“But he did know how to make a Hurler post,” Hera said.
I paced around the hexagonal cold pool room of the girls’ bathhouse. “So, Kronos wanted to make these super weapons. Needed the Cyclopes to make them. They refused. He threw them in Tartarus. That much we know.”
“Right.”
“If we could hold some metal high into the Heavens, like those uncharged Hurler posts, to soak up the cosmic dust, and could somehow craft that metal into a weapon instead of a Hurler,” I said, “we would be cooking over a hot flame then.”
“We need to extract the Cyclopes brothers from Tartarus,” said Shade. “And we can’t let Ouranos and Rhea know what we’re doing. Rhea would never believe our story. And Ouranos would never let us go.”
“What about Tia, Don, and Meter?” I asked. “School’s gonna be shut down if they don’t turn up by Hemera Gaia!”
“What?” Metis asked.
“Yeah, that’s what Ouranos told me earlier. And that he would send us all to Othrys.”
“No! There’s no way I can go back to that school,” Metis’ voice cracked. “I won’t go.”
“Why don’t we just tell Rhea? She’d never let the school close. MO Prep was Rhea’s idea anyway.”
“She must be beside herself,” Hera said.
“If Kronos is behind the disappearances, we’ll never be able to defeat him without the Cyclopes,” I said. “So first things first. We all agree?”
Heads nodded all around.
“He who controls the Cyclopes, controls the world at this point.” Hera said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Having never been to the Underworld, I asked, “How do we even get to Tartarus?”
Metis’ face wrinkled. “By Hurler, of course.”
Shade palmed his forehead. “Now, we need to make it to one without anyone seeing us.”
“Wait,” Hera said. “Have any of us actually been to Tartarus? Otherwise we can’t get there by Hurler.”
Heads shook.
“There has to be another way in,” Hera said.
“In any case, it’s not going to be that easy,” Metis said. “What’s the plan? Go in there, get the Cyclopes brothers, and leave through the front door. Just like that?”
Hera crossed her arms and pulled gently on her bottom lip. “Right. We definitely need a solid extraction plan. Complete with some solid if this, then that’s built in, got me?”
“Let’s meet at my bungalow after we’re dressed.” I looked down at my soaked, torn tunic. “And be quick. Hyperion will be released soon and we can’t afford to get caught in the sun’s angry gaze. If we wait too long, we’ll never be able to leave campus with the lockdown. Oh, and shut down all thoughts.”
On the short walk back to the bungalow, my mind raced, thinking of what we might need to get to the Underworld and back. Food. Water. Weapons. A map would be handy. I remembered that Tia had mapped the Underworld. And then I mind-slapped myself for thinking such thoughts within brain-shot of the watchful powers of Rhea.
I retraced my steps and jogged back to Tia’s cabin. At a distance, a light glowed from the inside. My heart jumped. I ran to the cabin and rushed through the gauzy curtains that hung from Tia’s doorframe. “Tia?”
“Tia’s here?” Hera’s head whipped around.
“Oh, it’s you.”
“Don’t sound so excited,” Hera snapped.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just thought—”
“No? Well how did you mean it? Were you hoping Little Miss Metis would be in here?”
“That’s not fair, and you know it.”
Hera grumbled to herself. “Great Gaia, that girl gets under my skin. Fawning over you the way she does. You’re so hot, Zeus.”
I sighed and massaged my temples.
“Never mind. Let me just get what I came in here for.”
“Wait, which was?”
“Tia’s maps of the Underworld.”
Hera’s tone softened. “Her maps are so much better than mine. Like I said, we each have our talents. By the way, from now on, don’t think anything you don’t want me to know. Just saying.”
Hera pulled the maps from under Tia’s bed and spread the first parchments out on the desk. Fingers splayed, she pressed the edges flat and set weights down on each curling corner. As I ambled over to see the map, Metis stepped through the door.
Hera’s head whipped around. “Speak of the dragon.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Tell you what … it’s suddenly way too crowded in here.”
