by Melody Rose
I managed to get to the lake without disruption. I stopped suddenly and bent over, hands on my knees in order to catch my breath. My crazy idea was starting to come together, but if I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs, I would pass out, and it was all going to be for naught.
Just as I managed to figure out how to breathe again, my friends and dogs jogged into view. Khryseos and Argyreos outran the group and came to me with gleeful and proud looks in their eyes.
“What the hell, Shy?” Benji asked as he ran up to me.
“What’s wrong?” Darren asked while Violet said, “What’s the emergency?”
At that moment, I loved them all so much. They didn’t need any sort of explanation, but loved me and trusted me enough to come when I needed them. As much as I wanted to grab them in my arms and tell them all what they meant to me, there wasn’t time. While I knew the Eternal Flame could offer a lengthy distraction, I didn’t know if one or more of the branch leaders managed to break away and follow me.
“Something went down at the meeting,” I said, my words spilling out in a rush. “The branch leaders were controlling the Officials, and it was some weird magic shit.”
“Wait. What?” Benji held out a hand, indicating that I should slow down.
“I knew there was something wrong with them,” Darren said as he snapped his fingers. “Ever since the incident at the library, I had my suspicions.”
“But controlling people?” Benji focused in on that one point. “What kind of magic is that? That’s like some Eris apple shit all over again.”
“I thought the same thing, but there isn’t enough time to analyze all of it,” I said, waving away his words and hand gesture. “We have to get out of here and find Hephaestus. Something evil has taken over the Officials, and we need to get off campus before it spreads.”
“Cheyenne,” Violet said slowly. “You sound and look like an escaped mental patient.”
“Guys, I’m telling you, we have to go now,” I said urgently.
“Did they give us permission to use the Argo?” Darren asked. “I assume that’s why you brought us to the lake.”
I could have kissed him for jumping ahead and figuring out my plan, even when I didn’t have it all the way formed. “Not exactly, but we’re going to take it, anyway.”
“How?” Benji said, asking the obvious question.
My eyes shifted to Violet, who also picked up when I was implying. Her eyes went wide, and she took a step back. “Look, I know I said they were teaching me how to drive the thing, but I’m not an expert or anything.”
“But you know how to call it?” I asked, never taking my eyes off her.
“Yeah, but--” Violet protested, but I wouldn’t let her.
“Do it,” I insisted. “Do it now so that we can get out of here.”
“You’re not going anywhere, daughter of Hephaestus,” said a voice in the darkness.
I held up the flame above my head and brightened it so that a circle of blue light floated around us. There, on the edge of the darkness, three of the four branch leaders crept out of the shadows.
22
The three of them stood in front of us, all in a single line. They each had wide stances and malicious smirks on their faces. A.T. dared to wink at me again, and I wanted to spit at him.
I shot the single orb of the Eternal Flame into the air and asked it to hover above us. It did as it was told and rocked up, bathing the scene in soft blue light. We could see everything more clearly now, but the Flame also seemed to be a spotlight, beating down and adding pressure to the situation.
“Violet, get to the lake,” I said under my breath. “We’ll cover you.”
“But I don’t want to,” Violet said, a surprising amount of indignation coming from her.
I looked over my shoulder to glare at my friend, shooting her a glare to just listen to me. But she folded her arms over her chest stubbornly and stamped her foot like a child.
“You should listen to your friend, Cheyenne,” Nikita taunted. She moved her head back and forth like a snake getting ready to pounce. “Sounds like she doesn’t agree with you.”
Violet’s tone reminded me of the fighting back in the boardroom with the Olympic Officials. It was so out of character for them, but especially for Violet. She was a soldier, used to following orders, and I knew she trusted me enough to listen to me. But it seemed as though she was forced to argue with me.
My eyes slid back in the direction of the branch leaders, and I wondered if one of them had the power to affect the mind like Eris did. It was a rare gift among the demigods, but there was a chance that their powers created tension and made situations more hostile than necessary.
I turned back to Violet, a weird and risky idea coming to mind. “Fine, Violet. I don’t think you should go to the lake and get the Argo at all. I think you should stay right there.”
At the snap of a finger, Violet’s position changed. It was as easy as flipping a light switch. “No, I’m not going to do that because I think I should go to the lake. You can’t tell me what to do.”
“I really don’t think you should do it,” I said. Then I added, for good measure, “In fact, I forbid you to go.”
“Forbid me?” Violet spat, anger flaring in her eyes. “I’ll show you how well that’s going to work out for you.”
Then, just as I predicted, my friend spun on her heel and crossed to the edge of the lake. I focused my attention back on the branch leaders. Nikita, in particular, had a venomous scowl on her face.
“Got any more tricks up your sleeve?” I teased as I stretched out my hands casually. What I was really doing was silently calling out to the dagger I kept in my boot at all times. It was a suggestion that Ansel gave me two years ago, and it had been second nature to do it. I felt naked if I didn’t have the metal comforting me against my leg.
“Just one,” Gia spoke this time, her eyes seeming to glow in the dark.
