Hephaistos glared in his direction. “The first thing you will learn in this class is that I don’t tolerate jokers. There will be no tomfoolery or shenanigans.”
Diego, who was at the other table, chuckled.
Hephaistos picked up the closest thing to him, which looked like a blade for a spear, and launched it at Diego. “What did I just say?”
Diego ducked in time, and the spearhead stuck into the stone pillar behind him with a loud thwack.
“To get started, everyone look under the table top, and you will find a cubby hole. Inside, you will find a pair of leather gloves. Put them on or else you will burn your fingers off. And what use will you be without any fingers?”
Over the next hour, Hephaistos showed us how to heat up and bend metal, using the forge and an anvil. Then as a group from each table we got to approach the main forge, stick a hunk of metal into the fire with iron tongs, and then take it over to one of the anvils and hammer it until it bent in half. In theory, it looked and sounded pretty easy. But I couldn’t seem to get it right. Like with archery, I didn’t possess the right skills. Soon, someone was going to point this out and kick me out of the academy.
I hammered at the glowing part of the metal piece I had, but it didn’t bend the way I wanted it to.
“What are you doing?” Hephaistos loomed over me.
“I’m doing what you showed us.”
“Then you must be blind, stupid girl. You are doing it all wrong.” He snatched the hammer from me, and the tongs holding my metal, and struck at it on the anvil. With three sharp blows, the metal bent in half. Glowering at me, he handed the hammer and tongs back. “Do it again.”
I carried my piece of metal back to the fire. Holding it over the heat, I watched as it melted, creating the tell-tale orange glow. Before I moved back to the anvil, something beyond the foundry caught my eye. There were several shelves along one of the only walls in the room, stacked with various metallic objects. Objects I assumed Hephaistos had made—swords, daggers, a flail, a mace even… and Shadowboxes. There was one long shelf with them, each of them different in size and design.
“For Hades’s sake girl, it’s going to drip into the fire!”
I turned abruptly and nearly dropped the metal piece. As I passed by the other table of recruits, Revana smirked at me and mouthed, “Loser.”
It took all I had not to go over there and shove these tongs right up her—
“Girl, get a move on.”
I hustled back to the anvil and hammered at my metal piece. This time I got the hang of it, and it bent the way it should have. I looked up at Hephaistos for approval.
His brow furrowed. “I’m not your mother. I’m not going to tell you what a good job you’ve done.”
Anger swelled inside me. I was tired of getting pushed around today. “My mother’s dead.”
Hephaistos’s eyebrows went up, but he didn’t say anything, and just moved on to another anvil, to berate another recruit.
When class was over, I shuffled along with the rest of the group out of the forge and back up the seemingly non-ending spiraling staircase. At the top, everyone scattered in different directions, as it was our free time slot.
“We’re going to the dining hall,” Jasmine said. “I heard pizza is on the menu tonight.”
“I’ll catch up with you. I need to get something from my room.”
Jasmine’s eyes narrowed at me. I thought for a moment she was going to tell me she’d go with me. “Okay, see you in a bit.” She left with Georgina and a couple of the other girls.
When they were gone, and the front hall had cleared completely, I crept back down the stairs. I wanted to get a closer look at those Shadowboxes. I wanted to know how they were made. I needed to know their secrets.
When I reached the entrance to the foundry, I stopped and peered into the gloom, making sure Hephaistos was gone or at least in a place where he wouldn’t see me. I waited for five minutes, and when I didn’t see or hear him, I mounted the stone steps and rushed across the bridge.
In my haste, I didn’t see the loose stone, and I tripped over it. My heart leapt into my throat as I nearly keeled over the bridge. At the last second, I pushed off with my legs and jumped, arms pinwheeling, praying to every God and Goddess I could recall in a few seconds that I didn’t land in the molten metal.
