He took a step back and swung quickly at my head. I blocked that blow, as well. Then he pivoted and thrust at me again. I blocked with my shield. The power of his blow traveled down my arm. He wasn’t messing around.
Another thrust, jab, and overhead swing. I blocked them all, but barely. My arms ached from holding up the heavy shield and moving it to protect myself from being sliced in half. He came at me again and again, so hard and quick, that some of my peers were shouting at him to stop.
“Someone do something.”
I heard Lucian’s voice in the mix.
“Stop Ares! You’re going to hurt her.”
But he didn’t stop. I’d obviously pushed him too far.
As he pivoted back on his foot to get another swing in, I dropped the shield to the side, formed a ball of fire in my hand, and threw it at him. He tried to duck out of the way, but the fire singed him across his arm. The sound of his skin crackling made my skin crawl. The stench filled my nose and my stomach roiled.
I stood there, gasping for breath, my heart pounding so hard my chest ached, glaring at him, and defying him to cut me down. I was through being a target of his vindictive anger.
But he didn’t run me through with his sword. He met my gaze straight on and then gave me a curt nod. “Class dismissed.”
I let out the breath I was holding, and nearly collapsed onto my knees, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
Jasmine and Georgina were instantly at my side. Georgina took my shield.
“Holy crap. Are you okay?” Jasmine put her arm around me.
I nodded but had a feeling when the adrenaline stopped pumping through me, I was going to crash big time.
Mia joined us. “I can’t believe he can do that. He almost killed you.”
“Well, there’s not anyone we can tell.” Georgina shrugged. “It’s not like we can call our parents. We don’t have families anymore.”
I looked at her. “We’re family now. We have to look out for each other.”
She nodded. “Can you be like the father of this family? You’re way more in charge then I ever could be.”
That made all of us laugh, as we made our way out of the gymnasium and back to the dorms. I caught Lucian’s gaze on the way out, and he gave me a soft smile. It made my belly flutter, as his smiles always did.
Before we reached the dorms, Ren caught us. “Hey, I heard Dionysus is putting on a show in the north hall. Should be quite the party.”
“Is this an academy sanctioned party?” Georgina asked.
Ren smirked. “Probably not. Which is why it’s going to be awesome.” He slung an arm around my shoulders. “You of all people could use a good party. I mean, you almost died today. Again.”
I snorted. “That’s true.”
After a quick shower and change of clothes, Georgina, Jasmine, and I met up with the others in the north hall. Music was already thumping before we even rounded the corner. As promised, Dionysus was DJing some epic beats, and there was food and drink a plenty, served by Hephaistos’s little wooden robots on wheels. Laser lights danced around to the music.
I grabbed a plate of food and a drink and then commandeered a sitting area, which consisted of a sofa and bean-bag chair just off the makeshift dancefloor to eat. Georgina, Jasmine, Mia, Ren, and Marek joined me, all cramming in the space together. I looked around for Lucian but didn’t see him. Disappointment flooded me. Despite our stolen moments in the maze, we hadn’t had a lot of opportunity to socialize, especially in a group. I honestly didn’t even know if he wanted people to know we were… I didn’t even know what to call it. It’s not like we were dating, the academy wasn’t a place to date in. A relationship would’ve been too serious. I guess we were hanging out together. I really hoped he didn’t want to hide that. I was already feeling pretty raw from the Ares incident I didn’t want my whole heart torn out by Lucian’s rejection.
After eating, Mia grabbed Jasmine’s arm and pulled her out onto the dancefloor. I loved that Mia had been slowly urging Jasmine out of her shell. She’d been guarded before, but with Mia she let those walls down.
After watching them dance for a song, I couldn’t resist getting out there myself, and I pulled everyone out there with me. We all deserved a chance to just let go and have some fun. It wouldn’t be long before things got really serious and after the trials, some of us might even be kicked out if we didn’t pass. There were twelve of them, and everyone had to pass at least eight to be considered for placement in a clan.
