The Heir of Olympus and the Forest Realm (19 page)

“When he showed up I just stared in awe, but there you were, fast asleep on his back. That was three days ago. You’ve been asleep until now.” Gordie then understood the chair in the corner with the blanket and his heart swelled.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m okay though, I promise.” He smiled as she hugged him again. They broke apart after a couple minutes.

“So, Hades, huh?”

“Yup, Hades,” Gordie said.

“Well? Are you gonna tell me about it?” she asked, like a girl begging for juicy gossip.

“Oh, yeah!” Gordie said, and he recounted every second of his journey to the Underworld. Ellie was a great audience: she
oohed
and
ahhed
in all the right places. She was fascinated to hear about Gordie’s fast friendship with Cerberus and equally shocked to hear how benevolent Hades was. When Gordie told her about Zeus’s interruption, she became deeply pensive.

“Good God,” she muttered under her breath, hearing about the threats of the Olympian King.

When Gordie told her about his task and the illusion of his father’s voice, she became watery-eyed again and hugged him.

“I’m so proud of you,” Ellie whispered as she held her son.

“Thanks, Mom.” Gordie patted her on the back. “Can we go see Grandpa?”

“Sure.” She sniffled, but when they broke apart, no trace of tears stained her cheeks.

They got up and Gordie dressed with clothes Ellie had laid out for him—cargo shorts and a white tee—before they headed to the next room.

“So what’s Chiron like?” Gordie asked his mom, fascinated by the notion of being in a centaur’s home.

“He’s very kind,” she smiled. “He has taken care of you since the minute you arrived. I owe him my life for bringing you back.”

“Well, to be fair, I actually brought him back, but who’s keeping score?”

“Of course you did, sweetie,” Ellie said as she wrapped her arm around him, leading him to the next room. As they rounded a bend, a Great Hall opened up before them, and Gordie stopped in wonder.

The ceiling was at least thirty feet above his head, with great skylights flooding the chamber with sun. A giant fireplace crackled against a wall to his left with a large stone table in front of it where Atalo sat grinning broadly with a great mug in hand. The room was quite austere beyond that.

“Gordo!” Atalo boomed as he put down his vessel, rose and approached him in great strides, and lifted him into a bone-crushing hug.

“Hey, Grandpa,” Gordie coughed, trying to pat him on the back, but unable to because his arms were pinned at his sides.

Just before Gordie passed out from lack of oxygen Atalo set him down and ruffled his hair as he inhaled sharply.

“Can you believe it, Gordo?” Atalo’s youthfulness rang in his voice. “We’re in
Chiron’s
cave. Chiron! The centaur!”

“Yeah, Grandpa. Pretty crazy, huh?”

“It’s un-freakin’-believable!” he said, throwing his arms out wide. “Come here, Gordo, you gotta try this stuff!” He ushered Gordie to the table.

On the table was a plate of fruit and Gordie realized with an enormous gastric protestation that he was famished. As he popped a couple dates and figs into his mouth, his mom and grandpa debated the ethics of allowing him to try the delectable brew that Atalo was hawking.

“He can’t drink that, Dad! He’s sixteen!”

“You mean after all he’s been through you’re not gonna let him have a sip of booze? Bah!” He waved Ellie off and handed Gordie the large wooden stein. Gordie took a whiff. Flowery sweetness filled his nostrils and he took a deep draught. It tasted like honey, and cinnamon, and flowers, and milk, and summer.

“Holy crap, that’s good!” Gordie said, raising it to his face again.

“All right, that’s enough!” Ellie grabbed it out of his hand.

“Hey, I—”

“No, you
hey!
” she said. “This stuff is strong. Light-weights can’t handle it!” With that she polished it off in two great gulps. Wiping her mouth, she slammed the stein on the table and let out an enormous belch. “’Scuse me,” she added. Atalo and Gordie exchanged glances before they collapsed into wild laughter. Even Ellie sniggered.

