by Eliza Raine
‘I don’t know.’ Lyssa narrowed her eyes as she fervently scanned the twilight sky for the source of the shadow.
‘Why are you looking up there?’ Phyleus said, an edge to his voice. ‘It was under the ice!’
Lyssa snapped her eyes to the lake. Phyleus nodded.
‘It was quite big,’ Epizon said.
Lyssa’s skin began to tingle, her power thrumming through her in anticipation. ‘Then let’s not break the ice,’ she said and stepped out after Phyleus.
She held her breath as Epizon stepped carefully onto the ice. It didn’t move, looking as solid as earth as he hesitantly shuffled towards her.
‘Shuffling doesn’t suit you,’ she told him, and started towards the opposite bank. The ice was so clear she could see right down into the murky blue depths below. Nothing stirred, and she could see no rocks or plants, or a bottom to the lake. They all took slow, careful steps and she quickly found that walking with her feet sticking out to either side felt more stable on the smooth surface. She hoped Phyleus didn’t spot her doing it, though, as waddling probably didn’t look very captain-like.
The shadow passed under them again when they were twenty feet across. It was big, but not bigger than Epizon, and it moved too fast for any of them to get a look at what it was, only to see that it was very bright blue. Exchanging looks but saying nothing the three of them continued onwards, following the impatient streak purple of light that was zipping about in front of them.
‘I think we’re halfway,’ Epizon said. Lyssa looked up from the depths below her feet and glanced behind her at the bank they’d left, at the mountain crested by the castle a long way off in the distance.
A loud crack ripped her attention back to the ice and she saw the shadow shoot beneath her, a massive crack in the ice following its path.
‘The ice is splitting!’ called Phyleus, a few feet in front of her. She looked up, seeing cracks forming everywhere, snaking towards each other as the blue thing in the water below zigzagged across the lake at lightning speed.
‘Run!’ she shouted, and let her Rage flood through her, feeling strength fill her arms and legs as she began sprinting towards the bank. She overtook Phyleus quickly, cursing him for not moving faster as the cracking sounds around them became deafening. Epizon yelled and she skidded to a halt, her left leg sliding out from underneath her. She spun around as she fell, managing to keep her other foot flat on the ice. Epizon was on both knees, covering his head as a streak of brightest blue burst from the lake, water and lumps of ice showering down over him. Lyssa scrabbled back to her feet, launching herself towards her first mate.
‘Wait!’ Phyleus was shouting behind her but she ignored him, willing Epizon to get back to his feet as she leaped over a widening crack. She landed well and was only a few feet from Epizon, who was still covering his head, when there was a shrieking squawk. She threw herself flat against the ice as the blue creature swooped over her, spraying her with freezing water. She rolled onto her back and gaped.
The thing was a bird now, beating its massive wings in place above her. Its plumage ranged through every shade of blue she could imagine and its beak and eyes were solid white. Rippling pale blue feathers crested its head, dancing like flames. Every beat of its wings sent a paralysing gust of air over her, so cold she felt even her bones were freezing. Then it squawked again, gave a mighty flap and soared away, high into the sky. Convulsive shivering overtook Lyssa’s body and she tried to roll back onto her front, to push herself back to her feet.
‘Eppppiiizzzoonnn,’ she said through madly chattering teeth as she slowly got up.
He moved his shaking arms away from his head. His normally deep-brown lips white with cold.
‘I’mmmm allll righhhttt,’ he chattered back, shaking his chest and arms. He rubbed at his face as she staggered towards him, trying to shake the cold out of her own limbs.
‘Lyssa!’ She turned around on hearing Phyleus’s voice and her stomach dropped. The solid surface of the lake was now in pieces, lumps of ice slowly knocking into each other as they floated on the water. She and Epizon were on one large piece, barely moving on the water, but Phyleus was crouching on his hands and knees on a much smaller piece some distance away.
‘That was an ice phoenix,’ he called over to them. She looked at Epizon and he shrugged and slapped at his own cheek, some of his colour returning.
‘Why didn’t it kill us?’ She’d ask him later how he knew what it was.
