Elementals 4: The Portal to Kerberos Read online

  “I expected you would say that,” Apollo said. “I’ve observed mortals enough to know that they’ll gladly enter hell to save the ones they love, as you’re planning on doing now. But your friends don’t have the same connection to Blake that you do. Are they willing to risk themselves for him as well?”

  “Of course we are.” Chris clenched his fists, looking ready to fight. “We’re all in this together.”

  “Plus, if we don’t get Medusa’s head, the whole world’s going to hell anyway,” Danielle added. “So yes. We’re all going.”

  “I’d expected you would say that, but I had to check.” Apollo kneeled down to the bag and unzipped it. He reached inside and pulled out something I recognized instantly—the Golden Sword of Athena. “First things first, I thought you would need this,” he said, holding the sword out to Danielle. “I dropped by the training center on my way here to pick it up. Why did you leave it there in the first place?”

  “We were only coming here to test out using Medusa’s head on the baby Cyclops,” she said. “It was supposed to be easy. We didn’t want to risk our weapons scaring the Cyclops before we lured him into the cave.”

  “Whose idea was that?” Apollo asked.

  “Ethan’s,” Chris said in disgust.

  “I’m sure I don’t need to remind you to be careful about who you trust.” Apollo passed the sword to Danielle, who smiled the moment she wrapped her fingers around the handle. “This sword is yours,” he reminded her. “Your ancestor Aphrodite enchanted it into that block of ice for thousands of years, waiting for the day when you would claim it as your own. You should keep it nearby, always.”

  “Yes,” she said, still holding the sword straight in front of her. “I will.”

  “In addition, I brought a belt and a sheath, since you can’t march around Kerberos without a way to carry your sword.” He removed that from the bag and handed it to her.

  She fastened the belt around her waist and placed the sword inside the sheath, looking every bit a fierce warrior ready to fight.

  “Much better.” Apollo nodded. “And now, Chris’s present.” He knelt back down to the bag and pulled out a golden miniature harp. It had a strap around it, presumably so a person could carry it on his or her back. “A golden lyre,” he explained, running his fingers over its strings. “I’ve put an enchantment on it—when it’s played, the person playing it will have powers similar to a Siren. When they speak, whoever is listening will believe and do whatever is asked of them.”

  Chris eyed the instrument skeptically, not reaching out to take it. “And you’re giving that to me?” he asked. “I mean, it’s a great gift, but I don’t know how to play any instruments. Especially not a lyre.”

  “Your inexperience won’t be an issue,” Apollo said. “As I told you, this lyre is enchanted. You’ll be able to play it the moment you lay your hands upon it.”

  “Cool.” Chris’s eyes lit up, and he reached for the instrument. “I’ll try it now.”

  Apollo frowned and held it out of Chris’s reach. “The enchantment will only last for as long as the lyre remains in tune,” he said. “Each time you play it, it will become closer and closer to getting out of tune. So you must be careful to play it only when necessary.”

  “That makes sense,” Chris said. “How many times can I play it before it goes out of tune?”

  “I can’t say for sure, since it depends on how long you play it each time you use it,” Apollo said. “Therefore, I recommend that once your subject has done as you’ve asked of them, you stop playing as soon as you can. You should also know that it will only work on creatures that can understand English, and that it won’t work on gods, as they’re too strong to cave into its powers. So if you come across any animals or gods, you’ll have to use another means to fight them.”

  “Got it,” Chris said, and this time when he reached for the lyre, Apollo allowed him to take it.

  I was slightly jealous when I looked at it. It was beautiful—gleaming as gold as Danielle’s sword. Even the strings were made of gold. I itched to play it myself. But Apollo was giving it to Chris, not me, and I had to respect that.

  “Thank you.” Chris strapped the instrument to his back and stood proudly, looking Apollo straight in the eye. “I’ll do everything in my power to protect your daughter when we’re in Kerberos. I promise.”

