Avenging (The Rising Series Book 3) (10 page)

“It’s just a little… storm,” Nicole said as the clouds billowed and darkened. Lightning flashed across the sky. “Actually, I think you’re right. That doesn’t look natural.”

“Megalostas, we need to move faster.”

Triton and Nicole tipped over as the beast accelerated. The rocking motion of his accelerations made it difficult to hang on. Triton’s heart pounded. How could he protect Nicole, when he was no stronger than a human?

Sypher, I need you to stop draining my powers.

It’s not something I can control, sea-god.

Liar! You can control it. You just don’t want to.

“Ty,” Nicole interrupted.

I told you to destroy me.

And let you take the easy way out? You wanted redemption. Perhaps this can give you redemption. Resist the urge to siphon my powers.
Let me save Nicole. Do you want her to die?

“Ty!” Nicole shouted.

“What?” he snapped as he turned toward her.

She pointed into the distance. “What are those?”

Three black silhouettes flew toward them in the distance, backed by the storm—one of the creatures much larger than the other two. Triton’s heart sank. “You don’t want to know.”

“Yes, I do! What are they?”

Triton looked her up and down and sighed. “Zeus’ minions.”

Triton slipped down the side of Megalostas, submerged to his chest, and wrapped his hands around a tentacle.

“What are you doing?”

“I need to call for help.”

***

When Nicole could finally see what the creatures bearing down on them looked like, she agreed with Ty. She really didn’t want to know what they were. The two smaller creatures were terrifying enough, with the head of a woman with crazy-wild hair, and the body of a bird. Those creatures would give her nightmares. But the one in the middle… that one would make her too petrified to ever sleep again. It had three heads! One head looked like a tiger, another looked like a dragon, and the third… an eagle? And its wingspan was as large as a commercial airliner!

“Ty!” She turned to see him sputtering as he pulled his head from the water.

“I can’t do it. I need seawater in my lungs to call out.” He sighed. “I don’t think it would do any good, anyway. With this pathetically weak body, I doubt any creature would hear me here in the open sea.”

He grabbed her ankle. She barely had time to take a breath when he pulled her into the water.

She quickly surfaced. “Ty, you idiot. What do you think
you’re
doing?”

“I’m protecting you.”

“Against that?” she screeched as she pointed to the giant mutant creature.

“I’ve fought creatures like this before.”

“Yeah, as a god!”

“I know what to do. Besides, I have Megalostas to help me.”

“You’re crazy. And believe me, I know crazy.”

All three heads of the creature roared, driving fear into Nicole’s heart.

“Just keep away from the harpies,” he said as he pulled himself out of the water to stand on the sea monster’s back. “They’re sneaky buggers. Megalostas and I will handle the chimera, and then we’ll take care of the harpies as soon as we can.”

Nicole’s eyes widened as fire billowed from the dragon’s mouth—coming straight for Ty. She screamed as he dove into the water. Megalostas rumbled as fire licked his back. He sank down under the rippling water.

Something wrapped around her ankle and pulled her under. She didn’t even have time to take a breath. As she pulled the thing off her leg, she realized it was Megalostas’s tentacle. She looked up to see the sharp claws of a harpy snapping in the water. Megalostas had saved her. With her lungs burning, she swam away and surfaced. She searched the skies to see the two harpies circling her. Ty climbed back onto the leviathan.

“What are you doing? Get back in the water,” she shouted.

“I can’t kill him from down there. Watch out,” he shouted as he glanced above her head.

She took in a breath and plunged her head under water. Pain sliced across her scalp, burning in the seawater. The shadow of a harpy danced across the waves. She swam underneath the surface toward Ty.
Maybe the monster trying to burn Ty with his fire will singe the feathers off the harpies.
She surfaced next to the leviathan. The three-headed monster landed on Megalostas’s back as it confronted Ty and had to take flight again as the leviathan and Triton submerged. Nicole sank under the water as fire blew across the surface. When the flames retreated, she popped her head up. The three-headed chimera hovered above the surface, its three heads waving around like giant snakes as all six of its eyes searched for Ty. Then one large tentacle launched Ty like a catapult. He flew across the sky, landing on the back of the creature. He nearly slipped off, but caught a fist full of feathers and pulled himself back up.

Nicole was so engrossed by the scene that she failed to realize that a harpy had moved in until it was too late. It clamped down on her, spearing its claws through her shoulders. She screamed at the pain, and then she was airborne. She looked back to see Ty wrestling with the creature midair. In one swift move, he broke the neck of the eagle. Even as a human, he was still really strong.

Nicole wrestled and pulled at the claws of the harpy as she painfully tried to yank them from her shoulders. The more she pulled, the more bloody her hands became—making them slick. Finally, she got one claw out. She tried to bend it and break it. If she could just break a bone, perhaps it would drop her. Finally, a claw broke off—a dagger-like nail in her hand. She immediately swiped at the creature’s claws still embedded in her shoulders. The harpy squealed when she sliced it across its knuckles. She did it again and again, until the harpy’s blood mingled with her own.

After what seemed an eternity, the harpy dropped her. She left her stomach behind as she plummeted, spiraling down. She hadn’t been paying much attention to where she actually was, being so engrossed in her battle with the harpy, but she must have been up pretty high because the ocean surface that kept flashing by her view was a mile below her. The fall seemed to last for an eternity as she screamed, waiting for death. She didn’t remember hitting the water—the only thing she remembered was a blinding flash of light and everything went still.

