The Immortal Game

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The Immortal Game Page 13

by Talia Rothschild


  Galene whistled at the sea horses, urging them to resist getting pulled into the eye of the storm. The others struggled along beside her, mounts swimming as hard as they could toward the outskirts of the maelstrom.

  “Galene!” Iyana cried. “It’s already too strong!”

  Galene heaved on the waters, but her grasp suddenly seemed miniscule, her ability swallowed in Charybdis’s might.

  Her hands shook, and she clenched the sea horse’s mane tighter. Her mind raced, flooding with thoughts and ideas that she discarded as the tides grew in strength.

  The horses shrieked, fueling her fear.

  “Galene!” Iyana’s scream pierced her.

  Galene shielded herself against a spray of water, then looked toward the center of the storm. The roiling white waters sloped away, curving down into a yawning, dark hole.

  A cold wave struck from behind. Kostas let out a yell as his sea horse reared. He slipped, tumbling off its back and into the surging waters.

  “No!” Galene dove after him.

  Willing the biting water to push her faster along its spiral, she reached him, seizing him around the chest and pulling him up to the surface. She wiped the water from her eyes, looking for the others.

  The rest of the sea horses had fled with the first. Braxtus, Iyana, and Demitri all swam, fighting to keep from being pulled under. They lurched, the currents dragging them all in a tighter spiral toward the abyssal darkness.

  Kostas grasped her arm, kicking furiously to stay afloat. “Galene! You can stop this!”

  “I—” She pulled at the currents again, trying to make just a pocket of calm around them, but the storm crashed right through it.

  How could she tell him she couldn’t?

  Another powerful lurch of water caught them. Her fingers slipped and Kostas ripped away from her, sweeping directly into the funnel of the storm.

  Kostas! Horrified, she battered the waters, pitching, trying to keep herself upright. Braxtus shouted, striking out after his best friend. Within seconds, his head disappeared in a blur of white. Demitri went careening after them.

  Iyana looked at her in panic—then she, too, was sucked into the raging tides.

  A dry sob escaped her throat. Not knowing what else to do, she let the storm pull her under to follow her friends.

  Galene was snatched, pummeled by thousands of pounds of seething water. Tumbling and reeling, she lost all sense of direction. She could see nothing but white fury, hear only the roar of a million rushing waters. Her skin stung with the whips of the fierce, hungry whirlpool.

  Salty water swirled in her mouth and nose, a choking mixture of water and bubbles. Her lungs shuddered as they attempted to switch back and forth between water and air, causing an agonizing ache to build in her ribs and chest.

  Fear like nothing she had ever experienced swallowed her whole. For the first time in her life, she could not breathe.

  Her body convulsed as she attempted again and again to suck in a breath, but all she could inhale was the frothing swirl that hurt. She tried to clear her mind, to reach out to the sea, but sucked in another painful breath and panic resurged. She tried again. Her throat burned and her lungs screamed. Dizziness threw dark spots into her vision. I can’t do this, I can’t …

  But you have to, another voice inside her said. Your friends are suffocating, too.

  The thought came down like a hammer. Somewhere, tossed around her, they were dying.

  I have to.

  She forced herself to ignore the fire in her chest and the pounding in her brain.

  Mentally she reached out, past the surging, churning waters, until she sensed the steady current of the sea beyond. With a monumental effort, she pushed off it.

  Lurching backward, her body broke through a swirling wall of water into air, then plummeted through the empty eye of the maelstrom.

  Heart in her throat, she dropped toward the base of the funnel, a dark, gaping abyss stretching out below. Gagging on the last of the stinging water, she gasped, the full weight of her situation striking her.

  Somewhere in that darkness at the bottom of the sea, the monster sucked in hungrily.

  Galene flung out her arms to gain control of the water swirling around her. It spilled from the maelstrom’s walls, filling the base of the funnel. She yanked the water up as fast as she could. It rose in a column, then stretched up as fingers, ready to catch her.

  She braced herself for impact, then crashed into it. Hard.

