by Alane Adams
I felt the air rush out of me. Angie gripped my shoulder, squeezing it hard.
“So why did he think you were wrong?” I croaked.
“The king wanted to know if he went to war with his archrival, would he win. I told him if he went to war, a powerful army would fall.”
“And?”
“And a powerful army fell,” she answered with a small smile. “It was unfortunately his army, not the other side’s. Prophecies are tricky things. Often, the receiver hears what they want to. He blamed me for his loss.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Damian said. A piglet waddled over and crawled onto his lap, nudging under his arms. He scratched its belly and it sighed contentedly. Another climbed onto Angie’s lap and the third onto mine. Its bristly little pink body was warm. One of its tiny tusks was missing.
“It wasn’t fair,” Phaea agreed. “But I had tired of life at the temple. So much pressure to tell people what they wanted to hear. I was wandering the countryside when I found my Agatha, crying her head off. She had been abandoned by her mother and left to die.”
“Her mother was Echidna,” Damian said.
“Yes, she was better off without that monster.” She looked over fondly at the now sleeping sow.
“This makes no sense,” Macario blustered. “Everyone knows the Crommyonian sow is a man-eating menace who terrorizes this part of the country.”
Phaea laughed. “Does she look menacing? They are stories I spread. A few scattered cattle bones and rumors of missing people no one actually knew, and the lies became myth. Now no one bothers us.”
“Why did you help us today?” I asked.
“Being gone from the temple hasn’t stopped me having the visions. I had one about this day. That you four would arrive.” Her eyes darkened. “That you would attempt to take Agatha’s tusk and cause her great harm.”
“I don’t want to hurt her. I couldn’t.” I looked down at the sleeping piglet in my lap.
“I’m glad to hear that, because I won’t allow it.” Her words had steel.
“Phoebe, the prophecy,” Macario urged. “It’s just one tusk. Do you want this Carl of yours to perish or, worse, for Olympus to be destroyed?”
I didn’t need reminding what was at stake. Searching for a distraction, I asked, “What happened to this little one’s tusk?”
“Those are its baby tusks. The permanent ones will grow in soon.”
An idea came to me. “I don’t suppose you have one of Agatha’s baby tusks?”
Her eyes brightened. “I think it might be here.” She threw open a trunk and rummaged around. She lifted a small jeweled box and opened it. Inside, nestled in pink satin, were two tiny yellowed tusks. She held one up. “Do you think it will work?”
“Only one way to find out.” I dug out the Eye of Zeus.
Phaea held the small tusk over the mirror. Nothing happened at first. It seemed as if it wouldn’t accept the talisman. She closed her eyes, muttering words to herself, and released the tusk. It dropped and then hung in the air, suspended by some magic. It spun slowly, first left and then right, as if the Eye were inspecting it. With a loud pop, it shot into the boomerang slot, shrinking into place as the silver sealed it inside.
“We did it,” I whispered. “And we didn’t destroy anything.”
CHAPTER 24
I woke to the smell of breakfast cooking. Phaea had fixed us scrambled eggs with some toasted flatbread, which we devoured in seconds. When the dishes were wiped clean, Phaea led us outside, where the giant sow waited.
“Agatha will take you to the crossroads. You will find a ride easily to wherever you are headed.” She raised a hand when Damian opened his mouth. “No, I don’t want to know where. I have a feeling if I did, I would have to stop you.”
We waved goodbye as Agatha trundled us along a rocky ridge. The sea sparkled in the distance, making me wish for a time-out, a day we could play in the waves and not worry about the fate of Olympus, Carl, and how I was going to get my friends home in one piece.
Agatha came to a stop at the edge of the tree line at the top of a hill. Before us, a well-marked road stretched in both directions. Clouds of dust marked the passing of wagons. We climbed down and waved goodbye to Agatha as she snuffled out her farewell and began her slow climb back into the hills.
“What’s next on our list?” I asked Damian, rubbing my hands.
“The Nemean lion.” He looked the most cheerful I had seen him in days. A good night’s rest and belly full of food had that effect on us.
