by Eliza Raine
‘I’m sorry, shit, I’m sorry,’ he was babbling.
Lyssa curled up, her body shaking as her muscles constricted so hard she couldn’t breathe. She tried to concentrate on anything except the pain. The boat had stopped moving. The spikes. Why weren’t they dead? Another wave of convulsing cramps ripped through her. Was that cheering?
‘Phyleus?’ she stammered.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to do. We only just made it through the spikes; you nearly killed us! Then you wouldn’t stop and the sails were turning black and I didn’t know what to do.’ He was talking so fast she could hardly understand him. The pain in her body was subsiding. She rolled onto her back. Phyleus was leaning over her.
‘You knocked me over?’
‘I had to get you away from the mast. We had to stop.’
‘Did we…?’
A small smile appeared on his lips. ‘Yes. We got here first.’
She sat up quickly, immediately bashing her head into his.
‘Ow! What in Zeus’s name is wrong with you?’ he yelled, rubbing his forehead.
‘We won?’
‘We won. Hercules never made it through the spikes.’
Lyssa leaped to her feet, immediately regretting it when a wave of dizziness hit her hard. She gripped the side of the boat and leaned over, looking towards the wall of shining horizontal spikes.
‘I can’t see any bodies.’
‘No. Guess he gave up at the last minute.’
Lyssa scowled. ‘Hercules would never give up.’
Phyleus shrugged. ‘Maybe Evadne did for the both of them.’
Lyssa looked at him. ‘Why didn’t you? Why did you let me carry on?’
He stared back at her.
‘I knew you could do it,’ he said eventually.
‘Well done, Hero Lyssa.’ Artemis’s commanding voice rang across the cheers. Lyssa spun around to face the goddess on the podium. The Rage was leaking away and only her hands were now shaking. ‘As the only hero to finish this Trial, I will gift you these.’ An enormous golden set of antlers appeared above the goddess, spinning slowly. ‘Any ship with these horns afront its prow is welcome on Sagittarius.’
Lyssa dropped to one knee, her heart skipping. Access to a forbidden realm could change their lives. Epizon would be thrilled, if they survived long enough to use it.
‘Your next Trial has already begun,’ Artemis said with a small smile, then vanished.
Immediately Lyssa heard voices in her head.
‘Captain? Captain!’
‘It’s no good, she can’t hear you. Ship communication hasn’t been working since the start of the race…’
‘Hey!’ she shouted across them. The voices stopped. ‘I can hear you. I assume you want to congratulate your hero?’ She gave a mock bow as she said it, knowing they would be watching in the flame dish. Nobody answered. She straightened up, frowning. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Captain, it’s Abderos,’ said Epizon, his voice grave. ‘He’s gone.’
Copyright © 2019 by Eliza Raine
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Editors: Anna Bowles, Kyra Wilson
Cover: The Write Wrapping
Apollo
The Immortality Trials
Book Four
1
‘Citizens of Olympus, this is an unexpected turn of events for you!’ Lyssa glared at the blond task-announcer in the flame dish, wishing she could wipe the excited smile from his face. ‘Here’s your next host to tell you more!’ He vanished, replaced by the beaming face of the god Apollo.
‘Capricorn,’ she breathed. ‘We’re going to Capricorn.’ She willed her power into the ship, directing the Alastor due east, as she turned to the place by the navigation wheel where Abderos usually sat. Please let him be safe and sound when we arrive, she prayed.
‘Good day, Olympus,’ said Apollo. ‘The crews have probably noticed by now that they are each one member short. Sorry about that.’ He smiled and winked, his white teeth flashing. ‘But don’t worry, you’re about to have your chance to win them back – as long as you’re quick enough.’ Lyssa looked at Epizon, seeing his lips pinched tight together and his impatient concern a mirror of hers. ‘You’ve each been assigned a colour, and a matching key will arrive on your ships momentarily.’
