“I see it!” she said, beckoning Euryale close with a wave of her hand. “I actually see it!”
Thoughts of seeing her daughter alive, smiling, and most of all, free of sickness and the threat of death, spurred Euryale forward to such a degree that she nearly toppled both her and her sister off the cliff.
“Where? Please tell me it’s right there.”
Stheno ducked as much as the cliff would allow so Euryale could get a better view, and as she did, she grimaced. “Not exactly,” she said, pointing.
Euryale followed her sister’s finger. Far above, dozens and dozens of small caves could be seen in the mountainside—some no more than the size of the burrow of a badger or den of a fox, others looking as if they could swallow Leviathan with ease. On a ledge outside one of the larger ones, maybe a hundred feet up, grew a small flower with a long stem and slightly curled black-and-white petals.
“Thank the Moirae,” Euryale said with a stress-relieving sigh. “Any idea how to get up there?”
“Climb?”
Euryale muttered a few curses before steeling herself for what she had to do. “I knew you were going to say that.”
“Then why’d you ask?”
“Because I like to delude myself from time to time,” she replied. “Now, let’s go before I realize what I’m doing and drop dead in fright.”
“You’ll be fine. You’ll see,” Stheno encouraged. “Just don’t look down. Or—”
A monstrous roar, one that drowned out even the rolling thunder from the falls, cut her off. Each one froze, eyes wide, and when a beast three times the size of a blue whale flew by, Euryale was sure she’d never see anyone ever again.
Chapter The Flower
Euryale and her sister flattened themselves against the cliff, each praying to the Fates that the monster would continue on its way.
Two sets of wings kept it aloft, much like those of a dragonfly, extending from its back with colorful cells throughout their entirety. At least two dozen pairs of long, thin legs curled underneath a hairy, segmented body, and two heads jutted from wide shoulders, each having a wolflike appearance, if one discounted the giant compound eyes, while a barbed tail trailed behind the thing and looked as if it could encircle all of Olympus with ease.
For a few tense moments, it flew by, seemingly uninterested in them both, trailing gale force winds in its wake. That changed when it made a wide circle out over the chaotic waters and headed straight for them.
“Go!” Euryale shouted, scrambling upward.
Stheno obeyed immediately, and the two raced up the cliff face, hands, feet, and tail using any scant purchase they could find with reckless abandon, desperate to reach one of the caves above.
Euryale reached the nearest cavern entrance first. The moment she dragged herself up and over the ledge, she twisted around, took her sister by the wrist, and pulled her up.
“Keep going!” Stheno yelled, pushing Euryale to the back of the cave.
The two flew from the entrance, avoiding being pulverized by only a fraction of a second when the monster slammed into the cliff. It furiously dug at the cliff with one of its feet before backing off slightly and dropping one head in front of the cavern mouth to take a look at its quarry.
“Petrify it!” Stheno shouted.
Her sister’s orders, however, were unneeded, as Euryale was already hoping she’d be presented with the opportunity to do just such a thing. She met the creature’s gaze with her own and felt her body warm. Her vision saturated with green as her curse built inside her soul, eager to be unleashed.
Her powers flew unabated, but to the gorgons’ utter dismay, the creature only recoiled a few yards and briefly slung its head from side to side before howling like a banshee and going right back to digging.
“You can stop playing with it now,” Stheno said. “Because I’m completely fine with you turning it to stone right this instant.”
“I wish I could,” Euryale replied, backing as much as she could before she hit solid rock. The cave they were in wasn’t very deep, perhaps a couple of dozen yards, and though that was enough for the moment, it was clear it wouldn’t be for much longer.
The creature suddenly switched appendages. Instead of a thick, clawed foot trying to get to them, a much slimmer leg with multiple joints and a mud-brown exoskeleton attacked.