“Great. A lion. Can’t be worse than Miss Kitty,” Angie said, flexing her arms.
“Oh, he’s worse,” Macario said. “In fact, this is where we part company.”
Shocked silence filled the air.
“Excuse me?” Most days Macario annoyed the snot out of me, but I had kind of grown used to him. “What happened to impressing your father?”
“I’m not going to impress him if I’m dead,” he said darkly. “The Neman lion is called Leather Back because its hide is so tough, none can kill it. None.”
“Hercules was able to kill it,” Damian pointed out. “He strangled it with his bare hands.”
“Not yet, he didn’t,” Macario glowered. “Another reason I’m leaving. You and your strange stories and odd clothing. You three don’t belong here, and it’s time I made my own way.”
“So you’re leaving?” Angie gaped at him. “You scum-licking toad—we should have left you to be petrified by those scare-creeps.”
“Drop it, Angie,” I cut in. “Macario’s done more than enough to help us. If you can point us in the right direction to find this Leather Back, we’d appreciate it.”
Macario pointed south. “If you keep to this road, you’ll catch a ride in no time and be there by noon tomorrow.” He backed away as a wagon carrying a load of chickens trundled past in the other direction. “This is my ride,” he said, hopping onto the back. “Travel safe, daughter of Zeus.”
It was happening so fast, I didn’t know what to say. “You too, son of Apollo. I hope things work out with you and your dad.”
“He’s really leaving?” Angie said, staring after him in shock.
“It is rather unexpected,” Damian said with a slight frown.
“We’ll survive.” People came and went all the time in my life. One more wasn’t going to break me. “Come on.”
We started walking. Several carts passed, but none were heading in the direction of Nemea. The sun beat down on our heads, and we were all grouchy by the time we called it a day under a small stand of olive trees.
“I sure wish we could find a nice inn,” Angie said, stretching her arms. “And a hot shower with breakfast in bed.”
We listed all the things we missed. Without Macario, our attempts at a fire were pointless, so we made do with some hunks of bread Phaea had packed.
The next morning, my feet ached and had two blisters, and there was still no sign of a wagon heading for Nemea.
As the third cart passed heading the other way, Damian shook his head. “This doesn’t make sense. Nemea is a big city. Everyone went there to trade. Hold on.”
He raced after the peddler, shouting at him to stop. The man pulled up his cart and leaned down. They spoke a minute. Damian held his hand up, as if he was asking him to wait, and ran back to us.
“Macario lied. We’re going the wrong way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Macario sent us the wrong way. Nemea is back the other way.”
Sudden suspicion made me pat my pockets. “Hey, Damian, where’s the Eye of Zeus?”
He shrugged. “I don’t have it. Where did you last see it?”
“After we put the tusk in. Macario asked to look at it. He said he gave it back to you.”
Our eyes locked as realization hit at the same moment.
“Macario!”
Angie exploded. “Aargh—that little thief! I told you he was a rat! Wait till I get my hands on him.”
I was too stunned to react. I couldn’t believe he had stolen my one chance at fixing things.
“Why would he do that?” Damian asked.
“Because he wants to kill the Nemean lion himself,” I said numbly. “So he can impress his father.”
“And I told him how to do it,” Damian said, eyes stricken.
“Come on. We have to get to Nemea.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s no way he can kill that lion on his own. He’s going to need our help.”
“Help? I’ll tell you the kind of help I’m going to give him. It involves my foot connecting to his backside,” Angie said.
“Save it for when we get the Eye of Zeus back, Angie.”
We ran after the peddler, who had started to drive off, and piled in the back of his cart.
Nemea turned out to be a bustling city of adobe buildings and the familiar red-tiled roofs. A pillared temple sat on a hilltop. White columns held up a domed ceiling. Tall letters inscribed across the front read TEMPLE OF ZEUS.
“What’s the scoop on this place?” I asked.
