a lot of incentive here, to be honest. I don’t want to walk into a death trap. And anyway, from what I can tell, you’re holed up here. Hiding. Not that big of a threat.”
Theia’s face twisted. “We are amassing an army.”
“How? I bound your dark magic so that it can’t pollute the world and turn more people.” Though they’d managed to create a pretty big army before I’d put a halt to their plans, unfortunately.
“We are crafting a counter-spell,” Cronus said. “Soon, we will have all of the things we need for it. And when we do, our dark magic will explode outward with greater force than ever before. It will convert everyone to our side and turn the world to darkness and chaos. And they will worship us.”
Unease rippled through me. Could that be true? “Why are you telling me your whole evil plan? That seems really shortsighted. Why don’t you just wait until this fancy counter-spell is completed?”
“To encourage you to come to us.” Crius glowered, his horns nearly vibrating with annoyance.
They were really obsessed with getting me to come to them. Enough so they were laying out their whole plan as incentive to get me here faster.
I didn’t believe a word of it. This whole thing smelled fishy.
There was a lot more to this than they were saying, and I needed to figure it the hell out.
I tapped my foot as I stared at them, making sure to take in every detail that I could. I was incorporeal now, so they clearly couldn’t hurt me. If they could, they would have. Did that mean I could wander around and look for weak spots in their fortress?
Probably not. But if I could sneak away, it was definitely on my to-do list.
Because I was coming back here. I just needed to figure out what their angle was, and how to defeat them. They were packing some major magical heat, and I’d be mincemeat if I came back
unprepared.
I was debating how to sneak away from them when Cronus waved his hand and boomed, “Begone!”
A moment later, my consciousness winked out of existence. There was blackness for a millisecond, then I gasped.
Bright light surrounded me, and I sat up. A golden glow to my left caught my eye, and I turned.
The Great One.
She leaned toward me, her interest palpable. “Well, what did you learn?”
“The Titans want me to come to them.” I told her the whole story, finishing with, “Am I really the only one who can defeat them?”
She nodded, her aura turning a somber gray. “Indeed, that is what is fated.”
Crap.
I didn’t mind the risk. But what if I failed? They were already fixated on me. That was going to make it so much harder. “But how am I supposed to do that? There are three of them, and they’re massively powerful. Way more powerful than I am.”
“Are they, though? You haven’t even fully come into your powers.”
“I haven’t?” I’d gotten a lot of Dragon God powers lately. There were even more?
“No, indeed not.” She reached for my hand again, and I let her grip it tightly. Warmth glowed from her palm to my own. “You have one last transition. See.”
The command echoed through me, tugging at my insides. Recognition flared within me, and a sense of home.
I closed my eyes, and a vision flashed on the inside of my eyelids. Fire burst in front of me, as if it had surged out of me. The ground fell away below.
Was I flying?
Holy fates, I felt like I was flying.
I soared on the breeze, powerful and strong.
But what was I?
Ana was the Morrigan, a giant Celtic crow, and Bree a Valkyrie.
I had no idea what I was.
This was my future, though. I could feel it so strongly.
A moment later, I returned to myself. I was no longer flying through the air, mysterious and strong. I was sitting with the Great One in the field.
“What will I become?” I asked.
An enigmatic smile crossed her face. “That is for you to determine.”