“You’ve got to go warn your wife,” Athena said.
“I tried calling, like, twelve times,” Alex said. “No answer.”
“The phones won’t reach into Nyx’s world, and certainly not into Chaos,” Athena replied. “Which is why you’ve got to go. Now.”
“What about you?”
Athena put on a half grin and raised her arms as far as her chains would allow. “I’ve been here before,” she said. “Recently, even. I’ll be fine. Once you get that ax, you can cut me free.”
“I need you to get it,” Alex countered.
“No, you don’t.”
Alex laughed, but quickly caught himself, hoping he didn’t sound mocking or argumentative. “Sorry, but we’re talking about fighting your dad,” he said. “I can’t do that.”
Athena shook her head. “You misunderstood me. I meant you don’t have to fight him. At least, not alone. Euryale and Stheno will be there, and I’ll put whatever wager you want that Artemis will join them on that trip. Between the three of you, perhaps you can set up some sort of ambush or trick that will rob him of it.”
“That still doesn’t seem like good odds,” Alex admitted. “Better? Yes. Enough? Doubtful.”
“Against my dad, I don’t think you’re going to find any odds are enough,” she said. She straightened, and her subdued tone uplifted. “Do you want to know why I beat Ares time and again? It’s not because I’m stronger than he is. I could never match his raw strength. I’m not even faster when you get right down to it. All I do is, I play to his weaknesses. I plan the battle before it starts, so it’s already won by the time it matters, and most of all, I capitalize on surprise every chance I get.”
“You’re also a far better strategist than I’ll ever be.”
Athena smiled and nodded, conceding the point. “I am,” she said. “But wishing for resources you can’t get won’t win the day. And right now, you’ve wasted enough time here. Go warn your wife and get that ax.”
“Any chance you’ve got something I can borrow to help?”
“I do, in fact,” Athena said. “Take my aegis. It’s in my home, hanging in the study. It’ll protect you from whatever Dad can possibly throw at you, like lightning.”
“Okay, that sounds good.”
“Also, tucked in a nearby chest, you’ll find Hephaestus’s net,” she said. “You’ll really, really want that.”
“The one that’s unbreakable?”
“The same. I went back to Mount Etna shortly after the Battle of Typhon and found it.”
Alex felt hope take root in his soul. “That could come in handy,” he said, rubbing his hands together and thinking back to how he’d once trapped Ares in it. “Really, really handy.”
“Exactly,” Athena said. “Tangle Dad in that, and you’ll have no trouble getting the key, the ax, and me out of here.”
“Then what?”
“Then I’ll take the throne,” she said. “We’ll go from there.”
Alex grimaced, something he immediately regretted as the reaction wasn’t lost on her at all.
“Something the matter, Alex?”
“Everyone’s going to want that ax and that throne,” he said. “Aphrodite and Ares are expecting to claim it already, and I don’t want to be caught in the middle of this power vacuum that’s about to happen.”
“Fair enough,” she said. “I suggest, then, if you don’t want to be at the epicenter, the first thing you do before anything else once you return is cut me free. I can deal with the others from that point.”
Alex nervously bounced the top and bottom of his fists together in front of his chest for a few seconds before deciding the number of options he had were exactly one. “Right,” he said. “Better get going. I’ll be back soon.”
Chapter A Choice
Euryale paced.
She’d long since given up waiting at the table, though she did try and sit until Stheno and Nyx returned for as long as she could bear. She’d passed the time nibbling on items here and there—the raspberries turning out to be her favorite, though the cheddar cheese was exceptional as well—and had even had a glass or five of wine. But as minutes turned to hours, and hours had to have turned to days or weeks even, Euryale tried easing her nerves by making slow circles of the dining hall.
Well past a thousand laps, with her imagination in overdrive at what was going on between Nyx and her sister, she finally dropped into her chair with a huff. She fell forward a moment later, her arms curled and head buried in the nook of her elbow.
“Apologies, pet, for keeping you waiting.”
Euryale shot up as Nyx eased into the chair across from her. “Where’s Stheno?”
“She’s fine, I promise,” the goddess said as she refilled her goblet. “A rude little thing, though, even when I gave her exactly what she wanted. Has she always been so impolite?”
A lump formed in Euryale’s throat, one that she’d feared had been coming for a long time now. “She got what she wanted?”
“She did.”
Silence fell between them, and Euryale felt her eyes go completely dry as she lost focus. Eventually, she snorted and laughed at herself for ever thinking otherwise. “Why do I even bother torturing myself?”
“Are you sad, pet?”
Euryale pressed her lips together into a fine line and spent a moment trying to decide how she should answer. “Why?” she finally asked. “Were you trying to hurt me?”
“Euryale, dear, do you think I’d need to go to such lengths if I wanted to cause you misery?” she replied. “All I did was take our conversation from the hypothetical to the actual. Now come, be honest, are you surprised she chose to empower herself rather than bring you back the flower you so desperately require?”
Euryale didn’t need even a moment to answer. What surprised her, however, was that her reply was filled not with anger or hate, but pity. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not surprised at all. I told you everyone is like that. Everyone.”
“Including yourself.”
