The Blood of the Hydra (8 page)

“They exist,” Darius broke in. “They can be found in the Aegean Sea, on the Greek islands of old mythology that have been hidden from human eyes for centuries.”

“You mean the islands that Odysseus visited in
The Odyssey
?” Kate said.

“Those places are real?” I asked.

Darius raised a bushy eyebrow. “After everything you’ve learned this past month, this shouldn’t be surprising,” he said. “There are hundreds of islands in the Aegean Sea. Human scholars believe that the islands Odysseus visited in
The Odyssey
were imaginary, but they’re wrong. The islands where the old mythology reigns exist. They’re simply kept hidden from humans by illusions that make them appear deserted—but witches are able to see everything that’s truly there. And, according to the Book of Shadows, the five of you must journey there to collect the ingredients you’ll need to create this formula for your weapons.”

“We can’t just leave Kinsley to go to Greece,” Kate said. “Our parents would never let us do that. And what about school? And how would we even get to Greece at all?”

“February vacation starts on Friday,” Darius said. “That would be a perfect time for you to make the journey. I can use my powers to convince your parents that the five of you have been chosen for a school-sponsored trip to Washington DC. As for getting to Greece, I’m sure that the Head Elder of Greece will have no problem creating a portal so the five of you can get there. She—along with all of the Head Elders—knows all about your situation. I imagine she’ll be happy to help in any way she can.”

“You can’t make the portal yourself?” I asked.

“Oh, no.” Darius laughed, as if the thought were ridiculous. “Portal-making is some of the most advanced magic there is. It requires the power of a Head Elder. And it’s about time to introduce you to Hypatia. She’s heard all about the five of you, and is very eager to meet you.”

“Back up for a moment,” Blake said, and all heads turned to him. “Getting the lotus seeds and the milk from Helios’s cattle sounds crazy, but feasible. But the
blood of a slain hydra
? I know we’ve been practicing with our powers and weapons for a month—and we’ve gotten pretty good at it, too—but the hydra is one of the most dangerous creatures out there. Slaying it was one of Hercules’s twelve labors. What if one of us gets hurt? Or worse?”

I didn’t know if I was imagining it or not, but I could have sworn that his gaze drifted to mine when he’d said that last part. It was like he was saying that he didn’t want
me
getting hurt. My cheeks heated at the thought, and I focused on my hands, unable to look at Blake without my feelings for him showing on my face for everyone else to see.

“Hercules was one person,” Chris pointed out. “We’re five.”

“Actually, Hercules didn’t slay the hydra on his own,” Kate said. “He needed help from his nephew.”

“But neither of them had powers like ours.” Chris rubbed his hands together, his confidence not wavering. “We’ve got this.”

“Oh, I know we can slay the hydra.” Blake crossed his arms, as if offended that anyone had thought he’d doubted our abilities. “We just need to make sure that we all get back here alive.”

“First of all, I’m glad to hear that you all have been paying attention during our Greek mythology class,” Darius said. “Secondly, you must remember that your powers, and your ability to fight, are gifts from the gods. Your progress this past month has been astounding. Not only do I believe that you’re ready for this, but I believe that the Book wouldn’t send you on this mission if it didn’t think you could succeed. You
must
retrieve these ingredients. It’s the only way to make sure that the creatures who escape from Kerberos are sent away and unable to return to Earth before the portal is sealed.”

“Can you all back up a bit?” I said, and everyone looked at me, waiting for what I had to say. “I know that you’ve all been studying Greek mythology for your entire lives, but I’ve only been in the class since January. And I don’t remember much from when I read
The Odyssey
last year. So can you please tell me—what are the seeds of the lotus fruit, what are Helios’s immortal cattle, and what’s a hydra?”

For a few seconds, everyone looked at me like I was crazy for not knowing this. Then Chris jumped in.

“The Land of the Lotus Eaters was my favorite part of
The Odyssey
,” he said. “It’s an island where people live off the lotus fruit, which is basically a drug that makes them lazy. When Odysseus’s men ate it, it they decided they wanted to stay on the island forever, so they blew off their mission to return home.”

“So it sounds like getting the lotus fruit should be easy?” I asked. “A bunch of drugged up locals shouldn’t give us trouble. We’ll just need to gather the fruit and get out of there.”

“The scent of the fruit is rumored to be quite tempting, so it might not be as easy as you think,” Darius said. “But yes, if you bring water infused with yellow energy onto the island, you should be able to stay focused on your mission and not get distracted by the scent of the fruit.”

“The milk of Helios’s cattle shouldn’t be hard, either,” Kate said. “The only reason the island was a problem in
The Odyssey
was because Odysseus’s men slaughtered the cattle for meat, despite knowing that harming them would mean angering Helios.”

“Odysseus’s men sure messed up a lot,” Chris said.

“Yeah.” Kate laughed. “They did. So as long as we don’t kill any of Helios’s cattle, we should be fine there.”

“What about the hydra?” I asked. “That’s the real challenge, isn’t it?”

“The hydra is a monster with five heads.” Blake pressed his fingers together, his gaze locked on mine. “The myths say that it has poison breath, but really, it’s just its bite that’s poisonous. The only way to kill it is to cut off its heads. But if you cut off a hydra head, two grow back in its place.”

“Then we can’t kill it by chopping off its heads,” I said. “There has to be another way.”

“Hercules figured out that if he immediately burned the open stumps, the heads couldn’t grow back,” Blake said. “With my power over fire, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Except there’s the immortal head,” Kate added. “It breathes fire, and it can’t be killed.”

“But Hercules killed the hydra, didn’t he?” I asked. “Immortal head and all?”

“With a special golden sword gifted to him by Athena,” she said. “We don’t have one of those.”