Each gorgon dove sideways to avoid the strike. The foot buried itself two feet into the rock and sent chunks and dust flying before pulling back and trying twice more. Each strike found nothing but cavern wall, and on its third attempt, it lingered a little too long, and Stheno’s panic had morphed into anger.
“Dig on this,” she snarled, driving her spear into an exposed joint.
The head of the weapon sliced into the dark flesh with a violent hiss and a billowing of smoke. The monster shrieked and yanked back its limb so fast, Stheno barely kept a grip on her spear.
Euryale kept her focus on trying to find a way out, and with the newly carved chunks out of the back wall, it didn’t take her but a moment to find an exit. A crack, half a hand in width, gave a view of empty space beyond.
“There’s a tunnel here,” she said, pulling on Stheno’s shoulder and pointing to a crack. “Look!”
Stheno spun, and relief washed over her face. “Move. I can get us through.”
Euryale jumped sideways as Stheno drove her spear into the rock. Her weapon hummed, and the broad head glowed fiercely before the wall exploded, revealing a low but passable tunnel.
“Thank the Fates,” Euryale said, dashing for the exit.
“Or me,” Stheno said as she followed right behind. They left the cave not a moment too soon. The creature stabbed at them both, pulverizing the area they’d been in not even a second before.
Initially, Euryale had simply darted through the tunnel, hunched over and trying not to strike her head on any of the rocky outcroppings. Once they’d gone several dozen yards and were relatively safe, however, she slowed to a stop after they hit a three-way branch.
“Thoughts?”
Stheno shrugged. “The one on the right goes up. At least that’s the direction we want.”
Euryale nodded in agreement. “Sounds good. Maybe our friend will have wandered off by the time we get out of here.”
“You know, that might be something to consider,” she said as they hurried through the tunnel once again.
“What?”
“Making him a friend.”
Euryale laughed with disbelief and for far longer than she intended. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely,” she replied. “Imagine the look on Zeus’s face when you come riding into battle on that.”
“And I suppose you know how to tame it?”
Stheno shook her head but grinned at the same time. “No, but I know how to dream.”
The wall shattered next to them as an armor-plated limb tore into the tunnel, missing Euryale’s head by a few inches. It disappeared as fast as it had come, and both gorgons took off as fast as they could.
“Gods, that’s a persistent thing,” Stheno griped. “You’d think it’d learn after I stabbed it the first time.”
“Or you only made it more determined,” Euryale said.
They continued up the tunnel, the creature managing to burst through a couple more times before the passageway rose sharply. Euryale ended up having to use her claws to help find enough holds to keep herself moving. The rise lasted a couple of dozen yards, and when they reached the top, they found themselves in a cave wide enough to hold a small town. Small holes dotted the ceiling, each no bigger than a few feet across, and each showing nothing more than thunder clouds looming overhead. Though Euryale didn’t care much for them, she did take note of a larger opening on the far side of the cave that overlooked Chaos.
“I’ll see where we are,” Euryale said. “Stay here.”
“Are you sure? That thing could be right there, waiting to pluck you out.”
“I know, but we need to get to that flower
, and the only way to do that without blindly wandering the tunnels is to take a peek.”
“Right. Be fast.”
Euryale nodded and quietly slipped across the cavern floor, approaching the opening from the side. When she finally reached the entrance, she could only see the infinite waters of Chaos raging below.
“I think it’s gone,” she said after nearly a minute. She then cautiously leaned out. Above, nothing. When she looked below, however, her heart nearly burst from her chest with joy. The flower was there on a ledge, maybe eight feet beneath them.
“Stheno! It’s here! I can practically touch it from where I’m at!”
Stheno hadn’t a prayer of hearing her thanks to the constant roar of Chaos, but she clearly saw the look of elation on Euryale’s face and sprinted toward her. About halfway through the cave, something grabbed her attention from above. Her head snapped up just in time to see the ceiling above her collapse.
Stheno dashed sideways, narrowly avoiding being crushed as the monster came crashing down. It caught itself on a dozen feet and shook its twin wolf heads for a split second before directing each one at one of the gorgon sisters.
