Olympus Academy: The Complete Series

by Raine, Eliza

  ‘We have newcomers,’ Evenus said, turning towards us, and my heart skipped a beat. Framed in the open doorway, we must have stood out, I thought, as the crowd all snapped their heads to us as one.

  ‘We are not here to challenge you,’ I said quickly, before anyone else could speak. He was my relation, and this was my quest. It needed to be me who spoke for us. My voice shook a tiny bit and I tried to clear my throat subtly. Evenus laughed.

  ‘Kallianassa, is that you? In the desert? Well I never...’ I turned to my mom as she said,

  ‘Indeed. These are strange times and exceptional circumstances.’ My mouth fell open and a surge of something I thought was guilt washed through my tense body. I’d never asked my mom her name. All this time on the Tethys with her, hating her for knowing nothing about me, and I’d never thought to ask her name.

  ‘Really? Exceptional?’ Evenus asked casually. ‘Why are you here with a bunch of children?’

  ‘We are not children,’ I said, loudly, relieved my voice was steadier now. ‘We wish to speak with you in private.’

  ‘Oh no. No, no, no. Nobody speaks with me in private. They used to, but they all wanted the same thing.’ Although he was too far away to see his expression clearly, his voice had turned cold and hard. ‘They all wanted my daughter. Is that why you have come?’ I frowned at him.

  ‘No, of course not,’ I answered. ‘I don’t know anything about your daughter.’

  The whole crowd took a collective breath in, and I heard my mom let out a small hiss. I’d said something wrong.

  ‘You haven’t heard of my daughter?’ Evenus said, his low voice filled with anger. ‘The most beautiful woman in all Olympus? The most talented singer in all Olympus? The most sought after, precious thing in all Olympus?’

  I shook my head, pulse racing.

  ‘We just want to talk,’ I said quickly.

  ‘You will race!’ he bellowed, and the crowd burst into cheers again.

  ‘No! No, we don’t need to do this, we’ve been sent by someone extremely important and we just need to talk to you!’ I called desperately.

  ‘If you win, you will have my undivided attention,’ Evenus hissed. ‘Now go with my servants and prepare yourselves.’

  ‘What were you thinking, you damn fool!’ said Vronti, as we followed two meek women in togas into the underbelly of the stadium.

  ‘Don’t talk to her like that,’ barked Icarus.

  ‘I didn’t know he’d react like that!’ I protested.

  ‘Stop fighting, he was going to find a reason to challenge you whatever you said,’ said Arketa, striding a short way ahead of us. ‘The man’s clearly crazy.’ Both the servants flinched at her words, throwing furtive glances around the empty stone corridors.

  ‘Where are we going?’ I asked one of them.

  ‘To the chariots. You will choose one, and then three of you will race Evenus,’ she answered in a barely audible murmur.

  ‘How often does he lose?’ asked Thom. She glanced back at him, meeting his eyes for a split second.

  ‘He has never lost,’ she said.

  I looked at Icarus, my heart now beating so hard I was sure he could hear it. Adrenaline and anxiety were sending ripples of power through my body, and I had nowhere to focus it. I could feel the restless, flickering fire under my skin, desperate and fierce.

  ‘I can’t find any water,’ I said to him, under my breath. ‘I need it to control my power, but there’s none here. What if my fire magic...’ I trailed off, panic skittering through me.

  ‘Pandora, hold on a moment,’ said my mom, and I turned to her. ‘Here,’ she said, and took my hand. Holding my palm up, she closed her eyes and held it with both of her hands. After a few seconds, a tiny trickle of water began running from her fingertips, and I watched in amazement as they wound together and moved up my wrist, forming a thin bracelet of water. ‘There. Concentrate on that. I’m afraid it’s all I can do.’ She looked drained as I looked at her face, pale and less composed then her normal expression, then glanced down at the spinning stream of water around my wrist. I focused my power on it, instantly feeling the frantic fire churning through me ebb away. The panic lurking in the back of my mind receded almost completely, and I was so relieved that before I could stop myself I stepped into my mom, wrapping my arms around her in a quick hug.

  ‘Thank you,’ I whispered, as she stiffened in alarm, then I turned and jogged to catch up with the others before she could look at me. She had helped me when I needed it, and knowing she was willing to do that for me was almost as helpful as the water bracelet itself.

