I should have been ashamed of the venomous thought, but I wasn’t. Apparently, my goddess blood was colder than my mortal blood, something that could come in handy.
Ortrera nodded with a gleam in her eye and a smile.
"I don’t blame you. And I will give that to you, if you wish. Just say the word."
I smiled in appreciation as I let my anger simmer toward my ancient nemesis. Truly, this time she had gone too far. I would restrain myself for now, but her time would come.
The warriors finished tending to their horses and we again mounted and took off for the witches. It was as though even the horses could sense our energy and anxiety. They tossed their mighty heads and nickered from time to time as they flew. I watched the Pegasus to my right with amusement. She seemed to keep an eye on me, gauging my reactions, reading my face. I smiled and I could almost swear that she rolled her large eye at me.
The witches’ cave was on the edge of the Spiritlands and I kept my eyes trained for it as we drew closer. It wasn’t a typical cave, even though it appeared that way on the outside. It was rumored that inside, it contained a direct passageway to the underworld. And that made sense, since one of Hecate’s abilities was the ability to send demons to the underworld. Hades probably did grant her direct access.
I caught sight of it a few minutes later. I nudged Ortrera as I pointed and we aimed towards it, the formation moving as one. It was absolutely amazing- almost like the horses could communicate silently, coordinating each movement to match the horse to their side. For all I knew, that was exactly what they were doing. Nothing in the Spiritlands was impossible.
We landed soundlessly on the grounds right outside the cave, the horses’ hooves as silent as they were trained to be. Even still, I wasn’t surprised to find Hecate leaning against the cave opening, apparently waiting for us. Being the witch that she was, she had uncanny instincts.
"So, you came," Hecate drawled as we quietly approached her.
I nodded as I glanced inside. It was unlike any cave I had ever seen. Once inside the doorway, it opened into a massive cavernous room filled with sparkling white stalactites and stalagmites. Light bounced from each glistening crystal to the next, illuminating the entire cave.
It was almost ethereal and certainly not what I had expected from the queen of witchcraft.
"How could I not?" I answered grimly. "I trusted the Keres. And they have betrayed me. I feel like I can no longer trust my instincts."
"And your birthmark?"
I glanced down and noticed in surprise that the phoenix birthmark that had marked me as a Keeper for generations had grown more pronounced. It was now a deep crimson, not unlike the color of henna. My startled gaze flew up to meet hers. She was already nodding knowingly.
"It has been silent since we arrived here, yet it has grown more pronounced," I stumbled over my words.
She nodded again.
"It is all true," she muttered to herself as she gestured for us to enter.
"What is true?" Cadmus asked, a note of concern in his husky voice.
"Your wife is the chosen one," Hecate confirmed. My heart started pounding. The crazy raven had said as much before he flew away when we first arrived. I had brushed it away at the time. But now ...
"The chosen one?" I asked doubtfully.
"You are meant to save us," Hecate nodded. "It has always been you. You have the mark."
"Lachesis gave me this mark," I shook my head. "To mark me as a Keeper."
Hecate stared at me in disdain.
"Harmonia, when will you stop accepting people at face value? I realize it is in your nature to believe the best in people, to expect the best, but it simply isn’t so in life. Lachesis lied to you.
You are marked as the chosen one. It has nothing to do with the lies of the Moirae. They simply bewitched it to cause you pain when you went against their plans."
As she spoke, Hecate treaded further into the beautiful cave and we trailed behind. I gazed around us as we walked, taken aback by the beauty surrounding us. The light stone walls looked as though they had been formed from crushed jewels.
She walked to a massive wall of leather-bound books and chose one. As she flipped through the pages, I inhaled the scent of old paper as my mind whirled.
"Why me?" I murmured. "I am nothing great. I am just the daughter of greatness."
Hecate peered at me over the rim of the book.
"Why not you?" she asked. "Greatness often comes from unexpected places."
She turned the heavy book towards us and I leaned to take it. A vivid image of a woman surrounded by fire was painted on the ancient parchment. Her hair was long and dark, her eyes a brilliant, glowing green. On her wrist, was a crimson Phoenix. The color of the bird was the exact shade that my birthmark had become.
It was most certainly me. That much was unmistakable.
I was dumbfounded as I read the script below the picture.
She who will save Olympus and all that we know. Treacherous snakes will tremble beneath her fingers and the crown shall be restored.
I took a deep breath.
"So, Lachesis lied about the Keepers. There were never any more than just me?" It was difficult to wrap my mind around.
