“Go pack, and don’t come home until it’s safe.”
She hugs me again, even tighter than before. “Be careful. Don’t let anything happen to yourself.”
I nod, and pull away from her. “Leave tonight, before everything starts. I’ll see you when this is all over.” But she might not see me…
The others don’t look angry when I tell them I went to see my mom, they just look confused. “Why not wait until after the war to tell her?” Morgan asks, frowning. “If you die during this fight, she’ll lose you all over again.”
“I know, but I had a chance to tell her that I still loved her, no matter that Harry drove us apart. She needed to know that I love her, and that I’ve forgiven her for the last few years. I would never have forgiven myself if I didn’t tell her now. Plus, I told her to pack some things and get out of town for the time being.”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Chloe says. “She might blab to someone, and then we’ll have a crisis on our hands. And trust me a crisis is the last thing we need when we’re preparing to go to war with ancient, evil moon goddesses.”
“I know, but there’s a very real chance that I’ll be dead by the time this war is over, and I wanted to tell my mom that I love her before that happens. Now, if we’re done here, we should probably head back to the Immortal Realms.”
“Austin’s working on the portal right now,” Chloe says, looking at him. His face is scrunched up in concentration, and his upper lip is starting to sweat. “I’m not even sure why we came home if we’re just going back within like an hour.”
“Not all of us are going back,” Morgan says, surprising me. “Tara and I have decided to stay and train with the other residents. We wanna be helpful in this war, and we’re not yet. Carlos is gonna show us how to shoot a bow like you. This way we won’t be helpless when the fighting starts, and we might even be able to help get rid of the sirens.”
I look at Tara. “Are you really staying? I can’t protect you from the Immortal Realms. What if something happens? I won’t be able to get back to you to save you.”
“Carlos is going to be keeping a close eye on the two of us. Don’t worry Kylie; we’ll be surrounded by Protectors at all times. Nobody is going to get near enough to hurt us. Just go. Save the world.” She smiles. “If anyone can do it, it’s you.”
I hug her and Morgan goodbye, and follow Austin and Kaven back through the portal. When I step out, I find myself by the waterfall in Selene’s Eternal Gardens. I glance at Kaven out of the corner of my eyes, and I feel my cheeks begin to burn. He chuckles, wraps his arm around my waist, and walks beside me.
Instead of Selene, it’s Pandia that greets us. She smiles when she sees me. “I see the others have decided to stay behind. Are they training?”
I nod. “Yes. So it’s just the four of us,” I say, looking at Chloe, Austin, and Kaven. “What do you need us for? A dangerous mission behind enemy lines, a rescue mission, training sessions, what?”
“Right now, I need you four to help me act as ambassadors. We’re going to be hopefully recruiting some help for the war. My mother would like us to visit with the pegasus horses, the griffins, and the merfolk. She hopes that with their help, we might stand a chance.”
“I get it. The pegasus and the griffins to act as steeds in battle, and the merfolk to help fight those nasty sirens.”
Pandia nods. “Something like that. Though the griffin usually don’t allow riders on their backs. But it doesn’t matter, because they’re just as skilled by themselves. So far Achlys and her group don’t have any air help that we know of. If we can get the griffins to help, we might get the upper hand. Are you all ready to go?”
“Yes.”
“Where do you need a portal opened to?” Austin asks, already scrunching up his face in concentration.
“Thank you but that won’t be necessary. I’m just going to transport us there myself. My strength has fully recovered since my ordeal, and I’m perfectly capable of doing it. Just take my hands.”
I take her outstretched hand. Kaven takes my free hand, and Austin takes Chloe’s and Pandia’s free hands. When the five of us are joined together, Pandia teleports us away from the Gardens, and we vanish in a burst of silver light. For the first time, I don’t have the urge to throw up when we land. The others do, however, and Pandia and I give them a moment.
When I look around, it takes me only a few seconds to recognize the bluffs. They’re similar to the place Pandia was held captive, and I look at her. “The griffins first?”