  14

  We carried on through more twisting corridors, the ground sloping down slightly, and the light becoming dimmer. Nobody spoke, though I was brimming with unanswered questions. Nothing new there, I thought grimly. The most urgent to answer was how we were going to beat a man who was apparently unbeatable. The servant lady had said three of us could ride in the chariot. Who should go? There would surely be an argument. I let out a long sigh. Why had I opened my big mouth and said the wrong thing? Maybe Arketa was right and it wouldn’t have mattered what I’d said - Evenus would have challenged us to a race anyway. I mean, it wasn’t like Arketa to defend me. I wondered if he really was crazy, as she’d said. Perhaps he just really loved his daughter? I couldn’t imagine she had a very fun life though, if her dad tried to kill everyone who came to visit her. I dragged my thoughts back to the impending race as we entered a long tunnel with bright light visible at the end. I was assuming we’d be able to use our powers. And from what my mom said, Evenus didn’t have Titan powers like Icarus and I did. So surely Icarus had to come? But what about his arm? Wouldn’t only having use of one arm make staying in the chariot difficult? Vronti was strong, but he would try to take over and I didn’t trust him. Zali I trusted implicitly, but her powers likely wouldn’t help us in a chariot race, and the same went for Thom’s. That left Arketa and my mom.

  When we emerged from the tunnel into the light a few minutes later I was no clearer on who should be involved in the race.

  ‘Woah,’ said Thom and I looked around the courtyard we were standing in. We were back outside, presumably on the other side of the palace based on how long we had been walking. Lining three of the high walls of the space were longboats, but Vronti had been right, they looked nothing like our longboat. They looked like the back half of them had been cut off, and the front of the boats were much higher, peaking into angry looking points. Huge metal spikes stuck out of the sides in various places and chains and ropes hung from the edges. In fact, I realized as I gazed around at all the chariots, they all had different spikes and weapons attached, and each had symbols and designs painted on the front.

  ‘You may pick any of the chariots here,’ said one of the servant girls. ’You will have twenty minutes, then someone will come and get you.’ They both bowed their heads and backed out of the courtyard, into the tunnel we had come from.

  Everybody began speaking at once. I held both my hands up, closed my eyes and shouted over the mess of voices.

  ‘Only two of you can come with me, who wants to volunteer?’ I bellowed. There was a flurry of people saying ‘Me,’ and I opened my eyes. Arketa, Icarus, Vronti and Zali had stepped forwards.

  ‘I won’t be able to help you,’ said Thom quietly, casting his eyes down at the sandy floor. ‘Sorry,’ he mumbled.

  ‘Thom, your shifting will be helpful at some point, I’m sure of it,’ I told him, with a smile.

  ‘This place drains me. I will only weaken you,’ said my mom, her face still pinched and pale. I nodded at her, feeling the bracelet spinning on my wrist.

  ‘Icarus, do you think you’ll be able to hang on, with your arm?’ I asked him.

  ‘I can fly,’ he answered simply, rustling his wings behind him. ‘It doesn’t matter if I fall. Plus, that makes me your best weapon. I’ll bet Evenus has never raced anyone who can fly.’ He gave me a big grin and his brilliant green eyes flashed with power. He was rig
ht, I realized, a smile spreading across my face to match his. Icarus might be what tipped this race in our favor. I turned to the other three.

  ‘I can throw lightning,’ said Vronti.

  ‘I can throw vines,’ responded Arketa, giving him a snide look. ‘And I’m good at steering longboats.’

  ‘I... can’t really throw anything,’ said Zali, frowning. ‘And I’ve never steered a longboat. Dora, I might not be such a good candidate for this after all.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, you’re just as strong as the rest of us,’ I protested.

  ‘Um, underwater maybe, but not here.’ She took a step backwards, towards Thom, and gave me a reassuring smile. ‘Arketa or Vronti will help you win,’ she said.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Definitely.’

  I looked back at Arketa and Vronti, my eyes flitting between them. Vronti was tense and fidgety, Arketa languid and cool. I had to choose between two people who hated me. One had tried to kill me before, and the other made no secret of the fact that she wished I’d never been born. This was just great, I thought, grinding my teeth together. Vronti was probably the more powerful of the two, but I just couldn’t bring myself to trust him. Everything about him set my instincts on edge, and I was already too close to being out of control.

