by Alane Adams
“Angie, I can’t—”
“You can. Go on.” She closed my fingers around it and gave me a shove.
I stumbled up the steps on weak legs. Between freezing the python and calling up countless bolts of lighting, my energy stocks were low. For a moment, I wished I was back at Dexter Academy with nothing more to worry about than Julia Pillsbury and a ruined history project.
And then I remembered the terrified look on Carl’s face as Ares hauled him off, and I pushed the fatigue aside.
When I stepped onto the dais, flames instantly lit up the torches. A marble basin of water rested on a stone pedestal. A shadowed archway opened into the rock wall.
“Hello?”
A whispery voice replied from the shadows, “Who seeks the Oracle of Delphi?”
“Uh, hi, my name is Phoebe.”
Puffs of steam shot up from the floor, making me dance sideways.
“Your prophecy has been read before,” the voice said carefully. “Not by me, but by one of my sisters.”
“Someone else asked the question, not me. I’m here to ask my own.”
I could just make out silvery eyes glittering at me. The rest of her was hidden. I thought she was going to tell me to get lost, but she asked, “Do you have an offering?”
I held the chain out, letting it dangle from my fingers.
“Put it in the basin.”
I let it drop into the water. Immediately the surface bubbled and steam rose up. It smelled of eucalyptus and menthol. As I stared into the basin, the chain dissolved, and the water glowed with a faint aura.
A woman stepped gracefully out of the shadows. She was slender and tall. Dark hair was coiled atop her head. She wore a sleeveless gown of pearl silk, knotted over one shoulder.
“Phoebe of Argos. What a surprise.”
Her tone was fluid and even. I couldn’t tell if it was a good surprise or bad.
“I know there’s some prophecy about me destroying this place,” I said, “but that’s not why I’m here. You see, Ares took my social worker. His name is Carl. He’s the … I mean … I have to … I …”
“You care for him,” she prompted.
“Yeah, you could say that. He’s the one who found me when I was kicked out of Olympus. He’s been looking out for me my whole life.”
“I see.” She walked to the basin, trailing her fingers in the water before looking at me. “And what question have you for the oracle? Be mindful, you may only ask one.”
“How do I get Carl back home in one piece?”
Her silver eyes glittered with anger. “You wish to know how to rescue a mortal?” Steam shot up into the air around my feet, higher this time.
“Yes. Tell me how to save him, and I’ll disappear again, and you can all forget about me. And I promise not to destroy Olympus while I’m here.”
The oracle tilted her head stiffly. “Allow me to consult with the mists, and I will return with an answer.” She backed away into the shadows.
“You all right up there, Katzy?” Angie called.
“Yeah, peachy.” I rocked back and forth, my feet squelching in my wet tennies.
After a long moment, the oracle returned. She had a funny look on her face, as if she’d just eaten some bad clams. Her hands were clasped behind her. “You were not supposed to return, child of Zeus.”
I stepped back. “Right, but here I am, so how do I—you know—rescue my friend?”
“The prophecy was clear,” she continued, swinging her arms forward, revealing a heavy sword. Its sharpened edges gleamed in the torchlight. “If the child of Zeus returned to Olympus, a mighty god would perish. You cannot be allowed to live.” She raised the sword over her head with both hands, readying herself to cleave me in half.
Seriously? Does everyone in this place want me dead?
“Phoebe, run!” Angie yelled.
I grabbed the nearest torch and knocked it over, spilling flaming oil over the dais. The hem of her dress caught fire. Sparks and ash flew as the flames leaped higher, but it didn’t slow her down.
Her face twisted with anger. “You cannot escape me, daughter of Zeus! Perish you must before the gates of Olympus crumple.”
She flew forward, her feet skimming the ground as whatever magic she had propelled her along. I quickly threw a lightning bolt at her, pleased when it landed dead center in her chest.
The bad news was, it didn’t have the intended effect. She grew even larger, glowing with a bright light as flames swirled and burned at her feet.
“You cannot kill me, puny mortal!” Her voice was a roar, booming off the ceiling as she grew to the size of a ten-foot-tall linebacker.
