

Callum Espley Clegg

Copyright 2014 by Callum Espley Clegg

Smashwords Edition

Athena's Descendants

And

The Jewel of Barthimia

Second edition

(Edited and Altered)

By

Callum Espley Clegg

Contents:

Chapter 1 -

The Last of the Twelve.

In The Clutch of Jordan's Claws

Squally ball.

Attracted to junk.

Taking a plunge.

The Panotii.

The unwilling demi-god.

The dreaded beep.

The Sisssters.

Another plane journey.

Horse-fish.

The duel-headed snake.

A deadly fall.

The Sirens go off.

'ROTATION!'

Sliding into a hot death.

All is revealed.

The Jewel orders a flight.

Olympus calls.

A dream team.

Make way for magic.

Exploring the cave.

Another challenge awaits.

Spells.

#  The Last of the Twelve.

(Chapter 1)

Jay looked to his right; his long, blonde hair blowing across his eyes as the wind whipped around his face.

"GRRRR!"

The gravelling sound came from the trees behind him. He turned slowly, his trainers scraping at the dusty floor of the forest. He looked to the factory above the trees, the factory he always saw from his bedroom window in the quiet town of Shrewsbury.

Then he lowered his eyes.

The damp, dark leaves of the coniferous towers rustled and same sound came again,

"GRRRR!"

It sounded like a lion. He could feel it now. The hot breath of the flesh eating monster, that lurked somewhere in front of him, was steaming over his face.

There was a stench to its breath like no other. It was not of rotting carcasses or blood and flesh like you'd think, but of plums, sweet plums?

Jay reached into his three quarter length pockets. He felt around and he had nothing to defend himself with. His forehead began weeping as he struggled to remain silent.

He quickly looked to the floor with his fiery brown eyes, and he spotted a large rock.

"GRRRR!"

This thing was going to strike any minute. Whatever it was it was going to pounce. Jay kept his eyes on the trembling trees as he slowly reached for the rock that lay on the ground. There was not a sound in the forest, only the silent chirps of a summer morning and the faint howling of the wind as it weaved through the estate around him. He was about to grasp the rock when his foot slipped and the movement in the trees stopped.

"Uh oh," Jay murmured.

"ROOWWR!"

It leapt from behind the trees and what a sight it was...

It had a head and body of a lion, the tail of a snake and an unusual goats head protruding from its stomach. The giant lion paws housed triangular shaped, black claws of death, and the lion's mouth showed more teeth than that of a great white. The goat's head on the other hand had barely any teeth, but mesmerizing red eyes, and the snake's head was a venomous green, its fangs, two poisonous waterfalls, sharp as needles and as strong as diamonds.

'Could this creature get any more frightening?' Jay thought, his subconscious showing a relaxed approach, which wasn't the perfect mirror image of Jay's current emotion.

Then it did.

It glared into Jay's eyes and it snorted, scratching at the floor as it did so. Jay slowly turned his face to the woods. Although he wasn't looking at the monster, he could feel its glare penetrating deep into his soul.

It lifted its front legs up like a horse and slammed them onto the ground. The bang made the floor shake and Jay knew there was only one thing he could do...run!

He sprinted out of the small clearing and along the forest path he walked down on so many mornings. Unfortunately this wasn't the same as the other mornings.

'Well, unless being chased by some abnormal creature counts as normal, which would probably sound about right to them four weirdo's he'd met five days ago' Jay thought, his mind playing the cool and casual against the intensifying, petrifying and illuminative scene being played around him, that only belonged in action and sci-fi films.

His heart was pumping so hard he couldn't control it. His mind was racing. Then suddenly he could see every detail of the forest every sound every smell. He glanced back and the creature was hot on his tail.

The sound of cracking trees could be heard as the monster hurtled through the forest. Leaping. Pouncing. Hot in pursuit.

Growls shook the air, rattling Jay's limbs to a powerless wreck that meant he'd fall in a heap and land on a hot plate of mud and dirt and dust ready to be devoured by the monstrous creature.

Death lingered...

But Jay ran with all the energy he could muster. Legs stretching, arms pumping, racing through the forest like an overweight gazelle.

Then Jay suddenly felt a sense of warmth in the air.

He looked to his right as he was rugby tackled at the waist by a mop heady of dirty blonde hair.

Jay got swept off his feet and landed centimeters off the ground...

'Wait what?'

There was no time to think as he face planted the floor and the sound of a roaring explosion shook the surroundings. Jay just managed to lift his head to the side to see the creature, its mouth wide and a gigantic jet of fire squirting from its engulfing abyss.

" _Gustarmia_ ," a familiar voice shouted.

Jay pulled himself to a sitting position and looked up. The stare that returned his gaze was definitely a sight he remembered. How could he forget? It was one of those strange kids from the field that day.

"Hello, there. Nice to see you again," the boy said, smiling and nodding. His sentence was cut short by yet another blast of fire, this time unfortunately, the beast had got his aiming just perfect as the ferocious death opened in their direction.

"MOVE!" the boy yelled, pulling Jay away and shouting yet another strange word, unfamiliar to Jay.

Thankfully this word made an invisible shield appear in front of them as the fire roared. The pearlescent colours twinkled with beauty like a protective dome around the two boys, defending them from the scorching flames.

Then Jay felt a tingling heat on his hand and he pulled his flaming limb to his sight. IT WAS ON FIRE!

"Oh, my, GOD! Ah!" Jay squealed, trying to shake the flame off his hand.

"Oh shut up. It doesn't really hurt. It'd hurt me, but not you. I'm Jordan by the way, if you'd forgotten," Jordan said with a smile, before jumping out from behind the transparent shield and running away from Jay.

The beast's eyes followed him like a hawk, its serpentine tail hissing in a hypnotic dance of danger and death. Swaying to some sort of silent jazzy music and making its scaly tube of a neck wave with a weird 'dude,-I'm-just-chilling-on-the-back-of-a-but!' type expression.

Jay stood up from his position and watched in awe as Jordan leaped from a tree and went to strike the creature with a shining sword.

The beast got sliced by the sweep of silver, but it was merely a pin prick.

Jordan went in for a second blow. This time however, the creature was ready.

It raised its paw and slapped Jordan across his chest, sending him flying into the woods. Then it was just Jay and him; that thing. This 'thing' could sense Jay behind him and rolled its head as it turned to face its prey.

Jay's terror shattered his thoughts and movement.

His bones buckled. He was going to die. It opened its terror and a steaming flare of fire exploded from its mouth.

Jay closed his eyes and raised his hands in trepidation as the burning hot orange flares scraped the forest bare and enveloped the entire scene with scorching bright darkness...And he felt nothing.

Jay opened his eyes and all he could see was bright, blinding orange. He held out his arms to block the horrible zesty light and he suddenly felt the pressure of the flames ease off.

He pushed forward with his hands and the flames extinguished in one strong push.

Jay put down his arms, his muscles seemed weak, and he looked deep into the creature's eyes once more.

"No time to waste, must be off. See you again," Jordan called, swooping down from the trees and picking Jay up, throwing him onto an invisible mat which Jordan landed on.

Jay fell gently into a ball on the floor of... He looked down and he felt sick. They were gliding over estates and roads and people and cars and everything. Fast. At the speed of light.

"What the hell is going on?" Jay protested with a tone that can only be described as soggy.

The creature was gone, but his fear remained for some reason, maybe the fact of being teleported across the sky was a bit of a shock, especially after being torched by an ancient monster from a dark pit Jay was only told about a few days ago.

"So do you believe you have magic now you've used it?" Jordan replied.

"Still digesting! You lot weren't joking," Jay said, astounded, his words a rush of ramble.

"There's no denying it, mate. You're a ring bearer and your destiny is with us. We must save the world."

"What was that thing? Back before, that lion, goat creature."

"Chimaera I think. We were lucky to escape. It's only like the most terrifying thing in Greek mythology."

"Hold on, how did you know where I was? You haven't been?" he paused, "You've been following me, haven't you?"

"Yep."

"Wait, wait, wait. All that stuff about the Greek Gods being real and that they're fading, the prophecy and that thing about replacing them as well, that's all true?"

"Yes."

"And about the monsters escaping that jail and taking over the world?"

"Yes."

"Do you say anything other than yes?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Jordan laughed. He was stood on this floating invisible barrier that was making them fly. He was concentrating though, as if he was controlling it. A bit like something out of Aladdin? Except there was no lamp and genie who he could wish to to ask for some guidance in this magical mess he'd found himself in.

"Here now," Jordan said.

"Here? What your kiddy camp? I'm not coming till I've asked all my-"

Jay was cut short as they rocketed to the ground. It was like being on one of those drop towers, except worse, because there's nothing holding you, stopping you from plunging to your death. Jay kept his eyes closed as his feet touched ground.

"My God. This is a dream." Jay held his head. It was pounding. All this information and this new world was too much to take in.

"Good dream or bad dream?" Jordan asked. "Oh, sorry. You were saying something?"

"I haven't asked all my questions," Jay said, swallowing back trying to clear the sick feeling he had in his throat.

"Ask Hollie when we get back to camp. _Karomas_." he pulled out a watch and clicked it. "Gooble watch, freezes time. We used it when we first met?" Jay smiled and shook his head as the boy pocketed the watch and got ready to run.

"Follow me," he said, sprinting down the wide pathway.

"I'm not coming!" Jay shouted.

Jordan completely ignored him, continuing his run out of sight down the path. Jay bit his lip and shuffled in his place before saying,

"I'm only coming because you're going to take me back!"

Jay ran behind Jordan for about a minute, panting and trying to keep up with him. What was Jay doing? What had he eaten for breakfast, some sort of hallucinogenic? This day couldn't get any weirder.

Two days ago, Jay had met four teenagers around his age at his local park, who had frozen time and tried to talk to him about joining a group of twelve destined ones, called ring bearers, who fight and defend the world from ancient monsters. He had simply shaken off the experience and abandoned them, spending the rest of the day in his bedroom confused. The memory had been truly buried; it felt so unreal it was more of a dream than actual history.

But now he's running with one of the 'destined ones' to somewhere he's never heard of that defends a magical world unknown to mortals that they live within! With a stupid ring super glued to his finger that apparently gives him the power of some Heph- guy?

This was too much! Jay was a normal kid who lived in a care home, with average grades and a boring lifestyle with no purpose. He wasn't some magical protector of a mythological world bought back into today because some jail in the underworld has been broken and some ancient gods are growing too weak to protect the earth!

'What a week.' Jay thought, his run reducing to a light jog.

The track stopped at a dark, gloomy cave with stalactites dripping from the roof like icicles, making the entrance look like a large mouth, full of razor-like teeth. Stood outside the cave were three people; the same three that accompanied Jordan when Jay and the four first met.

"Hi again," one of the girls said. She had long, curly black hair and blue eyes that seemed to wave like an ocean. "Liam and Philippa", she added, pointing to the short lad with light hair and the girl with strawberry blonde hair and a sort of doll-like complexion.

"Oh. Eh, hi? Again," he replied uneasily.

"Welcome to camp," Hollie greeted.

"So this is your camp? A cave?" Jay asked.

"This is it," Hollie announced.

"Eh, Hollie. Can I open it, please? I've never done it before," questioned Liam in a small squeaky voice.

"Yeah, sure. You know what to say, don't ya?"

"Yep... _Misgardio_."

At that moment the stalactites started to retreat back to the ceiling and the sound of crumbling rock suffocated the wild noises from the surrounding forest. Then the tiny stream of water along the cave floor rose over the mouth of the cave, covering the entrance like a wand when it's dipped in a tub of fairy liquid.

Hollie immediately jumped to a protruding rock that lay in the middle of the stream. She glanced back and smiled.

"C'mon, Jay. Come through after me, ok?" Hollie instructed. "Here I go." She leant back on her legs and leapt through the wall of water. The sheet of water seemed to engulf her. She disappeared. Out of thin air! Like magic!

'Huh, magic. There's that word again. Becoming very popular in my dictionary at the moment' Jay pondered with a smile and a sigh.

"You next then, Jay." Jay looked back at Jordan, saw his sword at his side, remembered that he'd just saved his life, and jumped onto the flat rock above the water. He wobbled around until he finally got balance.

What was he doing? He was about to jumps through a wall of magical water. An hour earlier he was eating cereal lazily in his pyjamas, dreamily contemplating the boring activities of the day ahead.

He stood there in a leaping position, but whenever he tried to go he seemed to pull himself back. His adventurous and dangerous self was being held back by reality, his precautious self. The boring one.

"Are you alright?" asked Philippa.

Jay, not wanting to show his fear and true emotion, stood up and then leapt through the portal of murky blue. The sensation was weird. It was like stepping into a vortex of blue and white, a feeling of rushing water against your ears. He emerged from a small, what looked quite shallow, pool and onto solid ground. He looked at himself, and then the small pool.

"I'm dry?" Jay asked, looking up to see Hollie in front of him who was also completely crystal crisp, not a drop of water in sight.

"Well, I don't know the exact reason, but, eh. Watch out the rest of us will be coming soon," Hollie said, pulling Jay away from the pool, for Jordan had just burst out of it and landed in a fighting position.

"You are such a show off," Hollie bantered. "Can you tell everyone to meet me in the communal house tonight, I'm gonna show our new kid around." Hollie led Jay away from the puddle and under a 20ft banner reading 'ATHENA'S DESCENDANTS' in a writing which seemed to move and weave within each other.

"Where exactly are we?"

"This, my friend...is your new home." They walked under the banner and straight in front of them was a large hill, and to the left and right was open space bordered with loads of fruit-filled trees. "That's Mouvast Mountain. It's where we go to speak to the Gods."

"The Gods, of course! So how many people are there here?" Jay's words came out slurred and pointless to himself. 'How many people are there here? What a question to start with? Try something more important, when will I get fired by the crazy creature again?' Jay's mind spoke to him in frustration, as it loved to do. A habit.

"Oh, there are 12, including you. They each resemble one of the twelve Olympian Gods. Like you here, have the ring of Hephaestus, who is God of the forges and fire," Hollie said as they trotted around the left-hand side of the hill.

"So what God is your ring then?"

"Ah, mine is Poseidon the God of..."

"Sea isn't it. I remember seeing it in a book."

'Smart arse! Now you've done the calm conversation get your but over to those trees, magic up a phone and call nine, nine, NINE!' His thoughts faded and the calm that kept him sane took over completely. He couldn't understand why he just suddenly felt as though everything was okay. A warming sensation soothed inside him and his shoulders relaxed from their hunched up position.

"And earthquakes yeah."

They walked around the mountain, which was hiding a wonderful stream and a large Greek temple. There was a bridge in the middle and a waterfall at the far end.

Jay was taking in all the scenery when Hollie said, "That over there," she was pointing to the temple, "is where we meet up and then that over there, if you can make it out", she now moved her hand to point at a stadium, "is the games area where we play squally ball. It's a magic game."

"What about that bridge?" Jay asked.

"Ah you probably won't need to use it because we use our powers to cross the stream when we need to. Anyway, we're going over that way so as you can get to your house."

Jay was wondering what Hollie meant by a house, did she mean a mansion, a flat, or a bunk bed. Anything would be better than sharing a room with a screaming eight year old.

They strolled along the verdant bed of grass towards the stream, then in the distance there was a rustling in the trees and a girl made of pure green grass scurried back into, what seemed to be, a tree trunk.

"What was that?" asked Jay, pointing to the trees ahead with a slightly concerned voice which somehow managed to fight the calmness and bring his reality self, back into the fight. It was a bit like a yoyo: reality, calm, reality, calm, reality...

"Oh, was it green or brown?"

"Green, why?"

"It was a tree nymph, they're alright but can be quite annoying at times."

"A tree nymph?" Jay pondered as they drew closer to the river. They reached the bank and Hollie took a deep breath and just walked.

"Where are you going, you can't walk over wa....."

Before he could finish his sentence Hollie had started walking, quite casually, over the stream. Like it was just solid ground.

"C'mon it's safe," she said as she reached the other end.

"How do you do that?"

"Oh my Gods. Eh, let me think. Poseidon, hmmm. Oh, wait a minute. That's a stream and Poseidon is the God of water...?"

It took a moment to sink in, then Jay, feeling rather stupid to think that Hollie couldn't control water seeming as she was the wearer of the ring of Poseidon, followed Hollie over the river.

It felt like you were treading on air, except much better for people with vertigo. Jay reached the other side and then quickly darted up the bank to join Hollie.

"Alright?"

"Just, felt, weird," Jay muttered. He looked up and he could just make out a fire through a gap in the trees.

"Whoa there's a fire," he screamed in a timid, low tone, pointing between the trees.

"That's where our dorms are," Hollie said calmly as they walked through a gap into a large field, cornered off by lines of trees which surrounded it but leaving four gaps in the middle of each side.

"What is this used for?" Jay questioned.

"This is where we train for battles," Hollie answered as they carried on towards the fire on the other side.

'Battles?' Jay thought, 'Well it doesn't look like I'll be getting bored here.'

"Hey, look. There's Broudie." A boy the same height as Jay entered the other side of the field.

"BROUDIE, THIS IS JAY. HE'S THE NEW ONE. YOU'LL MEET HIM TONIGHT!" Hollie shouted, her voice showing clear power and dominance.

"HI, JAY!" Broudie screamed back, before carrying on through the field, casually carrying a beautiful sword that reflected bright sunrays back at Jay. He waved his hand but Broudie seemed to have more important things to do than talk to him.

They veered towards the fire, through the trees, and Jay could make out small huts, like old wooden sheds, painted in different colours, gathered around the burning flames.

"So, who's Broudie's, you know?" Jay asked.

"Ares, the God of war. Great at battles. You may think he's brutal but he's as soft as a brush really."

They squeezed through the trees and then straight in front was the big fire, surrounded by four logs and twelve colourfully designed huts, some even seemed to be moving.

There was a light blue one with clouds at the top which seemed to be circling the hut; a dark blue one with odd, funny-looking fish on it; a pale blue one with flying shoes on; a light red one with swords that were fighting free handed on it; a purplish one with vines covering it; a yellow one with arrows darting round the corners; a yellow-at-the-bottom-gradually-going-to-red-at-the-top one; a golden coloured one; a grey one; a green one with a horse galloping on it; a pink one with flowers on it and a dark grey one with the moon raining down from the one corner.

"These are the dorms," Hollie announced.

"They're quite small aren't they? I mean you can only just about stand in them."

"Ah. Well, we'll have to see, won't we? C'mon this one's yours." Hollie pointed at the small red and yellow one and they strolled towards it.

Jay opened the door expecting to see a small ugly shed, but instead he saw a hallway lit with torches and a beautiful carved staircase. Dark wood covering the floor and yellow and red walls all around. The moment Jay stepped in there he felt as though he had been in the Artic and just got back into a soothing hot bath.

"Wow! It's, it's amazing," Jay gasped as he strolled into the hallway and tilted his head around the wall to see an open plan lounge and kitchen. The sofa was hot red and there was a yellow and orange rug on the floor with a wooden table perched on top.

"Nice is it?" Hollie smirked, still stood at the door.

"Yeah," Jay said, then he turned to see Hollie still outside. "Aren't you gonna come in, it's awesome."

"I can't, just like you can't come into mine. It's enchanted so only the wearer of that ring," Hollie pointed at the ring on his finger, "can enter this place."

"Oh."

"Don't worry. You settle in and don't come out till I come and get you. I'm sure there are plenty of gadgets you can find in here seeing as Hephaestus is the God of the forges."

"Yeah ok."

"Right I'll come and get you in a minute. I just need to tell Amy of our arrival. See ya." Hollie closed the door and trudged off away from the dorm.

Jay turned around and walked into the front room and then into the kitchen. The kitchen was gleaming white with dark granite cupboards which lined the walls, and a large grey fridge in the corner.

He walked over to the fridge and opened it. It was empty, nothing in there.

Then a voice spoke in a whispered tone,

"What does one want? Close the door and ponder, then you will find what you seek."

Jay shut the fridge worriedly with a bang, and then stood staring at it. He shut his eyes and opened the fridge very slowly. He then reopened his eyes again and there, sat in the middle of the fridge, was a milk bottle with semi-skimmed written on a bright green label.

"Now that is awesome," he said nodding at the milk and then taking it out and putting it on the table. He made himself a hot drink with a surprisingly fast-boiling kettle and a similar-acting cupboard. While sitting there, sipping his drink, he took himself back to when he got the ring.

He was at the park with Richard, his friend, when he heard the whistling noise.

He had turned around to see the four teenagers walking towards him in a brisk, uneasy walk and he had somehow ended up being blasted to the floor with a ring magically glued to his finger.

When they had reached him, Hollie had just pocketed a golden watch and the surroundings had frozen in time; Richard had paused in a running motion and many cars had stood still, motionless.

That day he felt more scared than ever, and at first he thought they were just some real good acting bullies trying to play a trick on him. Then Hollie gave her well-practiced speech:

'Well, see, the Gods are real, the Greek Gods I mean, and they are immortal. Except they can fade, which is what is happening now. See humans are effecting the Gods' powers like...Poseidon is the god of the seas, and nowadays we have ships and submarines which can control the seas, and the catastrophes the sea makes such as tsunamis can be predicted and the damage lessened. So Poseidon doesn't control the sea as much anymore, which is why he is beginning to fade. But now more and more are starting to fade, and it's our job to help them.

Now, as you can see we all have rings just like you and they were given to us by the Queen Goddess, Athena. I say queen but I mean technically that would be Hera, but you get the gist. The Oracle, a powerful woman who can see the future, gave Athena these rings. She told Athena that she must give them to Amy, one of us twelve. These rings can't be worn by anyone; in fact, there are only twelve chosen people who can wear these rings. You are one of those twelve. Then the oracle told Athena that the rings will give the user the power of magic, and that each ring symbolises one of the twelve Olympian Gods. Before the Gods started fading they managed to create a door to close Tartarus, where the bad monsters go, so that they could not get out. But, the monsters are starting to do exactly that, they are escaping and because of all this fading malarkey, the gods are too weak to stop them. So it is our job, we must protect Olympus and the mortals of the present day. Now hopefully you will join us, I know it's a lot to take in but this is the truth and we have all been in your shoes before so don't worry. Now you may ask your questions.'

Hollie's rambling speech looped over in his mind like a tape.

They had showed him how they could use magic by controlling a puddle of water and Jay had run off. He had left them there and then tried to completely blank them from his mind. How was he supposed to know if they were telling the truth? Then, a fire-breathing monster from mythology had attacked him only a few days later. Just this morning.

It was ridiculous to think that Gods living in a cloudland have always watched down on the mortal world. Even thinking of a divide between mortals and magicals was confusing. At the same time though, Jay really loved this new world he has somehow instantly slipped into. He now had a purpose in life, whether it was a dangerous one, who cares? It was something to battle for.

'I'm so great aren't I? Talking as if I've got this whole situation sorted and packed up. I haven't really I just like to think I have. And it is partly true. I guess. I think. Well, I hope.'

After those few minutes of pondering, he made his way back to the hall and up the stairs to the landing, which was also bright yellow and red. At the top was a massive room with a hearth and a giant, king-sized bed in the corner. There seemed to be only one cupboard and then it struck Jay that he had only one set of clothes, the ones he was wearing.

He jumped across the room and pulled the doors of the closet open to see all his clothes from back at the foster home and a red jacket with ATHENA'S DESCENDANTS written on it, hung neatly on a rail.

He was just closing the wardrobe when he heard a knock on the door. 'That was quick', he thought. Jay went down to open the door and when he did, thinking he'd see Hollie, he saw nothing.

"Hello?" Jay called as he peered out to see if there was anyone there. "Hello?" he repeated.

Jay stepped out of the dorm into the burning warmth of the sun. He thought about what Hollie had told him 'don't go anywhere till I come to get you.'

'It wouldn't hurt would it, just to go and have a look?' he thought.

Just then, there was a rustling in the trees and Jay turned around to see a pair of pink legs disappear through the trees.

#  In The Clutch of Jordan's Claws

(Chapter 2)

He let curiosity take hold of him and trotted off towards the woods. When he got closer he heard some giggling behind one of the closest trees. He could hear some small, squeaky voices chattering,

"Woble, they'll chuck us out if you keep doing that."

"Yeah, we need them to trust us, remember."

"They need to trust us, because you know what we must do."

"Shh there's someone coming," one of the voices said, "shh."

Jay edged closer very slowly, but stopped a foot away. He stretched out his hand towards the leafy branch and then slung it backwards to find four, small, pointy-eared dwarfs.

"Aaah," screamed one the dwarfs. "Please don't hurt us, we only poor liccle elves, we very sorry for knocking your door Mr., eh?"

"It's Jay, and you are elves, real elves?" Jay said, taken aback by the sight.

"Sorry, _so_ sorry Mr. Jay, we did not mean to..."

"Jay, what are you doing going into the trees, JAY!" Hollie screamed, stopping the elf mid-sentence.

"We must go now, we very sorry." The elves ran back into the woods with their little, bare and hairy feet and their innocent little faces with bulging black eyes. Jay kept his stare as they disappeared in the rustling, he barely had chance to decipher their peculiar features.

Jay closed his eyes, trying to divulge into this new world, keeping his eyes open and arms open to anything – except at the moment his eyes were closed. A shake of the head and another smile as he let go of the tree branch, letting it swing back into position.

"Jay! I didn't know where you were," Hollie panted as her jog decreased to a walk. She was now face to face with Jay, fully flustered and rosy cheeked.

"There were some elves. I think they knocked on my door. I tried to see who it was and when I found them they were really scared," said Jay, feeling sorry for the wide-eyed little creatures.

"Oh, don't worry about them. They're just a pain in the backside. None of us really trust them, as they are very mischievous. Not trustworthy what-so-ever!" Hollie said meaningfully as if she'd had her experiences.

"Oh, eh where are we going?"

"We are meeting at the column. I can introduce you to the rest of the camp then," Hollie explained as they began to walk back to the meeting area, which they saw on the way to the dorms.

Jay lost himself in a casual stroll with Hollie, staring at the grass beneath his feet. Everything seemed so alive in his life; all of a sudden he felt open and energetic to do something, anything! And everything he saw felt like an adventure. Even now the evergreen blades of desperate fingers bowed to his shoes as he marched with pride along the battlefield, but really, he was simply walking...in the grass.

"By the way, don't be going into the woods by yourself," she warned.

"Why?" Jay asked as they got close to the river again, shaking away from yet another one of his hourly dazes.

"Because there are creatures in there. They won't harm you, but they might do something or muck around with you. See they've done this before; the satyrs I mean."

They reached the riverbank again and Hollie stopped, giving a cheeky glance to Jay, "Fancy having a shot?"

"How?"

"Concentrate on the other side of the bank and repeat after me... _Hokvalmia."_

"H- _Hokvalmia,"_ Jay chanted in a confused fashion, feeling like a complete idiot because although he had partially accepted magic as a possibility in reality, inside, the idea of casting spells seemed a little too Halloween witch style.

There wasn't time to think much though as he felt himself getting hotter and hotter. His fingers tingled with warmth and his body rejuvenated with life and a fiery burning light.

His mind caught up with the situation just in time to see himself levitate off the ground, hovering like some peace guru con artist crossed with a shooting star on slow-mo.

Looking down he saw that he was flying up over the river and onto the other side of the bank. He zoomed over, as time returned, and he hit the ground with a thud. He stood up and brushed himself down, the orange glow of radiation he just shone, fading to pale skin once again.

"Bloody good job for a first-timer. No demi-god can do that Jay," Hollie told him, clicking her fingers and giving him the 'you-got-it' finger gun.

"Demi-god?"

"Oh, don't worry. You'll learn in time. We're gonna give you some books to read about spells and creatures."

'My favourite pastime; reading. Ugh. Well at least it'll be about something interesting,' Jay thought.

They walked over towards the Greek building, the dark night swooping over them as they drew near.

They got to the entrance and then slipped between the large cylindrical columns and into the warm temple.

It was massive. No description could quite suffice.

The floor was covered in marble, glistening in the light, which flooded in through the arched, rectangular windows. A long, red rug ran straight down the middle into another room ahead. There were paintings on the walls of Greek Gods and Goddesses that seemed to watch you as you passed them, and at the end of the hall was another big banner reading ATHENA'S DESCENDANTS, the same words that were written on the front entrance to the hideout.

Jay and Hollie strolled under the sign, out of the hall and into the main room.

If you thought the outside was amazing, you had certainly never been inside. There was a massive fire at the end and, in front of that, a large, oak, oval-shaped table with 12 patterned chairs gathered around it. As they walked further in, Jay could hear some people laughing and chattering from either side of him and turned to see two seating areas, which were packed of four or more people who were all giggling and joking.

They edged further in and the chattering faded in time for Hollie to announce, "This here is our new, and last, sorcerer slash sorceress of the Gods. The last of the twelve, the final piece to Athena's descendants." The whole room burst into cheers and whistles, echoing pride and team spirit like a shower of smiles.

"His name is Jay, the ring of Hephaestus he does wear," Hollie declared "You can go and sit down over there whilst we wait for Amy. She's the main one in charge," Hollie added to Jay.

"I thought you were."

"Well, I wasn't the first to get the ring and Amy has the most knowledge, what having the ring of Athena and that, y'know wisdom."

"Oh." Jay presumed Athena was some wise Goddess, he'd heard of her before but who knows what she did, or does, should he say?