Khryseos and Argyreos were on either side of me, teeth bared and haunches low. They poised for attack, but before I could command them to do anything, a pair of whimpers escaped from their lips. They rolled over onto their backs and cried out in pain. Their legs twitched as if they were being burned alive.
Anger burst from my chest and unlocked something inside of me. The sight of my dogs in pain propelled me forward. My dagger jumped out of my boot and right into my hand as I dashed for the branch leaders.
Gia was right in front of me, and she outstretched her hand in the direction of my dogs. I dove for her, but someone collided into me, knocking me sideways. It was as though I was on the football field, and a linebacker slammed me to the ground. Nikita pressed her whole body against mine and laid into me.
Her knees pinned down both of my arms, locking my dagger in place. She swung a punch at my head, which I managed to dodge, but I leaned right into her left hook that connected with the side of my temple. My vision blurred for a split second, and she moved to go in for another blow. The branch leader leaned back just enough for me to lift my leg and kick her in the back of the head. I hated this move because it always hurt my shin connecting with someone’s skull. But the blow was enough for Nikita to loosen her hold.
I rolled my body to the side, taking the soldier with me so that our positions were flipped, with me now on top. I slashed at her arm as she raised it to block my attack. It went clean through the sleeve of her shirt and pierced her skin. A long line stretched across her forearm from elbow to wrist. However, it wasn’t red blood that seeped from it.
Her blood was purple.
“What the fuck?” I gasped, stunned by the unnatural sight in front of me.
Nikita wasn’t at all surprised by her wound or its unusual color. Like I had before, she took advantage of my pause and drove an uppercut into my jaw with that wounded arm. My head rocked backward, slapping against my back like a rag doll.
The soldier shimmied out from between my legs and got into a standing position, her fists in front of her face, ready
to fight. I was still on the ground, but I took a single jump to get into a crouch. Since I was always down lower, I took a jab at her stomach, which she easily blocked. The soldier retaliated with a kick to my head, but I somersaulted out of the way, using the momentum to get to my feet.
Nikita turned to face me and jabbed out another leg, a forceful kick aimed for my stomach. I blocked it with my arm, regretting the decision because the force rattled my bones. But I kept it from making my intestines bleed.
The branch leader didn’t let up. She turned on that leg, using the momentum to swing around and kick me again, this time higher. Her foot collided with the back of my hand, the one holding the dagger. My hand popped open, and the dagger skidded across the ground, several feet away from me.
Without a second thought, I stretched out my hand and called to the dagger. I told it to fly up and point itself directly at Nikita’s throat. She was halfway through the movement to punch me when the blade at her artery forced her to stop.
We stood across from one another, a single blade hovering between us, both of our chest heaving from our exerted effort.
“Call them off!” I barked at her.
“Or what?” she sneered. “You won’t kill me.”
“No, I won’t,” I agreed. Instead of arguing with her further, I beckoned the blade back into my hand. Before she had a second to react, I dashed forward, turning the dagger in my hand as I did so. The blade now pointed towards the sky. With the rounded butt of the hilt, I smashed it into the side of her head. Her eyes rolled back, and she fell unconscious from the brunt of the strike.
I climbed off the unconscious soldier and turned back to the battle behind me. Benji and A.T. went at it, with the branch leader telekinetically tossing items at the son of Demeter, while Benji batted them away with a tree branch he broke off a nearby tree. The Gi soldier also created a large barrier by yanking up the grass. He created cover for Darren as the healer tried to help the dogs.
I dodged between A.T.’s flying projectiles and dove behind the grass wall to check in on Darren.
“What’s wrong with them?” I asked desperately as the whimpers pierced my ears like needles.
“Gia has some sort of control over them,” Darren said in a rush. A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead. His hands hovered over the dogs, one for each pup, assessing them. “I’m trying to fight it, but the pain…” Darren took in a sharp inhale, and his face pinched into a tight expression as though someone had just kicked him in the groin.
“It’s getting to me too,” he bit the words out.
I held out my own hands to Darren, scanning him for any weapons he might have on him. There was a small pocket knife tucked into his pants pocket that I swiped from him. I popped the blade out, and while it wasn’t longer than a toothpick, I figured that I should have all of the weapons I could, going into this fight.
I peeked out from behind the grass wall to see Benji now using the bark of the tree as a shield and the branch as a sword as he combated against A.T. Gia still had all of her focus on the dogs and I figure the best thing I could do for them and Darren was to break her concentration.
Then I looked out by the lake to see Violet down by the rocks. The water bubbled as if it was boiling in a kettle, and I knew that she had to be close. I couldn’t leave the dogs like this, so as long as I could take out Gia somehow, we might have a chance to make it to the boat.
My final assessment came from looking up at the Eternal Flame illuminating the way. As much as I wanted to call it back to me and use its powers, I knew that doing so would leave Benji, Violet, and Darren in darkness. That would undoubtedly cause more harm than good in this situation. So I left it up there and resorted to using my strength and the weapons I had at my disposal.
I flipped Darren’s pocket knife around in my hand as I plotted my next move. I rubbed my thumb over the handle of the knife, talking to it the whole time. After a couple of deep breaths, I poked my upper body out from the grass wall and chucked the pocket knife in Gia’s direction, giving the metal an extra push to ensure it landed true.
