Book 2 Chapter 5
742 Words
5
“Ouch. That was painful,” Hermes says.
“I guess this means there’s no chance of you getting back with Val,” Greg adds, hopefully.
“If you’re looking for a rebound, I’m around,” Jordan winks. “I like strong women.”
Hepa’s the only one who doesn’t comment, but she shoots me a pitying look, which is almost worse.
“Let’s just go,” I say, hurrying along in the direction that Hermes was leading us before I got vampire detoured.
Past the dorms but before the archives building is a little garden surrounded by pillars, nine in all, with a fountain at its center. The stone figure is of Hermes himself, stylized midflight, his winged feet dancing on the water’s surface.
He is also completely n***d.
I sigh. There’s just no escaping Hermes’ p***s.
He goes to the fountain and the pillars light up. Two of them grow brighter than the others, a sheet of light appearing before them.
“That’s the portal to our Grecian doorway.” Hermes says. “We can’t get you all the way to where you need to be, but we can get you close.”
“Don’t worry,” Greg says, pointing to the pack slung over his shoulder. “I brought the map you gave us last night.”
I swallow. “And we get back how?”
Hepa groans. “Oh gods, don’t you know anything?”
Hermes hands me one of the keys. “Throw it in the fountain on the other side. It’s set it to let five pass through in case you find your mom.”
“Great. Thanks.” I take it from him. “And it’s when we find my mom.”
“That’s the plucky attitude I like,” Hermes says condescendingly.
“Wait,” Hepa says. “We can’t go wandering around Greece in our school uniforms.” She has us stand in a circle and recites an incantation. Our uniforms change to normal clothes, khakis and light-colored tops.
“Oh yeah, um, good thinking,” I say, embarrassed that I didn’t think of it first.
“Unless you have further accessorizing to do, I suggest, you know…leave,” Hermes tells us.
“Okay, let’s go.” I adjust my pack on my shoulders, hold my head high, and walk through the doorway.
Icy cold stings every bit of my body. I am in the midst of—
Nothing.
I’m either in the middle of the portal…or a walk-in freezer.
I force myself to take another step and the nothingness gives way to the sands of an endless desert. There are pillars and the fountain, with Hermes’ stone p***s staring me in the face, just like back at the Academy. But beyond that miles and miles of smooth silt.
One by one my team arrives behind me.
“What the…” Hepa says with a shiver.
“Is this Greece?” Greg asks.
“Does Greece have a desert?” I ask, feeling stupid.
Hepa says no at the same time Jordan says maybe.
“Greg, can you take a look around?” I ask, motioning to the sky.
“I mean, I could fly up there,” he tells me, “but my vision is terrible during the day and that sun is brutal.”
“We should just go back,” Hepa says. “Obviously something has gone wrong.”
Not the worst suggestion. Clearly Hermes was too busy staring at Jordan’s abs to bother checking that our destination was correct.
I hesitate, not sure what to do. If we’re in the right place, I’ll seem like an i***t if we return without even looking around first. Also…I would like to defrost a bit more before immediately tucking our tails between our legs and retreating.
“Let’s just check it out,” I say.
Hepa is mid-scoff when the earth moves beneath us. I fall on my butt in the sand. Hepa’s down with me, but Greg has turned into a bat and is hovering while Jordan gracefully maintains his feet.
“Earthquake,” Hepa shouts, but then something pushes its way out of the sand.
It’s a white tail with a nasty looking stinger at the tip that’s at least the size of my arm. How big is the rest of the creature?
“Oh gods, no,” I moan.
It’s not an earthquake.
It’s a monster attack.
- Writer