"Hey, Jay. I'm Bobby," said a tall-ish girl with blonde-brown hair that fell elegantly over her ears and past her shoulders like waves.

"Hi, eh. What's your ring thing?" Jay questioned nervously, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, it's Artemis; Goddess of archery, the moon and other stuff. I believe you've met my brother Liam," she asked, gesturing towards a short, light brown haired boy who Jay remembered from his journey here.

"Yeah, I have. Is he Apoolo? I only thought because I've heard of the twins of archery in, eh, books that I've read," Jay said, trying to sound educated when he really only knew it because they were in a recent film he'd watched.

"It's Apollo, I think he has excused you seeming as you're a new-comer, because most of the time when you say something bad or, as you did, pronounce their names wrong, they tend to get upset and do something like, Poseidon would drench you etcetera. Sorry, you're probably all new to the Greek names and stuff, aren't you?" Bobby asked as she looked around warily, as if expecting a giant arrow to fly towards them at any moment.

"Yeah, some of them ring a bell though."

After about ten minutes, Jay had been introduced to everyone in the room: Broudie, a dark brown haired lad with glasses and a muscular physique; Alice, a short girl with dark red, dyed hair and a very small voice; Cameron, a middle-height lad with long brown hair; Lochlan, a ginger haired kid with glasses and a great sense of humour; Claire, a light blonde haired girl with a very beautiful clean complexion which put Jay in a daze when he saw her; and Jordan, Liam and Philippa who introduced themselves properly this time. Jay was beginning to get quite comfortable with his new friends, when the hall started to echo more footsteps.

Then a girl stepped into the main hall and called in a loud voice,

"Hello, everyone. Let's eat, shall we?" Her face turned to meet Jay, her long brown hair swaying to each side. "Oh, there you are, Jay. I'm Amy. I wear the ring of Athena and you, I believe, carry the ring of Hephaestus."

"Yes I, eh, do," Jay muttered, his nerves taking hold of him again.

"Well, I see you have settled in then," Amy said in a posh manner, her head held high. The other teenagers in the room were silent and Jay could make out some giggles and smirks behind their hand covered mouths. She kept a stern glare on Jay as if he'd done something wrong, and she began to pace up and down the floor space in front of him, her boots echoing a dominating ring.

Then, after a minute of silence, Jordan burst out with laughter and then all the others joined in, except Amy, who kept pacing the floor, exaggerating her posh stance even more.

"C'mon you've had your fun. Jay, this is Amy and she does this to everyone. You could say she's a bully," Hollie said with a wide smile on her face which kept looking over at Amy, who had now finally stopped the acting and started laughing with the others.

"You do this every time someone new comes?" asked Jay looking puzzled, still unsure of Amy's now informal behaviour.

"Yeah, you should have seen Liam's reaction when he first came. I thought he was gonna cry," Amy leant in and patted Jay on the back in a comforting, friendly fashion.

"Well, you did come up to me and start shouting because I brought some mud in," Liam added.

"Well, let's eat. Nice to have met you Jay," said Amy, now taking her seat at the table. The table was laid beautifully with shiny cutlery of intricate, formal pattern and candles and flowers in the centre. It looked like a typical medieval dining table with the dark wood reflecting the dancing flames of the fire beside, and the extravagant table sculptures that looked like they'd just fell out of a time vortex.

"Tuck in," she announced as she closed her eyes and whispered another spell. A massive piece of beef surrounded by carrots, potatoes, a few pigs in blankets and a Yorkshire pudding appeared before her, steaming hot and succulent.

Jay looked around and took the only empty seat next to the fireplace, a suitable place for him.

Amy rubbed her hands together and grabbed her knife and fork, then looked up.

She saw Jay with his hands on his lap looking around at the meals appearing on the plates beside him. There was lasagne, a pie, some fajitas and even a full monty breakfast.

"Jay," Amy called over the table "to get some food just think of a dish you'd like and say aperium. Oh, and make sure you look at the plate when you say it _,_ " Amy smiled pleasantly, awaiting Jay to try a hand at the spell before she started her meal.

Jay closed his eyes and thought of a chicken chow mien from the Chinese takeaway. He, once again, felt stupid doing it, but he was too hungry not to think of food and he might as well give it a try. Then he took a deep breath and repeated,

" _Aperium_." That moment Jay felt a rush of energy and a sudden smell of juicy noodles wafted into his nostrils. Opening his eyes and smiling with amazement, the chow mien was there, just as he pictured it. Every slice of chicken was in the exact place he imagined it. It was weirdly amazing.

After a healthy meal they said goodnight and all twelve of them left the temple. It was dark outside and they could hardly see anything. It was only when Alice fell down part of the riverbank that they realised where they were.

"Ugh, damn it!" Alice cursed, trudging up the side of the bank, dripping wet. "Exothius," she whispered, presumably another spell to dry her off or something.

They stopped at the river and one by one they used their own powers to get them to the other side. People changing into dove's, people vaulting across, and some were using weird spells...it was amazing to watch, and it was all so casual. They were all over in a matter of a minute and in no time at all it was Jay's turn.

He was too busy staring at the ways they had crossed that he had forgot that he would have to go over some time himself. He thought back to their journey over the river when he had flown over like a fireball, but he forgot how he did it. Then, thankfully, Philippa turned to see him still stood there not knowing what to do.

"Hey, Jay, hasn't Hollie shown you your transformation yet? I thought that was how you got here," she shouted, now staring at him through the sheets of black sky between them.

"I can't remember what the spell, eh, is," Jay called back, skimming his mind for the spell he had just done today, though it didn't surprise him he couldn't remember it because he was always forgetting to do things.

" _Hokvalmia..."_ as soon as Philippa finished the word she glowed brown and fell to the ground, but within a few seconds she was back up brushing herself down. "Woops. Go on then, say it."

"It," Jay joked.

"Hilarious! You're the one that'll be walking round to the bridge."

" _Hokvalmia,"_ Jay chanted, and once again he felt a surge of heat flow into his skin. Then he glowed bright orange and he focused on a spot near Philippa. He leaped forward and he zoomed straight to where Philippa was standing. With a stumble, he touched the floor with his feet and steadied himself. He looked up at Philippa who was staring at him, amazed at what had happened.

"Wow that _is_ cool. I should have known really. I mean, ring of the God of fire. Of course you would be fire," she laughed, turning around to face the other people ahead who had stopped to wait for them.

"Well I would walk but what's the point when you can just go _Hokvalmia?"_ Again she turned yellowy green and melted into the grass. She then appeared next to the crowd of people waving back at him. He smiled and laughed before turning back into fire and bouncing his way to them, passing through the battling field and towards the huts.

'This new type of travel is quite 'hot', you could say, as in quite cool, but warm, but I mean good?' Jay confused himself. He was so amazed at what he was doing that it didn't seem weird, if anything he felt comfortable? 'I dunno how being on fire can be comfortable but it just is!' Jay replied in his mind as he landed beside the group.

They reached the fire and they all started taking seats around it, perching on old trunks of dark tress, a typical campfire setting. Jay followed their example, squatting down on one of the brown logs.

"Right, we'll meet here tomorrow morning, really early. Then we can call the Gods and tell them of our news. Athena will be happy, and I reckon the oracle will be blessed for her advice," Amy announced.

"Same time?" Hollie asked, leaning forward so that her face lit up in the light of the fire.

"Yep, 5 'o' clock. Have breakfast in your dorms." Amy looked over to Jay, "Bring something warm. I'm sure you've seen the enchanted wardrobe?"

"Oh, yeah," Jay replied thinking the conversation sounded a little like something from 'Narnia'.

"Right, we shall set off when everyone's here and then we should be up there for half past five. Bobby, can you bring the box?"

"Okay," Bobby nodded.

"Goodnight then," Amy finished, rising from her log and stepping away from the fire towards her dorm. "See ya in the morning."

Some of the group disappeared into their own dormitories, but Hollie, Liam and Philippa stayed behind.

"I can't wake up at that time without an alarm clock," Jay yawned as he turned to Liam, who was sat starring at the fire dreamily.

"The wardrobe gives you anything that you want, as long as it is something you are likely to see in a bedroom." Liam turned his head so as he was now facing Hollie.

"Oh, em Jay. I got some books for you while you were talking to Broudie. They'll help you with the stuff you don't know about Greek mythology."

"I had them when I first arrived. They really do help," Philippa called from the other side of the fire.

"Here you go." Hollie handed him seven books, all differently coloured and really heavy. Jay took them off her and stood up, struggling with the books that were weighing him down.

"Thanks," he managed, trying to disguise the fact that he struggled more than Hollie to hold the books \- quite embarrassing.

"No problem. See ya in the morning. Night." Hollie turned towards her own dorm and disappeared behind the door.

"Yeah, night." Liam and Philippa walked back as well, leaving Jay on his own next to the warm fire in the center of the small sheds. He leaped over the log he was sat on and then strolled through his own door and into the brightly lit hallway

He closed the door and walked into the front room, where he dropped his pile of books on the table and fell back into a hot leather seat. He took off his shoes and lay down, staring at the ceiling above him.

After a minute or two, he got up and lifted the book on the top of the pile to see its cover. It read ' _1000 Simple Spells for Beginners'_ and a picture of a short man pointing his stubby fingers at a drawer, which was half open. He flicked through it and there were loads of mysterious spells with pictures and labels explaining how to perform them. He got to the end of the book and had a look through the other ones on the pile. There was: ' _The Greatest Myths Over The Last Three Millennia'_ , _'All of The Gods, Goddesses and Titans That Have Ever Lived'_ , _'Mythical Creatures - The Big And The Small'_ , _'The Thousand Wonders of The Mythical World'_ , _'Learn to Fight with Magic And Swords'_ and ' _A Magicians Guide to Squally Ball'._

He opened up the guide to squally ball book and read:

Squally ball is the most popular sport for magicians. It consists of a large court with a 10ft net in the middle. The courts on each side are divided into five sections, each with a number in the middle of them as shown below:

(squally ball diagram)

There are four people on each side spaced out on the court. They each have a racket which is enchanted so as when they say a spell whilst the ball is in contact with the racket, the spell is forced into the ball, and, when it crosses the net, it unleashes the spell, putting off the opposing players. The court is also enchanted so as you cannot use magic on the ball unless your racket touches it. The court also keeps track of the scores and, if wanted, will give a commentary on the game. If the ball hits the ground the points scored depends on the section of which it has landed in. e.g. in the middle circle - 10 points are scored, in the sections closest to the net - 4points are scored etc. The game is won by winning 50 points or more.

There are many different spells you can put on the ball but it will only allow ones that aren't going to seriously injure or kill the opponent. The curses that may be put on the players are only taken off when the game has finished so as the game goes on, it gets more and more difficult. Over the next few pages there are some examples of different spells that can be used.

The next fifty pages were covered in spells and ratings with how good they were, then at the back were pictures of people in white, red and blue t-shirts and shorts, holding golden rackets with a mini fact file beside them. Jay read one of them then remembered what Amy had said about having to get up at four, half four to be ready by five.

He quickly shut the book, placed it on the table, then jumped off the sofa and walked up to his bedroom. He did what he had done with the milk in the fridge and opened the wardrobe to see the alarm clock from his bedroom in the foster home and some pyjamas, which he put on before climbing into bed and falling straight to sleep.

He woke next morning with his alarm screaming to the right of him with the numbers 4:30 flashing on the front. He got out of bed, dressed and stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen, where he ate his breakfast. After some well-buttered pieces of toast, the time was getting on. It was nearly five 'o' clock.

When he realised the time, he leapt from the table and raced out the door. He turned to the fire and there was a girl sitting on one of the logs next to it.

"Hiya."

"Oh, hi. It's well cold." The girl turned to see Jay, and he realised it was Alice. She bared the ring of Hera. He walked to the log next to her and sat down.

"Yeah, it is cold. What exactly are we doing this morning anyway?"

"Oh, were going to call on the Gods and tell them we have found all the ring-bearers. We do it early in the morning because it's clearer."

"But, why do we need to tell the Gods?"

"Because if it weren't for the Gods, we would not have our powers," Jordan answered. He had just taken his seat opposite them.

"And when Athena gave us the rings and told us how we are to use them to Amy, she said when each member joins call on me for I do not have much power to come down from Olympus," Hollie added, as she had also joined them by the fire.

"Hi, everyone. Hey, it's cold out here isn't it? Jay can't you heat us up a bit?" Broudie had just arrived as well.

"I can't do that, can I?" Jay asked, with a sense of intrigue that woke him up a bit.

"We can't without some sort of source but you can because you have a source, yourself," said Philippa as she took her seat beside him.

"But how?"

" _Flaixor minthamya,_ " Philippa chanted, her eyes focused completely on the fire. The fire gave out a wave of heat but it went really cold again after a few seconds. "That's the best I can do, but you can do it better. Have a go," she added.

"Eh, _Flaixor minthamya._ " This time there was no surge of heat, it just stayed cold, and Jay looked back at Philippa who was shaking her head.

"You need to concentrate on the fire and only think of heat and warmth. Keep your eyes focused, don't get distracted." By this time everyone was sat around staring at Jay, which made him very nervous.

"Okay... _Flaixor minthamya,"_ he repeated, his eyes completely focused on the small flames in the center of the logs.

Nothing happened.

Then he cleared his mind of everything and repeated the words once again, " _Flaixor minthamya."_ This time you could definitely feel a change in the air around them. There was a massive heat wave that mauled the ground around them. He kept his eyes on the fire and then he urged it to let out another wave and this time a real wave of fire emerged like a ring from the center. A frenzy of firing flames jousted from its source like a live wire in water, shocking the air with immense heat.

Then there was a loud roar of spells and the fire extinguished in a burning sizzle.

"We asked you to heat us up, not barbecue us! You're worse than the school ovens," wailed Liam.

"Sorry." Jay shook himself out of his focus and realised what he'd managed to do! He'd completely overstepped the idea of warming up to toasting.

"Don't be sorry, that was great just keep that one for when we're being attacked by an army of dracaenas, ok?" Amy said.

"What are dracaenas?"

"Did you not read them books I gave you?" Hollie asked.

"I read the first bit of the one called...solly ball?"

"You mean squally ball," Claire corrected.

"Yeah."

"Well, you can talk about squally ball on the way. C'mon, we haven't got much time," Amy ordered.

They all got up and started the walk to the hill Jay had passed on the way into the hideout. They passed the edges of the battling area in deep conversation about Squally ball, and Jay got to see the actual squally ball court close up and, after glancing through the alley into the stadium, noticed that the court was exactly like the one he had seen inside his book. Also, for the first time, they crossed the bridge.

It was entwined with branches and leaves that rustled in the morning wind and the base was made of dark red-ish, brown wood.

The boards creaked as they stumbled over them, probably from the limited use. The stream rushed underneath them making the scene look almost fantasized. Strange style seeming this whole place was a fantasy.

As they got closer to the hill, the speed that they started off walking at was now getting much faster. A few steps away from the beginning of the incline, Amy turned around, ready to speak,

"Right, ok. Everyone to the top as quick as you can, please. Now, most of us know that there are parts of the hill where we do not go near but Jay obviously doesn't. So, I would like Jordan, if you could, take him up and stay away from the sides," Amy instructed, "Let's go."

Jay turned to face Jordan, confused.

"Ready?"

"For what?"

"For this... _Hokvalmia,"_ Jordan whispered. His nose elongated and turned yellow, he shrank in size, feathers grew from his skin and long talons replaced his feet.

He was an eagle.

The eagle gave out a large screech and looked down to where Jay was standing as it grew almost double the size of a normal human.

"Wow," Jay gasped. The eagle swung his head back and stretched out his wings to reveal dark brown and black feathers, plagued with crystal patches of white - a beautiful plumage.

It bent its knees and took off, but before Jay could say anything he had been grasped by his shoulders and lifted up into the air.

Jay looked up to see the eagle, Jordan, with his head and wings extended fully, soaring through the sky.

What crazy corner had Jay's life taken? This was a new, fantastically insane life. A fresh start. A brand new magical world. A magnificent new reason for living. An unbelievably awesome way of life. A dangerous situation, an purposeful situation, a perfect situation.

Why though? Why Jay? What had he done to deserve such a great opportunity? Who was Jay to have such purpose all of a sudden? Such trust in him saving the world with some ancient magical power? Why?

'It's just magic...I suppose.'

#  Squally ball.

(Chapter 3)

When he looked down he could see a bundle of different animals and people making their way up in completely different ways, it was a peculiar sight to say the least: Hollie was flying upwards with a jet of water behind her, Cameron was using some sort of flying shoes which Jay recognized from a brand logo, a big black dog was hurtling up the sides of the hill, Lochlan was creating vines that carried him upwards in a Spiderman sort of fashion, Liam was using his throw-an-arrow then appear-where-it-landed technique to scale the hill, Philippa was disappearing and reappearing from patches of grass, an owl was gliding behind the eagle Jay was riding, a gigantic lion was scurrying along the path at great speed, a brown deer was galloping alongside the black dog and a dove was fluttering very slowly in the air.

Then all of a sudden they went out of sight, and directly below Jay was a big slab of flat land which was getting closer and closer and closer.

"Aaah," Jay screamed as he veered closer to the ground. Then, with a stumble, his feet touched and he fell flat on his face. He raised his head to see the eagle he was riding just a few minutes ago, swoop down beside him and then turn back into a human.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry about dropping you," Jordan said, hurrying towards him.

Jay's face stung as he raised it from the dry rocky ground, the fingers of grass tickling his cheeks.

The view from the hill was quite small. Even though it looked like a clear day, above the edge of the forest was mist and murk, maybe some sort of magical barrier.

"I'm, eh, fine." Jay sunk his face back into the grass and then jumped out of his skin when Philippa appeared out of it beside him.

"Ooh, sorry."

Then the owl swept over them, and in midair turned back into Amy, who landed on her two feet next to them. After she had landed the others started to appear. Hollie was first, who landed with a splash, and then Cameron with his flying shoes. Soon after _they_ arrived, Lochlan swung in off a vine, closely followed by Liam and his arrows, the massive lion, the black dog and the brown deer. The animals turned out to be Alice, Broudie and Bobby. Then after a very long time Claire joined the group on the hill disguised as a fluttering dove.

"Now we're all here we can get started. Right Amy?" Philippa shouted.

"As long as you've bought the box, Bobby?"

"Yep, it's right here." she pulled out a small brown box with patterned gold and silver markings that moved around the edges like snakes slithering in mud.

"Great, now place it on the floor over there." Amy pointed out a large rock protruding from the ground a few metres away from them. "Everyone needs to stand around the box and then repeat after me... _Misgardio._ "

"What?" Jay blurted out, his face screwed up in a confused expression.

" _Misgardio,_ it's really easy," Liam repeated as if it was easy-as-pie.

Then Amy began the countdown, "Ready? Three, two, one..."

" _MISGARDIO!"_ everyone screamed at the top of their voice, all their eyes focussed on one thing, the box.

Jay chorused with them, but his came out a bit more like: 'Mus-tard-ee-oh?'

The brown printings on the box began swimming around more fiercely, and then there was a click and the patterns froze in position.

The seams of the box began to flood with blinding yellow light and it started rattling and shaking as if it was alive. Bobbling around on the rocky podium.

"What's happening?" screamed Jay over the rustling wind, which had just blundered in over the hill. Nobody answered him.

They just stood there staring at the box, hair flying around like a group of mad scientists.

Then the wind stopped completely, the yellow light that was flooding from the box faded, and an enormous bubble emerged.

There was silence as the bubble grew bigger and bigger, floating into the sky. The translucent sphere gliding like a helium balloon with such beauty and elegance.

Then it stopped, and Amy bowed to the hovering bubble and spoke, "Thy wishes to speak to Athena, goddess of wisdom, on Olympus."

The sphere fogged up with clouds, a mesmerizing mess of grey and white that dissolved ever so gently to reveal a cobbled passageway, lined with green trees that housed small faces in their trunks. Either side of the trees were some small, white buildings, and straight in front of the pathway was an open field, littered with people, but not the usual sort.

Just then, before Jay could get a closer look at the unusual people, a large woman drifted around the corner of one of the streets and came towards them, a large grin spreading over her face as she veered closer.

"Nice to see you again Amy, you has done me well. All twelve?" The lady questioned in a posh, dominate tone.

"Yes," Amy bowed and then continued. "Queen Athena, this is the last of us, Jay." Amy stepped aside and Jay came face to face with the woman, so called Athena, and she smiled.

She was the stereotypical Greek goddess: Large, white toga, fudge-coloured, laced sandals, an elegant flower emerging from silky locks, and a clean complexion. The goddess, although probably two thousand and fifty two years old, looked like a stunning thirty year old from a Greek play.

"Jay Perry, age thirteen, lives at, magician camp, occupation...saving the earth from the monstrous ancient Greek creatures which begin to litter the world as they escape Tartarus," Athena announced aloud as if reading from a fact file.

"Eh..."

"Do not worry. I am not here to intimidate you, but to congratulate you for getting here. Oh and something else as well." she cast a small glance behind her.

"Athena, you said I needed to collect everyone as quickly as possible because there was something you needed us to do," Amy said as Athena turned to face them again.

"There is something I want you to retrieve, something that, in the wrong hands, could be dangerous to earth. The monsters are escaping and as the gap widens, bigger and tougher creatures will be free. Now if they get this something, they will use it to over throw the gods and take over both the magical and mortal world." Athena's face had grown suddenly serious.

"We can get it," Amy said in a triumphant voice. Without knowing where this thing was, what it was and what was needed to be done to retrieve it.

"Yes well, this thing is hidden in a temple full of traps and challenges, and before you get to it you will be faced with many fearsome monsters, even the ones that were once harmless are now bloodthirsty creatures."

"Athena, we can find it for you, we shall return with this someth-" Amy started.

Jay chuckled to himself at how Amy had changed to suck up to the goddess. Teachers pet professional, or would it be goddess pet?

"Excuse me for interrupting, but what is this something?" Lochlan butted in, ignoring the sudden influx of dirty looks.

"This something is a jewel, and it can give the owner powers of greatness. And believe me, the greatness shall not be of what we can call great," Athena answered in a serious tone,

"How will we find it?"

"Well, this is not just one quest, but two. First you must find the person who knows where the temple is, and then you must find the temple and capture the jewel. Both have to be done before the monsters get there." Her words were rushed and her details were minor as if she was in a hurry.

"Who knows where the temple is?" Claire asked from the back of the crowd.

"There is only one person who knows of the temple's whereabouts. He hid the temple away from anyone, even the gods do not know. He will be reluctant to tell you, but it is worth a try and it's the fastest way to get the jewel."

"What is his name?" Bobby pondered.

"His name is Fredrick. He is a demi-god," Athena told, as she took another glance behind her.

"He's a demi-god? Why would the Gods trust a demi-god with the information of where this thing is? I mean, isn't it really important," Amy asked.

"It is _very_ important. See, this man helped the gods with the capturing of some of the monsters that are now trapped in Tartarus. So we granted him immortality and entrusted him with the honour of holding the secret of the jewel. You do not have a chance of getting him to tell you where the temple is unless you have something which will prove that you are doing this on behalf of the gods. He is a great man of old demi-god behaviour not like the new ones that pester the magical life."

"So we need some proof," said Lochlan.

"I shall send you something that he will remember, and hopefully he will help you on your quest," Athena said.

"But Athena, we do not know where this man is. We can't find him unless you tell us where he is."

"I do not know for sure, but I have a strong feeling Fredrick is hiding in France."

"Why would he be hiding in France?" Hollie questioned.

"Because there aren't many vicious creatures in France, so he wouldn't be hassled about the temple by the monsters that have already escaped. Very clever and cunning he is."

'What's so great about France?' Jay thought to himself.

"Right so were heading for France, any specific place in France?" Amy asked.

"He will probably be far from the reach of monsters, but that's all I can say," Athena replied.

"Somewhere underground maybe, or above ground? Or maybe in the sea?" Liam suggested.

"Yes, above ground would make more sense for him particularly. If you know what I mean. I advise you to set off at the start of summer."

Jay had never met Athena before but his first impression of her seemed quite genuine, but there was something about the way she explained this apparent 'quest' as if she was hiding something.

Then there was a sound of footsteps and Athena finished the conversation, "Take care will you. Five people must go as it has been set. The rest are to keep persuading the demi-gods to help you and not fight you. Goodbye now, and good luck." she reached out with her hand and washed away the picture. The bubble shrunk in size and plunged down into the box and under the lid with a brisk whistling sweep.

Then with a bang the box closed. There was no noise for a moment or two until Amy took a step forward. She walked slowly to the box, lifted it off the rock and turned to her crowd.

"So, anybody up for a game of squally ball?" She smiled. They all started cheering and laughing, so Jay, even though he didn't know much about squally ball, decided to cheer as well.

The journey down the hill in the clutch of Jordan's (in eagle form) long talons was not as dramatic as the journey up. Well, not until they reached ground anyway. The others joined them at the foot of the hill and they took a walk/jog towards the Squally ball court.

"So how much did you read in the book about Squally ball?" Philippa asked.

"Oh, only the main rules and the aim of the game really," Jay replied.

"Did you read any of the other books?" Broudie questioned.

"No, I didn't have much time, but I'll read one of them tonight maybe," Jay told them as they reached the entrance to the court.

The stadium had a smooth, pure white exterior look that curved in a Pringle shape, bowing in the middle and circling round at either side.

"Well if you're going on this quest, you better get learning some spells," Lochlan said as they walked through an alley and entered the building.

'If I'm going on the quest? Who said I was going? I can't go, I barely know how to make a flame...in fact, I don't even know how to do that!' Jay replied furiously in his mind. But before he could say any more, his breath was taken from him as he walked out into the stadium.

It was magnificent; there were white seats situated above and around a court of green, which was divided by a towering net.

Floating in midair above the court was a black rectangle which kept slowly spinning around.

"Ok, this is it. Who's up first?" Amy looked around at everyone with a friendly, excited smile.

"Me, Bobby, Claire and Hollie will go against Broudie, Jord, Liam and Louchy," Philippa suggested.

They all agreed with a few high fives and 'lets do this' hugs.

"Right we'll watch and then the winner will play us four," Amy finished.

Amy, Cameron, Alice and Jay walked up into the stalls and took some seats near the front. Meanwhile, Hollie and Philippa, and Broudie and Lochlan, took their places at the backs of each side of the court, and Bobby and Claire, and Jordan and Liam, took the fronts.

From up in the stands Jay could see the markings on the court appear and an invisible cube-shaped barrier cover the players.

"Great game this, really funny sometimes," Cameron chuckled, recalling past experiences.

Then Amy announced the start,

"Rackets at the ready," After that part of the sentence giant rackets appeared in all the players' hands. "and the squally." This time a smaller than football sized ball appeared on the ground next to Lochlan who picked it up with his hands. "Then let's play squally ball!!!" A whistle blew and the game began.

Lochlan threw the ball into the air, mumbled what must have been a curse, and whacked it over the net. Then suddenly a speaker appeared just above the scorer and started commentating on the game,

"Laughing curse by Lochlan, and Bobby's hit it back. Here come the giggles. Bobby's used a transformation spell, it'sss the ssserpent. Liam moves out of the way, IS IT THE FIRST POINT OF THE GAME? Ooh nearly a point but Jordan saves it with a... ah it's the soak spell. I think Philippa's taken a shower. So she hit's it back over the net and then Broudie retrieves. Oo, that's the melting floor curse. Broudie hit's the, where is it? It's the invisibility spell. Can they see it? Ha ha ha ha."

The speaker continued to commentate for the whole game and its stupid jokes were not the reason why Jay was laughing.

He was laughing at the curses and spells in the game: Jordan was hit by the jelly-legs curse, Claire was being attacked by weeds when she stood in the same space for more than two seconds, the boys were hit with a snow curse which was followed up by a wind spell (made a treacherous blizzard), Hollie was hit with a singing curse ('Jingle bells, really? It's summer!' The speaker had laughed), and Lochlan spent the last minutes of the game with a big, yellow beak instead of a nose. In the end the girls won, fifty-two to thirty-nine.

"That's a win for Hollie, Philippa, Claire and Bobby. Curses withdrawn." At the last words of the speaker, all the curses reversed, including Lochlan's beak. All eight of the tired out players returned from the court to meet Jay and the other watchers.

"Ok, if you still got some energy left, us four will play against you girls. And go easy on us, please," Amy added.

Jay followed Amy, Alice and Cameron onto the far court.

"Eh, Jay. Do you know any curses or spells?" Alice asked nervously, taking the front quadrant and pushing Jay onto the other front space.

"None apart from the scare spell. Cameron told me that one," Jay replied as he took the front section of his court.

"Well, try and remember these... _Iglormafy, Hauntus, Repuntas serpent_ and _Flaixor mintha-_ "

" _Minthamya,"_ Jay interrupted, "I remember that one," he laughed, biting his lip.

Then, just like in the game between the girls and boys, the announcement for the start echoed through the arena, this time the voice of Broudie.

"Rackets at the ready," A racket appeared in Jay's hands. It felt quite heavy for a piece of wood. They were made of pure oak, and plastic wiring that was wrapped around the edges and neatly woven in and out like patchwork.

"and the squally," A ball rose from the ground behind Jay and he started reassuring himself that he wasn't going to fail at this sport - unlike most sports which were not Jay's strong points, 'how hard can this be, it's like badminton and volleyball put together, and a bit of magic of course.' His inner self called out to him.