“Nikoleta.” The voice was calm, soothing and… familiar. “Nikoleta my child.”

A familiar, sweet scent—that she couldn’t quite place—surrounded her in comfort as she opened her eyes. A woman looked down on her. This woman was stunningly beautiful, and haloed in soft light. Nicole looked around. She was in a bright room, with silky curtains, and white marble floors. Nicole found herself lying in a plush bed with colorful pillows. She looked back at the woman who was looking at her like she was a person she treasured.

“Am I dead?” Nicole asked.

“No, my child.”

“How did I get here?”

“I brought you here,” the woman answered.

“Who are you?” Nicole asked.

“I’m your mother.”

“My mother?” Nicole was speechless. What were the odds her mother would find her at that moment? Had she been watching over her? Finally, Nicole spoke. “I don’t remember you.”

“I didn’t remember you either, until a short time ago. Apparently, both of our memories were erased years ago.” A single tear slid down her mother’s cheek. She threw her arms around Nicole and cried. “Oh my child. How could I have forgotten you? How could I not remember my own flesh and blood? You were the brightest light in my life.”

Nicole’s body seemed to remember her mother’s embrace. She felt safe, warm, and protected. Several minutes later, her mother pulled away, wiping her tears.

“Are you a goddess?” Nicole asked.

“Yes, my dear. My name is Tyche, daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite.”

“Tyche?”

“Yes.”

“What… what are you a goddess of?”

She cracked a smile. “Fortune.”

“And who is my father?”

At that question, Tyche’s eyebrows pressed together. “I… I don’t remember yet. I’ve only recently remembered you. I have no idea who erased my memories, but after finding you in the clutches of a harpy, I fear the worst. Harpies are at the command of Zeus. If the king of the gods wishes you ill, I don’t know how I can protect you. My only advice is that you hide among the humans.”

“If I’m the child of a goddess, what powers do I have? Can I use them to protect myself?”

Tyche sighed. “I don’t remember. You’ll have to discover that on your own.”

“I… oh, my gosh! Ty!”

“Ty?”

“Triton. I was with him when you brought me here. He was fighting some hideous thing with three heads.”

Tyche closed her eyes. Triton materialized near the ceiling and fell, slamming to the stone floor in front of them. He groaned as he pushed himself up. “Ouch.” He looked up, his eyes widening. “Tyche?”

“Hello, sea-god.” She narrowed her eyes, and then they widened as she smiled callously. “You’ve lost your powers. I can’t say I’m sorry to see you reduced to a human.”

Nicole was surprised at the venom in her mother’s voice.

“Why did you bring us here?” Ty demanded.

Nicole could see a purple bruise on his left cheek and a spot of blood at the corner of his mouth. She ran to him, threw her arms around him, and then pulled away to run her hands over his body. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Triton’s eyes narrowed—his focus still on Tyche. “I asked why you brought us here.”

“I saved my daughter, and saved your sorry self too, when I saw how much Nikoleta cared about you.” Standing, she circled him, assessing. She moved with elegance, more graceful than any other woman Nicole had ever seen.

“I must tell you,” Tyche said. “I’m not happy about my daughter having affections for you.”

Ty scowled, looking from Nicole to her mother.

“Tell me,” Tyche said. “How many children did you father before they were destroyed?”

“You’re Nicole’s mother?” Ty looked like this woman was the last person he’d want for a mother-in-law.

“I asked you a question, sea-god.”

“That is none of your business.”

“Oh really? You’re no better than my mother. You and she used to be close, didn’t you? Do you know why?”

“Because she was taken in by my father and raised alongside me,” Ty answered.

“No, because you’re the same. Do you know how many siblings I have?”

Triton didn’t answer.

“Twenty. And that’s just the full gods. She gave birth to many more demigods, dumping them in their human father’s laps. Even the children she kept, she never cared for herself. She made her handmaidens take care of us. The goddess of love…” She turned and spat. “The goddess of lust is more like it.”

“I have but one daughter, sea-god, and she was ripped from my arms two thousand years ago. Erased from my memories. And then, there’s you. Fathering children left and right. Not caring about the mothers who loved them. The mothers who would have given their lives for them. You erased their memories, too. In my eyes, you are the enemy. Why my daughter has affections for you, I’ll never understand. But I’ll say this. If you ever hurt her, you’d better hope your god powers have been restored, because if they’re not, I will meld you into gold and sink you into the earth’s core—far from the reach of your father. Now, get out of my sight!” At those words, he disappeared.

Nicole’s throat tightened as she looked at her mother—so beautiful in her fury. Nicole remembered Haiki once telling her that she was beautiful when she was angry. Nicole nearly smiled. She was just like her mother.

“You wouldn’t really turn him to gold and sink him into the earth, would you?” Nicole asked.

Tyche raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t answer.

“Now, daughter. As much as I would love to keep you with me, when Zeus figures out his web of deceit is unraveling, he may look for you here. And my power is nothing compared to his. For your safety, I have to send you back to the human world. Try not to use your powers, as they might give you away. Zeus will be searching for you.”