by Brea Essex
“I promise it will get better,” Zac told me.
“I certainly hope so.”
He put his arm around me. “Let’s head back to the airport and catch our flight to Greece.”
I nodded and let him lead me back down the stairs of the Eiffel Tower.
It wasn’t until we landed in Athens that it dawned on me. “Mount Olympus is pretty far from here, isn’t it?”
“Yep.”
“So how are we getting there?”
Zac winked and took my arm. Great. This again. I closed my eyes as he snapped his fingers. When I opened them, I was staring at a snow-capped mountain. “Couldn’t you have just teleported us all the way to the top?”
“Transported,” he corrected me once again. “And no, I couldn’t. I’m not entirely sure where the Helm is—if it’s even here at all.”
“It might not be here?” He nodded. “Then why did we fly all this way for something that might not even be here?”
“The Helm is probably here. This is its last known location. But there’s a possibility that it’s been moved.”
“Someone didn’t do a very good job on their research,” I muttered.
“I believe that would be you. Aren’t you the one who found the Helmet of Hades in the book?”
“Don’t blame me for this, Mister Demon Hunter.”
“They’re called wraiths. I’m not blaming you, and I’d appreciate if you would extend the same courtesy to me. It’s not easy to locate these ancient artifacts that may or may not actually exist. Plus, we not only have to find them, we have to get to them before the Necrovorst does. That means we always have to be one step ahead of him. That’s not an easy task, especially since we don’t know what he’s after, or what he’s going to do once he has it.”
“Well, we know one thing he’s after, right?”
He nodded. “The Helm. And we don’t even really know that. We’re just guessing.”
“So, can’t we just concentrate on that?”
“For now...”
“I know we will have to figure out what else he wants at some point. But right now, can’t we just worry about finding the Helm?”
“Rhi, we have to discover his whole plan. Part of it won’t do us much good.”
I mused about that for a moment. “Where are we going to do research now?”
“Now that the witch library we were using burned down?”
I nodded, trying not to relive my sister’s death.
“I don’t know. We have to find another place, I guess,” he told me. “But we do need to do some research before we climb the mountain. We don't know what we might find... or what we might not find.”
“I'm sure there are libraries here in Athens, aren't there?”
He looked at me like I was an idiot. “Of course. This was once the cultural center of the world. Obviously they'd have libraries.”
“Nice to see that proposing to me didn't temper your sarcasm.”
“Huh? I'm sorry.”
“Lucky for you, I like your sarcasm. Think there'd be a witch library?”
“I don't know about that, but I'm sure any library here in Athens would have information about Olympus and the Helm.”
We wandered around the city for a while, Zac and I taking turns rendering me invisible. He had finally taught me the spell, saying that I “really needed to get on with my training.”
We finally located a library in an older part of the city. We had passed some newer ones, but Zac had worried that they might not have what we needed. We went in, hunting for anything having to do with Mount Olympus, the Olympian gods, the Helm... anything we could possibly think of relating to what we needed to find.
I paused and looked around once we got inside. The sheer volume of books was overwhelming. Where would we even begin to look?
“Something I can help you find, dear?” a voice came from behind me.
Zac and I both whirled. A kind-looking elderly woman stood behind us. “Um…” I slid my eyes over to Zac, hoping for a cue.
“Ask for the history and mythology sections,” he whispered.
“Where are the history and mythology sections?” I repeated.
She nodded. “Who is your friend?” She inclined her head toward Zac.
We both froze, panicked. A necromancer! The first I’d met.
“You can see me?” he asked.
“Plain as day. You glow very brightly, son. You’re not truly dead, are you?”
He shook his head, stunned. For the first time since I’d met him, he seemed tongue-tied.
“And you, dear.” She paused and scrutinized me. “You’re new to your powers.”
“Yes,” I breathed. “Can you help me?”
She frowned. “I’m afraid not.”
A breath I didn’t even realize I was holding hissed as it passed through my clenched teeth. For a brief moment, I had thought that we had finally found someone to help us.
“But I can give you some advice,” she continued as though she hadn’t paused.
“Yes?” Zac and I asked eagerly in unison.
“The forest.” She nodded again, as though this answered all our questions.
“The forest?” Zac asked blankly. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Hell. Exactly. You must seek your answers in the forest. Look not to the Queen of the Underworld, but to she who will lead you there.” She turned abruptly and started walking. “This way.”
We followed her through the library, confused. She wove in and out of the bookcases, finally stopping in front of what looked like some of the oldest books in the place. Reaching up, she started grabbing books, seemingly at random. She piled them in my arms, and when I could carry no more, she began to stack them on a table. “Shame that a strong young man like you has no body,” she lamented. “I bet you could carry all these books for your young lady, and then some!”
Zac’s only response was a slightly wounded look. When she finally stopped yanking books off their shelves, she turned to me. “Now, as much as I would like to know, I’m not entirely sure what you seek. No, no, don’t tell me… The answers you need should be somewhere in here. I’m sorry it’s so much information to go through. Heed my earlier words, though. The ultimate answers you need lie with the Lady of the Forest, she who can lead you to the Underworld. Trust no others.” She began to walk away. “Call me if you need anything else,” she said over her shoulder.
