Chapter 19
Eryx
I’m tense as I watch the orange flames flicker.
This is how all of Olympus communicates. Flame dishes—wide, shallow iron bowls that gods can broadcast images through. The wealthy can send messages through them, via expensive powders. I’ve never been close to that kind of life.
We’ve got a standard flame dish on the Orion. It’s raised on a sturdy wooden post next to the navigation wheel on the stern quarterdeck, and I’m sick of staring at it.
Come on. Reveal the first Trial.
Please.
They’ve made us wait all night.
After that idiot girl let slip that Hercules has inside information and that the first Trial will be on Leo, we acted quickly. We’re well on our way to Zeus’s sky realm. The only ship still showing any sign of life when we left the Void was the Virtus, and that likely continued all night.
I screw my face up in distaste. I can’t understand how people could enjoy a party after the gruesome scene Hercules caused.
If I hadn’t been fed up with the others arguing, I wouldn’t have gone back to the platform for one last ale and witnessed the brutal display of Hercules’s strength.
I wish I hadn’t. Not because it makes me fear the strongman, which I’m certain was Hercules’s intention—after all, who the fuck kills three centaurs over some wine?—but because unnecessary death is awful to watch. Unnecessary torture is even worse.
My feelings toward the pretentious airhead who sat with me last night sour further. Anyone on that crew is of no interest to me.
I won’t pretend I’m not grateful for her slip-up, though.
With a crew of three full giants, and two half giants, we have no choice but to travel in a Zephyr, and the greatest will in the world won’t make this huge ship fast enough to compete with the others in speed.
A head start could make all the difference.
I run my hand through my black hair apprehensively. A thud behind me tells me Captain Antaeus has arrived on the quarterdeck.
“Anything?” he asks gruffly.
I shake my head without turning around, my eyes glued to the flames.
Slowly, the rest of the crew arrives on the deck. Busiris is first. His skin is the color of gold, and he has thick black liner around his onyx eyes. He’s a half giant, like me, but the similarities stop there.
Busiris is the only son of Poseidon on the ship without the bright blue eyes.
He’s also the only member who hasn’t made his living as a fighter.
He’s a ruler of a small settlement on Aries called Egypt.
He was more than happy to leave his people under the charge of his deputy for a place on the crew of Poseidon’s sons, in return for funding the ship.
He bought the Orion, kitted it out to accommodate giants, and used everything else he was willing to part with to attempt weapon improvements. I think we would have been better off spending money on supplies, as we have no idea where we will have to go or when, but nobody on board listens to me.
Albion and Bergion stumble up not long after Busiris, having clearly just woken. Bergion pulls at his beard as he yawns, and Albion tries to squish his huge body past his brother to get nearer to the flame dish.
“Have we heard anything yet?” he asks, excitement tinging his groggy voice.
Right on cue, the flames jump to life, flashing white. They flicker for a second, then die down. A blond man in a deep blue toga appears.
“Good day, Olympians!” he says, beaming.
“Are you all ready to find out what the first Trial is?” He waits for an exaggerated moment, and I clench my fists.
Trust the gods to turn this whole thing into cringeworthy entertainment.
“Without further delay, let it be revealed! Here’s the god hosting the first Trial.
” His eyes are gleaming and his excitement is infectious, even through the flame message.
Please be Zeus, please be Zeus, please be Zeus.
The image fades for a moment, and Captain Antaeus growls with impatience.
My stomach flips as Hera’s striking figure materializes.
Hera’s realm is Cancer. Which is the opposite side of the Void from Leo.
We’re hours away, in the wrong direction.
“Good day, heroes of Olympus,” Hera says, her voice deep and clear and calm.
She’s standing in front of a huge, glittering lake with pale stone buildings lining the banks.
“The first of your many deadly, near-impossible Trials will be to slaughter a longstanding threat to my peaceful realm. There is a lion stalking my citizens.” She spreads her arms, gesturing at the settlements behind her as she speaks.
She’s wearing a traditional, conservative toga with a vivid turquoise sash over the shoulder that shines next to her dark skin.
“It eats living creatures and is a source of constant terror. The death toll stands at fifty-two as we speak. This monster has skin that is impervious to all weapons, and as such, it has so far evaded the attempts of the citizens of Cancer to kill it. Whichever crew kills the beast wins the task. Good luck.”
The image vanishes and the flames flicker red and orange again.
A long silence rings across the deck of the Orion, broken by the booming roar of a furious giant.