Phyleus stood up as carefully as he could on his small island of ice.
‘It may have. I think the ice is melting.’
8
Eryx had never been so cold in his life. It was like the bird was sucking more than just the heat from his body. It was suffusing him with a cold so deep, so debilitating that it paralysed him, rendering him unable to even think about anything but the sensation of freezing. And then, as suddenly as the bird had burst from the lake, it was gone, soaring into the sky. Eryx quivered, his skin stinging as he tried to flex his fists, move his head.
‘Eryx!’ His captain roared.
‘Cccaappppttaaiiinn,’ he stuttered back as loudly as he could, blinking and rolling his neck. Bergion was on his back beside him on the frozen lake. ‘Bbbeerrrgggiooon?’
The giant grunted and pulled himself up to a sitting position. As he did so the ice beneath them moved and Eryx stumbled on his shivering legs. It was cracking, he realised slowly.
‘Don’t move,’ shouted Antaeus. Eryx rotated on the spot carefully, looking around him properly. The surface of the lake was in pieces, islands of ice floating everywhere. Some were still huge, like the piece they were on, but others wouldn’t take his weight, let alone that of the two full giants. Antaeus was further behind them. It had taken his captain an age to get this far, his vast bodyweight making him nervous enough to move painfully slowly across the ice. How was he going to get across now?
‘Ccccan we mmmove the bbit of ice we’re on?’ Bergion said. Eryx looked down, through the crystal-clear ice to the depths of the lake.
‘No,’ he answered, relieved his own teeth had stopped chattering. ‘Even if we had poles, which we don’t, the lake’s too deep.’ He turned around, looking at Antaeus. There were three or four islands of ice between them, the gaps growing and closing as they ebbed on the water. ‘Can you jump?’ he called. Antaeus shook his head.
‘I’m too heavy. They’ll sink when I land.’ Antaeus kneeled and reached his arm over the edge of the shard of ice. He raised his eyebrows as he dipped his hand into the lake, before whipping it out again immediately.
‘Gods, that’s cold,’ he swore. Slowly, he did it again, pushing his hand in a long stroke though the water. The ice island floated forward, bumping gently against another bit of ice.
Eryx looked at his own island. It was too big to paddle, even with two of them. ‘Bergion, we need to split up, get on smaller islands and then paddle.’
The giant nodded and eased himself to his feet. The ice rocked beneath them. With a deep breath Eryx backed up a few careful steps, then ran, giving himself little time to think about what would happen if he missed his landing spot. As he reached the edge of the ice he jumped. He realised as he was in the air that he had jumped too far. He was going to overshoot the island he had aimed for. He kicked his legs as he came down, trying to turn and slow his momentum. He landed badly on one knee and skidded, throwing his hands out and scratching uselessly at the polished ice to try to slow himself down. Fear clawed its way up his throat as his straight leg went off the side of the island and blistering cold wrapped around his foot. He scrabbled, using the knee he still had on the ice to push himself forward, flat onto his front. The ice tipped beneath him and mercifully levelled, halting his slide. He panted as he pulled himself to his feet, adrenaline coursing through his body. Bergion was gaping at him from the other island, frost smattering his dark beard.
‘I’m not doing that,’ he said and folded his arms.
‘Get on with it!’
roared Antaeus, who was heaving ice islands out of his way, using them to pull his own along in the water. ‘These are melting!’
In alarm, Eryx looked down, then around. It was true. More water was visible, and less ice – the islands were shrinking. Bergion took a few steps back, then ran, leaping for an island half the size of the one he was currently on. He landed with a thud right in the middle, managing not to slide. His glee was cut short however as a loud crack sounded.
‘Move!’ yelled Eryx as a crack spread out from under the giant’s feet. Bergion leaped to one side, the ice rocking as the island split completely in two.
‘You’re too heavy. Paddle!’ called Antaeus. Bergion dropped to his knees, yelping as he put his gloved hand into the freezing water, then splashing as he tried to propel himself forward. Eryx looked down at his own feet, one boot sodden wet and freezing, then up at the distant bank they were aiming for, where the streak of blue light they were following danced at the lake’s edge.
