Illusions: A Grace Murphy Novel

by Nicole Hamlett

  "Well," I frowned and looked around. She was right. Aside from our group, there was absolutely no activity. Why hadn’t we been attacked? As soon as we crossed that barrier, we’d been completely safe. Was Hecate still tracking us? And if not, why not?

  "Porky has been prowling around, searching out any enemy combatants. Maybe he's keeping them away with his ferocious butt?"

  Medusa snorted and turned away. I could see her shoulders shaking as she suppressed the laughter. "What? As a victim of his ass, I think that ferocious is highly accurate."

  "Who is Porky?" George asked.

  "Grace's pet porcupine," Medusa drawled.

  "Oh my God, you found a porcupine here?"

  "Well," I hedged. "He's much fiercer than a porcupine," I called Porkchop over, wondering how George had missed a grizzly-sized porcupine this entire time.

  He ambled his squat body closer and chattered a bit at us.

  "Oh. My. Gawd." George breathed. "He is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life!" She squealed and brought her hands up to her cheeks which made me laugh out loud. God, George was just - I didn’t have words.

  Porkchop stopped his grunting and preened for his new admirer.

  "OH yes, I absolutely do mean it. You're the most handsome of all beasts."

  A little squeak and then a stream of clicks, grunts, and chatters followed her response. She laughed, throwing her head back.

  "I can see why you want to keep him, Grace. He's just the best."

  This is why I loved George. When I said she was the most kind, I truly meant it.

  "Porkchop have you seen anyone lurking about?"

  Sure, I wouldn't understand what he said in return, but George would.

  "She did not!" George suddenly yelled. "I will rip her guts out myself. What a horrible thing to do!"

  "What? What did she do?" I gripped George's collar and pulled her close, anxious. Had Nemesis set traps for us? Were we sitting ducks until Hecate could find and slaughter us?

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  "Nemesis set a trap for him. He's been tangled up in the brambles for the last several hours. He just got free."

  "Why would she trap the creature?" Medusa asked.

  "That is a great question. I have absolutely no idea. I don't understand Porkchop yet. I mean, we're getting there. The more I hear him, the more words I can guess. But, she said he could understand her, and she could read his mind. I wonder if it was two-sided and he could read hers as well?"

  "Or, she didn't want you understanding any more of his words before she could escape? If he's been here for so long, chances are he knows what's happening here."

  "He seemed friendly with her, though." He'd been talking non-stop since we'd left the village. Had he been trying to warn me? Why wouldn't he have attacked her?

  "He was afraid of her. He’s been trying to warn you, but with her in the picture, he hasn’t been successful. Nemesis personally killed his mate.” She stomped her foot and bellowed in anger. “He's been alone for so long because she can't let anyone or anything be happy. I'm so mad right now Grace!"

  "I know you are." I pulled her in for a hug. She'd gotten that luminescent shine to her eyes that signaled tears. George was strong - damn strong. But she also had a tender heart. Hell, I wanted to cry for Porkchop too. This information made me want to kill Nemesis slowly.

  Medusa rolled her hand around, telling me to wrap it up so we could get moving. Sure, we could do that, but the game had changed. My ephemeral wisp of a plan was now blown to smithereens, and nothing was standing out as a good alternative.

  Here we were, three strangers to the planet, about to trek through a wilderness that I'd been too delirious to pay attention to the first time around. Essentially, I had no idea how we were even going to get to the palace now.

  "Well, I have good news and bad news."

  "What's the good news?" George asked. She was ever the hopeful one.

  "We have enough munitions to blow that mother, sky high."

  Medusa nodded appreciatively and then asked, "And the bad?"

  "I have no earthly idea how to get there. It's not like I have GPS here."

  "Well, that is a problem. No satellite feeds mean that we don't have any updated aerial shot of where we are. We could try heading back to the village and asking for directions there." Medusa offered.

  "Do you know how to get back to the Village, Grace?" George asked.

  Taking a deep breath, I turned around looking for landmarks that I recognized. "West. We just need to travel West. East is the River and West is the palace. It is situated at the end of the land mass on a beach. So logically, if we follow the river south, we'll hit the ocean and can follow the Beach west until we reach it."

