The Demigods of Olympus: An Interactive Adventure (13 page)

I stumbled to the edge of the fountain. “Hello, boys!” I yelled at the satyrs. “Wanna drink from this fountain? Can’t! It’s mine now! My fountain!”

I jumped in and splashed around like an idiot. “Ha, ha! Can’t drink from my fountain! Nossir! I claim it in the name of…Dorito-flavored demigods everywhere.”

The lead demon gave three short bleats. The pack rushed me.

At that point, I was pretty sure I would die. I only hoped I could somehow splash enough tea in the monsters’ mouths to take a few of them with me. Maybe, with luck, Sam could get away. He was my only friend. I couldn’t let him get turned into goat-meat tacos by a band of bridge-dwelling cannibals.

But Sam had other ideas. “Zane!” he yelled. “Catch!”

Sam popped out from behind the bench and threw something small and white. I snatched the toothbrush out of the air.

For a split second, I thought Sam really needed to get over the whole fluoride thing. This was no time for dental hygiene. Then I remembered that this was no ordinary toothbrush.

I stroked the bristles with my thumb and the toothbrush sprang into sword form, the bright blue gem gleaming on the hilt.

“How do you like me now?” I yelled at the demons.

The leader hissed. Then, as one, the satyr pack veered toward Sam.

“Hey, no!” I screamed. “Over here! Fountain water! Dorito flavoring!”

“I’ve got you, adorable goat man!” cried Columbia.

With a powerful beat of her wings, the bronze goddess swooped from her chariot, scooped up Sam in her arms, and flew to the nearest treetop.

The demons stopped, bleating with fury.

“There, there. You’re safe now,” Columbia crooned, cuddling Sam like a baby. “As for you nasty cannibal goat-men, this one is mine! You’ll have to settle for eating demigod.”

Thanks a lot,
I thought.

A dozen sets of glowing red eyes locked on me.

“That’s right!” I said, waving my sword. “Kill me and eat me if you must, but do not drink from my fountain! DO NOT!”

I tried my best to act terrified. It wasn’t hard. I climbed the slippery tiers of the fountain until I stood in Columbia’s chariot, distancing myself as far from the satyrs as possible.

“That would pain me too much!” I yelled. “If I had to watch you filthy demons drink from these pure waters before you killed me, that would be too horrible! I simply couldn’t. I would cry. Like, a lot!”

They’re not going to fall for it, I thought. They’re not that stupid.

I gripped my sword tightly, wondering how many of the monsters I could take down before they killed me.

Then the demon leader hissed with laughter. His smile was even more disgusting than Barton the hippie river god’s.

“Satyrs, drink your fill,” he commanded. “Show this demigod that
we
control the fountain. Fill him with despair before we devour his flesh!”

“No!” I wailed. “Take my flesh, but never my refreshing fountain water!”

The pack advanced.

The satyrs lowered their faces to the water and slurped away.

C’mon,
I urged silently, holding my breath.
Poof into oblivion!
C’mon!

Nothing happened. My heart sank. Our plan had failed.

The lead demon straightened and smacked his lips with satisfaction. “And now…”

His glowing red eyes went dark, and he collapsed in a heap.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

One by one, the rest of the pack fell to the pavement and lay still.

“Okay,” I muttered. “Not exactly what I was expecting.”

I leaped out of the fountain and splashed toward the nearest monster. He was snoring open-mouthed. And, just like Sam had warned, demon satyr breath smelled like week-old roadkill.

“Well done!” cried Columbia. She fluttered down from the treetop and set Sam on his feet. “You have vanquished the monsters!”

“But…” I realized what must’ve happened. “The water diluted the tea, making it less potent. That’s why it put them to sleep instead of vaporizing them.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Columbia said. “The satyrs are out like lights. I can take care of them from here.”

I bit back a comment, like
You’re a goddess. Why couldn’t you have taken care of them to begin with?
But I was starting to realize that gods and goddesses didn’t work that way. They would much rather watch heroes do all the work.

“C’mon, Sam,” I said. “We’ve got to get to the bridge!”

Columbia sighed with disappointment. “Leaving so soon?”

