I lifted an eyebrow. “And what do you think?”
“I think that’s bullshit.”
“Exactly.” I beamed at him, happy he didn’t believe the stupid rumor.
He smiled and tugged me close for a quick hug.
“How did you do in the trial?”
He hugged me tighter. “Not good. I didn’t pass it.”
I pulled back and looked him in the eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “It’s one fail. I don’t plan on failing any others.”
Aphrodite looked like a gold statue, as she stood on her little dais in her hall and addressed us. “My trial is one of deception. Over the past few months, you’ve learned how to transform your body into something else. From human to animal. For this trial, you will transform yourself into a goat.”
That got a few snickers from the group.
“The object of this will be for your peers to pick you out of a herd of goats. If they do, you fail. In the old days, we would’ve slaughtered the goats one by one to reveal your identity, but we won’t be doing that here.”
I shared a horrified look with Jasmine. “Yikes.”
Half of the group was escorted out of the room, while the rest of us stayed. So when the door opened again, and ten goats came scampering in, we didn’t know whom it was that had transformed into a goat right away. It was smart to do that because it was possible that someone could still retain some defining feature, like a mole or a scar.
Our goal as a group was to examine each goat and then make a unanimous decision on which goat wasn’t really a goat. I didn’t have to voice my thoughts, but I was sure we all pretty much agreed not to out anyone if we spotted any obvious discrepancies in goats. This was one time when we could help out our peers.
After we all looked over the ten goats, we came together and made a decision. We agreed on picking the all-white goat. Jasmine was our spokes person.
She pointed to the white goat. “We think that one is an imposter.”
Aphrodite nodded. “Very well.”
She then snapped her fingers, and eight of the goats turned back into our peers, including the one we’d picked. The goat turned out to be Lucian.
My stomach churned. I stared at him in horror.
Aphrodite stepped off the dais and moved toward us. Her gaze flashed with blue fire. “Don’t mess with me.” She then gestured to the students picking themselves off the ground. “You all passed, except for you, dear.” She pointed to Lucian. “You failed, thanks to your friends here.”
Wow. Aphrodite was a real nasty piece of work. I was going to have to watch her more closely.
We took more care with the next group of goats that came in and thankfully didn’t pick anyone. When it was my turn to transform, I did it as quick as I could, hoping that I did it well. There were no mirrors around, so I couldn’t take a look at myself and fix any issues. Other goats joined me in the lobby; I didn’t know if they were actually goats or my friends. The doors opened and we all ran into the room.
I tried to be as goat-like as I could. I made goat noises and butted my head into another goat, which I hoped was an actual animal and not one of my friends. Revana and her crew were part of the observing party. As she moved through the herd, she kicked at each animal. After seeing what I did from her past, I wanted to feel sorry for her, but the truth was she was not a good person.
When she neared me, she booted me in the side. Pain rippled over my body, and I wanted to whip my head around and nip her in the ass, but I didn’t. Instead, I bleated at her and moved along to stand next to a little brown goat.
After a few tense moments of the group conferring, Revana pointed to a medium-sized black and white goat. “That’s not a goat.”
Aphrodite nodded and then snapped her fingers. Me, Jasmine, Georgina, Ren, and Mia all popped into existence. As did Ren’s roommate Marek, but he’d been the one they’d pointed out. He’d failed the trial.
That night in the dorm, Georgina told me how scared she was for the rest of the trials.
“I’ve passed five of them, but I still need to pass three more, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to as they’re going to be the more physical ones.”
“You’re strong, Gina. Stronger than I think you even know.” I grabbed her hand. “And if I can help you during any of the trials, you know I will.”
Once more, my sleep wasn’t all that good. I had dreams this time, of darkness and shadows. And I wondered if it was some kind of portent of things to come.
Hera’s trial was very much like a locked room adventure. I’d done one with Callie and her friends. Everyone had spent the time arguing, so we never made it out. For the trial, we’d be in a group of five, and we had to use our knowledge of the Gods to uncover clues inside a room to discover another door, to move on to the next room. We had to clear three rooms in an hour. The team with the worst timed score failed the trial.
We got into our usual group, me, Jasmine, Georgina, and Mia. Ren decided to go into another group with Marek to make sure he didn’t fail another trial, which made room for a new member to our group—Lucian. I was confident that our group would make it through the rooms in record time, as everyone had done well in history class. I was probably the weakest link this time.
Once we were locked in the room, I grabbed Lucian’s hand. “I’m so sorry for yesterday.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be. It’s okay.”
“But you failed—”
“I won’t fail anymore. Especially not this one.” He gave me a soft smile.
Together, we worked through the puzzles in record time. At least we thought it was record time, as we didn’t know the other teams’ scores. After every group finished going through the rooms, we found out that we had come in second place. Ren’s team had come in first, which I was very happy to hear. Revana’s team came in last. That meant she had two fails so far. Not that I was celebrating. Okay, maybe I was just a little.
That night, I slept long and hard. I needed it to be fresh for Hermes’s flying trial. I had no doubt that Lucian and I would do well, but I couldn’t count out running into problems. Problems like Revana and her crew. It was no secret that the word in the halls was that they were out to get me. I had to watch my back.