"Not so," Hecate corrected me. "There are other divine children, meant to act as Keepers of their parents’ mortal enslavement. They acted as you did, enchanted in the same way. They each believed that they were keeping fate. They have no knowledge of who they are or what they are truly doing. But you are correct. They are not marked and they do not possess bloodstones. This is why you are special. The Fates have known this all along. They have always known that you are meant to be their undoing."
"Then why didn’t they just kill me?" I asked. "They could have killed me when I was mortal and no one would have ever known."
She shook her head again as though confounded by my ignorance.
"Harmonia, you are a divine child. You cannot truly die except by Zeus’ sword through your heart. Zeus managed to hide it when the Fates took over Olympus. No one has found it.
And the Moirae have looked everywhere. They have searched the world to no avail."
"Yet it must be somewhere," I pointed out.
"Correct," she nodded. "It must be somewhere. And the one who finds it will restore the throne."
She tapped the picture again. The first time I looked, I had been focused on the phoenix on my wrist. This time, however, I noticed my other hand. A heavy looking sword dangled from it. My breath froze on my lips.
Oh, Mary Mother of God. This just didn’t get any easier. I was supposed to somehow free the Olympic gods from the treachery of the Moirae and do so by being a chosen one who would find a sword that no one else had managed to find in over two thousand years?
Perfect. I should have expected nothing less.
"You must retrieve your father," Hecate announced, watching me with her knowing eyes.
"Do not doubt your abilities or your right. You are the chosen one. You must take what is yours."
I swallowed hard, then swallowed again. It was growing difficult to breathe in this room. I felt Cadmus step closer to me, stroking my shoulders lightly. Of course he would notice my distress. I kept my chin stuck out, hoping that no one else noticed.
Hecate extended her hand, her long fingers curled around something.
"Here," she uttered. "This is the second time you will need our assistance."
I looked at it suspiciously. "What is it?"
Nothing appeared to be moving in her hand, which was a good sign. There was also no foul smell. I gritted my teeth and held my hand out.
She dropped a brass key into my palm.
I studied it. It was just a simple brass key. It looked like a normal skeleton key that you might find in any old house. I looked at Hecate quizzically.
"There’s a catch," she murmured. "You must dip it in your own blood before you attempt to use it. No one else’s will work. It must be yours."
"Of course,
" I answered, rolling my eyes.
"Do you have the remainder of the Resurrection Potion that I gave to you?"
I nodded. "There is not a lot left, but there are a couple of drops."
"Good. Keep it. You will need it."
I briefly wondered who I would need it for before I put it out of my mind. There was no use pondering it. I didn’t have the gift of prophecy and I wasn’t a witch.
I sighed.
Hecate watched me in amusement. "My dear, it is no time to be weary. You have only just begun."
I stared at her. "Comforting."
She shrugged her shoulders and replaced the book on the shelf. Turning back around, she spoke again.
"Do you still have the Map of Souls?"
I nodded. "In my knapsack."
"You should leave it in my safekeeping, Harmonia. The Moirae would like it back and that wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest."
I considered that, but before I could say anything, Cadmus spoke my thoughts exactly.
"How do we know that we can trust you, witch?"
She aimed a hard stare at him. "You don’t. But you know that you can’t trust the Moirae, now don’t you?"
She had a point.
I dug through my knapsack and pulled out the Map of Souls, handing it to her.
"I was told to guard this with my life. So you should do the same," I instructed.
She nodded curtly at me and gestured toward her massive wall of tomes.
"I’ve got experience," she said wryly. I smiled for the first time since we had arrived. The witch had a sense of humor, something I hadn’t noticed before.
"You need to go," she continued. "Free your father and find your mother. I have seen that you will have obstacles. Keep your head clear and you will outsmart them. Remember, greatness comes from unexpected places."
I nodded. It sounded so easy when she put it that way. Just keep my head clear and all would work out. Really? I knew better. Nothing was that easy.
We turned and filed out of the cave, Cadmus right on my heels and the Amazons behind him. We re-mounted, the Amazons turning the horses toward the mountain rising from the horizon.
Olympus.
Chapter Fourteen
The once magnificent city was deserted. Even the falcons stationed at the gates of the city were gone. It was eerie and unsettling. Not a glimpse of movement throughout the still streets. It was as though we were walking through a ghost town. We moved quickly until we stood at the base of the stairs leading to the palace.
I glanced at Cadmus and Ortrera.
