The Gatekeeper's Promise: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Six (The Gatekeeper's Saga 6) (21 page)

“It’s a lot nicer out here,” Than said.

“I beg to differ.”

Unused to holding his breath
, Than caught water in his lungs and hacked it out. Hip was up on his feet in an instant.

“You drowning?”

Than was surprised by his brother’s diligence. “I’m good.”

Hip sat back in the water. “You don’t sound good.”

“Still getting used to not having my powers.”

“Yeah. Sucks, doesn’t it?”

Than lay on his back, floating, squinting against the sun. “Not when you’ve been paralyzed for weeks.”

“Two weeks. That’s nothing.”

“It felt long enough.”

Hip
leaned back on his elbows, half in and half out of the river. The sun shone on his brilliant skin, which glowed despite the loss of his godly sheen. Than swam over to him and sat beside him, elbows back, too, soaking in the sun.

“It’s not so bad here, is it?” Hip commented.

“Could be worse,” Than agreed. “But I can’t stop worrying about what’s happening on the outside.”

“Yeah. Let’s not talk about it.”

“Those reports from Artemis and Apollo are unsettling.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“I feel so helpless, even now that I’m not paralyzed. It’s like I’m still paralyzed, you know?”

“
You have to try harder not to think about it,” Hip said. “It does no good.”

“
Maybe not.”

“
You always have been the bigger worrier of the two of us.”

Than grinned. “I suppose that’s true.”

After a while, Hip asked, “Why
couldn’t
we stay here? Like you were saying the other day? Jen and I could help you raise the twins. It could be nice.”

“You know the answer to that,” Than replied, though the fantasy hadn’t lingered far from his mind.

“Remind me.”

“We can’t turn our
backs on the rest of the world. You heard what Apollo and Artemis said. Mount Olympus is occupied, and the gods are held up in the Underworld and at Poseidon’s palace. Then there’s Circe’s army of zombies wreaking havoc in the upperworld. All those mortals, unable to die, and yet enslaved to do her bidding.”

“Bu
t if we have no choice, and we’re
forced
to stay here, it wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”

Than gave his brother a
sideways glance. “I suppose not, if you can forget about everyone else.”

At that moment, a tremendous shriek filled the air. Than and Hip looked out toward the sound, toward the middle of the river, where the water was suddenly churning in
a gigantic whirlpool. Than and Hip climbed out of the river and stepped back on the bank, watching with curious fascination and horror.

“What is that?” Hip muttered.

Than said nothing as he watched an enormous thing emerge from the water’s depths and into the air, gasping and screeching and flailing about.

It was Scylla.

***

Back at the grotto, where Jen was shelling pecans and Hecate was washing rags, Hip was shocked to learn that Scylla wasn’t the only new arrival to the battlefield. Apollo and Artemis had been out exploring the pink granite peaks on the opposite side of the platform, where they had come upon Echidna and Ladon.

“Circe’s forcing the monsters to fight us,” Artemis explained with her hands on her hips. “To prove they’re worthy to rule with her on Mount Olympus.”

Callisto wrapped an arm around Artemis’s elbow. “Oh, no.”

Hip crossed the grotto and sat beside Jen, encircling her waist and doing his best to reassure her.

“Hey,” he whispered. “It’s going to be okay.”

Jen nodded as she continued to peel the pecans.

“That’s crazy,” Therese said from where she sat against the cavern wall, holding both of her babies, one in each arm. “She’s just using them for her own deranged pleasure.” She spoke softly, so as not to wake the babies, but her tone was far from gentle.

“That’s the witch for you,” Hermes said. “She’s always been a little off.”

“Why would Scylla fight for Circe, if she’s transformed her back into a monster?” Therese asked.

“Maybe she’s promised to return her back again,” Than said.

“The bottom line is that these monsters are cooperating with one another to attack and destroy us,” Apollo said.

“Even Chimera?” Hip asked.

“Even Chimera,” Artemis said. “She’s still weak, but much improved. I don’t think she feels she has a choice.”

“Do we?” Marvin
, Apollo’s lover—a tall, thin blonde in his thirties—asked. “Have a choice, I mean?”

“Circe has co
nvinced them that either the monsters or the Olympians will make it out of this prison,” Apollo said. “Not both.”

Artemis added, “
Meanwhile, she’s amassed her armies of undead mortals…”

“But you never told us how,” Than said. “How is she controlling the zombies?”

“If they cooperate,” Artemis said, “they’re numbed from their pain. And if they don’t, they writhe in agony.”

“Even the goodhearted mortals eventually give up,” Apollo explained.

Hip felt Jen shudder against him.

“I’ll protect you,” he whispered in her ear. “I promise.”

“For someone who’s lost her mind, Circe’s thought of everything,” Hermes said.

“What are the other gods doing?” Marvin asked.

“Defending the last two realms—the Underworld and Poseidon’s palace,” Artemis replied. “We would have stayed and fought, too, but…” Artemis looked at Callisto as her voice trailed off.

“We need a plan,” Hecate said.

“That’s why we’re here,” Ares said as he reached the lip of the grotto, surprising them all. He held out his arm and pulled up Athena.

“We’re ready for battle,”
Athena said in full armor with her spear and shield.

Hip had never been happier to see the gods of war.

***

As Therese and Than changed their babies’ diapers and snuggled them in freshly washed and dried blanket scraps, Therese listened to Ares and Athena’s reports of what was going on outside of Circe’s battlefield.

“Circe has taken over the Cyclopes,”
Athena said. “All but Polyphemus, who is holed up in his cave.”

