Chapter 26
Ijump back, lightning at the ready in my hands as a flash of orange flames streak across the blackness. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry,” Kira squeaks. “I should have warned you. I forgot you can’t see anything.”
“It’s fine. At least you solved our night blindness.” I clasp her on the shoulder. “Everyone stay on alert. We know of at least one monster that’s down here.”
“The daughter of the fire god lives up to her name.” Dax pulls her into his side.
“Dad calls me a star bound shifter and I kind of really like that title.” Kira kisses Dax’s cheek.
“I can’t wait to see your wolf. Draven said she’s gorgeous like you,” Dax says.
“Can we stop with the mushy shit? I just threw up in my mouth a little,” Raven says with a fake gag.
“What happened to staying alert to watch out for a supercharged Minotaur and any other beasties that come our way?” I glance between my friends.
“C’mon, we need to get through the maze and figure out how we’re going to trap a vengeful goddess in a chair.” Jayden waves them all forward.
The torches light the dirt path as we make our way through the maze. Shadows dance along the walls as the flames flicker in the sconces.
“There’s a door here.” Jayden points up ahead.
“Where does it lead?” I ask mostly to myself.
We edge closer to the door, and I call my sword from the ether just in case there’s a monster on the other side, but when I crack it open, the blast of a car horn fills the silence and I jump. The sounds of a bustling city greet me as I stare at what can only be the human realm.
“What the hell?” I say. “What city is that?”
“It looks like New York, but how is that possible?” Jayden’s brows scrunch down.
“I’m pretty sure we have encountered a thousand impossible things since I came to the academy. Nothing is impossible at this point.” I close the door.
We wander the maze for hours but never come to the same spot twice. “Where are all the monsters? I would have thought she would send her minions to kill us while we’re down here.”
“It does seem odd that we’ve been here so long and the only thing we’ve found is a bunch of doors to the human realm,” Kira says.
“Why are you guys complaining about the lack of monsters? Could you imagine trying to fight a big-ass lion in these narrow paths?” Dax says, shuddering.
“He’s right. Trying to fight in this place would be challenging.” Raven nods.
“Then the queen would have sent monsters into these narrow paths to pick us off because it would be more difficult. What are we missing here?” I ask.
“I don’t know but we have to keep moving.” Jayden tugs on my hand. “We don’t know how long the gods will be able to distract them.”
“Maybe that’s it,” Raven says. “Maybe they have her too distracted to send in the beasties.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it.” I chew my lip.
A scraping sound of claws on stone stops me in my tracks. I grip my sword, holding it at the ready. Something is down here, and it’s headed straight for us.
“Did you hear that?” I ask, inching closer to the wall.
“Whatever it is, it wants us to hear it coming,” Jayden says.
“The Minotaur?” Kira asks a tremor in her voice.
“I don’t think so. The Minotaur doesn’t have claws. He has hands like a normal man. That sounded like claws scraping against stone.” I creep around the next corner.
A wave of heat crashes over me a second before flames shoot out of the darkness.
I drop to the ground, rolling away behind a stone wall.
Claws click clack against the stone floor and the golden fur of a lion flickers in my view.
A lion’s roar shakes the walls. There’s only one creature in Ancient Greek history that is part lion and breathes fire.
The Chimera is in the maze, and we have to defeat it again.
“Chimera,” I shout to the others. “I really fucking hate this thing.”
“Beth, are you okay?” Jayden calls.
“I’m fine. Stay back. This thing’s fire is no joke. It’s magical.” Another blast of heat hits me before the lion’s head snaps at me with a growl.
“B, it took the both of us last time to kill that thing. You can’t take it on alone,” Raven says.
“There’s no room out here for anyone else to fight. We will just get in each other’s way.” I scan the small enclosed space. “Plus, I’m supercharged now.”
Lightning crackles along my fingertips as I roll to my feet and face the beast. The sconces haven’t been lit yet, so I have to squint to make out the beast in the darkness with only the light from the magic crackling at my fingertips to see by.
“Kira, can you give me some light?” I call out.
Kira peeks her head around the corner and raises a hand, lighting the sconces in an instant. “This place is a lot bigger than you thought. Maybe we can help.”
She’s right. Now with the light I can see the cavernous space behind the approaching Chimera more clearly. Stalagmites drop down from the tall ceilings, giving the perfect weapons should I need to use them to impale the creature.
“I think I’ve got this,” I say with a grin.
Flames shoot out of the lion’s mouth, and I dodge, holding a hand up. Lightning strikes out at the beast, zapping it in the chest. It rears back, snarling and pawing at the ground.