As the laughter began to fade, the sound of hooves clomping on stone rang in the cavern. Gordie looked right, and emerging from a tunnel he hadn’t noticed before was a ten-foot-tall man. Thick black hair carpeted his ripped torso and arms, the same color as the sleek black hair cloaking his horse body. Gordie looked up into his wizened face to see his radioactive green eyes surveying him with great interest beneath a curly black mop. His fluffy black beard twitched as his lips transformed into a kind smile.

“Welcome, Gordon Leonhart, to Mount Pelion, my home.”

Gordie walked up to him, his head reaching his navel, and reached out his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Chiron,” Gordie said, as the centaur’s enormous mitt enveloped his hand and half his forearm.

“The pleasure is all mine.” Chiron smiled down on Gordie. “After all, you did free me from the Underworld.”

Gordie turned back and grinned at his mom. “Told ya.”

“Yes, and maybe it’s about time you thank him, Gordon. After all he carried your lazy butt back here.”

“Not lazy,
unconscious,
” Gordie corrected her. “But uh, thank you very much, Mr. Chiron,” he said, turning back to the centaur, not wanting to sound ungrateful.

“You are most welcome, my boy,” he replied. “Now, why don’t you take a seat? We have much to discuss.” He gestured an enormous arm towards the great stone table.

They all took a seat at the high table at which only Atalo didn’t look comically small—Ellie and Gordie were straining to put their chins above the lip. Gordie stared as Chiron, taking the head of the table, tucked his four horse-legs beneath his body to kneel at a comfortable height. Ellie smacked him on the shoulder. Gordie snapped his head forward, ignoring the biological wonder to his right.

“Gordie, you gotta tell me what happened down there,” Atalo said. “In Hades, I mean.”

“Yeah, I knew what you meant,” Gordie said, tickled by his unnecessary clarification. Once again, Gordie rolled into the same tale he had recounted to his mom, Atalo nodding along like a kid entranced by a Disney movie, Chiron observing silently, drinking in every word and, Gordie thought self-consciously, trying to get a read on him in many more ways. Atalo was an even better audience member than Ellie, hooting, hollering, and cursing at appropriate times.

“Wow,” Atalo sighed upon the conclusion of Gordie’s tale. “Way to go, Gordo!” He slapped the table. “That’s m’boy!”

“Yes, you carried yourself nobly under such trying circumstances. You have much to be proud of,” Chiron said, nodding.

“Thank you,” Gordie flushed with embarrassment.

“But you will need to learn to control your anger,” Chiron added, making Gordie’s heart sink.

“What do you mean?” Gordie asked, trying to keep his cool because they were newly acquainted and Chiron was twice his size.

“You said that you tried to escape Hades’s home when Zeus’s presence entered the realm. This was very unwise. If you had managed to escape and reveal yourself to the King of Olympus, you may have forfeited your life. You are not prepared to face Zeus, not even close. You would have failed your quest before it had even begun.” Chiron told him all of this in a very matter-of-fact tone, which somehow made it more disheartening.

Gordie tried to brush it off and change subjects. “How come I couldn’t break down Hades’s door? What is that wood made out of?”

“The wood is more accurately described as a biotic marble. The trees were planted by Persephone for their beauty, but also because they have great strength . . . unlike you.” Chiron eyed Gordie, almost as if he were looking for a particular reaction.

“I think I’m pretty strong,” Gordie said through gritted teeth, trying to maintain composure.

“For a human, maybe so, but for an Olympian . . .” he shrugged, not needing to finish his thought—the meaning was abundantly clear. Chiron’s hospitality had faded rapidly and Gordie began to question whether or not he wanted to be here.

“Can we go back for a minute?” Ellie interjected, possibly sensing trouble. “What is this business about Zeus and Tartarus?”

“It would seem that he intends to use the inmates of that eternal prison to reclaim his former greatness. I do not know what has driven him to this evil, but it does not bode well for us. We may have very little time to prepare young Gordon here, and we have a lot of work to do.” The digs were beginning to take a cumulative effect on Gordie, but before he could defend himself, Atalo came to his aid.

“Hang on,” he said, his voice clearly straining to control a latent anger. “I think he handled himself very well. You even said so yourself. I mean, he fought a giant, three-headed, fire-breathing dog for God’s sake. Give the kid some credit.” Gordie gave him an appreciative smile.

