by Eliza Raine
‘He irritates me,’ she grumbled.
‘Even better,’ Epizon smiled. A horn sounded in the distance. ‘Lyssa, be careful. Don’t lose control.’
‘It wouldn’t slow us down if you were on board. My Rage can make up for it,’ she said quickly.
‘We need to win this. I’m too heavy.’ He laid his hand on her shoulder and she straightened. ‘Concentrate on the race, not your emotions. This one is ours, Captain.’
‘So, sun’s up. What happens now?’
Lyssa turned around at Abderos’s voice. He was wheeling himself across the deck towards them. She opened her mouth to reply… and the world filled with white light.
She blinked, her vision clearing slowly. Sound filtered through to her. Cheering. She shook her head hard, and felt the scarf around her hair loosen. She was in the longboat. To her left and right were the other crews’ boats, lined up and facing the same way. Banking them on either side, in tall stalls, were hundreds of creatures. Many centaurs lined the front rows, stamping their feet and beating their armoured chests, while dryads and nymphs called and cheered. Beings from races made up of animals Lyssa couldn’t even name stared back at her, clapping their hands and shouting. Beyond them, the hills were gone. They were on a different plain, long yellowing grasses stretching in all directions.
‘What in the name of Zeus…?’ Phyleus made her jump. He was sitting behind her in the boat, looking around dazedly. His shirt was undone and she realised with a start that he had nothing on over his undergarments.
‘Where are your trousers?’ she hissed at him. He looked down at himself in shock.
‘I was putting them on! I don’t know how I got here!’ He scrabbled around the bottom of the little boat, looking for his trousers, crying out in triumph when his hands closed around them.
‘Please tell me you have a slingshot,’ Lyssa groaned. His face reddened as he pulled the trousers awkwardly along his legs without standing up and revealing himself to the crowds. She looked to the sky and blew out a long breath, then unstrapped hers from her belt. She handed it to him, along with the small bag of lead shot. ‘You’re my gunner. And… You’ll need to tell me if I get… carried away.’ She looked down as she said the last few words.
‘Carried away?’ He strapped the shot bag to his hip and tested the strap on the slingshot.
She scowled at him. ‘Don’t break that.’
He rolled his eyes and turned to his right. Lyssa followed the look. Hercules was waving to the crowds, his lion-skin cloak draped across his shoulders. Evadne, blue hair shining in the increasing light, was standing next to him with a small smile on her lips. Lyssa made a low growling noise and turned the other way.
Antaeus and the gold-skinned half-giant Busiris were in a longboat twice the size of hers, with two small masts. She wondered if that would make it move faster, or if their weight would still hinder them. Past them she could see the slender longboat from the Virtus, the same one she had landed in when Eryx had thrown her from the Hydra head. Theseus, Psyche and Hedone were all in the boat and, to her surprise, Hedone was armed with a long spear identical to Psyche’s. She felt a stab of respect for the beautiful girl.
‘Heroes of Olympus.’ Artemis’s young voice was amplified across the plain and the crowd fell silent immediately.
‘Meet my prize stag, Cerynea.’ The air ahead of them shimmered with glowing gold and slowly the light solidified, an animal taking form. He truly was a beautiful creature. Taller than Lyssa at his shoulder, and so pale he was almost white, the stag had the most magnificent antlers she had ever seen. They were shining gold, the light reflecting from them every time he dipped his head. ‘You must follow him back to me, on the other side of Sagittarius. You must not harm him, and you will not overtake him. You must take the route he does. You will start when he does. If you believe your life is in mortal danger, tell me you give up and I will decide if you deserve to live.’
Lyssa looked at Phyleus and laid her hand on the mast of her boat.
‘You ready? I need you to keep the others away from us.’
He loaded the slingshot and nodded.
‘I’m ready.’