Hermes met us out on the training field. He wore a blue polka dotted bow tie today, which I thought was really cute.
“This trial will be a race. Since flying is a fundamental part of your training as a soldier, only the first twenty-five flyers will pass this trial. The other half of the group will fail.”
I glanced at Georgina and Jasmine. We all knew that the trials were going to get tougher. This was just an example of that. I was worried for Georgina. She was not a strong flyer.
“You will race in five heats of ten flyers. The best times will advance; the worst times will fail. I will pick the flyers for each heat.”
I quickly moved away from my friends, hoping Hermes didn’t just put a group together by proximity. I didn’t want to race against them. Despite my tactic of moving around, I ended up in a group with Lucian, Ren, Marek, Mia, Revana, Diego, and three others I didn’t know well.
After Hermes described the race route, we lined up on the starting line on the ground. Part of the trial was how fast we could produce our wings and shoot into the air. Thank the Gods, Lucian and I had a done a lot of practicing.
Hermes stood in front of us, his arms raised. Then he dropped them, shouting, “Go!”
My big, black wings popped out of my back in seconds, and I was air born. Lucian was right behind me, with Revana, Ren, and Mia shortly behind him. The others took a little longer to get their wings out, and then they flew into the air.
It was now a game of follow-the-leader, and I was in front. Lucian kept up but stayed a little behind me, and I wondered if he was protecting my back from Revana because I knew she was going to come for me given half the chance. In the air away from prying eyes was the perfect opportunity.
I soare
d past the first spire over the citadel and was swooping around the north towers when I risked taking glancing behind me. Lucian was still on my tail, but Revana had gained some ground. She was wing to wing beside Mia. Ren was a little bit behind them.
She must’ve known I was checking for her position because she edged in closer to Mia, her wing flapping against the other girl’s. She was trying to knock Mia out to get my attention. Well, it was working. I slowed my pace a little, intending to drop back, but Lucian saw what I was planning and shook his head. He came up beside me.
“Don’t play into her games. Keep flying.”
I looked over my shoulder again to see Revana violently bumping into Mia. I wasn’t having it.
“You take the lead.” I could afford to fail a trial. I folded my wings in and dropped back like a shot to where Revana and Mia flew. Revana’s eyes nearly bugged out when she saw me.
“You want to mess with me, mess with me, not with my friends.” I shot out my wings and did a spin around her. The force of it knocked her off balance, and she fell behind. I nodded to Mia. “Get in front of me.”
She did, and we flew in a triangle formation, Lucian in the lead, Mia, then me and Ren along the side. Revana was right on my tail, but my huge wing flaps were too forceful for her to fight against. She couldn’t get any speed around me.
By the time we flew around the towers and back to the finish line, Lucian was already touching down. He crossed first, then Mia, Ren, me, and Diego had managed to come in alongside with Revana, and Laura, one of the girls I didn’t know well. Marek came in then the other two.
I didn’t know what our times were, but for sure Lucian and Mia had the fastest times. I was fairly certain I’d be okay, but it all depended on how the other heats went.
Nervously, we watched the other groups fly. Jasmine did really well in the second heat, and I was sure she’d pass. Georgina, on the other hand, came in seventh in her heat.
After all the races finished, Hermes had us line up again then he told us the results. I’d been right—Lucian and Mia had the fastest times. I’d passed, as did Ren, Jasmine, and Revana. But Georgina and Marek had failed the trial. I think that was number three for Marek and two for Georgina. I was going to have to keep an eye on her during the next few trials. There was no way I was going to let her get kicked out of the academy.
Chapter Twenty-Three
MELANY
Georgina and I huddled in our room and talked for the rest of the afternoon and evening. She was upset she’d failed the flying trial, but I assured her that I wouldn’t let her fail anymore. We talked about our pasts and our families and about boys. She told me about the boy back home that she’d left behind, and I told her about Lucian.
“Are you in love with him?” She nudged me playfully with her foot, as we sat on her bed.
“I honestly don’t know.” But I did know. And I was. I just didn’t want to say it out loud because I didn’t know what it truly meant here in the academy, especially during the trials. Love and friendship were complicated constructs, especially at a time when getting ahead meant leaving others behind.
In the morning as we assembled to get our meal for the day, I palmed my protein bar and when no one was looking, I gave it to Georgina.
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “I can’t take this.”
“Take it and eat it. I don’t need it, Gina. I can afford to lose.” I moved away from her, so she couldn’t give it back. I peered over my shoulder and was satisfied to see she ate it.
Out on the south training field next to the stables, Artemis greeted us on top of one of the great fire-breathing horses that no one thus far had been able to ride. The beast snorted and stamped its big hooves against the dirt, making us all flinch backward.
“In this trial, you will wrangle one of the great beasts and ride them out here to the obstacle course.” She gestured to the field, where a track had been created, including jumps and other hurdles. “There are ten targets. You must hit eight of them with your bow. Missing more than two is an automatic fail. You will also be timed, so even if you make all the required targets, you can’t be slow. The best times and targets of the best twenty-five will pass. The rest will fail.”