I fell onto my knees on the next platform. Closing my eyes and counting my blessings, I took a few seconds to catch my breath. I opened my eyes and glanced over at the bridge. It had to have been no less than fifteen feet away. How the heck had I just jumped more than fifteen feet? I shook my head to clear it and then ran over to the shelves before I got caught.
My fingers ached to touch the Shadowboxes. They were so beautiful, so exquisite. I reached for one when I felt a presence behind me. I whipped around and came face to face with Hephaistos.
“What are you doing here?”
“I… I had to look at the boxes. They’re so beautiful.”
His face softened at little. “You’re probably wondering how someone so grotesque made something so magnificent.”
“No, I…”
“I think about that all the time.” He picked up one of the boxes. “It is my curse, I suppose.”
“Did you make all the Shadowboxes?”
He nodded. “Yes, every last one of them. I would’ve made the one that came to you.”
“How do they work?”
He eyed me for a moment and then opened the box for me to see inside. “After you open the box, a scroll appears. On the scroll will be an invitation and etched inside the box a riddle for you to solve, so you can find the location of the portal to the academy.” He snapped the box closed. “But of course, you know all that, since you’re here.”
I couldn’t give myself away, but I had to know the truth. “Is there a way to trick the box? To come to the academy on someone else’s invitation?”
He snorted. “Absolutely not. That would be impossible. The box will only respond to its intended recipient. One of the Gods couldn’t even break the magic tied to the box.”
I gnawed at my lip. The relief was so instant that tears welled in my eyes.
“Besides that, the portal only opens for those who are supposed to come to the academy. A person could swim to Atlantis and never find it.”
I nodded to him, trying hard not to sob with elation at the fact that I was supposed to be here. That I was invited by the Gods to train in the Gods’ Army. That they wanted me, Melany Richmond, poor orphan girl, rebel, troublemaker, and not Callie Demos, the perfect specimen of Greek devotion, to come to the legendary academy.
He set the box back onto the shelf.
“Thank you, Hephaistos, sir.”
I couldn’t stop the smile spreading on my face. I turned to head back to the stairs.
“I saw your leap earlier.”
I froze, unsure of what to say.
“That was sixteen feet, give or take a few inches.” He rubbed at his bulbous nose.
I stared at him, wondering if somehow I had broken even more rules or had broken something when I jumped.
“It was impressive.” He gave me a dismissive wave of his meaty hand. “Now, get the hell out of my foundry, and if you ever come here unsupervised again, I’ll have you expelled.”
I almost ran out of there but was careful on the bridge this time. As I mounted the stairs, my heart was hammering as loud as the one I’d used earlier. I vibrated with excitement. I wasn’t the outcast I thought I was. I had every right to be here. The knowledge of that propelled me up the stairs two at a time.
When I reached the top, I had a skip in my step and was going to go to the dining hall and eat as much pizza as I could fit into my mouth. As I came around the corner, a hand clamped over my mouth, and I was pushed up against the wall. Instinct took over and I lashed out, biting down on the hand over my lips.
“Ow, Blue. You didn’t have to bite me so damn hard.”
Chapter Eight
MELANY
My heart still pounded in my chest as I stared Lucian in the face. I had to take in a big breath to try and calm down. My flight or fight instincts had kicked in, and unlucky for him I was a fighter. “Why did you grab me?”
Rubbing at his hand, I noticed a red mark on his palm where my teeth had sunk in. He shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw you sneaking around and thought I’d surprise you.”
“Well, you deserved that bite.”
His eyes narrowed. “What were you doing, anyway?”
“Nothing.”
“Were you coming from the forge?” He peered around the corner at the winding staircase.
“No.” I started walking to the dining hall, hoping our conversation was over, but he got in step with me. My stomach growled in reminder I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, which was a bowl of oatmeal and an apple.
“You know, I can’t figure you out, Blue.”
“I didn’t realize I was a math equation.”
He laughed. “That’s what I’m talking about. That surly attitude.”
“You know what I think? You’re not used to girls with brains. You like girls who fawn at your every word. Girls who swoon when you flex your biceps.”