"Then let's play squally ball!!!" Broudie finished off his introduction and Jay felt a rush of energy.

He heard the swing of a racket, the muttering of a spell, a collision between racket and ball, and then he looked up and saw the squally fly over his head.

It sped over the net, casting a shadow on the pitch, and then got pelted back over by Claire, who's arms, when she hit it, turned green and scaly.

'Interesting?' Jay thought, shaking his arms and his legs, readying himself.

The ball went back and forth many times before it first came near Jay's section, and when it did, he was ready.

He pulled his racket behind him and it was about a metre away when Jay realised that he needed to say one of the spells Alice had told him just before the game had started.

It felt weird hearing those words constantly repeating in his mind in a casual tone. Magic, spells, curses... it was all still being digested. Jay just needed more time, it's not every day you get told your some prophesised sorcerer who needs to defend the world. Unfortunately now wasn't the time to sit and digest, he was playing squally ball!

Then, just in time, Jay blurted out a spell, " _Iglormafy!"_

He hit the ball, which was surprisingly light, and it flew over the net.

His eyes of hope and anticipation watched the ball as it soared across the court.

He looked over to see Philippa, who had just hit the ball and who was now frantically dancing.

Jay laughed.

That's when he realised that whoever hit that ball over to him must've said a spell too, which meant...

"Hairy-legged Jay hit's the dancing spell at Philippa. Now _she_ can do the cha-cha." The speaker shouted over the court.

'What did he mean hairy legged Jay, he hasn't got hairy le-' He looked down at his legs, all eight of them, black and hairy, protruding from his hips.

He let out a girly shriek and then calmed himself down by telling himself that 'these were supposed to put him off and that he was going to continue the game as if he still had two, normal legs.

After that incident he got really into the game. At first he hit a transformation spell of a snake and ended up with a rain curse, and then he let the ball past him when it started to scream, but Alice reminded him that she had already let the ball past three times. Then his team started falling around the court because of a wind curse.

After that he tried the rise-in-temperature spell and ended up completely drenched with water.

He thought the soak spell was bad, but it wasn't as bad as his temperature spell which made Hollie faint before her racket even touched the ball - that was his first score for his team.

He felt bad that he'd made Hollie faint but he was glad that he'd scored a point.

They lost the game in the end when Amy leaped for the ball, and because of the spring step curse, she flew straight over it.

Jay felt really tired and was glad when it was over, although he could really see himself settling in to this new life.

Constant danger, a purpose, powers to make life easier, and an amazing game! What more could he want?

"Amy's took a step too far, I think. So that's a win for Philippa, Hollie, Claire and Bobby. Curses withdrawn," the speaker screamed as the players met up with the spectators. Jay's spider legs finally disappeared, allowing him to sight with relief.

"You did great Jay, honestly, that temperature spell was a knockout, literally," Jordan congratulated.

"Yeah, you were epic," agreed Bobby.

"Oh, thanks."

"I bet you're tired now, aren't ya?" Cameron said.

"Exhausted."

"Well you should get some rest, and then maybe we can help you learn some fighting skills," Lochlan suggested, ruffling his ginger hair and straightening his glasses.

"We'll meet you in the fighting area about one-ish?" Liam said.

"Ok, that'd be great."

"Hey, Jay. If you're having a rest, maybe you could read the fighting book, it'd get you ready for this afternoon," Hollie said as she joined the group.

"Yeah, the idea of a rest Hol is that you rest," Jordan laughed.

"Ha, all you do is rest, so you'd know about it," Hollie retaliated.

After a lot of chatting and laughing about the two games, they all went their separate ways out of the squally ball court. Jay walked over the green fields and decided to go and check out the waterfall, which he had saw closer up on the way to the squally ball court.

He thought the natural falling water might be a comfort.

As he got nearer he realised the size of it. The thing was huge, much like everything at the camp. Now, a ft. away, he could hear the thrashing of water and could feel the spray on his flustered cheeks.

The waterfall was beautiful. There were trees on either side of a deep pool of clear water, which was being pounded by the tumbling droplets of white blue, that seemed to burst out of a horizontal crack in the rocky wall.

Jay stepped to the edge of the pool and bent down to see his reflection looking back at him.

'What am I doing?' he asked himself. 'Someone tells me I'm a sorcerer and that the Greek gods are real, then I just follow them to a camp with elves and nymphs.' If this was real it was certainly better than being back at the foster home.

As he continued to daze into the soft wavy water, he started to hear voices,

"We see your future, your past and the road you could've taken."

"Your qualities, your downfalls and the things you do not know."

"We wish to help you."

"And support you."

The voices echoed in the water, as if it was alive.

"Who are you?" Jay asked.

"We were sent to inform you Jay," the voices spoke dreamily.

"Who sent you?" Jay questioned, thrusting himself to a standing position, his fear battling his intrigue.

"We sent us, we have seen things and heard things that your fellow friends should know," the voices whispered.

They were feminine voices of a breezy and flowing tone that seemed to fade in and out softly.

"What should we know?" Jay said worryingly, expecting them to tell him that there was some army of dracy things that have started attacking the camp.

"We heard the-" A large rock plummeted into the water from one of the trees, and Jay started to hear screaming. Then he caught a few of their last words. "They are p-" The voices were washed away by yet another tumbling rock.

Jay looked up to see nothing, just trees masked by the spray of water.

What could have thrown those rocks? Unless it was the trees (Jay had learnt that anything unusual was usual in a sorcerer's eye).

"Who's there?" he screamed, but no one answered. Now, only the sound of the water crashing and the whistling of the midday breeze were to be heard. The voices had gone.

Jay shot over the river, pondering about the scene at the waterfall, and arrived at the camp fire. He strode in and it kept the same warming heat as it had last time.

The hot rooms never seemed to bother Jay now he had this ring, and he seemed to only sweat when he was running around, like when he played squally ball.

Jay thought a bit longer about what the voices had told him, 'We have heard things that you lot should know.' it must have been really important, maybe something that they needed to know for the quest. Jay had read about how most heroes are told of or given something to help them with their quest, like the person who slew the Minotaur was given string, and how the person who killed medusa was given a mirror.

Then she started saying something else, 'we heard the', they must have overheard a conversation, and it must be a group of people. Maybe they were the elves or the tree nymphs. Then the last bit, 'They are p-' so they are either panicking, posing or panting? That didn't make sense either.

He cleared the scene from his mind and decided to take a look into one of the books, and then maybe tell everyone about what happened at the waterfall when they meet at the fighting area later.

So he slumped into the chair and picked up the pile of books that were left on the table from the previous night. He rooted for the one titled - _Learn to fight with magic and swords,_ and when he found it, he jumped back into the sofa and opened the book.

This book contains all the Greek battle gear that has ever been invented. It also will show you how to use them and how you can make them better by using magic.

Jay turned the page to the contents which read:

Swords 1

Shields 25

Knives 53

Spears 68

Other weaponry 80

Magic and weapons combined 114

Glossary 140

Index 144

He read the contents and decided to skip to page one hundred and fourteen. He figured that would be more what he needed.

He started to read the book and it became very interesting, even though he skipped most of the bits with spells.

Most weapons have been cursed or improved by a sorcerer before they come into your hands, so it is a good thing to wipe your weapon clean before you start using it. Now, this part of the book is about magic and weapons together and this mix creates something very powerful. To get your weapon to a good standard, first you should try the spells which strengthen your weapon or lighten your weapon. (The next few pages were covered in spells to strengthen your weapon) Also you could make your weapon transform from a ring to a sword or a hat to a shield. (There was a page of spells to transform your weapons and how to change them back) Now you have got a solid, easy-to-keep and easy-to-use weapon you can start using it. When you use a spell through a sword you get a more direct hit, and swords can also have spells on them which can reflect an incoming spell. A shield can be used to make a wider aim of a spell, good to use in a war. Spears can be cursed to follow a certain person and can be protected with reflection spells so as the person it is chasing cannot blow it up. Certain spells can also get more powerful and really hurt someone. There are also some spells which can control swords to fight with people without you holding the end - This is for advance sorcerers/sorceresses (the next load of pages were filled with enchantments and spells to perform with different weapons). The next page is a question page. You need to think of your question, obviously to do with the book, put your hand on the page and say 'answer my question'.

After flicking through lots of spell-filled pages he eventually found a blank, double-page spread. He wondered why there was nothing there and then just decided to think of a question and see if it would work.

So he thought of a question. ('What is the best strengthening spell to use on a sword?') He concentrated hard and spoke the question in his head, and then he repeated what the book had told him to say,

"Answer my question," he whispered in a spooky-ish tone which scared him a little bit. Then he removed his hand and a face appeared on the left page.

"The best strengthening spell to use on a sword is, supposedly the diamond covering spell because diamond is the strongest substance. But," suddenly a black square appeared on the right side of the page and the scraggily, old face in the book carried on talking, "I know there is a stronger metal out there that can be made, but only by skilled metal-workers. The Telchines for example. Here is a film of someone performing the diamond covering spell on a sword, goodbye." The face dissolved and the black square grew bigger and started to play a movie.

Jay shut the book as he was waiting for the movie to start as he had just looked up and saw it was five past one!

He jumped off the sofa and sprung out the door like a kangaroo.

There was no one by the fire, so Jay ran, and as he did he could hear the clanging of swords and shields. He was so engrossed in the book that he must have lost track of time.

He got to one of the entrances to the fighting area and took a break before entering, didn't want to walk in half dead. He could hear people shouting and screaming spells from behind the trees.

Then when he had caught his breath he started to walk through the gap in the trees. So far the day had been awesome and now he was going to get his hands on a real sword and do some real fighting.

When he lifted his head up to see what was going on, he saw a 2ft long spear heading straight for him.

#  Attracted to junk.

(Chapter 4)

The spear was soaring through the air at high speed and Jay couldn't seem to move his feet, it was as if they were glued to the floor.

His eyes grew wide as the spear got nearer. Every time he tried to move, he would just start shaking.

It was just a few ft away. All he could think to do was raise his hands and yell the only thing he could think of,

" _Hokvalmia."_ He felt himself heat up, he saw a reflection in a silent green leaf of a burning flame, and then his stomach gave a jolt and he felt like he was going to puke.

His vision blurred and his stomach churned in discomfort. In pain. His whole insides felt as if they were being thrown around in a washing machine. Make that a monster washing machine!

A second later his chest felt empty. He swore he was going to die, but then, just before his eyes rolled behind the sockets, a tingling sensation started, and then the last thing he could remember he was falling backwards into the trees - the spring sky rolling across his view.

"Jay, are you alright?" A voice spoke to him and he opened his eyes slowly. The sight revealed a well-lit room with beds that lined the walls and a crowd of people around him.

The blinding light pained his forehead and his eyes, it was like a migraine from hell.

"Where am I?" He groaned miserably, looking from left to right at the people around him. Then one of them answered,

"You're in the aid room," spoke a tall girl, which, with Jay's blurry eyes, looked like Bobby.

"Do you feel dizzy, sick, hot, cold, or just damn right confused?" Spoke a male voice from beside him.

"Con-fused."

"Well," started another male's voice in front of him, "you were late and we'd already started training with swords, shields and, spears." There was a pause and then he carried on, "Someone threw a spear, and it went the wrong way. It came towards you and, well I think you were too scared to move out of the way and then you did something really awesome, which saved your life. What did it feel like?" he finished, his tone changing from embarrassment to its normal perky self.

"Lochlan, this really isn't the time," A girl spoke from the foot of his bed.

"Now we know he's alright we can leave him to rest, alright everyone back to your dorms. Train hard and you might get a place on the quest. We'll sort the people out in a week with the chooser." This voice was definitely Amy's, the orderly yet friendly echo it had.

Jay heard the scurrying of feet and then the squeaky wheels of a trolley.

"Food?" this voice was someone he knew, he recognised it instantly.

"What is it?"

"Strengthening food. Build you up a bit."

It was Liam for sure. He ate his food and then fell straight back into a deep sleep.

After two nights in the aid room, Jay was back to his normal self.

He'd spent the days reflecting on his nights at the foster home and doing lots of digesting. He'd spoke to Liam a lot and he'd managed to answer Jay all of his questions and he was really nice to him, he could relate a lot with his situation, although Hollie did say that they'd all been through the same thing. That sort of comforted Jay a bit, it made his settling in a little easier.

That morning he trudged off back to his dorm, through the aid room door and straight into the hallway of the temple - Jay had never bothered to ask where the aid room was, but it must have been some magical door off the hallway as when he exited, he looked back and it was as if he'd just jumped out of the wallpaper!

When he got to the campfire he met Broudie, who asked him if he wanted to try again at the fighting area, which he had avoided on the way to the sheds.

"C'mon I can teach you some proper battling, without the magic, and you won't get hit with a spear. Promise, just a sword instead," he said.

Jay agreed, hoping he was joking, and they walked into the fighting area with just a sword and a shield, which Broudie carried casually, holding his sword which was tucked into some sort of sword holder attached to a belt on his trousers.

"Eh, Broudie," Jay said, "you know all the creatures and monsters in Greek myths. Like the three headed dog and the hydra. Well are they all really real and alive?"

"Did Hollie tell you about the monsters trapped in Tartarus?"

"Yeah she did, but she said they were escaping or something."

"That's it. They're escaping from Tartarus, the small ones first and the big ones last. Through the gate which the gods closed with their powers millennia's ago."

"So what's the worst creature or monster in the world then?" Jay asked curiously as they entered the fighting area, crossing the place where Jay was skewered.

"Well it depends. The worst _creature_ would be Typhon. He's like a really massive dragon and used to be trapped in Mount Etna. But then Cronus, Gaea, Nyx and so on are very powerful Gods, and Titans. Except they can be persuaded to do things or not do things," Broudie answered. "Anyway let's do some battling," he added, obviously more interested in battling, a trait which obviously must've come to him when he got his ring of war.

Broudie passed Jay a shield and then got himself into a ready position. He then took Jay through a shielding exercise.

"Ok, I'll move forward." he put his right foot forward and then in slow motion, swung his sword under his arm and towards Jay's shield. "Then, I strike, you hold your shield up, and then when the two weapons meet,"

Jay's hand was securely gripped to the shield but it was quite an effort to keep it from pulling him down never mind actually trying to pull it up in front of him.

Broudie's sword hit the shield and Jay fell back - quite a lot, ending up on the floor. "you fall back slightly to decrease the force and then, obviously you'd need a sword to do this, you remove your shield and strike at me." Broudie finished as he pushed his sword into the moist ground.

"Let's have a go. Ready? One, two, three..." He swung his sword a lot faster than he did the first time and he struck at Jay, who lifted his shield and fell backwards from the force.

The clanging of sword and shield rattled in his head and he fell over onto the ground and then, after a moment of paralysis, he slowly got up, gripping his left arm.

"I am no good at fighting. I hope I'm better at the magic side," Jay mumbled.

"Yeah let's hope," Broudie laughed.

'Oh,' Jay thought, 'you weren't supposed to agree with me!'

They tested out a few more moves, and after a lot of falling, Jay started to dodge and deflect Broudie's hits. The only thing was every time he deflected or dodged a strike Broudie would get harder. Then, about an hour later, they stopped their fighting and Broudie decided that now would be a good time to decide on a weapon to have. Something that Jay could actually attack with.

"You need a good weapon. For you, something long, a knife wouldn't suit you. A spear or a sword, definitely a shield. You could personalise the shield so as it's got extra things on it," Broudie suggested as they veered closer to the temple.

"I've never been to the weapon cupboard."

"Well, seems as I have the ring of the god of war, you couldn't expect me not to follow my senses and walk straight in there on my first day."

"What's it like?" Jay asked.

"You'll find out soon." They entered the temple, along the hallway and Broudie turned to face a wall. He glanced at Jay and then spoke to the picture on the wall

" _Aperium,_ " Broudie hushed. The same spell Jay had used to get his food, must've been something to do with something appearing. 'Clever Jay, no one would've worked that out' he chuckled to himself.

A crack spread from the bottom of the wall upwards, then across, then back down, as if tracing the outline of a door.

"Wha-" Jay started his sentence but was stopped by the door knob which sprung from the door with a squeak.

"Hear it is." Broudie grasped the door handle and turned it. There was a click, followed by a long creak before they both walked into the dark room. Then Jay heard Broudie's hushed voice again,

" _Sparkinum._ " A floating orb of light flashed into existence and began to float in midair in front of Jay. It flew upwards and then hit something, which must have been the light bulb. That's when the room came into sight.

Swords lined the walls with shields above them. Spears lay vertically against a circular block in the centre. Other, slightly unusual, weaponry were dotted around as well. There were two horizontal aisles to his left and one vertical aisle to his right.

"This is amazing," Jay said as Broudie started to pace around the centre block, admiring the spears.

"Well, let's find you a weapon."

"What can I have?" Jay asked, looking around at the swords with their shining blades.

"Anything, as long as you can defend or hit with it," Broudie replied. You could tell he was in his element in this room.

Jay strolled around the massive cupboard, eyeing up all the nice-looking blades and the most decorative shields.

After a few minutes of searching the walls for weapons, Broudie picked up a sword and handed it to Jay. It was really long, longer than Broudie's, and the handle was quite plain and boring.

"Try this, give it a swing."

Jay took the sword, which wasn't too heavy, and pushed it forward from behind his shoulders. He stumbled forward, Broudie stepping out the way, and, by the look on his face, it wasn't the sword Jay should have.

"Let's try a shield." Broudie turned his back and looked up at the shields. "Any of them you like?" he added.

Jay placed the sword back on the wall and looked up at the many shields above him, shimmering in the lights like rows of giant gold plates.

"Eh, how about that one." Jay pointed out a shield on the top row and Broudie shook his head.

It was patterned beautifully with gold and bronze markings in circular orientation around a pointed, central piece.

"Not one that you like the look of, one that draws you in like a magnet. Try closing your eyes and walk around, trust your instincts. You have your ring now, the ancient Greek instincts lie within you, the urge to defend and protect, to fight, and it's all in you now," Broudie spoke with passion.

Jay replied with a confused expression.

"That ring gives you the power to practice magic and control the elements of which your god is trusted with. But it is from Greek origin so it also influences you in a Greek way and your natural reactions will be more intense, it's an ancient thing. And when it comes to weapons, the Greeks loved them, like a friend, so they had to have meaning. Look, just trust me. Relax and clear your mind, have a look around and let your subconscious-self guide you. Gods, I'm sounding more like Amy every day!"

So, Jay closed his eyes and walked slowly around the room. He held his arms out in case he bumped into anything, his actual subconscious-self laughing at him.

"That's it. Now, walk the way you really want to walk, not the way you want to."

That confused him as well, 'Walk the way you really want to walk not the way you want to walk? What?' Jay thought to himself. Forgetting this he walked around the room with his eyes tight shut.

"Ok." Jay carried on walking. Then he stopped, something was telling him to go right. 'No, that was just his imagination' he thought, 'or was it?'

He kept walking forward until the feeling he had before came back, except it wanted him to turn left. So he turned left and then Broudie's footsteps came hurrying up to him.

"Did you get a feeling? Where did it take you?"

"Here," Jay replied looking very confused because what was in front of him was a box of junk.

There was a massive golden box full of wires and bits of scrap metal. There were pieces of steel, bronze, and even gold and some magical, transparent rock.

"Why would you walk up to a box of junk?" Broudie wondered. "Oh wait a minute. That's why. Hephaestus is the god of the forges, so you came here because you can build things from this junk." He clapped his hands and then took a closer look at the junk box.

"So then, what you gonna make?"

"What d'you mean, what you gonna make?" Jay questioned.

"Well, Hephaestus, the god of your ring, is the god of the forges," Broudie said.

"What are the forges?"

"It's where they make things. I should have known you would have to make your own weapon, its common sense."

"So, I have to make a sword."

"Or a shield."

"But I was rubbish at making things at school," Jay insisted.

"Well, I bet ya any money you could make a sword in just a few days."

"I don-" Jay was stopped mid-sentence by Broudie who blurted out,

"Let's put it to the test then, shall we?"

So Broudie and Jay exited the weapon room, walked out of the temple and trotted back to their dorms. When Jay got into his scorching house of warmth with his new box of junk, he made himself (well the cooker made him) a delicious pie.

After his meal he walked up into his bedroom and emptied the box of junk onto his bed. Where was he supposed to start? The handle? The blade?

"So, where do I begin?" Jay spoke aloud.

'Book, page thirty seven...' an echoing voice called from inside Jay's mind. He was going to react to it but he didn't, he couldn't. He couldn't jump out of his skin and do the typical hide down by the bed thing. He literally couldn't.

'Was that page number thirty seven in a book? Maybe it was a book he had. Maybe it was one of Hollie's.' Jay thought, his mind calmly going along with the fact some random voice was somehow controlling his state of mind. It felt weird, yet okay. If that makes sense?

He jumped off the bed, rushed down the stairs and raced into the front room. He checked the first book, labelled ' _All of the Gods, Goddesses and Titans that have ever lived'_ He found a person called Uranus and some writing about the sky. He thought that had nothing to do with building a weapon, so closed the book and checked the next one. The next one was labelled ' _1000 simple spells for beginners'_ He flicked to page thirty seven and found the words 'the controlling spells' written in bold.

He held the book in front of him and furrowed his eyebrows. Had he gone mad? He was listening to a voice in his head? That was like psycho behaviour! Maybe it was something to do with his ring guiding him to do what he needed to do?

Then the voice came back. It was deep and intense yet soothing like a fierce monster trying to rock a baby to sleep.

'Read the page... It shall help, my young ring-bearer...'

It took Jay a few seconds to realise who the voice in his head was...Hephaestus!

An actual God, like Athena, his God had talked to him. He must've been watching him to know to talk to him. Mustn't he? That was a bit weird. Was he watching him like _all_ the time?

Jay turned back to the book and the calmness resided leaving him extremely weak in the knees. Now he knew the real power of the Gods, they could control the way people felt, how they acted, it was amazing! Still a bit freaky though. Jay shook off his daze of pondering and then read the page on controlling spells.

There are two types of controlling spells, the good one and the bad one. The bad one is used to control living things. It is very hard to conjure and very powerful. Usually if someone finds out you have used a controlling spell on someone, then you are hunted down and eventually killed as it is one of the forbidden spells. So, this book only teaches the good one which is used to piece things together and move things.

This sounded right. He was going to build his weapon using this spell. Now, becoming very interested, Jay read on,

The following spell is the spell you put on an object. When you say the spell keep your eyes fixed on the object you want to move. Then the control spell link is in place. Then you move your hand from the object to the place you want it to go and then, keeping your hand on the spot, look at the object. There are various things the object might do to get to the spot but usually they just glide. As you can imagine, as you get better at this spell, you will be able to conjure it without using your hands and for professionals, without the word as well. Now, obviously the bigger and heavier the object, the harder it is to move. That is why we suggest practising on a feather first. Below is the spell and to the right are some videos of people producing the control spell. (Say 'start' with your finger on the paper to begin the clip).

Below the writing was a bold printed word which read, ' _Alovium.'_ As soon as Jay read that last word he got very excited and ran up the stairs, where he found the bits of junk still lying on the bed.

He rubbed his hands together and narrowed his eyes. He concentrated on one of the slightly smaller pieces, and then he whispered very slowly,

" _Alovium."_ Nothing happened.

Jay sat down on the bed and got really close to the piece, so close, he could now make out little, tiny gears inside it. Then he repeated the spell,

" _Alovium."_ He kept his eyes fixed on the junk. Nothing happened again, but Jay was determined to get this spell right. So he kept his eyes in contact and shouted loudly. " _ALOVIUM!"_

The piece of junk turned over on the bed and Jay knew that this time the spell had worked. He lifted his hand, pointed at the junk piece then swung his hand to point at the other side of the bed. Jay looked back and saw the scrap levitating off the bed, then it started bouncing in the air towards the other side, where it floated lightly down.

He'd made a scrap piece of metal float elegantly across a room...

"Wow," he squealed with excitement, calming himself down and glancing to the sky in case the God was still watching.

Then he started pointing his hand at different points in the room, and each time he did so, the piece of junk would follow.

But then, after about a minute of pinging from place to place, the piece of junk decided it was worn out and dropped to the bed in between darting from the lamp to the cupboard.

Jay sighed as it tumbled to a stop. Then he started controlling the other pieces of junk, making them fly across the room like fireworks. Smiling immaturely like some mad scientist.

Then, by pure accident, he made two pieces collide, and the shape they took was like the centre of a shield. So that's when he began his first stage to making his first ever weapon.

Something amazing that everyone at the hideout would look at and say how good it was and how they'd love to have one.

Jay spent the remainder of the week either building his shield, learning spells (just remembering the words because he could never actually perform them, even the ones he had done in the squally ball match for some reason), playing squally ball or discovering the rest of the camp.

By the end of the week he had become rank two in squally ball (there was a chart in the stands that had everyone's names on with loads of coloured spots next to them. Jordan had told him that the amount of spots you had depended on how good you were at the game. He told him that the actual court recognises different people and adds their name to the sheet plus marking them up with coloured dots. At the moment Jay was rank two, Philippa and Hollie were both at rank twelve, show-offs!).

Shield wise, Jay had completed the actual shape of the shield and had started putting spells on it using his books. The ones in there, like the hardening spell etcetera, he found easy to perfect for some reason. He had had to use the spell: ' _Dublicatius_ ', because he had been running out of junk, so his spell using knowledge had gone up a lot.

He had started practising spells with Jordan and Philippa because of the quest they were supposed to be doing, but the only thing he could really do was the spell gone wrong spell, or like Jay liked to call it, the call for help spell, as it sent random sparks of light in all directions uncontrollably. Safety was at the bottom of the list.

Then, on a Sunday afternoon, Amy came up to him whilst he was dazing up into the sky and doing his usual 'what a life I have now' hour of pondering.

"Tonight at the temple, Ok. Sort of mini feast."

"Yeah sure, awesome!"

"Oh, and another thing, I heard you were making a shield and I thought this might come in handy," Amy passed him a small piece of metal.

"What is it?"

"It's like a two way mirror. It allows you to look through the metal. All you need to do is mould it to the right shape and attach it to the inner side of your shield," Amy instructed, "I've got some of it on my shield, it's really useful."

"Thanks," Jay said greatfully, turning over the tiny piece and noticing that he couldn't see it, it was like a piece of glass.

One side it was metal, the other side, it was nothing! Genius!

That night he walked to the temple with Philippa, Bobby and Lochlan.

"So, how's your shield coming on?" Lochlan questioned.

Jay felt really part of the gang ever since he first set foot in the hideout. They'd all welcomed him with open arms and been probably the nicest anyone had ever been to him. It was a nice feeling, it sort of made you feel wanted, for once.

"Great! I've got it to the right shape and now I'm just adding things to it and putting spells on it."

"When do we get to see it?" Philippa asked excitedly.

"Soon," Jay revealed as they entered the temple, where everybody awaited their arrival.

"Now we are all here we can get started. Anybody not want to go on the quest?" Amy questioned. No one put their hands up so she carried on.

'This quest must mean a lot to the people here,' Jay thought, they all seemed so willing to go on this quest even though they knew they could get killed. Then, who was he to talk, he wanted to go too!

Over the week he'd spoke with a few of the fellow ring-bearers and they'd talked a lot about pride of bringing back the jewel. Jay could relate, now he had this new life he wanted to get stuck in and live on the edge, take every chance and opportunity for something new.

"Okay, all the names are in here." Amy pointed at a large, wooden ring.

"As an introduction for Jay, and the others that have not been told of this thing, this is a chooser. It, well kind of tells you what it does, but for those who are still stood there gaping, it chooses things and people. These choosers are wise, and they always make the right choices. Athena suggested we should use it to decide who should go on the quest. The way it works is someone, in this case I, will write down the nature of the quest on paper, and pop it into the ring." Amy walked over to a piece of paper which lay lonely on the table.

"Here's one I wrote earlier," she paused expecting people to laugh, but most of them were too busy wondering how she was going to put a piece of paper inside the hula-hoop looking object. She walked over to the hoop and threw the paper, and as soon as the sheet passed through, it disappeared.

"Now this is the second time the chooser has been used, so it's very young. Ok, any questions before we start?" Amy asked.

"What was it used for the first time?" Jay questioned.

"Athena, when she was given the rings by the oracle, a stranger gave her the chooser as a present. She threw the rings in the hoop and the ring of Athena came out first. That would mean the first person she would be finding would b-" Then Liam butted in and finished her sentence.

"Would be Amy."

"Thank you Liam. Right, let's get started."

She walked over to the chooser and whispered something. Then there was a squeaking sound and the plastic, basic-looking hula hoop moulded into the outline of a pair of lips.

"Oo, nice to be used from time to time," The lips spoke in a weird, high-pitched voice, which was slightly astonishing as Jay was expecting a deep wise voice that spoke power like the Gods.

"A quest I see. For five. To find Frederick in France, you think. Easy to find with that very detailed description, Frederick in France, huh? Then to squeeze the whereabouts of the jewel of Barthimia out of him, so as you can find the jewel before your good friends, the mythical monsters, can get it. So, we need a lot of experienced magic, persuaders, common sense people, and some intelligence. I suggest Claire, Broudie, Jay, Jordan and Hollie should go, Chow."