A shimmering ball appeared in the image, next to his face. It looked like it was made of metal, and an intricate pattern of vines and leaves carved into its surface was shining bright yellow. ‘You will need this key if you make it through my challenges.’ The image changed, his face and the sphere fading, replaced with an aerial view of a cross with a circle in the centre. ‘Your crew-mates are here, heroes,’ Apollo said, and the circle glowed. ‘Three members of each crew will start where you see your colour.’ The four ends of the cross glowed purple, white, blue and red. ‘The first to reach the centre wins. And for some added incentive…’ The image swirled, as though they were diving down, towards the glowing circle in the middle, then came into focus sharply. There was a cage, maybe ten feet square, with four figures inside.
Lyssa’s fists clenched, her whole body tensing as she recognised Abderos, the only one not lying unconscious on the floor. He was sitting in his wheelchair, a peaceful look on his slumbering face. She watched him long enough to see his chest rise and fall, then scanned the other figures. Busiris, the gold-skinned half-giant, took up a third of the available floor space and Evadne and Theseus sprawled across each other on the remaining ground.
Theseus? Apollo had taken the Virtus' captain? Seconds after relief that she herself had not been taken washed through her, Lyssa felt guilty. The impotence she’d feel trapped in that cage… As she looked more closely at it, she frowned. Ice. It was made from ice.
The image wobbled and the figures stirred. The cage seemed to get smaller, the scene around it growing, and Lyssa gasped. A massive boar was running at the cage. Enormous ivory-coloured tusks curved on each side of its snout and its eyes flashed red as it powered towards the prisoners. Lyssa held her breath as it smashed into the ice cage. The enclosure held, just quivering slightly as its inhabitants started to lift their heads.
‘I’d say you have about two hours before the boar breaks into the cage. And I’m afraid he has a bad temper and a large appetite.’ Apollo’s face appeared and Lyssa let out her breath with a snarl. ‘Oh, and it’s winter in Capricorn. Very, very cold. Good luck.’ The god beamed, winked again and vanished.
A loud metallic clang caused Lyssa to spin around. Nestor had picked up a sphere twice the size of her fist. The centaur held it out, and Lyssa saw that it was identical to the one that had appeared next to Apollo, except it glowed purple instead of yellow.
‘Purple,’ said Nestor. ‘Athena’s colour.’
‘Is that a key?’ said Len, stretching up on his hooves as best he could to look at the ball.
‘If Apollo says it is, then it is. We’ll be in Capricorn in less than an hour. Who’s doing this with me?’ Lyssa put her hands on her hips. Epizon and Nestor stepped forward in unison. Phyleus looked sideways at the navigation wheel as Len spoke.
‘Captain, as much as I’d love to help Abderos, I don’t think I’m your guy for physical challenges.’
‘You think they’ll be physical?’ she asked. The satyr nodded.
‘Capricorn has extreme seasons and Apollo takes the absence of the sun very seriously. In winter it will be entirely ice and snow, with little light. Any terrain will be tough.’
Lyssa cocked her head at him. ‘OK. Anything else we should know?’
Len narrowed his eyes, thinking.
‘Apollo is Artemis’s twin.’ Everyone looked at Nestor as she spoke. ‘I’ve visited Capricorn many times in spring and fall. Apollo has a sense of humour, and
he’s vain. He will treat this more like a game than any of the others will. He is likely to try to show off. But if you win his respect, you’ll keep it forever.’
‘Right...’ Lyssa said, and swallowed. ‘I’m sorry, Nestor, but ice terrain does not sound ideal for a centaur.’ Nestor’s internal conflict showed in her face, her white-blond eyebrows drawing together.
‘I suppose you are right.’ She stepped backwards, her tail flicking as she looked down. Lyssa’s heart went out to her. Her first chance to do something, to act on her grief and anger, and she would have to watch, helpless.
‘Guess I’m up, then.’ Phyleus spoke quietly. ‘No rest for the wicked.’ It was true, Lyssa realised. Phyleus had been involved in every Trial so far. And the last one… He’d let her go through the spikes. He’d believed she could make it. She hadn’t had time to consider what he’d said about the sails turning black. To consider what may have happened if he’d not knocked her from the mast. To consider the way hatred had consumed every part of her and how terrifyingly good it had felt.