She nods. “Yes, the griffins first.”
When the others have recovered from the traveling, they follow us along the top of the bluffs. Chloe is careful to stick close to Austin’s side, and I smile. She notices me watching the two of them and she blushes.
“Hurry,” Pandia says. “The griffins are probably expecting us, and I don’t want to keep them waiting any longer than I have to.”
“The griffins are expecting us?” I ask, a little surprised. “Aren’t they supposed to be like mindless creatures? They don’t actually think, do they?”
“Yes, they do think. They won’t be able to understand your speech, but they hear the gods just fine. I often care for their sick and wounded. Their stories and history are fascinating, and I find myself listening to them for hours. I’m sure the griffins will be willing to help us in this war.”
It takes us almost ten minutes to reach the griffin nests, but it’s worth every second to see these magnificent creatures up close like this. They stand a head and shoulders taller than even Kaven and their feathers are golden or reddish in color. Their wings are massive, more than eighteen feet in width, and they curl up against their backs while they’re on the ground.
A golden feathered female preens herself as we approach, and she gives a happy sounding squawk when she sees Pandia. Several small nestlings that are no larger than a medium-sized dog rush forward to meet her, and she scoops one up in her arms. It nuzzles her neck, and she croons at it for a minute, before putting him down.
“My friends, I am in dire need of your help. The fight for the moon is about to begin, and in just two day’s time, Achlys will cross over to Earth with her army, and everyone will perish. I know that this is not your fight, and I hate to ask this of you, but I have no other options: I need your help. Will you fight with me?”
The largest griffin steps forward, flapping his reddish wings, and he screams. I have no idea what he says, but Pandia smiles in return. She looks over her shoulder at us and nods.
“The male griffins will stand alongside us in battle, but the females are staying here to keep their young safe in case the fight should spill back over into the Immortal Realms.” She bows low to the red feathered griffin. “Thank you, I will not forget this. I will be forever in your debt.”
She motions for us to leave, and Chloe frowns. “That’s it? All you had to do was ask and they agreed to help us? Is it going to be that easy with the merfolk and the pegasus horses?”
“I doubt it,” Pandia says. “The pegasus might be willing to help, but the merfolk are very strict and law abiding people. They do nothing on a whim, and it will probably take them some time to reach a decision on whether or not to help us. My mother has tried reaching them several times since Kylie was sent back, but they have refused to speak with her so far. I doubt our luck will be any better.”
“So where do we go next?” Chloe asks.
“Pegasus’ first. They’re closer, and I think they’re more likely to say yes.”
We join hands, and we vanish in a burst of silver light. When we land, we’re in a patch of bright wildflowers. I see roses and daffodils everywhere, and I inhale, hoping it’ll calm my stomach. I haven’t thrown up yet, but I feel the urge. The flowers seem to be helping the others as well, and we don’t have to wait long for them.
Pandia looks at us. “I want Chloe and Austin to come with me, and I want you and Kaven to stay here for now. The pegasus are typically very timid, and
you two are armed to the teeth, and you also look more imposing. I’m afraid they’ll run from you two, and I don’t have time to chase them down again.”
I can see the herd of pegasus a couple hundred yards away, and I nod. “Alright, just stay in sight, please,” I say, looking at her. “I don’t like being out here all exposed and vulnerable. I pissed off Achlys recently, and I’d like to be safe in the Gardens by nightfall.”
Pandia nods, and Chloe and Austin follow her over to the herd. They’re all grazing, and I take a moment to study them. They’re much smaller than the griffins, standing shoulder to shoulder with Kaven, and their wings are only about twelve feet wide. They’re much more colorful however. I see gray, white, black, chestnut, palomino, roan, and buckskin horses. They’re all beautiful, and I have the strongest urge to hop on the back of one of them and just fly away from everything.
Pandia reaches the herd, and they all shy away from her at first. It takes her a moment of patient coaxing and pleading to get them to even sit still long enough to listen to her, and it sounds like she has to repeat herself several times before she gets an answer. Minutes pass as they think things through, and Pandia waist anxiously for their decision.
