City of gods - Hellenica (23 page)

“Demons that invade dreams,” said Kayana, “and then bend a man to their will. Your children bite, but they don’t kill; not directly at least. They bite, and soon thereafter their victims succumb to bad dreams, dreams that drive them to either insanity or coma!”

“What?” asked the King Basilisk.

Kayana walked up to him and stared him directly in the eye.

“Your children have caused little death,” said Kayana, “but much suffering. I’ve seen men tortured indefinitely, all because a basilisk wanted to be beautiful.”

“I know not of what you speak,” said the King Basilisk, choking back tears.

“Your beauty comes at a price,” said Kayana. “A price of men disemboweled, drawn and quartered. They’re tormented only in dreams perhaps, but when they awake they’re under the control of something, of someone not in your purview. Why? Because a Mermaid made you pretty. Tell me who this
Mermaid
is, and whom she works for.”

“I don’t know,” said the King Basilisk. “I don’t know.”

“You sent the most poisonous creatures in the history of the world to our Academy,” said Kayana, “and you
don’t know
for whom you work?”

The King Basilisk’s eyes quivered and more tears began to flow.

“Don’t judge me!” he screamed. “Have
you
spent the last thousand years being synonymous with hideousness? Have mothers warned their children that if they don’t behave, they’ll see
you
in the mirror? Have you come to meet a man as a friend, only to see him squeal as his heart stopped because of your face?”

“Yes,” said Kayana. “I’ve seen such things happen every day of my life.”

“Then you understand my predicament! When someone offers you the one thing you wanted for the last millennium,
you take it
. You don’t ask their motives, you don’t ask who will get hurt. You
take it
.”

The King Basilisk moved to the corner with surprising agility and buried his head in his paws. The smaller basilisks swarmed him and he talked to them in his own odd tongue. Tommy moved forward to talk to him, but Kayana held out an arm.

“Wait,” she said. “Let him think of what he’s done and come to his own conclusions.”

After ten minutes, the King Basilisk came back and faced them. His face sparkled with his dried tears.

“I’ve called off my children; they’ll attack your Academy no more. Give your friend this antivenom; it will work on him, but don’t use it on any of the Spartans. This substance is strong and will kill mortals; you’ll have to find another way to clear the Spartans of their demons.

“And as far as these demons go, I know neither their purpose nor from whence they came. Perhaps you should take it up with the Mermaid.”

“Where is this Mermaid?” asked Kayana.

“I know not where she is nor what her motives are,” said the King Basilisk. “Now please make haste and leave me in the darkness. The antivenom breaks down within a few hours, and your light is irritating me.”

/***/

They made it back to the Academy an hour before morning call. Tommy and Kayana brought the antivenom to Bes and he rushed it into Gunnar’s room in the infirmary. Saoirse was there putting a cool cloth on Gunnar’s head while he jerked, seized and foamed at the mouth.
If this substance heals him,
thought Tommy,
I wonder if his recovery will be full.
Tommy thought back to his time on Lepros; though most people eventually dealt with handicaps, warriors had a hard time with lessened abilities. Impairment of strength and agility seemed to take their identities away.

Bes took a syringe and drew in some antivenom. He waited for Gunnar to stop seizing, then jabbed it into Gunnar’s forearm. Gunnar seized some more, then seized violently, and then relaxed.

“It’s working,” said Bes. “The King Basilisk’s antivenom is effective. Your friend Gunnar is going to be fine.”

Kayana didn’t smile, but gained a slight look of satisfaction on her face. Saoirse beamed and hugged Bes, and then kissed Gunnar. Tommy smiled too; Gunnar was already beginning to gain some of his color back.

“Save some of that enthusiasm,” said Bes. “When Gunnar heals ‘on his own’ later today, you need to look surprised. We don’t know who else is infected.”

Kayana nodded and made her face blank again. Saoirse gave Gunnar one more hug and then tried to hug Kayana, but Kayana held up her hand to stop her.