We stared after her. “Well, that was weird,” Zac finally said.
“Oh good, you thought so too.”
He turned to me. “Yeah, of course. You didn’t think it strange?”
“Yes. It’s just… I don’t have much experience with this sort of thing. You know, witches, necromancers, et cetera. You do.”
“I don’t know all that many necromancers, actually. But we do deal with witches on occasion.”
I arched a brow at him as I set my armful of books down on the table. “How do you mean ‘deal’ with them? Do you ‘deal’ with them the same way you ‘deal’ with demons—I mean, wraiths?”
He looked horrified. “No! Of course not. I meant to say that they occasionally help us, if we have a particularly difficult wraith we’re handling. We use their libraries for our research. They give us advice, and alert us if they come across anything or anyone that we need to take care of. In fact, it was a witch who first told us about The Necrovorst. We might not have found out about him until it was too late if it weren’t for her.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply…”
“You didn’t imply. You accused my entire people of murder, basically.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
“We’re not murderers,” he said flatly, crossing his arms across his chest.
“I know you’re not. I shouldn’t have said that.” We fell silent for a moment, surveying the piles of books. “Is it too late?” I finally asked.
“Too late for what?” Zac asked absentmindedly. He was already
leafing through one of the giant tombs.
“To defeat The Necrovorst.”
He stopped and looked at me. “I don’t know. I hope not. We don’t know who he is, or what his agenda is. We have our suspicions, as I’ve said. These,” he waved his arms at the books, “are our best hope at the moment.”
“So we go to Olympus when we’re finished here and hope for the best?”
“Yes, basically. I don’t know what else to do. Until I find my body, and my people, research is the best we can do. I don’t know who else is looking for him, or what they’ve found out—if anything.”
I sat down heavily in one of the chairs positioned haphazardly around the table and pulled a huge, ancient book toward me. “All right, tell me what I’m looking for.”
We poured over the books for hours. Some of them were written in Greek (both ancient and modern), which neither of us spoke. Those we placed to the side and hoped there wasn’t anything we needed in them.
“Would have been helpful if the lady had given us a dictionary or something,” Zac muttered under his breath as he slammed closed another giant book that he couldn’t read.
“Well, you came to a library in Greece… maybe she assumed that at least one of us would have been able to read it.”
“Guess I should have paid better attention in school.”
I looked up from the book I was currently immersed in, which was, thankfully, in English. “You learned Greek in school?”
“No, not really. At least, not school like how you mean it. The Zayin go through special training. We don’t exactly go to regular school. Part of our studies includes languages, both modern and ancient. Greek didn’t hold much interest for me. I liked the ‘romance languages’ better.” He winked at me.
Blushing despite myself, I looked back down at the book. I still wasn’t used to having a fiancé. Hell, I wasn’t used to being with anyone at all. It had always been Aislinn and me. She had dated a lot, but I’d had very little interest in boys. Don’t get me wrong: I liked boys. I just didn’t really want to put the time and energy into a relationship. The whole dating ritual seemed ridiculous to me. Besides, not a lot of guys liked the fact that I wasn’t “girly” like my sister.
They found my rock-climbing odd. Most of them couldn’t keep up with me, even on a rock wall. Forget about actual climbing. The majority of guys I knew in LA wouldn’t get anywhere near an actual cliff face. They were too worried about falling and damaging their looks, permanently hindering their ability to land acting roles or modeling gigs. LA, land of the superficial, I always said. I preferred to leave the puffed up peacocks to my shallow sister. Let them go on a marathon-shopping-spree; I’d stick to climbing my rocks.
I surreptitiously looked up at Zac again. His head was bent over a book. His sandy hair gleamed dully in the low light. You’d think library lights would be brighter so people could read better. His hair had fallen into his eyes, but he made no move to push it back. His biceps stood out even under the long sleeved shirt he was wearing. I wondered, not for the first time, if he looked exactly as his body looked. Surely his spirit, soul, whatever you wanted to call it, would reflect his actual appearance? It shouldn’t have mattered either way. I had finally found someone who accepted me just as I was. He knew about my rock-climbing hobby. He knew about my new, weird powers. Granted, he had sought me out because of those powers, but he was sticking around…
I breathed in sharply. My chest felt like a steel band was wrapped around it. What if he was only pretending to like me because he needed my help? Was he trying to lead me along like some sad little puppy, dropping what he thought I wanted to hear, so I wouldn’t abandon him? After all, I didn’t know him that well. He could have been acting. He could have been lying to me.
My temper began to flare. My eyes narrowed of their own accord as I studied Zac. He must have sensed me looking at him, because he glanced up. “Everything okay?”
No, everything’s not okay! I raged internally. I offered him a strained smile. “Yeah. It’s fine.”