There were quite a few groans in the group, as well as a few very concerned looks. A couple of people were already sitting on their third fail.
“Get into two lines.”
We all scrambled to do as she asked, but I didn’t like it.
“I forgot to add that you will be racing against each other but through opposite ends of the course.” She pointed to the line I was in. “You head through the course from here.” She pointed to the beginning of the track. “And this line will start from here.” She gestured to the end.
I looked across from me to see whom I’d be racing against. Isobel glared at me. I nodded. It was a good choice. She was no threat to me. She could barely ride. During class, she’d fallen off every mount she tried.
I looked behind me to see who Georgina’s opponent was and my heart sank. Revana would try everything she could to win. I wouldn’t put it past her to cheat. I turned, grabbed Georgina, and switched places with her.
“Trust me,” I whispered in her ear.
Artemis rode her horse in a path between our two lines. “Look across from you. This is whom you will be racing against.”
I turned my head and gave Revana a huge, smug grin.
We were four back in line, so it was going to be an hour or more before we raced, but I knew the time would go by quick. And watching the others race wasn’t at all boring. Lucian was two ahead of me. Before it was his turn, he turned around and gave me a quick smile. I returned it and gave him a lame thumbs up, which made him laugh. I checked to see whom he was racing against, Hella who wasn’t very good at animal handling, and relaxed. Lucian was by far the most formidable one in the group.
When Artemis blew her whistle, Lucian grabbed the bow and quiver of arrows from the ground and sprinted into the stable. He was a millisecond behind his opponent. A few minutes later, Hella rode out on a unicorn. Unicorns were swift creatures; they could sprint faster than all the other horses. Another few seconds ticked by and I wondered what was taking Lucian so long.
Then he burst out through the large hole in the stable roof on Pegasus. Throughout our training, he’d been one of the only ones who the winged horse liked. Everyone else couldn’t even get within a few feet of her.
Everyone broke out into cheers and whoops as the big beast swooped toward the obstacle course. Even Artemis grinned as Lucian made easy work of the course. He was back before Hella, missing only one target.
When he landed and dismounted, Artemis nodded to him. “Well done.”
“Thank you.” He awarded the group with an arrogant bow.
I shook my head and laughed. It felt good to laugh, especially now.
When it was my turn, my heart pounded so hard in my chest I could barely breathe. The whistle blew, and I picked up the bow and arrows and ran for the stable. Revana and I were neck and neck. She went straight for one of the griffins; I’d see, her practice with them, but along the way she kicked at all the other stall doors, which sent the occupants into a tizzy.
As she mounted her griffin, I couldn’t even get near the other beasts. The unicorns were flailing their heads, their horns now a lethal weapon. The other griffins were stamping and snorting, clawing the air with their giant talons. I could forget about the Pegasus; she’d put her back to me, and I wasn’t about to approach her. The fire-breathing horses were all skittish, some blowing smoke out of their nostrils. That left one beast—one of the fire-breathing horses, the biggest of them. His name was Aethon, and he was Ares’s personal mount.
He stood there staring at me, his tail swishing back and forth, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He was huge; my head didn’t even come up to his back.
“What do you think there, handsome? Want to go for a ride?”
He snorted, smoke curling o
ut from his nostrils, but then he shifted just slightly, giving me access to his back. I couldn’t believe it.
I ran toward him, jumped, grabbed a handful of long, black mane and mounted him. Then he was out of the stable like a thundering storm cloud. I heard a collective shout and gasp from the crowd, as I rode the huge beast to the obstacle course. We had some ground to cover, as Revana had already started through the course.
I sat up high on the horse, aimed and hit the first target, which was high in a tree, even before we entered the circuit. Aethon made short work of the jump over the logs then I hit the next target, which was low on the ground. As I rode through the sparsely wooded course, I could hear the squawks and wings flapping of Revana’s griffin. Despite the griffin’s speed and agility, I knew she was going to have a hard time because of its vast wingspan. It wouldn’t be able to get as low as she’d want it to be for a few of the targets. Lucian wouldn’t have had a problem with the Pegasus because she was also a horse and was comfortable on the ground, whereas the griffin was clumsier on the ground than in the air.
After hitting six targets straight on, we rounded the corner and ran into Revana and the griffin. It screeched at me, but Aethon wasn’t concerned. He kept to the trail, thundering down it like a locomotive. I didn’t think anything would stop him, let alone some angry griffin and an even angrier girl upon its back.
I hit the seventh target, which was precariously close to where Revana hovered.
“You could’ve hit me!”
“But I didn’t.”
She knocked her arrow in her bow, drew it, and swung around toward me. I looked around, but there was no target close to me.
“You’re going to waste your arrow.”
Her glare sharpened. “It won’t be a waste.” She let it fly.
The arrow whizzed by my head. I could feel the displacement of the air, and the sound of it buzzed in my ears. I knew she was angry. I knew she wanted to see me fail. But to actually want to kill me? I didn’t think she had it in her. Obviously, I’d been wrong.
Demigods Academy - Year One Page 17