15
The stag pawed at the ground, and Lyssa realised his hooves were shining too, gold glinting in the sun. He snorted loudly, and raised his magnificent head. Another horn sounded and in a flash of gold the stag was moving, not just forward but up. His golden hooves shone as he galloped through thin air, gaining speed and height simultaneously. There was a burst of noise from the crowd and Lyssa willed her boat forward, after the shining beacon ahead of her. They were barely off the ground when Hercules’s boat smashed into the side of them. Evadne aimed her slingshot with a smile and Lyssa ducked as the lead flew towards her.
‘Phyleus!’ she yelled, turning to him. He was firing at Busiris who was on their other side, launching arrows from a bow in a high arc above them. One landed with a loud thud in the bottom of the boat. She looked down at the metal arrowhead embedded in the wood, and willed more of herself into the little boat. The thrum of power built in her veins, the wooden mast seeming to heat beneath her hands as they surged forward, out of reach of Hercules. She looked ahead to the flash of gold, now too small to make out as any specific form. The plains still rolled ahead of them, no mountains or hills in sight. The grass was changing colour, though, turning greener and longer as they sped over it. She looked back towards Hercules, not far behind her. Evadne was yanking at a series of arrows that were sticking out of the mast of his boat, the only part not covered in dull metal plating. She scanned the shimmering triangular sail for signs of damage but couldn’t see any. White flashed past on her other side. It was Theseus, overtaking her. Hedone and Psyche were holding their long spears out on either side of the boat, ensuring nobody could get close enough to ram them. Smart move, Lyssa thought, but they had no ranged weapons. Theseus saluted as he made eye contact with her and she scowled.
‘Can you hear buzzing?’ called Phyleus.
‘Buzzing?’ She listened over the sound of the wind in her ears. There was something… She willed more of her power into the boat, wanting to keep up with Theseus but reluctant to build up her energy too early. She didn’t know how long this race would last and it got harder to concentrate, the more power she was channelling. Something tiny and black flew past her, close to her face. She swatted at it. Phyleus was right, it was buzzing.
‘It’s some sort of bug,’ he called. As he said it, the grasses below them began to move, rippling like an ocean. She watched as a black swarm rose from the ripples, engulfing Theseus’s boat.
‘Shit,’ she cursed and poured power into the mast. They shot up, over Theseus’s halting boat, the buzzing bordering on deafening. She fixed her eyes on the golden glint ahead and tried to ignore the writhing black in her peripheral vision. ‘Are we above them?’ she yelled to Phyleus.
‘I can’t hear you!’ She barely caught his reply. A moment later she jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, causing the boat to swerve as she turned.
‘Whoa! Only me.’ Phyleus had climbed over the bench to the mast. He leaned over the side of the boat, gripping the edge hard enough that his knuckles were white. ‘I can’t see the others,’ he said, scanning the sky.
‘I can,’ Lyssa pointed. Not far below them, but a long way in front, was a whirling red light, surrounded by the black swarm. Hercules was swinging his sword in wide circles, fast, keeping the throng of insects at bay. She swatted angrily at her hair again and pushed the boat faster.
‘As long as we stay above the bulk of them, we’ll be OK,’ Phyleus said, still shouting over the roar of the wind and the drone of the bugs. Lyssa fixed her eyes ahead and nodded. She forced herself to ignore the urge to keep looking down at the red glow of Hercules’s boat and concentrate on powering forwards, over the writhing, buzzing grasslands. She didn’t know how long they’d been flying when Phyleus said, ‘It’s stopping.’
The fact that he hadn’t needed to shout the
words meant he had to be right. Lyssa blinked her stinging eyes and looked as far down as she could without letting go of the mast. The undulating black mass was thinning out. She could still see the red glow of Hercules’s sword but he wasn’t so far ahead any more.
‘Where are the other two boats?’
Phyleus moved from her side, she presumed to the back of the boat. She didn’t turn to look, not wanting to risk losing track of the stag. He may have kept a steady pace in a straight line so far, but she knew enough not to take anything for granted.
‘They both made it. The giants are at the back,’ Phyleus reported.
‘The grass is changing,’ she said. ‘I think… I think there’s water ahead.’ She lowered the boat a little without slowing, ignoring the few lingering insects that buzzed around her. They were approaching a massive marsh.
