Chapter 21 Persephone
Persephone
“Just some clarifications of the rules, folks, and we can get this race started!” sang the commentator.
“There will be no mental communication allowed during the race.
Minthe, follow the red lights, Persephone, follow the green lights.
Stay on your own course. This will ensure you don't face the first two dogs at the same time.
Only Persephone and Minthe may get the gem from the dog.
If anyone else helps, the team will be disqualified and severely punished.
After Fonax and Olethros it's a straight race to Cerberus and the finish line!”
I blinked as a dancing green light shimmered into life in front of our chariot, hovered a moment, then bounced out of the temple. An identical red light did the same thing before Minthe.
“Follow the light,” repeated Morpheus. “No problem.”
“On the gong, you may start,” said the commentator, and the crowd cheered.
“Come on, Persy!” My brother's voice carried over them all, and I looked down to see him and Hedone waving from the front row of the bleachers.
As the gong sounded and the commentator bellowed, “Go!”, rage flared inside me, Hades' primal power surging through the bond.
“Hecate,” I gasped as the chariot shot forward, and I gripped the wooden sides. She didn't hear me over the roar of the crowd, or the rushing of air as we pelted out of the temple, soaring over the glittering blue river.
Another swell of fear and fury rolled through my body, mingling with my own adrenaline-fueled energy.
“Duck,” Hecate yelled, and a crossbow bolt thudded into the wood just an inch from my white knuckles.
“Something is happening to Hades,” I shouted, and the chariot swerved slightly as Morpheus looked back at me, his face anxious.
“He can handle himself, Persy, now get down!” she shouted back. Her eyes turned milky as blue light shot from her palms, and my mouth fell open in dumb confusion as I watched the light hit the red chariot ten feet from us. Sanape stumbled, but kept her firm grip on the crossbow.
“Hold on!” shouted Morpheus, and the chariot swerved hard to the left as the red and green lights ahead of us parted abruptly. Minthe's chariot soared off to the right, and I spun to Hecate.
“Something bad is happening, I can feel it!”
“There's nothing you can do from here, Persy!” she said, gripping my arm and looking into my eyes. “He's one of the strongest beings in Olympus, the best thing you can do for him is concentrate on surviving and winning this.”
I nodded. She was right. Hades could handle anything, and little would be worse for him or me than losing the Trials and not being with him.
A geyser of blue liquid shot up past the chariot and Morpheus jerked it aside violently enough for me to almost lose my hold of the wooden side. Heart in my mouth, I tightened my grip and widened my stance.
Dying. Dying would be worse than losing.
“OK. Full focus, I got it,” I told Hecate, breathing deeply in a bid to try to settle my stomach.
My braid whipped over my shoulder as I turned to the front and concentrated on what was before us.
We were following the dancing green light along a narrow offshoot of the Styx, and I turned briefly to see the red light in the distance, Minthe's chariot whizzing along after it over a different blue stream of the Styx.
The rock around us was uneven to the point of mountainous, and as I looked ahead again, I realized the light was moving lower, forcing us closer to the river.
Uneasiness washed over me. Now that my fear of heights was under control, it was actually better to be higher up, as we could see further across the Underworld.
The lower we got, the more the rocky slopes obscured our view. Something dark loomed before us and the light swerved towards it, along the glowing river below.
It was large ridge, and the river was flowing into a cave mouth set low into it.
“Wanna bet either Fonax or Olethros is in there?” called Hecate.
“Bring it on,” I called back, the false bravado not helping my nerves at all.
I couldn't help holding my breath as we entered the darkness of the cave.
I was instantly reminded of when I'd been in Tartarus, everything lit by the glow of the flickering river, only this time it was blue instead of red.
The bouncing green light ahead of us whizzed along the banks of the Styx, and Morpheus led us after it.
“Any last minute tips on dealing with hell-hounds?” I asked Hecate, my pulse racing.
“Don't get eaten?”
“Thanks.”
My heart skipped a beat as the chariot dipped suddenly, and a new color seeped through the darkness. Purple. Hecate had said the purple river was Acheron, which was woe. “What happens if we fall in a river?” I asked as mildly as I could.
“The Styx would strip your skin bare in an instant. It's filled with the hatred of every dead soul in Olympus and is toxic as fuck.”
“And the Acheron?”
“You'd become so overwhelmed with sadness you would instantly go mad.”
“Right. Good to know.”
“Just don't fall in the Phlegethon. You don't want to know what happens if you do that.”
I shuddered just thinking about the flaming river.
“Guys,” called Morpheus over his shoulder. The green light was slowing down, drifting toward an island of solid rock between the two flowing rivers. As we and the light got nearer, details began to emerge from the gloom.
There was a gate across the island, barring entrance to a small one-story building. It was a dirty, tired looking hut, built of worn and ancient stone that had discolored. The roof barely clung to the walls and looked to be made of straw or mud. The gate however...
The gate was gleaming. Made of criss-crossed iron bars, it looked like something you'd see outside a fifth avenue apartment block, grand and imposing.
The green light bobbed towards it a couple times, then settled a few feet higher than the gate’s peak. The chariot slowed and we all stared.
There were things tied to the iron bars. Hundreds of things, bits of old paper, cups, jewelry, rags, weapons, all sorts of stuff.
“Do you think the green gem is on there somewhere?” I whispered, the absence of the rushing wind now making it eerily silent.
A low rumbling growl met my words.
