Page 58 of Crown of Olympus
One by one, each champion took a glass and downed the serum. I followed suit, much to the dismay of my dragon. The liquid felt like slime sliding down my throat — not dissimilar to the Styx sludge — so unnatural that it was difficult to keep down.
As it trickled into my belly, my mind emptied. It was hollow. Missing something vital. I lifted the dragon gently from my neck. She looked at me, forlorn and betrayed, and for a moment, my mask almost slipped.
I missed her already, but the bond we’d just shared was gone.
I was alone again.
It was unnerving how easily Hermes had orchestrated the severing of bonds.
He pressed a hand on the pillared archway, and a shimmering veil appeared. Without hesitation, he vaulted through, evidently eager to get the challenge underway. One after another, champions and patron gods followed, none of us knowing what lurked on the other side.
Foreign magic prickledagainst my skin as I was hurled through the fabric of the realm, until my feet landed on something soft and springy. Grass. Before me stood a colossal bronze archway, a sculpted caduceus at its centre — the symbol of Hermes. On either side of the metallic monstrosity, stone walls stretched as far as the eye could see, equally as high.
Hermes hovered just outside the archway, gleefully twirling his actual caduceus like a baton. His winged sandals barely skimmed the ground, and the twin serpents coiled around his gilded staff slithered and shifted. Their gemstone eyes tracked our smallest movements with rapt attention.
“Welcome to the Labyrinth!” he boomed, grinning wickedly. “Most of you are probably wondering what in the abyss you’ll be subjected to today.” He glanced my way, eyes hardening. I lifted my chin. “The trial is simple: find the exit. Ifyou do so in time, you will proceed to the fifth. If you don’t…” He grinned. “Well. The labyrinth can have you.”
“How much time do we have?” someone asked.
Hermes tilted his head, pretending to think.
“That depends,” he smirked.
A few champions shifted uneasily.
“On?” I asked, suspicion weaving its way through my tone.
“On the labyrinth’s mood—and how well you handle your obstacles,” he supplied breezily. “It’s a fickle thing, you see. Some paths will stay open for an hour, some for minutes, and others, mere seconds. Inside its walls, you’ll face all kinds of hurdles: traps, illusions, dead ends.” He clapped his hands. “Oh! And each of you will start on a different path. How you proceed from there is entirely up to you.”
Murmurs broke out through the allied groups.
“Alone?” Leander queried.
“Alone.” Hermes’ grin faltered for a beat before quickly returning. “After all, Olympus has no need for a ruler who needs their hand held through every challenge that arises, now does it?”
Caelus huffed a breath out his nose, and I caught the flick of his eyes in my direction, too fast to decipher. A ripple of dread washed over me. Was he hoping to sabotage my run? Or flirt with me some more?
“Find the exit. Pass the trial. Any questions?” Hermes’ grin widened, clearly aware we had plenty, yet none of us dared to ask. “Good. Then let us begin.”
One by one, the champions passed through the archway. The walls groaned and shifted, eclipsing each of them from view, until only three of us remained.Of courseit had to be Caelus, Aros, and me. The tension was so thick I could cut it with a knife, spread butter all over it, and shove it in my mouth.
“Good luck, darling. Try not to get lost in the view of myimpeccable ass as I walk away.” Aros winked and turned on his heel, sashaying through the arch with exaggerated swagger.
A short, perplexed laugh escaped me before I could reel it back in. It was barely a sound, just a breath of unexpected amusement — but it died in my throat when Caelus’ head snapped round to me.
His face was still. Eyes wide. Lips parted. His stormy silver irises flashed with a quick burst of lightning as shock transformed his features. But it passed just as quickly, morphing back into calm indifference. Without a word, Caelus stormed through the arch disappearing from sight.
The shift hit like a bucket of icy water.
One moment, Aros left a trail of roguish heat in his wake. The next, Caelus looked at me like I’d broken his favourite toy.
One pulled. One pushed. The divergence made my head spin.
Snap out of it. Labyrinth, remember?
With gritted teeth and clenched fists, I stomped through the arch, flipping off the god of thieves as I passed, and entered Hermes’ trial.
CHAPTER 17