He knew the fastest way to get to the other side. Backing up, he moved as lightly as he could, up on his toes, exactly as he had been taught to as a boxer. Then he ran and jumped. As soon as his feet touched the ice of the next island he launched himself forward, not allowing time for his boots to slide on the ice. A few bounds across the island and he was jumping again, twisting slightly in the air towards the next gently floating platform. He kept going, flying across the ice, leaping and landing with feet lighter than they should be. He knew he couldn’t stop or miss – his momentum would take him all the way to the bottom of that freezing lake. And then he landed on crunching snow, his movements slowing without the shining ice to propel him on, but his strong legs still urging him forward. He slowed as the blue light whizzed around him, bending over and taking long breaths as he came to a stop. He’d made it.
He turned and looked back at the lake. Antaeus was close now, grabbing the edges of the larger bits of ice and pulling his diminishing vessel along. Bergion was far behind, splashing as he tried to move his larger ice island. Eryx walked slowly back to the bank.
‘Come on, Bergion, you’re almost there!’ he shouted, projecting as much encouragement as he could into his voice. A few feet to his right Antaeus’s island bumped against the bank. Eryx jogged over, bending to hold the ice steady as his captain crawled across it before sighing loudly as he transferred his weight to the hard, snow-covered ground. Eryx let go of the island and turned to his captain, then drew a sharp breath. Antaeus was sitting back on his heels, holding up his hands. The fingertips were white, and the pale colour was creeping down towards his palms.
‘Frostbite,’ said Antaeus, dully. ‘I need to get them warm.’ He paused. ‘Though it may already be too late.’
9
‘For the last time, there’s nothing we can do about being in here!’ Evadne was losing patience. The gold-skinned giant had done nothing but panic and whine since he had woken up. As he scowled at her, she silently thanked Zeus she didn’t have to share a ship with this coward.
‘It’s all right for you, you’re small. This cage must feel like a palace,’ he hissed.
She raised her eyebrows. ‘We’re all trapped in here!’
‘Yes, trapped together. So we may as well try to get on with each other, until we’re rescued,’ said Theseus calmly. He was sitting on the floor next Abderos’s wheelchair, his knees up, looking for all the world like nothing was wrong. Evadne huffed and continued her pacing.
‘You’re not helping, with all the pacing,’ said Busiris, jumping as the clang of the boar’s impact rang through the cage. Evadne had all but stopped noticing it now.
‘Fine,’ she snapped and sat down hard on the floor, crossing her legs. There was a long, awkward silence.
‘So. Who do you reckon will get here first?’ said Abderos. Nobody answered. Evadne wanted to say Hercules, wanted to immediately back her captain, but she couldn’t. Hercules had only two people now, and one of them had hooves. Not ideal for icy and snowy terrain. Busiris scowled again.
‘Antaeus, obviously. Giants don’t feel the cold like humans.’
‘Is that right?’ said Evadne, looking at him. ‘In that case you don’t need that shirt.’ Busiris barked a laugh. ‘You want my shirt? Not a chance.’
Evadne shook her head. ‘Thought as much.’
‘Do you want mine?’ offered Theseus. For a fraction of a second she was tempted to say yes, if only to be able to look at Theseus shirtless for a time. But Hercules’s fury when she’d last seen him flashed into her mind. What would he say when he got here and she was wearing the shirt of his rival? She shook her head again, but without the angry expression.
‘No, I’m fine. Thank you.’
‘What do you do on your ship?’ asked Abderos.
‘Stop trying to make conversation. We’re not friends. Any of us,’ she said.
‘We don’t need to be enemies,’ said Theseus. She ignored him and began picking angrily at her fingernails. It was easy to be rude to the boy in the chair or the cowardly giant, but being rude to Theseus didn’t feel right.
‘Is it true the Virtus has a pool below decks?’ Abderos spoke again, this time to Theseus, who laughed; and the sound was nice. Evadne looked up from scowling at her hands, despite herself.
‘No. No, that’s not true. Where did you hear that?’
