Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,41

felt was probably healthy.

“That looks like an advert for a porn site,” Loki said.

Medusa, Hel, and Irkalla all turned to look at him.

“What?” Loki asked. “It does.”

“He’s got a point,” Mordred said. “It’s quite exceptionally porny.”

“I don’t think that’s a word,” Medusa said.

“I don’t think it matters too much,” Irkalla replied. “‘Porny’ is actually pretty accurate. I’m a little surprised it doesn’t depict Zeus holding a foot-long penis and waving it around like a sword.”

“Hers was way worse than mine,” Loki said, mostly to himself.

“If Zeus commissioned this, it would be three feet long and shooting lightning bolts,” Medusa said with the expression of someone who had met Zeus and had found him much less entertaining in person.

Mordred noticed that Hel ignored the playful conversation and was looking around. “This place is much neater than I expected,” she said. “There’s no dust. No evidence of wear on the mural or those marble columns. It’s like a time capsule.”

“How’s that possible?” Irkalla asked.

Hel shrugged. “Someone is taking care of this place.”

Mordred placed a hand on Excalibur and drew it from the sheath on his back. “Let’s see what’s happening here.” He activated the power within the sword, and the rear of the temple shimmered and changed, revealing a doorway, which opened.

There were thirty guards, all dressed in red-and-silver armor that reminded Mordred of the legionnaires of Rome, and all of them pointed spears at the team. The squad of soldiers parted slightly, allowing a woman through. She was just over five feet tall, with olive skin and dark hair that was extravagantly plaited. She wore a light-blue toga and sandals, which Mordred admitted to himself were probably more beneficial than his dark leather armor, considering how hot it was.

“Nanshe,” Irkalla said, running over to her old friend and hugging her.

“Sorry we broke your security,” Mordred said.

“Mordred,” Nanshe said, walking over and taking his hands in hers. “It has been a long time. I hear you’re a new man.”

“Same man, just not evil,” Mordred said with a smile. “Can your soldiers stop pointing spears at us?”

Nanshe smiled, waving a hand without looking back. The soldiers lowered their weapons and turned to march away toward a nearby guard post.

“Why are you here?” Nanshe asked.

Mordred sighed. “It’s a really long story,” he said. “But basically, I’m now the king of the rebellion and rightful king of Avalon, and we need your help to get into Atlantis and stop Arthur from murdering everyone.”

“You’re a king?” Nanshe asked, looking around at everyone.

“He has Excalibur and everything,” Medusa said.

Nanshe’s eyes widened in surprise. “Well, Your Majesty, welcome to Olympus.”

“Please don’t call me that,” Mordred pleaded.

Nanshe took the team up a winding road that led to the top of a large hill. The closer they got, the more noise could be heard, and as they reached the summit, they could see the sprawling city before them. To the right was the temple of the Olympians, the gleaming white stone building towering over everything around it.

“You’ve seen the temple before, yes?” Nanshe asked.

Everyone nodded. “Not for a long time,” Mordred whispered. “A really long time.”

“That’s the palace,” Nanshe said, pointing to the equally large building at the far end of the city. “The council chambers are beside it.”

The red-and-white stone buildings littered the city, and Mordred wondered how no one on the team had been able to hear so many people on their way toward the city. He looked around as they walked down the steps into the city and saw more and more runes carved into the stone.

“You stop the sound from traveling,” he said, more to himself.

“Yes, we wanted this to be a place of safety,” Nanshe said. “You’ve shown how easy it is to break our security.”

“Good,” Loki said. “Get better security.”

Nanshe chuckled. “I will tell those in charge.”

“I thought you were in charge,” Irkalla said.

“I am the head of the council,” Nanshe said. “But everything must be voted on. Even helping you.”

“This is going to take a while, isn’t it?” Hel asked with a sigh.

Nanshe stopped walking and turned to the group. “What do you actually want, Mordred? Troops? People to die for your cause?”

“Aid,” Mordred said quickly.

“And that means?” Nanshe asked.

“We need two things,” Mordred said. “We need to find out how to get into Atlantis, and we need the help of anyone who will stand beside us. I cannot say that those who do will live, but I’d rather die with a sword in my hand, doing the right thing, than hiding away