“I said he handled himself well and I meant it, but I do not believe he faced any real danger. If Cerberus had meant to kill him, then the guardian of the Underworld would have prevailed. In fact, it sounds as though Gordon deserves all the blame for his near demise. He almost sent himself and a false adversary tumbling into the pit of Tartarus. The only potential danger he did face was the incident with Zeus, and he nearly failed in that perilous circumstance.”

Gordie started to feel like a boxer who had endured relentless body blows for an entire round, but this last was a swift uppercut on the chin, sending him to the mat.

“How do you know Cerberus wasn’t trying to kill me?”

“Logic,” Chiron said. “The beast only made two attacks in your encounter and you were able to dodge them easily. It was a test from Hades, but not a very difficult one—certainly not as trying as your escape from the Underworld, and in that endeavor, you did indeed perform quite admirably.” Despite his constant chiding, Gordie felt a warm sense of gratitude as this last compliment rang with sincerity. But he also felt a sense of shame and stupidity for celebrating his victory over Cerberus, which in hindsight was clearly a farce.

“The greatest defense of a warrior, Gordon, is to discover and recognize his own weaknesses. You have many, but you are yet untrained. We will rectify this.” Chiron grasped Gordie’s shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “Your greatest strength is your resolve. You have a very strong will. I was quite moved to see your determination in the tunnel. You overcame a great trial that day, but I am afraid there are many more ahead of you.” Gordie thought about his warning for a bit, and resolved to be a good student so as to earn his respect.

“Wait. Were you in the tunnel the whole time?” Gordie asked.

“Yes and no. I was still a spirit, incomplete, but the moment you passed through the barrier, I became corporeal again. I am quite glad that I was there too, because after your transformation you were in a state of great vulnerability.” Gordie remembered the tremendous energy that had exploded inside him.

“Yeah, that was pretty intense,” he said.

“Ho ho!” Chiron’s chuckle caught him off guard and he recoiled. “Pretty intense does not do it justice! You absorbed a portion of Hades’s power, one of the greatest of the gods. I was not sure you would live through it,” he added less jovially, while Ellie looked at her son with new concern, checking his forehead, apparently afraid he had contracted some sort of divine fever.

“But you passed with flying colors,” he continued. “In fact it is difficult to tell which was your actual trial: traversing the Orphean tunnel, or surviving the imbuement of such great power.”

“So, what kind of power do you think I got from Hades?” Gordie asked, inspecting his hands as if the answer may be etched in his palms.

“That is difficult to say . . . maybe none. You must understand—this is a very difficult magic. Few in history have had the opportunity you have been given and none have succeeded.” Gordie’s heart sank. “There is no guarantee,” Chiron continued unabashed, “that you have attained any special ability from Hades, as you apparently have from Hermes. It is safe to assume, however, that you have gained another day of your strength. That power rests within you and is therefore unlocked with the completion of each divine trial, but the other powers are not inherently your own to command.

“Unfortunately, I do not know what dictates their transfer to you. Therefore we must work with what we have. We know that you will gain Herculean strength in time—that is not in question—so we will focus on harnessing that, as well as a few other general skills here and there. We will deal with other potential talents if and when they should arise, but we will not waste time seeking them. In other words, we will cross that bridge when we get to it, but we must stay focused on your tasks at hand.”

“Okay, so what do we do now?” Gordie was eager to begin the next leg of his journey.

“We train,” Chiron said. “After all, that is my
Modus Operandi,
is it not?”

“You know Latin?” Atalo asked. “I mean, shouldn’t you be limited to Greek?” Even Gordie saw the flaw in this question.

“Certainly I know Latin,” Chiron added with a hint of amusement. “You may have noticed that I know English as well, although it is a far younger language. In my time in the Underworld I had the privilege of meeting individuals from every culture, race, ethnicity—what have you. As a result, I am fluent in every language spoken on Earth—even some that are not. There are infinite learning opportunities in the land of the dead, which I appreciated very much.”