  Every inch of her burned. The water below started spiraling out into the whirlpool again, and her stomach heaved as she dropped toward the creature’s mouth.

  She grasped at the tides. Stop!

  The water around her stilled. Gritting her teeth, she pictured her friends’ faces. I can do this. I have to do this.

  She shoved against the water below her and shot up through the pillar until she was out in the air again. Spitting the water from her lungs, she threw out her arms, feeling the roiling storm.

  I am the daughter of Poseidon, God of the Seas.

  The words vibrated through her.

  I will save my friends. I will clear my name.

  The strength of the maelstrom rose around her power, threatening to overshadow it.

  I will tame the sea.

  She seized the speeding currents.

  A scream tore through her lips as she felt the full force of the maelstrom crash onto her, the water’s momentum hitting her like a mountain. She fought to reverse Charybdis’s tides, but it felt like she was holding back a great, toppling wall.

  Wind howled down through the tunnel, snatching her hair and tunic, spitting water at her. She pinned her eyes shut. The enormous pressure built, raging to be set free as Galene battled to bring peace. Nature pushed back with all the logic and strength of the universe.

  No! She drew upon every drop of her ability, power coursing through her, tearing at her.

  The currents slowed, then stopped.

  Galene opened her eyes. For a fraction of a moment she marveled at the storming waters, frozen like glass.

  Then she shoved with all her might.

  Galene screamed again. The waters surged backward, the resulting tidal waves crashing away. The pressure around her released, and she tumbled into darkness.

  19

  KOSTAS

  The world rocked.

  The motion pulled Kostas from the brink of unconsciousness, forcing him to again acknowledge his fast-approaching end.

  He’d stayed on the outskirts of the maelstrom, sometimes tossed into clearer waters before he was sucked back into the funnel. The occasional breath had been just enough to keep him from blacking out. He’d caught glimpses of the others as they streaked past him with flaming orange auras of panic, but could do nothing as they’d ripped around the circle toward Charybdis’s jaws.

  Kostas choked again and again, and a new tongue of flames erupted through his chest. His vision flashed. Make it stop. Just make it stop. He gasped again and …

  Cool, soothing liquid filled his lungs to the brim.

  His mind sharpened. He took another breath. Easy.

  Kostas tested the motion of his limbs and found no resistance.

  His eyes shot open. The sea thrummed with settling waters, rocking him. But the maelstrom was gone.

  In a rough circle above the seafloor, his friends floated, bodies convulsing.

  Where’s Charybdis? He raked his gaze over the rocks below, but there was no sign of the monster. He struck out for Braxtus.

  “Kostas!” Utter relief flooded his best friend’s face, so strong the emotion slammed into him. They met halfway and embraced. “That was … that was…” He swallowed and clutched his chest. “Why aren’t we dead?”

  “Galene!” Kostas whirled, searching, but around him were only three still-terrified auras. “Where is she?”

  “There!” Braxtus pointed down.

  Galene floated below them, only feet from the jagged seafloor. She was a swirl of dark hai
r, limp and still.

  She had no aura.

  Fear seized Kostas and he dove. “Galene!”

  What had she done for them? What kind of energy had the feat taken from her? He kicked harder, scooping water to propel him toward her.

  The rocks below them shifted, then rumbled.

  Those aren’t rocks.

  An enormous crack split the earth, slowly opening to a dark maw.

  The abyss gaped just below Galene, the monster’s teeth grinding apart.

  Panic clenched his heart. Faster. He reached out to Galene and caught her arm. She didn’t respond.

  Above him, Iyana screamed. “Galene!” She dove toward them.

  Kostas seized Galene around the waist and kicked.

  Not daring to look back at Charybdis’s widening jaws, he held Galene close to him, swimming with every fiber of strength that remained in his body.

  “Swim!” Demitri yelled from ahead. “Swim, damn it!”

  Iyana caught up, seizing one of Galene’s arms to help tow her deadweight through the water. Kostas just swam. He wasn’t even sure if Galene was still alive, but he had to get her to safety. All of them had to get out of there. Now.

