The Promise of Hades (The Hades Trials #3) - Eliza Raine Page 0,49
my leg, and my skin went tight and cold over my whole body. Dizziness swamped me as I kept rising, then there were hands pulling at my shoulders. Hecate was dragging me onto the chariot, the small space barely big enough for me to sit.
'Heal yourself, quickly. That bite will turn nasty fast,' she said urgently. I concentrated, trying to block out the searing pain and drawing my healing power to my leg. Warmth replaced the tight icy feeling, then soothing magic tingled over the wound, spreading throughout my body. My magic was removing the toxins I knew were spreading from the bite.
'I think it's working,' I panted.
'Good,' she answered, and her grip on my shoulder relaxed. I felt strength returning to my limbs, the tightness in my chest easing and the dizziness receding. Last time I had been poisoned I couldn't heal myself. Now... Now I was strong. Strong enough to fix myself. Strong enough to fix Hades.
'Let's go, Morpheus,' I said loudly, getting slowly to my feet. I wobbled, but Hecate and the side of the chariot kept me upright.
'You got it,' he said, and the chariot took off after the little green light, into the darkness.
Twenty-Two
Persephone
We chased the green light out of the mountain and found ourselves flying through a high-sided gulley, the Styx and the Acheron flowing side-by-side below us.
'Incoming!' called Morpheus, and I squinted to see the red light fast approaching, Minthe's chariot behind it.
She was on her way to Olethros, which meant she had her first gem too. Shit.
My vines sprang from my palms, ready, and Hecate raised her hands, her eyes turning milky, as the red chariot got closer.
The lights neared each other, forcing our chariots within striking distance of one another. The flails on the side of ours leaped to life, whirling fast on their chains, stretching beyond the spikes. But the red bags on the end on the ropes on Minthe's chariot rose too, and as a crossbow bolt whizzed by my head, the mountains around us rumbled. Minthe's eyes caught mine as she raised her arms, and rocks exploded from the bags. I threw myself down, below the side of the chariot, yelling for Morpheus to do the same. He did, as a wall of blue light burst from Hecate, stopping about half of the rain of sharp stones from landing in the chariot. But the rest got through, and the chariot began to tip forward in a nose dive toward the ground.
'Morpheus!' I shrieked, and the chariot leveled sharply, tipping me onto my ass. My heart leaped into my mouth as I lost my grip, but my vines instinctively coiled around the wooden edge of the chariot and steadied me.
'They're past,' called Hecate, and I got quickly to my feet.
'Are you hurt?' I asked as Morpheus pushed himself up.
'A little,' he said, and a trickle of blood that shone a weird silver color ran down his temple. 'But it'll heal. I need to concentrate.'
'OK,' I said, and turned to watch Minthe's chariot get smaller as they approached Olethros' cave. 'Well, I'd say they won that encounter.'
Morpheus did a perfect job of weaving between the geysers of glowing liquid that the rivers shot up at us as we raced after the green light, and eventually we moved up out of the ravine. My breath caught as wind rushed over us, the view of the sprawling rock landscape covered in glowing streams truly magnificent in its own other-worldly way.
The green light darted off toward another steep incline, and we zipped after it, until it reached a long, flattened ledge in the rock. It slowed abruptly, and my pulse quickened. Had we reached the second dog?
'Fonax is the ancient word for bloodthirsty, Persy, you need to be really careful. He doesn't look as bad as Olethros, but trust me, he's worse.' I nodded at Hecate as we moved lower, toward the ledge.
'If Minthe could handle him, so can I,' I said determinedly.
But when Fonax came into view, pacing the ledge with predatory grace, my insides skittered. He was a smoky gray color, broad, and much smaller than the last hound, probably waist high on me. He paused, sniffing the air as we neared him and I noticed that his short snout was dripping with something red, and his eyes were gleaming scarlet. Then he growled deep in his throat, and I saw his blood red teeth as he bared them in our direction.