“Does everyone have a weapon?” I asked. Compliments could wait. We had to be ready for whatever dangers the Dreamlands might have in store.
Hermes spun a pair of daggers in his hands. Demeter pulled out a lasso and a whip. Justin handed me a bow and quiver. His sword and shield hung on his back.
“Let’s go,” I ordered.
“One last thing,” Justin said.
He knelt down and wrapped his hands around my swollen ankle. I felt a searing heat. I almost cried out. Then Justin pulled away.
I gingerly put my foot on the ground. No pain. I let go of Hermes and shifted my weight onto it. Good as new.
“You can heal now!” I said.
Justin nodded. “Better late than never. Now we can go.”
Justin led us. Hermes replaced Zeus as our rearguard. Demeter and I walked between them. On either side of us, the jungle steamed and writhed. It was like a living thing, full of hopping, skittering, and flying creatures. The humidity was brutal, and soon every step was a feat of strength. Our clothes were drenched with sweat. We were exhausted. But still we trudged on.
There was no warning for the attack. We were too focused on fighting our own exhaustion, and I was too distracted by the looming celestial war.
Fortunately, the volley of stones that rained down on us was poorly aimed, and Justin’s reaction was surprisingly swift. He caught me and sheltered me under his raised shield. Demeter and Hermes were less lucky. One of the stones hit Demeter in the stomach, doubling her over in pain; another struck Hermes in the leg, knocking him to the ground.
Another rain of stones came down--but, this time, Justin was ready. With a defiant shout, he raised his arms, and the road convulsed, shooting up columns of rock whose tops spread out over us like umbrellas. The stone rain clattered off harmlessly.
With another grunt, Justin thrust his hands at the sides of the road. The jungle shimmered and vanished, replaced by cracked, empty badlands. Standing atop the transformed land was a dozen squat, toad-like creatures wielding slings and crude-looking spears.
With a series of angry-sounding croaks, they rushed at us.
Justin raised his hands to meet the oncoming rush, but one of the toads was faster. A well-aimed stone, probably more luck than skill, caught Justin in the side of the head, and he crumpled to the ground.
“Justin!” I yelled. I moved to help him, but Hermes stopped me.
“No time!” he warned.
And he was right. The toads were already upon us, moving with startling speed despite their short, ugly legs.
My bow was useless this close. I hurled it at the nearest toad, smacking it in the face. That gave me enough time to pick up Justin’s sword. It was heavy; I needed two hands to lift it. But I swung and thrust with all my might.
Zeus and Athena had insisted on teaching all the gods to fight, and that prowess had turned the tide in our wars against the Titans, the giants, and our other innumerable enemies--and it’d make all the difference now.
Demeter was far more elegant than my clumsy hacking and slashing. Her lasso and whip were like extensions of her own graceful limbs. Like vines, they snaked across her enemies with almost intelligent purpose. The lasso snagged a spear, quickly disarming the nearest toad, while her whip cracked against its legs, toppling it. Then, with dizzying speed, her whip jerked away and wrapped around the face of another toad, that dropped its weapon to desperately try to free itself. But it was no use. It quickly fell to its knees.
Hermes was a whirlwind of death, dual blades flashing in the beating sun. He dodged and dipped under clumsy spear thrusts, his dagger slicing throats and gashing into eye sockets. The toads fell like grass as he mowed through them. Every blow was fatal. He left only corpses in his wake.
Before long, we were surrounded by the bodies of our ambushers.
“Much easier than scorpion lions,” Hermes observed, panting.
I rushed to Justin’s side. His eyes fluttered open as I gingerly probed the large bump swelling on the side of his head. I helped him up.
Even as we watched, the landscape was changing again. Before long, we stood on a rolling meadow, its soft green grass waving back and forth in a gentle breeze.
“The necklace?” I asked when Justin had finished healing everyone.
Justin checked the compass again. “Close. Very close.”