The chooser squeaked back into the hula hoop shape and then collapsed on the table. Motionless.

There was a moment of silence, pure shock was worn by most of the faces in the room.

"Well that settles it, you know who's going and there are no changes. All five of you will perfect your weapons and practise every morning in the fighting area. You have six days to get prepared. The rest of us shall carry on persuading the demi-god's to believe us about the monsters, and hopefully, when you bring back the jewel, they will finally understand." Amy took a breather then carried on, "There will be no squally ball matches for the next six days to help the five not get distracted. Everyone go back to your dorms, seven 'o' clock in the morning you will train and I shall be there to help on occasions. Goodnight."

She waved her hand, and with lots of grunting and groaning everyone made their way back to the campfire and into their dorms.

The next morning Jay was up and ready, he grabbed his shield and walked out of his house into a chilly morning. He couldn't believe he was picked for the quest, he'd only been here a matter of a week or two and he had got chosen, he was the least experienced. In a sense, Jay felt quite bad as he knew how much everyone must have wanted to go on the quest and then he'd got it. But Jay took it as a compliment, at least someone thought he was good. Even if it was a talking plastic hula hoop.

It had taken him all night to actually digest the fact that he was going on the quest and he'd only just broke out of his shock this morning, after a restless night of peculiar dreams.

The campfire was dim and there were only three people sat on the logs around it.

He walked to the fire and sat down, eyes alert and alive.

"Everyone ready?" he chirped. There was a moment of silence then someone spoke,

"Still waiting for one more," Broudie groaned, his face was lit slightly by the fire. He looked really drowsy.

"I got my shield," Jay said hopefully, trying to lighten the atmosphere. At the word shield, Broudie lifted his head and shot out of his slouched position.

"Let's have a look."

"Yeah, show us," Claire demanded. So Jay pulled his shield from out behind his back and held it out.

"I know it's not great but I've put a lot of effort into it, and I tried some spells on it, like, the strengthening spell," Jay said uneasily, just in case they weren't impressed.

"It's took you how long to make this?" Jordan asked.

"About four or five days," Jay moaned.

"Four or five days! That's amazing, your first time as well. And you've put spells on it," Claire squealed in an I-can't-believe-it tone.

"Well only the strengthening spell and a few minor perk spells because I can't do the other ones. I don't know why, I can't even do the ones that I did in the squally ball match," he muttered.

"We wouldn't expect you to do any proper magic out of the squally ball pitch. You do know that squally ball courts are enchanted so as the players can produce spells easily?" Jordan questioned.

"That would explain why I couldn't do it," Jay said. "But how did I manage the strengthening spell and the control spell," he added.

"The control spell?" shouted Broudie in astonishment, "That's like really hard, how did you...ah, wait a minute. I bet Hephaestus does a lot of controlling and I bet he uses some sort of strengthening spell in his work too, which is why you picked them up so easily."

"Morning everyone, are we all ready?" Hollie had just appeared from her dorm, bright and breezy, her usual self.

"Oh, finally. Let's go, c'mon," Claire groaned.

As they were walking over to the fighting area, everyone was checking out Jay's shield. They were fascinated by the metal that made the shield see-through and Jay thought that Broudie was quite jealous of it.

When they entered the area Jordan turned to speak,

"Right, we need a leader, someone who will make the final decisions." he looked around at the group, then added, "Who wants to be the leader?"

"I think Hollie should be the leader, she's had about two years of experience," Broudie suggested. Then the rest of the group, including Jay, gave out an applause and Jordan called her to the front. She turned around and Jordan joined the group before Hollie began her speech, which was clearly prepared,

"Ok, fighting with swords wasn't really what the chooser said we would need to do, so I think we should spend most of our time learning simple, helpful spells. I think we should start by paring up."

Jay looked around and saw Broudie,

"Can I go with you?"

Broudie agreed and they stood opposite each other in line with Jordan and Claire.

"Ok, we'll just go through some spells then, any suggestions?" Hollie weaved in and out of everybody like a school teacher which was slightly scary seeming as she was only 15 or 16.

"Sparkinum, it could help us if we end up in a tunnel or a cave," Jordan suggested.

"Ah, the light spell. Ok, I want everyone to watch me first then you can all have a go," Hollie instructed, as she lifted one of her hands from behind her back. Her eyes went blue and she spoke in a misty voice,

" _Sparkinum._ " A small, white ball of light appeared above Hollie's hand, she closed it and the light was extinguished immediately.

"Now, like all spells you need to practise them with lots of concentration first, then you can make a light shine as simple as _Sparkinum."_ She clicked her fingers and the light appeared again.

"Okay, your turn."

Jay raised his hand, just like Hollie did, and then focussed on the tips of his fingers,

" _Sparkinum."_ there was a little flicker of red light, but as soon as it had appeared, it had gone. He let out a sigh, but then tried again.

" _Sparkinum!"_ This time there was burst of light that erupted from his fingers and a shock of electricity ran up his arms. He closed his fist quickly and then swung his hand down beside him. He opened his hand slightly, just in case it was still there, but it had gone.

"Wow, Jay that was a good start." Hollie moved into a view. "That was a good light spell, except you need to control it. D'you understand what I'm saying? You've got to be more certain that you want some light and that you are the one in charge of it, ok. Have another go. Magic has its own free will, imagine it a pet with a leash, hold the leash short and tight." she stepped back and Jay raised his hand.

"Right, now say the spell like a strict teacher."

"Okay," Jay smiled at Hollie's teacher skills, "... _Sparkinum!"_ he said the spell not sternly but in that misty tone, like the tone Hollie used, even though he tried to say it strictly. There was a flash of light and there, floating an inch above his hand, was a ball of light.

It flickered and danced on his palm, shining a pure, shimmering flake of warm snow.

"There we go, now when you feel comfortable you can move your hand, and hopefully the light will continue to float near it. Remember, concentration. Hold the leash tight!"

Jay swallowed hard, and looked around the dim lit field at the other three, who were stood watching him. With immense pressure he slowly moved his left leg behind him and then he swiped his right leg back as well, bringing his hands in towards him. The white bulb of light hovered away from his hand, and Jay narrowed his eyebrows, making the light float back to his palm. He gave out a smile and then, feeling quite confident, side stepped quickly. The light flew at the same time with him.

"Great Jay, now try throwing it."

'Throwing it!' Jay thought, 'Bit of a step up. Suppose I could try,'

Jay pulled back his hand over his head and then asked,

"How?"

"Just throw it like a tennis ball, then pretend it's close to you and grab it, hopefully it will stop."

So, he swung his hand back over his head and threw the ball with all his might.

He gave out a grunt and the ball spun into the air, over Hollie's head and towards the trees.

"Quick try and grab it," Jordan ordered.

He threw his arm forward and tried to concentrate on the ball of light. He clutched the air between his fingers, hoping it would stop mid-flight, but there was a rustling of trees and the ball was gone.

#  Taking a plunge.

(Chapter 5)

"Well I didn't expect you to do it first time," Hollie told him. "You keep practising and you'll be able to do it."

Hollie walked over to Claire and they all got down to practicing the light spell.

Then, after about half an hour, Hollie had them throwing and catching balls of light in pairs. There were a few instances where the light didn't stop when someone tried to stop it, and Hollie had to quickly catch it herself, but it was quite fun.

After an hour they would change to a different spell, and then practise that. Jay mastered some and failed others. He perfected the opening spell and the fire spell, but couldn't manage the rain curse. All he kept doing was sending single water droplets upwards into the sky.

Then when they finished the hour on the protecting spell, they left the fighting area for some well-deserved lunch at their cabins.

"How many spells are there?" asked Jay when they reached the campfire.

"Billions, some are useful," answered Broudie.

"And some are really not," Liam said, pacing out of his cabin with his bow and arrows at his side. "How was your training, any good?"

"Yeah, and guess what. Jay can do the control spell!" Broudie said.

"Wow, really? Well I best be off, were going to see the demi-god tribe in Snowdonia. I'll seeya the day before you go," Liam told them as he stumbled off towards the river.

"They are so unlucky, you've never had to try and talk to a demi-god nicely have you?" Broudie questioned.

"No, I don't even know what one is."

"Well, basically, they are the children of one god and one mortal human, so they have a few powers that they get off their godly parent. The gods don't know they have a child but when the baby demi-god is born, the god or goddess runs away from the mortal parent."

"Goddess doesn't know the child is going to be born? But she would tell because she's got the baby inside her? Right?"

"Oh no, not all baby demigods are born the same way," Broudie gave out a small laugh and then continued, "Some emerge from the mortal, some pop out of fires, some get built by rocks and so on, quite...peculiar, I suppose is the word."

"So they are basically like us except they have parents and their parents are gods?"

"Definitely not, they're arrogant and horrible. They didn't used to be though. And they don't have magic they can just control stuff like water if they are children of Poseidon."

The two boys strolled off into their cabins.

Jay was greeted by the same cosiness of the warming house, then the tastes of a lovely meal, which he definitely deserved. After his lunch, he went back out and met Jordan.

It didn't seem weird settling into a new regime and not having to worry about schoolwork, it was different, but it felt right.

"Hey, d'you want to have a duel, no weapons just powers," Jordan asked.

"What do you mean?" questioned Jay, as they reached the waterfall. Jay was holding his homemade shield and Jordan was holding his. Jordan's shield however was like a tiny cloud with a strap on the back, it gave you a headache just looking at it.

"You know, no weapons. Just your powers, so you can use fire, and I can use the sky." he levitated off the ground big-headedly. "Oh and shields are not allowed either," he added.

"But what if you lift me up and drop me, then I break all my bones," Jay muttered warily.

"If only we had some phoenix tears, then we could do some proper battling."

"Phoenix tears?"

"They can heal anything and cure anything, except they cry very rarely."

"We should buy a phoenix," Jay proposed.

"It's a wild bird Jay."

"So that's that idea gone."

"We could practise still, if anything goes wrong we can just get Liam to sort it out," Jordan decided.

"It'd be good for the quest."

"Can you use your powers without magic?" Jordan asked.

"Eh, no," Jay replied, "What does that mean?"

"It's easy, don't say anything, just picture a flame in your head and a flame will appear. Throw your hands in front, whilst thinking of fire, and you can shoot fireballs. Experiment, and remember no spells."

"Ok, can I try the flame thing first, before you send me flying?" Jay questioned.

Jordan nodded and Jay cleared his head of everything, which wasn't too hard seems as it was quite quiet now there were only five at camp.

He closed his eyes for concentration, pulled his hands behind his back, remembered the time when he was sat staring at the fire in his old house, the care home, and then slowly re-opened his eyes.

He forced his hands forward and everything went into slow motion. His hands felt like they were trying to compress a giant steel spring and the air somehow turned thick and gloopy. Then he could smell the smoke, he kept running over the picture of the flame in his head, the yellow and orange flames, flickering on top of the black chunks of coal.

Slow motion was turned off and two balls of fire emerged from Jay's hands, the sensation was prickly and warm. The two fireballs flew at Jordan at super-speed.

Jay had a moment of panic! What if Jordan got burnt? What if he killed him, but just then he was blown off his feet by a strong wind.

"Excuse me, you cannot throw fireballs at me," Jordan said, as Jay lifted himself to his feet with ease. He took one look at Jordan then took in a gasp of air, he had a burn mark on his chest. His shirt was ripped and his chest was red raw.

"Jord, I-I'm so, are you alright?" Jay rushed over to him.

"I'm fine," Jordan cringed.

"I burnt you," Jay panicked.

"Look, if I want to go on this quest I need to stay strong even when a Chimaera's sent my chest on fire." Jordan's eyes tightened at every word, as if he was struggling to speak.

"We need to get that checked out."

"Good job I always carry something out with me then." Jordan nudged to the rucksack that he had bought along.

"You've got something that can heal that burn?" Jay questioned.

"If you could get it that would be great," Jordan urged as if he was really in pain and that Jay should shut up and get the first aid rucksack.

Jay opened the grey bag and foraged threw to find a small jar. He pulled it out and Jordan told him to bring it over. Inside was a murky blue liquid like cloudy seawater.

"Open the lid," Jordan ordered.

Jay did as he said and the stench of the liquid hit him terribly. It smelt of rotting carcasses with a tinge of fresh lemongrass and some sort of spicy orange.

Whatever it was, it smelt disgusting!

Jordan scooped out the thick paste and spread it on his chest. He continued cringing as he spread it over the redness.

It was like light blue gunge. It was disgusting. But Jordan just lathered the slop all over his chest in heaped scoops, smothering it all over and letting it drip down his clothes and on the floor.

The scary thing was that when the drops of potion touched the grass, it literally burnt, leaving a strangely poisonous red mark on the ground.

Jordan finished and Jay could see the redness fading. He reopened his eyes and struggled some words,

"Drench, me."

"Drench you?"

"Yeah."

"I have no water," Jay said confusedly.

"Gold, fish, mem-ory? _Aquamarnias_ ," Jordan mouthed.

The sound of a splash and Jordan was covered head to foot in water, dripping wet.

"Oh, you need to wash it off," Jay realised, just stood there casually watching Jordan helplessly.

"Yeah, thanks for the help," Jordan laughed, shaking his head.

"Well shouldn't you have just waited till you got back to your hut, you could've showered then, instead of getting your clothes soaked," Jay wondered.

"Good job there's a drying spell then." Jordan whispered something that sounded like 'eggs oh thee us' and the water was sucked from his clothes leaving his dry shirt tattered and his blonde hair back in place.

"Do you feel anything?"

"No, brand new am me."

"What was that stuff?"

"Anti-burning treatment."

"Who d'you get that off?"

"Liam, he gave me some. He brews up loads of helpful things. Good if you're ill."

"So he's like a witch?"

"Yeah, say that to him next time we meet."

"Ok, so how about this duelling thing, or are you not up for it?" Jay asked.

"Let's try target practise."

"That's not duelling?"

"Well if I go stand over there it is."

He walked over into some open space and yelled for Jay to try and hit him.

"What if I burn you?" Jay questioned.

"You're not going to, I'm more powerful," Jordan said.

"So what happened before?"

"Caught me off guard."

It took Jay at least twenty fireballs till he actually got a hit. Well he called it a hit, but really the fire was about to hit Jordan and he extinguished it. Bit of a letdown.

After that they changed over and Jordan had to use his wind controlling skills to soar a tiny leaf at Jay from a long distance. The first time he missed, the second he cheated - curving the leaf as it went off course. Then when he got it dead on target, Jay ducked and started laughing. He felt a gust go under his legs and he was swept off his feet.

Then they tried doing some target practise near the trees and Jay managed to set part of a nymph's tree on fire. She screamed really loud and Jordan used some of the burn cream to repair her hair and her broken branch.

Finally they had a go at reflecting each other's hits. Obviously Jordan had to show off and deflect every single one whereas Jay ended up with about fifteen pierces in his arm from the spiky thorns. The boys finished off and strolled back to their huts after about an hour. It had been a fun and interesting day. Now he was looking forward to learning some more spells and fighting skills...Wait! What did he just say?

'Can't wait to learn???? Shoot me now!' Jay laughed to himself.

The next four days were packed full of learning spells, battle strategies and how to kill specific creatures. For example, if you met the Chimera, you needed to shoot a lead-tipped arrow into its mouth. Shame when Jordan and Jay faced it all they had was a rock.

Jay was rubbish at shooting, and even if he was, where was he supposed to get a lead-tipped arrow from?

Apparently the Chimera was the creature Jay had met when Jordan saved him. 'Exactly!' Jay thought, 'No lead-tipped arrows to help us were there?'

Jay also read some of his books and came up with lots of spells for the quest group to learn, most of which were really hard. But although it was tough work he was getting on with his new acquaintances and he was enjoying life a little more.

The next day the rest of camp arrived, back from their journey to Snowdonia.

"Any luck?" Hollie asked hopefully.

"What do you think? There was twenty of 'em all together, and not one even looked at us when we were talking to them," Amy said moodily.

"At least it's another star we can put on our map of demi-god camps that don't listen to us," Bobby said.

"Not _one_ listened? What about any demi-god children of Athena, they usually listen," Claire asked.

"It was a camp of all male demi-god children, they didn't want to let Amy, Bobby, Philippa or me in, but Philippa just walked straight in and ignored them," Alice told them, recalling the memory with a chuckle.

"Well, that's what they'd do to us," Philippa quite rightly said according to all the nodding heads and laughs.

"Well we're off today at twelve, as you know," Hollie said excitedly.

"C'mon, you've got an hour, get your weapons, you need a shield and sword, knife or spear. Everyone meet at the entrance to camp. Oh, and any stones or plants you think could help, bring them along. Liam, they might want a potion too," Amy instructed, as the group split up, some to the temple, probably the weapon room, and some to the cabins.

When Jay arrived at his cabin he wondered what he should do. What should he take? Did he need food or water?

He decided to take a bottle of water in his pocket and all the money he had. Then he picked up his shield and strutted off to the temple.

When he got there, there was no one about, so Jay tried to think back, what did Broudie do to open the door?

He walked over to a blank space in the wall, and then he said something, a word. It was the opening spell, it was something beginning with A, aderium, no it had a 'P' in it, aderperium, no...aperium?

" _Aperium,"_ he shouted.

Then, just like before, a crack appeared at the bottom of the wall, and it travelled up, across then back down, outlining a door. There was a little rumble and the door knob emerged out of the wall. Jay reached for the handle and turned it to enter.

There was an eerie squeak from the hinges of the door and Jay was now facing three people, each were rustling around in boxes and running their fingers along the walls of swords.

"Hi."

"Oh, hi. What ya looking for, sword, spear, knife?" Jordan questioned.

"Sword, I think," Jay answered, as he entered the room. He walked around the centre block and took a look at the wall of swords.

"Aha, got it." Claire picked up a small curved knife, which had a gold handle. "I love this knife, it's amazingly quick. I haven't seen it in a month. Oh, I must've dropped it in here after I had personalised it. Well, I'll see you at the entrance." Claire skipped out of the weapon room leaving the two boys and Hollie.

Jay continued his search, even though he didn't know what he was searching for. Then, after a minute of looking, he came across a long, thin sword that had a light brown handle with strips of dark brown patterned inside. He stopped in front of the sword and stared at it for a few minutes, then Jay heard the same voice in his head that he had heard once before, the same one that told him to use the control spell.

"This is the one," The voice spoke slowly.

Jay smiled at the ceiling and then picked up the sword.

"That the one? You choose?" Hollie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever had any God or Goddess speak to you, I know I have, but only a few times. See, they aren't meant to talk to us really."

"Yeah, I have, told me to use this," Jay replied, holding up the sword in his hands.

"Use it, always listen to the gods, it shows respect. And they're like always right," she told him.

"Oh, Jay. If you're taking a sword you're going to need this." Jordan chucked a coiled leather band over to Jay.

He caught it and unwravelled the belt.

"Thanks, well seeya in a second." Jay pocketed his sword, which slipped perfectly into its holder hanging from his new belt which fitted perfectly around his waist. He strolled out of the weapon room, out of the temple, and into the field.

Then he checked his watch, which had also been miraculously salvaged from the care home and teleported into his bedside drawer, and realised that he still had ten minutes left till he had to meet everyone at the entrance. What to do?

"Y'alright Jay." Broudie shouted from the foot of mount Mouvast.

"Yeah, you got your weapons?"

"Gods, I had them ready the night I got chose." Broudie replied, now close enough to talk without shouting and to decipher the details of each other's weapons.

Broudie had a red-tinged, black shield, which was really scary, sticking out from his backpack and a fat sword stuck in his belt with a matching red-ish black handle.

"What do we do now we've got everything?"

"Dunno, I reckon we should go to the entrance. Are you excited?" Broudie questioned, as they made their way around the mountain and towards the giant banner.

"And nervous, nobody here has ever been on a quest have they?"

"No, the nearest we got to a quest was when I joined, Athena told us that we should seek out demi-gods and try to explain the situation with the monsters. They never believed the gods. I mean why would they listen to us?"

"About what?"

"About the monsters escaping Tartarus. They think if they turn a blind eye they can just keep living their boring lives!"

"Oh, right. So no one has any experience in this type of thing whatsoever?"

"Amy's the one with the most experience at being a sorceress, but she's never really done a quest either. She once said to us that the world is full of monsters and that we don't even know it. She said all animals in the world were Greek myths but they were accepted into the world. Whatever that means."

"So we could get killed by a monster like an army of squirrels," Jay said.

"No. What I meant when I said that all animals are Greek is that some have been out of Greek mythology for so long they've forgot it and moved on with everyone else. Whereas obviously certain monsters, we wish would have moved on and become household pets or something, haven't."

"Really, it doesn't mention that in my book about mythological creatures," Jay said, for he had never heard of this. Slugs, the evil killers that killed Hercules.

"No they don't mention it in books really. Imagine having a pet like the hydra."

"Terribly expensive, I stick to the half horse, half chicken breed, me," Jay laughed, feeling quite proud that he'd remembered one of the mythological creatures.

"They've actually got a name in Greek mythology, but I can't think what."

"Me neither."

The two boys walked under the banner labelled: ATHENA'S DESCENDANTS, held up by two extra strong trees hat towered above the others, then walked towards the small puddle of water, which Jay emerged from on his arrival.

When they got there a girl appeared from the side.

"Hi," Bobby said excitedly. Both Jay and Broudie turned round and answered in unison,

"Hey."

"Four minutes to go, then you'll be leaving for the first ever quest of Athena's hideout. I thought there would be more people here by now."

Just then, as if they had heard what Bobby had said, four people walked under the banner and into the entrance area.

"Hello guys and gals," Liam said. "Are you ready to rumble?" he added.

"Hey Liam," Broudie said, shaking his head.

Then Claire parted from the group to join Broudie and Jay, and she was closely followed by Jordan.

Claire had a knife in her belt but had no shield. Unless she was going to defend herself with love, as that was her godly ring. The knife was really long and curved and had a gold handle with, what looked like, pink slush inside.

Jordan had a sword, really long with a red wood hilt like most things at this camp. It was plain red with a white jewel in the centre that sparkled in the sun. Also he carried a small watch, which wasn't a watch really. It was a miniature version of his cloudy shield so as when he needed the shield all he had to do was enlarge it.

The shield was dark bronze yet covered in clouds and had a small eye in the middle which Jay swore was moving around looking at people. Lightning strikes struck from the eye out wards making the shield look really deadly.

"Hi Jord," Jay welcomed.

"Hi, Jay. Got your weapons ready?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I was going to bring my..."

"Hello everyone," Amy announced, as she walked under the banner. "Who are we missing then?"

"Hollie, Lochlan, Alice and Cameron," Philippa replied.

"Make that just Hollie," said Lochlan, who had just strolled under the sign with Alice and Cameron beside him.

"Just Hollie, what a surprise," Amy laughed, and so did everyone else.

Jay had got used to Hollie being always late to everything, sort of a tradition.

Then, after a few minutes, there was a sound of gushing water, and everyone looked up to see Hollie flying towards them with a litre of water behind her, a flashy entrance.

"And that's," Hollie started, the water drenching the floor as she landed on her two feet with her arms crossed and two blades pocketed in her belt.

"All of us," Amy finished.

"Everyone ready to go to Francé?" Hollie asked, putting on a very good French accent.

There were a few cheers and then Amy silenced the crowd.

"You will leave now and return with the jewel of Barthimia, hopefully. To get it you will hunt down Frederick in France, who is an elderly demi-god. He is the only one who knows where the temple of Barthimia is. You will get this information and find the temple. You will then enter the temple and come back to camp with the jewel. There will be creatures and monsters after you at all times, so be careful. Try not to get noticed, for we will have a lot of work if you get seen performing a spell, and...Good luck," Amy finished her speech and everyone started shaking hands, hugging and wishing people good luck.

"Good luck Jay," Liam shook his hand vigorously and smiled.

"Yeah, thanks," he laughed.

"Time to go guys, c'mon I'll go first." Hollie jumped into the air and was swallowed by the shallow puddle of water beneath her.

"Let's go." Broudie leaped from the side, and then he too, was engulfed by the puddle.

"Jay, you go next," Amy told him.

So, Jay walked forward and then jumped into the air.

"See-" Jay didn't have time to finish his sentence for he had been swallowed by the puddle himself. Then, just like before, he felt water rushing past his ears and all he could see was a mixture of blue and white swirls ahead.

He emerged from the water and landed on the small protruding pebble. He gasped for air and then jumped over onto the dusty path beside the stream.

"Y'alright?" Broudie asked.

"Fine."

There was a splash of water and Jordan appeared from the cave's entrance nearly knocking Jay to the floor.

"I hate going through there," he stated, jumping off the pebble to join the group.

Jay looked around breathing in the air. It was colder and more brisk and homely. It was comforting yet it was as if he'd just walked out of his hut.

Then, another splash later, and all of them were ready to set off.

"Ok, Jord can you-" Hollie was answered quickly,

"No, definitely not! Not to France. I could carry myself and maybe another, but not five people."

"That's alright. We'll make our own way. I can fly, you can fly, Broudie can go with you, Claire can fly like a dove and Jay could try to fly using his fire skills. But first we need to make ourselves invisible," Hollie instructed.

They'd all changed instantly to ultra-fast mode. No time to waste, conversation was quick and fast-paced. It was quite exhilarating, yet a bit frightening too.

"I'll do it," Claire volunteered.

"You sure?" Hollie asked.

"Yep, everyone hands in the middle." Jay followed her order and the others' example. " _Polacify._ "

Her hand shone white and everyone's veins illuminated, x-raying their hands in a shock of light. Then there was a fresh breeze that swept over them, fizzling on their skin in a pleasant, sort of ticklish way.

"Nice one Claire," she congratulated. "Em, now Jay, we know we can fly to France, do you think you could? It will drain lots of energy out of you," Hollie told him.

"What happens if I fall?" Jay questioned.

"Claire will catch you and you will have to start flying quickly because she won't be able to hold you for long," Hollie replied.

"Thanks hol."

"I don't think doves have muscles."

"True, true."

'Wait? If I fall I am relying on a fragile, pea-sized dove to catch me...? Sounds about right.' Jay thought.

"Ok, do we follow you?"

"Yeah, follow the person with the water coming out of her feet. Let's go, no time to waste... _Relacian formalios._ " Hollie shot up into the air, water bursting from her trainers and evaporating into nothing before making contact with the floor.

"Go on Jay," Broudie urged.

Jay gave him a nervous smile and then tried to clear his mind. He was getting used to this now,

" _Hokvalmia, relacian formalios._ " he erupted into flames and then shot up into the sky, his arms were a burning orange and his feet were hot red. It completely contradicts the vision of a cartoon rocket with the red, orange and yellow spikes bursting from the bottom. It's more like a swirling plasma of murky orange and 'fiery' yellow.

He felt a rush of energy and he suddenly felt alive and courageous, even looking down he wasn't scared at all, staring down at a tennis court and a jumble of spaghetti pathways like a load of drunken yellow brick roads.

He reached cloud level when he spotted Hollie flying through the air to the left of him. Jay leaned towards her and he shot forwards. The others joined them in the sky and, just like that, they began their quest for the jewel of Barthimia.

Then, about half an hour of zooming through the sky, they finally reached the English Channel. A beautiful desert of blue and...more blue! It was mesmerising, and quite offputting.

It was only when he was about eight ft. from the water, that he realised he was diving towards the sea. He quickly tried to swerve and dodge but part of his leg got dipped into the sea.

It was freezing cold and it stung like fire ('Strange?').

He started heading upwards again, but his soaked leg was starting to dampen the rest of his body, putting the fire, that was keeping him up, out.

Then he started descending again towards the sea. He started screaming and shouting for anyone to notice as he lost altitude, but Hollie and the others were soaring through the sky ahead, not thinking to look behind to see where Jay was.

Then the last thing he saw was the blinding sun before he plunged into the enveloping blanket of dark blue.

The stinging sensation he felt before was multiplied as his whole body was consumed.

He sank a good few metres, then started rising up. He was struggling to keep his mouth shut, trying to not let any of the water in, but his breath had been sucked from him.

Bubbles were surrounding him. Floating up to the surface. He wriggled around trying to get to the top, to get some air...but it was useless.

The light of life drifted from his view in a capsule of starved air. Darkness descended.

He couldn't hold his breath much longer, he was going to drown...

#  The Panotii.

(Chapter 6)

Then he heard something from above. Something through the rushing of the waves.

SCREECH!

"He's gone down. He's sinking in the ocean, over there, by where the bubbles are," the muffled voice called.

Jay's muscles weakened, and he felt his lips peel from their diamond lock.

He was just about to give way to the water when he got blasted out from the deep.

He coughed up mountain loads of water as he flew upwards. His eyelids clenched and his throat exploded with a delightful sound of desperate gasping.

Just then, when he felt himself starting to fall back down into the ocean, something swooped down from the sky and grabbed him by his collar. He coughed some more, as he was lifted up into the sky.

Then, when he was about to open his eyes, he heard someone shout,

" _EXOTHIUS!"_

He felt himself drying up. He knew what was happening now. So he opened his eyes and screamed with all his might,

" _HOCKVALMIA!"_

There was a blinding light and the clutch on his collar loosened. He looked up and started soaring back up into the air, not looking down.

He got back up with the rest of the group, and then carried on, following Hollie, with her watery feet, to France.

His mind was awoken now and he had ultimate focus, petrified of going any closer to the sea again. It had all happened in a flash, and it was only happening in _one_ flash, that was for sure.