On the floor, I closed my eyes and let the music take over. Every thump of the bass oscillated through my body. It was like the music originated inside me. It was vibrant and exciting, and I couldn’t stop smiling as I moved to the beat. Bodies pressed against mine, as we all jumped and gyrated. Then I felt a hand on my waist. Opening my eyes, I twirled around to find Lucian swaying his body next to me.
My grin nearly split my face it was so wide. Overjoyed he was here, I moved in closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He settled his hands at my waist, and we danced together, our bodies in perfect rhythm. I knew we were getting looks, but I didn’t care, and he didn’t seem to, either.
We danced and laughed into the late hours. It was the best night of my life. When he ran off with Ren and a few others to check out Dionysus’s music collection, I decided to duck out to get some air. Dionysus had used too much dry ice in the smoke machine, and it had clogged in my nose and throat.
I left the hall and stepped out into the main lobby. There were a few students gathered here and there in small groups. I moved around them, heading toward a small alcove containing a stone bench. But when I neared it, I realized it was occupied by Jasmine and Mia. They were sharing an intimate kiss. They both looked up as I approached.
“Oops, sorry.” I put up my hand to excuse myself, making an abrupt right turn and out into the dark corridor nearby, smiling to myself. I was so happy Jasmine had found someone in this place.
I kept walking until I was alone and found a bench to sit on. I’d been there no more than five minutes before I heard footsteps as someone approached. Revana stepped into a pool of moonlight that radiated through one of the big arched windows high above.
“Did you actually follow me out here? That’s a bit creepy, don’t you think?”
“You think you’re so clever.”
I got to my feet. I had a feeling this wasn’t just going to be a social call. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Lucian just feels sorry for you, you know? That’s the only reason he’s slumming it with you.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But he’s still with me and not you.”
“For now.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve had him before. I’ll have him again. We were meant to be together.”
“Whatever, Revana.” I was going to have to pass by her to return to the hall. “Have your little fantasy. Doesn’t bother me any.” I walked toward her with every intention of just brushing past her.
But she had other plans.
She grabbed my arm, turning me slightly. With her other hand, she tried to punch me in the face, but I sensed it coming and blocked her blow, countering with a strike to her midsection. It wasn’t a hard blow, just a reminder to her that she shouldn’t test me. I was better at hand to hand then she was.
“Walk away, Revana.” I stepped back onto my left foot, preparing to fight if she provoked me any further. “This is a fight you won’t win. I guarantee you that.”
I thought for one moment, she was going to stand down, but then she flicked her wrist, and there was a small dagger in her hand. I didn’t know where she’d had it stashed, but I knew she’d become proficient with knives, as she’d done some special training with Ares when he saw that she had an affinity to them.
“What? Are you going to kill me?”
“No, I’d get expelled for that.” She spun the dagger expertly in her hand. “I’m just going to add to the ugly scars you already have.”
She was skilled en
ough to wound me before I could disarm her. I had to find another way out of this. I cast my gaze around, sensing the shadows creeping along the walls and floor. I wasn’t sure if I was doing it or someone else was, but soon we were cloaked in darkness.
“Coward!”
Revana’s voice faded into the background, muffled by the thick murkiness of the air.
Not completely confident of where I was going, I took a few steps to the left, hoping to pass by Revana and escape the corridor. After another few steps, I realized the ground beneath my shoes felt different. I was no longer walking on tile, but spongey grass.
I took another few steps forward and waved my hands in front of me. The shadows dissipated to reveal I was out in the center of the maze and not in the academy at all.
“Well done. I didn’t think you’d be able to transport through the shadows, but you’ve proven me wrong.”
I whipped around to see Hades sitting on the stone bench in the gazebo, as nonchalant as could be.
I walked toward him. “Did you bring me here?”
“I merely sent the darkness to you. You decided what to do with it.”
