by Eliza Raine
‘Ab, I’m serious, you can’t do this.’
‘Yes, I can. I bet it’s not occurred to anybody to just ask him.’
‘For good reason! Did you see him?’
‘We don’t want to hurt the horses, just capture one, temporarily. I’m sure Diomedes won’t have a problem with that.’
‘You’re as mad as those creatures! He’s not going to let you do this, Ab. Just wait for Lyssa to come back.’
‘And lose the chance to get my legs back? No way, Phyleus. I’m doing this.’
‘I’m sorry, truly, but I can’t let you go over there.’
‘I’d like to see you stop me.’
There was a shout, then, ‘Nestor, stop him!’
Theseus put his hands on the edge of the pit and hauled himself up quickly. Hedone and Psyche scrambled to follow him.
18
Evadne stepped forward involuntarily as she saw the boy in the wheelchair racing towards the stable. What was he doing? He had been cocky, she remembered, in the cage on Capricorn, but she hadn’t had him down as a fighter. Lyssa wouldn’t use him as bait, surely? The fierce centaur who had joined Lyssa’s crew was charging after him, and the other man, Phyleus, was behind them both. She frowned, then her mouth fell open as Abderos shouted, ‘Diomedes!’
The boy rolled to a stop by the stable, out of range of the snickering mares. The centaur skidded to a halt behind him, clearly wary of the beasts.
Diomedes’ booming footsteps shook the ground and Evadne edged forward. The giant appeared again, too distant for her to make out the features above his long, snarled beard. As he emerged from the stable he looked around, growing in height every second.
‘Who calls me?’ he rumbled.
‘Me, Abderos,’ the boy shouted. Diomedes spotted him and paused.
‘You are sitting down?’
‘Er, yeah. Look, I wondered if we could borrow one of your horses. Just for a few minutes?’
Evadne couldn’t believe her ears. He was asking for one of the horses? Was he completely mad?
Diomedes stared at Abderos for a long moment, then began laughing, a massive, deep, echoing laugh that went on and on. Spotting movement to her right, Evadne saw Theseus drawing up on the other side of the horses, panting slightly.
‘You, small sitting boy, have the nerve to ask me for one of my horses?’ Diomedes gasped through laughs. He was still growing, now almost as tall as the stable building.
‘Only for a few minutes,’ said Abderos. Gods, but the kid had nerve, thought Evadne. A thought struck her. Or enough motivation… Aphrodite’s wish. She remembered the story he had told them in the cage, about losing his legs in the fighting pits. An emotion she didn’t recognise rose in her chest, pity mingled with respect and sadness and… hope. She wanted Diomedes to say yes, she realised. Let this boy win with no bloodshed. Let him wish for his legs.
‘Nobody has ever asked Diomedes for such a thing before,’ the giant said, his laughs beginning to subside. A speck on the horizon was growing behind the stable and Evadne squinted at it. It was a longboat.
‘Perhaps… Perhaps the boy’s courage should be rewarded,’ Diomedes mused, tilting his massive head to one side. The longboat had almost reached the stable and Evadne could see a glowing red light above it. Keravnos.
The boat swooped low over Abderos as it reached them, and Hercules leaned over the edge, swiping his lethal blade at Diomedes’ neck. A crimson line bubbled up where the blade had cut, and the giant roared, swiping at the boat as he stumbled. Hercules manoeuvred it lower, leaping to the ground as Diomedes crashed to his knees, grabbing at the stables for support. The wood croaked and moaned, then collapsed under his weight, blood seeping into the earth as his head followed his massive body and hit the ground.
Evadne didn’t know if it was the scent of so much blood or the death of their master, but the horses went wild. They screeched and whinnied, pulling at the chains tethering them to the brazier and rearing up on their back legs. Streams of fire burst from them every few seconds, illuminating the grisly scene.
She could see Hercules clearly as he turned to Abderos, who was sitting stock still in his chair. As Hercules stalked towards him, Evadne moved forward, throwing her hands out in vain.