“Run for the tunnel!” Euryale said, backing. But she didn’t get far, as there was nowhere for her to go, save jumping out the small mouth of the cave. “I’ll be fine.”
Stheno kept her focus on the creature and brought her spear up. “I’m not leaving you.”
The monster cut the conversation short as it whipped its tail at Euryale, forcing her to dive across the ground to avoid being impaled by its barb. At the same time, the creature twisted around and pounced on Stheno.
Like her sister, Stheno’s reflexes kept her alive. Unlike her sister, however, the gorgon opted to take the fight to the creature instead of using a more defensive strategy. Her legs launched her forward with speed that surprised even her, and before the monster smashed its claws into the ground, Stheno had already darted between its limbs and used her spear to slash a deep wound across its flank.
A thick, tar-like substance spewed out of the thing, sizzling through every inch of rock it touched.
“Mind the blood!” Stheno yelled, spinning to avoid being scorched and stabbing the monster yet again.
The creature thrashed wildly before simply falling in a heap, trying to crush its tormentor. Stheno bolted out of the way with ease, but when it snapped its tail around, she never saw it coming. The blow struck her across the back of the head, sending her tumbling across the cavern floor in one direction and her spear scattering in the other.
Euryale bellowed and charged. With the monster’s back to her, she easily reached it without trouble and launched herself up his side, clawing her way up the thick fur that covered its neck.
The monster snapped its head to the side and tried biting her, but she’d already climbed enough that it couldn’t reach. It snarled and violently thrashed about, but the gorgon held on, even managed to climb a few feet more.
It may have been big, but it had nothing on Typhon.
The creature bucked and spun. When it stopped to see if its attempts at throwing Euryale were successful, the gorgon made her next move. She scrambled up one of the thing’s faces, and before it could react, she stabbed it in the eye with a clawed hand.
A blood-curdling howl came from its mouths as it staggered sideways. More viscous, steaming goo burst from the wound. Most of it flew onto the walls and floor, but a fist-sized portion hit Euryale in the arm.
Euryale screamed as waves of agony shot through her. Flesh turned black and hardened. She instinctively let go, and when she hit the ground, she had the presence of mind to roll before the monster trampled her.
“Euryale, get up,” her sister said. “We’ve got to go.”
Euryale shook the pain off as best she could. Stheno’s voice sounded far more panicked than she’d ever heard before, and when she regained her focus, she immediately saw why.
The monster, though it had staggered off a couple of dozen yards, was healing before their very eyes. New tissue quickly knitted the gaping wounds closed and reformed the eye Euryale had taken, and in a matter of seconds, the creature hadn’t even the slightest hint of a scar upon it.
“We can’t fight that,” Euryale said, backing.
“No kidding,” Stheno replied, following. She then shot a half grin and chuckled. “All the more reason we really need to make him our pet.”
The creature dropped its heads and crouched. It drew back its lips into a pair of bloodthirsty snarls as rust-colored saliva dripped from its mouths.
“You run back to the tunnel, and I’ll lead it away,” Stheno whispered. “You can grab the flower when we’re gone. I’ll meet you back at the chariot.”
Euryale shook her head. “You’ll never make it.”
“I will,” she said.
Euryale shook her head again, knowing she was lying. It didn’t matter what spear she carried or how much faster she’d become thanks to it, that thing that stood before them would need at least another Olympian to take down, if not two or three. Even then…
“Go. Now!” Stheno said, shoving her sister to the rear.
Euryale had yet to regain her balance when four arrows zipped through the air from above, two striking each head at the base of the skull. A split second later, a guttural cry filled the air, and Ares, God of War, flew out of the hole above them, spear held firmly overhead with both hands.
“How long can you last, foul beast?” Ares shouted as he drove his spear right through the creature’s spine.
