City of gods - Hellenica (9 page)

“And you?” he asked Kayana. “What can you do?”

“Whatever my power is, it’s not helping us now,” she said. “How about you, General? What’s
your
power?”

“Strength,” he said. “Fighting, endurance, something like that.”

“The fool called you
War
,” said Kayana.

“Then he’s indeed a fool,” said Gunnar. “I fight in pits, lunch halls and back alleys. My time for the battlefield is over.”

“But it appears we’re Horsemen,” said Tommy. “They call us
Horsemen
.”

“Indeed,” said Gunnar. “Do any of you know what gods
Horsemen
were? Or
are
?”

There was a silence until the hyaena made a high-pitched bark.

“I know,” said Saoirse. “They taught us this at Elysia. The Horsemen were ancient gods—well, not really
gods
, but supernatural beings from the monotheistic times. They were to bring about the end of humanity. War, Death, Pestilence, and the White Knight.”

“Perhaps you are indeed War, General,” said Kayana.

“Then you, Death,” said Gunnar. “Tommy, perhaps you’re Pestilence?”

“Perhaps I am,” said Tommy. “Perhaps I am.”

Tommy checked his mask again and then sat in the corner, dejected and motionless.
Tommy’s suit is amazing,
thought Gunnar,
but he doesn’t want to fight. If some monster were to come from the maze, he’d be helpless.

“And what of you, Saoirse?” he asked. “What does this White Knight do?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s unclear what the White Knight does.”

“What about your dog?” he asked.

“It’s a hyaena,” said Saoirse. “A striped hyaena, and I don’t know what it can do.”

Saoirse remained silent, and the hyaena’s hair stood up straight until its size was almost doubled. They looked into the darkness and at the entrance to the maze was a small, stout man.

“We don’t know what the hyaena can do,” said the man, “and for that matter, we don’t know what any of you can do.”

The man came out and he had smooth brown skin, short arms and legs; he looked to be a dwarf.

“My name is Bes,” said the man. “I’m an Egyptian god, but in the Academy I’d be considered your
advisor
. So for the time being, our interest is one and the same. That interest is you making it through the next hour without having your bones crushed.”

Bes came near them; he might not have been a meter in height. Gunnar knew Bes to be a powerful god so he paid him respect and gestured towards his group to stand at attention.

“Relax, Redstone,” said Bes, “I care nothing for your deference. In fact, this whole school can go to Hades as far as I’m concerned.”

Bes is the god who defends the weak, the old and the infirm,
thought Gunnar.
He’s good, but detests authority. It’s a miracle he agreed to come to the Academy in the first place.

“We thank you for coming to our aid,” said Gunnar, “and we ask your advice how to manage the maze ahead.”

“First of all, it’s not a maze,” said Bes with a smile. “It’s a
labyrinth.
Mazes are built for recreation; labyrinths are built to punish.”

“It’s a labyrinth without light, too,” said Tommy.

“You’ll survive it,” said Bes. “It’s the creature inside that concerns me. We placed this creature, a
monster
, if you will, to lie in the depths for you. It’s young, just barely hatched, but still quite deadly in this environment. You’ll all use your powers to navigate the labyrinth and get past the monster.”

“Get past him?” asked Gunnar. “Shouldn’t we fight him?”

“You’re no match for this creature; don’t fight him,” said Bes. “I’ll be watching to make sure that no fatal injuries occur, but should this creature decide to shatter your collarbone, even I won’t be fast enough to defend you.

“Now, your task is simple: make it through the labyrinth,” he said. “Do you still wish to go forward?”

The team was quiet, and then Tommy broke the silence.

“Yes,” he said, “let’s do it.”

Tommy got up, walked through the entrance to the chamber, and disappeared.

“I suggest you follow him,” said Bes. “It’s dark in there, and easy to become separated.”

They all followed Tommy in, but Bes stopped Saoirse at the last minute.

“Leave  your pet behind and I’ll let him out the way you came in,” he said. “Hyaenas aren’t fond of cold water.”

/***/

They entered the labyrinth, and yet another door shut them in.
This whole Academy is a series of rooms and locking doors,
thought Gunnar.
This
whole place
is a labyrinth.

Gunnar had good night vision and so did the rest of the crew. Tommy seemed to have the best vision; his helmet allowed him to see in the dark. Kayana didn’t let on how well she could see but said that she was
comfortable in complete darkness
, before going her own way.

Something scurried above them, crawling across the ceiling.

“What was that?” asked Gunnar.

“I’m tracking him,” said Tommy.

Tommy peered through his helmet and then turned to Gunnar.

“It’s Bes,” said Tommy. “He’s staying a hundred meters or so in front of us.”

They moved forward through a tunnel and found little glowing larvae on the walls. It was enough to let them see where they were going, but the labyrinth was beginning to spread out, and water on the ground was getting deeper.

“We’ll be swimming shortly,” said Tommy.

The labyrinth soon turned into a canal. It was a bit cold, but Gunnar didn’t mind; he’d spent many winters in the Agoge on one frozen lake or another. He worried about his companions; Saoirse in particular was shivering.

“Water strips heat away from your body,” said Gunnar. “Not everyone can take it.”

“My suit can generate external heat,” said Tommy. “Check this out.”

Tommy pressed a button and a light came on under water. Soon the water around his suit was tolerable.
Not warm,
thought Gunnar,
but tolerable
. A few glowing swimming creatures were attracted to the heat and darted around Tommy’s suit. Saoirse walked closely behind Tommy, and after a minute she stopped shivering.

They walked further and came to a fork in the tunnel.

“Both forks lead to two more forks,” said Tommy.

“This is indeed a labyrinth. Tommy, can you see Bes?” asked Gunnar. “Perhaps he’s leading the way.”