  "That does seem perfectly logical." George gave me a broad smile and patted me on the back in a congratulatory manner. I beamed in return. God, it was so easy to boost my self-esteem. Unfortunately, it was just as easy to tear it down.

  "Yes, that does seem logical. What a surprise. However, you're not considering that since it's the easiest way to reach Apollo's seat of power, it's likely the most heavily patrolled," Medusa cut in.

  " I know. It will also take us longer to get there. None of the routes are risk-free. I'd say we could teleport there, but neither of you has been, and I don't know what happens when we pass through the barrier. Does the barrier cut us off and are we smashed into atomic smithereens?" I grimaced at the thought. Teleportation was the easiest way to travel, and I'd gotten lazy about taking the regular joe schmo way since learning how to do it.

  “Eugh, okay, I think I have a plan.” I sketched out a glimmer of a plan, detailing what I’d seen of the palace as well as those giant monoliths that were giving me the creeps. After a bit of arguing and drilling down to the basics of what we needed to do, we were all in agreement. For the first time since Drew and I had left Apollo’s lair, I felt like there was a chance for us to come out of this alive.

  "Well," Medusa said, standing and brushing off her pants. "If we're going to do this, we need to get it done. Everyone load up what they can comfortably carry. Grace, make sure you have food and extra clothes. We'll throw the rest through a Rift unless Georgiana feels comfortable putting it in her virtual locker, or whatever she wants to call it."

  George cocked her head and thought about it. "You know, I'd feel better carrying it along in my pocket-space. That way, if we need it, we can access it."

  I shook my head. "Once we cross that barrier, you aren't going to be able to access it, George. It was a struggle to pull up a gun and Drew couldn't access his weapons at all. Better we just throw it back through to Olympus and be done with it."

  "No, I get that," George interrupted. "But if your priority is destroying the monoliths that are keeping the barrier up and running, then that should fix that problem."

  Of course, she was right. I was either not thinking correctly, or my logic stream was just misfiring. Why were we even bothering with all of this in that case? All I needed was a sword and a grenade launcher, and we should be good to go.

  "Because," Medusa said, giving me a wry grin before holding out her hand to help me up. "It's going to take us awhile to get to the palace, and we may need some of this before then."

  "Right. Right." I waved her off and stood up on my own and brushed the dirt off. "We should get going then. And Stop reading my mind,” I added as an afterthought.

  "Right. How long has it been since you've had a proper sleep, Grace?" Georgie slapped the back of her hand up against my forehead and pursed her lips. You're feeling warm.

  I batted her hand away and threw her an annoyed scowl. "I'm a fire whatnot. I run warm. And to answer your question, I don't know. I was asleep when Heph got here. I've slept."

  "Have you eaten since you woke up? You're more scattered than usual."

  "I've got food in my pack. I can eat while we trek. I'd feel better and safer if we got going. The sooner we get Hecate, and get back to Olympus, the faster I can find Nemesis
."

  "We," Medusa interjected. "The faster we find Nemesis. I feel partly responsible. I'll help you find her."

  My chest felt tight at that, and I struggled not to tear up. "Thank you," I choked out. "Now, let's get moving."

  I know that we were heading West, but nothing looked familiar. Lichen climbed up tree trunks in a rainbow blaze of color and George was spending most of her time cooing over gorgeous scenery. I scoffed. She hadn't run into a badger snake yet. God, I hoped that we didn't run into another one. Where were these mutant animals coming from? Where they natural on this world? Jesus H. I was striking this place off the list of worlds to vacation.

  It was like being with the kind of friends who'd rather eat granola and go hiking through the trees than hanging out, drinking wine and playing video games. As far as analogies go, these were not my people, and I really wanted to get back home to the Xbox.

  "Hey, I have an idea," Medusa drawled.

  "Oh yeah? Will it get us to the final round?" George asked, excited.

  "You can communicate with the beastie here. He's been around for a while. Why don't we ask him to lead us to the palace?"