  “I appreciate it,” Apollo said, which was probably the most fatherly thing he’d said since arriving here. “But from what I’ve seen of Nicole’s fighting, she’s able to protect herself just fine. And her fighting skills will be even more enhanced with the gift I brought for her today.”

  Then he reached back into the bag and pulled out the most perfect gift for me.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “A golden bow.” I gasped upon seeing it, amazed by its beauty. It was so shiny and delicately carved that it made the iron bow I’d been using until now look plain in comparison. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

  “This isn’t just any bow and arrow set.” He pulled out the matching arrows and placed them into the quiver—six of them in all. Like the bow, they were gold, except for the tips, which were a clear, sparkling crystal. “These crystal arrows are exceptionally rare. They will never miss their intended target, as long as that target is in the shooter’s range of vision.”

  “Never?” I asked. “Even if something else gets in the way?”

  “If that were to happen, they will divert the obstacle and hit their target,” he confirmed. “But you must use them wisely, because the power of the crystal will only work once. Afterward, the crystal will dim, its power gone forever.” He handed the bow to me, setting it in my hands. “You must be selective about when you use the arrows, since you will only get six perfect shots.”

  “I will be,” I told him, and with that assurance, he let go of the bow. “But even after the magic of the crystal is gone, I can still use the arrows, right?”

  “If you’re able to retrieve the arrows, then yes, they’re reusable,” he said, handing the quiver with the six arrows to me.

  I fastened it around my back, tucking the bow in there as well. With the weapon, I felt much more prepared to enter Kerberos. “Thank you for coming when I called today,” I told Apollo, not sure what else to say to him. It was strange—despite his being my father, the two of us were still practically strangers. “It means a lot.”

  “As I said—you needed me, so I came,” he said. “But remember that no matter how much you might need assistance in Kerberos, I will not be able to come to your aid while you’re there. Not only am I unable to enter the portal—I’ll also be unable to hear your call. Once you’ve crossed through to the other dimension, you’ll be on your own.”

  “Except we’ll have our gifts from you, so we won’t be truly alone,” I said, managing a small smile. “Your gifts are extremely generous, and we’ll use them wisely. We won’t let you down.”

  “I’ll count on it,” he said. “As will the rest of the world.”

  I took a deep breath, hit again with the reality of how the world as I knew it would no longer exist if we failed to succeed in this mission.

  We had no other option—we must succeed. The world was depending on it. And given the fact that we had less than a week until the spring equinox, we didn’t have long to do it.

  “One last thing before you leave,” Danielle said, and Apollo looked at her to continue. “Darius, Hypatia, and Jason are waiting back at Darius’s for us to return from testing Medusa’s head on the Cyclops. I don’t know how long we’ll be in Kerberos, but I suspect it might be long enough that they’ll begin to worry—especially if they look for us and find us missing. Is there any way to get word to them about what happened to us and where we went? At least that way they won’t waste time searching for us on Earth, and they’ll be able to figure out what to tell our families.”

  “Yes.” Apollo nodded. “I can certainly manage that. Now, since my task here is complete and you have your gifts, I must be
on my way. Goodbye, and good luck.”

  He looked at me when he said that last part. Then the glowing orb of light surrounded him again, and when it flashed out, he was gone.

  CHAPTER SIX

  I stared at the place where Apollo—my father—had been standing, thinking about the conversation we’d just had.

  “Wow,” I finally said, my hand still wrapped around the golden bow. “That really just happened, didn’t it? I finally met my father.”

  “It did,” Danielle said. “But you can think more about it later. Because right now, we have to enter Kerberos.” She glanced at her watch, concern crossing over her features. “It’s been half an hour since Ethan and Blake went through the portal. Hopefully they didn’t get too far.”

  “How far could they get in thirty minutes?” Chris asked. “All we have to do is catch up with them, fight off Ethan, take back Medusa’s head, and come back home.”