We followed him through the meadow. Justin started to stumble. He’d drained himself calling constantly on his powers, and he was too proud to ask for help. I slipped my arm around his waist.
“Lean on me,” I ordered.
“I’m fine,” he said, trying to shrug me off.
“You’re exhausted,” I countered. “Don’t be stubborn.”
Sighing, Justin shifted some of his weight onto me. “I should be the one helping you.”
“You are. You’re helping us find the necklace,” I replied.
“I guess,” he admitted. “I just . . . we need someone to make up for Zeus.”
“No one can make up for him,” I replied. And thank the Heavens for that.
Justin didn’t say anything. He just gave me his typical half-smile, the one that always annoyed me because I never knew what it meant.
“Wait. Do you hear that?” I asked.
It was faint. A windy noise, like bellows or a fan.
Justin cocked his head. “Yeah. It’s coming from the same direction as the necklace. We’re almost there. So, what do you think the chances are that this thing is just lying around?”
“What do you mean?” I replied.
“The Oracle said it'd be well-guarded,” Justin reminded me. “I mean, if someone went to the trouble of stealing it in the first place . . .”
“I don’t think we’re up for a fight,” Demeter chimed in, as she and Hermes caught up to us.
“Justin could always--” Hermes began.
But Justin was already shaking his head. “Whatever juice I had, it’s pretty much tapped out.”
Looking at him, I believed it. He’d been unconsciously shifting more and more of his weight onto me as we walked. Pretty soon, it’d be too much for me, and I’d have to get Demeter or Hermes to take over.
“We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just stay alert,” I said, “and stay quiet. With any luck, if we’re careful, we won’t have to fight.”
And then I saw it. It took me a moment to understand how I’d missed something so enormous. It was because I’d mistaken it for a hill.
Ever so ponderously, a brown mass lifted itself from the earth, uncoiling its impossibly long body. It towered over us like a castle. Some kind of gigantic centipede, but instead of insect legs, it had countless writhing tentacles that undulated in the air. Its enormous insectoid head swung towards us, its mandibles clacking together eagerly and its rows of eyes glittering red.
“What is that?” Justin asked.
No one answered. No one knew. We stared at it, horrified and mesmerized at the same time. It stared back.
“We can’t fight that,” Demeter gasped.
But we couldn’t run either. It was too big. It would crush us in seconds.
“What do we do?” Justin asked.
They all turned to look at me.
And then it hit me.
“We’re not dead yet,” I said.
“Yay?” Hermes replied.
I took a good, hard look at the creature. Beyond its huge body. Beyond its jagged mandibles. Beyond its endless tentacles that could easily snatch us before we even knew what was happening.
Instead, I looked at its eyes. Ruby red. Blazing. And . . . intelligent.
Whatever it was, it could think. In fact, it was thinking. It was studying us, just as we were studying it.
It was smart. And it was big. But, with disappointment, I also realized it was evil. There was no mistaking the malice in its eyes. I’d seen that look before. In the eyes of every monster I’d faced. And killed.
We only had one hope.
“What do you wan
t from us?” I demanded.
Its chittering voice came from all around us, like the buzzing drone of cicadas in the summer heat. It made my skin crawl.
“Release me,” it answered.
I went cold.
“I don’t understand,” I replied.
“It has the necklace,” Justin warned.
He pointed, and I saw a dazzling glint of metal underneath the creature as it shifted its massive bulk.
“You’ll give us the necklace if we release you?” I asked.
“Yes,” it responded.
“How do we release you?” I asked. “I don’t see any chains.”
“Not chained. Trapped. Here. In the Dreamlands,” it answered. “The Dreamer can set me free.”
“Can you do it?” I asked Justin.
At first, I thought he hadn’t heard me. He was staring at the monster, eyes locked, completely frozen.
As I started to repeat the question, he answered. “No.”
I cursed silently.
“The Dreamer is too drained,” I explained to the creature.
“Then we will wait,” it replied.