‘No!’ she cried. Bile rose in her throat as Hercules lifted the boy from his chair and threw him at the raging horses’ stamping feet.
19
Time seemed to stand still as Lyssa’s longboat crested the stables and she saw Hercules throwing Abderos to the mares. She couldn’t hear his cries as the flames shot from their jaws, their hooves trampled his prostrate body, their teeth tore into his flesh. It was like someone else was watching.
‘Lyssa!’ Phyleus’s voice broke through the numb horror. ‘Lyssa, he’s…’
Phyleus knew. Phyleus knew when somebody was about to die.
‘No…’ she whispered.
‘It’s too late,’ he choked.
She aimed the boat down, straight towards Hercules.
Rage flooded her body, so strong it felt like she would explode. Her limbs felt bigger, her body felt faster, her mind and muscles strained to hold in the power. Red seeped into the edges of her vision and she couldn’t hear anything but a distant rushing.
Before the boat reached the ground she leaped from it, landing hard on Hercules’s back. He roared, trying to flip her over his shoulder, but she reached around his neck, pulling at the arm that held Keravnos. He resisted her and she pulled harder, willing more strength into her body. She swore she felt a distant snap, something painful and liberating at the same time. The red in her vision turned black. She could feel every nerve in her body, every movement of Hercules beneath her. And she knew she was stronger than him. She hated more than him. She cared more than him. She would make him pay for every hurt he had caused.
With a scream, she gripped his cloak with one hand, leaned back and smashed her other fist into the side of his head. He stumbled sideways, and she reached over his shoulder and twisted his arm again. Keravnos hit the ground with a thud and she dropped from Hercules’s back, rolling towards the sword. He lunged for it but she was faster, picking it up as she rolled to her feet and swinging it towards him. For a split second the glowing sword fell lifeless, and weighed more than she could bear, then it suddenly hummed with power, shining bright and red, feeling like an extension of her own body. She barely registered the flash of fear on Hercules’s face as she whirled the sword towards the mares, still screaming. They reared and jumped, avoiding both the blade and the girl with power pouring from her body as she tore towards them.
‘Leave him alone!’ she screamed as she hacked as hard as she could at the nearest horse, only to miss it and hit the huge brazier instead. It creaked, then started to topple, and she whirled around again, slashing at anything within reach. She was stronger than him. Him. Where was he? She turned back, holding the sword in both hands, trying to see clearly through the haze. Where was he?
A mare had broken free of the fallen brazier and was galloping past him, fire bursting from its mouth. Hercules threw himself at it, grabbing at its back.
No! He couldn’t win! Not after what he had done! He would die for what he had done. She ran forward, the power in her legs moving her faster than she’d ever run before, and she closed the gap between them in seconds. His lunge for the mare had missed and he backed away as she advanced.
‘You sick, twisted, miserable piece of shit,’ she hissed, raising the sword high above her head. Hercules took another step back, pulling his cloak across himself, his face hard. She would make sure he never took another breath, if it was the last thing she did. Power coursed through her, flowed into the sword, spilled out of her skin. She would take his life, right now. His and anyone else who didn’t deserve to live.
‘We have a victor.’ Aphrodite’s sweet voice rang through the air.
The second Lyssa looked away, Hercules kicked at her hand, and Keravnos tumbled from her grip. Convulsions seized her muscles
instantly, as they did when her connection to the Alastor was broken. She crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath, the pain in her ribs and shoulder intensifying with the crippling seizures.
‘You can’t handle the power yet,’ Hercules said softly from above her. ‘But I know that look. I know that power. We are the same, daughter,’ he whispered. ‘It’s a shame we never got better acquainted after all.’
Lyssa didn’t have the strength to look up at him. Her chest was convulsing so hard she couldn’t get enough air. But she knew he was raising the sword for the final blow. She had failed. Failed Abderos, Epizon, the whole of Olympus.