“They’re building an arsenal of lightni
ng bolts for her,” Ares explained. “That’s how she was able to take over Mount Olympus.”

“If it weren’t for the trident and the helm,” Apollo said,
“the Underworld and Poseidon’s palace wouldn’t have a chance.”

Therese noticed Ares and Athena exchange worried looks.

“Oh, no,” Therese gasped. She picked up Hestia and moved closer to Thanatos. “What else has happened?”

“Poseidon’
s palace was breached,” Ares said. “Right after Artemis and Apollo left us. Circe now controls the skies, the seas, and the land.”

“The rest of the Olympians have retreated to the Underworld,”
Athena added. “Which is exactly where Circe seems to want them.”

“If she’s already controlling the undead on earth, she’s pretty much got a hand in everything,” Than pointed out as he held baby Hermes in his arms.

“Then why are you here?” Hermes asked Ares and Athena. “Instead of defending the other Olympians?”

Athena crossed her arms. “When we heard what Circe was planning to do—to pit the monsters against you here—we decided to follow them here.”

“I followed Scylla” Ares said. “Athena followed Echidna.”

“We thought if we could see the way in, we might be able to figure a way out,” Athena added.
“And then we’d have all of your help in the final battles.”

“I’m not sure how we would have fared without you,” Hip said. “We don’t have the ability to call on our swords, and the only weapon I had on me when I got here was this dagger I carry in my boot.”

Luckily, Therese had her bow and arrows, as did Apollo and Artemis, who, like her, never went anywhere without them. And because Than had already called upon his sword before he’d been struck with the lightning bolt, his had come over with him. But Hecate and Hermes, who, like Hip, had been tricked with death, had nothing.

“Did you?” Artemis asked.
“Figure a way out?”

Athena crossed the room and started pacing. “Echidna and Ares came in at the pink granite peaks.
Scylla and I came in at the river. We believe there are seams there—portals of some kind.”

“Than and I entered here, though,” Therese said.

“And I came in at the fruit trees,” Jen added.

“The four cardinal points,” Hecate said. “That makes sense. Black magic often relies on the four cardinal points.”

“North, south, east, and west,” Apollo murmured.

“Can you see anything?” Hermes asked him.

Apollo frowned. “I’m getting something, but I can’t tell what.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” Hip asked. “Go out through these seams?”

“Exactly,” Athena said. “We have to pinpoint the location of at least one of them.”

“But how do we open the seam?” Than asked. “We’re all without our powers.”

“We’ll have to wait until someone enters,” Ares said. “Whether it’s a monster or a god.”

“Then what?” Artemis asked. “We all just jump out?”

“We were thinking we should make rope,” Athena said. “I can weave it out of all kinds of natural materials found here.”

Ares lifted his palms. “And so we all hold onto the rope. And when the seam opens, we thrust ourselves out.
Our united momentum might be enough.”

Therese wrinkled her nose. It wasn’t the most solid plan.

“We thought about making a fire and burning the place down,” Apollo said, “but we weren’t sure it would do any good.”

“It could just destroy our food supply and nothing else,” Artemis added. “At least your idea has no negative consequences.”

“How long will it take to make a rope?” Hermes asked.

“Well, there
are twelve of us, not counting the babies.” Athena seemed to be doing math in the air. “At least three feet per person. Gathering materials and weaving thirty-six feet. Hmm. I would say three days.”

“
But here’s the bigger problem,” Ares said. “Before we can even attempt to make this plan of escape work, we have to incapacitate the monsters. Otherwise, they’ll impede our every effort.”

“What if we explain to them what we’re trying to do?” Therese asked. “Wouldn’t they want to help us?”

“No,” Apollo said. “They want to prove they’re worthy to reign with Circe on Mount Olympus. We can’t count on their support.”

“They’ve always resented the Olympians, Therese,” Athena explained. “Ever since Zeus’s uprising against the Titans.”

“So first things first,” Ares said. “We need a battle plan. We have to injure the monsters and render them helpless before we can make our escape. Is everybody on board with that?”

Therese watched breathlessly as Ares glanced around the room
at each member of their solemn group. Each person who met his eyes nodded. When Ares finally glanced at her, she did the same. They had no choice. They had to injure the monsters before the monsters attacked them, and they had to do it quickly, before the last of the Olympians were defeated by Circe and her motley crew.

Therese moved to Than’s side, fighting tears. What was the world coming to, just as their precious babies had entered it?

***

Jen held both babies in her arms and paced around the grotto, bouncing as she walked, to keep the twins sleeping. She stayed out of the way of the gods, who were inspecting their gear—sheathing and unsheathing swords, tightening bow strings, inspecting arrows, and sharpening daggers on the rocks of the grotto. Therese was among them, which scared Jen to death.

“Are you sure you should go?” Jen asked her in a low voice, so as not to draw attention from the others. “Are you sure you’re up to this? You did just have
, not one, but two babies.”

“I’m sure,” Therese said.

“Quit worrying,” Hip intervened. “You’ve never seen her in battle. She’s a sharp shooter.”

Hip winked at Therese, who smiled back, but this brought Jen little reassurance.

“
She’s the only one who can feed them,” Jen pointed out. “What if they get hungry?”

“If they won’t suck
on your finger, then give them an orange or an apple slice to suckle,” Therese said. “I don’t plan to be away long. I’ll do my part and hurry back.”

Jen had a bad feeling about all of this. The first week here had been a godsend. She had begun t
o fantasize about staying with Hip and Therese at this place forever. But she supposed all good things must come to an end, and this one had—that was for sure.