"Where is everyone?" I asked uneasily.
Cadmus shook his head slowly as he gazed around us. "I have no idea."
A lone raven sat on the abandoned porch of a crumbling stone home nearby. I turned to it.
"Where has everyone gone?"
It simply stared at me, its crimson eyes gleaming in the light.
"Where has everyone gone?" I repeated, louder this time.
It opened its beak wide. Its tongue had been cut out. Just like Annen. I gasped. Why would they bother with a bird?
The warriors slapped the rumps of their horses and they took off into the sky, circling above us in a perfectly formed holding pattern. I knew they would return the moment that the Amazons’ called for them.
As we climbed the stairs and entered the palace, the first thing I noticed was the horrible smell. Covering my nose with my hand, my gaze flew around the room to find the source of the foul odor. Sulfurous and acidic, the horrid smell seemed to penetrate my nasal tissue and cling there. Every breath I took tasted of it.
"Dragon," Cadmus murmured to us and his quiet voice seemed to echo in the empty building.
I looked at him, my eyebrows raised.
"Dragon?" I repeated nervously. He nodded.
"No doubt about it. This is their scent."
I sighed. "They need to shower."
He laughed and I marveled at his ability to find humor even as we faced such a dire circumstance. There was a dragon running loose here for Pete’s sake.
We treaded carefully through the abandoned halls, carefully scanning every corridor before we entered it. There was still no movement and no sign of a dragon. Normally, I would be relieved. But I knew that it was here somewhere and I would rather face it now then continually wonder when it would appear.
Crossing a great room, I pulled Achilles’ Shield out from where it was half-concealed beneath a lounge. It was very strange that the Moirae didn’t take it or at the very least hide it better. It would benefit them greatly in the case of a fight. I gulped as I realized that they didn’t think it would go that far. They thought this would be an easy victory for them.
I handed the heavy shield to Cadmus and then glanced at the others.
"Stay clear of Atropos," I warned. "She can suck your life away if you get too close."
They nodded as we crept forward.
Searching the main floor of the palace proved to be anticlimactic. There was simply no one here. It was as quiet as a tomb. We stared at each other uncertainly.
"The dungeons," I murmured.
Ortrera looked around warily as we descended the marble stairs.
"You know this is a trap," she pointed out.
"Yes. But we have no choice," I replied. And we didn’t. Whatever happened would happen.
Turning the corner at the base of the stairs, we entered a long corridor that led to the dungeons. With every step we took, the rancid smell grew stronger. The dragon was down here. And it could probably smell us coming. I found it strangely ironic that as horrible as they smelled, they had the keenest senses of smell on the planet. Like a shark in the water, they could sense prey from a mile away. I shuddered
Cadmus gripped my hand for a moment.
"We will be alright, my love," he assured me. "Just stand behind me. I have the shield."
He stepped ahead of me and for the time being, I allowed it. I would never allow him to endanger his life for me, though, not as he had in Alexandria when he almost died to save me. I couldn’t go through that again.
By the end of the hall, the air was so ripe with the stench that it was literally difficult to breathe. Regardless, I took a steadying, deep breath before we pushed open the massive wooden doors that led to the inner dungeons.
A dragon loomed in front of us, practically filling the entire cavernous chamber. Massive and dark yellow, its eyes were wild as it watched us. It was covered in serpent-like scales and easily weighed several tons. It had delicate looking wings folded at its sides, red and paper thin. I could see the black veins through the membrane-like skin.
As I stood observing it, I could feel its fetid breath flaring out of its nostrils and moving the hair on my forehead. And I froze. I knew it could breathe fire. Behind it, Ares hung limply from the ceiling, bound at the hands and feet. His eyes were closed and his head was slumped against his chest. I could see his chest barely moving. I sighed a small sigh of relief. He still breathed.
The dragon took one awkward step toward us, the tip of its tail twitching like a cat’s. The tension was unbearable. It was like we were suspended in time, each waiting for the other to act.
And then it did.
Unexpectedly, it reared back on its enormous hind legs and threw its head back, exhaling a gust of fire from across the room. We lunged behind Cadmus as he blocked us with Achilles’
Shield. The fire was diverted off of the impenetrable surface, flowing instead to the stone ceiling of the dungeon where it fizzled harmlessly and went out.
I could smell scorched fabric and singed hair, but none of us were harmed. I locked eyes with Cadmus. His chocolate eyes stared pointedly at me.
"Trust me," he murmured.