“I’m not so foolish to think I’d be an exception,” she said. “What makes me so special to think power wouldn’t corrupt me given enough of it?”
“Hold on to that belief,” Nyx said, smiling warmly. “It will serve you well and bring you riches you can’t even begin to dream of. I promise.”
“I don’t care,” Euryale said, trying not to choke up. “All I want is to save my daughter. So please, if you’d help me, I’ll pay your price, whatever it is.”
Nyx set her goblet aside, placed her elbows on the table as she leaned forward, and rested her chin on her hands. “Do you know why I find you so interesting?” she asked with a happy sigh.
“No,” Euryale said.
Nyx cocked her head. “No?”
“I truly can’t imagine that you do.”
“Your honesty is so utterly refreshing,” she said. “Those who dare come to my realm are filled with so much hubris, I want to gouge out my own eyes just looking at them. But you, my dear, sweet guest, genuinely don’t know what you’re capable of, and more importantly, you don’t want to know, either.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Then take my compliment and say nothing other than thank you.”
Euryale bit on her lower lip, not sure what to make of what Nyx was saying. She wanted to argue with all that she’d said as she didn’t believe a word of it, but at the same time, who was she to tell her she was wrong? In the end, she decided she needed to at least heed the goddess’s request. “Thank you.”
“Do you know what’s really funny about you?” Nyx said, her face beaming as she cut herself a slice of bread and put some feta cheese on it. “I could offer you the entire world, and you’d refuse.”
“Again, I don’t know what to say, other than you’re right. I don’t want it.”
“You’re adorable. Simply adorable,” Nyx replied. She took another sip of wine before leaning back in her chair. “Is there anything you’d lik
e to talk about? I feel as if I’ve monopolized our time together.”
Euryale wanted to say no, to end this encounter and find the flower, but she knew she couldn’t. She’d promised Nyx conversation, a good one at that. Thus, she said the only thing that came to mind. “You’d mentioned earlier you wanted to know what it was like to be me.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Nyx said before nibbling on some cheese. “That might take us a while. Would you like to have that discussion here or somewhere else? I can always change the scenery.”
“I’m fine with here.”
“Are you sure? The stone might get boring after a few years,” Nyx said while she gestured at the walls.
“I’m sure, but if you’d like a change of scenery for yourself, by all means, do so. We don’t need to sit here on my account.”
Nyx tapped her fingers on the table, and even though her eyes were still as black as a moonless night and as expressionless as those found on a shade long gone, Euryale sensed a storm brewing in them. “I’d like to adopt you, one day,” she said. “What do you think of that?”
“I...I—”
“Have no idea what to say,” Nyx cut in, laughing with a surprisingly light tone. “My children are all grown, and talking with you has made me realize how much I miss raising little ones. And it’s not as if we aren’t related, albeit separated by a few generations.”
Euryale’s mind blanked, trying to wrap itself around what she was saying, and she felt her face do the same a moment later. “I don’t deserve such honor,” she finally said. “And I don’t belong here.”
“I said one day, not today,” Nyx said. “When you’re ready.”
“What if I’m never ready?” she asked, more to herself than to Nyx. “I wasn’t even ready to be in Olympus. Look what happened there. I’d surely disappoint you.”
A few beats of silence formed between the two, and Euryale didn’t know what to make of it. But as she was about to speak, to try and say something else for the topic at hand, Nyx pushed back her chair, took to her feet, and nodded her head to the side. “Follow me, if you would.”
Euryale, flustered and hoping she hadn’t committed some grave faux pas with the goddess, jumped up. “Is something wrong?”
“There are many things wrong, but none of them concern you right now,” she said, starting to walk. “Now, come.”
Euryale scrambled to get around the table and then joined Nyx at her side. They headed down a dimly lit hall that was filled with tension and a feeling of desperate wishes that could never come true. “Where are we going?”
“To gather something you want,” Nyx said. “Or something you wish you didn’t need, as the case may be.”
“But our conversation?”
“Will wait, pet,” Nyx said, smiling as she turned her face toward her. “I sincerely appreciate your willingness to entertain me, even at the cost of your family and sanity. But despite what stories and lies others tell of me out of fear and ignorance, I’m not without heart. Aphrodite will attest to that.”
Euryale felt her mouth dry and her breath catch in her chest. Was Nyx bringing her to the flower she needed? She had to be, as Euryale couldn’t possibly think what else the goddess would be referring to.
Nyx said nothing else until they’d traveled for what felt like miles, the route they traveled taking them down countless flights of stairs, through several hanging gardens, and even skirting along a path on the side of a steep mountain face with neither the top nor bottom in sight. Eventually, Nyx brought Euryale to a tall, heavy door made from ash, reinforced with bars of iron.
“Whatever is beyond this door you may take,” she said, stepping to the side. “Some you may want. Some you may feel you need. And some will help you, while others may hinder you. Last, the door on the other side of the room will take you back to your chariot, where you are free to leave with my blessing.”
“That’s rather cryptic.”
“I suspect once you enter, it will all be clear as a cloudless night sky,” she replied. Nyx started back the way they’d come but soon stopped a few paces away. “Oh, Euryale,” she said, turning to look over her shoulder. “One last thing.”
