by Simon Archer
“What the…?” Bethany questioned as we looked around for the signs of the dip in temperature.
When I looked up, the once clear blue sky was no longer there. Instead, it was a wash of low hanging gray clouds. They swirled around ominously, threatening to break open and pour down some terrible storm.
“Where did those come from?” Bethany asked the million dollar question.
“I don’t know, but we need to hurry,” I said, sensing some kind of danger. “I don’t like this.”
Together we paddled faster than before, inching our way towards the island. It was more difficult in the chill, our lungs struggling to gather enough usable air. We made some progress from before when the wind picked up. It pushed against the rowboat with a violent gust.
It felt like being on a broken teeter tottered. Our boat tumbled all the way to the right, with such a sudden jerk, that Bethany and I had to grip onto the sides. We screamed out our anxieties as the rowboat rocked back the other way, causing more ice water into the boat. My stomach lurched at the vicious rocking and I forced myself not to throw up.
“Shit!” Bethany cried as she lunged a hand out as if trying to catch something off the side of the boat. “My oar!”
I glanced over on Bethany’s side of the boat and saw her oar drifting out away from the boat. When I gripped the side for safety, I’d chucked mine inside of the boat but Bethany hadn’t had enough warning.
It hadn’t drifted too far yet. I picked up my own oar and wobbled to my feet as the boat continued to rock beneath us.
“Move!” I shouted at my friend, trying to be heard over the assaulting wind. I tugged at the back of her shirt and she finally got the message. The pair of us evened out the weight again, while we still swayed in the wind and against the waves.
I pressed my body against the wood, holding on while I stretched out with the oar in my other hand. I slapped against the waves, trying in vain to get the stray oar to come back towards us.
“Cameron!” Bethany called out. “Leave it. It’s not worth it.”
“We have to get to shore,” I protested as I leaned a little farther.
“We’re not getting anywhere!” Bethany cried. “Not with this crazy weather.”
I didn’t bother listening to her. I knew there was no way I could paddle this boat by myself. So I stretched out just a little farther…
A huge wave extended up and rocked the boat out of sync with the rest of the water’s movement, and I lost my grip on the side. I tumbled out and splashed down into the ocean.
The tumultuous waves cycled through, even underneath the surface. The cold seeped through my skin and clothing. It froze my bones and iced over my organs. The only thing that kept me somewhat warm was the repetitive movement as I somersaulted head over heel several times, completely disorienting me. I pushed my way as flat as I could get my body in order to break away from the undertow. Kicking my legs with all the power I could muster, I shot up through the water like a bullet. My lungs gulped in the air and my arms flayed about, trying to tread water and stay above where the air was.
“Cameron!” Bethany shouted.
I tried to turn myself in her direction, a strain against the rolling waves. I watched as my friend flung out a rope. It was still several feet short from where I was located in the water, but it was a lifeline I didn’t have before.
I pushed myself forward, stretching out as far as my limbs could be until my fingertips scraped against the rope. It was difficult to hold on to as the waves made the rope slither about like an angry snake.
Suddenly something wrapped around my ankle. It was a warm contrast to the biting cold of the water. The thing gripped my leg like a bear trap and yanked me down into the depths. I lost my hold on the rope as I was dragged further down.
I snapped my mouth shut to fight off the water and hold in as much air as I could muster to keep myself alive. My eyes stayed open as I watched the light above the surface and the thin shadow of the rope grow smaller as I receded farther and farther from them.
Changing tactics, I looked down to see what had a hold of me. What the hell had purposely yanked me down into the water? There wasn’t any kind of pain in my leg so it wasn’t a shark biting on to me or anything like that. The grip pressed into my ankle, cutting off the circulation to my foot.
Below me was one of the most horrific monsters I had ever seen. The thing was the size of a kraken with dozens of tentacles, thick as tree trunks, writhing around as if they had minds of their own. They had suckers the size of dinner plates on the underside of them, which latched onto my ankle. The upper half of the creature was a massive woman figure with sickly green scales as skin and four human arms protruding from her sides. Her hair stretched for miles, each coil a hissing eel that curled through the water with ease. The monster’s face, while humanoid, had a flat fish-like nose and glowing yellow eyes with two rows of vampire-like canines. She smiled at me and roared her glee at having caught something for her dinner.
Hello Son of Hephaestus, the monster spoke into my mind. Eris sends her warm regards. While she’s sad she won’t get to end you herself, I’m always happy to do her bidding. We are cut from the same cloth, her and I.
When I saw what captured me, my mind’s eye flashed with the necessary information. I recognized the monster as a Scylla, a river nymph who had been turned into this horrific creature by the goddess Circe.
I writhed against the Scylla’s grip but it was no use. The monster’s tentacles were much too strong for me to escape, especially with the added burden of the water. It inhibited my movements, making them slow and poorly timed.
Numbness tickled at the corners of my mind as the lack of oxygen finally started to hit. I fought it off as best as I could, trying to scramble for a way out where I could get back to the surface safely. The only way I could do that, I knew, was to kill the beast.