With Macario gone, Damian readily resumed his role as our walking encyclopedia. “Nemea was ruled by a king named Lycurgus. He started the Nemean Games, kind of like a prequel to the Olympics.”
“That explains the stadium.” I pointed out the circular edifice that held rows and rows of seats carved into stone. Giant red flags with a golden lion pawing the air hung from every post. Crowds teemed at the gates, clamoring to buy tickets.
“I smell food,” Angie said, wrinkling her nose. “I say we take a break, check out the sights, and eat. Then we’ll find the little rat and whomp on him until he gives us the mirror back.”
We paid for admission and bought some fresh skewers of roasted meat with the rest of my coins, then made our way down to seats toward the front.
Across the stadium, a broad platform jutted out, covered in a canopy of red silk. People milled about the terrace dressed in fancy gold-braided tunics, laughing and drinking from goblets. A trumpet blew and the crowd grew quiet. A couple came out wearing crowns, their raised hands clasped together. The woman was beautiful, with blond hair braided in two buns on either side of her head. The broad-shouldered man had a touch of gray at his temples. They waved at the crowd and took their seats on ornate thrones.
“That’s the king and queen,” Damian said with a touch of awe.
“Yeah, I got that from their crowns,” I said, but I couldn’t help smiling. It was strangely exciting.
The competition began with an archery display. Five men lined up, taking aim at straw bales across the arena, each pinned with a bullseye. One competitor stood out, hitting the target time and again. He wore a simple crown and his chest armor bore the Nemean crest of the lion pawing the air.
“That must be the prince.” Angie rested her chin on her fist. “Isn’t he dreamy?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “What’s next?” I asked Damian.
“The sign outside said lion wrestling. Did you know the rules say they can’t use any weapons? They have to use their bare hands.”
“You think they wrestle Leather Back?” I asked.
“Who would be crazy enough to do that? Probably an old toothless she-lion.”
The gates rattled up and the competitors turned to face the tunnel. The prince dropped into a crouch. The crowd grew quiet. Some half rose, trying to see into the opening. Nothing happened for a long moment. A scream rang out of the darkness.
A familiar scream.
What the—
A golden-haired boy ran out of the tunnel, pumping his legs as fast as he could. Behind him a lion bounded out, clawing at his heels.
The lion was super-sized with a glorious tawny mane. It stopped in the center of the arena, planting catcher’s mitt–sized paws in the dirt, and threw its head back, letting out a roar that rattled my bones.
“That doesn’t look like an old she-lion,” Angie squeaked.
“Macario led the Nemean lion here.” I jumped up. “Come on, we have to help him.”
We pushed our way forward as the rest of the competitors fled over the side of the wall, leaving only the prince in the arena with Macario. Macario had a bleeding gash on his leg. The prince warily circled the lion. He had retrieved his lance, holding it out in front of him.
“Stay here,” I warned the other two and slipped over the railing, dropping into the dirt.
“Child, get out of here,” the prince shouted at me.
“I’m not a child. I’m a demigod. Macario, what did you do?”
Tears streaked the dust on his cheeks. “Nothing! I was tracking the beast when it headed for the arena. It was after one of the females in the cages. I tried to stop it from entering, but it attacked the guards. It nearly took my leg off!”
“Did you try a sunbeam?”
“Yes, it made it very angry.”
Angie and Damian dropped down in the dirt next to me.
“So what’s the plan, Katzy?” Angie held the short sword General Egan had given her.
“Don’t you guys ever listen? I don’t have a plan.”
The lion paced, licking its chops, as if it knew we were lunch meat. The crowd had gone deathly still.
The prince decided to be a hero and stepped in front of us. “Stay behind me, children. This beast has been a plague on my kingdom for too long.”
Without warning, the lion launched itself at the prince’s head. The prince braced himself and then stabbed upward with his lance, driving it into its chest with a powerful thrust, but the metal tip snapped off, unable to penetrate its hide. He pivoted, tossing the lion to the side, but as it passed over him, it swiped at the prince with one paw, tearing a gash in the prince’s chest armor. The blow knocked the prince sideways, sending him tumbling over the hard ground.