“What would that be?”
“Do come again, when you can, and bring some more of that delightful discussion when you do. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Euryale bowed graciously. “Of course. And thank you again for all that you’ve done.”
Nyx had already disappeared by the time Euryale finished her sentence, leaving little more than a dark mist in her place that was rapidly fading away. Euryale wasn’t sure if the goddess had heard her at the end. Probably. Most definitely. Euryale huffed and smirked at herself. Who was she kidding? Nyx probably knew everything that was going to transpire between the two before the gorgon was even born, being the mother to the Fates themselves and all.
The gorgon reached out and grabbed the handle on the door and gave it a turn. It took more effort than she’d anticipated, but after giving it an extra shove when it caught on a rough patch of stone floor, the door swung open with a loud groan.
Euryale stepped through the threshold and into a triangular room with another door set into the wall on the right. A long table stood near the center, and on it, a twilight-blue candle burned steadily, its flame flickering in the draft produced by Euryale’s entrance. Next to the candle sat a couple of leather bags, one big enough to hold a chalice, the other big enough to hold a medicine ball or two.
Near the table, frozen in midair, was Stheno. Her body twisted to the side, arms held high and hands clutching a spear, clearly poised a moment before striking. Her vipers had their fangs bared, anxious to tear into a foe not there, while a mix of relief and utter shame marred her face.
“Thank the Moirae, you’re here,” Stheno said. She grimaced and then cursed a few times before sighing with disgust. “I still can’t move.”
Euryale slithered over as fast as her tail would carry her. “What happened?”
“Nyx happened,” she spat. “What do you think?”
Euryale halted at Stheno’s vehement reply, and everything that had transpired between Nyx and her came to the forefront of her mind.
“I don’t have to ask, actually,” Euryale said with sorrow. “Nyx told me. You took what you wanted and sacrificed my daughter to get it.”
“That’s not true,” Stheno said, managing to shake her head.
“Then where’s the flower?” Euryale asked, looking about. “Wasn’t that the prize she offered you? A simple test you swore you’d pass?”
“It wasn’t like that!”
“Then what was it like?” Euryale shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. She balled a fist and swatted the air before running both of her hands through her snakes and sighing. “You only had to do one little thing. Just one. That was it, and this all could’ve been over. The sad thing is, I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t even mad when she told me, though maybe I should’ve been.”
“Euryale, please listen,” her sister said in soft tones. “It all happened so fast.”
There was more to her speech after that, but Euryale didn’t listen. For the sake of her own sanity, she tuned her out and instead focused on the items on the table again. There was something else there. Something she’d missed before. A folded card on heavy stock that stood a few inches away from the candle. It had a creamy texture with a beautiful watercolor of a raven in flight on the front.
The art alone would’ve caused Euryale to pick it up, but she also noticed a letter inside composed with elegant handwriting with sweeping curves and flowing lines.
The gorgon plucked the card from the table, still ignoring her sister, and looked inside. The letter read:
Nyx, Goddess of Night, First Born of all Creation, to my cherished Euryale, gracious bearer of conversation and humble Goddess of Stone. Below you will find a map to the flower you seek, as well as all pertinent instructions about gathering it. The bags on the table are handy little things,
protecting whatever you desire during transport.
Your sister will remain where she is until the candle goes out, which will be in about ten thousand years, give or take a few decades. You’re free to snuff the flame if you so choose.
- Nyx
P.S. Mind what dwells near Chaos, and whatever you do, don’t touch the water.
Euryale turned the card over in her hands a few times before reading it again, after which, she looked at the map. Sure enough, Nyx had provided clear directions on how to get to the River of Chaos and presumably to the hemalander that grew there.
“Listen to me!” Stheno shouted, loud enough to grab the gorgon’s attention.
“What?”
“I didn’t choose power over your daughter,” Stheno said, begging to be believed. “I thought I could take both. It was a mistake, I know. A dreadful, horrible mistake, but think if I’d succeeded, think of all we could’ve done.”
“All you could’ve done, you mean.”
“That’s not fair,” she said, sounding more angry than hurt. “You weren’t there. You have no idea how simple it looked. Two rooms. One with the flower. One with a well. The two split by fifty paces. That was it. Fifty little paces.”
Euryale folded her arms over her chest and ended up digging her claws into her side out of frustration. She wished she didn’t have to hear any of it, because she knew it would only draw out her ire, her vengeance. But now she had a basic picture of what had taken place, and she couldn’t ignore her need for details any longer. “Fifty paces? That’s quite a way.”
“Nyx set an hourglass,” Stheno went on, snorting with disgust. “It had at least a minute to it. A minute! You’re saying I didn’t have reason to believe I couldn’t run that far in a few seconds? There are men—MEN—who run that in five. I had plenty of time, but…” Stheno cut herself off as she turned her face to the heavens and groaned with frustration. “I was so close, Euryale. So close to finally becoming strong, ensuring that no one ever tormented us ever again, and saving Cassandra at the very same time.”
A Storm of Blood and Stone (Myths of Stone Book 3) Page 24