They passed over the sea and back over land. The sky was getting darker now and the sun was descending for a rest.

After another twenty minutes of travelling Hollie started to veer towards the ground.

The others followed and Jay was glad to see the sight of land. At least landing on that didn't burn his skin!

Five dodgy stumbles later they all safely grounded.

Hollie pulled back her curly, black hair and straightened herself out, shaking her legs and arms around to stretch.

Jay's legs were weak and he could barely hold himself up.

"Blimming hell, aching like, woo! Claire, don't turn invisibility off until the morning, we should camp over in that field over there, and there are some trees which we could use. C'mon," Hollie instructed, she clearly wanted to get down for bed because she didn't even ask if Jay was alright, which was unlike her.

The five of them walked over a road and into a park, which was lined with trees, quite like the field at camp.

"Ok, this way." Hollie pointed to her left and ran into the trees. Everyone followed her through.

It was hard to see where they were going because it was getting really dark now, the sun had reached the horizon.

"How much further Hol?" Jordan asked wiping his eyes clear.

"Here," Hollie replied, "We need to make a bed each, up high in the branches. If you need any help ask me, I'll be asleep over... _Alovium,_ " Hollie pointed her finger at a tall branch above her, the branch widened and then the bottom sunk "there," she finished.

" _Decendio Ginormius,"_ she whispered whilst pointing at a leaf, which fell off a branch, landed on the wooden bed and expanded. She climbed up the tree with ease and then jumped onto her bed.

Jay and the others stood in awe.

"Goodnight, oh I love magic," she muttered as she sank into her bed and pulled the leaf over her like a cover.

"That, was amazing," Claire said, her lower jaw remaining in its drooped position.

"Easy peasy, we best get started," Broudie instructed, as he, Jay, Jordan and Claire scaled the tree.

It was a giant of a tree with a thick, three metre trunk and huge bulky branches.

Each of them hopped onto a branch as they climbed, putting Claire at the very top.

"How are we supposed to do what Hollie just did?" Jordan said.

"Like this. _Alovium."_ Jay pointed at the branch he was sat on, and it steadily curved into shape, bowing to the waving of Jay's hands.

He could feel the wood as he controlled it, its grains expanding and widening to make a perfect shape.

Then he pointed at a leaf above him and said, " _Decendio."_ The leaf shot down onto Jay's branch.

"Then you go _Dublicatius."_ The leaf made about twenty copies of itself, which filled the bottom of his bed. "And that, my friends, is how you make a bed."

"You are such a show off sometimes." Jordan shook his head.

"Wait a minute, you've gave me an idea, get off your bed a minute," Claire told him.

"No, you'll take it."

"I promise I won't," Claire spoke in her persuasive tone, fluttering her blue eyes.

So, Jay jumped off his branch bed and hopped onto Broudie's.

"Ok, this might not work... _Dublicatius,_ " she shouted.

Three more branches started to grow from the tree each bending into the shape of Jay's and each with the same amount of leaves inside them.

Claire grunted under her lack of energy.

"Good thinking." Broudie nodded as the branches froze in motion and Claire gave an exhausted gasp.

"Yeah, that is pretty awesome."

"I know."

Jay jumped off Broudie's branch and then nestled down into his bed. The three above him also jumped down into beds and then after a few minutes, they were all fast asleep. It was strange how a bundle of leaves could feel more comfortable than a mattress.

"Wake up Jay. We need you to make a fire," Broudie shivered.

"It's blimming freezing," Jordan called as Jay rubbed at his eyes.

"Wha, oh, fire yeah, alright," Jay yawned loudly and stretched out his arms, brushing the dry leaves out of his thin, static hair. He could see the blinding sunlight falling through the green leaves that were sheltering them.

Jay climbed down behind Broudie and Jordan, and then sat down on the ground beside Hollie.

"We got some twigs, could you set 'em alight?" Hollie asked.

Jay lifted his arm and thought of fire, he pulled back his hand and then urged for flames. A ball of fire shot from Jay's hand and hit the pile of twigs, which erupted, in a spectacular mini dance.

"When did you learn to do that?" Hollie questioned shocked by how Jay had not used a spell to make the fire.

"Oh, when me and Jordan were duelling."

"Duelling?"

"More like target practise and practising controlling our powers. We did have a go at duelling, but not properly," Jordan corrected.

The morning was warm and Jay had had a surprisingly good sleep as he had been snuggled up cosy all night.

"Ah, well, let's get warmed up and fed, then we can start our search," Hollie told them as she pulled out a bag.

"What's in there?" asked Jay.

"Microscopic beans, you heat them up and then make them bigger," Jordan replied, "One of the best inventions ever."

" _Ginormius."_ The beans grew to normal size and then Hollie pulled out another bag.

"And in there is a microscopic pan," Jordan answered Jay's question, reading his mind.

After another load of ' _Ginormius',_ Hollie was cooking the breakfast.

Breakfast was shoveled down in a very polite manor, and then Hollie got up and turned all the bed-shaped trees back to the normal plain branches they were the night before.

"Ok, we need to start looking for Frederick, we know he's old and we know he is very important. Athena said we might find him somewhere special, any ideas."

"The Eiffel tower," Jordan suggested.

"Or, the Arc de Triomphe," said Claire, holding her head and trying to tidy up her hair.

"So we want Paris, yeah?" Hollie asked.

"How far is Paris from here?" Jordan questioned.

"About zero seconds, 'cause were in Paris."

"Really?" Claire said excitedly.

"Yep. C'mon, let's go see the Eiffel tower," Hollie said, walking out of the forest like some sort of tour guide.

"Wait, we haven't taken off the invisibility spells yet," Jordan remembered.

"Oh, yeah. Claire, do you know how to stop the invisibility spell?" Hollie asked.

"All I know is that it's draining me of energy."

"Just clear your mind and then picture all of us, ok. Then you need to say the spell. You should feel your energy rejoin you," Hollie said in that same teacher voice she changed to now and then.

"Ok, eh, right," She closed her eyes for concentration then spoke the spell, " _Polacify._ "

She gasped for breath then opened her eyes, this time about three times wider though,

"Wow, I feel awake."

Everyone laughed, and just to check it had worked, Jay looked at his reflection in a puddle on the ground.

"Alright, have a look around for signs of where to head," Hollie ordered.

"The one over there says river, and there's a river near the Eiffel tower," Jordan suggested.

"Yeah, but do you go down that side of the river or down the other side." Hollie shook her head and continued to walk along the road.

"I think we should head towards that spire in the distance." Jay pointed out between the trees and laughed.

"Well, where are we going to find a better heading than the head of where were looking for," Hollie said, slightly confused at what she'd said herself. "C'mon let's go."

The five kids strolled down the French streets, with blades in their pockets, the police could arrest them easily, but nobody took one glance at them. It was either they were used to seeing kids walking around with blades in their pockets or it was because they didn't know what they were.

"Keep a look out for monsters, the closer we get to Frederick, the more monsters we are likely to encounter."

"What type of monsters might we see?" Jay asked.

"Hopefully, because the gap in the gate is small, only tiny ones."

"Yeah but even if they are small that doesn't mean they're not dangerous."

"Well, let's just hope we don't meet any."

The group of teenagers carried on along the path, each with their head darting from hedge to hedge, just in case a monster was to pop out of it.

Then, they passed a television shop window and the signs were in English. In the window was a television with the news on,

"People around the world are claiming that they have seen lots of unusual creatures. Some say they have seen horses swimming with fish tails, or seals with dog head, or even a rooster-horse. All these people have been given psychiatric help, and the doctors have said that they are hallucinating. No drugs were found in their system so we are presuming some sort of disease. People have even gone to the extent of editing pictures to make it look like these animals are real, how ridiculous."

"How ridiculous, you won't be saying ridiculous when Ladon comes out to play," Jordan laughed.

"C'mon guys were nearly there, can you see the tower?" Hollie pointed to a massive spire, separated into four legs at the bottom.

Hollie led them around a corner and towards the foot of the tower. They walked under some trees and then arrived. The tower wasn't that big really, you'd expect it to be so high that you can't see the top except you could. So it wasn't as impressive as Jay was expecting.

"Ok, let's have a look around. Talk about demi-gods and Greek monsters, then if someone looks at you quickly, and they look quite old and wise, then tell everyone who he is and we will try and talk to him. And if you find him, don't talk to him by yourselves, we don't know what type of guy he is. Ok let's split up." Hollie, Jordan and Claire went around the left-hand side, and Broudie and Jay went along the right.

"Oh, Jay, let's talk about de-mi-gods, and chi-me-ras," Broudie spoke quite loudly as they both wondered around the legs of the tower.

"Look over there, he might be him." Jay pointed to a tramp sat on the floor, with an upside down hat. The man was sat cross-legged and was staring at the floor.

"Walk past and say his name, if he looks up, just walk back to me."

"Okay." Jay walked slowly towards the man sat on the floor in a very suspicious way. He was about to pass him when he whispered,

"Fred-er-ick, demi-god."

The man kept his head down and didn't move at all, so Jay wondered if he might have been asleep or deaf. Or even if he _had_ heard and was Frederick, would he even look up in any case, for he is supposed to hide and not reveal himself. So how was Jay supposed to know?

"Jay, come here," Broudie shouted from behind him.

Jay turned and walked back past the old man, who remained still once again. He was about to pass him when he decided to ask the man himself.

"Excuse me." Jay bent down beside the crippled man. "Is your name Frederick?"

"F-Frederick, people ask moi, moi no knows," The old man blurted out quickly in a French accent, swaying forward and back.

"More people have asked you?"

"People...things with, ah." He stopped swaying and then slowly raised his head, it was covered in dirt and was scrunched up. His hair was shaggy and long.

"Frederick is in danger. moi no knows Frederick, Frederick in danger." The old man looked tired and drained, no wonder with all the monsters that he must have seen here, trying to find Frederick.

"Merci," Jay recalled the word for thank you in his lessons at school.

The old man grabbed Jay's hand and shook it urgently,

"Au revoir monsieur." The man let go of his hand and Jay jumped up and ran over to Broudie, who was stood with his mouth wide open.

"What the hell are you doing, you can't go talking to people, what would happen if that man was a sorcerer and just decided to kill you."

"Well, he's not a sorcerer, but he has been asked by some creatures, and they always ask things about Frederick. Poor man probably thinks he is going insane. He reckons he is in danger. The monsters are here already," Jay told.

"What should we do?"

"I think we should go over to Hollie and explain what you've heard, then let Hollie decide what to do."

"Ok, let's go."

The two boys ran towards the centre ground of the Eiffel tower, and looked around for Hollie, Jordan and Claire.

"Wow, look up through the middle." Jay pointed above him.

The centre of the tower was amazing.

It was like looking through millions of spider webs. Thousands of metal bars were joined together, spiralling upwards in an organised mess like some sort of OCD bird's nest. There were lifts gradually floating up the legs of the tower, and crammed inside them were tonnes of tourists.

All oblivious to the five destined saviours of earth looking for a powerful demi-god to complete a very important quest.

"Yes, it is amazing, but for now, we need to concentrate on our quest. Where are they?"

Jay did a three sixty spin and spotted Jordan in a crowd of people.

"Look, over there." They ran across towards him, but by the time they wriggled through the swarm of people, he had disappeared.

"Why can't he stay in the same place?"

"Well, let's just carry on along-"

"Broudie, Jay. Quick get in here," a voice in the bush beside them called.

"What?" Both Broudie and Jay turned around confusedly.

Then some hands emerged from the bush and dragged Jay and Broudie inside it.

Thankfully it wasn't a thorny bush as the leaves scratched at Jay's ears.

"For god sake, have you not seen them yet?" Hollie whispered.

"Seen who?" Broudie asked.

"Seen, the tribe of Panotii walking round, that's who!"

"The pano- what?" Jay questioned, rubbing his pained ears and neck.

"There probably here looking for Frederick, dunno what they would want with the jewel of Barthimia," Hollie spoke to herself. "Anyway, we need to be careful, I know them as friendly creatures, but you remember what Athena said," she added.

"Where are they, what do they look like?" Jay asked, expecting the answer to be, they have six fire-breathing horse heads and a highly venomous snake protruding from their stomachs. But instead the answer was:

"They have ears the same length as their bodies. They're hiding in black robes, be aware."

"So stay clear of the black robed people, and we'll take a trip up to the top of the tower, we might find Frederick there."

"Eh, Hol. Jay was talking to a tramp and he told him that 'lots of things', he quoted, were coming to him and asking him about Frederick," Broudie informed.

"Ok, so there will be more things here and they might have already found him, so let's go." Hollie leaped out of the bush, and everyone else followed.

Hollie led the way to a queue near one of the legs of the tower. The queue wasn't long, but the wait was tense.

"Five kids to the top please," Hollie told the man in the pay box hen it was eventually their turn.

The man asked for the amount and tore off some tickets, passing them to Hollie as she gave him the money.

"Merci," she thanked, and the five teenagers walked towards the entrance to the lift, a man was stood outside taking the tickets. He took Hollie's and then they joined the other people in the lift.

The lift smelt slightly of oil and lots of rust. There were others inside the lift as well, none of the long-eared cloak monsters thankfully.

"How did you pull out the exact amount of euros from that purse of yours?" Claire questioned.

"Enchanted so as it will give the wearer exactly how much he or she wants."

"Cool."

"Who d'you get it off?" Jay asked.

"It was a gift of Athena to Amy when she started, she said we were gonna need it if we did a quest. And voilà."

"What if he's on the second floor, and not on the top floor? Frederick, I mean," Jordan questioned.

"I didn't think of that," Hollie replied.

"How about we just fly down to the second level. We could use the invisibility spell," Broudie suggested.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to, but we need to be careful," Hollie reminded them.

"Is it my hallucinating, petrified self, or are them cloaked people coming in here," Jordan muttered straightening up and trying to keep his words low.

"Oh, my gods. Hol what do we do?" Jay asked.

"Just stay calm, and act as if you're a tourist."

Just then, five cloaked men walked into the lift, walking straight through some people, like they were ghosts.

They were silent. They didn't say a word to each other-unlike the racket the rest of the tourists were making. All five were stood in the same space as some of the tourists, but they didn't see them. It was only Jay and his mates that could see them.

Jay thought about what Hollie had said. Maybe these monsters could only see people and bump into people who can see and bump into them.

Then that must mean Jay is Greek, he had Greek instincts so basically he was Greek. And that was why some people were seeing the monsters and not others. Those people must have been great great nephews of demi-gods, which, if they didn't know, would scare them if they came across a monster that was stood actually inside someone else.

"I wonder what it will look like from the top," said an Australian guy.

"Probably better than the views from our rock faces, ay," They laughed weirdly as the lift doors closed.

The journey up was very nerve racking. There was an eerie atmosphere floating about, killing the thought of conversation. The lift grunted as it passed through the spider web of bars making up one of the tower legs.

The views were amazing: minuscule people strolled along the streets, a river moved slowly through the city, a large church type building sat in the middle like an island out at sea, a small arch could be seen near two rows of trees, a light lit dim underneath it, and small-ish buildings scattered the large area like a rash.

All these things were slowly shrinking, growing smaller as the lift was yanked to the top.

Then a minute later, the bars outside the window started thickening up, and then a platform arose.

The lift froze and the doors slid open. First to get off were the hooded Panotii in their dark black robes. They moved swiftly out over the platform and around to the right. The other passengers departed quickly, all scurrying out to get a nice place to take a picture.

"Ok, we need to be really careful, any sight of them tell me and we will move away. Now let's carry on with our search." Hollie led the way out of the lift, taking a left onto the platform.

They all knew that they were here on a quest, but how often do you get to take a look over from the top of the Eiffel tower.

The five teenagers grasped the safety bars and peered out over the city. The view was outstanding now being at the top. The people were hardly noticeable.

Except the views were not as important, according to Hollie, compared to saving the world.

"C'mon we need to keep looking," Hollie said.

"Hol, what exactly are we looking for?" questioned Claire, "Because we don't even know what he looks like, not even his exact location. All we have is France."

"I know he is here," she said, "I can feel it, it's like as if someone is guiding me without talking, just giving hints all the time."

"You are going loo-. Hol there coming straight for us," Jordan told, spotting the hooded figures behind them.

"There are two over there as well." Claire pointed out.

"Ok, I didn't really want to do this, but," Hollie reached in her pocket and pulled out a watch, the same watch she had used when Jay and her first met, the gooble watch.

" _Kareymas,_ " she shouted.

Everyone stopped mid-motion. All the people paused in speech and muted there laughter. No one moved, the tribe of Panotii dead in motion.

"I really didn't want to do that, Athena has told Amy that we could mess up our minds using it too much," Hollie told them, breaking the silence.

"Well, now it'll be easier to find Frederick," Jay stated.

"So, you _are_ after Frederick, allies of those who imprisoned us," a deep tone said angrily.

The group looked back towards the Panotii, they were moving, and coming closer, the time freezing hadn't worked on them.

"How did you unfreeze?" Hollie asked.

"Only mortals get frozen in time," the tribe members laughed deeply, "We, Panotii, will find the jewel and use it to take over the gods, those who wrecked our lives."

"The gods wrecked your lives?" Jay trembled.

"You did too, not directly but the gods did, and you are on their side so you are classed an enemy."

"We don't have to be on the gods' side, we could switch," Claire sounded hopeful, trying to use her fluttering eyelid persuasive technique.

"You are friends of those evil immortals. They threw us into the abyss with those who deserved to be there. We didn't, I tell you, we did nothing to them, and they did not care. We will rule over the gods, but first...we shall dispose of their allies!"

#  The unwilling demi-god.

(Chapter 7)

The Panotii moved towards them slowly, then pulled off their droopy cloaks.

The black robes fell and what was revealed was a weird sight. They had ears, like bloodhound's, that drooped from their tiny little elf-ish faces to their dirty, orange feet. They had deep red eyes, no hair, and a cluster of furrow lines on their forehead.

Their face and body were a light orangey colour, and their clothes were green and brown.

They wore vest tops made up of layered leaves, and then a pair of shorts which were also layered similarly. They wore a bendy twig around their waist like a belt, and no shoes. In each one of their hands was a large walking stick made of dark brown wood, carved and polished to perfection.

They lifted their sticks and swung them round like ninjas, a practised routine to try and scare the enemy. That's when they moved closer.

"Kind creatures, I don't think so," Hollie said, pulling out her two blades from her belt.

"What have I been waiting for...? This," Broudie answered himself, pulling out his massive blade and snapping his fingers to reveal the dark, black and red, terror shield. He looked back at Jay then winked. "Let's go."

Jay pulled out his sword and removed his shield from his backpack as quickly as he could. But by the time he found it, he had heard the first swing of a sword; the fighting had begun.

He swung round with his sword and shield to hear Hollie's orders,

"One each, Claire and Jay can take on one together," she screamed dodging a hit from one of the elf-like creatures, and protecting a tourist with her blade, which according to Jay's theory wouldn't affect her unless she was Greek or had something Greek in her hands. Whether the theory was right, who knows?

Jay swivelled around and saw Claire duelling with one of the Panotii, she was doing well until she noticed Jay, and missed with her blade, leaving the Panotii with and open shot.

Jay was one step ahead, he thrust his hands forward and a flame shot from it. It hit the Panotii and it let out a screech of pain, so horrible, you had to cover your ears. But it really only made him angry.

"JAY!" Claire shouted.

Jay looked up again and saw the Panotii trying to whack Claire with his ninja stick.

He ran forward, his sword clenched tightly in his hand. Jay swung his weapon, making a cut in the creatures arm. He yelped and then turned on Jay.

The creature started twisting and turning his stick, spinning it round himself. Jay knew he wasn't good at fighting, magic was his only hope, and what should he do in a time of trouble...?

"Hokvalmia," he shouted.

His body shone bright orange and he erupted into flames. 'Ok,' he thought to himself, 'let's show this guy whose boss!'

Jay jumped up in the air and zoomed around the creature, who kept trying to swat Jay as if he was a fly.

It was really hard not to set fire to the amount of tourists that were frozen like stone statues around him as he sped around the elf ninja. Then he willed off the fire and he stretched out his leg, kicking the Panotii in the face.

He (supposing it was a he) staggered backwards and a knife shot through the air and into the creature, piercing its heart.

Jay looked to his left and saw Claire leaning on the railings.

"Well, you look like you needed a bit of help," she said.

The Panotii coughed and gasped, then finally he fell to the ground. There was a crack, and then the Panotii erupted into pieces, each grain flying off the top of the tower and disappearing into the ground.

"What hap-?"

"DUCK!" Claire shouted.

Jay quickly squatted and looked up to see a pair of orange ears shoot over him. He turned around, just in time to see a sight that can only be described as 'belly-burning'.

Broudie struck the creature between the ribs and then got slapped in the face by his droopy ear. Broudie got swept away from the creature, who erupted, just like Jay's, into bits, which rocketed down the tower and into the ground.

They had all disappeared now, all four of the Panotii.

In the comfort of safety once again, they all let out their laughter, as Broudie stood there beside a tourist with a camera, both hands stuck to his face.

"I think they inject lead into their ears," he cried.

"How can she call them friendly, and harmless, they could of killed any of us," Jordan said, recovering from his laughing fit.

"Ah, but maybe they got annoyed with the gods, I mean it must be horrible to be thrown into the deepest, darkest pit in the world, with a load of fierce creatures," Hollie reminded them.

"But, if they were harmless, why throw them in a pit for eternity?" Claire asked.

"Personal grudge maybe," Hollie replied.

"Creature dead, ground, disappear?" Jay murmured.

"What's the matter with Jay?" Broudie asked, shaking himself off.

"Never seen a mythological creature die before has he," Claire told them.

"Oh, right yeah. Jay, it happens to all creatures that are going to go back to Tartarus, it's not gonna happen to you," Hollie said.

"Oh, right. Just a bit weird isn't it," Jay mumbled.

"Isn't everything in Greek mythology weird?" Hollie replied.

They laughed.

"Shall we continue our search?" Broudie suggested.

There was a silence where no one answered, they all just looked to Hollie.

"I think I've found him," she whispered.

"What do you mean?" Jay asked.

"What I mean is, haven't you realised that there is a, don't look now, but there is a man crawling just behind the pole over there. He hasn't been frozen by time," Hollie said.

Clearly not listening to Hollie's orders, everyone turned around and looked at the pole behind them. There was one leg stretched out beside it, the owner was hidden.

"Eh, I think he's hiding from us," Claire spoke quietly.

"State the obvious," Jay chuckled.

"Leave the talking to me," Hollie ordered.

They all turned around and Hollie cleared her throat. She spoke very quickly,

"Frederick right? We're Athena's descendants and the Gods have sent us to recover the information on the whereabouts of the temple of Barthimia," she paused, waiting for the foot to move and a voice to answer. But nothing.

"Fine if you want me to come over there and force the information out, then that's fine. I was just trying to do it the nice simple way," Hollie explained. "Stay here, don't let him pull off any escape attempt," she added quietly, "I knew he'd be a typical demi-god."

Then Hollie walked casually over towards the pole.

Silence fell once again.

She was a ft. away when she chanted a spell,

"Baffoliam" A bubble of clear blue zoomed out of Hollie's finger, heading towards the foot.

"Ha," The man named Frederick blurted, pulling out a sword and reflecting the spell with it.

Hollie was super-fast and sliced the bubble in half with one of her knives.

"Right, let's get down to business." Hollie leapt round the side of the pole and got her first glance of Frederick, holding one of her knives at his throat.

He had short, messed-up, blonde hair, and a small, blonde mane. He had blue eyes and pale skin.

He was holding a small sword and was wearing a plain, grey-ish brown top and blue three-quarter length jeans.

"Danger, hide, zip wire, arc." His voice was of fear and panic as he jumped into the air and began falling metres down to the ground, off the Eiffel tower.

"Jordan get him, he's a sky demi-god, GO!" Hollie shouted, racing past a tourist holding up his thumbs, and joining the others.

"Right I'll try and hold him." Jordan dived off the tower and plunged after Frederick, no hesitation.

"Ok, he said arc, so I'm guessing the Arc de Triomphe, NOW! He's our only hope of finding the temple!" Hollie jumped off the tower and sped off, water erupting from her feet, towards the small rectangular block that Jay had spotted whilst looking at the magnificent views.

She had jumped off one of the tallest landmarks in Europe without even thinking, not even stopping at the edge.

"C'mon Broudie, I can carry you that far. Hokvalmia." She changed into a dove, grabbed Broudie by his collar and flew off.

Then it was just Jay left, he knew he had to jump off, but didn't have the guts to do it.

Down below everyone was still frozen in time, completely unaware of the possible suicides that were jumping off Paris' most known attraction 'other than the Mona Lisa maybe' he pondered.

A very 'Jay' thing was to waffle off topic, now was probably not a good time.

He leapt onto the gate that surrounded the tower and tried his hardest not to look down. He was balancing on a five centimetre wide metal bar, he needed comfort to give him confidence.

There was only one thing he could think of. Fire.

"Hokvalmia." He erupted into flames and stepped straight off the gate as if it was a curb on a road. He plummeted towards the ground, air rushing past his ears.

"JAY, C'MON!!" he heard Hollie's voice screaming at him from below.

Jay urged himself forward and pulled out of the dive, now going straight for the small arc, which had four moving figures and a couple of frozen figures stood underneath it. He flew past some trees and then slowed down as he veered closer to the people.

Jay stopped in front of them in a perfect fighting position (he was getting good at this flying malarkey).

"We've lost him, gone," Jordan puffed.

"We haven't lost him, we just haven't seen him," Hollie corrected. "Allow me to show you," she placed her hand in the middle and they all leant forward to complete the spell, "Polacify."

Their veins shone white, and they were invisible again, but something wasn't anymore: Frederick.

"Help us out here guys, leg holding weeds?" Hollie signalled one, two, three and Hollie, Jordan and Claire shouted in unison,

"Vinatonius."

Suddenly, millions of weeds emerged from the ground, each grasping one of Frederick's limbs.

"Ok, we can see you, you can see us. We need you to tell us where it is," Hollie said, "You will die if you don't, creatures will hunt you down and kill you." Her tone was strict and quite evil.

The man was a peculiar sight. He seemed genuine but he had an ancient look in his eyes, a swirling mass of wisdom and knowledge.

Frederick must have dropped his sword during his flight for it was nowhere to be seen. No escape for him this time, thankfully.

"The creatures are safely locked up in Tartarus," Frederick spoke quite deeply.

"Really, so how come those Panotii were there then? Did you not hear them, 'We, Panotii, will discover the jewel and take over the gods, those who wrecked our lives,'" Hollie impersonated the Panotii a bit too well.

"They weren't there? I would have known if they were there," Frederick said.

"Typical demi-god, pretends nothing's going on and then laughs," Jordan muttered.

"Typical? Do you think they gave me this job of holding the whereabouts of the temple because I was your average demi-god? No, I helped the gods, and they made me immortal," Frederick said, as if immortality was more of a punishment. "Who are you in any case? If you're not demi-gods?"

"We're Athena's descendants, the prophesised twelve that will save the world," Claire replied bitterly.

"Well, if we got a real god to tell you, would you listen?" Jay chirped up, trying to make himself useful.

"Yeah like any god would listen to you," He tugged around in the weeds, "they didn't even listen to me when I tried to talk to them about the creatures I've been see-"

"Oh, so you have seen some creatures. Look all we need is for you to tell us the location so as we can get the jewel back to the gods," Hollie said as she clicked her gooble watch and whispered, "Karomas."

The cars started moving again and the noise immediately swallowed whatever Frederick was trying to say.

"I didn't hear that sorry," Hollie said.

"I said, I am not going to tell you because it is my job not to," Frederick said proudly.

"Ok, wait a minute will ya." Hollie turned to the rest of the group and spoke,

"Look the only way we can possibly get him to understand, is if we get a god to come and tell him. Try contacting one in your mind. I know they aren't supposed to pay any attention to us, but we all know they do." Hollie stepped back and closed her eyes.

Jay, and everyone else, followed her lead.

'Please Hephaestus, answer me. We need the gods help with this one. He won't tell us unless a god tells him to.' Jay prayed in his head. He felt stupid but he knew Hephaestus was watching, he must've been. But there was no answer, nothing at all, so he tried again.

'I know you're not supposed to talk to me, but this is life or death, for billions of people. Please help us out, we need y-'

Jay reopened his eyes to hear Claire mumbling something, as if she was talking to someone, maybe she had got through to Aphrodite. Maybe Aphrodite would come down and sort Frederick out with a love potion or something.

Then Claire opened her eyes.

"I spoke to Athena, she said you forgot the thing that he will remember, and she will send it to us now," Claire said, confusedly looking to the sky.

Jay was now very confused, Claire had spoken to Athena, who was her godly ring? Aphrodite or Athena? He thought Amy's was Athena.

"Oh, yes I forgot about that. Hopefully he," Hollie looked over her shoulder at the struggling Frederick, "will remember it as well."

"Why didn't Athena send the present to us whilst we were at camp?" Jay asked.

"Maybe Hermes' delivering surface was on strike." Jordan joked.

"Is there such thing?" Jay wondered.

"Gul-li-ble."

"She probably has more important things to do." Claire suggested.

"More important than saving the world?" Broudie smiled.