Another thought popped into my mind. I remembered something Lucian had said to me before. “Did you save me from being electrocuted by Zeus’s lightning?”
He tilted his head as he regarded me. “And what if I did? What would you say?”
I shrugged. “Thank you, I guess.”
He laughed. “Yes, perfect.” He stood and came toward me. “I like you, Melany. You have a lot of feistiness. It’ll serve you well in the days to come.”
“What days? What do you mean?”
Before he could answer, he stepped into a circle of darkness and sunk into it, like quicksand, and vanished.
Chapter Twenty
MELANY
I didn’t tell anyone about the confrontation with Revana and the subsequent transporting through the shadows and talking with Hades in the maze. One, I didn’t want to make the situation worse with Revana—besides that, I wasn’t a snitch—and two, I didn’t want to have to explain seeing Hades, a God who wasn’t supposed to be allowed on school grounds. That would lead to too many questions, especially the one I didn’t have an answer for—what was Hades’s interest in me?
I put it all in the back of my mind as I buckled in for long, hard training. It was crunch time. We had only a couple of weeks until the trials.
Every day, I worked hard in my classes, even clocking in extra time in the evening before curfew, especially in animal handling class with Artemis and prophecy with Apollo, well, not directly with Apollo, but with Pythia, his assistant. I was having trouble wrangling and riding the fire-breathing horses in the stable. I’d had some luck with the griffin, and I once rode one of the unicorns, but the fire-breathing horses were the most powerful out of all the beasts. I wanted to learn how to tame them.
In prophecy class, Pythia helped me with divination. She told me that I’d never be able to do it until I learned to open myself up. During one extra practice, she’d tried to read into my past.
We sat across from one another in simple wooden chairs, knees touching. She held out her long, gnarled hands. “Take my hands.”
I did, but not without wincing, as they felt like old, wrinkled leather. I felt bad, but I knew she couldn’t see me. She was blind. She was self-conscious about her deformity, so she wore a gray blindfold around her face, where her eyes once were.
She clutched my hands, her twisted, claw-like nails digging into my skin. “You must learn to open your mind to others, so you in turn can see into theirs. You are too guarded.”
I twisted my neck, the bones cracking from stiffness, and tried to relax. Closing my eyes, I attempted to empty my mind of all my worries, and there were many. I thought of calm water and light breezes. I imagined sitting in the garden back home listening to the chickadees chirp from the nearby trees.
“Relax your mind. If you can’t, you will not pass the trial.”
Her voice sounded far off as I started to drift. In my mind, I was floating on a sea of white, fluffy clouds. It was so peaceful, and I wondered if I could stay there awhile. But those fluffy clouds turned dark, and I shot downwards, landing on the ground. It was day, hot; the land looked like a desert wasteland. Then I saw a woman, a tall, slender, pretty woman with purple eyes. Her face was a mask of fear as she ran from a mob of people who wore robes and carried large stones.
The mob yelled at her as they chased her, calling her monster and witch. Then they started to throw the stones. She was hit in the body and head and face. Eventually, she stopped running as her legs gave out. On the ground, she tried to protect her head, as more stones flew at her. But she couldn’t stop them from hitting her face. Blood poured down her cheeks to drip on the sand beneath her.
Opening my eyes, I gasped, realizing what I’d witnessed. The woman had been Pythia, and this was how she’d lost her eyes.
She squeezed my hands. “Yes. Good. Now open for me.”
I pulled away from her memory and tried to empty my mind again to let her in.
I watched as her face contorted and twisted. Her brow furrowed deeply, her whole body twitching. She squeezed my hands so tight they hurt.
Then she cried out and flinched backward, nearly falling out of her chair.
“What is it?”
She shook her head and put a trembling hand to her chest. “You must go.”
“Why? What happened? What did you see?”
“Please, just go.”
I stood, but I needed to know. “What did you see? Please tell me.”
