The Heir of Olympus and the Forest Realm (49 page)

“All right, I get it,” Gordie snapped. Hermes was really starting to test his nerves. “Clock’s a-tickin’. So, if there’s nothing else, can we be on our way?”

“Certainly!” Hermes pulled his head back, looking affronted. “Don’t let me keep you. Just saving your life is all.” He threw his arms up and began walking away.

“Yeah, you mentioned it, thanks,” Gordie said to his back. Hermes looked back over his shoulder.

“Don’t thank me—just get to Apollo’s.” With that he turned and burst through the trees, the little wings on his apparel flapping feverishly.

“Man, he’s an ass,” Gordie said, shaking his head.

“Indeed.” Artemis turned to look at him. “It would be wise for us to make for Koryfion.” She scowled as she mentioned Apollo’s realm. “Before I change my mind.”

“All right, lead the way.” Gordie held his hand out as if she were leading him to the nearest convenience store.

“Do you think I can just walk there?” Artemis asked.

“I don’t know!” Gordie threw up his hands. “I figured you knew how to get there!”

“I do, but it is not so simple as snapping one’s fingers. There are very few means to access that place.” She appraised him with an eyebrow raised. “You are difficult to understand, young man.”

“Thanks!” Gordie smiled. “Why don’t we just go back to Chiron’s—I completely forgot that my family is going to be looking for me.” A wave of anxiety crashed over him at the thought of them. After all he had faced over the course of the last night his mom would probably still be the most harrowing.

“Lead the way.” Artemis waved her hand forward, and Gordie stepped through the underbrush.

He led Artemis through the forest with his clothes still wet from the river, but the forest of Pelion was much warmer than that of Dasos, so he did not mind. What’s more, he was on an absolute high. He knew he should be worried about Zeus, but Hermes had said that the King of Olympus was still clueless about his survival. He had completed another task and was feeling the power surge through him on this glorious morning, and soon he would be reuniting Apollo and Artemis—he was that much closer to ticking off another trial. In short order he found the path and made his way back towards Chiron’s cave. As they went, he listened to the conversation of the creatures in the forest with fascination.

“How many acorns have you stored, Master Branch Walker?” a brown squirrel asked a gray squirrel as the two perched on a branch.

“Many winters worth, Great Leaf Hopper,” the gray squirrel boasted. “And yourself?”

“More than the forest floor can hold!” the brown squirrel laughed heartily. Gordie nearly ran into a tree as he watched this exchange.

Then a bluebird fluttered down onto his shoulder and cocked its head at him. “Hey,” it squawked, “you got any seeds?”

“Uh, no. Sorry, man.” Gordie shrugged.

“No worries.” The bird flew away and Gordie heard it sing as it went, “
Lookin’ for seeds, lookin’ for seeds. Lost ma baby, now ahm just lookin’ for seeds
.”

“Do you hear all this?” Gordie’s face was split wide with wonder as he turned and asked Artemis as she glided over the forest floor behind him.

“Hm? Oh, yes,” she said, “you get used to it. You will learn to tune it out eventually.” She flipped her hand dismissively.

The pair stepped out of the forest onto the dirt ramp that led to Chiron’s cave. Gordie stopped for a moment to bask in the sun’s glow, his face lifted and his eyes closed. It had been quite a while since he’d felt warm. Artemis had apparently picked up the trail as she swept past him and made her way towards the awaiting cavern. Gordie opened his eyes and, as he watched her climb the steady slope, butterflies began to fill his stomach. He did not know if his family was anxiously waiting for him to return, or if they were out looking for him, but he would be confronting them soon, and his mom would not be happy. Artemis disappeared into the cave and he ran to catch up.

Gordie’s footsteps echoed in the narrow corridor while Artemis’s confident strides produced no sound. In seconds they stepped into the lightening expanse that was the Great Hall. A clattering sound filled the air, closely followed by the sound of a lot of liquid spilling, and then a steady dripping. Gordie and Artemis stood side by side in the entrance, the subjects of three sets of gawking eyeballs.