The people of Paris scattered around the Arc de Triomphe in cars and on foot, babbling on to their family and friends with no clue, whatsoever, that there was someone being tortured by some kids for information in another one of their attractions. If you call leg holding weeds torture of course.

Suddenly, there was a cool chilling breeze that ran over them, and then Hollie narrowed her eyes, fiddling with her hands behind her back.

"Frederick, I'm going to show you something now that Lady Athena, goddess of wisdom, craft and battle strategy, has just sent me. She said you should remember it," Hollie said as the chill disappeared.

Jay was wondering if Athena had sent something, because he hadn't seen anything, unless it wasn't something you could see. Hollie pulled her arms in front of her and revealed a small, brown box. It had moss green and burgundy stripes around the edges, and a plain brown top and bottom.

It was similar to the box they used to speak to the gods but not as decorative.

The moment Frederick saw the box, he gasped loudly and swallowed hard.

"What is this? That bad my gods?" Frederick prayed to the sky.

"What's bad is the thing we told you a few minutes ago, the monsters are escaping," Jay shouted impatiently, getting very annoyed that Frederick never took any notice of them. Maybe demi-gods were all this bad.

"The mythological creatures, that I helped capture, are escaping from Tartarus?" Frederick questioned.

"Yes, they are all after you, trying to get hold of the jewel. What do you think the Panotii were doing up the Eiffel tower? Did you think they were trying to see if there ears would touch the floor?!" Jay screamed. All the passers-by were looking round, trying to find the source of the shouting.

"The Panotii were after the jewel. They are peaceful creatures. They wouldn't try and kill you just to find the jewel." Frederick shook his head.

"They said that we were allies of the gods, and they intend to take over the gods, because of them trapping them in Tarta-" Hollie was rudely interrupted by Jay,

"Sorry Hollie, but could I just say something?"

"Sure, take it away."

"Thanks. Right you know what this box is, and it shows you the gods have given it to us, now we are in a hurry. We need to find the temple and get the jewel. We need to get there before the monsters do, this could result in the death of all humans, and even eternal punishment for you. Worse than the underworld, that is a complement Hades." Jay took a breath then continued a little quieter, to stop drawing attention, "This is where you say sorry guys, the temple is bla bla bla and here is something to help you, good luck," Jay acted out the giving of a present, "Well, where is it?" Jay finished.

His sudden power surge died down inside him and he took some long, deep breaths, quite impressed at his little argumentative speech.

"I can't just tell you, what if you made a copy of the box, and were trying to trick me. How can I tell?" Frederick cried.

"How about you ask us something that only you and the gods know, and we tell you," Broudie suggested.

""Like what?" Frederick asked.

"Anything that only you and the gods know," Hollie told him.

"Of course! I know, the code...What does that box do and what is it called?" Frederick questioned, a smile stretching across his face.

"Alright, I shall contact the gods and ask them." Hollie closed her eyes, and all went silent.

Then Jay heard a misty voice, similar to Hephaestus' but female,

"You have found my dear friend. He can be released now he understands the situation. Hollie free him first." the voice went silent, as Jay heard the moving of plants and the crumbling of ground. He looked up and saw Frederick stood free.

"Now what does he ask my friends? Of the box I do guess," The voice questioned.

"Yes Athena. The name of it and what it does," Hollie replied, speaking softly.

"The name is what it is and it does what it does my child," the voice replied.

"How does that answer his question?"

"Just say what I told you, he will understand. It is like a secret code, devised by the gods and Frederick so as if there was any trouble, then the gods could ask him of the whereabouts. This could only happen in the worst of situations, like this," Athena answered.

"Ok, thank you Athena, we shall be back in no time with the jewel safely in our hands. I shall see you soon," Hollie told her confidently.

"Good luck my ring bearers," Athena spoke, her voice gradually getting quieter till there was no voice left.

"First of all Frederick, I would like to say sorry for the vine thing, but we thought you might run away from us again."

"I understand, I should of listened, it's just my job is to run away. These last two millennia have been very hard, what with all the breakouts from Tartarus. So I am sorry as well," Frederick told them.

"Other, oh never mind. We have talked to Athena and she told us."

"What is its name?" Frederick questioned.

"Its name is what it is," Hollie replied nervously.

"And what does it do?" He asked more confidently, a smile spreading over his face again.

"It does what it does."

"You did talk to the gods, they are still alive." Frederick jumped in the air excitedly, which was a strange sight seeming as he was about 40 years old – physical age of course.

"Would you please tell us quickly, otherwise they will be dead!" Hollie reminded him why they were there.

"Yes sorry, I hid the temple on the Galapagos Islands. There is only one entrance, hidden on the island now named San Cristobal? The temple usually pulls in any Greek mythological thing so you should be able to sense the exact location. The entrance is shielded. You will need to unlock all shielding activators before you can finally get in." Frederick said. "In the temple there are millions of different rooms, the temple is plastered in traps and tasks, which you must complete to get past. The jewel itself is hidden in a room that can only be found if you pick your directions in this order...left, left, right, centre, right, up, down. It is important you go around the temple in that order, if you don't you will never get to the jewel room."

"What happens if we go the wrong way?" Claire asked whilst Hollie jotted down the directions on a piece of paper which had magically appeared in her hands.

"Don't! The rooms change as you enter the next, when you go from a hall to a room, come back out of the room, and you walk straight into a lava pit," Frederick told them.

"Ok, say we follow the directions, don't go wrong, complete all the tasks and get past the traps, how do we get back out with the jewel?" Jordan questioned.

"The jewel will get you out. She will help you," Frederick replied.

"What do you mean she, it's a jewel not a person." Broudie laughed.

"Old talk, you know a ship is a she for example. Anyway, creatures are crawling all over the temple, be careful. And do come back some time, I'll be up there." He pointed to the top of the tower.

"Okay, thank you. C'mon guys we need to get this jewel." Hollie started jogging away from the arc, dodging the passers-by.

Jay, Broudie, Claire and Jordan followed.

"WHEN YOU GET TO THE JEWEL ROOM YOU WONT HAVE MUCH TIME! REMEMBER THAT!" Frederick shouted to the group as they disappeared out of view.

#  The dreaded beep.

(Chapter 8)

They jogged down the road and into a small field, where Hollie stopped for a breath.

"Ok, we need to get rid of this invisibility charm. It'll drain too much energy. See anyone around here?" Hollie asked.

"No, all clear," Jordan replied after doing a three sixty check.

Hollie closed her eyes and removed the spell with a faint mutter.

"Right now were visible, we need to ask some people where the nearest airport is," Hollie instructed.

They looked at each other confusedly.

"Seriously, most French speak English. All we need is a heading," Hollie said, her pace had quickened and her words were just a ramble of blahs, it was hard to understand her.

She sent everyone different ways, each towards someone walking innocently down the street. Jay approached a woman with a buggy and a little boy beside her, walking a casual jog up to meet her.

"Excuse me Madame, you speak English?" Jay questioned, using hand gestures to help with communication.

"No, French, au revoir." The lady lifted her hand up to his face and walked straight past him rudely.

'Well that went well,' Jay congratulated himself. He walked back towards Hollie who must have been watching him, as she was holding her mouth, dampening her laughter.

"She didn't want to talk," Jay told her.

"Hollie, I'VE GOT US A TAXI!" Broudie shouted.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

"THIS TAXI DRIVER WILL TAKE US THERE FOR NOTHING!" he wailed.

"C'mon Jay, let's go. GUYS WERE GETTING A TAXI!" Hollie instructed to the others.

"He's really nice, speaks English as well, and got enough seats," Broudie spoke as if he was trying to sell the taxi to them, as Hollie and Jay veered near.

Jay looked at the taxi, it was old and had nothing but a simple 'taxi' sign on the top, no number to call. He was quite a suspicious man, 'free taxi? Very much doubt it,' Jay thought.

"Cool, c'mon let's get in. Broudie you go in the front with ya new friend," Hollie instructed, climbing into the black van.

When they were all strapped in tightly the driver set off for the airport. Supposing this guy wasn't trying to kidnap them. For a brief second Jay panicked at the thought then remembered who he was travelling with: four athletic teenagers with super powers and knives in their back pockets.

"Are you sure he doesn't want any money?" Hollie questioned.

"I am fine, us French are helpful like this. We like to help people," The driver said in a strange French accent, which was so strong it seemed put on.

"How long will it take us to get there?" Broudie asked.

"The airport?"

"Yeah, the nearest airport."

"About half an hour."

"Ok thanks."

"Eh Hollie, there are some questions I have been wanting to ask you," Jay said randomly, remembering the list he made one night at his dorm.

"Go ahead and ask, but don't say it too loudly," Hollie added.

"Right, where did you get the gooble watch from? Some sort of magic shop?"

"From Poseidon. He used part of his dad from his, eh, castration, and he sucked out the time power inside. You know Poseidon's dad is Cronus, titan of time. Well then Hephaestus used this time power to create a watch that could turn time, he gave it back to Poseidon, and Poseidon gave it to me as a present," Hollie replied.

"Oh, will I get one?"

"Yes you'll get a gift, not a gooble watch though. I bet yours will be the best ever, so I wouldn't worry."

"Another thing, you know the tree nymphs we have at the hideout, is there one for every tree?"

"Most of them."

"Even for in the outside world?"

"Yeah."

"But what happens if the mortals see them?"

"They don't, not unless someone's got ancient Greek blood in them. Like say Heracles' great times five hundred grandson."

"Oh. So you have to have Greek blood to see the creatures?" Jay started fixing the holes in his mind on Greek mythology. His theory was correct. He was correct? Now that was shocking.

"Well some sort of connection to ancient Greek mythology would probably be enough but it doesn't work all the time, even a direct child might not have enough ancient Greek blood but their child might regain the bloodline. It's confusing."

"That makes sense now. I was wondering how we could see monsters, but it's because we're wearing these rings."

"Well I don't think that's right to be honest, because if these monsters really wanted us dead, they would've just took the rings off us, but they've never tried. And I'm sure there's a way, unless the ring is actually bonded onto your skin. Which is what I believe. I think the ring is part of us now, not some sort of clothing."

"I think I understand. We have Greek blood now." Jay bit his lip confusedly, "Oh, and another thing I wanted to ask was how are spells created?"

"Keep them coming. Well you know the goddess of magic Hecate?"

"Not personally," Claire answered jokingly.

"Well, whatever, she created magic, and she wrote down millions of spells and curses, each different. Then when she had wrote them she introduced them to a few people using her powers to make the magic work. Then they became wizards or sorcerers. They learned spells, but then started using them in a bad way. So she burnt her list of spells, burning the death spell, one of the many she never taught. Then the sorcerers would pass on their gift and over time all wizards have disappeared from the world. There are some which have become immortal or are locked up in Tartarus. When she heard about Athena and these rings given by the oracle, she was uneasy, not sure whether to help, fearing that we would use them for bad. Well that's what Athena told me. So, we use the spells that have been passed down in books," Hollie finished.

"She might warm to us if we complete this quest," Jay suggested.

"Yeah she might," Hollie agreed, turning back to talk to Claire.

"Hey, Jay. I liked your persuading technique down by the arc," Jordan laughed.

"Well he was starting to annoy me. I hate people who annoy me."

"Well you got through to him eventually. Did you see all the people that were turning round wondering where all the noise was coming from?" Jordan asked.

"No I think I was too busy screaming at Frederick, I hope he understood why in the end. I am a nice person really. And when he said to visit him again, what would we do that for, we might get attacked by a tribe of long noses next."

They both laughed.

The taxi journey was calm and peaceful, lots of laughing and no fights with monsters. It was needed. Things needed to calm down a bit else they'd have slipped up what with all the energy and all the pressure.

Half an hour later they came to a stop.

"Here's you are," the driver announced, "I tolds you de airport was not far."

"Thank you, and are you sure you do not want any money?" Hollie asked once again.

"No Madame, I say I not want money, I have what I want. The satisfaction of helping," he replied.

"Oh fine. C'mon guys let's catch a plane." Hollie hopped onto the path and the rest of them followed.

"Goodbye people, thank you," The driver said happily, starting the engine and zooming down the taxi lane.

"What was he so happy about?" Jordan questioned.

"Dunno," Hollie answered, "but we need to get in and find our flight."

The air was warm with a breeze of refreshment outside. Not nice weather for France, but shorts and bikini weather for England.

They walked into the airport, through the automatic doors and into the check in room. Then they moved into the first queue labelled 'Airfrance'.

"Did you hear him talking to that weird girl on the phone?" Broudie asked.

"Who?" Jordan questioned.

"The taxi driver, he was talking to a girl on the phone, I think he was telling her about what we, us, were doing and going. He seemed really interested in our destination," Broudie said.

"You think he knows someone that is after the jewel as well, and that would be why he asked for no money," Claire pondered.

"I dunno, but he was just creepily interested."

"Well, you were the one who found him," Hollie said.

"Out of all the taxi drivers in France, we find one that might've been after the jewel? The ratio is like one to one million!" Claire shook her head.

They continued to chatter as the minutes rolled on, waiting to get their tickets and go.

"Next please," The lady spoke in a posh accent which suited her long, pointy-nosed look. The five teenagers paced towards the desk.

"England, France, Poland?"

"English," Hollie replied.

"Destination?"

"Well we want to get to the Galapagos Islands. We need to get there as soon as possible. The soonest flight to the islands would be great."

"Galapagos islands for five..." she looked behind Hollie at Jay and everyone else confusedly, and then finished, "teenagers?"

"Yes please."

"Ok," the lady started typing on her computer, "eh, do you mind having two or more flights, half journey, half journey?"

"That's fine."

"Ok, we have, lucky for you, a flight going out to Ecuador, Quito. It is one thousand seven hundred English pounds each, which is eight thousand five hundred English pounds all together. Eh do you have any luggage?"

"We haven't any luggage thanks."

The lady continued to type as Jay started worrying.

"I haven't got a passport," he said in a panicked whisper.

"Well, good job I made one for you then isn't it." Hollie pulled out five burgundy passports and handed them to the lady. "You will need these, yes?"

"Oh, thank you." The lady took the passports and started scanning and printing them.

When she was finished checking their faces, she handed back the passports.

"Ok, are you sure you have enough money?" the lady asked.

"Yep, if I could just find," Hollie was feeling her way round her enchanted purse. "Here it is." Hollie pulled out a small slip of paper. She handed it to the ticket lady, and the lady passed them their tickets and directed them where to go.

The five of them strolled down the hall, up some escalators and into the passport room.

Their passports were checked and they moved on into the place where you and your luggage get scanned and checked.

"What do we do with our swords?" Jay questioned silently.

"Have you put an invisibility spell on them?" Hollie whispered.

"No."

"Then put one on then." Hollie moved forward and emptied her luggage onto the scanner. She walked through the scanner and regained her luggage. Jay went round the corner, out of sight, and then attempted an invisibility spell.

"Polacify," he hushed. There was a white light in his veins, and then it shot out of his fingertips and hit his sword and shield. He congratulated himself and looked down at the now invisible weapon. It was strange because you could actually feel the weapon, yet you couldn't see it, it was weirdly fascinating.

"Jay, c'mon," Broudie shouted from the other side of security. Jay walked round the corner and removed his jacket, dumping it onto one of the many black trays that were stacked beside the conveyor belt.

He put down his rucksack and watched as they both disappeared through the black strips of plastic.

He turned and walked confidently through the scanner. He squinted and pulled faces as he waited for the deafening sound, the beep.

But, thankfully, there was no beep, so he reclaimed his jacket, slipped it on and then walked with Jordan into the departure lounge.

"Don't try taking the invisibility spell off, you don't know when they're going to come round with their little trolley, do ya," Jordan informed.

They walked into the shopping area to have a look around, and then they split up, agreeing to meet up at the entrance to gate eighteen.

"Have you looked at the ticket?"

"No, why?"

"Because, apparently we are flying to Madrid in Spain then flying to Ecuador. Then from Ecuador to the Galapagos islands," Jordan said furiously.

"No, I never looked."

"Well, good job you're not flying by yourself."

They walked around the shop, not buying anything but drinks and food. Then minutes before boarding, there was an announcement,

"Could all passengers for Ecuador, stopping at Madrid, please board the plane now? That's flight B741Z3, now boarding at gate eighteen," the speaker instructed.

"Ok, c'mon, we need to get on that plane and get started on the main part of the quest," Hollie declared, rubbing her hands together excitedly.

She led them down the corridor, up some stairs and into the small, moving queue.

"Let's get ready to rumble," Hollie sang.

"I've never flown before," Jay said.

"Well I doubt any of us have, ya know, being in a foster home you don't exactly take a group holiday to Turkey," Claire said.

When they got to the man at the entrance, they had their tickets checked and were waved along through the tunnel.

"Isn't it exciting?" Jordan said, skipping down in front of them.

"For you, yes, for me nu-u-oh," Claire commented.

"You'll probably like it. It's fine," Broudie assured.

"And when have you ever flown on an aeroplane?" Claire asked.

"Never, just trying to be nice," Broudie laughed.

"Thanks, but it doesn't suit you," Claire said.

They strolled down the tunnel and reached the entrance to the plane. There was a small gap between the entrance and the tunnel, all you could see was gravel and a small man wearing an orange waistcoat walking around with a clipboard in his hands. They stepped over the gap and showed their tickets to the air hostess, who pointed to their seats.

"Just over there," she directed, waving her arm down the isle randomly. 'I mean, its obvious we have to walk that way! Thanks for the help!' Jay thought as he passed the foundation-plastered doll of a hostess.

"Thanks," Jordan responded.

The five jewel seekers walked down the isle of the plane, searching left to right for their seats. The chairs were all facing one direction, were coloured royal blue and had small beige trays that flipped down from them.

It was very quiet, apart from the small mutterings from the seats beside them. Above, there was hand luggage, stuffed 'carefully' in the lockers. There was overhead air conditioning, with little slide along buttons beside.

The plane itself stretched far, not a mile, but not the length of a car. It was a while till Broudie spotted their numbers stuck onto the side of the luggage storing units.

"Look, thirty one," he blurted.

"C'mon then, who wants to sit where? And be quick because there are some people coming down this way," Hollie instructed. Broudie shuffled down the a-b-c row to the left, and Jay followed. At the end nearest the isle, was Jordan, leaving Claire and Hollie.

"I don't mind where I sit, but I think you'll be better off sitting as far away from the window as possible," Hollie suggested.

"Ok, you go in first," Claire grumbled.

Hollie took her seat, one away from the window, and Claire took hers.

"Are you excited?" Broudie asked.

"Course. Bit nervous, you?" Jay replied.

"Not really."

"Oh yeah, you bare the ring of the god of war, you don't get nervous on a plane ride."

"Did you say you're nervous?" Jordan questioned.

"I don't know, excited with a bit of nervousness, probably because I've never flown in an aeroplane before."

"An aeroplane you haven't, but whilst on fire, yes, in a pair of claws, yes, and with a wind ring bearer using windelling, yes as well." Jordan raised his eyebrows and gave him a stare.

"Windelling?"

"It's the name the Gods gave to it."

"Well anyway, this is different. Fire gives me lots of confidence, and I didn't mind when you were doing it."

"Didn't mind when I was doing it? Did you hear yourself shouting when I turned into an eagle and zoomed you up mount Mouvast?" Jordan giggled.

Some people turned around and looked through the gap in the chairs when they heard that. "Replaying a film," Jordan added, and the man in front of him turned back around.

"I say we lower our voices," Broudie whispered.

"Where was I? Oh you have nothing to worry about. The only difference is the start. It goes really fast, bit slower than g-force at Drayton manor, obviously no loop the loops," Jordan murmured.

"I heard that you're supposed to eat some sweets on the way up and down, I didn't buy any," Broudie cut in.

"No me neither," Jordan said.

"Why?"

"Otherwise your ears pop. To do with pressure and the altitude," Jordan said.

"Well I hate when my ears pop, so that'll be fun," Jay said.

"Anything you can suck on will help, I'll ask Hollie. Hollie, psst, Hollie," Jordan called.

"Yep," Hollie answered moments later, finishing her conversation with Claire first.

"You got any sweets for the take-off?" Jordan asked.

"Spell. Something small, transform it," Hollie said silently, checking for suspicious passengers between each breath.

"Here?" Jordan replied astounded.

"Yeah, when no one's looking," Hollie answered.

Jordan turned back to his side of the plane, and started emptying his pockets.

"What she say, she'll magic some into ya trousers," Broudie chuckled.

"No, have you got anything small?"

"Such as?"

"Anything the same size as your average sweet," Jordan told them.

"You're not going to do it here? Are you?" Broudie said shockingly.

"Well Hollie said we could as long as-"

"What exactly are we doing? Transforming it into a lollipop?" Jay wondered.

"Yes, that exactly."

That was not the answer Jay was expecting. He was expecting something on the lines of, don't be so stupid, or no, but that'd be cool.

"I've got something," Broudie announced, pulling his hand out from his pocket. Inside his clenched grasp was a small grey stone.

"Why in the gods' names do you carry a stone in your pocket. I mean it's great, but why?" Jordan pondered.

"It was the perfect size and shape I needed for my catapult," Broudie said.

"Couldn't you just hammer it into shape or just, ya know, transform it," Jordan added the last bit quietly, still trying not to raise any more suspicion.

"It's better when you don't do anything to it, it's more pure."

Both Jay and Jordan gave him a confused look.

"Oh, well let's just use it, got plenty of time to sit on the beach checking stones." Jordan took the stone from Broudie, moved onto the edge of his seat, and then placed it on the chair. By this time, most of the people were sat down and ready, but only half the seats were full up.

"Okay, any people walking past, tell me, any people looking down the gaps between the chairs, tell me. I'm ready when you say the plane is clear of onlookers."

"Ok, wait. And... now," Jay signalled.

"Alright, Repuntas sweet." There was a small puff of smoke, and, when the small puff disappeared, what was left of the rock was quite appetising. A small, red starburst.

"Ah, it worked," Jordan congratulated himself.

"Red starburst?" Broudie questioned.

"You don't like them?"

"No, they're fine. It's just you could pick any sweet in the world, and you pick starburst."

"I love red starbursts," Jay put forward.

"Well then, we need two more. Anyone coming?" Jordan placed the sweet back onto the chair.

"Eh, n-" Broudie was interrupted by the speaker which began the safety announcements.

"That's a no?" Jordan looked back down after Broudie agreed. "Dublicatius." He closed his eyes, and the one, starburst sweet, jumped up and ejected two other identical sweets either side of it.

"Anyone fancy a starburst?" Jordan held out his hand, Jay and Broudie took one each. Then a moment later, the speaker changed into English.

"Good evening, this is a safety announcement. Please take this time to listen or follow through on the laminated sheet in front of you. In case of a-"

"When do we eat it?" Jay asked.

"Soon after the plane gets onto the runway. Look outside, were moving," Broudie replied.

"So now?"

"No not yet. Runways are never right next to the boarding platforms," Jordan answered.

"Tell me when." Jay leant back in his chair and carried on listening to the safety announcement.

"Do enjoy the flight, refreshments will be sold during the flight and any inflight meals can also be ordered. I shall now let the hostess' show you once again where the exits are."

Jay peered over the seat in front, like a Meer cat, to see one hostess waving her arms around, pointing to her left and to her right.

He then turned to face the window. There was gravel beneath them, and orange cones lining the edge. The wings were easily seen, extended triangles of strengthened metal, balancing symmetrically on both sides of the aircraft.

Then the plane slowed down and Jay noticed that they were turning a corner.

"Here we are, put the sweet in your mouth and suck it when you start to hear the n-" Jordan was interrupted coincidently by the sound of the plane starting its run up for take-off.

Jay took his sweet and plopped it in his mouth. The noise got louder and the plane started moving forward, first quite slowly, then building up to cant-pull-head-off-headrest speed.

The sound scraped into his head, but it wasn't a bad noise, just one you wouldn't want to hear every day. Then the plane tilted upwards and part of the noise disappeared. Jay looked out the window and everything was gradually getting smaller and smaller. The plane then levelled itself and then leaned to the right. Jay felt Broudie move closer to him, and then the plane levelled again.

Except this time it lasted for just under two hours.

The flight was quiet and dull. There were a few conversations, but not many. Broudie fell asleep for about an hour, and woke up just as the safety belt lights turned on. And Jordan and Jay just sat in silence most of the time just resting their eyes.

"Seatbelts needs to be on Broudie," Jay instructed, elbowing him to wake up.

"Hugh, oh seat belt, yeah," Broudie yawned, grasping his belt and sticking it in to the red and black box beside him.

"Jordan, I got some sweets for ya," Hollie whispered.

"Yeah? Pass 'em then." Claire dropped three brown caramel sweets into his hand. He swung round and passed them out.

"Oo, a caramel sweet, now that's more like it," Broudie said.

"No I still like starburst better," Jordan concluded.

Out of the window all you could see was darkness, sprinkled with orange and white lights on top, like golden sugar on a 12yr old king's cupcake.

"And time for the ear popping." Jordan stuffed his sweet in his mouth and the plane started to descend. Even though it was pitch black outside, Jay could sense the ground beneath him, as if he had just met someone, an old friend.

"What's the time?" Jay asked Claire, who had lust looked over.

"I'll ask." She turned to Hollie, and Hollie took out a watch and checked it. She whispered to Claire and then Claire passed it on,

"Eight past ten."

"Wondered why I felt tired."

The plane jolted as it made contact with the ground. If anyone was asleep, they weren't any more. The plane gradually slowed down and turned a few corners, and then it reached a standstill. The speaker then spoke again,

"Please remain seated and keep your seatbelts on till the light goes off above you. I hope you enjoyed your flight."

"How long till we catch the next plane?" Jay questioned.

"Leaving Madrid at twelve forty five, and arriving in Quito at four fifty five in the morning," Jordan replied.

"I'll be shattered," Jay said.

"Yeah, I'm definitely going for a sleep on the next flight," Jordan agreed.

There was a small flash and the seatbelt light went off.

"Time to go," Hollie announced.

They exited the plane, walked up the tunnel and moved into the passport checking line.

The man checked each passport before handing it back and signalling to go through.

After that they had their hand luggage checked.

Jay scrunched up his face, just like he did the first time he walked through the scanner.

And then when he heard the beep...

The beep?

Jay's jaw dropped and he ducked to the left, trying to hide behind the trays of luggage.

The dreaded beep had been set off!

"We need to move it slowly," Claire whispered from behind him.

"Have they seen me?" Jay asked.

Claire looked up and Jay decided to take a peek himself. He peered round the corner and the security were looking round like owners of a lost dog.

"Quick, when I say go, you jump up, grab your stuff and walk out casually, got it?"

"On your signal," Jay assured.

"Go!" Claire nudged his arm with her leg, and Jay bolted upright.

He grabbed his jacket, pulled it over him, and shuffled slowly past Claire towards the duty free section at the airport. Not looking back just walking suspiciously along the laminate floor.

Then he heard the running footsteps.

"MOVE, THEY'RE AFTER US!" Hollie screamed, running behind Jordan, Claire and Broudie.

Behind her were two Spanish security blokes on hot pursuit and wearing not the friendliest of faces.

#  The Sisssters.

(Chapter 9)

Jay turned and started to sprint towards the shop.

"Toilets, we can lose them, and don't let them see your face," Hollie instructed, catching up with Jay and the others.

"Over there." Broudie pointed out the picture of a man, a woman, and a disabled person, all above three doors that were hidden behind some rows of perfume.

"Allí están," shouted one of the security guards entering the shop.

"Quick, if we can't get away from two mortal policeman then how are we supposed to run from mythical creatures, c'mon." Hollie led the way into the disabled bathroom. They all crammed in and Jordan bolted the door.

"Ok, we need to hide," Claire stated, frantically searching the toilet.

"How about we get up there, invisibility quick." Jordan raised his hand, and everyone else touched it quickly.

"Polacify," he urged. Their veins shone white and then the light disappeared.

"Ok, but what happens if they bump into us when they get in?" Broudie questioned.

"Votaldea." Hollie levitated off the ground and then floated towards the top. "If you concentrate you can stay firm in the air. I would show you what you can do once you've perfected this spell, except this doesn't seem to be the time. Unlock the door." Hollie lifted her legs up, just in case they touched the policemen's heads, and then repeated the spell for them to copy, Broudie unbolting the door.

"Votaldea," they spoke in unison. And then, just like Hollie, they started to rise off the ground. Jay held out his arms for balance as he floated upwards.

"Now concentrate on staying balanced and up high, oh and try not to talk or dribble."

Jay wobbled around and tried to tuck his legs into his stomach, but he kept rolling onto his back in midair. It was like trying to run through invisible marmalade, and the Gods looking down on them would've been laughing with a face full of popcorn.

It was a sight to be seen. Except, the idea was they couldn't be seen.

He looked up and saw Hollie, Jordan and Broudie balancing freely at the ceiling. He looked across and there was Claire, struggling just like he was.

"C'mon guys quick, Jordan you get Jay, I'll get Claire." Hollie flew past him and retrieved Claire, then Jordan grasped Jay's shirt and pulled him up to the top.

"They're coming," Hollie whispered.

"¿Adónde se fueron?" The one guard asked, bursting into the room with a hand at his belt.

"Vamos, que no son exactamente va a traer una bomba en el país. Vamos a ir." The one guard walked back out of the toilet, the other looked around once more before leaving.

They waited a few seconds just in case, and then Hollie broke the silence.

"That was close."