  Another vibration jarred the waters followed by a deafening, hungry moan.

  “Faster!”

  “Where are the horses?”

  Kostas gritted his teeth. His lungs strained, his arms and legs already aching. Iyana kept pace with him, breathing heavily.

  A sound like an earthquake deafened them, the sea around him pulsing with the force of it. How large was Charybdis? How far had they even been able to travel from the maelstrom?

  Not far enough.

  A sharp whistle cut through the waters.

  Kostas didn’t know if the others were close above him, or behind. Just swim, just swim.

  Galene didn’t stir. He wasn’t even sure he could feel her breathing.

  Please, he begged the Fates. Please, let her have survived. Please let us survive.

  The water thrummed by his ear, and he cried out a second before shining scales and pearly fins jumped into his vision. The sea horses.

  His heart didn’t slow as one of the creatures swerved in front of him. Together, he and Iyana pushed Galene on its back. He threw himself on behind her. “Go!”

  Iyana leapt onto her own steed, and Braxtus and Demitri appeared beside him, riding their own horses. They shot off, and he lurched forward, putting his arms around Galene to seize the mane in front of her.

  “Is everyone all right?” he yelled over the growing thunder behind them.

  “Is she all right?” Iyana cried.

  Kostas couldn’t answer. The sea horses tore through the waters, and after a few deep breaths, he allowed himself to look back.

  A dark shadow rose from clouds of rock and sand. All he could make out was a massive, wormlike shape and a huge, gaping black mouth. Charybdis roared.

  * * *

  THEY DIDN’T STOP until the monster was less than a speck behind them. The sea horses pulled up on the green seafloor, so deep the surface was barely visible.

  Kostas had found a pulse in Galene’s wrist and assured the others that she was alive, but his chest was still tight with worry. He kept his arms around her, throwing a leg over the horse to dismount. He lowered Galene, cradling her as Iyana and the others rushed over.

  “Is she waking?” Iyana touched Galene’s face, pushing her flowing hair back so she could examine it.

  Kostas shook his head.

  “She stopped it.” Braxtus gaped down at her. “She reversed the entire maelstrom.”

  Demitri whistled, the sound carrying well underwater, and Kostas realized it must have been him who called the sea horses. “That was an incredible display of power.”

  “It almost killed her.” Iyana retied one of Galene’s sandals, hands trembling.

  Kostas brushed more of Galene’s hair away. “Her body and mind have to recover. She’ll sleep as long as she needs to.”

  Iyana looked like she was fighting tears, but nodded. After a few seconds of heavy silence, she retreated into Demitri’s embrace. “I thought we were dead.”

  Braxtus’s face crumpled, and Kostas felt the same trauma, fear, and disbelief radiating from each of them. Demitri reined it in admirably, but his aura couldn’t fool Kostas. They were all wrecked and shaken.

  He held Galene tighter, discovering comfort in her closeness and warmth, in her light, liquid breath he could feel on his face. Her Trial had made it clear that she wielded enormous power, but this was a new level.

  Kostas thought of her diving into the maelstrom after him, how she’d gripped him, horror and fright enveloping every part of her—her face, her aura, her emotions that swelled against him, that he felt with her.

  She’d been through so much, too much, in the last few days. Looking at her peaceful face, he was glad that—despite the nightmare they just went through—at least now she would have time to properly rest.

  “What do we do now?”

  Kostas looked to Braxtus, then Demitri and Iyana. They were all quiet, but their eyes kept going back to Kostas. He cleared his throat. “‘Sink beneath the horizon to the realm below. Hold the course, through surviving the insatiable thirst.’”

  “We’ve done that.” Braxtus shuddered.

  “We’ve traveled a long way,” Demitri said, looking back. “Do you think we passed the next marker?”

  More worry tainted their auras.

  “It couldn’t have been too close to Charybdis,” Kostas thought out loud, adjusting Galene in his arms. “You’d get sucked into the maelstrom just trying to read it. The follower of the riddle was supposed to pass the maelstrom underwater at a safe distance, then continue on the path.”

