"Morgan will stay with you," I told Djin.
He looked at Darren. He sighed. "A pity. That one is quite beautiful."
"I think you'll find that Morgan has something even better," I answered.
Djin cocked his head at me. He knew I never lied, but he couldn't help thinking it was some kind of trap. But then he looked at Morgan. Really looked at her. And he saw something that none of us had seen before. Emptiness.
"Interesting," he murmured.
He smiled. And then his grin broadened. "I accept."
"But first you must promise me, by the River Styx, that you will not intentionally harm this girl in any way," I ordered.
Djin clenched his jaw. He opened his mouth to argue.
"Isn't she worth it?" I pressed.
"Yes," he admitted finally, his eyes drifting back to her. "Such a unique prize. I swear to you, Hera, by the River Styx, to do as you have asked."
Djin staggered. The Stygian vow wrapped itself around him like an invisible chain, unbreakable. Morgan was as safe as I could make her.
I hugged her fiercely.
"Use your powers to stop time whenever you're strong enough. That'll help you stay connected to yourself," I whispered. "Hold on until I come back for you. I will come back for you."
"I will," Morgan replied calmly. "I'll be alright here."
And as Justin, Darren, and I left Morgan and the realm of Fire, I fervently hoped she was right.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
The blackness that came with leaping between the realms finally faded. But my vision didn't clear. Everything was still blurry. My eyes stung so badly I had to quickly close them again.
I tried to breathe, but water flooded my nose. My throat burned.
I risked opening my eyes again. Sunlight refracted all around me, but it came strongest from above. That way was up. That way was air.
I drove myself upwards with all my strength, racing against the searing pain in my lungs.
I broke the surface with a tremendous gasp. My whole body screamed in relief. But when I looked around, I still didn't see anyone else.
There was no way I could scour this entire sea for them. It was too vast. It stretched as far as I could see, and it was probably just as deep.
I didn't want to leave the others like I'd left Morgan, but I couldn't tread water forever. I was exhausted, and ever so slowly, I was sinking.
A thin white strand stood out against the blue all around me. A shoreline of some kind. I started to swim. When I reached the shore, I collapsed on the beach.
"Justin," I whispered, as I lay on the sand, getting my strength back.
No answer.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
Either he couldn't hear me. Or he was too weak to answer. Or he was dead.
I forced myself to sit up. I scanned the water. Still no sign of him. Or Darren.
I was alone.
I stood up. Alone or not, I still had my duty, and it wasn't going to get done by sitting here, feeling sorry for myself about things I couldn't change and people I couldn't help.
I didn't know they were in trouble. They could both be fine. I had to believe that. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on what needed to get done otherwise.
I took a few deep breaths. Then I shut my eyes. I pictured myself heading back into the water. I summoned my powers.
Nothing.
I wasn't going to find the others there. Or Nicksa.
I changed my plan. I pictured myself heading into the steaming jungle behind me. The images came. Still no Darren or Justin. But Nicksa was that way.
I walked into the jungle. The air was so thick and humid that it seemed like I was getting wetter, not drier, the more I walked. The ground was covered with a slippery, emerald carpet of springy moss. Water poured all around me: running down tree trunks; dripping from countless leaves; streaming along the mossy ground. Through the dense canopy overhead, I could barely make out the sky. It was slate grey and getting darker by the second, as ominous clouds piled up. It was going to rain.
Deeper and deeper into the rainforest. No sound of insects. No twittering of birds. No animal calls at all. Just the sound of dripping, running, burbling water.
Finally, I saw a space where the forest opened up into something larger, a clearing of some kind. When I walked forward, I found myself balancing on the edge of a great precipice.
High above me were the largest, most magnificent waterfalls I'd ever seen. Enormous curtains of water roared over the edges of a great cliff and plunged to an unseen pool far below. Dazzling rainbows shimmered in the constant spray, even though the sky was black with clouds. Water magick. Nicksa was close.
I closed my eyes. This close, I could actually feel her power. I knew what I had to do.