“I’m not a mortal,” I shouted back, “I am the daughter of a god. I may not be able to kill you, but I can do this.”
I squeezed my fists, calling up two lightning bolts, and sent them both at the ceiling. They exploded in a flash of bright light. Stones tumbled down, striking the oracle and knocking her to the ground. An ominous crack sounded as the ceiling split open, revealing the twilight sky.
I hurried down the steps as more stones tumbled down. The first column cracked and split, falling in slow motion with an ear-splitting crash. One after the other, the columns began to splinter and fall.
“The temple is coming down,” Damian said. “We have to go.”
“But I don’t have my prophecy,” I wailed.
“Too bad!” Angie dragged me out, closely followed by Macario.
Behind us there was an explosion of dust and the roar of collapsing rock as the entire mountain seemed to cave in on itself. We ran headlong down the hillside to escape the tumbling boulders.
We didn’t stop until we reached the bottom, and looked back up. I had to bite my knuckle to stop from crying out. As the dust settled, all that remained of the magnificent temple was a single broken column.
“It looks like the destruction of Olympus has begun,” Damian joked.
I punched him on the arm. “Not funny.”
Angie looked pale. “What if he’s right, Katzy? What if none of this is supposed to happen?”
“It has happened. And Ares still has Carl, so if it means I have to destroy Olympus to get him back, I will.”
Macario clucked softly. “This Carl must be some god.”
“He’s not a god,” I said, blinking back tears. “He’s like an old sweater that keeps you warm on a cold day. He’s a pair of worn shoes that fit just right. He’s hot chocolate when it’s snowing outside. He’s home. And I’m going to save him.”
There was dead silence.
After a long moment, Angie put her fingers to her lips and whistled sharply. There was a thrumming of wings, and then Pepper sailed over the treetops, skidding to a stop in front of us.
We climbed in, and Pepper rumbled us away through the darkening trees.
A cloud hung over me. I wasn’t any closer to knowing how to rescue Carl, and I had just wrecked the temple of Apollo.
If I was indeed the destroyer of Olympus, I was right on target.
CHAPTER 16
We made camp in the shelter of some trees near a bubbling stream. Macario built us a fire, using a spark of sunbeam to light the wood. We were hungry, with nothing much to eat but olives we picked from the trees. Still, no one complained. In fact, no one said much of anything. I lay back on a thick bed of leaves and stared at the twinkling stars, seeing the temple crumble to the ground over and over again in my head.
“Hey, Phoebes,” Damian said. “You need to see this.”
“What?” I rolled over, tossing a stick in the fire.
He was reading the red journal we’d found. I’d forgotten all about it.
“I think it’s a prophecy about you.”
I sat up, a mixture of fear and excitement making my pulse skitter.
“Well, what does it say?”
His eyes were stricken as he looked at me. “Sure you want to know?”
I nodded, swallowing back the lump of dread. “Whatever it is, can’
t be worse than what Ares said, right?”
Damian’s eyes zagged away from mine. He cleared his throat and began to read.
“TO ZEUS, KING OF THE GODS, I HAVE COME TO WARN
THE FATE OF OLYMPUS RESTS ON A DAUGHTER NOT BORN
FROM THE SAME WOMB AS PERSEUS WILL SHE ARISE
TO A MIGHTY GOD, SHE WILL BE HIS DEMISE
FOR SHE WILL BRING THE KINGDOM DOWN
IN RUINS ROUND AND ROUND HIS CROWN.”
The air went out of me in a whoosh. “So Ares was right? I really am this … destroyer?”
Damian turned the page. “Hold on—it looks like there’s more, although the writing is different.” He held up the book. It looked like someone had scrawled more lines hurriedly. He continued reading:
“TO STOP THIS FUTURE FROM UNFOLDING
SIX TALISMANS MUST SHE BE HOLDING
A SINGLE FEATHER FROM THE SPHINX’S WING
THE CROMMYONIAN SOW’S TUSK SHALL SHE BRING
STRENGTH SHE’LL NEED FOR THE NEMEAN LION’S CLAW
FOR NEXT SHE’LL PRY THE HYDRA’S FANG FROM ITS JAW
FROM MIGHTY CERBERUS, HIS TAIL BE SHORN
AND FINISH IT OFF WITH THE CHIMERA’S HORN
WHEN THE EYE OF ZEUS IS FINALLY COMPLETE
ONLY THEN THIS PROPHECY WILL SHE DEFEAT.”