Atalo sat frozen in his chair at the grand table with his empty hand hovering below his chin as if it still held his mug. His eyes were the size of beach balls. Ellie sat next to him with her mouth hanging open, the bright orange pieces of her half-masticated carrot tumbling out of her open mouth. Bridget had been sitting with her back to the late arrivals, but she had since turned, and was now fixing Artemis with a glare that clearly said, ‘I’m
so
not impressed.’

Nobody moved for a full thirty seconds until Ellie began to rise from the table, her wide-eyes narrowing on Gordie as she did so. She edged around the table and approached her son. At first she walked slowly, cautiously, but then picked up steam.

“I thought,” she said through gritted teeth, “that you were still in bed.” The hall echoed with the sound of her footsteps, pierced by the steady drip, drip of Atalo’s morning brew. Gordie felt a glimmer of pride that his old stuffed-bed trick had actually worked, but the look on his mom’s face quickly eroded any such positive emotions.

“Listen, you don’t understand . . .” He began to back away. Artemis watched Ellie approach with interest, but Ellie spared her no attention.

“Oh, no, no, no,” Ellie whispered. “
You
don’t seem to understand. I would have thought that after the last time you went running off, we would not have this problem again.” She had reached him now and was glaring at him. Then she looked him up and down and back into his eyes before her tone changed entirely. “Are you taller?” she asked, sounding completely bewildered. Gordie grinned despite himself, then he lifted the golden egg up in front of his mom’s eyes.

“I completed another task,” he said, and his smile blazed brighter. Ellie looked from him to the egg in astonishment. She shook it off and fixed him with another stern glare.

“And your shoulder?” she nodded towards his injury. Fortunately, the river had washed away much of the blood so it didn’t appear as gruesome as before.

“Just a scratch.”

She considered him, then raised her finger to his face and said, “I’m still pissed at you.” She turned to Artemis and held out her hand. “Hello, I am Ellie Leonhart.”

Gordie looked between the two of them with awe. He thought they could be the same person, despite his mother being two feet shorter. It was the way she carried herself, with that grace and strength. His pride in his mother swelled.

Artemis grasped Ellie’s hand and shook it. “I am Artemis,” she said, radiating power. “It is an honor to meet you, Ellie Leonhart.”

“And you,” Ellie said with a smile. “Please, come join us.” Ellie spared Gordie one more calculated look before she turned and led the way back to the table. Gordie took a seat at the end by the fire in an attempt to dry his clothes. It was also the seat next to Bridget.

“Hey,” he leaned over and whispered to her with a smile. Artemis sat at the opposite end of the table, and Atalo continued to stare at her.

“Hey,” Bridget said, without looking at him. Gordie’s confidence melted and his forehead wrinkled.

“Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not
not
mad at you,” she shrugged, her eyes fixed on her plate. Gordie’s heart sank.

“What did I do?”

“You went running off in the middle of the night even though I told you not to. We all told you not to.” Ellie was watching the debate with interest and Bridget leaned in to whisper to Gordie. “I came to your room last night and you were gone. I was terrified,” she said, and she grasped his wrist. In that instant, Gordie would have traded the priceless gryphon egg he held for an opportunity to go back in time to the second Bridget had walked into his room in the middle of the night.

“I’m really sorry, but I had to help Artemis. I completed another task,” he whispered, thinking that Bridget might be impressed enough to forgive him.

“Well, if you had to help
her
.” Bridget leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. He was at a loss, but relieved when his mother chimed in.

“I think we are all agreed that it was completely IDIOTIC for you to take off…
again,
” she said. “But you are here now and apparently safe, so let’s move on.” She turned to Artemis. Unlike the others, the tall goddess looked suited for this high table. She sat with her back straight and her head held high.

“So, Artemis, how is it that you have come here? I was under the impression that there was some sort of magical
border,
” Ellie tossed her hands up, “that would not allow the gods to move freely between the realms.” She sat with her hands in her lap and looked up at Artemis patiently.