“If it is, go and look now, before...” Hecate trailed off as a dog twice the height of me emerged from the darkness, stepping out of the iron gate like it was some sort of portal.
He looked a bit like a greyhound, if a greyhound was jet black, blessed with too many teeth and had a tail made from fire.
I gulped.
“Olethros,” whispered Hecate.
“Remind me what that means?”
“Destruction.”
“Excellent.”
Olethros barked once, and the flames from his tail streaked across his lithe body, lighting spirals of fire that danced over his sleek fur.
“Why is everything in this fucking hellhole on fire?”
“Go, Persephone,” said Morpheus. “We must not forget we are in a race.”
“That's easy for you to say,” I muttered, as my vines snaked from my palms, my gaze still fixed on the dog now prowling up and down the length of the gate. “How the hell do I get past him?”
“We can't help you, Persy.”
“Right.”
I took a big breath, and whipped my vine toward the rocky island, far from the iron gate. Olethros froze, his black eyes fixing on my flickering vine.
“Come on, doggy,” I coaxed. “Take the bait.” He lowered on his huge haunches, his ears flattening against his head. “That's it...”
He pounced, and dammit, he was so quick I didn't have time to whip the vine out of the way. His long snout closed over the vine, but not hard enough to sever it, and he jerked his head. With a yelp, I was pulled from the chariot.
I had a split second to react, before I would slam into the ground at the hound’s feet, and I threw my other hand out, shooting a vine desperately at the iron gate.
It caught and coiled around the iron bars just in time, my body bouncing like it was on a bungee-cord between the twelve-foot-tall dog and the massive gates. Olethros shook his enormous head and I bit back a cry as my shoulder was wrenched hard from its socket.
I willed the vine the dog had hold of to disintegrate, then shortened the other, pulling myself fast towards the gate whilst sending my healing power to my shoulder.
But now I was a moving target, and Olethros snarled as he raced after me. I crashed into the gate and wasted no time scrambling up it, each diamond-shaped gap between the bars as long as my legs and difficult to pull myself up.
I sent my vines from my palms ahead of me, helping to drag myself higher and making sure that if I fell I wouldn't fall far. I felt Olethros smash into the gate a second later, the whole structure shaking hard.
My heart was hammering against my ribs, but adrenaline had caused my focus to sharpen, and I was scanning every bit of junk I was passing as I climbed higher.
After what felt like an eternity I cast a glance down, checking I was out of the hound’s reach, before slowing to a stop. He was jumping, snapping at me, giving big echoing barks that made my head hurt. But he couldn't reach me.
I took a second to get my breath back, then looked along the gates, desperately seeking out anything green.
Knowing the asshole gods, they would have put the thing I needed to get low down, well within the dog’s reach.
The spirals of fire covering Olethros were getting bigger and unease rippled through me. He would be completely on fire soon.
But then the fire-light from his body reflected off something bright and colorful, and my eyes widened as they fixed on the object. A pendant, tied to the iron gate only ten feet off the ground, set with a massive grass-green gem.
Reaching to my left, I awkwardly untied the nearest thing to me with one hand, which was a warrior helmet, complete with faded red plume.
As soon as the cord came loose it fell, and I sent silent thanks into the gloom as it clattered to the ground, drawing the dog’s attention immediately.
His ears pricked as the clattering continued, and I couldn't help giving a fist pump as the helmet began to roll noisily away from the gate. Olethros followed.
I didn't waste a second. Using my vine to control my descent, I launched myself from the gate to the ground, then ran to where the pendant was.
I scrambled the few feet up the gate as quietly as I could, holding my breath as I reached the gem and frantically started to pull at the cord. I heard a growl in the distance, and my sweating hands fumbled with the knots. I couldn't untie the damned thing. I needed something to cut it.
“You're an idiot,” I cursed myself as pulled Faesforos from its sheath and sliced through the cord like it was nothing. The pendant dropped to the ground before I could catch it, and I jumped from the gate after it.
I crouched to grab it, elation surging through me as I put it safely around my neck, then straightened. My heart skipped a beat.
Olethros was bounding towards me and he looked pissed.
I tipped my head back, finding the chariot above me, and threw both palms out towards it, praying like hell that one of them would catch.
Almost as the hound reached me, I felt resistance on one of them and pulled. I shot upward, but Olethros was fast.
He jumped at the same time, snapping at my leg, his razor sharp teeth tearing through the muscle of my right calf. I screamed as white-hot pain raced up my leg, and my skin went tight and cold over my whole body.
Dizziness swamped me as I kept rising, then there were hands pulling at my shoulders. Hecate was dragging me onto the chariot, the small space barely big enough for me to sit.
“Heal yourself, quickly. That bite will turn nasty fast,” she said urgently. I concentrated, trying to block out the searing pain and drawing my healing power to my leg.
Warmth replaced the tight icy feeling, then soothing magic tingled over the wound, spreading throughout my body. My magic was removing the toxins I knew were spreading from the bite.
“I think it's working,” I panted.
“Good,” she answered, and her grip on my shoulder relaxed. I felt strength returning to my limbs, the tightness in my chest easing and the dizziness receding. Last time I had been poisoned I couldn't heal myself. Now... Now I was strong. Strong enough to fix myself. Strong enough to fix Hades.
“Let's go, Morpheus,” I said loudly, getting slowly to my feet. I wobbled, but Hecate and the side of the chariot kept me upright.
“You got it,” he said, and the chariot took off after the little green light, into the darkness.