she shrugged.
"He gave me life," Ortrera acknowledged. "He taught me the art of war. I cannot stand idly aside any longer and watch these atrocities against our own. It must stop."
"So, you know what is happening? You know what the Moirae have done?" I asked.
"Of course. Everyone knows it, but it would have been futile to intervene before. We do not shirk from war, sister, but it would not have been a wise battle. Now, though, we feel that the time is rapidly coming when action is required or we will all perish."
"I think you are right, Ortrera," I murmured. "Do you know where Ares is?"
"No, that I do not know," she admitted, hefting her heavy bow to the other side of her back. Her mare stood quietly and still, just as you would imagine a war horse would. Her white face was painted with blue paint. I was sure, if I examined all of the other horses, I would find them to be mares as well. The Amazon’s distaste for males was far-reaching.
"Do you know where Eris is?" I asked hopefully, but again she shook her head.
"I had a vision, Harmonia, and I could clearly see a house, yet I know not who is in the house or the location."
"But we do."
We all turned to find Annen stepping through the circle of warriors with two other priests.
The priest on the left had spoken. Annen stared at me pointedly, his black gaze glittering. As always, I shivered. He smiled his jagged, silent smile and they crossed the circle to join us in the middle.
"We know where they are keeping Ares, as well as a few other key pieces of information,"
the priest continued as they stopped at my side. "We will eagerly share it with you. But you must trust us."
Trust the Keres. It went against everything that I had been taught. But I knew without any doubt whatsoever that we had no other choice.
Chapter Ten
"You will need this," the priest said, thrusting a small glass globe into my hands.
"What is it?" I asked, examining it. The blown glass was delicately situated on an intricate bronze base. The inside was empty save for wispy white fog that billowed about as I rotated the globe.
"It has the power to take you wherever you need to go," he replied.
As I looked at it, Gavin’s handsome face appeared in the empty glass sphere, smiling his breathtaking smile into mine. My heart instantly overflowed with love for him and fear for his safety dropped into my stomach like a rock. I had to get to him. If something happened to him, I would never forgive myself. The priest’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Cadmus has appeared because that is where you would most like to be- with him. The compass can read your emotions, knowing where you would most like to be led. If you have the desire to go elsewhere, you simply have to hold it and picture the location in your mind."
"That is incredible," I murmured, turning it over in my hands. The priest shrugged.
"Not really. You’re simply so accustomed to the mortal world that you have forgotten what ours is like."
"Yes, I have," I agreed. "And it is very frustrating. How can I recover all of my memories-the ones that the Moirae are still withholding?"
Pain shot through me, dropping me to a squirming mass on the ground, as fiery heat exploded into my hand and shot up my arm. I rolled, holding my palm in my hand as I tried to regain my composure. The pain was so unexpected that it took my breath away. I sat up, clutching my hand to my chest and glaring at Annen.
"You have an interpreter now," I scowled. "There is no need to mutilate me."
He simply smiled in return, his creepy, jagged smile and I looked away, focusing instead on reading the words seared into my palm.
They are already yours.
I looked at him quizzically. "They are already mine? And don’t even think about burning me again." I stared at the first priest, the one who had been talking.
"What does he mean?"
He hesitated and then spoke. "Harmonia, he means that your memories are there for you to take. You have forgotten how we work, what we are."
"So, remind us," Jade interjected. "I am most curious, as well."
The priest nodded, studying us both.
"Kind ladies, you are able to do anything that you open your minds to do. If you want your memories, get them. Block any feelings of self-doubt or logic and simply open your mind.
That is how everything is done in the Spiritlands. Focus on retrieving thoughts about your true home, the Spiritlands, and see what happens. Close your eyes. Picture your mind as a muscle, flexing and straining against reality. Now relax that muscle. Let it drop." His voice was soothing as he murmured and I lost myself in its sound as I concentrated on relaxing my mind.
He was right. The mind was like a muscle. I fixated on relaxing it, loosening it, letting it fall slack and getting farther from the constraints of reality. A feeling of familiar peace washed over me and in that moment, that one tranquil second, I was Harmonia. I became her completely, embracing her strength. I was home in a way that I had not been for centuries.
I opened my eyes and found Annen nodding. The priest to his side smiled.
"You are whole now, Harmonia. I can see it."
I nodded. "Yes. I feel exquisite." I turned to Jade. "And you, Aphrodite?"
"Yes," she murmured in a husky voice. "I too feel like myself again. Thank you, priest."
I scanned the edge of the forest with my enhanced eyesight. I could see everything, every minute movement. It was a delicious feeling. I lifted my hand and gestured at the tree tops.
Instantly, they began to bend and move, the wind picking up and fluttering my hair around my shoulders. I lowered my hand and the wind became still. I could control the elements.
Fascinating.
"Stop playing, Harmonia," Jade murmured, smiling a little. I couldn’t help but smile back.