“I’m not here to make trouble,” Metis said.
“I know.” Hera shot a glance at me. “You guys find a way into that hell-hole. I have to run to my cabin.”
Hera left Metis and me alone. I actually appreciated the space Hera provided. And the trust, frankly. Though her ability to read minds probably helped as well.
I motioned Metis over. “Help me make sense of this.”
She walked to my side, positioning herself so that we nearly touched. My skin was so sensitive after the Throne incident. Metis’ energy pulsed off her body in waves. She nudged into me, her knee pressing the back of my hamstring as she bent across me to point out something on the map. I could barely focus on the map. I closed my eyes to simply feel Metis next to me.
“You need to focus.” She looked up at me slowly, seduction clouding her hazel eyes, her blond ringlets falling over half her face and her lips slightly parted. Damn. If we weren’t in Tia’s room and our circumstances were different. It took all the strength in me to not pin Metis back against the wall next to Tia’s desk.
“Zeus,” Metis breathed, her eyes matching the desire I knew was in my own. “After what I witnessed with you on the Sky Throne, your torn tunic, those abs … ” She sighed. “And then subsequently almost losing you, I’m hardly strong enough to resist any advance you made right now … except for the fact that we do have a mission to accomplish.” She pointed again to the map with her right forefinger. Her left hand grabbed the back of my head and rotated it so I looked downward. She rubbed my bare back, leaving a trail of heat.
“There’s our way in,” Metis said. She pointed to what looked like a cave entrance near the mouth of a river, tracing her finger along the river’s winding path.
“But that cave is way on the far side of the world,” I said. “How would we get there? Also, it looks close to where Hyperion stables his draft horses.” I tensed.
“We’ll figure that out.” She smiled and turned back to the map. “Grab these and take them back with you. I’ll be at your bungalow soon.”
I returned to my bungalow, while trying to think about nothing but goats. I quickly changed into my black tunic. A knock rattled my door. Startled, I finished dressing, smoothed down my tunic, ran my fingers through my hair, and then opened the door.
Hera stood there in all her fierce glory. Black tunic. Black sandals. No jewelry. All business.
She crossed the threshold. “Can’t believe I’m the first one here. Did you and Metis figure out the map?” She nodded. “Of course you did.”
Metis tapped lightly on the doorframe next. She cleared her throat. In her hand, she held four medium-sized sacks by her side. As I began to think how attractive she looked in the black tunic she was wearing instead of her usual chiton dress, I immediately willed my mind to not think anything about anything. Hera shot me an amused look.
“Anyone seen Shade?” Hera asked.
We shook our heads.
“Hera, we can catch Shade up to speed when he gets here. Here’s what we know.” I stood in the middle of the floor. “We have Tia’s maps and from examining them, we now know where the entrance to Tartarus is. We just need to figure out how to get there.”
“And the other maps detail the rivers, and the different levels of the Underworld,” Metis said. “Fields of Asphodel, Elysian Fields, and Tartarus are all drawn exquisitely. There’s no way we can get lost.”
“We just need to get out,” Hera said. “Alive.”
“Once we free the Cyclopes, they can help us get out.” Metis said. “By the way, I made everyone snack sacks with figs, apples, bread, and goatskins of water.” She pointed to the bags on the bed.
“That was nice.” I looked at Hera. Before I could rein in my thinking, I considered how Hera probably would never have done something like that.
I totally would have. I jumped as Hera’s thoughts speared straight into my head.
No you wouldn’t have, and you know it. I thought back.
All right maybe not, but don’t hold that against me. I’m valuable in other ways.
Yes, you are. I could not believe we were having a conversation mentally. Outrageous.
“Okay,” I said aloud, finally. “Let’s go get Shade and get down to the armory.”
As we headed for the door, a shadowy form appeared as if from thin air. An obsidian ghost. Metis gasped. I instinctively stepped in front of her. My fists clenched and a yellowish ball of energy pulsed around my fist. Then, my eyes registered who it was. “You almost had your life ended.”
