Page 47 of Harbinger

“What?” Cassius breathed. The same hope blooming inside Morgan brought a flush of color to his gray face. “Why didn’t you say so yesterday?!”

Atropos’s shoulders drooped. “Because I don’t know whether it could work.” She sighed and met their tense stares. “I did my utmost to make sure Elios wouldn’t get his hands on the Hesperides not just out of love for my sisters. It was also because of what they guard.”

Victor’s expression slowly cleared, like he was recalling something.

“The Sacred Tree,” he mumbled.

Puzzled lines wrinkled Theo’s brow. “What?”

Julia blinked. “Oh.”

“The Golden Apples,” Zach muttered, dazed. “How could we have forgotten about them?!”

Memories floated up from the depths of Morgan’s consciousness, sending his heart thundering against his ribs. He masked a wince at the pain that skewered his insides in response to his quickening pulse.

Tenebra’s Rot was gaining ground, her poison eating insidiously at his soul core with every passing hour.

Cassius leaned forward, seraphic power flashing in his pupils. “The Golden Apples can cure Morgan?!”

“Probably,” Atropos replied with a reluctant dip of her chin. “Though it’s never been done before, they are about the only things I can think of that could counteract Rot.”

“What are the Golden Apples?” Eden said hesitantly.

“The Hesperides are the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, which grows in the Garden of the West.” Excitement raised the pitch of Cassius’s voice. “It’s been known by many names in mythology. Yggdrasil. The Tree of Life.”

Victor frowned. “Isn’t the giant oak in the sacred forest in the Spirit Realm rumored to have grown from a branch of the Sacred Tree?”

Orena nodded. “You are correct, little brother.”

“Every two hundred years,the Sacred Tree bears the Golden Apples of Resurrection,”Kes declared somberly.

“Their powers are such that they can even restore a divine soul that has returned to the cycle of life and death,” Tisiphone elaborated at Eden and Theo’s thunderstruck expressions.

“That’s like the ultimate cheat,” Adrianne mumbled.

Bailey and Charlie looked similarly overawed.

“We were following a lead when Attie got wind of Elios’s latest plans,” Orena said. “Someone had come across a Nereid who told them the dragon fell through a crack between the realms when the Nether tore. He apparently ended up in the Astrea Sea.”

“The…dragon?” Adrianne repeated dully.

Tisiphone bobbed her head. “The dragon Guardian, Ladon.”

“Ah.” Zach made a face like he’d remembered something he would rather not have. “I’d forgotten about him.”

“He’s a giant, three-headed beast who guards the Golden Apples along with the Hesperides.” Orena wrinkled her nose. “He’s nothing but their glorified pet, really.”

Bailey and Charlie paled.

“That lizard almost burned the Sacred Tree down when he came out of his egg,” Kes muttered darkly.

“He was always so rude to us.”Tisiphone sniffed.“Our sisters spoiled him rotten, they did.”

Orena’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “Remember how he did it secretly though, when his mistresses weren’t watching?”

Kes scowled. “Yeah, about the only one he treated with respect was Attie, the sneaky little snake.”

Atropos rolled her eyes. “That’s because you guys teased him mercilessly from the moment he hatched.”

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