I didn’t have any weapons on me save for the single dagger in my boot. By the grace of Tyche, it was in the free boot, not trapped in the grip of the sea monster. I wanted to reach for it but couldn’t angle my body in the correct direction. Then it struck me that I wouldn’t be able to kill her with it, not really. I might be able to free myself but the monster had eleven other tentacles it could easily grab me with.
My thoughts were hazy and my senses dulled. I fought for consciousness as I tried to clear my head enough to come up with a plan. The dagger hummed against my leg, ready to be used. For the briefest moments, I wondered if my powers still worked underwater. Could I still control the movement of the metal?
I lowered my hand and summoned the dagger out of my boot. It took the length of my concentration, but the dagger slid out, eager to help. Instead of flinging out my hand like I would normally do to throw the dagger, I changed tactics. I clapped my hands together in a forward motion, signally the dagger to fly straight in true. I picture the target in my mind’s eye, with the few remnants of my consciousness.
A zip rippled through the water as the dagger flew. It spun slightly as it created a path for itself. I could see the trail it left behind, the bubbles in its wake, marking the path it took. Then there was a squelch as the dagger landed between the two eyes of the Scylla. Its head snapped back, though the whole sight was in slow motion as the water stunted her movements.
The monster’s body fell slack as the nerves shut off as quickly as a light switch. A trail of green blood flowed from the wound in her head.
I didn’t take another moment to look at the damage. I kicked off the limp tentacle and pumped my legs so I could bolt for the surface. I was much slower than the first time I scrambled for air. I tapped into my energy reserves, my lungs burning in my chest. There was a new dull ache in my ankle that I had to ignore as I pushed for the light above me. It was dim and not at all hopeful looking, but I aimed in that direction nevertheless.
My brain was waterlogged, and I needed oxygen fast. I pumped my legs for all they were worth, trying to gather as much momentum as possible until…
My head broke through the surface of the ocean. My lungs inhaled clear air, a new kind of pain erupting in my chest as they unshriveled. My muscles were exhausted and craved rest, but I knew I couldn’t stop moving or I would die.
I heard a scream in the distance. “Cameron! Oh my gods! Cameron! You’re alive!” Bethany stood up in the boat and waved her hands over her head.
Miraculously, the wind and waves had stopped their hurricane-like assault. I could see my friend clearly about fifty feet from me. The length looked like a football field from my vantage point, and the thought of swimming even that much more made my heart ache. Nevertheless, I flattened my body and began a lazy stroke to my friend.
However, there was a new threat on the horizon. Cracks rippled through the air like thunder. I paused for only a moment to see the source of the noise off to my left.
In the opposite direction from the island, a stampede of ice rocketed towards us. The ocean was freezing. It had already consumed the Argo, locking it into place. Now it was coming straight for us, and if I didn’t get out of the water soon, it wouldn’t matter that I’d killed the Scylla. I would drown all the same.
Now that I had oxygen in my lungs once again, it was easy to push my limbs, even though they felt like limp noodles. Bethany was my cheerleader, calling out encouragement from the other end. She already extended the rope which cut my journey in half.
I reached the end of the rope and used the leverage to haul myself along the surface of the water. Bethany yanked on her end, reeling me in like a fish. Together, we stayed ahead of the oncoming ice. But the roaring crackle wasn’t ever very far.
The chill wrapped around my body like a chokehold, and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to keep going. But I put one hand over the other until I felt the side of the boat. Bethany grabbed the back of my shirt and hauled me up into the safety of the boat just as the ice froze over the ocean water, trapping the boat in place.
25
Hailey
Between Kari and myself, we were able to convince Officier Quinn of the existence of these beings within our base. It helped that we had the physical proof of the first one that the two of us had managed to defeat and trap.
Unfortunately, part of the process included revealing the plot to overthrow the commanding officer. My fellow Enka soldiers denied remembering any of it, and we had to reveal the physical evidence that was hidden in the barracks. Kari had to come to the soldiers’ defense, explaining what happened to her and how Eris was using her first son, Lethe, to make mortals forget about their actions while they were under the control of the spirits.
While Kari had been nervous at first, revealing that much about her history, Officer Quinn actually believed and respected her story. She didn’t question Kari’s validity which I could tell was very refreshing for my friend. After hearing us out, Officer Quinn elevated mine and Kari’s status in the military, giving us full control of the investigation against the daemon spirits.
We brought Irema into our confidence almost right away. She immediately came up to me and apologized for her actions after it had been revealed to the Enka soldiers what happened to them.
“I didn’t mean to abandon you,” she said with tears at the corners of her eyes. “It was the weirdest sensation. I would just forget parts of my day out of nowhere. For a while, I thought I was going crazy.”
I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. You weren’t in control. It’s not your fault.”
“I want to help get rid of these bastards,” she said with a new sense of resolve. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. You don’t know how dangerous it was for it to happen to me.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, sensing that she wanted to get something off her chest.
“You know when I told you that I could give you a way to talk to Cameron, off the grid?” the soldier said as she lowered her voice conspiratorially.
“I’m glad to know that I didn’t make that up,” I said with a joke in my voice.