“Now get back to your quarters before morning call,” said Bes. “And remember that if anyone asks, you’ve
been sleeping the whole night
.”

Saoirse nodded once more and went to open the door of the infirmary. When she did, the door burst open to reveal Rowan, followed by Praetor Mantus, Heracles and two more Spartan mercenaries. Rowan had an angry look on his face. He pushed Saoirse aside and pointed his finger at Kayana.

“Her,” said Rowan. “She was the one who invaded my dreams.”

Praetor Mantus came up to Kayana and his eyes went completely black as he scanned her. Kayana didn’t flinch and stared right back. Praetor Mantus’s eyes went back to normal, and he slapped Kayana. Still, Kayana didn’t flinch.

“She’s guilty,” said Praetor Mantus. “This is the second time she’s disobeyed my direct order. Until we figure out how to punish her for this dangerous action, I command that she be placed deep beneath these floors. Spartans, bring her to Tartarus.”

“You don’t understand,” said Bes.

“Perhaps I don’t,” said Praetor Mantus. “And until I do, she’ll be imprisoned.”

“She can still invade dreams,” said Rowan.

“Not from Tartarus,” said Praetor Mantus. “It’s too deep and too dark.”

“She’ll find a way to hurt,” said Rowan. “That’s in her nature. I should ask to cut off her head, right now, before she does any damage to anyone else in the Academy.”

“You’ll not cut off her head,” said Tommy. “To do so, you’ll have to go through me—”

Rowan shoved Tommy aside easily. Tommy flew into the wall and his face hit the inside of his visor. Blood came out of his nose and Rowan yanked him from behind, and then slammed him onto the floor. He saw Rowan’s eyes flash green, and then he saw the Norseman’s blade held high, preparing to decapitate.

“Leave him be!” yelled Kayana.

In a flash she jumped at Rowan, pushed him to the ground, and then put her knee on his chest. Kayana ungloved her left hand and put her little finger on Rowan’s neck, which caused his skin to turn white. He was still alive, but couldn’t move. Her right hand was also ungloved, and she placed it near his face and stared the teachers down. The teachers yelled and moved toward her, but Kayana’s eyes flashed white and they instinctively shrunk back, even Praetor Mantus.

“Come closer and I’ll take the rest of his life away,” she said.

The teachers kept their distance.

“Rowan is under the spell of demons,” said Kayana. “Perhaps you all are, perhaps not. Either way, I fear for this Academy.”

“Tell me, child,” asked Praetor Mantus, laughing nervously, “Why would
you
fear for this Academy?”

“Because you’re weak-minded,” said Kayana, motioning towards Rowan. “You follow the likes of
him
and imprison the only ones who can save you.”

“And I take it,” said Praetor Mantus, “that you
Horsemen
are the only ones who can save us?”

“Perhaps not,” said Kayana. “I don’t know if you’re worth saving.”

Praetor Mantus’s eyes flashed black and stared at Kayana.

“Kill Rowan if you wish, Kayana, but we will not—”

“I will not
kill
him,” said Kayana. “Someone else will do that. Be it on the battlefield, in joust for a king, or in duel for a perceived slight, his destiny is
to die
.
That
is all he’s good for, at least to the likes of Praetor Mantus.”

Kayana got up close to Rowan’s ear and spoke to him while he still seized.

“I’ve been in your dreams, Rowan, and I’ve seen your demons,” said Kayana. “And I want them to listen to me now.”

Kayana’s eyes turned white and she drew even closer to Rowan’s ear.

“I don’t care for the boy whom you inhabit, this is true, but I won’t punish him,” said Kayana. “He was a fool before,
perhaps
, but you’ve made him a puppet who knows not what he does. So listen to me; when I return to your dreamscape castle I won’t hide this time, nor will I come under the protection of disguise. I’ll come with an army one score bigger than yours and ten score fiercer. I’ll shred your soldiers in moments and then chain you in the dungeons that you have built yourself. Once you’re there I’ll spare no effort in getting every answer out of you that I wish. So hear my warning:
when I come you should surrender and tell me your secrets immediately, or your last moments will be filled with torments you have not thought possible
.”