It was so wonderful to be back to myself.
Ortrera nudged her horse forward and she spoke.
"Harmonia, we need to move. We do not want to be on the outer rim of the Spiritlands at night."
I nodded. No, we certainly did not. The Spiritlands contained every sort of mythical creature imaginable and so many of them thrived at night. She reached her hand down.
"Ride with me, sister."
I hesitated for only a brief moment as I stood next to her massive mare. The horse’s feather soft wings flared out, enormous and magical, and I grasped my sister’s hand, allowing her to pull me up. Tucking my legs under the Pegasus’ wings, I settled in behind Ortrera, my arms wrapped around her muscular waist. With her every movement, I could feel her taut muscles flexing. Her physique was incredible.
Another Amazon warrior pulled Jade up with her and before I even knew it, the horses were arranging themselves in a V-like formation, with Ortrera at the lead.
"Harmonia," the priest called.
I twisted around to look at him.
"Yes?"
"Don’t underestimate Eris," he instructed solemnly. "She has been your adversary for many, many years. She knows you well."
I nodded. I knew. An image of Pothinus the eunuch’s flaccid face flashed into my head.
Eris was quite skilled at assuming any form she wished and plaguing me mercilessly. As Pothinus, she had almost killed Hasani in Alexandria. And me. She had quite a lot to answer for. I was looking forward to demanding those answers.
"I know," I agreed. "And thank you for the compass."
All three priests nodded in unison as the Pegasus’ moved forward. I felt the horse beneath me quiver as she lifted into the air, her strong wings pulsing as she carried us higher. We sailed upward until we were several hundred feet in the air, flying among the clouds.
I titled my face back and allowed the wind to rush over me.
"What a delicious feeling, Ortrera!" I shouted above the noise. "You’re so fortunate to fly!"
She twisted around to give me an incredulous look.
"Harmonia, you are able to do whatever you wish. You don’t require a Pega
sus."
I thought on that as we continued through the night. We were seemingly so close to the stars that I could touch them with cold, shaking hands. The altitude made me chilly and I shivered as I gazed at the stars. I leaned closer to Ortrera to share her body heat. I felt her smirk, but ignored it. The Amazon never showed weakness of any sort. Ortrera wouldn’t admit she was cold if her life depended on it.
We had flown for an hour before my fascination with flying dimmed and I began to chat about other things with my half-sister.
"What do you think will happen, Ortrera?" I asked hesitantly.
She shook her head.
"I have no way of knowing, sister. I wanted to take a trip to the old witches before I came to you to get their prophecy, but there was no time. We should stop on our way through. It could be helpful."
I thought on that for a second, of the old witches that lived in the cave on the edge of the Spiritlands. Their cloudy blue eyes were ageless and had always unnerved me with their sightless wisdom. It was said that they could see the future, that they breathed fear and ate pain. I had never doubted it.
"Perhaps, but I don’t wish to delay reaching Cadmus. Every moment he is with Eris is dangerous."
Ortrera nodded in agreement and we fell back into comfortable silence for awhile. It amazed me how I had been apart from her for so long, yet we were instantly comfortable with each other upon reuniting. Others were intimidated by her, but I had always stood in awe of her independence and strength. She was an incredible woman.
"What do you think of our father?" I murmured against her neck so that she could hear me.
There was a pause.
"I think that all hell will break loose when we release him from bond," she nodded in affirmation. "He will possess a fury unlike that ever seen. The Fates will tremble and then eventually they will fall. But we must focus on one step at a time, sister. We must recover Ares and Cadmus before we think ahead."
"They have used me as their plaything, Ortrera," I muttered angrily. "I have unwittingly kept my own mother imprisoned for centuries. Do you know the things I have encouraged her to do ... the pain that has been inflicted upon her at my counsel? It is atrocious. And they must pay."
That realization, the need for revenge, grew in my chest like a building wave. It was suddenly all I could think of as my thoughts were consumed by it. They had taken the last two thousand years from me. Over and over, I had lived lives of great sadness ... all at their whim, for their entertainment. Once I managed to free my father and Cadmus, then locate the other Olympic gods, they would most certainly pay.
Calm yourself, Harmonia.
Aphrodite’s voice resounded in my head as though she had murmured into my ear. I turned to find her staring at me pointedly, her silvery gaze tied to mine.
Put aside your thoughts for vengeance…for now. You cannot become consumed by it. It will accomplish nothing. Trust me, daughter, they will pay. None of this was your fault. You have nothing but love for me. I know that.
I nodded mutely, fascinated by the knowledge that like the priests, we could also communicate without speaking. Was there anything that we couldn’t do? Was it truly as easy as simply believing something was possible ... and then it simply was?