16
Of the three Trials so far, Eryx couldn’t believe he had been forced to sit and watch two from the sidelines. The only one he had been involved in he had won, he thought ruefully.
Antaeus had moved him up to the rear quarterdeck so that he could see everything going on in the flame dish. Hercules was winning, emerging from the insect-infested field waving his sword triumphantly. The crews from the Alastor and the Virtus were level, the redhead from the Alastor keeping her boat high. Antaeus was at the back, his face a mask of concentration. Eryx scowled, wishing he was in Busiris’s place. They were approaching marshland now, and if the insects were anything to go by, they should be on their guard. Busiris held his bow at his side, looking around nervously.
Eryx felt around for the jug of water beside him, reluctant to take his eyes off the race for even a second. He had downed pints of water now but he could still taste the remnants of the disgusting sludge. He took a long swig and poked at his bandaged chest. It was tender, but not painful. He supposed he was grateful he could feel at all.
The image in the flame dish changed, showing a closer view of Hercules, the lion skin bulking his muscular frame out further. Behind him, slingshot pulled back, blue hair in a high tail and eyes vigilant, was Evadne. Eryx’s eyes flicked between the two. He could see why she would be attracted to Hercules, but the things the man had done? How could anyone be with a man who had murdered his own wife and had no love for his surviving daughter?
The image widened, showing Captain Lyssa speeding towards the marshland, gaining on Hercules. The sail on her small boat was rippling scarlet red, the same colour as Hercules’s sword. A flash of movement below the tiny boats caught his eye and he leaned forward, grunting in discomfort. There was something in the swamp.
He squinted at the picture before him, watching the boggy ground the boats were flying over. Again he saw it, a splash and a fin of some sort, disappearing into the murky water. Antaeus and Theseus were flying close to the swamp, close enough to each other that Theseus’s first mate was stabbing her spear at Busiris, her gold armour gleaming. Frustration welled in Eryx. They weren’t watching the water. He pictured Antaeus in his mind and projected his voice.
‘Captain, there’s something in the water below you. Raise the boat,’ he said, as calmly as he could. There was no answer. He watched the flame dish, desperate for any sign that Antaeus had heard him. His captain’s face didn’t change. There was another ripple of movement in the water, this one bigger than the last. Eryx watched in impotent dismay as more than just a fin rose from the murk. A dark green tail, lined with sharp triangular spikes, rolled up out of the reed-filled marsh then disappeared again. He’d seen a tail like that before on Aquarius. It belonged to a giant crocodile.
17
Hedone was feeling quite proud of herself, until the green lizard burst from the marsh below her, snapping its monstrous teeth and flicking a tail as large as their boat at them before diving back under the water. She was able to bite back her scream, but she dropped her spear as she stumbled backwards, the boat swerving as Theseus reacted.
‘Shit,’ barked Psyche. ‘Captain, we need to get higher.’ She held her spear out further as she spoke, swishing it from side to side. Hedone bent, fumbling to get her own back in her hands.
‘I’m on it.’ Theseus’s voice was calm and clear.
‘How high do you think it can jump?’ Hedone stammered.
‘They. There’s more than one.’ Psyche’s eyes were fixed on the muddy water as the boat lifted.
‘They must be fast, to be keeping up with us,’ Theseus said. Hedone heard a small splash, then there was a loud thud and she was thrown from her feet. She flung her arms out to break her fall, her chest hitting a wooden bench and her chin banging down a second after. She tasted salt as blood filled her mouth – she’d bitten her tongue.
The boat swerved again and she lifted her head in time to see the slimy green skin of a lizard as it collided with the side of their longboat. They were thrown the other way and Psyche roared, ‘Get us higher!’
‘I’m trying!’ Theseus shouted back.
Hedone gripped the side of the boat with both arms and pulled herself up to a crouch. Hesitantly she peered over the edge, looking towards the bog. Five or six lizards were leaping in huge arcs out of the water, narrowly missing their rising boat. The giants had not been able to get high enough. They were still moving, but close to the water, the huge Antaeus swiping and punching whenever the lizards leaped close to their boat, toying with their prey.