Finally, a gray one stands on its hind legs and whinnies loudly. Pandia bows her head and backs away from the herd, motioning for Chloe and Austin to do the same. They bow stiffly, and hurry after Pandia when she turns to leave.
“Well, how did it go?”
Pandia smiles. “We’re two for two so far. I just hope our luck continues with the merfolk, though I’m sure it won’t.”
She extends her hands, and we take them, readying ourselves for the journey to the merfolk. I close my eyes, and take a deep breath.
Chapter Eighteen
The merfolk live in a colony along a reef in the ocean to the left of Mount Olympus. Pandia makes a similar request like she did with the pegasus’, only this time she wants Austin and Chloe to stay behind and hide, because the merfolk are strong warriors that only respect other warriors, and she thinks Kaven and I will be our best chance for getting their attention and help.
When we reach the edge of the beach nearly fifty yards from where we left Austin and Chloe, Pandia turns to us. “Here. Eat these,” she says, shoving something sticky at us. “It’ll allow you to breathe and talk underwater for a short amount of time. You’ll need them if we’re to visit the merfolk.”
I take the sticky substance in my hand, and I’m surprised to see it looks like a glob of bluish putty. It’s warm, and it starts to seep through my fingers. “We have to stick this in our mouth?” I ask, frowning at her. “What if I can’t get it down?”
“It’s not getting it down you have to worry about,” she says with a chuckle. “It’s keeping it from coming back up. Just eat it quick, Kylie. After everything you’ve done, eating this should be a piece of cake. Trust me.”
Kaven and I glance uncertainly at one another, and I shrug, before taking a deep breath and popping the putty in my mouth. It takes like a mixture of salt, honey, and mud, but I force it down. It’s sticky and it clings to my throat on the way down, and I have to clear my throat twice to get it to go all the way down.
When Kaven and I both have it down, we wade into the ocean after Pandia. The water is ice cold and it sends shooting stabs of pain up my legs, but I try and ignore it. We have more important things to worry about than the temperature of the water. “Holy shit this is cold,” Kaven mutters, wading in up to his elbows. “How far out are they?”
“Not too far. The reef is only about two miles from the shore.”
“What about Chloe and Austin? We can’t just leave them here alone. What if something happens to the two of them?”
“Nothing will happen, I promise. There are two pegasus’ circling overhead, waiting to ferry them away if trouble arises. They’ll be safe while we’re gone, Kylie. You should stop worrying so much. You’ll have a head of gray hair before you’re thirty.”
“I’ll never look thirty.”
She shakes her head, and dives under the water. Kaven and I follow her, and the frigid water draws all the air from my lungs and my first instinct is to panic wildly. The only thing that stops me is that I can still breathe. I can feel the water going into my mouth, and coming out as air. I’m breathing under the water, just like a fish, and it’s the coolest thing ever.
Kaven and I swim after Pandia. Her entire body glows with a faint silver light, illuminating everything in the darkness of the bottom of the ocean. Strange fish I’ve never dreamed of swim by, giving us cautious looks as we swim by. A particularly strange orange one with purple glowing spots swims alongside us for a hundred yards or so, until it gets bored and finds something else to do.
We swim down beside a deep trench, and Pandia stops us. She points at something inside the trench and, when I look down, I gasp. Below us is a city made entirely under the water, with streets, and homes, and fences, and even light. From our place near the top of the trench, I can see merfolk swimming from place to place, just like a human would walk down the street.
“Alright, you guys,” Pandia says, startling me with the clarity of her voice. “When we get down there, try not to speak until I’ve introduced the two of you as the warriors you are. If they think you’re spineless peaceful people, they may decide to kill you.”
“What?” Kaven yelps. “You can’t be serious? How could you not tell us this before we got into the water? Are you so ok with risking our lives that you’d neglect to mention something so important?”