“Are you saying I have to battle all of these monsters?” I squeaked.
Damian frowned. “From what I can tell, you need only collect a talisman from each. But yes, that seems to be the only way to stop Ares.”
I scrambled up. “Then we do it. We collect the talismans, put Ares in his place, and get Carl back. Who are these monsters and how do we find them?”
I looked at Macario.
He had a doubtful look on his face. “These creatures are all Echidna’s children. She gave birth to six of the most fearsome beasts ever. Did you know the Lernean hydra has nine heads? And the Crommyonian sow can rip out a man’s insides with its tusks.” He shook his head. “The others are equally awful.”
“We can’t go after the talismans until we know what the Eye of Zeus is,” Damian said. “I’ve never heard of it before.”
Macario shrugged. “Neither have I.”
My brain raced as I paced in front of the fire. “If no one’s ever heard of it, maybe it’s because it wasn’t written about.” I stopped. “Because no one knew about it.” I pulled the old mirror out of my pocket and studied the shapes on the back.
There were six of them—the same number of monsters I had to get a talisman from. Taking the hydra’s fang out of my pocket—the one Miss Carole had given me—I held it over the mirror. The fang vibrated in my hand, tugging itself toward the mirror. I let it go and it dropped into the triangle-shaped slot, changing size to fit. Then, with a sudden spark, it was spit out, turning to dust.
My eyes bulged. “Did you see that? It tried to fit itself in.”
“But since it wasn’t the real hydra—” Damian added.
“It was rejected,” I finished, brandishing the mirror. “This is the Eye of Zeus! All we have to do is collect a few trophies, and we’re home free.”
“Hold on—you’re not thinking we’re gonna trot out and face a bunch of monsters?” Angie had been quiet throughout our discussion, but her voice was angry. “That’s just brilliant, because I really wanted to die here! Come on, Katzy, I like Carl too, but look at that list. You’re talking a hydra, the real thing, not some bathroom monster. And a Nemean lion? I don’t even know what that is, but it sounds deadly.”
“Its hide is stronger than steel,” Macario piped in. “Impossible to kill.”
“See?” She pointed at the boy. “Even the rat knows we’re doomed. I say we go home now before anything worse happens.”
“Go,” I said, ignoring the sting of pain at her words. “I don’t care. I’m not leaving without Carl.”
Angie glared at me. “Why do you always do that? Act like you don’t care. You can’t possibly think it’s okay to destroy this place all because of one person—I mean, what about the rest of the people that live here?” She shook her head. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. It’s not going to end well.”
She was probably right, but I was too stubborn to admit it.
“You know what the last thing Carl said to me was? He said I had potential, but if I didn’t start using it, I was going to lose it. Guess what? This is me using my potential. Just because someone said I’m going to destroy Olympus doesn’t mean I will. They didn’t know I was going to meet you and Damian, because if they had, they would know I’m smarter and stronger with you guys. Maybe the oracle doesn’t know everything, and maybe, just maybe, we can make our own fate.”
Her face slowly relaxed. “Okay, Katzy. We’ll do it your way.”
“Thanks—I don’t deserve a friend like you.” She rolled her eyes, muttering how right I was, and my spirits lifted a notch. “Damian, what’s first on the list again?”
“The sphinx. I think she lived near a place called Thebes.”
“Macario, can you take us there?”
He shook his head, averting his eyes. “I have business elsewhere—”
“A son of Apollo could really make a name for himself, taking on all these monsters,” I cut in.
His face brightened. “I guess my business can wait. Thebes is two days from here.”
We set off at first light, an aura of excitement floating over us. There was a chance, a real chance, everything was going to be okay. I just had to face six terrible monsters.
