Thief of Olympus (Greek Myth Series Book 3) (13 page)

Twelve

Zarek rode through the dark upon his horse, risking the steep, treacherous trail winding upwards to Mt. Olympus. He would arrive before Lysandra at the cave, and steal the thunderbolt long before she ever got there. She wasn’t going to deceive him again. This time, he’d be the winner. It was the last chance he had, because if Lysandra won this challenge, it was all over.

He slowed to a stop just as the sun rose in the sky. Looking upward, he saw Apollo drop it in place with a jolt. Then the god raised his hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. He growled, and the noise echoed against the mountains. He didn’t look happy, and rightly so. A mortal had stolen his golden lyre, and without the soothing music, the god was probably not resting well at all. In a flash, Apollo steered his horse-drawn chariot through the skies and then disappeared from sight.

Zarek pulled the map he had copied from his tunic and surveyed it once again. The cave was just up ahead. The day was warm and the air smelled sweet from violets and heather growing up the side of the mountain. Birds twittered and rabbits darted across his path, looking for a place to hide. Then he saw the two tall trees standing like sentries at the cave of Zeus, knowing he’d found the hidden forge where the Cyclops dwelled and crafted the thunderbolts Zeus hurled through the skies.

He rounded a cliff, surprised to see another horse already tethered to a tree. He dismounted, secured his own horse, then went over to find out what he could. It didn’t take long to recognize the steed as one of his own. Lysandra was already at the cave! She had outdone him once again.

He cursed under his breath, wondering how she had managed to sneak out of the castle grounds without him knowing. He had assumed she was dead asleep in his bed, just like she’d been when he visited the chamber earlier in the evening. He entered the cave quietly, already smelling the smoke of the forge. Heat filled the air hanging heavy around him, and an orange glow came from further within. The walls were high, the space inside as large as that of his great hall. A tinkering noise echoed through the cave, leading Zarek forward. He sneaked to the opening of yet another room, and carefully, so as not to be seen, peered within.

He saw Lysandra creeping across a high ledge, heading for Zeus’s thunderbolts stacked in a corner. She was dressed as usual in her warrior attire, and had a pouch tied to her waist. But this time, she had heeded his advice. She wore not her cumbersome sword, but instead carried a bow and arrows on her back.

The Cyclops stood at the raging fire in the middle of the cave, tinkering away with a hammer against an anvil. Zarek had never seen a Cyclops close up before. The unspoken rule was to run when this giant creature looked one’s way, but he would stand his ground. He arrived here of his own accord and would finish his task before he left.

It was a monstrous beast, nearly four times the height of his own tall frame. Its arms were like tree trunks, its legs as thick as the pillars holding up the home of the gods. Its head was bald, its male chest bare, and it had one huge eye in the center of its forehead, which very rarely blinked at all.

Zarek clutched the sack at his side that contained his secret weapon. Lysandra would have the thunderbolt stolen before he even found a way to avoid the Cyclops. He couldn’t let her have it. He needed desperately to win this challenge. He knew what he had to do, and wasn’t looking forward to his next move at all. Straightening his shoulders, he did the most foolish thing he’d ever done in his life. He walked to the center of the room to make his presence known.

“Hark!”

Lysandra froze at the sound of Zarek’s voice. Zeus’s eyes! She had hoped to be done and out of here before he arrived. And she had almost managed her goal, having even avoided attracting the Cyclops’s attention as she scaled the wall and settled herself upon the high ledge. But now Zarek was here, and there would be a good chance her plan would fail. And now that the Cyclops was alerted to the fact there was a human in the room, it would not make this task any easier. Cyclopes were not only huge and ugly, but they tended to like eating humans for dinner.

She watched Zarek stroll into the center of the room as if he were approaching the dais, announcing his presence to his people. The Cyclops grunted and turned around slowly, as the beast was so huge it could not move fast.

What was Zarek doing? What kind of fool was he to show himself willingly? Didn’t he know the dangers that awaited him now? She held her hands up in question, but he just looked at her and smiled.