  ‘Arketa,’ I said, and the look on Vronti’s face sent gooseflesh across my skin. I’d never seen him look so angry, pure venom in his eerily pale eyes.

  ‘You’ll regret this decision, when we’re all having our heads removed to be put on spikes,’ he hissed, and stalked away from the group.

  ‘We’ll win,’ said Arketa, stepping forward. ‘Which chariot are we taking? Choose quickly, I’d like to get some practice in,’ she said.

  ‘Um, we can choose together,’ I said, turning on the spot and looking at all the chariots.

  ‘This one has waves on it,’ said Zali, pointing at the chariot she was standing nearest. I walked over to her, inspecting it closely. Icarus and Arketa followed. It did have waves painted on it, green and blue and more angry than serene. It had two long spikes jutting out of the sides at the bottom, and four long chains hanging from each side at even intervals. Each chain had a metal ball covered in smaller spikes at the end, and I crouched down to lift one.

  ‘Wow, this is heavy,’ I said, as I tried to pick it up. It was as big as my head but it felt like it weighed as much as I did. I gave up and stood up again.

  ‘What do you think?’ asked Icarus. I turned to Arketa.

  ‘You’re driving, give it a go,’ I said. She gave me an appraising look, then climbed onto the chariot.

  ‘You two need to get in, so I know how heavy it’ll be,’ she said as she reached the peaked front. I climbed in after her, realizing with some alarm that there were no seats or anything to grip. The back of the boat was completely open, with no railing or barrier. Icarus stepped in beside me, and pointed to some leather straps that I hadn’t noticed, hanging down the inside of the wooden frame.

  ‘You can wrap these around your wrist,’ he said to me. ‘Or just hang on to them.’ I did as he was doing, and gripped one tightly.

  ‘Ready when you are,’ I said to Arketa’s back. The chariot lurched upwards, and I stumbled, my converse barely regaining purchase on the planks beneath me. I heard a whirring and snapped my head up in time to see the chains flying up in the air, then start to spin in wide circles, the lethal balls on the end becoming a blur. We hovered, maybe ten feet off the ground, the chains spinning, and I took a few deep breaths.

  ‘How does it feel?’ I called to Arketa.

  ‘Fine. And you don’t need to shout, I’m like three feet away from you,’ she replied, and though I couldn’t see her face I knew she was rolling her eyes.

  ‘Fine,’ I muttered. ‘How easy is it to move?’ In answer, the chariot pivoted, first facing left, then right. Then we crept forwards, slowly gaining speed, and banked as we approached the far wall.

  ‘Hang on,’ Arketa said, and I gripped the leather strap just in time, as she span the boat a hundred and eighty degrees, coming to a complete stop. I couldn’t help the squeak of surprise that burst from my mouth, or the sheen of sweat now covering my forehead.

  ‘Was that necessary?’ I gasped.

  ‘If you want me to test the chariot before we go out there, yeah,’ she shrugged.

  ‘Well, it seems you’ve got the hang of it,’ said Icarus, his voice slightly strained too. ‘Maybe we should get out now.’ She lowered the chariot to the ground, gently, and when my feet were back on the dusty ground I realized my legs were shaking slightly. If I was this nervous in a practice, what would I be like in the real race? I focused on the water whizzing around my wrist and felt slightly calmer. Between the three of us, we could beat him, I told myself. No heads on sticks today.

  ‘I’m gonna carry on practicing,’ Arketa said, glancing back at me as the spinning chains slowed and I stepped back warily.

  ‘OK,’ I said, and the chariot shot back up into the air.

  15

  It seemed like no time at all before the servant girls reappeared in the entrance to the tunnel.

  ‘It is time,’ the darker haired girl said. Nerves skittered through me, and I reached for Icarus’s hand without thinking.

  ‘OK, we’re ready,’ I said.

  ‘Please get in the chariot,’ she said, and we did as we were told, Arketa already at the helm. The second we were all on board I felt the boat begin to rise.

  ‘Do you know where you’re going?’ I hissed at Arketa and she turned to me, the slight anxiety in her expression belying her bored drawl.