He flexed his arm. “I think it’s pretty impressive.”
I hated that it was impressive and wouldn’t mind wrapping a hand over it. But I wasn’t about to let him know that. I knew boys like Lucian. I’d seen them sniffing around Callie. One had sniffed around me once, thinking he could take advantage of the poor girl who lived in the housekeeper’s cottage. That boy ended up with a broken nose and ice on his junk after I set him straight and taught him some manners and how consent actually worked.
When we reached the dining hall, I quickly spotted Jasmine and Georgina and fully intended to go sit with them and eat some pizza where it was safe. Standing here next to Lucian felt dangerous. We weren’t touching, but I wanted us to. I hated that I thought about his full, soft-looking lips, and how they would feel on mine.
He leaned into me, taking advantage of our height difference. Did he know what I was thinking? The gleam in his eyes worried me. “You look like you want to jump out of your skin.”
I licked my lips. “I’m just hungry. I look edgy when I’m hungry.”
“I think I make you nervous.”
I met his gaze head on. His green eyes had pretty gold flecks in them. “No. Why would you?”
His eyes traveled my face, lingering a bit too long on my mouth. “No reason. I look forward to our next sparring class.” He tipped his head and walked into the dining hall to join his friends, who stared our way. I could just imagine what Revana was going to say to him about talking to me.
I quickly made my way to where Jasmine and Georgina sat. Both of them had lifted eyebrows when I sat down and grabbed the piece of pizza they’d gotten for me.
“What was that all about?” Jasmine asked.
“Nothing.”
“You know, I think maybe you and I have a very different definition of nothing.”
I shoved the pizza in my mouth, ending the conversation about Lucian. I didn’t want to talk about him because there was something between us. Some kind of energy that sparked every time he was near. It unnerved me. And I couldn’t afford to be unnerved. Now that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was supposed to be here, I had to concentrate on being the best. Failure wasn’t an option for me.
Elemental class was the one class everyone had been waiting for. Not only was it an opportunity to learn how to control various elements like water and lightning, but it was a chance to impress the God of all Gods: Zeus. Just about everyone I knew hoped they had an affinity to lightning, everyone except Georgina. The only God she wished to impress was Demeter. And it’s all she would talk about as we made our way across the courtyard to the huge training facility behind the academy.
“Did you know Demeter invented agriculture? Without her we wouldn’t even be able to feed ourselves. We’d still be a bunch of Neanderthals eating meat for every meal.”
I just nodded and made agreeing noises, as she listed off all the things that Demeter had done or said or discovered. It was a long list, but we made it to the building by the time she finished. The doors opened, and we all walked into a huge, open-air facility that had been separated into different areas. Some of the areas were raised on platforms connected by metal staircases. In each area, I assumed, stood one of the Gods.
I recognized Zeus, who stood on the highest level, three metal rods erected behind him, and Hephaistos, who stood on a lower level next to a large unlit fire pit.
Georgina grabbed my arm and squealed, “It’s Demeter.” She gestured to the woman with long, messy dark blonde hair, who sat on a huge rock in the middle of a small garden. She wore a long, gauzy skirt, a band T-shirt that I think it said Jefferson Airplane, and was shoeless.
The man standing near a small pool of water on the lowest level had to be Poseidon. He had a similar face as Zeus, but his hair was dark brown in short waves. I supposed he would be called ruggedly handsome.
“I wonder who that is?” I gestured to the nearest area shrouded in darkness. Every once in a while, I could see a shimmer of movement.
Jasmine frowned. “Who?”
I pointed to the shadows. “There’s someone moving around on that platform.”
“You’re seeing things, Mel. There’s no one there.”
I peered into the cloying black and spied eyes staring back at me. A shiver of dread rushed down my back.
“Welcome recruits!” Zeus held out his arms toward us. “Today, you will be working with five different elements. Water, fire, earth, shadow, and of course, lightning.” White sparks emitted from his fingertips.