She pushed the thoughts from her mind. She would have Epizon by her side this time, and stopping Hercules was a secondary consideration. First and foremost they needed to get Abderos back home, safe and sound.
For his fourth labour, Hercules was told to bring back the boar that ravaged the lands around the mountain of Erymanthus…
He found the boar looking for food and chased it into deep snow where he was able to trap it, then bring it back with him to Mycenae.
EXCERPT FROM
The Library by Apollodorus
Written 300–100 B.C.
Paraphrased by Eliza Raine
2
Evadne’s head was pounding and her skin was cold. A rumble and then a loud clang penetrated her consciousness and she groaned, trying to hold onto the quiet darkness behind her closed eyelids. Then she heard a shout. A man. Not Hercules.
Her eyes flew open and she sat up with a start. Someone was half-lying on top of her. She picked up an arm and tossed it off her abdomen, lip curling in disgust and confusion. Theseus. Theseus was next to her.
She looked around, panic threatening to engulf her. Another body lay on the ground next to her. It was the gold-skinned giant from the Orion, Busiris. And directly in front of her there was a chair with large metal wheels where a young man sat staring at her, wild-eyed.
‘You’re…’ she struggled to remember his name.
‘Abderos. I’m from the Alastor. There’s—’ He was cut off by another rumble and rattling clang. Abderos flinched, gripping the wheels of his chair. Evadne whipped her head round, gasping as she saw a boar taller than she was smash into clear glass that was surrounding them. The glass shook but held. She eased her way to her feet as the boar began backing up, its outline shimmering and warping through the glass. She touched it hesitantly and snatched her fingers back when the cold bit into her skin. Ice, not glass.
She turned slowly around on the spot. The ice enclosed them completely, barely leaving enough room for them to move. She looked up, noting the solid ice ceiling. The sky above them was deep blue, and she could also make out the lighter colour of some sort of structure in the distance around them, but the cage warped too much to make out details. The boar came into sharp focus, though, as it charged towards them again.
‘Is this part of a Trial?’ asked Abderos, and Evadne turned back towards him. Theseus groaned and she kneeled beside him on the floor.
‘I’m surprised they put a captain in here if it is. But if there’s one of us from each crew, I guess so. Theseus?’ She poked him in the ribs and he tensed under his pale blue shirt, then sat bolt upright.
‘Where am I?’ he gasped as he looked around, before his gaze settled on Evadne.
‘I don’t know,’ she answered, trying hard to ignore how beautiful his eyes were. ‘We’re in some sort of cage, made from ice. There’s somebody from each crew here.’ She gestured around her at the small holding cell. Theseus’s eyes went wide as he looked over her shoulder. ‘And there’s a—’ she was cut off by the clanging of the boar smashing into the cage wall behind her again. ‘… a giant boar trying to break in,’ she finished.
‘I see,’ said Theseus slowly, pulling himself up onto his knees. He reached towards the ice and flinched when he touched it. ‘Apollo,’ he said.
‘Apollo? The sun god? Really?’ Abderos sounded incredulous.
‘Who are you?’ Theseus asked, turning to look at him.
‘Abderos. Navigator on the Alastor.’ There was no mistaking the pride in his voice, though Evadne thought he was young to be a navigator.
Theseus nodded at him. ‘Apollo. Yes, I think so. Capricorn has the most extreme seasons in Olympus. There would be this much ice in winter. And it makes sense that Apollo’s Trial would follow his twin sister’s.’
‘That doesn’t explain why we’re in here.’
‘I assume we are the incentive to complete the Trial in a timely manner,’ Evadne said, folding her arms across her chest. As if hearing her words, the boar’s great tusks bounced off the ice cage again, the ringing sound rippling through the freezing air. Abderos’s eyebrows knitted together.
‘What do you mean?’
‘She’s right,’ said Theseus, and Evadne suppressed her flash of joy at the praise. ‘This cage won’t withstand that battering for more than a couple of hours. So we’d better hope we either get rescued soon or our giant friend can wrestle boars.’ They all looked down at the half-giant, still unconscious on the hard ground.