Shade beamed. “Pretty sweet, huh?”
“Dammit, Shade!” Hera scolded. “Unless you want to go to the Underworld permanently, don’t do that again!”
My chest still heaved with heavy breaths as I clasped Shade’s forearm. “Yes, that was pretty sweet.”
“It’s the dust, man. Remember how you said I disappeared up there? Now I can do it anytime I want, I think.”
“Just don’t come sneaking up on me in the bathhouse.” Hera shot him a glare. “I’ll know—I can still read your thoughts.”
Shade’s dark olive cheeks ripened.
My glowing hand cast an eerie light through the cabin. I tried to shake it, but the light remained.
“Your hand all right?” Shade asked.
“I guess.” I cleared my throat. “Here’s what we need to do. This is just like the game Goat-For-A-Sheep back home. My friend and I were on different teams. One team had a goat. The other a sheep. We hid our mascots in various places through the hillsides. The purpose of the game was to capture the other team’s mascot, before they got to yours. Exact same thing. We need to sneak to the armory, gear up to the teeth, and then set out for the river cave.”
“How are we going to get to the armory?” asked Shade. “Don’t they have all our Hurlers guarded around campus?”
“Maybe.” I grinned. “Maybe not.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
I raced around my room, gathering up things I might need. An extra tunic. A hooded cloak. Metis’ snack sack. “There’s an unguarded Hurler in the Observatory.”
We stalked back to the Observatory undetected and found the Hurler still radiating a dull blue halo in the corner.
“There’s such a high likelihood that someone will be on patrol down at the Caldron,” Hera said. “How do we get down there without being seen?”
The group drew in a collective deep breath.
“One of us could hurl down there … ” Metis said, “and then if someone is down there, we could just come back here. They’ll only know that we left, but not the actual location.”
“That’s brilliant,” I whisper-yelled.
“I can do one better,” Shade announced. “I could render myself invisible and then go take a look around.”
“You might just get a hug when all this is over, Shade,” Hera said.
Hades puffed his chest out a bit. A satisfied smile played on his lips. “All right team, wish me luck.”
Shade closed his eyes and focused. He slowly raised his right hand into the air. After a few moments … he wrenched his hand into a fist like he’d turned a spigot. And then he vanished.
“Whoa!”
“Here I go,” Shade whispered.
“Shade?” I uttered twice. No response came. “I guess he’s gone. I sure hope nothing bad happens … like his deity magic gets interrupted or something.”
Hera, Metis, and I waited. I blinked rapidly at the Hurler. Nothing happened. I paced between two lab tables. Hera leaned against the wall with her right foot resting on a stool. Metis rubbed a circle on my back.
Suddenly, Shade reappeared near the Hurler. “All right, this is the situation. It’s a good thing we didn’t just all go down there. Phanes had just returned from a search of the Caldron and The Thick, I assume. He then hurled somewhere. I watched him. So our window of time here is closing to nearly shut. We have to go. Now.”
We scrambled across the Observatory lab, met at the Hurler post, and liquefied. We rematerialized at the circle of Hurlers in front of the armory. The half-light of the sky reminded me of the pre-dawn return from the bonfire. A knot twisted in my stomach. We’d been awake all night planning this act of defiance. Here is where the hot iron would meet the hammer and anvil.
As we dressed for battle—pulling on mesh battle tunics, cuirass breastplates, greaves, bracelets, gauntlets, and lastly helmets—a subtle moan drifted through the building. It was slight enough that I almost mistook it for the building settling itself. Until it happened again.
I held up my fist, signaling to everyone to stop moving. They complied and cast puzzled expressions toward me; I pressed my forefinger to my lips. My gaze darted, searching for the sound.
The haunting moan reverbed through the space again.
“What is that?” Metis whispered.
It almost sounded like it had drifted from the other side of the armory. The Titans’ side.
As I drew closer to the gate that separated our two sides, I listened again. Nothing.
“Hello?” I called out. “Anyone over there?”