The lion spun, ready to pounce on him, but Angie stood over him.
“Eat my blade!” She raised her stubby sword with both hands and brought it down, stabbing Leather Back in its eye.
My heart soared as the blade went in deep. “Way to go, Angie!”
The lion screamed, tossing its giant maned head back and knocking Angie flying with a slash of its paw.
The crowd cheered as Damian and I rushed to help Angie to her feet.
“Is it dead?” she asked, swaying.
“Not yet.”
The blade stuck out of the lion’s eye at a crooked angle. Rearing up on its hind legs, it used both front paws to grasp at the hilt, and with a sickening squelch, the blade came spinning out and landed at Angie’s feet.
The crowd went silent again. Blood poured down the lion’s cheek as it dropped its head to glare at us with its remaining eye. I could have sworn steam came out of its nostrils.
“Damian, tell me you got something,” I asked as we took a collective step back.
“Um, another version of the story suggests Hercules shot an arrow in his mouth. It’s not as tough as his hide.”
Macario and I looked at each other. He nodded. I called up a lightning bolt, and he matched it with a sunbeam.
“Angie, guard the prince.”
She lifted her bloody sword. The tip was broken off, but she held it bravely as she stepped in front of his limp form.
I looked at Damian. “You know what to do.”
“How come I’m always the bait?” he grumbled, but he stepped forward. “Here, lion, lion.” He waved his hands as Macario and I took a position on either side of him. “I’m nice and juicy. Tasty as can be.”
The lion roared again, so loud the stadium shook and the audience screamed. It crouched, its muscles coiled into a tight spring.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready,” Macario answered.
Damian ducked into a tight ball as the lion sprang at him, claws out, jaws wide open.
“Now!”
Macario and I launched our bolts at the same time. They joined in the open mouth of the lion and exploded in a bright burst of yellow and white light.
>
The beast’s razor claws dug trenches in the ground as it skidded to a stop directly on top of Damian. It swayed once, then twice, as tendrils of smoke rose from its mouth. Then it teetered over and thudded to the ground. Its glassy eyes stared up at the sky. A roar of cheers sounded in the arena as the crowd leaped to their feet.
The good news was it was dead.
The bad news was Damian was buried somewhere underneath a mountain of tawny flesh.
“Damian!”
We raced to the lion’s side. “Grab that pole,” I said to Angie. She took the broken end of the prince’s lance and stuck it under the lion’s belly. Macario and Angie put their weight on it, lifting the lion’s body enough for me to spy a familiar leg. I grabbed Damian’s shin and began tugging.
When he was free, I dropped to my knees, rolling him over. His cheek had a scrape. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
“Damian, wake up. It was only a little lion attack,” I joked, hoping it would irritate him enough to rouse him. I took his chin and shook his head a bit. “Come on, you’ve survived worse. Look, I’ll give you mouth-to-mouth if I have to.”
That did it. Something fluttered across his face. His eyes blinked and then shot open. He lifted his head and saw the smoking jaws of the lion, then slumped back to stare up at the sky.
“Y-y-you kn-kn-know, it is stati-ti-tistically improbable I will s-s-survive another a-t-t-tempt on my life.”
“Sorry, Damian, I promise I’ll never ask again.” I stuck my hand out and helped him to his feet as the crowd erupted in cheers. Guards rushed into the arena and carried the prince away on a stretcher.
I grabbed Macario by the shoulder as he started to slip away. “Hand it over.”
He looked shamefaced as he pulled the mirror out of his pocket. “I was going to give it back, I swear. I wanted a great feat of my own for my father to hear about.”
“Save it.” I knelt by the lion. Angie lifted one giant paw. Its claws curved into razor-sharp points. Stretching out one toe, I used her broken sword to saw it loose. Holding it over the mirror, I waited for it to disappear. It vibrated under my fingers until, with a pop, it tucked itself into the crescent moon and sealed over. A pulse of power washed over me as the Eye absorbed this new talisman.