Three more arrows zipped in, two striking the monster in separate eyes, and the third blasting straight through its chest. The creature howled and stumbled under the onslaught of Artemis’s arrows and Ares’s relentless pounding. Though its scalding, sticky blood coated rock and god alike, Ares didn’t seem to care. If anything, the smoke that rose from his skin only enraged the deity further.
“Yes!” Stheno cried, snapping out of her trance and rushing to rejoin the fight. By the time Euryale attacked as well, her sister had already scooped up her spear and was tearing into the monster’s innards with repeated strikes of her spear.
“Ha! Look at you, gorgon!” Ares shouted, face beaming with pride. “Hacking away with all the vengeance of the Furies! I love it!”
Stheno didn’t reply, verbally at least, but the smile that grew on her face went from ear to ear, and she struck harder and faster, spilling the tar-like blood by the gallon while staying clear of its burning effects.
Euryale, knowing the monster would heal in short order, was working on a way to hopefully finish the thing once and for all. She raced up the creature’s side as it threw itself into the walls and whipped its tail through the air, desperate to fend off its attackers. When she reached its upper back where its wings attached, she shredded the webbing between the bones in each one.
“A potter from Athens fights stronger than you!” Ares laughed as he tore through one of the monster’s snouts.
In response, the other head snapped at the god, managing to bite down on his legs and toss him through the air.
Ares hit the back wall with a thud. Though grievous wounds covered his legs, he wasn’t slowed. Not in the least. At least, not until the damage he’d inflicted started to heal. The god skidded to a stop, eyes wide, and jaw dropped. “What insanity is this?”
“It can heal!” Euryale shouted, still tearing into the monster’s wings. By now they were torn to ribbons, and while she feared it wouldn’t be enough, she also knew she didn’t have much time before they’d come back together as well. “Ares, I need you to toss him!”
“Toss him?”
“Out the cave!” she shouted, nodding at the entrance. “Into Chaos!”
“Yes! Into Chaos you go,” he growled.
The God of War bolted forward, and within a few strides, he was back in the fray. Stheno kept cutting into the creature’s legs, maiming each with a strike or two, and Artemis let loose arrow after arrow with deadly precision, takin
g eyes and striking vitals.
Though Stheno backed off when Ares took hold of the monster, grabbing it by one of its ruined legs, Euryale kept ravaging the wings, even when he started to drag it forward.
The creature shrieked and barked, all the while trying to fight off its assailants. And though its bones knitted and its tissue reformed, it couldn’t undo the damage faster than it came. Its body weakened and collapsed right as Ares reached the mouth of the cave.
“You’d best jump, gorgon,” he said with a hearty laugh. “Lest you want to make Alex a widower.”
Euryale took one last swipe with her claws at the wings, carving a two-foot gash in what was already nothing but tatters, and leaped off the monster’s back right as Ares gave it a heave. He threw it with such force that even though it was too large for the exit, it flew out the mouth of the cave, taking a massive amount of rock along with it.
The gorgon raced to the exit in time to see the creature fall into the raging waters of Chaos. Other than a brief flash of light and a few extra strikes of lightning, nothing else happened once it disappeared.
“Is it gone?” Stheno asked as she leaned on her spear and caught her breath. “I mean, for good this time.”
Euryale, still keeping watch, nodded after a few seconds. “It’s gone.”
“Smile, gorgon,” Ares said, clapping her heartily on the back. “You’re far too glum for such a decisive victory.”
Chapter Botanical Extractions
Zeus pulled his chariot to a stop and eyed the narrow pass to Chaos. He’d only been here twice before, but the foreboding image of it that had burned into his mind thousands of years ago hadn’t changed.
“Is something the matter?” asked Poseidon, standing at his side, trident gripped firmly in hand. “You’ve said little this entire trip.”
“I fear we’re about to cross a point of no return,” Zeus admitted, eyes gazing out to infinity.
A Storm of Blood and Stone (Myths of Stone Book 3) Page 26