No answer. I was halfway turned back around when I heard the moan again rumble through the silence.
I placed my hands on the iron bars of the gate. As I focused all my strength, a surge of energy flowed from my core, spider-webbed through my chest, and down my arms. My grip tightened, the bars turning yellowish-white and bent beneath my palms. I pulled them apart, stepped back, and admired my handiwork with a stunned expression. “I could get used to this.”
“Show off,” Hera said behind me.
We stepped out of the torch-lit Olympian side of the armory through the hole I’d made into darkness of the Titan base, our spears extended. Metis held the torch behind us as we walked.
As we moved into the large room of their side of the armory, a crumpled form stirred in the corner. Approaching it cautiously, I wheeled my spear around and poked the heaped mass with the butt end of it. It shifted and groaned louder.
Metis brought the flickering fire forward. I grabbed what looked like a shoulder hidden by a mass of matted silvery hair and rolled the bloodied body toward me. A sickle stuck out of the person’s midsection. I carefully removed it and placed it to the side, noting that it was obsidian black like the spear that had impaled Tos on Crete. And the one in the Observatory.
“Wait a moment … ” Hera began, “Headmaster? Professor O? Is that you?”
Hera knelt to prop the body upright. I held his other shoulder.
“Yesss—” Ouranos whispered. His once strong voice weakened.
“Great Gaia!” Shade gasped. “Who did this? Who attacked you?”
Ouranos breathed, “F-f-find K-Kronosss … ”
I gripped the sides of Ouranos’ face and turned his head slowly toward me. “Kronos did this?”
Ouranos closed his eyes as if to concentrate solely on his next breath. And then the next. His ageless face showed signs of wear. Wrinkles deepened. Sagging appeared where taut skin once had been.
Shade whipped his head toward Metis. “Did you know about this?”
Metis’ eyelids were like dams, struggling to hold back the flood. “No! I swear! This was never part of any plan I was privy to.” She sobbed.
I swallowed hard, unable to reconcile the strong Ouranos I had always known with the current vision. At once, my lim
bs filled with jittery, nervous energy. I gazed into the dark recesses of the Titan armory.
“Air,” Ouranos muttered without opening his eyes. “N-n-need air—”
We all grabbed his arms and legs and struggled to haul him outside. His heft weighed considerably more than I’d have thought. The sky had lightened to a bright, rich blue that bordered on lavender. Ouranos took a deep breath and sighed. He moved his head slightly.
“Headmaster,” Hera began, “You have been our rock. How are we expected to battle this evil without you?”
“You can and you will. Olympus will fall, if not.” He coughed. “Stick together. Remember all we taught you. A leader shall emerge. Follow them through the fire. But … beware—” he choked out. His head slumped. His pulse slowed beneath my fingers and then finally stopped.
“Beware what?” Shade asked.
But he was gone. My hand trembled against his skin. “If an Elder has fallen, supreme killing weapons exist already.”
Ouranos’ body became translucent. He levitated off the ground and we all stepped backward several feet. Before our eyes, his body became a million tiny points of light, specks of dust. Slowly, they rose higher in the air until they filled the indigo sky with stars.
My voice cracked. “If Ouranos is murdered what does that mean for—” The names of my schoolmates refused to form in my clogged throat.
Everyone turned slowly toward me. I saw something I never thought I’d see. Tears welled in Hera’s eyes, though none fell. Shade’s scowl returned. Metis covered her eyes and shook her head.
“Now, I’m really pissed.” Hera’s soft features hardened. She paced, shaking out her hands frantically. Short huffs of breath escaped her lips. And then she turned her pained gaze toward Metis. “Did you know about this?”
Metis shook her head. “No! I swear. This was not part of any plan I ever knew.”
Hera glared at Metis. “If I find out your lying, there will be nowhere in this cosmos you can hide from me.”
“Trust me,” Metis began, glancing into the eyes of Hera, Shade, and myself, “you have every right to hate me. Self-loathing is a dangerous sport. I have a lot to repent for … and much to prove.”
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