“Um, yeah,” Sam said. “Sorry, Goddess. Things to do, places to be. But thanks for, you know, saving me from being eaten. I owe you one. Bye!”

We jogged the entire two miles to the Congress Avenue Bridge. It was fully dark when we arrived. The crowds had dispersed along with the bats.

We crept down the slope of the riverbank. I didn’t see any signs of movement from underneath the bridge.

“Stay close,” I told Sam, brandishing my toothbrush.

Sam shook his head. “No. This is for you to do alone, Zane. Remember what Brykhon said? Only the next great hero can obtain this magic item. And only demigods can be heroes, not satyrs.”

I squeezed his arm. “You’re a hero to me, Sam. But all right, how about you be the lookout? We don’t want any random leftover demon satyrs sneaking up on us. And in case you need it…”

I gave Sam my toothbrush, which seemed to surprise him. Then, before I thought about it too much, I hurried under the bridge.

“I’ll fight them,” I blurted out, strangely calm.

Sam looked at me like I’d turned into a hippocampus. “
What?
How?”

“Well, I have my toothbrush…” I said, scanning the area for something else—anything else—I could use to fight a dozen eight-foot demon monsters. That was…ninety-six feet of monster, slowly clip-clopping toward us.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I leaped up and started walking, trying to get them away from Sam. He was my only friend. I couldn’t let him get turned into goat-meat tacos by a band of bridge-dwelling cannibals. The toothbrush felt heavy in my hand.

The demon satyr leader turned and snarled at me. His eyes narrowed. His nostrils flared. Behind him, the other monsters anxiously jostled one another.

I walked faster. I didn’t know if they liked the taste of demigod as much as satyr, but I wasn’t about to let them get close enough to find out.

“Hot out here, right, guys?” I said nervously. “Boy, am I thirsty.” They seemed to have lost all interest in the fountain.

I tried to force a whistle out of my shaking lips as I walked, but ended up settling for nervous humming.

Clip-clop. Clip-clop.
All the demon satyrs were moving toward me now. I’d distracted them from Sam, but now what?

“I mean, that fountain looks really, really refreshing. If I were you, I’d stop and drink my fill…” I trailed off as the lead demon trotted toward me, picking up speed. His eyes flashed and he tilted his head back, emitting a long, gurgling howl.

The entire pack rushed me as one.

I raised the toothbrush and stroked the bristles with my thumb. It sprang into sword form, the bright blue gem gleaming on the hilt.

I swung it in front of me, driving the group back a bit. They bleated at one another and stopped, staring at me with what was clearly murderous rage. “That’s
right
!” I shouted, swinging the sword again. “Back off!”

They bleated a few more times, then began to spread out, slowly trapping me in a large semicircle, pushing me toward a graffiti-covered wall.

As my back hit the cold concrete, I swung the sword again, but the demon satyrs didn’t seem nearly as frightened this time.

“I think you chose wrong!” I heard Sam yell.

“Sam!” I shouted. “Run!”

“I can’t leave—I’m supposed to protect you!”

“Well, you’re not doing a very good job,” I said, looking above me for any possible way out.

The demon satyrs, working as a single unit, closed in.

I tried to stab one of them with my sword, but it leaped back, then quickly regained its place in the tightening circle.

A high-pitched squeal reverberated through the area, and it took me a moment to recognize it as a battle cry. Sam charged the group of demon satyrs, head lowered, nubby horns pointed at the nearest monster. The group bleated frantically at each other, and three split off, blocking Sam’s approach.

The closest demon satyr reached a gnarled claw out and grabbed the top of Sam’s lowered head, stopping him in his tracks.

“Gonna…get…you,” gasped Sam as his cloven hoofs churned aimlessly against the pavement. The other two demon satyrs flanked Sam and lifted him into the air.

“Sam!” I shouted, leaping to my right, trying to reach him. The other nine monsters closed in, trapping me against the wall, snarling and bleating, their eyes glowing.

I watched in helpless horror as Sam was carried away, his squeaking voice fading into the distance.