She smiled, barely acknowledging my comment before continuing. I got the impression that she didn’t want to lose her the courage and stop herself before she even got started.
“I can dreamwalk,” Irema said, her voice barely a whisper. I basically had to read her lips in order to make out the words. “No one in the Military knows but you, Cameron, and his mother.”
As much as I wanted to know how Cameron’s mom knew about Irema’s abilities, I figured it was best not to ask too much. She was clearly trusting me with something private, and it took a lot of guts to share information that she held so dear.
“So I can walk into his dreams and tell him anything,” Irema offered. “I’ve done it before so it won’t weird him out. We’ve already moved past that stage.”
“Thank you for telling me, Irema,” I said before giving her a reassuring smile. “I will probably take you up on that offer, and I promise not to tell anyone else.”
“I’d appreciate that,” she said, returning my smile. “Now, tell me how we can beat these things.”
The three of us found ourselves calling for some books to be sent to the base so we could properly study the spirits. We read over their origin story with Pandora and her box--which actually was more of a vase than a box--as well all of their exploits, especially pertinent during times of war and unrest in the world. It was horrifying to think that these beings had come back to wreak the kind of havoc that could destroy life as we knew it.
We sat around a table in the mess hall, huddled around stacks of books as if we were back studying for our final exams as fourth years. Kari held open one book and pointed to a list with her finger.
“So it looks like there are actually eleven children,” Kari announced. She leaned in closer to the book to read the text, reciting off the names. “Horkos, the daemon of lies. Neikea, the daemon of arguments. Limon, the daemon of starvation. Algea, the daemon of pain. Androctaslae the daemon of violence. Lethe, the daemon of...”
Suddenly, Kari’s face fell and went pale white. She stopped reading and at first I didn’t know why. I leaned forward to look at what she was reading and immediately discovered the source of her discomfort.
Lethe was the spirit of forgetfulness. It was the spirit that had made Kari completely forget about the two years when she was possessed by the goddess of chaos.
Irema kindly pulled the book out of Kari’s hands and read off the remaining spirits. “Ponos, the daemon of Hardship. Phonoi, the daemon of murder. Ate, the daemon of mischief. Makahi, the daemon of battles. And Dysnomia, the daemon of lawlessness.”
“Who we managed to trap last week,” I declared, if only to remind myself that we had a chance in this fight. It was difficult to think about the prospect of defeating all of those terrible immortal entities. But between mine and Kari’s powers, we could protect ourselves and the other demigods.
Suddenly, there was a commotion from somewhere behind me as one of the wood benches tumbled to the ground. Rachel stood at one of the tables, glowering down at Mia. Her voice boomed through the large tent.
“You want to settle this outside?” Rachel shouted.
“What the--?” Kari wondered but she couldn’t finish the rest of her question because Mia shouted over her.
“We can settle this right here,” the Oura soldier threatened.
Then she leaned down in her seat and kicked Rachel from beneath the table. Rachel jerked as Mia’s foot connected with her kneecap. Before Rachel even had a chance to recover, Mia was on the table, leaping over to punch Rachel.
“Holy shit!” Kari cried out as she stood up.
She wasn’t the only one. The soldiers that were in the mess hall immediately got up and tried to break the fight apart. Others joined in the fray, defending their fellow comrades.
Since I was closest to the fight, I whirled around and dashed to the eye of the storm. Surprisingly, Irema was right alongside me.
“I’ve got this,” she assured me as she surged a
head. She leaped onto the table, standing high above the fray of swinging fists, hair pulling, and verbal outrage.
The Enka soldier closed her eyes and held out her hands, moving them slow and steady as if she was performing some kind of Tai Chi. The air swirled around her. It wasn’t a visible change, but one that I course sense. The atmosphere calmed and the aggressive soldiers seemed to freeze in place.
One by one, they stretched their arms out, yawning. Then they toppled like dominoes, collapsing into a sleeping heep wherever they stood. Some soldiers slumped over the benches, while one curled up on the floor with her thumb in her mouth.
Before I had a chance to be amazed by Irema’s handiwork, Officer Quinn burst through the tent flap, flanked by two soldiers.
“What is this non--?” The commanding officer started but then swallowed her words when she saw the lack of commotion.
Kari, Irema, and myself were the only soldiers not sleeping in awkward positions in the mess hall. Even the cook up at the front of the tent slumped over her large pot, ladle still in hand.
“Oops,” Irema winced when she finally opened her eyes. “I might have overdone it a little. Sorry.”
“Anyone want to tell me what is going on?” Officer Quinn demanded, standing up straighter as she asked.
“Ma'am,” I said, approaching the commanding officer and saluting. “A fight broke out among the soldiers and Irema stepped in, using her powers to calm the situation and put the perpetrators to sleep.”
Officier Quinn eyed Irema who was still standing on the table. Kari reached up and offered the Enka soldier a hand to get down. Irema took it with a blush on her face, as the commanding officer glared at her.
“Good work, daughter of Hypnos,” Quinn grumbled, as though it physically pained her to give the compliment. “Why did the fight start?”