No trace of anger or disappointment. Maybe it didn’t even feel emotions. Or maybe it’d just been here so long, waiting for freedom, that it was willing to wait as long it’d take, especially now that it was so close to getting what it wanted.
“Recharge quickly,” I told Justin.
“It’s not that,” Justin said, his eyes never moving from the monster.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I have enough power,” he admitted.
“Then what’s the problem?” I demanded.
“I can’t let that thing go!” Justin replied.
“You have to,” I said. “It has the necklace. We need it to save our worlds.”
Justin shook his head stubbornly.
“Release it, Justin!” I ordered. “Now!”
“No,” Justin repeated. “It’s evil.”
“When I return to the Heavens, I'll take care of it,” I insisted. “But I have to get there first, and for that to happen, you have to release it.”
“You don’t understand. That thing will destroy everything it touches, everyone it meets,” Justin whispered. His voice was distant, as if his mind were somewhere else. “Here, it’s just another nightmare. But in the real world, it doesn’t have a body. It’s like a disease. Invisible. It’ll spread. Infect everyone. Turn them--”
“Evil,” I finished. I finally knew what this thing was. “It’s a corruption demon. The only one of its kind.”
The creature ignored us. It had a patience reserved only for impossibly powerful things that feared nothing, not even time. Next to it, we were just buzzing gnats.
“Can you destroy it?” I asked.
Justin shook his head. “No one can. That’s why it was trapped here. This was the only way to stop it. We can’t let it loose. It'll destroy the world.”
“How long would we have until it infects everyone?” I asked.
“I don’t know. A month?” he guessed. “Maybe two?”
“Then we have to release it,” I said.
Justin stared at me, horrified. “You don’t know what you’re saying! If you knew--”
“I know,” I said. “Trust me. You set this free? We have time to destroy it. We don’t get the Fates? Ares will eradicate everyone, everyone, in days. And that’s if whoever has the Fates doesn’t do something even worse first.”
“Better an empty world than an evil one,” Justin replied.
“For once, think like a god, not like a mortal,” I argued. “Yes, this thing will kill people. Yes, it will ruin lives. But there will be survivors. Which is better than the alternative.”
“I won’t sacrifice innocent people,” Justin insisted.
“Think about the big picture!” I said. "Every person, innocent or not, will die if you don’t!”
“We could still find another way to get the Fates!” Justin replied. “I won't kill innocent people when there’s another way.”
“You don’t know there even is another way,” I shot back. “We can’t take the risk! And even if there is, we don’t have time to find it. This is it. This is the way! It’s up to you. Save our worlds, Justin! Save us!”
“No,” he said.
We glared at each other. There was nothing left to say. He couldn’t look past the people he’d hurt to the people we could save. We were at an impasse. Justin wasn’t going to budge. I was desperate. So I did something desperate.
“The Dreamer refuses,” I called out to the creature.
It happened so fast, faster than anything could--except in the Dreamlands.
I collapsed to the ground, convulsing, choking on something I couldn’t see. Pain seared my body. Panic seared my mind. Every cell in my body screamed for oxygen, for life. I’d never felt such agony. Every nerve was on fire. I gasped. I screamed.
I was dying.
“Stop!” Justin yelled at the creature.
“Release me or she dies!” it hissed.
Justin closed his eyes. He started to tremble. Around the creature, the air started to shimmer.
“Your powers are too drained to stop me,” the creature replied. “But you can still release me. You can still save her life.”
Justin opened his eyes. His face was twisted in desperation and anguish. My vision was getting blurry. I could barely see him. Everything was growing dim.
“Time is short,” the creature said. “She will be dead soon.”
Justin looked at me. His eyes were full of tears. I’d seen that tortured look before. His heart was breaking.
“I can’t!” It was a scream ripped from some deep part of him. He fell to his knees. He looked at me helplessly. He saw my agony. I saw his.
“Please,” he whispered.
Then, all of a sudden, it stopped.