‘I said, we have a victor!’ Aphrodite’s voice blasted across them, and Lyssa’s aching body froze, as though time had stopped. The convulsions still wracked her insides but she couldn’t move a muscle. Slowly, her body rose from the ground, her frame tipping until she was righted. She moved her eyes, trying to look around, and saw Hercules, sword raised, floating along beside her. They drifted towards the collapsed stable, where Diomedes’ body was still leaking blood into the ground.
‘Lyssa! Oh, thank the gods, Lyssa.’ Phyleus’s voice was frantic in her head. With a pulse of pain, her frozen body came back to life, and she dropped to her hands and knees, gasping. Phyleus and Len rushed to her side, both speaking too fast for her to make sense of their words.
‘Heroes, if you please,’ Aphrodite said.
They all fell silent and Lyssa raised her head. The goddess was standing next to the fallen brazier. And at her feet lay Abderos. Abderos’s mangled body.
A heaving sob threatened to choke Lyssa, and acid burned her throat. She tried to turn away too late, emptying her stomach on the ground in front of her. Burning tears scorched her face as she heaved again and again. How had she failed him so miserably? He was sixteen years old. And now… She looked up weakly, what was left of his blood-streaked face blurring through her tears.
‘Abderos,’ she moaned aloud, falling back onto her heels and covering her face with her hands. ‘Ab, I’m so sorry.’
20
Evadne couldn’t look at Lyssa. She couldn’t look at the boy’s broken, torn body. Hercules had tossed him to those creatures like a snack. Her stomach turned again and she closed her eyes. It didn’t stop her from hearing Lyssa’s heaving sobs. Would Hercules cry like that for her? Of course he wouldn’t.
On Sagittarius, she had aimed a crossbow at Lyssa. She had been prepared to pull the trigger. To kill another being. How? How could she possibly have thought she was capable of that? Why would anyone want to live forever, with murder on their conscience? Her roiling stomach churned even harder when she thought about sharing her bed with Hercules. He had touched her, kissed her body, been inside her. She rubbed at her crawling skin. He was a monster. No prize was worth this. No fortune or fame could justify Lyssa’s awful grief. She opened her eyes and found herself looking for Eryx. He was standing ten feet away, face pale. His words rang in her mind. You’re on your own, Evadne.
Aphrodite coughed and everyone’s attention snapped to her.
‘Are you done?’ the goddess asked Lyssa, rolling her eyes.
Lyssa glared back at Aphrodite, gulping back sobs. Phyleus crouched beside her and the little satyr stood protectively in front of her, tears rolling down both their faces. The centaur stood close behind them, her expression so fierce that Evadne almost stepped backwards. A deep longing bubbled up inside her, overwhelming her practised emotions. They had no fame or fortune, and they didn’t need it. They were a family.
‘As many of you were too…’ Aphrodite fished for the right word and Evadne looked back at the beautiful goddess. ‘… busy to see what happened, I’ll enlighten you.’ She smiled. ‘When Lyssa broke the brazier and inadvertently freed the mares, the clever, clever Theseus saw a chance to lure one over to the trap he had dug. It fell in and was immediately incapacitated.’ She beamed at Theseus. He didn’t smile back.
‘You may have a day to choose your wish,’ she said, her voice like honey.
‘I don’t need a day, divine Aphrodite,’ Theseus said, bowing his head.
Aphrodite raised her perfect eyebrows.
‘Oh, really? Then wish away, my hero.’
‘I was trapped in the cage with Abderos on Capricorn. He was courageous, and good. I wish for you to bring him back.’
Behind him, Lyssa scrabbled to her feet, her tear-streaked face alight with hope.
‘Is this Abderos?’ Aphrodite looked down at the boy’s body. Theseus nodded. ‘That’s what you would do with a wish from the gods? Not wealth, or strength, or love?’ the goddess cooed.
Theseus shook his head.
‘He didn’t deserve to die.’
‘Many who die don’t deserve to,’ Aphrodite answered quietly. Theseus stared into her beautiful face. ‘Fine,’ she said eventually. ‘I’ll need to… arrange it with Hades, but I can’t see why not. He will be restored just as he was, though, before you get any ideas.’