Tommy looked both ways but couldn’t find their advisor.

“My suit can record where we’ve been,” said Tommy. “It’ll make a map of sorts. I can also use sonar to see dead ends ahead.”

“Good,” said Gunnar. “Please do that, and lead the way.”

Tommy looked both ways, took a look at some images on the inside of his face shield and then went left. He took another left at a turn, then a right, and then another left. Gunnar took notice of how the team navigated this maze. He saw that though Tommy had been shy above ground, he was quite comfortable walking through the dark depths of this labyrinth. And Saoirse, though she held a regality befitting a princess, also strode through the black, cold water without complaint. If she was indeed a princess, she was one that didn’t mind getting her feet dirty. Gunnar tried to observe Kayana, but just as he would take note of her, the dark-haired girl with pale skin would disappear from his line of sight.

They walked for half an hour like this, backtracking only once. It got even darker, and soon the only light was Tommy’s suit and the glowing creatures that followed them. Tommy increased the light he gave out, but it was still too dark. After a moment they heard a little splash, and soon all the glowing creatures around them were gone.

Gunnar motioned them to be quiet; he could hear something ahead swimming towards them.

“I hear it, but I also sense it,” said Saoirse. “Ahead, just around the corner.”

Tommy looked at the internal display in his suit.

“It’s about four meters long, and it’s coming at us pretty quickly,” said Tommy.

Tommy shone his light ahead and they saw a ripple in the water moving forward. It disappeared for a moment and then reappeared. It was
quite thin and wriggling back and forth. The creature disappeared under the water, and Gunnar felt something glide against his leg. It was swimming between them, over and over again. Saoirse shrieked.

“What is it?” said Gunnar.

“It’s thin, like a ribbon,” said Tommy. “It looks like a snake, perhaps a meter long.”

“Virtually every swimming snake is venomous,” said Saoirse. “I get a bad feeling from this one too.”

“Stay together,” said Gunnar. “We must appear bigger than it is.”

“No,” said Kayana from the darkness. “Creatures kill when they’re frightened. This one isn’t frightened, not yet at least.”

Gunnar thought for a moment. He wasn’t in the Agoge any more, and he definitely wasn’t in the pit. He was underwater, cold, lost and confronted with something that could swim a lot better than he could. He followed his instinct and took Kayana’s advice.

“Split apart,” said Gunnar, “but just a bit. Lie very still.”

They split about a meter apart and stayed quiet, but their eyes were rapt on the water. They could see the snake swimming about. It would disappear and reappear again. Each time it seemed to be getting closer to Tommy. Tommy turned his light and his heat off and on, but it didn’t matter; the creature seemed to like him.

“He’s going to bite one of us,” said Saoirse. “He’s determined.”

Tommy waded apart from the group, luring the snake.

“What are you doing, Tommy?” whispered Gunnar. “Get back here!”

Tommy wouldn’t listen and continued to walk away from the group. Gunnar kept whispering at him to stop, but Tommy couldn’t be controlled. Tommy then took the glove off his suit and dipped his bare arm in the water. The sea snake reared its head. It had a thin snout and followed Tommy’s arm as he raised it above the water.

“Tommy,” said Gunnar, “don’t do this!”

Gunnar waded forward to take the snake’s attention.
The snake’s head is exposed right now,
thought Gunnar.
If I can just grab his neck I will—             

Boom!
Without taking its eyes off Tommy, the snake swiped its small, powerful tail and took Gunnar’s legs out from under him. Gunnar fell into the cold water and became disoriented. He finally managed to get up, gasping for air. He turned around, and after his eyes adjusted he saw the serpent’s jaws on Tommy’s bare arm. Tommy seemed to be in a little pain, but was allowing the snake to continue biting him.

And just like that, the snake loosened his fangs, fell into the water and swam away.

“Tommy,” said Gunnar, “are you okay?”

“Completely,” said Tommy, still focused on the snake.

Gunnar rushed toward Tommy to examine the wound; he could see at a glance that there were two bite marks with poison oozing from the holes. Before Gunnar could grab Tommy’s arm to administer any first aid, Tommy drew back from him.

“You need to stay calm and put your arm below your heart level to minimize blood flow and—” said Gunnar, but Tommy interrupted.

“The bite won’t hurt me,” said Tommy. “I’m immune.”

Tommy put the arm of his suit back on and looked at Gunnar.

“All my life I’ve made others sick, but never gotten sick myself,” said Tommy. “It’s the same with toxins, poisons. They have no effect on me.”

“The snake sensed that and left us alone,” said Saoirse. “And now he’s going to his master.”

“His master?” asked Gunnar.

It was quiet, and then they heard a large splash in the distance. Then another splash, and some snapping like they’d heard when they were outside of the labyrinth.

“What is it?” asked Gunnar.

The team was silent.

“Saoirse,” he asked, “what do you
sense
it is?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “but it’s large. It’s angry; all I sense is hatred towards us and bitterness towards those who have put it down here. It’s powerful; it won’t be cowed so easily like the sea snake.”

“What else?” asked Gunnar. “Listen to it.”

“It’s not where it belongs. It should be in the deep, deep ocean. It’s too big to be here.”

A small wave of water hit them. They heard another gigantic splash in the distance, and twenty seconds later another wave of water lapped across their legs.

“Whatever it is, we can find it,” said Tommy. “Just walk
towards
the waves.”

They walked into the ripples of water cautiously. The glow-in-the-dark creatures came to surround them once again. Every time they came to a fork in the labyrinth, a wave came from one path, and they followed it. The splashes became louder each time; it was clear that this creature was enormous. But the clicking was still relatively quiet.
Large sea creatures don’t make sounds on land,
thought Gunnar,
they communicate under the water. Their clicks and squeaks traverse oceans and find others of their kind.