The gold-skinned smaller man behind Antaeus was aiming a bow but his movements were jerky and nervous and he wasn’t releasing any arrows. Reeds from the bog were climbing, reaching for the boat and wrapping themselves around the wood, stopping it from escaping the lizards’ game. Hedone’s mouth fell open slightly as the shirtless Antaeus roared, his massive fist connecting with a lizard’s head. The snake tattoo on his back writhed with his movements, clearly visible even from this distance. But more knobbly green lizard skin flashed in the water below them, the splashing increasing as the beasts surrounded the boat. He wouldn’t be able to fight them all off. The smaller giant shouted something she couldn’t make out and pointed ahead of them. She followed his gesture. The stag was changing course, veering hard to the right. Theseus saw it at the same time.
‘Hold on,’ he called, and banked hard to keep behind the creature. She gripped the edge of the boat and turned her gaze back to the giants. They hadn’t been able to turn and follow the stag. The reeds had pulled them almost to a stop and it looked like they were shouting at each other. A small lizard erupted from the water beside them and Antaeus caught it by the throat, leaning back and then launching it into the distance.
She’d never watched giants before, as they didn’t visit Pisces. They were truly impressive. But she couldn’t see how they were going to get out of the marsh.
Antaeus clearly realised the same thing. With a bellow he stood up tall, holding both arms in the air. She just caught the few words he shouted.
‘We give up!’
The air around his boat shimmered, and then the whole thing vanished.
18
Eryx roared on the quarterdeck, his injured chest painful as he slammed his fist down on his leg in disappointment. There was a shimmering on the deck, and then Antaeus and Busiris were back on the Orion, still in the longboat, slimy reeds curled around the mast and bow. There was another shimmer and Albion and Bergion appeared beside the boat, transported from the watching crowd.
‘Why weren’t you watching the water?’ shouted Eryx, looking directly at Busiris. He was supposed to be both lookout and gunner.
‘I was dealing with that bloody woman on Theseus’s boat,’ he growled back.
‘Both of you, stop.’ Antaeus voice was laced with fury. He reached up to the sail and yanked on it.
‘What…?’ Eryx stared. The mast behind the sail was shredded. Long jagged gouges ran in rows across it from top to bottom, clearly the work of a serrated knife. There was murder in his captain’s eyes as he spoke.
‘The boat wouldn’t respond properly. We couldn’t get high
enough. Somebody did this before we started.’
Cold clamped over Eryx’s skin and there was a pounding in his ears. She’d said she wanted to know about Poseidon. He’d let himself believe that she was there to talk to him. That she was concerned about him. His stomach felt like it was tying itself in knots. He couldn’t tell Antaeus. He would never be allowed to take part again; he’d be stuck watching the action from afar permanently. Antaeus was staring at him and he knew his red face was showing his anger.
‘Do you know who did this?’ Antaeus asked quietly.
Eryx shook his head, without hesitation. ‘I never left your quarters, until you brought me up here. I can’t believe anybody would stoop so low…’
Antaeus cut him off.
‘You two were supposed to watch the boat. How the hell did this happen?’ he shouted at Bergion and Albion. They both looked down, shuffling huge booted feet. Neither spoke. ’Get it fixed,’ he hissed, and stormed over to the flame dish.
19
Lyssa hadn’t dared look back as Phyleus told her about the giant green lizards attacking Antaeus. She felt a stab of satisfaction that the giants were out of the race and immediately felt guilty. The point was to stop Hercules, she reminded herself.
She was sure they were gaining on him. She had found a good rhythm, a trickle of her power flowing through her and into the boat, enough to keep them level at the front but not enough to drain her. She didn’t know for sure that she could be drained of her power, but she wasn’t taking any risks just yet. The Rage had burned within her for ten years, and it had only grown, but she’d never channelled her power gently for a long time. Short, explosive bursts were more her style.