She moved at an inhuman speed and turned so that the knife landed in her shoulder. I flicked my fingers so that the knife ran down her back. She screamed as I created a larger incision.
“Cheyenne,” Darren whispered. “I don’t know if we can help them.” He gestured down to the dogs, who twitched in pain. “Violet’s almost got the boat ready. We should go.”
I lowered my head towards Khryseos and Argyreos. “I need you to teleport out of here. The two of you can’t take this anymore.”
They looked up at me with pathetic eyes. I could see the will to fight in them, but I patted both of their heads to let them know it was okay.
“Sometimes, the safest thing is to retreat,” I whispered. “It’s okay. You can go.”
Khryseos and Argyreos closed their eyes and popped out of view. There was a huge weight lifted off my chest when they were out of the line of battle. It invigorated me to know that they weren’t in pain anymore.
I peeked around from the grass wall again, intent on finishing this fight. But Darren put a hand on my arm as if he knew what I was thinking.
“We need to go, Shy,” Darren urged. “You said it yourself. Sometimes the safest thing is to retreat.”
As much as my heart ached to seek revenge for my dogs and protect the Academy, I knew that we needed to get out of here. We had a larger mission at stake that would help win the longer war.
I chanced a glance at the lake and saw that Violet had pulled up the Argo and was already abroad. She was calling out to us to get on the ship, waving her hands like she was trying to flag down a taxi.
I made the decision to retreat right then. “Benji! Cover us,” I called out to our friend.
He was on board with the plan without even having to ask. He walked backward while still wielding his plants to provide us cover. Darren and I booked it for the Argo. I dashed up the ramp, and Violet was already at the steering wheel.
“Benji!” I shouted from the deck. “Come on!”
Benji dropped his control over the plants and focused solely on getting on the boat. He dashed on the deck of the boat, nearly colliding with Darren due to his extended momentum.
“Go, go, go!” I shouted to Violet.
The remaining branch leaders stood on the shoreline and made no attempt to get on the boat which surprised me. It worried me that we would have to defend the ship, but they just stood their ground, claiming the territory.
I hated the sight of them and fought off the guilt of leaving the Academy behind. I hunkered down and told myself that if we found Hephaestus, it would be worth it. I never took my eyes off the branch leaders who watched us like guard dogs in the light of the Eternal Flame as we descended into the lake.
The water rose overhead, enclosing us in a bubble beneath the surface of the lake. Only when we were completely submerged, did I feel I could breathe again.
Benji even collapsed on the deck of the ship, splayed out like he was making snow angels. “What the fuck was all that?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “But it was seriously fucked up.”
“How is everyone?” Darren asked, checking in on all of us like the healer he was.
“Check on Violet,” I said as I pointed to her. “I think they had her under their spell or whatever earlier, and I wanted to make sure she’s good now.”
“I need a nap,” Benji moaned.
“Honestly, same,” I agreed. “The last time I was on this ship, I got seasick.”
“I can put the two of you to sleep until we get there,” Darren offered.
Benji and I exchanged a glance. “Yes, please,” we said in unison.
Before we knew it, Benji and I were below deck in the bunks with Darren waving his hands over us like he was trying to hypnotize us. Slowly but surely, I felt my eyes flutter shut, with thoughts of purple blood dripping from the walls.
23
Ansel
&n
bsp; “Ansel,” Esme said in an overly cautious tone. “You need to put everything out now. Including yourself.”
Even though she sounded like she was underwater, I understood what she was saying. I looked down at my hands and realized that I was still glowing. I could feel the heat rising like a pot set to boil over. My eyes shot up to catch Esme’s worried gaze. Her voice was calm, but I could see the panic in her eyes. I was on the verge of exploding, and this was the last place that could happen right then.
Not only would I expose my weakness, but depending on how big the blast radius was, I could endanger the entire base. I would never forgive myself for the damage I did and the lives I would take if I couldn’t turn my powers down.
My hands shook, not only from my nerves but also from the building power surging through me. Esme closed her eyes, the light being too much for her to handle at that moment. Nevertheless, she didn’t leave me. She stood a safe distance away for the moment, but she didn’t run away and hide.
“What are you doing?” I called out to her, my voice louder than it needed to be because of the ringing in my ears. “Get out of here! I’m going to blow.”
“No, no, you’re not,” Esme said as she shook her head. She held out her hands and dared to take a step closer, even though she crouched like she was approaching a rabid dog.
“You have to go!” I shouted. “You know I can’t control it when I get this far gone. Run!”
“You can control it,” Esme countered. Her faced squished together as if the words pained her. “I’ve seen you do it. Twice. You can do it now.”
“That was Cheyenne,” I confessed, my throat tightening as I felt the light burn my intestines. “She did it. Not me.”
“You did it, Ansel,” Esme corrected. She relaxed her face and toned down her voice, almost so low that I could barely hear her. “Think of Cheyenne. Think of her now and imagine how you feel when you’re with her.”