The pain. The fear. The desperation. The regret. All of it. Stopped.
I died.
As the last flicker of my consciousness was just about to wink out, I felt a powerful force seize me. I felt like I was hurtling incredibly fast and then I was slammed back into my body with an enormous gasp.
Demeter stared at me, so shocked she stopped crying. Then she started to bawl all over again, grabbing me in the fiercest embrace she’d ever given me.
Justin was kneeling on the ground. He looked away before I could face him.
The creature was gone.
“You released it!” I said. “You saved me!”
“No,” Justin said, his voice quavering. “I didn’t.”
“Then how . . .” Hermes began.
The air wavered where the creature had been. A tall, severe woman, dressed in a tailored black skirt suit, rippled into existence. There was something familiar about her. Then I met her eyes. Piercing blue, mesmerizing and ancient.
“What’s the Oracle doing here?” Demeter wondered, wiping away her tears.
I ignored her. I ignored everything except the necklace. It lay on a flat stone, next to the Oracle. It wasn’t much to look at. A simple torque of gold with a ruby in the centre.
But I’d paid dearly for that necklace. Athena. Zeus. Me. We’d all paid dearly for that necklace.
That necklace was mine.
I got up, walked over, and reached for it.
The ruby blazed. A painful shock shot through my hand. I jerked backward.
“You passed the test,” the Oracle said.
Not to me. To Justin.
“Test?” he echoed, bewildered.
“This necklace has incredible power,” the Oracle told him. “It can only be trusted to the purest soul, one that cannot be corrupted. There has never been anything like it. And there never will be again. It is one of a kind. Just like you.”
“I don’t understand,” Justin said, his confusion turning to anger. “What about the creature? It killed Hera!”
He was shaking with rage.
“The corruption is gone,” the Oracle
answered, indifferent to his rage. “It knew you’d never release it. So it left before you could destroy it.”
“I couldn’t destroy it!” Justin argued. “I wasn’t strong enough!”
“You weren’t,” the Oracle agreed. “Not until you were tested. Now the Necessity has chosen you as guardian of the Dreamlands. This world is yours. And everything in it.”
“What happens now?” Hermes asked.
The Oracle ignored him. She ignored all of us. To her, only Justin seemed to exist. “Take the necklace. It’s yours. It always has been. But now you’re ready to use it.”
“What? You’re just giving it away? I died for that necklace!” I snapped.
For the first time, the Oracle looked away from Justin. She locked her emotionless eyes on me.
“And yet you’re still alive,” the Oracle observed. “The necklace needed to be earned. The Dreamer’s sacrifice has proven his worth.”
“What sacrifice?” Hermes asked. “Hera’s the one who died.”
“Wait. You mean me? I was the sacrifice!” I realized. “Why?”
“Because,” the Oracle responded, “he values you over everything else. And yet he’d give you up to protect the innocent. That is why he’s the Guardian of the Dreamlands.”
“What do you mean he values me over every--” I started. But then I understood. And so did everyone else.
Justin was bright red with fury, or embarrassment, or both. He studiously avoided looking at me.
“Take it, Dreamer,” the Oracle said. “You alone can be trusted with its power. With it, the walls between this world and the mortal one mean nothing to you.”
“Wait. What?” Hermes asked. “Are you saying . . .”
“With this necklace, you can move as you wish from the Dreamlands to your own world,” the Oracle told Justin. “Not just your mind, but your body as well.”
Justin looked at the necklace. But he didn’t move to take it.
“Take it, Dreamer,” the Oracle said. “Fulfill your destiny, and you will have all you need to save the Fates and save existence.”
“Take it,” Hermes said.
But Justin was still too stunned to move.
“Take the damn necklace,” I finally snapped.
Reluctantly, Justin took the necklace. It began to writhe in his hands like a snake, and then, suddenly, it flew up and wrapped around his neck. The ruby pulsed once and then went dark.
Hera, Queen of Gods (Goddess Unbound) Page 16