“Gordon brought me back.” Artemis met Ellie’s gaze. Gordie looked at her with disgust. She had tricked him into destroying the borders between worlds, and had the audacity to blame him for it?

“It’s not exactly that simple,” he snapped, fixing Artemis with a look of disapproval. Bridget smirked. “I went to save her from danger, which she apparently made up, and when I came back to meet her—
literally
running from an army—she was nowhere in sight. I hopped in the river to come back and guess who showed up? She mooched a ride from me and here we are, with all the worlds just waiting to collide.” Gordie sat back and crossed his arms.

“Sounds like we’ve got a wily vixen on our hands, eh, Gordo?” Atalo had come out of his shock and pounded the table, never taking his eyes off Artemis as he guffawed stupidly.

“All right, keep it together, Dad.” Ellie rolled her eyes.

“Artemis?” A gentle whisper came from the entryway and Gordie looked around in total bemusement. The voice had sounded so weak, almost scared, that he was unable to reconcile it with its source. Chiron stood just inside the entrance with his arms hanging at his sides. His face captured the look of one who has found a long-lost love and is fighting the accompanying disbelief. His tears made it look as though his eyes were wavering in the half-light, but they were actually trained fixedly on the goddess.

Artemis rose from the table and walked towards him. Chiron began to walk forward, the clopping of his hooves sounded like the cavern’s heartbeat. As they approached each other, Chiron collapsed into a deep bow, his legs folded beneath him on the stone floor.

“Rise, Chiron.” Artemis placed her hand on his shoulder.

“My lady,” he whispered, ignoring her command, his eyes fixed on her toes. Artemis knelt down, placed her hand beneath his chin, and lifted his eyes to hers. They rose in perfect unison. Although Chiron looked down on her as much as she looked down on Gordie, his expression was one of deepest respect.

“How?” he breathed. “How is this possible?”

“I returned with the young hero,” she said. Gordie’s discontent with her version of the story was mollified when she referred to him as ‘the young hero.’ Chiron looked up and stared at Gordie, the same look of disbelief on his face. Then Chiron noticed the egg resting on the table. He stepped past Artemis and stared at the orb as he approached.

“Is that?” he continued to whisper. “That cannot be . . .” He reached the table and lifted the egg with reverence. Like Artemis, he held it to his ear with his eyes closed. Gordie watched him apprehensively. “How did you obtain this?” he asked, staring at Gordie when he finally lowered the egg. Gordie was about to explain, but Artemis did for him.

“The boy faced the mighty gryphon and lived to tell of it,” Artemis said, and Gordie thought he heard a hint of pride in her voice. “He battled her in her roost on the peak of Mount Pentro. He bested her, but showed her mercy, refusing to kill her for her invaluable hide. As a reward she gifted him with this egg, her child still aslumber within.”

Everyone stared at Gordie with awe and he fought with all his might to keep the smile from his face. He definitely had no more hard feelings for Artemis who was responsible for making Bridget look at him like that.

“It was nothing,” Gordie managed, and his grin forced its way through.

“And what of Dasos?” Chiron asked Artemis, ignoring Gordie.

“He organized a war party to destroy Gordon. He did not succeed,” Artemis added. “In the end, I believe he saw the folly of his ways. I will win him back to our side when the time comes.” Gordie was confused by this sentiment, but Chiron nodded gravely. There was some understanding between the two of them that Gordie had missed. He was not alone.

“When the time comes for what?” Ellie asked, with eyes narrowed.

“War.” Chiron stared at the egg in his hands, sadness etched on his features. Gordie looked from his mom to Artemis and then to Chiron, trying to see if they were as perplexed as him. Ellie looked afraid. Artemis looked resigned.

“War?” Gordie asked.

“Indeed.” Chiron turned his gaze on Gordie. “Because you brought Artemis back, the borders have been open, as I am sure you realize. Others will soon come to the same conclusion and this world will be invaded. I told you
not
to act rashly—” Chiron’s voice began to rise in anger, but Artemis cut him off.