Kayana took her finger off Rowan and he spasmed back to life and began gasping for breath. Kayana put her gloves back on, placed her hands behind her back and turned to the gods around her.

“Now shackle my wrists and take me to Tartarus,” she said. “I need time to think, and right now the silence of prison appeals to me.”

/***/

Back in their quarters, Gunnar was walking around the common room and getting used to his healed body. Tommy explained the last few days to Gunnar, and Gunnar frowned.

“We have to act now,” said Gunnar. “We have to break her out of prison soon, before they take the next step.”

“What are they going to do?” asked Tommy.

“I don’t know,” said Gunnar. “But Kayana is in a vulnerable spot, and if just one of her jailors has been infected by the demons, we might never see her again. They may be flooding into Tartarus to kill her as we speak.”

Gunnar opened the door.

“I’ll be back in half an hour,” he said. “Don’t go anywhere.”

/***/

Thirty minutes later he was back, reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blueprint of the Academy’s floors.

“I stole this,” said Gunnar, pointing to the map. “Tartarus is right there, on the second floor, far away from the Manitou and warriors’ fields.”

Gunnar studied the map for a minute and then looked out the window.

“Tommy, I need you to rescue Kayana from Tartarus,” said Gunnar. “Can you do it?”

Tommy looked up and nodded. Gunnar went back to the blueprint.

“Tartarus is built for punishment, not for security,” said Gunnar. “You’ll be able to get her out. All you need to do is follow my instructions and get back to this floor; I’ll take the plan from there. Just get us to the meeting point
here
.”

Gunnar pointed to an area right outside the main lecture hall.
Hardly a discreet place to regroup,
thought Tommy.

“Trust me on this Tommy,” said Gunnar. “Follow my instructions, and you’ll be fine.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Tommy.

“You bring Kayana here,” said Gunnar, “and I’ll take care of the rest.”

/***/

Tommy waited for the lights to go off, turned on his night vision and descended the stairs in darkness. Gunnar knew where the Academy’s power was, and where the backup power was. He cut both.
They can reroute the power in thirty minutes
, Gunnar had said,
so be back here in twenty. Once you open her cell, Kayana will be able to take care of herself.

Tommy descended the stairs quietly. He snuck by four Spartan guards mulling about in the stairwell, and then entered the second floor where Kayana was held.

He couldn’t fully see the prison’s setup; it was too dark to see farther than a few meters, but he could tell the prison was large. It seemed to be endless, like most of the places in the Academy.
They modeled it after the real Tartarus
, Gunnar had told him,
but this is a school, so they don’t have prisoners. It’s mostly empty now, save for some predatory animals they keep.

Tommy didn’t want to see any
predatory animals
; even some of the
forgotten, ugly creatures
that now worshipped him. He heard some growls, then looked around and saw a cage holding the Celtic Wildman that Gunnar had told him about. He saw a Spartan guard in front of the cage, completely unaware of Tommy’s presence in the dark. Tommy looked into the cage and found that the Wildman wasn’t growling; he was snoring.  He was sleeping nude behind the Spartan guard, and for some reason he’d been completely shaved.

Tommy sneaked on from cell to cell, hoping each time that he’d see Kayana so that he could leave more quickly. He found her in the third cell; she was meditating, with only the whites of her eyes visible. She saw him instantly, even in complete darkness. Her eyes regained their color, and she pointed to the iron bars on the door in front of her.

Tommy looked around and saw that no one was guarding her cell, save for a Spartan guard in the distance who couldn’t see them. Tommy carefully took out a metal bolt-cutter from his forearm’s armor and placed it on the bars. He cut the metal bars slowly so as not to make a sound, and after cutting placed each piece carefully on the ground. After ten minutes he’d made a space big enough for Kayana to crawl out. When she squeezed out of the space she stumbled into his arms; he caught her and she brushed him off, but still stayed close to him.