Abderos shrugged. ‘Around. How fast does she go?’
‘You’re the navigator on the Alastor, right? She’s one hell of a fast ship,’ Theseus replied, looking up at Abderos’s eager face.
The boy nodded proudly. ‘That she is. She’s old, sure, but Crosswinds are all fast, and Captain Lyssa, well, she has…’ He trailed off, suspicion suddenly taking over his expression. Evadne laughed, sneering.
‘We know Lyssa channels her power into her ship. It’s not a secret. She makes it pretty obvious.’
‘Well, how come your captain doesn’t, then?’ he retorted. She looked away. She’d wondered the same thing since Lyssa had showed how fast she could go on Sagittarius.
‘You have to have an extremely strong bond with a ship, to be able to share your power with it. With anything, in fact,’ said Theseus. He gestured at Evadne. ‘Your captain does the same thing with that sword, Keravnos. The wielder needs to share the same goals as the object, so completely that it becomes a part of them. Lyssa’s goal is to fly. Fast. I don’t know what drives that need for her, but that’s all the ship wants too. For Hercules and the sword…’ He shrugged. ‘The need is to destroy.’
Evadne swallowed and looked back down at her hands. To destroy. No wonder his daughter needed to fly, to escape. The thought had settled in her mind before she could expel it, and she was instantly angry with herself. She was on Hercules’s crew. She knew what he had done to his wife and child, what Hera had made him do.
Doubt gnawed at her. What he said Hera made him do. She had seen that temper now. She had glimpsed what he was capable of. She took a deep breath and subconsciously touched her neck where he had gripped her, lifted her off her feet, ready to punish her for saving their lives.
He had a lot at stake, she told herself. Of course his temper would be frayed. The Trials had not gone as he had hoped so far, the world was watching and the pressure was huge. She thought about when he was happy, his smile and his charisma and his awesome aura of power. He would win and they would live together in immortality. She was sure of it. She just needed to deal with the bumps and bruises along the way.
10
Hercules stamped across the snow, cursing his first mate. Asterion had done nothing but slow him down when they’d crossed the lake. He could hear the minotaur grunting behind him as he struggled to keep up.
‘Captain, I need to do something about my leg,’ he said, his gruff voice strained. Hercules closed his eyes as he stopped. He needed to win this Trial. He wasn’t willing to go against Zeus and try again on his own, he reasoned, so he needed to do what he could to get Asterion moving faster. He turned. The minotaur was still wet to hi
s chest from where he had slid into the water. His dark fur was matted to his skin under his leather armour and Hercules could see he was shaking. The leg he had referred to was paler than the rest of his body at the ankle, a white tinge spreading to his angular knee.
‘Looks like frostbite,’ Hercules said. ‘Give me the pack. We can rest a short while.’ Asterion sagged with relief as he shrugged out of the leather pack slung over his shoulder and handed it over.
Hercules dug the snow off a patch of the barren ground and had a small fire going within minutes. It was getting colder, he thought. Taking a break to gather a bit of warmth was probably what everyone else was doing. They shouldn’t lose any time here. He scanned his surroundings. Behind him the lake was now completely clear of ice. To his left and right an expanse of white was all he could see for miles, swirling snow moving past the occasional stark tree or rock. Ahead of him, though, behind the dancing white light, was a mountain shaped like a claw. It rose majestically, curving gently to a sharp point. If there was more climbing to do he would have to help Asterion. The bull-man had strong arms but hooves and ice were a hopeless mix.
Hercules found himself wishing that Asterion had been taken, and Evadne was with him. She was tough, for a girl, and would probably have fared better than his first mate so far. Maybe he should just leave him behind. He turned back to the fire. Asterion was holding his hooved foot out beside it, rubbing and punching the skin. Water frozen into his fur was melting and dripping onto the ground, sinking quickly through the powdery snow.
Asterion looked up at him. ‘It is helping, I think.’ Hercules nodded. ‘Thank you,’ the minotaur said, quietly.
Hercules looked away, back at the mountain. ‘Ten minutes. Then we leave.’
‘Yes, Captain.’
11