  “We can’t just fight off Ethan,” I said, staring straight ahead at the muddy portal. “We now know that he’ll do anything to get his sister back—even align himself with the Titans. We can’t risk him coming after us again. Remember—he put the gray energy in our drinks before we fought Medusa. If he hadn’t done that, Kate would probably still be here today. She’s gone because of him, and Blake’s in danger now, too. We have no other choice—as soon as we find Ethan, we have to kill him.”

  “Agreed,” Danielle said. “In fact, if you didn’t have the heart to do it, I planned on doing it myself.”

  “And I didn’t want to be the first one to say it, but I was thinking it, too,” Chris said.

  “Good.” I gripped the strap of my quiver, glad that they supported me. And while I couldn’t speak for Blake, I had a feeling that he would agree with us, too. If he hadn’t killed Ethan already. In which case, I hoped he’d already grabbed Medusa’s head and was on his way back to Earth now.

  Unfortunately, Ethan had told us that the Titans were expecting his arrival, so I doubted escape would be that easy. We had no idea what was waiting on the other side. Just looking at the portal—the murky, muddy sludge that swirled on the cave wall in front of us—chilled me to the bone. This portal reeked of evil, and we were about to step right into it.

  “So, are we gonna do this or what?” Chris asked, although from the tremble in his voice, I could tell that he was scared, too.

  “We need to stop thinking about it and do it,” Danielle said. “It’s like a Band-Aid—it’s better to not think about it too much and rip it off. We have to do the same thing with walking through this portal. Don’t think too much about it. Just do it.”

  “You make it sound like a Nike commercial.” Chris laughed. But despite his joke, I couldn’t find humor in the situation.

  “We’ll hold onto each other when we go through, and we won’t let go.” I held out my hands, and they both took them, their grips tight. “Ready?” I asked, looking first at Chris, and then at Danielle.

  “No,” she said. “I don’t think I could ever feel ready for this.”

  “Me either,” I agreed. “But thank you for stopping me from running in there immediately. You were right—we needed a plan. Now, with Apollo’s gifts, we’re as ready as we could ever be, considering that not even the gods know what to expect on the other side of that portal.”

  Then, holding Chris’s hand on one side and Danielle’s hand on the other, the three of us stepped through the portal to Kerberos.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  I was prepared for the roller coaster, stomach-flipping sensation I got whenever I walked through a portal, but I should have guessed that this muddy portal to a hell dimension wouldn’t be like anything I’d experienced before.

  It suffocated me as I fell through, as if I were drowning in quicksand, the sludge covering every inch of my skin. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I was trapped.

  We should have arrived on the other side by now.

  What if this was Kerberos? A constant feeling of drowning in a sludgy nothingness?

  If this were all there was, we would never find Blake—we might not even be able to get out of here ourselves.

  Just as I started to fear that this was all there would be, my feet hit solid ground again. I sucked in a breath full of air—humid, sticky air, but air nonetheless. I hadn’t been able to feel Chris and Danielle’s hands while we were in the portal, but now that we were through, they gripped mine tighter than they had before we’d left.

  “Well… that was different,” Chris said.

  “If by ‘different’ you mean ‘terrifying,’ then yes.” Danielle shuddered and let go of my hand, rubbing her palms over her jeans. “I never want to do that again.”

  I didn’t think she needed reminding that we would have to do it again, when we returned home. Instead, I looked around, observing our surroundings.

  We stood on a dirt path at the edge of a dark forest. The path split into two—one way led into the dense, tall trees, and the other led to a towering mountain, its peak so high that it rose above the clouds. The sky here was different from our sky—it was a deep, haunted amber. As if the sun were dying.

  It was also hot. A sticky, wet heat that clung onto every inch of my body, covering my skin like a wet blanket. Sweat already dripped down the sides of my face. Something buzzed by my ear—a fly, I hoped—and I swatted it away. But there was more buzzing, and I looked down at my leg as a giant wasp twice the size of any wasp I’d ever seen on Earth stung me.

  “Ow!” I kicked the wasp off of me and pointed at it, flailing around to avoid it landing on me again. “That thing just stung me!”