At least I wasn’t alone.
“Tell us about this sphinx,” I asked Macario.
“Around these parts we call her the Flesh Eater.”
“Uh, I think I prefer sphinx,” I said.
He cocked a glance at me. “We also call her the Pagan People Eater.”
“No.”
“The Monster of Thebes?”
“Anything else?”
He sighed. “I once heard someone refer to her as Miss Kitty. She’s half woman, half lion, and ugly as the rear end of a manticore.”
“She doesn’t sound so bad,” I said, thinking of the ferocious hydra we had battled back in the bathroom.
“Macario’s leaving out her tail, which is a deadly serpent,” Damian said, clearly eager to show off his knowledge. “If you happened upon her lair, she would challenge you to answer her riddle.”
“Ooh, I love riddles,” Angie said, clapping her hands.
“Hers were deadly,” Damian said. “According to legend, if you answered incorrectly, she would eat you alive.”
“That’s why she’s called the Monster of Thebes,” Macario said. “The people live in terror of taking the road that leads through the valley to their city, but it’s the shortest route.”
“How do we defeat her?” I asked.
“We have to answer her riddle,” Damian said. “It’s the only way.”
“I don’t suppose you know it?” I asked.
He tossed me an eye roll. “Of course. It went something like this: What creature is first four-footed, then two-footed, and finally three-footed?”
“It’s impossible,” Macario scoffed. “No one’s ever solved it.”
“I give up,” I said, looking at Damian. “What’s the answer?”
“Man. He’s first on all fours, as a baby crawling. As he gets older, he walks on two feet. It’s only when he is old and needs a cane that he has three feet.”
Macario gaped. “By the gods, how did you know that?”
“I read,” Damian said. “Everything that happens here has already been recorded in history.”
“What do they write about me?” Macario asked eagerly.
Damian hesitated.
“Come on, they have to talk about the most powerful son of Apollo. They’ve probably written entire books about me,” he boasted.
“Boring ones, I bet,” Angie scoffed. “What’s to eat?”
“That one only thinks about her stomach,” Macario griped.
<
br /> “That one is hungry—that’s why,” she snapped back.
They were like two cats in a fight. I sighed. “I’m kind of hungry too. Do you have any more drachmas, Macario? Maybe we can buy some food without three old ladies and a pack of Erinyes trying to kill me.”
His eyes gleamed. “I know just the place.” He flicked the reins, and Pepper let out an aggrieved sigh as she spread her wings and took flight.
We soared over the countryside. I liked seeing things from up high. Mount Olympus jutted up in the north, but the rest of the place was green-and-brown rolling hills bounded by a deep blue coastline. Small villages dotted the country. A dark haze muddied the horizon. A city squatted under the clouds of dust and smoke.
“What’s that place called?” I asked Macario.
“That’s Avalon, the black market of Olympus, filled with robbers, thieves, and outlaws. It’s the one place where you won’t be the most wanted person there.”
CHAPTER 17
Macario was right about Avalon. The place was crawling with all sorts of lowlifes. Furtive eyes assessed us as we made our way into town, probably looking to see if we had anything to steal, but the carriage was streaked with dirt, and the wooden siding had been dinged by arrows. One of the wheels had several broken spokes. Plus, we probably smelled, and our clothes were stained and rumpled from sleeping in the dirt.
Macario tied Pepper off to a post with a row of other carriages. We had tossed the blanket over her back to hide her wings.
“You sure it’s a good idea to leave the carriage untended?” Damian asked.
“No one wants this heap as long as they don’t find out it’s pulled by a pegasus,” he said.
Pepper promptly buried her nose in the water trough and ignored us.
“So where do we eat?” Angie asked, rubbing her hands.
“We have to make some money first,” Macario said, flipping a silver coin in the air. “Follow me.”
He led us down a cobbled street toward an open square. The marketplace was more crowded than a mall on Black Friday, packed with stalls selling wares, spices, and dried fruits. People milled about, trading, eating, and shouting out wares for sale. Street performers juggled flaming torches. A squawking rooster ran between my legs, chased by a small kid.