Shadow? My gaze tracked over to that area. Now, a man with long, black hair and pale eyes stood there. He dressed like a Victorian vampire. When he spotted me looking at him, he grinned. Goose bumps popped out all over my arms.
“Break out into five groups, eight or nine in each group.”
Of course, Jasmine, Georgina, and I melded together. Mia and Ren joined our group. I locked gazes with Lucian. For a brief moment, I thought he was going to walk over to join our group, and I held my breath. But the moment passed, and he gathered with Diego, Revana, and Isobel, along with some others whose names I didn’t know. Eventually, Jasmine’s roommate, Hella, and her friends Marek and Quinn, asked to join with us.
Zeus assigned every group an element to start with. We got water.
Ren was bouncing on his toes when we gathered around the pool. He looked like a kid at Christmas.
“Water is life.” Poseidon gestured to the pool. “Our bodies are made of it, seventy percent of the world is covered by it, and without it food would not grow.” With his hand hovering over the water, slowly it began to swirl like the tide pool we’d used to come to the academy. Then it spouted out of the pool and touched the palm of his hand. There he held it, this swirling column of water.
“But not only can it give life, it can take it away.” With a flick of his hand, the narrow waterspout quickly surged into a huge cyclone that towered over us threateningly. “The oceans and seas could rise with five hundred foot waves and drown cities in a matter of minutes.” He made a fist, and the water sloshed back into the pool, surging over the edge and splashing our legs. “To control the water is to control life.”
He looked at each of us. “Who would like to try first?”
Ren’s hand shot up like a rocket. “I would, sir.”
For the next half hour, we each tried to manipulate the water with our hands. The only two who got it immediately were Ren and Marek. They both were able to produce tiny cyclones. I could barely make the water ripple.
Next, we moved onto the fire station.
“I’m not going to regale you with some soppy story about how powerful fire is,” Hephaistos grumbled. “It speaks for itself.” He snapped his fingers over the fire pit, and flames jumped to life.
I im
mediately stepped closer to it, so I could dry off the bottoms of my pants and shoes.
“If you can control fire, you can raze cities to the ground. You can burn your enemies to ash.” The light from the flames glowed in his eyes as he walked around behind us.
Jasmine’s eyes widened, and it looked like she was shaking.
“But you can also provide warmth and comfort and even healing.” He set his hand on her shoulder, and she immediately relaxed and even smiled. “First, you will learn to control the fire, then I will teach you how to create it. Put your hand up to the flames and call it to you.”
I raised my hand toward the fire. The heat from it instantly warmed my palm. It reminded me a little of the sensation I’d received from touching the Shadowbox. Concentrating on the flames, I watched them dance. Smiling, I thought about dancing with them.
“Mel,” Jasmine said beside me. “Good Gods.”
Frowning, I turned to look at her. “What?”
“Your hand!”
I looked at my hand. Flames had completely encompassed it. My heart leapt into my throat. Holy shit, I’m burning. But I didn’t feel like I was burning. There wasn’t any discomfort, just a warm, soothing heat hovering above my skin. I noticed my pants and shoes were no longer wet.
“Whoa!” I moved my hand back and forth, and the flames flowed with me. It was pretty cool.
I glanced at Hephaistos, and he gave me a quick nod.
I figured it was the most praise I was going to get from him. I’d take it.
When we reached the garden, I thought I was going to have to restrain Georgina; she was so excited.
“Controlling the earth is really cool.” Demeter climbed off the rock and sat cross-legged on the patch of grass we stood on. She gestured for all of us to sit like she did. “You can grow food and literally move mountains. During war, you can manipulate the plants around you to do whatever you want.” She placed her hand flat to the ground, closing her eyes. A vine pushed out of the ground through the grass. It looped around in the air and then wrapped around one of Georgina’s arms.
Her eyes widened. She went slack and slumped to the ground.
Demigods Academy - Year One Page 6