By the gods, he’d meant to do it! She understood only too perfectly now his motivation. He saw she had almost collected the prize by winning the challenge yesterday. She was so close to doing it again, and he was alerting the Cyclops for no other reason than to try to stop her from succeeding.

Zarek dashed under the monster’s legs, just being missed by the red hot hammer the Cyclops banged down in an attempt to kill him.

“You fool!” cried Lysandra, without thinking, then covered her mouth quickly, but ’twas too late.

The Cyclops turned its massive head and looked up with that huge, ugly, single dark eye. She had given away her hidden location, and it was all Zarek’s fault. Obviously, part of his sneaky little plan.

“Why did you have to do that?” she called to Zarek, who made his way to the bottom of the wall directly below the ledge.

The Cyclops reached down and scooped up the hot forging tongs and turned in a half circle, swinging at her this time. She ducked as the hot metal swept past, missing her by a finger’s length.

“Well, I had reason,” called Zarek, throwing a looped rope upwards, and snagging it on a rock. He tied the other end around him and tested his weight before starting up the side of the wall. “You deceived me once again by sneaking out and getting here before me.”

The Cyclops stumbled and righted himself against the opposite wall. The weight of his huge body against the rock caused the cave to rumble.

Lysandra stood, hands on hips and looked over the edge at Zarek.

“I would not have had to deceive you, had you not deceived me first. I saw you in my room last night trying to steal the map.”

“I thought you were sleeping,” he said.

“I am an Amazon warrior, I sleep with one eye open.” It sounded good, even if it wasn’t true.

“Why didn’t you answer me when I called out to you last night?”

“You whispered. I knew you were up to something, so I stayed quiet.”

“So you pretended to sleep because you didn’t trust me? I am ashamed of you, Lysandra.” He pulled himself up the rope, approaching rapidly.

“You were there to steal the map! How could I trust you?”

“I did nothing of the sort,” he stated, now halfway up the wall.

“So you deny the accusation?” she said, furious.

“Aye, I came to your room, but only to look at the map, not steal it.”

“How did you know?” she asked. “How did you even know such a map existed and that I had possession of it?”

“Women find it hard to keep secrets from me for some reason.” He kicked off of the rocks to avoid another of the Cyclops’s attacks.

“Tessa!” she exclaimed. “You bedded her to find my secrets.”

“I did not bed her,” he protested. “She told me willingly. And had I wanted to learn your secrets, I would have bedded you, not a simple serving wench.”

She kicked at a rock and it fell just past him. He covered his head with one hand, almost losing his grip, then looked up at her with a scowl on his face. She hadn’t meant to hit him, just show him how agitated she was by his actions.

“So,” she said. “I see now by yesterday’s antics, that whenever you try to make an advance toward me it is done just to distract me. I’ll just assume from now on every time you kiss me, it is only to learn a secret, steal a weapon, or add to your personal gain.”

“Lysandra, stop it. You know that’s not true. I care about you. And if you would ever stop fighting me, you would realize it.”

Before she could answer, the Cyclops reached out one large hand, picking Zarek from the side of the cave like it was doing naught but plucking a berry from the vine.

“No!” screamed Lysandra, immediately loading her weapon, and firing an arrow into the Cyclops’s arm. Zarek struggled in the monster’s hold, trying to free his waist and make it easier to breathe. This ogre could crush him easily just by making a fist. His life could be over in a second.

Lysandra shot off three more arrows, but the monster didn’t even seem to notice.

“Lysandra, his hide is too thick. He’ll never even feel those arrows,” shouted Zarek. “You’ve got to do something else to distract him before he crushes me in his grip.”

“Something else? Like what?” she screamed frantically. “I’m a warrior and know only how to use weapons. I am not a thief like you, knowing how to distract others.”

“Well, think of something,” he grunted, “and fast. I’m finding it hard to breathe.”