The remaining monsters tightened the circle, closer and closer…

I swung the sword as hard as I could, but the lead demon satyr reached out and slapped it from my hands. A gnarled hoof kicked it away.

Red eyes and sharp teeth filled my vision.

The last thing I remember hearing was the horrible bleating of the monsters…

Zane…

My head was killing me. I could sense light all around, doing its best to sneak in between my closed eyelids.

Zane Carver…

I mumbled something about letting me sleep longer, but a weird force was urgently pushing against my skin.

The voice came again. It was otherworldly, distant, magical.
I can only interfere so much with your quest. You must choose more wisely. You must begin to know yourself.

I felt the force lifting me…

Then suddenly, my eyes slammed open and I was running.

It was dusk. Sam was running to my right. I screamed and he stopped short.

“What? What?” he shouted.

“You’re alive!” I said, hugging him.

“So are you!”

“Yeah, but…where are we?”

Sam looked around. “This path leads down to the Congress Avenue Bridge. How did we get here?”

“You don’t know?”

He shook his head. “We were at the fountain, and now…we’re here.”

A shiver ran through my body and I looked up as a gentle breeze rustled the treetops. I stepped away from Sam. “Let’s just consider it a gift from the gods. Come on.”

Sam nodded, still unsure, but he let me drag him down the road toward the bridge. I mouthed a silent
thank you
as we ran on.

It was fully dark when we arrived. The crowds had dispersed along with the bats.

We crept down the slope of the riverbank. I didn’t see any signs of movement from underneath the bridge.

“Stay close,” I told Sam, making sure my toothbrush was back in my pocket.

Sam shook his head. “No. This is for you to do alone, Zane. Remember what Brykhon said? Only the next great hero can obtain this magic item. And only demigods can be heroes, not satyrs.”

I squeezed his arm. “You’re a hero to me, Sam. But all right, how about you be the lookout? We don’t want any random leftover demon satyrs sneaking up on us. And in case you need it…”

I gave Sam my toothbrush, which seemed to surprise him. Then, before I thought about it too much, I hurried under the bridge.

Word of advice: When searching for a magical item, it helps to know what you’re looking for. I assumed it would be well hidden or disguised, so I wasted a lot of time poking through trash. And there was a
lot
of trash under that bridge. But about thirty feet in, directly under the center of the bridge, I saw it.

It was unmistakable. Enveloped by a glowing blue aura, it seemed to infuse everything around it with a thrumming energy. I glanced behind me to make sure I was alone, then approached. As I got closer, I was able to make out exactly what it was—a battered McDonald’s Happy Meal box.

I shrugged. Nothing surprised me anymore. Maybe it was a box that provided unlimited food. Or a portal to another dimension. Or a super powerful grenade.

I stood above the glowing box, reached out a hand, then stopped.

Only the next great hero can obtain it
.

What if that hero wasn’t me? Would something bad happen if I touched it? What if I was an imposter after all?

From the riverbank, Sam called, “Uh, Zane, you might want to hurry. I think I just heard a bleat in the distance.”

“Right. Here goes.” I closed my eyes and grasped the box. I didn’t dissolve into water or go up in smoke or get struck by lightning, which I figured was a good sign.

I opened my eyes and stared at the old Happy Meal box in my hands. I knew with absolute certainty that I was holding a clue to my godly parent’s identity.

The trouble was, I had no idea
how
I knew that, or what the clue was. As I stood there examining it, the box began to slowly dissolve, its ratty edges floating away like mist. I squinted and, as the air cleared, I found myself clutching a small, plain, wooden ring.

“Zane,” Sam yelled again. “Time to go.
Now
!”

I shoved the ring into my pocket and ran.

Wait, my child.

A voice echoed inside my head.

Everything around me seemed to freeze. The moonlight stopped rippling on the river. The rumble of cars ceased on the bridge above. Sam crouched mid-sprint as if he’d turned to bronze.

You have succeeded in this task,
the voice intoned majestically,
as I knew you would
.

The voice sounded so watery and distant I couldn’t even tell if it was male or female.

You will know soon,
the voice answered.
But first you must travel to New Orleans. Hades requires your assistance.