I jumped.
I fell so fast I couldn't breathe. It was wild and terrifying and freeing all at once.
I plunged feet-first into the pool of water at the bottom of the falls. I went down. Down. Down. Far deeper than I guessed possible.
I opened my eyes. The water was clear as glass.
I saw them then. All around me. Blue. Green. Violet. Indigo. Scales gleaming in the diffused sunlight. Hair streaming behind them as they dove and spiralled.
Mermaids.
I couldn't spot the edges of the pool. This wasn't a pool at all! Mermaids would never live in something so small and confining. This was some kind of enormous inland sea. It went on forever, and as far as I could see, glittering, languid mermaids bobbed like underwater fireflies.
When they looked back at me, power spun in their eyes. Death. But not for me.
For the creatures around me. Pythons. Oni. Dahaka. Pishacha. Lacrima. Littering the water, dead or dying.
So many. Ekhidna had somehow brought an army with her, but it hadn't done her any good. The mermaids had mesmerized each and every monster with their hypnotic gaze, and once the monsters were under their complete control, the mermaids had given them one single, irresistible command.
Die.
It hadn't been a battle. It'd been a massacre.
A familiar feather-light touch brushed my arm. I jerked back in horror. A cachar.
But it was dead. In the depths of the water, it was completely invisible.
Dead. All dead. But no sign of Ekhidna. Which said everything.
Ekhidna hadn't led her army into battle. She'd sent them to the slaughter, a distraction for Nicksa's bodyguards. There was no telling if Ekhidna had already found Nicksa, if she was already dying, if I'd already lost.
My lungs started to burn. I needed air. Again.
I looked up. The surface seemed far. Very far. But it was hard to tell under the water: it could be a trick of the light.
I kicked as hard as I could. But I didn't move, not even an inch. I was caught on something.
I looked down. A mermaid. Her hand, strong as iron, had grabbed my ankle. Her eyes were an inscrutable maelstrom. I kicked harder. But it was useless.
In an instant, I was surrounded by mermaids, eyes spinning with mad power. Two grabbed my arms. Then another grabbed my face.
With surprising gentleness, she pressed her lips against mine.
My lungs swelled with air. The kiss of a mermaid. The gift of water-breathing.
The mermaid pulled away and pointed down. I nodded. I started to swim in that direction, but the mermaids holding my arms didn't let me go. Instead, they took off, turquoise lightning dragging me behind them. They released me in front of an underwater cave.
They waited. Expectant. Hopeful.
I closed my eyes. I let the images tell me what the mermaids couldn't.
Ekhidna. She was inside. And her magick was keeping the mermaids out.
But not me.
Either she didn't know I was following her, didn't think I'd caught up, or didn't have the power to bar both the mermaids and me. Or maybe she just didn't consider me a threat.
I gritted my teeth. A costly mistake. Very costly.
I swam into the cave. Above, I spotted the surface of the water. The cave concealed a grotto. A hiding place.
Instead of swimming, I let myself drift upward. Slowly. Slowly. I couldn't afford to make a sound.
I kept my eyes shut. I forced the images to play over and over again, watching intently for any sign Ekhidna would spot me, that my plan would fail. It wasn't a guarantee. The future could change in an instant, but it was the best I could do.
I broke the surface. I kept my face against the water. If Ekhidna did notice me, hopefully she'd assume I was dead. She wasn't stupid, but she was arrogant.
Nothing happened.
I risked turning my head. I breathed as shallowly as I could.
My heart jumped when I spotted her. I knew she was there. I'd seen it in the images, and I'd felt it in my soul. Actually seeing Ekhidna was another matter though. It infuriated me. I wanted to leap out of the water and tear her apart with my bare hands, but I forced myself to wait.
Something was wrong.
Ekhidna wasn't in her true form. She was mortal like me. Tearing her apart became a much more viable plan. It had to be because of her magick. She had to stay in mortal form to sustain the spell blocking the mermaids.
But there was more.