"Too close," Jordan agreed.

"How do we get down?" Claire moaned.

"Like this." Hollie loosened her grip on Claire and she dropped into a small heap.

"I could have twisted my ankle," Claire grumbled, lifting her head from the ground.

"Well, you didn't. C'mon down. I need something to eat, dunno about you. Hopefully somewhere will be open." Hollie trudged out the toilet casually, as if nothing had happened.

When Jay, Broudie and Jordan were back on ground, they followed Claire and Hollie to a café.

"Can't believe they're open at this time, not that I'm complaining. Okay, now what's on the menu?" Hollie pondered, picking up a laminated sheet covered with Spanish writing.

"How are we supposed to know what we're ordering? It's all in Spanish," Jordan questioned.

"Well, they should really have it in English, I mean were in Spain. Spanish speak English," Jay agreed sarcastically.

"Did you not do Spanish at your school?" Hollie asked.

"Well I was in year seven when you found me. We'd only just started French," Jordan replied.

"Oh god, what d'you think the schools done when they heard about me disappearing?" Jay realised.

"Nothing, just stuck posters round the area probably," Claire said, scanning the menu as if she knew it.

'Thanks Claire! Now I can safely smile at the fact that no one cares that I'm missing, thanks!' Jay thought, sighing.

"What happens if someone spots me?" Jay said, picturing a scene where one of his old friends was in a car driving past Jay, who was holding a sword and slashing at a giant lion with five heads.

"Do you know why there are disappearances?" Hollie said doubtfully.

"Because they get lost?"

"No, a lot of disappearances are demi-gods who find out who they are and then hurry off to find the closest camp where they can settle in. Obviously some are just disappearances," Hollie said.

"Really?"

"Yep. Anyway I'm starving. I think I'll just pick a random dish."

"Do you want me to tell you what there is?" Claire questioned.

"You know Spanish?"

"Yes, I'll read out the snacks first. Baguette filled with cheese, cheese and ham, tuna, egg and mayonnaise, cheese and cucumber or just plain. Then you can have mini Spanish favourites. Mini paella with salad and bread, mini honazo, which is like a pie, mini cocido madrileño, which is a stew with chick peas, potato and meat, and patatas bravas, which is a fried potato dish served with a spicy tomato sauce. Would you like me to carry on?" Claire finished.

"How on earth did you translate all that?" Jay asked in disbelief.

"Translate. Did I just? Wow."

"I think I'll have the mini paella," Hollie said curiously, standing up from her chair.

"Me too," Jordan and Jay said in unison.

"Could I have that fried potato and sauce thing please?" Broudie asked.

"I'll go order Hol, seems as I somehow know Spanish." Claire got up and steered her way round the tables and chairs to get to the counter.

"How did she do that?" Jay asked.

"Is it a power of Aphrodite, maybe she can talk all languages?" Broudie suggested.

"We'll have to ask her if we ever see her down the street," Jordan said.

"Yeah ask her in Chinese or Swedish," Hollie added.

After a couple of laughs and giggles, Claire was back.

"Well I've ordered, and I managed to speak Spanish to them. It felt weird," Claire said.

"We think it's a power of Aphrodite. But were not sure," Hollie told her.

"Cool, d'you think I can talk animal?"

They ate there delicious light bites and then ferried off to the duty free shop, that they scanned on their dramatic first entrance. Hollie, Jordan and Jay went towards the sweets, Broudie went towards the souvenirs, and obviously Claire went to take a look at the perfume.

"Ooh, free samples." Hollie pointed out a small silver plated tray sat on a tall tower of chocolate boxes which had 'LE Bakers' printed on the front. She picked one up and scoffed it in a matter of seconds.

"Nice?" Jay asked.

"Uh, hu," Hollie replied, "Too morish." She picked up another one and ate it as well.

"What flavour?" Jordan questioned.

"Caramel, truffle," she ate another one, "or some sort of nut."

"Sounds good." Jay reached for a chocolate and ate it. The moment it touched his lips he felt enveloped by indulgence.

Smooth chocolate was stuffed inside the harder coating. Oozing out when you took a bite. The chocolate was rich and sickly, but, as Hollie said, very morish. He grasped another one and ate it.

"What is so good about this chocolate? Hollie I thought you weren't fussed on chocolate?" Jordan remembered.

"This one, oh we need to buy twelve boxes," Hollie answered.

"Oh my god, I feel so relaxed, it's amazing try some." Jay picked up the plate and forced it towards Jordan, but he just stepped away and signalled to put the plate back. Jay felt light and at peace, kind of like some sort of hippy - as if all bad things had been locked up in a chocolate jail.

"What's the matter, it's delicious," Hollie said.

"I don't like chocolate, but how about I go and buy some, while you two just have a look around somewhere else." Jordan walked off around the corner.

"YOU FORGOT THE CHOCOLATE!" Hollie shouted in a severely shocked tone.

"There's some at the counter, well lots at the counter." Jordan appeared again, and then shot off to pay.

"Don't like chocolate, strange person." Jay grabbed three more chocolates and he and Hollie walked off to buy some drinks for the flight over.

They passed a gloomy window. All they could see was darkness, and a few little orange lights, that kept flashing on and off.

"Dark outside," Jay said.

"Never." Hollie walked past the window and to the fridge.

After a few minutes of trying to work out what drink was what, Jay started feeling less relaxed and quite drowsy.

"I think I need more chocolate, you?" Jay asked.

"Deffo."

They started walking back towards the chocolate isle, but Jordan unfortunately found them first.

"Where's the chocolate?" Hollie and Jay moaned at the same time.

"Gave it to Broudie to hold, where are you going, back to the chocolate isle?" Jordan questioned suspiciously.

"Yeah, feeling drowsy again now," Jay replied.

"Thank god, it's worn off."

"What's worn off?" Hollie said.

"The stuff in the chocolate was making you want to eat more of it, basically just a scam. You eat the free samples, you love the taste, you want more, and you buy loads."

"Did you buy any?"

"No, you'll get addicted, and then start using your powers to get to the chocolate, and, well, just too much darn hassle."

"I was too busy stuffing my face with more, I didn't even think of that. Do you think it's some sort of sorcerer?" Hollie patted Jordan on the back.

"Why don't they do it with all chocolate, they could make a fortune." Jay began slapping his face trying to pull himself out of this possessed trance.

"Because only people with some sort of power and knowledge combined, would ever be able to make chocolate like that."

"Like sorcerers and wizards. Or someone who accidentally dropped a peculiar plant, that he had found, inside a bar of chocolate," Hollie added.

"These L.E Bakers must be magical then."

"So instead of saving the world, we could just invent a chocolate bar that people would crave and buy loads of, then spend the money on expensive stuff. We could be rich for the last years of the world," Jay suggested.

"Or, we could save the world first, and then make addictive chocolate after, and be rich for the rest of our lives," said Jordan.

"Yeah or that."

They picked up some drinks, covered their eyes while they walked past the chocolate isle, and then paid at the checkout. When they were finished they had a look round and spotted Claire.

"What in the winged shoes of Hermes are you spraying on yourself?" Jordan asked, waving his arms, frantically trying to blow the overwhelming scent away from his burning nostrils.

"It's called perfume, it makes you smell nice," Claire replied, "Hollie knows what I'm on about, don't you Hol?"

"Eh not really, I think you've put a bit too much on, in my opinion," Hollie smiled, trying not to offend her.

"I was just testing them all out, oh, never mind. Are we ready to go, we'll be boarding at half past twelve," Claire yawned and then put down the perfume bottle in her hand.

"We need to find Broudie first," Hollie thought.

"That's not hard, just have a look around, he'll be near a sword shop or toy shop, down the fighting isle," Claire answered. "Kids shop over there. C'mon." Claire led the way through the perfume isles and round the tobacco and alcohol lanes.

They reached the shop, and straight in front of them was Broudie, believe it or not, fighting a wooden block with a sponge sword, and fenced in by a couple of Spanish children.

"Broudie, we're gonna make our way down. You coming?" Hollie waved him out.

"Seeya." He held out his hand and all the kids high-fived it.

All back together, they walked nervously past a group of security guards who were stood next to the wall on the way to the gate.

"Don't worry. It's not the same ones," Jordan whispered to the others.

They made their way slowly into the boarding room, where they took some seats nearest the tunnel entrance for the plane.

"Got yourself a fan club then huh?" Jay joked.

"They know quite a lot of English, and they're really friendly," Broudie said.

"The reason you liked them Broudie, was because they were looking up to you and calling you awesome," Hollie said.

"Actually, they didn't know the word awesome, so I told them to keep saying super instead."

Jay smiled and then turned his head. As he did, his muscles stiffened and the entire room went silent, everything suddenly went into slow-mo.

Jay cringed and sank in his seat, feeling extremely vulnerable for no apparent reason. He tried hard to lift his head to see what was happening.

With one, faint grunt he raised his eyes to see a tall man wearing cool shades stood next to a much smaller guy with thick, long hair. They stood about three metres from him, jabbering away in a friendly Spanish accent. Jay furrowed his eyebrows as the taller man looked over and gave a super smiley 'hey' with his bulging eyes.

Jay tried a smile as the man's happy face turned to a 'do I recognise you' expression.

"Pablo!" the smaller man signalled for them to move down the corridor, tugging at the taller man's, cool-looking, jacket.

"Yes...Javier. I'm coming."

They started to walk, the man named Pablo shaking off his stare.

Time caught up, noise returned and Jay's muscles relaxed. He turned around completely drained to meet four other startled faces.

"Who was that?" Claire asked.

"I dunno."

"God radiation thing?" Jay presumed.

"Well either a God or a very powerful magical. I'm presuming the latter as he doesn't seem like a God," Hollie corrected.

"Right," Broudie concluded.

"Moving on," Claire started, "squally ball!"

They sat there chatting for another half an hour, people slowly piling into the room and filling up the empty chairs. They all were either rich families or retired couples so Jay and his mates stuck out like a sore thumb.

The weird experience with the Pablo dude was a bit confusing, but none of the others seemed to bother dwelling on it, so Jay thought it was best to just leave it. 'They didn't get hurt so who cares!' seemed to be the motto. If someone endangers or hurts someone else then they're the enemy.

"Flight to Quito leaving at zero forty five. The gate is now open," the speaker spoke first in English, then in Spanish.

The five teenagers were the first in the queue, and were the first to get into the plane. This one wasn't as stylish as the one from France, but they were three quarters of the way down it like last time.

"Twenty a, b, and c." Broudie pointed out once again.

"Same places as last time?" Hollie asked.

"Yeah fine," they agreed.

"I think we should get some good sleep on this journey. We'll find the closest hotel when we get there, and rest before setting off for the temple," Hollie instructed.

This time Jordan didn't have to make any sweets because Broudie had surprised them and bought a pack already, 'Yes, I can be organised' he'd joked. They took off for Quito, and within five minutes Jay was off.

"Jay, wake up. We're here!" Jordan shook Jay by the shoulders aggressively.

He yawned and stretched his arms awkwardly.

"C'mon we're all tired and as soon as we get through luggage and passport controls, we can get to bed and have a proper sleep." Jordan lifted Jay up by the arm and they exited the plane. This time, instead of going through a tunnel, they walked down some stairs and had to walk along the outside. It was hot; very humid, but very hot. He couldn't see much, but the rare refreshing breeze was all that was needed to make this place beautiful.

They entered the airport building, which was deafened by the noisy air conditioning, churning its turbines like a decrepit, chain-smoking washing machine with stomach cramps.

"Ok, passport controls, Jay here's yours." Hollie passed Jay his burgundy passport. He was dreading the next part, the scanner.

He showed his passport and the woman placed a sticker on it then waved him on so as she could check the next passenger.

"Right, the invisibility spell is on your blade and shield. It won't pick it up again." Hollie encouraged Jay as they moved into the luggage queue.

"What if it does?" Jay questioned.

"We'll do what we did last time," Hollie replied.

"There stricter in foreign countries that are not in the EU, aren't they?" Jay said.

"Look, just walk through with confidence, they aren't going to kill you unless there bullets can travel through five hearts, understand me?" Hollie asked.

"Yeah," Jay groaned, shuffling forward.

In front of him, Jordan placed his stuff on one of the trays and walked casually through the scanner. There was no beep.

"Go on, put your jacket in there and run with Jordan if it beeps, go," Hollie urged.

Jay unzipped his jacket, placed it in the tray on the conveyor belt and walked slowly through the scanner.

Although it was only five seconds, those five seconds were terribly long. Everything went slow.

He reached the other side and then squinted, waiting for the beep.

None. No sound or beep at all. He picked up his jacket, threw it round him and stood beside Jordan, a grin stretched along his face.

"You can help kill a mythical long eared creature that is trying to kill you, but you get nervous when a machine is checking for dangerous objects you are carrying. You do confuse me," Jordan finished, turning round and following the little exit symbols hanging from the ceiling in different spots. Hollie, Claire and Broudie were close behind them.

"Now for a nice, well-deserved rest," Hollie announced.

"Do you realise yesterday we flew over the channel, went up the Eiffel tower, killed a group of Panotii, found Frederick, persuaded Frederick to tell us where the temple was, caught a taxi for free and flew to Madrid. All in one day," Jay commented.

"Busy day," Broudie agreed.

They walked out of the airport and were hit with a relaxing heat.

"Lovely, now we need to find the closest hotel. Let's try asking someone who looks like they speak English." Hollie and Jay went right and Jordan, Claire and Broudie went left.

"Anybody you can see that looks English round here?" Hollie asked.

"No. I can barely see."

They walked around for not even a minute in the hot and humid air, when there was the sound of running footsteps from behind them.

Hollie turned to see who it was.

"English people who know the area?" Jay questioned.

"English people who don't. It's Broudie, Claire and Jordan," Hollie told, Jay turning round to see them sprinting towards him frantically.

"Dracaenae!" Broudie shouted.

Jay had heard that word before. Someone had used it in a conversation with him. Something about, he should 'use something when we're being attacked by an army of dracaenae', that was it, he had done something, some spell, and that's what they'd said.

"Someone must have told them, they wouldn't be in an airport." Hollie turned and ran with them, Jay followed.

"How many of 'em?" Hollie gasped.

"Seven," Claire replied.

"Look this way, we could lose them." Hollie turned a sharp right down a very dark alley beside the airport. She held herself against the wall, and so did the others.

"If they find us here were doomed, it's a dead end," Claire realised.

"Well let's not get found then," Hollie whispered.

Jay felt nervous, he had no clue to what a dracaenae was, all he knew was there was a hissing noise growing louder and louder...

"What are dracaenaes?" Jay hushed to Jordan beside him. The hissing stopped and silence fell among the dark alleyway.

"We ssare," hissed a small voice.

Jay didn't move at all. Then he heard a click. The click of a watch. The gooble watch.

Then, without any warning, Hollie lit the alleyway,

"Sparkinum."

"That'sss betterss, now we can sssee you." The voice was cold and icy. It sounded dangerous, but maybe not as dangerous as it looked when it slivered into the light.

Its hair was a bushy brown mess that covered its evil face. She had lips as if they'd been stuffed full of silicon, and it seemed a trip to the beauty clinic was a daily job. Her eyes were deep red and scary looking. She wore nothing but a camouflage belly top and hundreds of bangles. She had the upper body of a woman and the lower of a...serpent.

She was green and scaly from the waist down, a tail curled behind her back. It looked as if she had a pet snake beside her.

In her one hand she held a long stick attached to a vicious slither of silver shine. In her other hand she held a long chain with a ball that'd been injected with thousands of black, shiny spikes, dangling from it. It swung forward and back in a hypnotic dance of 'meet your doom'.

"Ring bearersss, no match for usss. Before we kill yousss, you might like to knows, that our dear friend taxi, told us of yourss posssition. That'ss right, the one in Parisss."

There was silence as the snake woman waited, she hissed with her fork tongue impatiently. Then Jordan answered with an uncivilised reply of,

"Gustarmia." Wind erupted from his hands and swept the dragon women off their...well tails. But they weren't giving up that easily.

"Attackssss." She threw her spiky ball at Jordan who had to jump and roll to one side, to stop getting hurt.

The wind died and battle engaged.

Jay looked around for any targeting him, and unfortunately three had teamed up on him.

"Ructomalius!" He cried, creating an invisible shield that was smashed by the first swing of a blade. He rolled onto the floor and shouted, "Degradium." Fire burst from his hands and shot at two of the dracaenaes, they dodged it but had to step back, leaving one snake woman with a clear shot.

He heard the swing of a sword, but did not feel any pain. He looked up and saw Broudie swinging his sword around and slicing her up. Jay started fighting another monster as the one Broudie had just killed erupted into pieces and disappeared down a crack in the ground.

He ran away from the slithering snake and Hollie took over as he tripped up and fell onto the floor. He heard a shrieking noise and above him he saw another dragon woman.

They were everywhere!

"Hello there boy sss," she chuckled, pulling back her blade and swiping downwards. Jay rolled out of the way, jumped to his feet and took out his shield and sword as her blade shattered to pieces.

This Greek blood stuff was really getting him hyped up.

"Votaldea." he aimed his sword at the woman and a jet of light erupted from it. The light hit the creature and sent her flying towards the wall. There was a crack and the woman landed in a heap on the floor. She groaned, so Jay turned to try and help someone else. Jordan was helplessly dodging strikes, unable to fight back, so Jay stepped in.

He threw his sword at the monster and spoke,

"Degradium." The sword set on fire and pierced the woman, as he plunged the sword into her scaly skin.

She fell to the floor, splitting into pieces and disappearing into the ground.

"Thanks," Jordan said, rising from the ground and going to help Claire. Jay looked around and saw a snake woman throwing her spike at Hollie. Everything was going so fast, there was no time to think, yet Jay somehow knew exactly what to do each time.

He focussed on the ball and screamed,

"ALOVIUM!!"

The spike gleamed white and Jay felt the connection. He swung his hand behind him and the snake woman holding the chain got flung into the air. He forced up his hand and a fireball shot into the sky. It hit the monster with a bang and she descended in little pieces like a firework.

Jay was very pleased with that, especially how he'd done it with ease, when he was so tired.

The problem was he'd took his mind off the battle at the wrong time. He felt his collar tighten, and one of the snake women shoved him up into a wall.

She held him there.

Pure anger was oozing from her face.

She smiled slyly.

Jay looked around. No one could help. There was no one to help him as she raised her blade,

"Sssay goodbye."

#  Another plane journey.

(Chapter 10)

"Never...Flaixor minthamya!" He screamed, his eyes closed and his fists clenched. Jay urged for the heat waves to flow through one thing and one thing only. The snake woman.

"Aaah," she shrieked, loosening her grip and dropping Jay on the floor. He picked himself up and stood there urging more and more heat into her body. He reached out his hand and touched the snake woman's forehead.

Silence surrounded him and the shrieking and hissing cries of the dying creature. He reached for her head, and...

She erupted into flames. Burning. Curling up and turning to ashes, before Jay's eyes. The shrieking stopped and the ashes beside Jay got sucked into the tarmac beneath him.

He raised his head.

Hollie, Jordan, Broudie and Claire were all awestruck and so were the two remaining snake women, who didn't even attempt to move and crush their victims.

Broudie sliced his sword into both snake women without even turning round. He pocketed his sword and then started clapping. They all joined in.

"That, my friend, is how to kill a dracaenae," Broudie congratulated him, walking over and patting him on the back.

"Never mind that one, did you see his controlling spell, he flung the dracaenae back with its own weapon." Jordan added.

"Was that a good start?"

"Was that a? That was awesome. Add some ninja moves in and it would be the best killing streak ever," Claire declared.

"You were all great, I killed three, but Broudie killed four? That is awesome," Jay told them.

"For Broudie that was alright, you should see him sometimes. Anyway, that was impressive. Wasn't that your first kill?" Hollie questioned.

"Yeah, Claire killed the Panotii."

"Well, now you can officially say you are saving the word against the monsters that are escaping Tartarus," Jordan said. "Three cheers for our new official helper in the capturing of all the escaping monsters of Tartarus...Jay! Hip, hip."

"Hooray."

"Hip, Hip."

"Hooray."

"And hip hip."

"Hooray."

"Thanks an all that, but I am really tired, don't know about you?" Jay hinted.

"Let's just go inside and ask where the nearest hotel is," Broudie suggested.

Half an hour later they were safe inside a nearby hotel, just about to enter separate rooms.

"This is our room, that's yours. We will meet you at lunch, twelve 'o' clock." Hollie and Claire strolled into their room and closed the door.

Meanwhile, Jordan was trying to open the door with the key. One of those stupid cards which only ever work if you put them in at a certain speed.

In the end he gave up.

"Misgardio." There was a click and Jordan pushed open the door.

And that was the last Jay remembered, he must have been so sleepy that he fell asleep right there.

"Ugh," Jay yawned stretching out his arms. His back was cold and stiff. He was lying on a hard surface.

"You up for some more battling, if we find it we'll be going in today," Jordan chirped.

Jay lifted himself up. He'd had a really good sleep for someone who'd slept on a laminate floor.

When he eventually stretched properly he had a quick shower with some spell-made shower gel, and got ready.

"So, maybe that heat wave spell is useful to ya now you can control it," Broudie said.

"Yeah, oh and thanks for killing that dracaenae that was about to swing at me."

"Oh it's alright." Broudie walked over to a bed, perched on the corner, and put on his shoes.

"Thanks for that fire blade as well. Hey, did you use your shield?" Jordan questioned.

"No, can't wait to see if any of them enchantments and attachments are actually going to work in a real situation." Jay remembered the nights he spent fixing and adding bits to his shield.

"Didn't tell us you added anything did ya? You said you could look through it and that was it." Broudie stared up at him.

"Nothing that great really." Jay pictured the scene where he added the hidden grappling hook, and tied it inside with some shrinking spell in the weapon book.

"What sort of stuff?" Jordan stopped sorting and they both glared at him.

"You'll have to wait and see." Jay put his shoes on and pushed his shield and sword away, which he had removed the invisibility from that morning.

"Well, you certainly didn't wait to even get to the bed. I mean, you collapsed in the hallway," Broudie said.

"Yeah, tried to wake ya but you didn't move."

"I was tired."

"Really? You didn't even look around at this place," Jordan told him.

Jay realised that he actually hadn't taken any notice to where they were. But where they were was a place you could certainly live in. The beds were nice and soft, all pure white and clean. Curtains were red, blocking the sunlight from shining through the one, and only, window in the room.

The walls were also white, slightly duller than the beds but still clean. There was a light wooden desk opposite the beds, which held a television and a lamp. Beside that were two comfy single sofas, and then another plain wooden chair sat along a short coffee table. The floor was laminate and cold (Jay would know).

"It's well nice," Jay admired.

"Yeah, did you take any notice to downstairs, y'know the reception and eating hall?" Broudie asked.

"No, me eyes were already closing when Hollie marched us up the stairs."

"Oh well we best get a move on, Hollie said to meet at lunch, and it's gone twelve." Jordan checked his watch.

Jay looked over at it and recognised the same cloudy eye that he had on his shield.

Jay regretted not trying to put a spell on his shield to turn into a smaller object as now it was proving quite an awkward thing to carry around. That'd be a job for when he got back. If he got back that was.

The three boys checked the room for stuff that they might have left, and then they took the room card and strolled out of the dorm. They walked along the corridor and then down the steps.

The corridor was laid with burgundy carpet and the stairs were made of hard stone, white and black patterns marbled within it.

They got down to reception and handed their keys in. Then they turned to face the pub/café/restaurant. It was dark, but the people in there seemed to lighten the atmosphere.

"They'll definitely be down by now, even at Hollie's standards, this is late, and Claire will make sure she has had enough time to get ready," Broudie laughed.

"C'mon then." Jay led Jordan and Broudie to the room. It was made of dark wood and it was set out quite like most English pubs. There was a bar and then loads of seats and tables. It was a bit of a mash up between a posh Greek spa restaurant and a typical English pub.

They first caught glance of Claire when they passed the sign for the toilets.

"Hi guys, nice sleep?" Claire questioned.

"If you count lying on a laminate floor nice, then yeah," Jordan chuckled.

"Wasn't there enough beds?" Claire sounded genuinely devastated.

"No, there was, but Jay didn't really fancy a proper sleep," Broudie giggled.

"Why didn't you want a proper sleep, is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine, it's just when we got in I was really tired and couldn't walk to the bed. So, I collapsed onto the floor and slept there."

"Must have had a lovely sleep then." Claire rolled her eyes and led them over to their table. Hollie was sat there with a cup of tea.

"Mornin'. Anybody else want a drink or anything to eat?" Hollie asked.

"Oo yeah I'm starving," Broudie announced.

Hollie passed him the menu, which was once again written in Spanish. Broudie settled by looking at the pictures. Then when he was finished, Jay and Jordan had a look as well.

"Ok, orders please." Claire pretended to be a waitress, everyone else played with it,

"Oh, might I have the beef, rice, chips and salad thing. Obviously I cannot say it in Spanish," Hollie told her, clapping her hands together and leaning forward in a sort of 'darling, pass one the honey' way.

"Churrasco. And you?" She moved to Jordan pretending to note down the orders.

"Could I have the soup, I seem to like most soups so I should like this one?" He spoke in a low, higher-class voice.

"Locro times two, one for me and one for you. Next?" Claire moved on to Jay.

"Please may I have the same as Hollie?"

"Yes that's two Churrasco. And finally we have Broudie." Claire stood there, her eyebrows lost up in her hair.

"Right, I shall have the pork thing with those potato cakes." Broudie sat back in his chair to relax.

"Ok, that's two Churrasco's and two Locro's, plus one fritada. Purse please." Claire held out her hand and Hollie passed her the enchanted money bag.

She grasped it and strolled off to order.

"Fritoda? What in the name of Gaea is fritoda?" Hollie questioned.

"I think she likes her new talent." They all looked over to the bar where Claire was stood. She was laughing with the bar men, she said something along the lines of 'bla-bla-bla, bla bla-bla-bla'.

"So, anybody ready to get that jewel?" Broudie asked.

"I don't think we'll go in today, we got to fly over to the Galapagos Islands first. And then we'll be there at night, which means we'll all be tired and someone will get killed," Hollie instructed, saying the last word a bit too casually.

"So what are we doing today, taking pictures of things like tourists?" Broudie seemed a bit downhearted.

"No, today we will find the entrance, camp out and then enter in the morning."

Claire returned, a smile spread on her face.

"Alright?" Jordan questioned.

The answer wasn't exactly what he was wanting. Something very Spanish sounding.

"Claire, we are English not Spanish. Wake up." Hollie shook her head.

"Oh sorry, those guys are so funny. It'll be ready in no time, here's your purse." Claire handed back the purse and sunk into her chair.

"Right." Hollie pocketed her purse.

"So, does anybody know anything about this jewel?" Broudie asked.

"Nope," Jay replied.

"Hol, anything? Seems as you are the oldest member here."

"Nothing at all. I do reckon though, that this quest is strange. This quest has been so not planned out. We knew that Frederick was in France, somewhere above ground. But there are loads of places in France that are 'above ground', it was just a coincidence he was there, he could have been taking a trip to China, who knows," Hollie explained.

"What d'you mean strange?" Jordan thought.

"Not strange, but it just doesn't feel so important, it feels like we're acting and that this jewel isn't that important. Well, it sounds like it is important, but it's not as hard as its been made out, if you know what I mean? We've never had a real quest before and then suddenly Athena throws out a quest that sounds so hard to complete. Not in a challenging way, but in an impossible to find sort of way. You'd think she would give us a small thing to do, as practise first," Hollie said.

"I suppose, but maybe this is a little test, I mean Frederick was right there when we found him, and he gave us the position of the temple quite easily once Jay got through to him," Claire said.

"So how did the Panotii know about Frederick and the temple? They knew all about it. The dracaenae were probably after Frederick as well, except the taxi driver phoned them up and told them that we were heading to the exact same place. He was probably some creature in disguise, and could tell by the way we reacted and spoke. Then they came to us to try and get the whereabouts of the temple out of us," Hollie concluded.

"Well they weren't very persuasive, they were more, and let'sss kills them," Broudie mimicked.

"Or they were going to kill four of us and get it out of the last one, and then it would be harder for one of us to escape."

"Well I think we've come to an end with that debate," Claire stated.

"Yeah and anyway. I didn't hear or see you click the gooble watch when we finished killing them dracaenae, did you?" Jay questioned.

"She must have, everyone's moving around," Jordan pondered.

"Actually I didn't," Hollie answered.

"What d'you mean you didn't, you haven't lost it have you?" Broudie started panicking.

"No, what I mean is, I didn't turn it off purposely, I accidentally must have clicked it when I fell over," Hollie said.

"So was this whilst we were fighting the dracaenae?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, hopefully nobody saw anything though. Amy and them'll be wondering if that was us if they see it on the television," Hollie replied.

"Aren't they going to talk to more demi-gods?" Jay wondered curiously.

"No, not for that long," Hollie said astounded how he could possibly think that.

"Gods no, it's hard enough trying to be nice to them for a few minutes, but for two days!" Broudie huffed.

"But didn't they go for a good few days when they went to the Snowdonia camp?"

"No, they probably did a bit of climbing and had a bit of fun too, us ring bearers don't just hang out at camp y'know, we do go out," Jordan said.

"This job is getting better and better."