“We don’t have a choice here!” Pandia snaps, glaring at Kaven. “We either speak to the merfolk and recruit them as allies, or fall prey to the sirens when Achlys attacks. I seem to recall you having a problem fighting them before. Am I right?”
Something touches the back of my leg, and I shake it off, annoyed by all the vegetation down here. When it touches me again, I try to kick it off, only to have something slice through my skin, burying itself in my thigh. Before I can even scream, I’m being ripped away from the trench and hauled through the ocean by something I can’t see.
“Kylie!” Kaven shouts.
He swims for me, but I can already tell he won’t be able to catch up with me in time. Twisting around, I look for my enemy, and find myself face-to-face with a monstrous giant squid. Its eye is the size of my hand, and its tentacles have to be over a hundred and fifty feet long each. That’s what’s wrapped around my thigh, and there’s a hook in the suction cup. It’s torn right through my jeans, and I try to yank myself away.
Suddenly, Pandia is beside me with a silver spear in her hands, and she jabs at the creature’s eye. Its grip tightens, and I bring my dagger out of my boot, slashing at the tentacle wrapped around my thigh. My sharp dagger severs the tentacle, and it starts to leak a thick, purplish blood.
I float away from the giant squid, and Kaven’s arms wrap around my waist, keeping me from joining in on the fight. When several of the tentacles rip Pandia’s spear from her hands and wrap around her tightly, I kick him away and swim for her. I have only my dagger with me, but I swim straight for the creature anyways.
I can’t be afraid when Pandia’s life might be in danger. I’m not sure if she can be killed by this monster, but I can’t afford to find out. If she dies down here, we’ll never get an audience with the merfolk and our fight me over before it really gets a chance to start.
The squid regards me with one calm eye; it doesn’t consider me a threat, which is its second mistake. It’s first was attacking us in the first place, and I’m about to show it the error if its ways.
I swim straight at it, and plunge my dagger into the squid’s soft body. I grab a tentacle to anchor me in place, and I stab the squid four more times before it releases a still struggling Pandia. When she’s free, she grabs her spear again. The squid speeds away, fleeing from more pain and danger.
“Kylie, are you alright?” Kaven asks, holding me close.
“I’m fine.” I let him stroke my hair
for a minute, murmuring sweet nothings in my ear, while Pandia collects herself. “We should probably get going,” I say. “Chloe and Austin can’t wait forever.”
We swim behind Pandia. This time she doesn’t stop at the top of the trench. She proceeds down to the bottom, where the merfolk city awaits us. As we get closer, I get my first good look at the merfolk we’re here to recruit.
They’re not the beautiful people of legend that are half fish and half inhumanly beautiful person. They have slightly human faces, with squashed in noses, sharp teeth, pointed ears, and gills on either side of their necks. Their arms are heavily muscled, and they have fins growing off the sides.
Their skin is a light greenish color, and it seems to glow. The fish half starts just above where the navel would be on a normal person and their tails look scaly and slimy, and they’re all the same ugly shade of yellowish green. Their hair is wild, unruly, and the same shade of black. Most of the merfolk look the exact same as the one standing next to them. The only thing that marks one as different from another are the colorful sashes that some wear.
Only the merfolk carrying weapons have them, and it must be some kind of ranking system. Blue sashes are the most common, followed by purple, followed by orange, and then by red. I see only one black sash, and it’s on the largest merman of all–the one that happens to be swimming over to meet us.
“Why have you come here, daughter of Selene?” The merman with the black sash looks incredibly fit, with a long scar running across the lower part of his jaw. He looks intimidating, and I wonder if he’s the merfolk chieftain Pandia told us about earlier.
“I’m in need of your help, honorable chieftain. The moon is under attack, and my mother is hoping that you will stand with us and fight against Achlys and those that aid her. Our army could truly use such great warriors as yourselves.”
“Why should the merfolk get involved with the moon goddesses? The moon is of no importance to us this far below the ocean. Why should we be willing to risk our lives for you and your mother?”
Protector (Daray Hall #2) Page 15