Lysandra paced back and forth on the high ledge. She had to think. She had to do something to help him. She cared for him, and though she couldn’t bring herself to tell him this, she was not about to let him be crushed to death by a Cyclops. She had to learn how to distract. She had to do something fast.

“I almost forgot,” she said, throwing down the bow and reaching for the pouch at her waist in eager anticipation. She did have a means to distract. Didn’t Tessa tell her how to scare a Cyclops? She had the answer right here in her pouch. She reached in carefully and pulled out a white mouse by the tail and held it up for the Cyclops to see.

“Let Zarek down,” she commanded, waving the rodent back and forth. “Do it or I’ll set this mouse free in the cave to get you.”

Zarek grimaced and shook his head. “Lysandra, that won’t do anything. The Cyclops is not afraid of a little mouse.”

“Yes he is,” she tried to convince him. “It’s the Cyclops’s biggest fear.”

“Who told you that?” he asked, managing to pull his arms free.

“Why Tessa, of course.” Then things were only too clear. If he’d seen Tessa last night before she’d come to her room, then he already knew all this. “You put her up to it, didn’t you? You fed her false information because you knew she’d bring it straight to me.”

The Cyclops moved forward, and Zarek jolted with each of its steps.

“I only did it to teach you a lesson,” he ground out. “You cannot expect me to play fairly when you are cheating behind my back. Now do something else to distract this beast.”

“If you had told Tessa the proper way to scare a Cyclops, instead of trying to trick me, you might not be in this little predicament right now.”

The Cyclops threw down the tongs against the wall, upsetting several of Zeus’s thunderbolts stacked there. They tipped and one fell, booming loudly, causing Lysandra to cover her ears. After being used, the thunderbolt turned to dust. The cave shook and rocks came loose overhead, crashing to the ground.

“I don’t have time for this,” she said, turning back toward the thunderbolts. “I have to save my son and the Amazon nation before all these thunderbolts are gone.”

“Well, I must save my people as well,” he answered, using his thieving skills and swiftness to manage to break free of the monster’s hold. He teetered on the top of the Cyclops’s now closed fist, and when the beast took a step closer to Lysandra, he jumped. He landed short, and grabbed for the wall, managing to hold on, but his feet dangled dangerously over the edge below him.

“Give me a hand, Lysandra. Help pull me up.”

“It seems I’m always helping you from falling over a ledge.” She reached out to help him, but never had the chance.

“Lysandra, look out!” called Zarek. She looked up in time to see the Cyclops reaching his huge hand right for her. She screamed and threw the mouse at the Cyclops, and the monster grabbed for the rodent instead. The Cyclops popped the mouse into its mouth and chewed, making a pleased sound.

“Ugh!” Lysandra turned her head briefly, and when she’d turned back, she realized Zarek had pulled himself to safety.

There, right before him were Zeus’s thunderbolts stacked together and just waiting for him to take them first. He reached out to grab one, but it zapped and sputtered and burned his hand, causing him to pull away.

“Hah!” she said. “You don’t know everything. It seems to me you have not researched this closely enough, or you would know a mortal cannot touch the thunderbolts. You need something with which to transport them.”

She pushed past him to the thunderbolts, and took her quiver off her back. Dumping its contents, she used one arrow to scoop a thunderbolt inside the quiver.

“It looks like I’m going to win this one, won’t I?” She turned to go, but at the same time, the Cyclops lunged forward, causing several more thunderbolts to fall and explode. Zarek reached out and steadied her.

The quiver fell from Lysandra’s hand over the edge of the ledge and to the ground. She reached for it and almost fell over the edge herself when the cave started shaking. Zarek, still holding onto her arm, pulled her to his chest. She pushed back from him, trying to go after the quiver, but he only held her tighter.

“Let me go,” she said, ignoring the rocks falling all around her.

“We will never leave this cave with the Cyclops blocking the entrance,” he explained. “We need to frighten it, and when it leaves, we’ll be able to escape.”