As the Pegasus descended in the sky, I stared below us at the vegetation beneath us. We were rapidly flying toward a bubbling spring leading up to a crashing waterfall. It was surrounded by beautiful, lush greenery. I concentrated and within a few seconds, the vivid green vines and leaves had all shriveled and died. I gasped. With my mind, I had killed it all. I quickly concentrated again, flexing the muscle of my mind, willing life to return. And suddenly, it was so. The greenery sprang back to life, the rich green hues spreading quickly throughout the vines until it was once again fresh and new.
I was astounded. The priests were right. Nothing was the same as it was for mortals. The trick was simply in opening my mind and using it. It was almost unfathomable.
The horses all landed lightly on their feet and stood still, barely even breathing hard as we dismounted. They were certainly as tough as their owners. As I approached the waterfall, I innately knew what we needed to do to enter the Spiritlands. Water was the key. You could only enter through water. I could feel the others falling into step behind me as I waded through the water of the spring and approached the waterfall. The water was crisp and clean and splattered onto my face as I stood still on the slippery, mossy rocks.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the waterfall. Instead of stepping straight into a wall of stone as one might have expected, the stone faded away and I emerged on the other side in the Spiritlands. I stood in a stream with the waterfall at my back now, splattering against my shoulder blades in fat droplets. But on this side, instead of water it was made from nectar. I bent slightly and scooped my cupped hand in the icy sweetness, bringing it to my mouth to drink.
The nectar of the gods. The lifeforce that kept us immortal. I felt it running down my chin, dripping onto my body but I didn’t care. I simply drank more of the wonderfully delicious liquid. There had never been anything like it in the history of the world. I glanced down and saw the blood stains running down my shirt and grimaced.
As the others appeared behind me, I concentrated on my clothing. I pictured myself standing in Harmonia’s traditional Greek clothing, a short, airy white shift that floated around my thighs like gossamer. It was corded around my ribcage in the empirical fashion. And of course, my bloodstone lay in its normal place against my chest. My jeans and bloody shirt were gone. One more step into the transformation of Harmonia.
I turned and found Jade similarly attired as Aphrodite. The Amazons looked on in approval as Jade knelt at the edge of the stream and drank from the nectar, as well.
"It is good to have you back," Ortrera observed. "I take comfort in it, sister. We will set things right. Come now, though. As I mentioned, we do not want to be out here once night falls."
I nodded and we once again mounted the horses. I shoved my long shift up around my thighs so that I could ride astride. Not ladylike, but it would have to do. The Pegasus’ once again fell into formation and we began our trek through the dangerous outer rim of the Spiritlands.
Before we had even traveled five minutes, a raven with sparkling ruby eyes landed on my shoulder. I should have been startled, but my tolerance for all things strange had been appropriately raised once we had crossed the boundaries of my home. Instead of shirking away, I stared into its scary eyes without flinching.
"Dear Harmonia, your return is greatly anticipated," it croaked with its sharp beak. "It is time to fulfill the prophecy ... to restore harmony and peace to Olympus."
I stared at the bird.
"What do you mean ‘the prophecy’?" I asked curiously. "I have not heard of such a thing."
"Of course you have not," it sounded slightly indignant. "The prophecy came to be after you left. But you are the one. The one who will save us all."
I felt my heart flutter a little. I was the one to save them all? Nothing like a little pressure. I grimaced and turned to Jade.
"Did you know of this?"
She shook her head. "No. But I am not surprised. It is in your very nature to bring peace.
Why wouldn’t it be you? Besides, it was your necklace they took in the first place. It is only right that you will right it."
For the first time since recovering my memories as a goddess, I felt apprehensive. I was a minor goddess. How in the world was I going to save all of the Olympic gods? I wasn’t sure I was capable. In fact, with the magnitude of that challenge staring me in the face, I felt pretty insignificant.
The raven fluttered off of my shoulder and flew away with a shriek. I watched it fly into the distance and disappear before I returned my gaze to the horizon.
The air here smelled like a heavily scented night garden. Freesia, moonflowers and primrose hung in the night like a curtain. I inhaled it, drawing in the fragrance and enjoying the taste in my mouth. I
could taste the peace around me and I wondered how long that would last.
The night was so dark, so velvety that I felt as if it was tangible, as if I could breathe it in, as well. I felt it clinging to my skin and caressing my body like unseen hands.
The landscape around me was beautiful. Night-blooming flowers were everywhere as the moon hung brightly above us. It was larger than I had ever seen it in the mortal world, huge and yellowy-red. Sailors in the mortal world called it a blood moon. Much like everything else around me, it was beautiful and larger than life.
The horses nickered softly to each other as they walked through the knee-high waving wild-grass. They were nervous. I could feel it suddenly, a palpable force in the air around us.
Something was with us. The horses knew it too. I scanned the darkness, but even with my enhanced vision, I could see nothing. My gaze flew to Aphrodite’s face.
"No," she sighed. "I see nothing."