‘We’ll probably freeze before then anyway,’ Evadne said, rubbing her bare arms as the ice rang around them.
3
Eryx stared open-mouthed at the flame dish as the fire returned to its normal height, flickering orange again. Relief that it was Busiris in the cage instead of him caused him to sag slightly. He didn’t know what he would have done if he’d had to spend another Trial watching from the sidelines. And although his chest was healing fast now, he doubted a stint in an ice cage would have helped it. He tried to feel bad about Busiris lying unconscious on the cage floor, but he couldn’t. The gold-skinned man was a scheming coward and Eryx just couldn’t muster up enough respect for him to feel sorry for him.
‘Set a course for Capricorn,’ said Antaeus gruffly. Albion grunted and turned towards the huge steering wheel. There was a loud thud behind them and Bergion yelled in surprise. A metallic ball rolled across the deck towards Antaeus and he stooped to pick it up.
Eryx leaned forward, his interest piqued. Detailed swirling patterns carved into the metal were glowing blue, and Eryx raised his eyebrows. It was the same as the sphere he had taken from the Hydra’s head.
‘A key…’ he breathed. Antaeus looked at him.
‘This is the same as the one you have?’ Eryx nodded and Antaeus frowned.
‘What do you think yours opens?’ he asked. Eryx shrugged.
‘I have no idea.’ Bergion shoved past Eryx, peering at the ball.
‘We need that to get Busiris back?’ he said.
‘Yeah. Looks like we’re the blue team,’ replied Antaeus. ‘Go and get ready,’ he told the giant. Bergion pulled at his beard and nodded, then heaved his way towards the hauler, his steps loud on the deck. Eryx looked up at his captain.
‘You are taking me as well?’ he said, painfully aware of the childlike, beseeching tone of his own voice.
‘Brother…’ Antaeus sighed. ‘You are not fully healed. And you have no love for Busiris. You are not my first choice.’ The words stung, though Eryx could hear the sense in them.
‘I’m getting stronger by the minute, Captain. What if there are spaces or obstacles too small for a full giant? If we win one more task we’ll be in the lead.’
‘I’m well aware of that, Eryx. We’re only as strong as our weakest link. And you are not my strongest option.’
Eryx scowled and made an effort not to stamp his foot. ‘I can’t just sit and watch a third Trial!’ Anger made him shout and Antaeus
straightened, the sympathy in his face fading.
‘Fine. You two fight.’ He pointed at Albion’s back, as he stood at the wheel. ‘The winner takes part.’
‘Now?’ Eryx said, slightly alarmed. Antaeus nodded.
‘Now. Albion!’ The fat giant spun around at hearing his name.
‘One hour, Captain,’ he said, assuming a progress report was wanted.
‘Fight Eryx,’ Antaeus ordered. ‘The winner takes part in this Trial.’
Albion frowned. ‘Why do I have to fight? Where’s Bergion?’ he said.
‘Because I told you to. Get on with it!’ Antaeus growled.
Albion bared his teeth briefly, then marched down the steps from the navigation wheel, to the middle of the huge Zephyr deck. Eryx followed him and poked as discreetly as he could at his own chest, testing for pain. He could feel none. He flexed his fists, hopping lightly from one foot to the other as he crossed the deck towards the giant. Albion had at least three feet on him, and likely ten stone, but he was much, much faster.
Albion smirked at him as he approached, rolling his massive shoulders and pulling up his black shorts. Eryx got on with the black-skinned brothers fine, and they all sparred regularly, but there was no way the giant was going to give him an easy ride just because he’d had an injury. Eryx crouched quickly, jumping back up, testing his thighs and warming his muscles. If he wanted to get down to Capricorn and take part in the Trial, he would have to prove himself.
‘Begin!’ roared Antaeus.
Eryx launched himself forward, ducking between Albion’s legs as the giant swung for him. He twisted as he cleared the gap and sprang back up, coiling himself around the larger man’s enormous shoulders. Albion spun around, trying to shake him off, and he tightened his legs around the fleshy waist and began beating the side of Albion’s head with his fist.