He cocked his head to one side. “You look upset.”
“No, no. Not upset. Just trying to rest my eyes from all the reading.”
He didn’t look convinced. Reaching across the table, he grabbed my hand. I tried to pull away, but he held it fast. He looked wounded. “Rhiannon, something is wrong. Please tell me.”
I sighed. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. Something has obviously upset you. Are you angry with me?”
“No, I…” Really, what was it? How could I voice my fears that he was only sticking around, that he had proposed to me, just because I was the only one who could see him?
He searched my face, looking worried. “Please, whatever it is, you can tell me. We need to share things with each other.”
For some reason, his comment snapped my resolve. “Just like you shared the fact that you’re technically dead with me?” I asked scathingly.
He pulled back, but didn’t release my hand. “I never tried to hide that fact from you,” he said quietly.
“Yeah, but you weren’t exactly forthcoming with that little tidbit.”
“What did you want me to do, announce it the moment you woke from your coma? Oh, I can just imagine that conversation. ‘Hi, I’m Zac. I’m dead and you’re a necromancer, and I need you to find my body.’ Yeah, I’m sure that would have gone over really well. You probably would have run out of the hospital, screaming.”
“You don’t know that.”
Leaning across the table, he whispered, “Look, I told you as soon as I could. And look how you reacted. You fainted! Now, I know this librarian knows you’re a necromancer, but this isn’t really the time or place for us to turn against each other. Let’s go find somewhere else to argue. Then you can accuse me all you want.”
“I’m not trying to accuse you of anything.” Okay, I was, but I didn’t want to tell him that at all, let alone here. He was right about it not being the time or place.
“Fine. Let’s go somewhere else that’s private, and then you can tell me what’s really bothering you. I guess we’re done here for now.”
“No, we’re not done. We still have all these books to go through.” I gestured at the pile of books that we hadn’t touched yet.
“We can come back for that. Right now, it’s more important that we discuss whatever the hell it is that’s going on with you.”
I grabbed the front cover of the book that was open on the table in front of me. I had fully intended upon slamming it shut, but something caught my eye when I looked down. “Here it is!” I exclaimed excitedly.
“What?” Zac asked.
“I found it. Olympus.”
He craned his neck out and squinted, trying to read upside down. “Are you sure?”
Turning the book so he could read better, I pointed at the elaborate illustration. “Look right here. Olympus—as in the gods’ palace, not the mountain—does indeed reside above Mount Olympus.”
“So it’s really there?”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“Now how do we get to it?”
Zac stood and moved to sit next to me. Our argument and my doubts were momentarily forgotten as we paged through the book. We could deal with that later. It was more important to find a way up to the gods’ palace, now that we had found its location.
“Looks like we’ll have to climb to the top,” he said.
“No problem.”
“Rhi, it’s a really treacherous climb. It’s almost ten thousand feet high.”
I gulped. “I’ve never climbed that high, but I can do it. We have to make it.” I thought for a moment. “We need gear and supplies. At least, I do. Can you climb in your… state?”
“Yes, I can climb same as I can walk. I don’t get tired from exertion. Although, the longer I’m away from my body, the weaker I get.”
I hadn’t known that. “Shouldn’t we be looking for your body first then?”
He shook his head
. “I’ll manage. This is more important. We’ll worry about my body when we get back to the States.”
Well, I guessed the longer we put off finding his body, the longer he’d stick around. I would eventually have to ask him if he really planned on sticking around once we did find his body. “So, we need to find a store that sells climbing gear. I know you don’t have to worry about falling to your death, but I certainly do.”
He smirked at me. “Yeah, I’m already pretty much dead. I wonder what would happen if I did fall.”
I shrugged. “Probably not much.” I stood up, pushing the chair out. “Well, what are we waiting for? I think we found our answer. Let’s put away all these books and head out.” I started to gather a small stack.
“Problem.”
Pausing, I turned to him. “What do you mean by ‘problem?’”
“I mean: the gates aren’t exactly visible to normal people.”
“Oh. We’re not exactly normal people, Zac.” Never mind that I used to be a normal person before my accident triggered my so-called powers.
He rolled his eyes at me. “I know that. But apparently there’s a spell you need to recite to enable us to see the gates… and get past them.”
“Why do I have to recite it?”
“Because you’re the witch, Rhiannon.” He said it like it was obvious. I suppose it should have been. I’d never seen him do a spell besides the glamour. I guessed the transporting didn’t count as magick.
I leaned over the book. It was long enough to where I didn’t think I could memorize it. “I wish I’d thought to bring a pen and some paper.”
“Need something, dearie?” the librarian’s voice came from behind us.
Zac and I both jumped. “Uh, yeah,” I said. “Do you have any paper? Oh, and a pen, too?”
She produced both from within the folds of her dress and handed them to me.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
“Never ask a witch her secrets,” she said with a wink.
“Why do you people always have to be so damn cryptic?” Zac groaned.
She glanced at him. “Why do you Zayin always have to be so stubborn and set in your ways?”