Theseus nodded.
‘Thank you, divine goddess. You are as kind as you are beautiful.’
A slow smile spread across her face.
‘Yes. Of course. Now, your next Trial will be announced at midday tomorrow. Rest well, heroes.’ She vanished in a flash of white light, along with Abderos’s body.
Evadne stared at the spot. How could people like Theseus exist alongside brutes like Hercules? And how had she been so close to becoming one of Hercules’s kind?
Ares
The Immortality Trials
Book Nine
1
A bright flash of light pierced Lyssa’s eyelids and she lifted her head from her arms. She must have fallen asleep sitting at the galley table, she thought groggily.
‘Captain?’ a small voice said, and she turned her head quickly.
‘Abderos,’ she breathed, and launched herself from her seat towards him. He was there, in their galley, in his chair, whole and well. ‘Gods Ab, I’m so, so sorry,’ she sobbed as she threw her arms around him.
‘I- I- What happened?’ he muttered through her hair. ‘I remember talking to Diomedes… then…’
Lyssa felt him stiffen.
‘I died…’ he whispered.
‘Theseus restored you,’ she told him, taking a deep breath and sitting back on her heels to look at him. He seemed perfect.
‘Cap, you’re crying.’ Abderos frowned.
‘Yeah. Yeah, that’s happened quite a bit lately.’ She smiled, wiping at the tears with the back of her wrist. ‘Ab, I thought we’d lost you.’
‘Theseus brought me back? How?’
‘With Aphrodite’s wish. He won the Trial.’
‘I… I wanted that wish,’ Abderos said, quietly, looking down at his lap. Lyssa’s heart ached for him and she gripped his arms hard.
‘We’ll find another way, Ab. What matters now is that you’re here. With us. Alive!’
He smiled at her.
‘Alive. Of course. That is definitely more important. Why would Theseus use his wish on me?’
‘He said he met you in the cage on Capricorn and that you were too brave to die.’
‘Really? He said that?’ A proud smile spread across Abderos’s face. ‘Maybe he’ll let me see his Typhoon, if he likes me that much.’
Overwhelming relief washed over Lyssa and she laughed aloud as new tears spilled down her cheeks.
‘Only you, Ab. Only you can come back from the dead and be this calm about it!’
‘I don’t remember it.’ He shrugged. ‘I just know somehow that I wasn’t here any more.’
Lyssa sent a silent prayer of thanks to Aphrodite and Hades, for whichever of them had made sure he didn’t remember the horses.
‘Come on, the rest of the crew will want to see you,’ she said, getting to her feet.
‘Aye, aye, Cap,’ he said, and rolled his chair after her.
Everyone was asleep, but Lyssa projected the news to them anyway. They would all want to know that Ab was back.
‘I’m sorry I wasn’t there, Lyssa,’ Epizon said, leaning against the railings next to her. ‘Watching in the flame dish was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.’
‘It’s not your fault, Epizon. It was mine.’
‘No, it wasn’t. Diomedes was going to give Abderos the mare, you know.’ Lyssa looked at Epizon. ‘Hercules is the only person to blame.’ His face hardened as he spoke.
‘Epizon… He said something to me.’
‘You nearly killed him, Lyssa. I’ve never seen you so strong or fast.’
‘It was that sword. It’s like… It’s like being connected to the Alastor, but instead of infinite freedom I felt infinite strength. I… I wanted to kill.’
‘You nearly had him, you were so close. You’ll get another chance.’
‘No, Ep, that’s not what I mean. I mean, I wanted to kill him and everyone else who deserved it. And Hercules saw it. He told me I was like him.’ Her skin crawled at the memory.
‘You’re nothing like him.’ Epizon shook his head. ‘That must have just been the power of the sword.’
Lyssa looked away doubtfully. She had felt the fringes of that power before. The invincibility, the belief that she was stronger, faster, more divine than everyone else. The knowledge that she could take whatever she liked. Keravnos hadn’t been the source of that power. It had just amplified it.