  ‘I’m not controlling it, Titan girl.’

  ‘Oh. But-’ I looked down at Zali, Thom and my mom, getting smaller as we rose.

  ‘We’ll be watching in the stands,’ Thom shouted and I nodded.

  ‘Good luck!’ Zali’s voice carried to us as we crested the palace wall and my breath caught again. The crowd were still there, the benches packed with as many species as I’d seen in the Gemini marketplace. Evenus was no longer atop the central platform though. Instead, he was standing at the front of a chariot twice the size of ours, hovering ten feet above the dusty ring around the columns. Behind him was a minotaur, its fur jet black and its eyes a beady glowing red, and a beaked creature over seven feet tall, with wings. I looked at Icarus, my face falling.

  ‘He has someone who can fly too,’ I said in dismay.

  ‘Well, maybe that’s why he always wins. We’ll be able to match him,’ he said, his expression hard.

  ‘Yes. That’s right. We may not have an advantage after all, but at least Evenus doesn’t have one over us,’ I said firmly, trying to convince myself the words were true, as the beaked thing looked at me, its mangy, rust-colored wings extending behind it. As we got closer I saw its powerful looking legs were bent like a cats, and it had a tail. It was a griffon, I realized. And from the swell of its chest and shapely attire, it was female.

  ‘So glad you could join us,’ beamed Evenus as our chariot descended towards him. ‘Pray tell me, what are your names, so the crowd may know who am to defeat today?’

  ‘I’m Pandora, and this is Icarus and Arketa,’ I said as loudly as I could.

  ‘And where are you from?’

  ‘That doesn’t matter,’ I said, unwilling to admit I was from the mortal world and completely clueless. ‘What matters is that we’re Titans.’ I glared at Evenus as I said it, and caught the slight flinch on his beautiful features. Now we were close to him I could see that he was handsome indeed, his skin a rich brown and his thick hair dark and soft. But his eyes were cold, and his lips thin and cruel.

  ‘Titans? So what? They’re everywhere,’ he shrugged, and a few of the crowd snickered.

  I tilted my head at him and gave him my cockiest smile, trying to channel Arketa’s cool glare that she executed so well. At the same time I gave Icarus a little nudge, praying he’d guess what I was about to do.

  ‘Not like us,’ I said, and lifted
my hand, launching a fireball high above us. A heartbeat later my hair lifted around my face as two whirlwinds shot past each side of our chariot. I concentrated on the water bracelet whirring around my wrist and flared my fingers. The fireball spilt, five or six mini balls shooting around the stadium as Icarus did the same with his whirlwinds, dust flying everywhere as they whizzed around. The stadium filled with gasps and excited chatter. I held Evenus’s gaze.

  ‘Party tricks,’ he said, and clapped his hands. Rain erupted over the stadium, even though there wasn’t a cloud in the clear blue sky. My fireballs fizzed out as my mouth dropped open. Where had he called the water from? He would have to be incredibly strong to summon that much water from nowhere and mom had said he wasn’t very strong at all. I sent out my senses, hunting for the source of the water but I couldn’t find it, only picking up the water that had just fallen which was already beginning to evaporate in the heat. ’Enough!’ he barked, and I jumped. ‘It is time to race!’

  ‘I think you spooked him,’ Arketa said quietly as the chariot moved, so that we were no longer facing Evenus, but beside him at the starting line.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah. He wasn’t expecting you to have power.’ I didn’t know if I was imagining it, but I thought I could hear a tiny bit of admiration in her voice. ‘Now, we beat him. Out little chariot is going to leave him in the dust,’ she said, her voice gritty with determination. Her words buoyed me.

  ‘Yeah,’ I said, loudly, adrenaline now surging through me. I could feel both the minotaur and the griffin staring at me, ten feet to my left, but I refused to turn and look at them. They would only try and freak me out and I needed to focus.

  ‘The rules are simple!’ boomed the commentator’s voice. I glanced around, looking for the owner of the voice but I could see no-one. ‘The first to complete three laps wins. Only the people in a chariot may participate. And that’s it! On my marks, get set...’ Power raced through my body as my muscles tensed. The stadium fell to a silent hush. ‘Go!’