Ekhidna's body was strangely rigid like she was straining against something invisible.
I saw movement in the back of the grotto. Nicksa.
She'd hidden herself in the grotto, even though it was out of the water. Risky. That separation had weakened her, but it probably threw off Ekhidna's search. Until now.
Ekhidna and Nicksa were locked in some kind of invisible combat. Ekhidna had smashed through the defences of the other Elements, through subterfuge and through force.
But Nicksa had been ready somehow. Someone had warned her before either Ekhidna or I had arrived.
Demeter.
It had to be Demeter. There was no one else. I should've known she wouldn't waste her time back in the mortal world. She must have found a way to send a message to the realm of Water.
There. Something flickered near Nicksa. Not something. Someone.
I recognized the presence, faded though it was, even if he did look different here, outside of Maria.
It was Erinle.
Demeter must have told him what was happening and gotten him to come. He was using his power to strengthen Nicksa. Ekhidna hadn't expected that Nicksa would have help.
But her greatest mistake was floating silently behind her, drifting ever closer to the shore. Watching. Waiting.
Nicksa and Erinle were losing. Ekhidna had been drained by bringing her army with her, but she was still the Avatar of Chaos.
One step. Then another. Slowly, painfully, but surely, Ekhidna was closing in. It was only a matter of time before she'd tear the power right out of Nicksa. Then she'd tear existence to shreds by bringing back Typhon.
She was so focused on her impending victory, so driven to destroy whatever was between her and Nicksa, that she didn't hear me wash quietly onto the slope of the grotto. Before the water could wash me back, I gripped the slippery rock underneath me. I wouldn't be able to hold on for long. Even the gentle lapping of the water was enough to drag me backward. But I also couldn't rush Ekhidna. Not before I was ready. I had one chance at this. All of existence depended on me. I wasn't about to screw it up.
Inches. I moved by inches. Like a worm. It was humiliating, but silent.
More and more of me slipped out of the water and towards Ekhidna with every second. It was agony. Not just the pain of pulling myself by my fingertips, scraping against the rough, wet stone, but the waiting. The waiting was the worst.
Finally, I was as ready as I could afford to be. Ekhidna was getting too close to Nicksa. I couldn't risk her pushing through with one final attack. It was now. It had to be now.
I closed my eyes, and I launched myself at Ekhidna.
But the rock was too slippery and uneven. Before I could foresee it, I fell. Hard.
And Ekhidna turned.
She recovered quickly from the shock of seeing me there, sprawled on the wet stone. She raised her hands, and familiar, jagged claws unsheathed from the ends of her fingers. One scratch, and her excruciating venom would paralyze me. It'd all be over before it'd even begun.
Ekhidna grinned evilly as she swiped down at me.
But it was obvious. And drained as she was, it was also clumsy. I was ready for it.
I easily dodged the swipe, and I kicked Ekhidna as hard as I could in the stomach.
Air rushed out of her, and as I stood, I punched her again in the throat. Her eyes went wide. She couldn't make a sound. She grabbed her neck with her hands, choking silently. I smiled. Then I grabbed her hair and spun her, face first, against the side of the cave. I smashed her against it again. And again. And again.
Eventually, my arm got tired. I dropped her.
"You can't kill her," Nicksa warned in her burbling voice.
I knew I couldn't kill her. If I could have, I would've done it millennia ago. But Chaos needed an avatar, a champion, just like Order did. Order had the gods; Chaos had Ekhidna. She was immortal. But that didn't mean she was unstoppable.
I rolled Ekhidna's body toward the water with my foot. She splashed in and started to sink. Now that her power wasn't keeping them out, the mermaids would find her and keep her busy.
"Thank you, Queen of Gods," Nicksa murmured.
It sounded weak. And there was no sign of Erinle. They'd both exhausted themselves completely. He must have returned to the mortal world.
"You know why I'm here?" I asked. "Why she came?"
"For the power," Nicksa answered. "She has the other Elements."
"She needs them to free Typhon," I told her.