  I stopped in the middle of the path. "Medusa, you're a genius. I could kiss you." I turned around to look at the dapper gentleman following us. "Hey, Porky. Want to lead the way?"

  He hopped from foot to foot like he was so excited I'd finally asked for his help. George laughed with delight.

  "Just make sure you don't fire your butt at us," Medusa called.

  We all agreed. Porkchop getting nervous, and shooting his quills off at us would be a bad thing.

  He took off in what could only be described as a jaunty trot, and I had to stifle a laugh. Georgie had no such compunctions. She let out a whoop and yelled, "Let's hear it for Sir Porkchop! Mightiest Porcupine in the Forest!"

  I looked at Medusa to see if she was annoyed, but a small smiled played about her lips, and she focused forward. I returned to watching where I was going, but Medusa stayed on my mind. I wanted to know her story. Nemesis had said she was Pre-Atlancean. That meant she was old. Really Old. When had she been cursed? At the amusement park, I'd heard her questioning a man. She was looking for someone. Who? Did she have a real life? A real job?

  I'd stopped paying attention to where I was going as my imagination ran wild. Medusa starred in all the adventure movies that I could think of. She was an American Revolution spy, a cowgirl in the wild west. The great lady of an ancient medieval keep. Without warning I was flat on my face, spitting out dirt. "Ack!"

  "You were daydreaming, weren't you?" Her voice was wry. I’d forgotten that she could read my mind. My eyes widened in a flare of panic, and I shook my head.

  "No," I squeaked.

  "If we live through this and after - and I do mean after - we catch Nemesis, I might tell you some of my stories."

  I look back on this moment with extreme embarrassment, but I rolled over, giggled and clapped excitedly. Most of my Olympian compatriots were either too busy or too bored with the past to tell me any exciting stories. Eros would give in and tell me his tales, but they all bordered on soft-core porn, and there was only so much I could take before my eyes glazed over.

  "Are you on drugs?" She had her hands on her hips, and she was standing over me with a stern look on her face.

  "Not that I know of?" I sobered up and clambered to my feet.

  "Guys?" George sounded nervous. I looked ahead to where she was standing, weapon out and surrounded by a half dozen soldiers.

  "Shit," Medusa huffed and then launched herself forward.

  "Wait," I called. "Can't we just talk this out? What if they have information that we need?"

  "I'll leave one alive," she growled in return.

  I nodded. Fair enough. We'd passed back over the barrier, and I didn't want to waste any reserve of power that I had, so I pulled the Kukri grips out of their loops and depressed the buttons on either weapon. The blades snicked out, and I suppressed a gleeful chortle. These guys were so dead because I had the best weaponsmiths in the Universe!

  Medusa hadn't pulled any weapons out, but she'd transformed into her Gorgon form. Two of the six men screamed and took off running. I called out that I'd go after them, but Porkchop who had been taking a brief break deeper in the forest came around the corner just about then. The cowards just stopped, like they couldn't decide which was worse - the Gorgon or the Monster of Granuile. I was betting on the Gorgon, but they didn't know that. With an almost bored huff, Porkchop turned around and wiggled his butt. The men turned and ran.

  If this had been a movie, I would be laughing right now. But it wasn't a movie, and a sharp blade sliced a shallow cut across my newly healed scar. "What the-"

  I turned to see Dmitri giving me a mocking smile.

  "Dude, that just healed." I whipped my blade forward and caught him across his naked chest. He hissed in pain. "Fair play," I blew him a kiss and skipped back in time to miss his next slice.

  "I'm going to fuck your skull." He taunted me with a feint to the left and then caught me across the right. It was a stupid mistake on my part to fall for that, and I let out an angry growl. "Your Adonis couldn't defeat me. What makes you think you stand a chance?"

  "First, gross. You've got problems if you're wanting to fuck dead people, buddy. And second, I'm obviously smarter than he is. I don't get into fistfights with three naked guys at once."