“Hm.” I balanced my chin in my hands. “That does sound like a problem.”

“Why don’t you ask the Book?” Chris suggested.

“Ask it what? If we can have a golden sword from Athena, too?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “It can’t hurt to ask.”

Even though it felt silly, I placed my hand on the book and asked, “May we please have a weapon that will help us slay the hydra?”

Instead of another entry appearing in the Table of Contents, writing began to form on the previously blank page on the left, as if someone were writing in the Book at that very moment.

You already have all of the weapons you need.

I read the words out loud. Right afterward, they disappeared. We all watched the Book closely, as if more writing might appear, but it didn’t.

“Well, that was vague,” Kate finally said.

“Maybe not,” Blake said. “I
did
use my power to forge our weapons, using the instructions in the book I received in my clue. Those weapons must be strong enough to defeat the hydra. It would make sense with what the Book just told us.”

“It would,” Chris agreed. “So, what do we do now?”

“We train,” Danielle said, standing up. “We have one week to study how Hercules slayed the hydra and figure out how to do it ourselves. So let’s get to it. We have no time to waste.”

With that, she headed to the training center in the basement, and we all followed her lead.

A few days later, we gathered in the training center at the crack of dawn, ready to go. We had a few bags with changes of clothes and extra weapons, but other than that, we’d packed light. Most of the weapons we planned on using were already on us. Darius had connected to Hypatia on Skype, who was on board the yacht we would be taking through Greece, ready to create the portal.

“As you know, it’s already the afternoon here in Greece.” She spoke perfect English, with only the trace of an accent. “Once you arrive, we’ll get you settled in, and then we’ll set sail to the first island on our journey. It will take me about a minute to create the portal. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” we said, although I fidgeted with the strap of my quiver. I wasn’t sure if there was truly a way to feel ready for something like this.

“Every second the portal remains open will take up more of Hypatia’s energy,” Darius reminded us. “She can keep a portal open for a maximum of five minutes, but please step through as quickly as possible. We want to help her preserve as much of her energy as she can.”

“If her portal will only last for five minutes, how come the portal to Kerberos can stay open?” I asked.

“Because that portal was created by the gods,” Darius answered. “Portals created by anyone who isn’t a god can only stay open for a limited amount of time.”

Hypatia stood up, and she held her hands in front of her, closing her eyes in deep concentration. A minute later, wind rushed through the room, and the wall in front of us shimmered, transforming into the circular whirlwind that would lead us to Greece. It was like looking through foggy glass—I could barely see the shape of a person and what seemed to be a living room on the other side.

“It’s safe to come through.” Hypatia spoke to us through Skype, since sound didn’t travel through the portal.

“I know that the five of you wish you had more time to prepare,” Darius said to us. “But in all my years, I’ve never seen power as strong as yours. You’re ready for this—I know it.”

“Thank you,” I said, blinking back tears. “We wouldn’t have been
close
to this ready if it weren’t for you showing us the way.”

“May the gods be with you,” he said. “And I must admit, I’ve always been curious about the Islands of Old Mythology. I’m looking forward to hearing your stories upon your return. Now, don’t keep the portal open for any longer than necessary. Hypatia’s waiting.”

Blake stepped up to the portal, staring at it with determination. “I’ll go first,” he said, walking through without hesitation.

Danielle and I stepped forward at the same time, bumping into each other’s shoulders. I moved aside, figuring it wasn’t worth fighting with her over this. “I’m next,” she said, tossing her hair behind her and walking through with as much confidence as Blake.

Once she was gone, I straightened my shoulders and gazed into the swirling portal. My stomach flipped—I’d never even left the country by plane before—so I had no idea what to expect. But I couldn’t put it off for any longer.

“Here goes nothing,” I said, taking a deep breath and stepping through.

It was just like the portal in the boulder to enter the cave—like passing through a mist machine at a theme park. My stomach flipped, like it does on a roller coaster, although my feet never left the ground. Once the prickly sensation left my skin, I opened my eyes and allowed myself to breathe again, stepping aside so the next person wouldn’t crash into me.

Once all five of us were through, Hypatia closed the portal, severing the one connection I had to home.

“Welcome aboard the Artemis,” she said, smiling at each of us. She was young for a Head Elder—just a little older than my mom—which I already knew from when Darius had introduced her on Skype. She was also shorter than I’d expected—just barely five feet tall. “Let’s get you all settled in, and then we’ll sit down for lunch while we look over the map,” she continued. “It’s only one hour to the Land of the Lotus Eaters, but I want to make sure you’re prepared before we set sail.”

“Sounds good,” I said, looking around the yacht for the first time since getting here. The only boat I’d ever been on was the fishing boat that Blake had taken us on to find the siren. This was nothing like that. This was more like a house that just happened to be floating. We were gathered in what looked like a living room, except that the windows on one side looked out to a glittering blue sea, and the ones on the other to a hill dotted with white stucco homes.

Hypatia led us down a flight of stairs to the bedrooms, where we dropped off our stuff. There were three main bedrooms—one for Hypatia, one for me, Kate, and Danielle, and the other for Blake and Chris.

“The staff bedrooms are that way,” she said, pointing to the other door. “One of them is unoccupied, so you can use it to store your weapons.”

“Staff?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“You didn’t think I was going to captain the yacht myself?” She laughed.

I suppose I
did
think she would be captaining it herself, but since she seemed to think that would be a silly thought, I said nothing.

“So the boat is yours, then?” I asked instead.

“For now,” she said. “It’s given to the Head Elder of Greece, so we can easily travel to the various islands in the area. I also have a house on Santorini—the island you saw out the window when you arrived. Now, how about I show you the rest of the yacht?”