  It flew off my leg and landed on Danielle’s arm. She took a sharp breath inward and hissed—I guessed it stung her, too.

  “Kill it!” she squealed, shaking it off her arm and jumping around to avoid the flying insect. “Now!”

  “With what?” Chris asked. “It needs to land on something for us to kill it.”

  It buzzed around us some more, and then flew away. Once it did, I finally relaxed.

  Chris laughed, and I glared at him, clenching my fists to my sides.

  “It’s not funny,” I said, flinching as another fly—or wasp—buzzed past my ear.

  “It kind of is,” he said, laughing again. “We’ve fought some of the most terrifying monsters on the planet, and the two of you are screaming like little girls because of a wasp.”

  He waved a hand near his ear—I assumed because of another fly/wasp, and then he flinched, grabbing his hand. “Damn,” he cursed, letting go and shaking out his fingers. “That did hurt.”

  “See?” I smiled, glad that he’d experienced getting stung by one of those monstrous insects, too.

  “How do you both feel?” Danielle asked. “The bites feel normal, right? Nothing cold or hot in the place where you got stung?”

  “It itches,” I said, scratching the sting on my leg. “But no, nothing like that. Why? You don’t think those things are poisonous, do you?”

  “I have no idea,” she said. “They’re not from Earth, so I don’t know what to expect. But I don’t think they’re poisonous. My cousin’s allergic to bees, and last summer she was stung for the first time while we were hanging out by the pool. She said that it felt like there was cold venom traveling through her body from the place where she got stung. Ten minutes later, her whole body broke out into hives, and we rushed her to the doctor, where they gave her medicine that stopped the reaction. I don’t know if it would feel like that for us, since we don't know anything about these wasps, but as long as the bites feel normal then I think we’re in the clear.”

  “Good,” I said, fanning my face in a hopeless attempt to cool off. “After everything we’ve gone through so far, it would be lame to die from an insect bite.” Another one flew past my arm, and I skirted away, not wanting to get stung again. Chris jumped as well, which I could only assume was because of another wasp. “If these things don’t stay away from us, they’re going to drive me insane,” I said, flinc
hing as it flew past my ear.

  “We’ve only been here for a few minutes, and we’re already being driven insane by insects.” Chris shook his head. “No wonder people go mad after a few days of being here.”

  “We won’t be here for a few days,” I said, swatting another bug off my neck. “Because we’re finding Blake, taking back Medusa’s head, and then we’re getting out of here.”

  I looked down at the paths, searching for some sort of clue of where Ethan and Blake had gone—footprints, or something. Blake should have guessed that we would come after him, and he was smart enough to leave a trail for us. But there was nothing. Both paths looked like they hadn’t been used in days.

  How were we supposed to know where to go? Splitting up wasn’t an option, since one of us couldn’t go off on our own. We had to stick together. But if we took the wrong path, we would lose any chance of catching up with them.

  “Look!” Danielle said. “Up there!”

  I glanced up at where she was pointing, catching sight of two huge orange birds—pterodactyls—soaring toward the mountain. Each one held someone in their claws. Even though they were so far away that I couldn’t make out details, one had dark hair and the other was blond.

  Blake and Ethan.

  I reached for my bow, pulling a crystal arrow through the string. My first instinct was to aim for Blake’s pterodactyl to get him away from Ethan, but I couldn’t do that—if the pterodactyl dropped him, it would kill him. I had to aim for Ethan. Ethan was likely holding onto Medusa’s head, so if I killed him in the air, Blake could grab the head once the pterodactyls dropped them off and come find us. Of course, I had no idea where the pterodactyls would drop them off, but we could figure that out later.

  I zeroed in on Ethan, steadying my bow and preparing to shoot. I didn’t know how the crystal arrows worked—hopefully they would magically know where I was aiming to get a perfect shot. But before I let the arrow loose, both pterodactyls rose above the dark storm clouds, disappearing from sight.