  Our blades met, and I had to bring up my second Kukri in a cross formation to keep him from cutting me in half. Damn, he was strong. Not only was he a foot taller than I was, giving him a longer reach, but his upper body muscles were much more developed. Drew was right, I should have been training harder.

  I wasn't expecting him to shove me back, drop his sword and punch me in the face. When you're in a sword fight, you know, you use swords. I staggered at the blow and went down to a knee. Dmitri hovered over me, menacing. "Obviously, you are not smarter. I could make you smart. Make you more afraid of the world." He rubbed himself against my face, and well - I lost it.

  I image my anger as a Rage-O-Meter. It's a giant thermometer that fills with red as I get madder. His suggested violation broke the damn thermometer and splashed the bloody dregs of my anger all over the walls of my twisty mind. If I had been on the other side of the barrier, I would have incinerated him. As it was, my body flooded with power, strength, and speed. I sprung to my feet and realized that my swords were still tangled with his. How did that even happen?

  I twisted and elbowed him in the gut and followed up with a slice and caught him on his side. He snarled and started slashing, his sword arcing impossibly fast. I parried and feinted, but I wasn't making ground on this. He finally raised his sword and brought it down in a powerful stroke. I wasn't going to wait for him to hit me in the face again because we were evenly matched right now. Thanks to my Hulk-like anger, I was holding my own.

  However, (and this was a colossal, however) I had something that he did not — innie parts instead of outtie. He strained his muscles, bearing down on me. With each millimeter he gained, his smile grew bigger.

  "Baby, I don't know what you're smiling about. I'm about to kick you in the—" Whoosh, my foot connected with his sac and he dropped to his knees. "Balls."

  I brought my sword down to decapitate his head, but he blocked at the last minute, his face red from the strain. I'd kicked him hard enough to shove his testicles into his throat, so it surprised the hell out of me that he was still conscious. But, if anyone had answers, it would be Dmitri. So, as an afterthought, I was kind of glad I hadn't been able to kill him.

  Ask me how bummed out I was that we needed to keep him alive. He expected me to attack him with the other hand and moved to block that side of his neck. Instead, I spun and knocked him flat with a powerhouse kick. Dmitri's eyes rolled up into his head, and he crashed to the ground, completely unconscious.

  I turned and immediately dropped to my knees and thrust forward with my sword, skewering the man who'd been about to chop
my head off. That had been too close. I wasn't paying attention to the fighting around me. He clutched his stomach with one hand and swung at me with the other.

  Really? He was just going to keep fighting 'til I killed him? What was wrong with these guys? "You call Pax, and I'll let you go," I said, proud that I was only panting a little.

  "I will kill you, little girl."

  "Wow, that is really imaginative. Isn't he imaginative, Grace?" Medusa grabbed the man's head between her taloned fingers and twisted and wrenched. I've seen someone's head get pulled off before. It's not pretty. Humanoid heads don't want to come off so easily. They're attached to the body with skin, muscle, and spine. The neck is a fragile thing, but it takes a lot to rip someone's head off. Medusa made it look easy, and my gorge rose into my throat.

  "You having fun?" I asked with a grimace.

  She flashed her fangs in an enormous smile, and I noticed that they were tinged with red. "I haven't had such a good fight in ages! I should go on more missions with you, Grace."

  I gave her a thumbs up and tried to keep my squeamishness of my face. "George?" I hadn't been paying attention to where she was, and I should have been.

  "I'm okay!" she called from a dozen yards away. She was bent over one of the soldiers, cleaning her blade with the dead man's loincloth. Jesus, these ladies were hardcore.

  "Well damn. I only got one. I'm way behind on the leaderboards."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  I'm against torture in general. I think that it doesn't work. People are going to tell you what you want to hear when they are in pain. If they're telling you what you want to hear, then how can you trust it's accurate?

  Fortunately for us, we didn't need to torture Dmitri; although I really wanted to. We had Georgie, our secret weapon. I was locked down tighter than a chastity belt behind my titanium fortress with diamond enhanced walls, but George took a look at me and said, "Nope don't need to hurt him anymore, Grace. I can already tell he's been altered by Nemesis." There was no defense against George's mind-reading.