  “But for how long?” Braxtus asked.

  Kostas shook his head. “The riddle is placed for people to find and follow it. The obstacles are to trap any unwanted pursuers of the avyssos, but the markers wouldn’t be hidden. The sea horses have kept us on the southeastern course we’ve been following, so … I say we keep going. We should find it.”

  “Should.” Demitri crossed his arms but didn’t say more.

  Kostas looked to each of them for their thoughts. No one said anything for or against the idea.

  Finally, Iyana said, “I’ll gather some of this seaweed for rations. We should eat now and be sure to have some for Galene when she wakes. We don’t know what’s coming next.”

  They didn’t linger, all of them agreeing they still felt too close to that monster. He mounted, holding Galene in front of him again. Though they rode fast through the waters, it was clear none of them were too eager to get to the next challenge.

  20

  GALENE

  Her muscles ached.

  It was the first thing she became aware of. Her whole body pulsed with it, and her mind immediately tried to submerge her back in sleep. She nearly let it, but then she noticed the rocking, and the pressure of an arm around her waist. All thoughts of sleep fled.

  She jolted, eyes flying open, the sudden blue light blinding. Blinking and squinting, she tried to make sense of where she was. A sea horse’s head bobbed in front of her, and the open sea stretched ahead. She looked down. There was indeed an arm around her waist—dark-skinned and strong.

  “Welcome back.” Kostas’s words brushed her ear, sending a shiver through her shoulders and warmth to her cheeks.

  She twisted to look at him. “What … where are we?”

  His dark eyes softened in a smile. “A few days on from Charybdis.”

  Memories flooded back, and an echo of fear resonated through her bones. Charybdis. The maelstrom. She’d almost drowned.

  But I stopped it. Despite herself, a smile sprouted.

  “You should be proud,” Kostas told her, no doubt reading her emotions. “You bested Charybdis’s maelstrom, one of the strongest forces throughout the oceans.” She heard his grin and her smile grew wider.

  “You’re awake!”

&
nbsp; She looked out to see Iyana, Braxtus, and Demitri riding around them, Iyana’s face lit up with a smile.

  “Finally.” Braxtus grinned. “We were starting to worry we’d have to face the next task without you.”

  The next task.

  “Here.” Iyana approached, guiding a riderless horse.

  Kostas’s arm slipped away, and she felt a twang of disappointment as he helped her onto her own horse. Then, remembering he could see and feel her emotions, it turned immediately to embarrassment.

  She ducked her head and avoided his gaze. “So what is the next task? Did you find the next marker?”

  “Not yet, but it has to be along this route somewhere,” Kostas said.

  Galene nodded. They had probably discussed this days ago, and she trusted him. Instead of questioning further, she closed her eyes and reached out, testing her ability. It felt like stretching a sore muscle, but she could sense everything within the tides. She could almost see where the waves of motion were broken up by coral, rocks, and fish. She kept that part of her mind open as they continued on, waiting for something similar to the last markers—smooth, bare rock.

  Staying close to the seafloor, they rode a dozen feet apart from each other, trying to cover more distance in their search. But as the day stretched on, sea life began to disappear, and the waters darkened.

  “What if we don’t find it?” Braxtus asked once.

  No one elected to answer him.

  It was almost too dark to see, when something alerted Galene’s senses. She focused back on the currents as they washed over the seafloor ahead of them.

  “There’s something ahead.” She took the lead, riding toward the mass. It might be nothing. It’s large, and not all of it is smooth …

  They were almost upon it when a golden glint caught her eye. “There!”

  They flew toward it. A giant chunk of granite squatted in the sand. Gold and silver streaks glittered across the surface, and it was haloed with waving plant life, sure to be housing schools of resting fish. Kostas leapt off his mount and swam toward the bare peak, spooking a few creatures out of their holes to dart into the night. Without hesitation, he pressed his hands to its surface.

 

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