“I saw nothing. Just darkness…”
That couldn’t be all that bad. Maybe she just couldn’t get into my past.
“And death.”
A shiver rushed down my back, as I left the classroom. I didn’t know what Pythia meant when she said death, but maybe she’d seen the destruction I’d seen on the trip back to Pecunia. That would’ve been a very strong memory for me.
When I returned to my dorm room, Georgina was already asleep. I crawled into bed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling. The whole thing had unnerved me. I wasn’t sure I could sleep without seeing Pythia’s past. But eventually, I got so tired I just passed out.
One day blurred into the next until it was time for the trials. I was excited but scared that I wasn’t going to pass enough of them to be able to stay at the academy. I did have a slight advantage though, in that I only needed to pass five more trials, as I’d already went through the lightning ordeal. Despite not knowing what each trial entailed, I was confident I would pass anything to do with flying, fire, and hand-to-hand combat. I was pretty good with a bow now, and I could make a decent sleeping potion without killing anyone. I’d also proven myself in the water. It all depended on what we had to do in each trial. I suspected a few of them weren’t going to be straight forward.
The night before the big day, we were allowed to spend it however we wanted to prepare. I spent it alone, walking through the maze. There was something about the place that settled my mind. It was like a kind of peace enveloped me. Maybe it was the darkness or the quiet. Whatever it was, I soaked it in as I sat inside the gazebo with my turbulent thoughts.
“So, I kind of feel like you’re on my side somehow.” I glanced around, hoping Hades would show. “Tomorrow is a huge day, and I’m… I’m afraid. I could really use a pep talk.” I stood and walked over to the bench he’d perched on before. “Any words of wisdom? Any advice? A hug? I could use all of those things right about now.” Laughing, I rubbed my hands over my face. “Mel, you are officially losing it.”
“Who are you talking to?”
I whirled to see Lucian walking toward the gazebo. “No one. Myself, I guess.” I shrugged.
He stepped up to me and grabbed my hand. “Do you want to go flying?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Could you just hold me?”
He tugged me to him and wrapped his big arms around me, cuddling me close. I lay
my head against his chest and inhaled, breathing the scent of him in. I was always surprised at how good he smelled. Like wood and pine, with just a touch of mint because of the gum he always chewed.
“You know, we might have to go against each other in the trials.”
His hand on my back stilled. “I know.”
“If given a choice, though, I won’t fight against you. I’ll pick someone else.”
“Me too.”
“I do hope I get a chance to fight Revana, though.”
He chuckled and ran a hand over my head. “That I would love to see.”
I raised my head to look at him. Going on my tiptoes, I brushed my lips against his. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the rest of the night—kissing Lucian until the sun started to pinken the sky and my lips got sore.
Chapter Twenty-One
MELANY
At six a.m.,a trumpet-like horn sounded through the dorms.
It was a call to action.
I was already awake, having forgone sleep. I was wired and ready to go.
We all gathered in the great hall. Up on the dais, all twelve Gods looked out over their recruits. Zeus stepped forward to speak.
“Today marks the first day of the Trials. For the next twelve days, you will be engaged in the hardest tasks you’ve ever had to do thus far in your training. Each trial will last one day, and when you are not active in the trial, you will be in your dorm rooms resting. There will be no socializing, except with your dorm mates during the trials. Anyone caught outside of their dorm during rest time will be automatically expelled. No exceptions.” His gaze landed directly on me.
He didn’t have to worry; I had no plans to screw this up.
“These trials are created to best showcase the skills you’ve learned over the course of your training and to weed out the weak. Each trial is specialized to each God clan. How well you do in each of them will determine which clan you will be relegated to at the end of your first year here at the academy. To stay in the academy, you must pass no less than eight trials. Before each trial, you will be informed on what constitutes a pass and a failure. No two trials are the same in that regard.”
Demigods Academy - Year One Page 15