"Of course," she murmured. "Love."
"What are you talking about?" I demanded.
"Ekhidna loves Typhon," Nicksa replied. "I've heard her heart for centuries. The sadness. The rage. A terrible song of loneliness. But then it stopped."
"What changed?" I asked.
"Hope," Nicksa murmured. "How else could such deep pain lessen almost overnight?"
"She figured out how to rescue Typhon," I guessed.
"She won't stop until he's back," Nicksa continued. "Or until she's destroyed. That's love."
Nicksa reached down, and a silver chalice rippled into being beside her. "This cup represents the Element of Water. The emotions of all the worlds. All my power. And I give it to you."
"That would kill you," I argued.
"Eventually," Nicksa admitted. "So you must act quickly, and then you must restore the power of the Elements to where it belongs."
"You have a plan," I realized.
"Take my power," Nicksa urged. "Make sure Typhon can never be brought back."
"How?" I pressed.
"You must seal the Void," Nicksa replied, "so it can never be re-opened."
"Is that even possible?" I asked.
"You are Queen of Gods," Nicksa said. "You tell me what's impossible."
It was like a slap in the face. I hadn't even realized how much I'd been limiting myself, how much I'd assumed I couldn't do. It took someone else, someone who'd known me before I became infested with self-doubt, to remind me of who I was and what I was capable of.
I was capable of anything.
"If you give me your power, I'll seal the Void," I promised. "Once and for all."
Nicksa handed me the silver cup.
The moment I wrapped my fingers around its slender stem, I felt a jolt. Nicksa felt it too.
The jolting didn't stop. It got stronger. My whole body jerked as the energy slammed into me. It was all I could do to stay on my feet.
Nicksa was doing far worse. She'd fallen to her knees as her essence screamed out of her and poured into me. The sensation was indescribable. My skin was covered in goosebumps. Tears filled my eyes. I vibrated with so much joy, I felt I might fly apart. Finally, the current stopped, and Nicksa lay still. I was
still paralyzed with the euphoria. Eventually, it faded enough for me to focus.
In my hand, instead of a chalice, I held a stone. A Vessel of Emeth. Erinle must have brought it. Somehow, he'd known that I'd take the power of Water and that I'd need a way to bring it back with me.
I knelt by Nicksa's side. She was alive. Barely.
I lifted her frail, sleek body and carried her to the water. I gently laid her down. She started to drift slowly beneath the surface. If anything would keep her alive, it was being back in water where she belonged.
Nicksa's eyes flew open. I fell back in surprise.
"To get back," she whispered hoarsely as her lips sunk beneath the water. "Just follow your heart."
Her eyes closed again. This time, they wouldn't be opening again anytime soon.
The mermaids would care for her as best they could. The rest was up to me.
But first I had to get back to the mortal world. Without Justin and Darren, I only had what Nicksa had told me, whatever that meant.
I didn't have time for riddles, so I closed my eyes.
The images came. But all I saw was myself, standing just where I was standing. Then I disappeared. That simple.
I opened my eyes. I waited impatiently. I waited until I was so frustrated, I almost punched the cave wall.
I took a breath. It wasn't in my nature to be calm. It was in my nature to be angry. But anger wasn't going to get me back to the mortal world.
The mortal world. The last time I'd come to the mortal world, I'd stopped Hephaestus and rescued the Fates. The key, ironically, had been drawing on my mortality and not my divinity. That had involved connecting to my emotions.
Following my heart.
Emotions were the key to power here in the realm of Water. That power could take me back to the mortal world. All I had to do was use it.
I closed my eyes again. But this time it wasn't to summon my powers, or even to think. It was to feel.
It wasn't easy. I felt. Everyone felt, even gods. But I was used to keeping my emotions in check. With all my power as a god, I had to. Even my anger was usually tightly-controlled. I seethed with rage, but I rarely exploded.
But control wasn't what I needed now. I needed raw power.
Hera, Queen of Mortals (Goddess Unbound) Page 24