“I think you just pissed it off,” Kira yelps.
I hit it with another blast of lightning, and it backs farther away. I have it on the defensive now. Shadows swirl around me as Jayden appears next to me in the cavern.
“You’re not doing this alone. I don’t care what you have to say about it. That thing burned you last time. I’m not letting that happen again.”
“You want to do your shadow chains thingy?” I ask with a grin.
“You’re going to pay for that,” Jayden growls.
“Later. We have to kill this thing and get the hell out of here.” I flip my hair over my shoulder.
Jayden’s shadows burst out of him, his chains clanking together as they wrap around the Chimera’s body. It thrashes and roars, fire spewing from its mouth in every direction. I drop to the ground, pulling Jayden down with me. The heat of the fire is so close it nearly singes my skin.
The serpent’s tail strikes out with its poisonous barb and I roll us to the side, just barely dodging the blow.
“Tighten the chains and I’ll hit it with everything I’ve got.” I jump to my feet.
Jayden clenches his hand into a fist and the chains tighten.
The goat hooves scramble to hold the Chimera up but it falls to the side hog-tied by the shadow chains.
Raising my hands, I hold them out and blast lightning through the beast. The Chimera roars as it convulses on the stone floor of the cavern before it explodes into ash.
“Are you guys okay?” Raven calls.
“Yeah,” I call back. “It’s safe to come out. The Chimera is dead. Hopefully for good this time.”
I slump into Jayden’s arms as the others step around the corner. Greyson hands me a sandwich from his bag and I grin at him.
“Thanks, snack mom.”
“Shut it and eat the damn sandwich,” Greyson grumbles.
“You’re adorable when you give a shit about people,” Raven says, kissing Greyson’s cheek.
“Whatever. We need to keep moving.” Greyson scans the cavern.
“Let’s go.” I take a bite of the sandwich.
“Which way?” Jayden asks, pointing at two identical tunnels, one to the left and the other to the right.
“It’s always the left.” Raven chuckles.
“Why?” I ask, brow scrunched down.
“I don’t know but it always seems like the characters in movies and books take the left at the fork every time. I figured that’s as good of a reason as any.” She shrugs.
“Hades, Raven. You’re ridiculous.” Jayden rubs his eyes.
“Now that I think about it, she’s not wrong,” Kira says. “I read a book a while back where they said the same thing.”
“Okay, left it is if we don’t have any better reasons.” I call my sword and grip it tightly.
“We’re seriously deciding this based on movies and books?” Jayden asks, frustrated.
“Do you have a better idea? A good reason to pick one identical tunnel over another?” I ask.
“No,” Jayden grumbles.
“Okay then.” I shrug one shoulder. “We go left.”
“If we get lost down here forever, I blame Raven.”
“Agreed,” Dax says, clapping Jayden on the shoulder.
“If we get lost, I have the string. No one needs to be blamed for anything.” I step into the tunnel in the darkness.
Kira steps up next to me. The heat from the fire in her hands radiates toward me. “Let me light the way for you guys.”
She raises her hands and the flames float across the space, igniting the sconces, bathing us in a soft golden light.
The ground shakes beneath my feet and I stumble into the sharp protrusion in the wall.
“What in Hades is that?” Jayden steps up behind me.
“Nothing, the ground shook. I just…”
“Not that. Look.” Jayden points farther down the tunnel.
“How in the hell is it snowing down here?” I ask.
“Something is definitely wrong here,” Raven whispers.
My shoes crunch against the snow as I move forward.
“Do you think someone left a door open to the human world?” Kira blinks and steps forward.
“I hope not because that could mean that humans might have wandered in.” I scan the space.
“Um, I don’t think that’s normal snow.” Kira points at a small flurry spinning around like a tornado.
“Okay, what do we know about snow in relation to Ancient Greek history?” I ask, calling my whip to me.
“Um, isn’t that your dad’s department?” Raven asks.
“No, I would be able to wield water and snow if it was,” I say.
The small ice tornado grows in size. The icy wind blasts me in the face, and I stumble back. Strong arms steady me.
“Who was the god of snow?” I ask.
“There wasn’t a god of snow. I think the closest thing would be the god of the north wind. Boreas.” Draven taps his chin.
“I think there was a nymph related to snow. His daughter maybe? I don’t know why she would side with the queen, though.” Kira’s hair whips into her face.
“You don’t belong here,” a reedy female voice bellows.
The wind slashes against my face and neck, leaving ice running through my veins. “You’re up, Kira.”
“Me?” she squeaks. “What can I do?”
“You’re star bound, remember? Use your fire,” I shout over the crashing wind.