"Yeah, and it's about to get even better. Dinners here," Claire announced, two waiters walked in with plates balancing on their arms.

"Locro?" one asked.

Claire directed each dish as they were called out.

"Fritada?" the waiter held out a dish and Claire pointed towards Broudie, where the waiter placed the dish and swept off behind the bar again.

"Looks nice," Jordan decided after taking a good look at his soup from different angles and smelling it, his nose nearly touching the orange concoction.

"Yeah this rice, chips and beef thing looks nice too," Jay agreed.

"Forget how nice it looks, how about how nice it tastes." Hollie shovelled down a mouth full of rice and a small slither of beef. She nodded in approval.

"Oo, what is this soup? It's soup-er," Jordan slurped.

"It's Locro," Claire answered, ignoring his humour.

They laughed.

"What? It is Locro?" Claire shrugged, gulping down her spoonful.

They finished off their lunch and set off again. Jay was getting used to travelling. He'd done loads of it ever since Jordan flew them to that dirt path when they first met. He kind of felt a little travel sick.

"Ok, do we know where we are going?" Broudie asked as they exited the hotel onto the path opposite the airport after they'd eaten their lunches.

"Yep, back into the airport and over to the islands," Hollie answered.

"No more flying," Broudie wined.

"You can stay here if you want," Jordan suggested, "Do us all a big favour."

"Offended!"

They headed back towards the airport.

It was when they were crossing the drop off area, that Jay felt the unusual sensation. He looked around and everything went into slow motion and the background noises were enveloped by a ferocious, muffled, buzzing sound.

Jay's eyes went blurry as he turned to see what was going on. Coming to a stop in the middle of the road, Jay spotted roughly ten people crossing the road about twenty metres away from him. Most of them seemed quite similar, walking immaturely, but one of them was much taller than the others and wearing a nest of curly locks. He was wearing nothing on his top half but on his bottom half he wore...correction, his bottom half wasn't wearing anything either, it was just simply a mane of fur running from his waist to his...hooves?

Jay squinted hard, trying to work out and interpret what it was he was seeing. The weird thing was he had a strange feeling as if he should've known who the people were. All he could do was stare, and, by the looks of things, it seemed they reflected the same sea of startled expressions.

But then, before Jay could say anything, his whole body started churning and a flash of white engulfed his vision, sucking his thoughts and his automatic reactions from him. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what was happening. 'Come to think of it, what was I doing?' Jay questioned himself as the light faded and the background noises returned. He felt like he'd just blinked, just closed his eyes for a second. He couldn't remember what had just happened but he had a feeling something had. If that made any sense. It was as if he just blanked out.

Jay kept silent and just continued to walk behind the others, his thoughts about what had happened trailing away and eventually completely disappearing.

By the time they'd reached the ticket queue, he'd completely forgot the experience and he simply put the strange feeling as if something had happened down to some good old daydreaming, something he tended to do a lot.

"Nice to be here again," Broudie continued to moan, breaking the silence which had hung over them for the past ten minutes.

"Great isn't it." Jay pretended to be really excited.

"Will we have to travel back by plane, or could we get back some other way?" Broudie asked.

"Well, unless you learn to teleport then no," Hollie replied.

"Can you learn to teleport?" Jay questioned.

"You can try, but you need some sort of power to transport between places."

"So it can be done." Claire sounded interested in this subject, probably because it was much better than hearing Broudie wine.

"Yeah it can be. But you need some sort of permission, either off Hermes or another god I presume," Hollie said.

"Permission?"

"Well, not really permission, but the power to do it. I mean it was a lot asking for part of their powers, and they weren't happy with that. So they would probably try and blast you with a thunderbolt or something if you asked them to give you the power of teleportation."

"What if I got it off Ares? I haven't had my gift yet," Broudie suggested.

"Doubt it. You'll probably get an amazing sword of some sort."

"So who else hasn't had their gifts off their gods?" Jay asked.

"Oh well there's you, Broudie, Jordan, Claire, Alice, Amy, Bobby, Liam and Philippa," Hollie replied.

"Does it come with instructions of how to use it?" Jay questioned.

"No, it just floats down or is carried down to the selected person. Then they spend a good few days trying to work out what it does, like it took me ages before I found out what my gooble watch did," Hollie said.

"So what gifts have people got so far?" Jay said.

"Oh, I have the gooble watch, Cameron has the flying shoes but he thinks they do something else as well, Lochlan has this drain band thing that, when touching a plant, can absorb the energy and use it to cure himself. Then finally there's Amy, who has the purse that gives her what she wants. It's not her gift off Athena though, it was our gift off Athena. A type of group present and, as you've seen already, it comes in quite handy."

"What do you mean when you say Cameron think there's something else to his gift?"

"Well he says he has a feeling, but I reckon his god has spoken to him and told him that's not all that his gift does," Hollie smiled.

They went through the same procedures as the 'other million times', according to Broudie. Thankfully, there were no more dreaded beeps at the luggage scanner, and they moved swiftly through into the departure lounge and ready to get on.

"Tame airlines, sounds good," Broudie said.

"Any stops or is it a direct flight?" Jay asked.

"It takes thirty minutes to get to Guayaquil, where we stop for thirty minutes, then another one point five hours to get to Galapagos. We leave at three thirty and get to Galapagos at five 'o' clock. There is a time distance if you think I've done the calculations wrong," Hollie said.

"Another stop, that means we might get attacked by another group of dracaenae," Jordan moaned.

"Well if we arrive at five then we can have a quick scan of the island, have a proper meal, and then have a really good sleep. Then we get up really early in the morning and set off to this temple," Hollie instructed.

"You got it all planned out, haven't ya?" Jay said.

"Yeah, I like to think so."

The speaker came on and the gate opened. Everyone piled into the queue and moved slowly into the tunnel. It was a much shorter tunnel and wasn't very air tight, there were draughts sweeping in from every corner.

When they got into the plane they found out that they weren't sitting near the back this time, but near the front.

"Change of scenery I suppose," Broudie chirped.

"Half an hour to have another little sleep I think," Jay declared and rolled over. He was near the window this time, sat next to Jordan, Broudie on the end.

Then he closed his eyes before the plane took off. He didn't wake up at all through the thirty minutes and managed another well-deserved nap.

He awoke when they were about to descend.

"Had a nice nap?" Jordan asked.

"Ugh," Jay yawned.

"Well here's a sweet for the landing." Jordan passed him another caramel sweet and he placed it in his mouth.

They landed with a bump and the seatbelt signs went off. Then they filed out of the plane into a sitting area where they had to wait another fifteen minutes whilst the other passengers arrived.

When they sat down, they got playing a game, a game where you had to go around in the circle saying a mythical creature that you knew. You couldn't repeat any, and the person who couldn't think of a creature went out. The game continued until one was left, the winner.

"Jay you should start off seems as you won't know as many as us," Hollie decided.

"Ok. The Panotii," Jay started.

"Dracaenae."

"Hydra."

"Chimera."

"Charybdis."

"Eh, tree nymph."

"Otherwise known as a dryad, eh, Geryon."

"Orthus."

"Scylla."

The list went on and on, Jay was only in for three times round, but everyone else kept going. There were millions of different animals, at one time they had a rally of everything beginning with 'hippa-': Medusa, Euryale, Echidna, Stheno, Ladon, Automatons, Cerberus, centaurs, satyrs, Empusa, Laelaps, Hippocampi, Hippalectryon etc.

On and on. Then eventually everyone was out, apart from Hollie. She finished the game off by saying one last monster,

"And just for the record, Stymphalian birds."

"Show off," Claire wined.

"Thank you."

"How about we try playing the game with gods and goddesses instead," Jay suggested.

"Nah, we might as well crown Hollie the winner now," Broudie told.

Then the speaker started announcing once again. They hurtled into the queue and re-joined their plane to the Galapagos Islands. This time when they got aboard, every seat was full up. There was no room.

"Another cheerful plane journey," Broudie muttered as the safety announcements started.

"You know, I could probably beat a hostess in mastermind with the topic being safety announcements on plane journeys. The amount of times we've been on planes these past two days is ridiculous!" Jordan laughed.

"Yes, and please welcome our first contestant Jordan Quelch," Broudie announced, Jay giving a round of applause.

"You have two seconds to answer these questions, starting now."

"Centre, middle and back," Jordan said with a serious concentration face.

"And that's it, one question answered."

"Thank you, thank you."

"You mind if I have another sleep?" Jay questioned.

"Blimming hell. Anybody'd think you had the ring of Hypnos." Broudie shook his head.

Jay decided not to ask and get to sleep again for a good hour and a half. More flying, more sleep, more unenergetic situations. That only meant one thing...They were saving up for the temple.

#  Horse-fish.

(Chapter 11)

He couldn't sleep at all though. He must have been so full of life that it was impossible to sleep.

Jay spent the whole hour and a half with his head on the plane window, staring out at sea. It was boring, but quite relaxing.

After half an hour both Broudie and Jordan were asleep, snoring away. He looked over and noticed that Hollie and Claire were awake and chatting. He thought about talking but decided he would prefer to just take in the views.

Later on the seat belt signs came back on as they prepared to land.

"Broudie, wake up, we're about to land." Jay shook him.

"Uugh." Broudie stretched out his arms, gave out a large yawn and opened his eyes.

"Wake up Jordan as well, and then get him to ask Hollie for some sweets," Jay instructed.

"Alright, but let us wake up."

"Hollie," Jay shouted across, "You got anything for the way down?"

"Yeah, I'll pass them over now." Hollie started searching through her pockets. She found what she wanted and pulled out a couple of sweets.

"I'll throw them over, can you catch?" Hollie asked.

"Number one cricket player me."

"Ready?" She leant back and then threw the sweets over the passageway between the two sets of seats. They drifted apart and Jay reached out to grab them. He grasped two but the other got knocked onto the floor by Jordan having a good old stretch.

"Jordan, I could have caught all those."

He didn't answer.

Then, Jay bent down and saw the sweet under the seat in front. He reached out and his whole body ceased up as he overheard a conversation not of the norm.

"Zeus knows what you're up to. He doesn't trust you at all now."

"Oh yeah, whatever. Did you hear what those demi-gods said?"

"Yeah, they were really up for it, the whole plan and everything."

"Well they said that they had experience and that they could be useful. Ha!"

"Probably not."

"Can you sense something now, y'know, it's radiating really bad now?"

"Yeah, maybe Zeus has sent a spirit out to find us."

"Or maybe some monsters under your chair."

Jay quickly grabbed the sweet and sat bolt upright at those last words. Did they know Jay was under the seat? Did they know who Jay was? Who even were they?

He kept asking himself questions. He thought about trying to peek through the gap in the chairs, but decided it too risky. Maybe he should tell Broudie, or would they hear and then slaughter them on the plane?

Jay handed the yawners beside him the sweets and didn't talk at all on the journey down. He just kept still and quiet.

A few minutes after nervously sucking on his caramel sweet, they were finally on the ground. Then after a walk through the tunnel his nerves disappeared and he told them what he heard,

"Eh, I heard something whilst we were on the plane," Jay started.

"Why are you whispering?" Broudie asked.

"Because I don't want them to hear and I don't know where they are."

"Go on then, what did you hear?" Hollie signalled to go left towards the exit, wearing a concerned expression.

"Ok, when you, Hol, threw those sweets at me, I didn't catch all of them and one dropped on the floor. Then when I reached down to get it from under the chair in front of me, I overheard a conversation. It was two men. The one said that Zeus doesn't trust the other and then the other said whatever, did you hear what those demi-gods said? One said that there was a plan and that the demi-gods were up for it, and then the other one started laughing and said that the demi-gods told them that they would be useful. Then one of them said that they sensed something around, then the other agreed and said it's really radiating now and that maybe there was a spirit outside sent by Zeus. Then the other laughed and said or maybe a monster is under your chair. At this time I shot back into my seat and didn't do anything. Who d'you think they were?" Jay rambled, his words, verbal vomit.

"So, two men were having a conversation about Zeus, a plan, demigods and monsters?" Hollie pondered.

"Yeah, they didn't sound weird though, no hissing or anything."

"They must be part of the Greek world," Jordan suggested.

"Or they could just be rehearsing a play to do with Greek mythology," Claire thought.

"The odds of that happening is like, well, real small chance," Broudie said.

"Let's just hope they aren't off to the islands in search of the temple," Hollie chirped. She had that look as if she thought something worse but was just trying to hide it from everyone else.

They walked through the passport and luggage checks, and then out into the scorching heat.

"This is so nice, I am in heaven," Jay said, the golden rays illuminating his smile.

"Heaven? I feel like I'm inside a furnace," Broudie moaned.

"It's not that hot Broudie," Claire told with that bossy tone she carried in her voice.

"We need to start looking for this temple, so no time to moan," Hollie said.

"Where are we even heading?" Claire asked.

"What did Frederick say?"

"He said that there was only one entrance and it was on San Cristobal, and we are where?" Jordan remembered.

"We are on an island called Baltra, which is just North West from San Cristobal. We'll have to cross the sea, and I think Hollie will be able to take us across?" Jay asked Hollie, "Could you do something like Jordan does with the air except with water?"

"Someone knows their geography." Broudie nodded, impressed.

"Waterlling?" Claire put in.

"The blonde is showing again, ha...Well I suppose I could, as long as it's not too far," Hollie replied, trying to avoid Claire's looks.

"Look there's a map over there, we can find out." Jordan pointed out a board in front of them with an arrow pointing to a small green dot.

"I guess that arrow pointing to that island is where we are," Broudie said.

"Yeah, and that there," Claire pointed to a large island south east of Baltra, "Is our destination."

"So we need to head for the beach, which way is the beach?" Jay asked.

"I can sense the sea, it's that way." Hollie pointed to her right.

"You can sense the sea?" Jay pondered.

"Always have been able to, obviously not before I had the ring."

"So can I sense fire?" Jay questioned.

"Probably, I can sense love in the air. When it's in the air that is," Claire told, uneasily.

"Sense love? That's just weird," Jordan thought.

"Oh, thanks Jord, what can you do, sense when someone's about to pass wind?"

"Actually, I once did," Jordan replied. "And that was a joke! Before you say anything."

"Ok, can we get a move on? This conversation is starting to make me uncomfortable," Hollie said, turning away from the map and striding off towards the exit.

"Hol, are we actually going to walk to the beach?" Broudie asked.

"Eh, with the powers we have, why would we do that?" Hollie answered in an of-course-we're-not tone.

"Well I really, really don't want to fly."

"Well there isn't any other way. _Relacian formalios._ " Hollie jumped into the sky and sped off out of sight.

"Invisibility spell? Or do we not care anymore?" Jordan asked.

"No time to talk, Hollie's probably halfway there now, c'mon." Claire did a quick run up and then jumped into the air.

Jay followed.

The view from up in the sky was amazing. Evergreen grass plastered the ground, roads were a rare sight, very few houses could be seen, coppices were dotted around, the small market they passed was surrounded by little people, and the last sight before their feet touched ground, was the sea.

The turquoise colour that darkened as you swam out of the bay, and the small boulders that were caked in seaweed and coral were just some of the amazing features. There were small bunches of people strolling or sitting on the silky beach. The sand was not orange or gold, but crystal white.

The five teenagers floated softly through the air for about five minutes before landing.

"Why are we landing?" Jay asked as he stumbled across the sand, some of it seeping into his trainers.

"Because I want to show you my transformation and it'll be a bit of rest for Brode here."

"Or is it that if we complete the quest, then when or if the gods congratulate us, then you will get a lot of praise," Broudie suggested.

"Yeah, that probably is the reason," Jordan, Jay and Claire agreed.

"It isn't! Look I'm in charge of the quest and I say we should cross the sea, on the sea. Let's just leave it as I've had a little tip from hmm hmmm hmm," Hollie instructed.

'Was she on about Poseidon?'

"Let's go, c'mon." Hollie waved her hand forward and started walking along a path. They had landed on a deserted pathway, which lead to the beach. There was green and yellow grass either side of them as they followed Hollie down the sand track.

"What happens if the tourists see us?" Jay asked.

"Are you gonna use the watch?" Broudie said.

"Yeah." Hollie leapt into a pit of sand, as she raced towards the sea. They emerged from the sand dunes onto the beach, and that was when the heat hit them properly.

Soft sand engulfed their feet with every step they took. The sun shone brightly over the beautiful sea, seaweed covered rocks protruding from it like tiny islands.

"Oh I love water," Hollie said as they travelled down the beach, running past the few tourists, who lifted their heads off their blankets and shot dirty looks at them.

Hollie didn't really think about how strange it would be if a random teenager just ran down a beach and plunged into the sea like a fish, as she splashed her way out to the deep.

"Hollie, what are you doing?" Jordan shouted as Hollie continued to thrust her way through the water, screaming like she was on a rollercoaster ride.

"Swimming!" she ducked her head under water and disappeared out of sight.

"Look at all the tourists, they'll think we're mad," Jay said, counting the many scrunched up, confused faces along the beach.

There was silence as Jay, Jordan, Claire and Broudie stood at the edge of the water, praying for Hollie to emerge from the water and get out, stopping all the many people on the beach staring at them.

Then suddenly there was a splash of water and Hollie rocketed about a ft. into the air. She caught a glimpse of the many tourists as she fell back into the sea with a worried expression.

Another splash and she emerged once again, but this time she started swimming back towards the shore.

"Well done Hol, you are definitely going to win that...that synchronised swimming contest, eh, with them moves." Jordan winked as Hollie lifted herself up out of the sea, her clothes were drenched and heavy.

"Yeah, I hope I do win that swimming contest," Hollie said aloud, pretending that she was an underwater acrobatic professional, and that was the reason why she shot a couple of ft. into the air.

"Was she any good guys? Did you like her dramatic running approach?" Jordan shouted to the tourists who just smiled, the odd few kids giving her the thumbs up.

"Thanks Jord. I dunno what got over me, probably because I haven't seen water in so long," Hollie whispered, as the tourists laid their heads back down on their blankets.

"Hollie should be captain of the quest, she is the most sensible," Jordan laughed.

"Yeah, sorry guys."

"It's alright, we're not gonna hold you to this if we end up arriving at the temple after the monsters by about ten minutes," Broudie told.

"Oh, well thank you."

"Ok, so you gonna take us across?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah, just let me get my watch," Hollie said, searching her pockets. "Aha, here it is." she pulled out the gooble watch. "Ready? _Kareymas._ "

The small sound of chattering disappeared as Hollie clicked the button on the watch.

"Ok, where do I start?" Hollie crouched down and soaked her hands in the water, even though they were already wet.

The water rose and started spinning in a pattern like a tornado.

"Cool," Jay thought.

"Cool, yes. But not now. Hol, if you could make a boat out of water that was solid, then that would be cool," Claire instructed.

"As a matter of fact I can create a boat out of water that's solid, but I would prefer to do it a different way." Hollie took her hands out of the sea, and the water spiral slipped elegantly back into the ocean.

"Really, can you like make anything out of water?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, I can make-"

"Guys, we need to get going, it's like quarter to six already," Jordan urged.

"Yeah haven't got much time left," Hollie agreed.

"So how are you taking us across the sea?" Jay questioned eagerly.

"I'm gonna swim you over there."

"Swim? You won't be able to keep us afloat on your back," Claire pondered.

"No."

"If you think I'm swimming, you've got another thing coming." Broudie stepped back.

"No, does anybody actually know what animal I can turn into?" Hollie looked around.

"Yeah, some sort of sea creature isn't it," Claire thought.

"No one actually knows? Gods, well I'll show you." Hollie turned to re-enter the sea.

"Have we got to come in?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, course you have," Hollie giggled, like that was a stupid question.

To Jay it wasn't stupid. The sea was warm but cold as well. It was weird, like he thought it was warm but it felt cold against his skin.

"Nice and warm," Broudie said.

"Yeah, it's actually quite nice, better take a dive," Claire agreed and flung herself into the sea, her clothes weighing her down.

Jay presumed the reason he felt so cold was because of his powers, they were based around fire, and water was certainly not one of the closest allies of fire.

"Ok, I'll be up in a minute." Hollie dived down into the sea, the water was now nearly up to Jay's waist.

There were a couple of bubbles that emerged at the surface of where Hollie dived.

"She can't drown so either she's passed wind or she's opened her mouth," Jordan said trying to look underneath him.

"Where has she gone?" Claire asked.

Suddenly a grey dolphin flipped out of the sea with a splash, drenching Jordan. The dolphin was much bigger than the normal ones you see down south of England. It had a belt round its waist, carrying two blades. It also had another two straps around its neck. One like a bag and one with a watch on the end.

Jay laughed to himself at the ridiculous sight. The watch with its gold chain necklace gave the dolphin a sort of cool 'bling-bling' style.

"Oh, hi Hol," Jordan greeted.

"Amazing." Claire starred with amazement.

The dolphin called and swam around the four teenagers. It stopped next to Jordan and nudged him with its flipper.

"You want us to ride you?" Jordan questioned.

Another chirp, followed by another nudge suggested that the answer was 'yes'.

"Are you sure you can carry all of us?" Jordan asked.

The dolphin ducked its head under water and Jordan shot up into the sky and landed on its back.

"Thank you," Jordan chuckled, "Climb aboard guys."

Jay waddled forward, the sea up to his shoulders now. He lifted himself onto the dolphin, Hollie, and moved up so as everyone could fit on. Broudie got on next followed by Claire.

Claire grabbed hold of Broudie's hand to help her up. She was nearly out of the water when she shrieked and fell back in.

Jay's legs dangled in the sea and it suddenly changed. The sea darkened and Jay's stomach tickled.

"Oh my god," Jay said, astounded at the sight he now saw.

"There, there are monsters in the sea, quick Hollie go!" Jay told, for just next to them in the sea, were two horses.

Two horses, proper horses. Swimming up from beneath them.

They were miniature foals, blue skin covered their bodies. As they came closer to the surface, you could make out a tail, a fish tail, and no hind legs.

They had webbed feet and instead of a line of hair on their necks, they had a blue fin.

They were beautiful. Creepily beautiful.

Hollie didn't move, she just stayed in her place. Then Claire rose to the surface, gasping for breath.

"Horse, sp!" She spitted out the mouthful of sea water she had nearly swallowed.

The horse fish were getting closer and Hollie still hadn't moved. Broudie was trying to help Claire up again and Jordan was, just like Jay, staring down at the animals in disbelief at their beauty.

Their scales were a mesmerising pearlescent field of shining blades.

Jay wondered as they veered closer, were they peaceful creatures that had turned evil, were they peaceful creatures and still peaceful, or were they none of the above. Just luring creatures that lure people to their deaths with their beauty.

What if they had teeth of poison and death, which could kill instantly with a single bite? Jay's voice was lost as he tried to shout and order Hollie to 'Get the hell out of here!'

#  The duel-headed snake.

(Chapter 12)

"Hollie move it, they're coming for us!" Broudie panicked.

"Guys they aren't. They're Hippocampus," Jordan told.

"Hippocampus?" Jay asked, his voice returning to him.

"Oh, yeah. Now we know what they are, we can run away from them." Broudie gave one last bit of strength to pull up Claire, who landed on the dolphin out of breath.

"No, Hippocampus were never thrown into Tartarus, they aren't the bad monsters," Jordan said.

"How do you know?" Claire huffed.

"Because the gods still use them. They are like helpers, and they do jobs for the gods, especially Poseidon," Jordan replied.

"What if the gods decided we were a failure, and they sent some weird creatures out to kill us?" Broudie thought.

"Look, don't you think Hollie would have gone by now if she thought they were dangerous. Maybe it's what hmm hmmm hmm tipped Hollie on," Jordan said.

"Shut up with the hmm hmm's," Broudie cursed, leaning away from the creatures.

Then the two Hippocampus moved towards the dolphin's face.

"What are they doing?" Claire asked.

"Talking to someone who can speak the lingo," Jordan answered.

The Hippocampus started moving their mouths, as if they were talking. Their snouts blowing tiny bubbles through their turquoise

The Hippocampus then seemed to bow to Hollie, lifting their elegant hooves and lowering their heads. Their eyes sparkled a shine of silver and they swayed to the right in a synchronized dance, swishing their tails as a wave goodbye.

It all went quick and it was like something out of a pathetic, child's fairy-tale.

"What did they say Hol?" Broudie questioned.

"Are you sure you have a brain?" Jordan shook his head and looked forward.

"Hollie you can go now," Jay told, his legs stinging from the harsh ocean.

Then Hollie called a high pitched chirp, and they started to move slowly over the sea.

"Can't you go any faster Hol?" Broudie moaned. "It'd take us about five hours to get over there at this rate."

"Hold on tight guys, because I've known Hollie a long time, say she can't do something, she'll show you she ca-" Jordan was stopped mid-sentence by a sudden jolt.

Hollie skimmed over the sea like a speed boat, causing waves and splashes to ripple out over the bay.

"Now this is more like it," Broudie said, making the sound of cowboy.

"How can she swim so fast?" Jay asked, his hair sweeping back out of his face and his voice carrying about a mile behind them.

"She isn't technically swimming, she's controlling the water," Jordan replied.

"Then why did she bother turning into a dolphin?" Jay questioned.

"I don't know!" Jordan replied, his hands wrapped around the dolphin for safety.

"Oh."

This trip was not the sort that Jay could take a nap on: water was spraying onto his face, his legs kept being dipped into the water, and he was travelling at something that must have been nearly g-force. He had to keep a tight grip on Jordan's shoulders just to stay aboard.

About fifteen minutes of travelling on Hollie's back, they were slowing down and the seafloor became visible.

"Land ahoy?" Jay asked, peering down at the sandy seafloor, which was covered in small pebbles and weeds.

"Hol, do you want us to get off?" Jordan questioned.

The dolphin slowed down to a stop and then waited for its passengers to depart.

"Who's gonna go first and check it isn't too deep?" Claire thought.

"The smallest...you," Broudie smiled.

"Why does the smallest have to go in first?"

"Because if the tallest goes in, then even though the tallest doesn't drown, the smallest might," Jordan said.

"And what if I do drown?" Claire asked.

"Do you really think Hollie's gonna let you drown?" Jay told.

"Well-" Claire started.

"Shut up and get in!" Broudie laughed, pushing against Jay's back and sliding down the dolphins back, knocking Claire, with a squeal, into the sea.

"I think it's shallow enough," Jay said, looking down at Claire who hadn't even managed to get her hair wet.

"It's alright, comes up to my neck." Claire gasped from the shock of the dip. "And on the subject of necks..." Claire tried to punch her hand in a determined assassin sort of way, but the spluttering and coughing of water didn't really add to the effect.

"Let's take a plunge." Jordan leaped off the dolphin and into the sea, Jay blinking dreamily at the plunge he took into the channel.

"Sinking like a ship." Broudie saluted and then slid sideways into the water.

"Can't Hollie just take me to shore," Jay complained.

"Why?" Claire asked.

"Oh, gods Claire. Isn't it obvious?" Jordan laughed.

"Eh, no."

"Fire and water don't mix. Does that give you a clue?"

"That's not exactly a clue."

"Just ignore her. She's a bit dumb sometimes," Broudie whispered to Jay, who laughed. Jay lowered himself into the salty sea and tip-toed away from Hollie, the sea crashing against his shoulders and sending splashes of water sizzling down his face.

Hollie dived under water and a flash of green saw her rocket to the surface as the good old Hollie they all knew.

"Sorry about that guys, I should get a dolphin translator for ya," Hollie said jokingly, smiling and pulling her hair back behind her head.

"Yeah, so what did those Hippocampus say?" Jordan questioned.

"I'll tell you when we get to shore because I think Jay just wants to get out." Hollie turned her gaze to Jay.

"Oh, if you don't mind, yeah." He began shuffling along the sea floor, soaked from his shoulders down, a tingling all over his skin like a rash.

They waded through the sea until eventually they emerged onto dry land, something Jay was definitely pleased about. All the tourists around them were all frozen in motion.

"Exolius, exalium, oh what is it again?" Jay asked dropping onto the white sand beneath him, the sun instantly starting to dry him off.

" _Exothius,_ " Claire chanted.

The dampness in his clothes dried up and his skin felt nice and crisp again.

"Thank you," Jay huffed, relaxing in the blinding sun and collapsing in a star fish shape.

"Ok, we best get going." Hollie started to walk towards a dirt path hidden within some trees.

Jay grunted, wishing for a short time to catch his breath, mentally and physically.

"Don't you think we should unfreeze time first?" Broudie suggested.

"When we get somewhere where no one can see us, yes, that is why I am walking towards that path," Hollie said.

"Why?" Jay asked.

"Because don't you think it would be weird if you were enjoying a day at the beach, then suddenly five people appeared beside you, out of nowhere?" Claire answered.

"C'mon." Hollie herded everyone onto the path and pulled out the famous gooble watch. She grasped the golden button and spoke,

" _Karomas._ " She pressed the button and suddenly noise emerged into the air. Laughs and conversations polluted the subtle chirps and groans of the trees and their inhabitants. You never know the joys of background noise until you've experienced ultimate silence.

"Right, time to search for a temple that could be the size of a pea, on this giant island." Hollie strode out from the trees and walked towards a much larger track that cars could easily drive down. It inclined slightly and was dead straight giving a sense of an endless journey.

"So where do we start?" Broudie questioned.

"We start with finding a map," Hollie replied.

"Well, while we search for a map of this island, you can tell us about your conversation with the hippo things," Claire said.

"Right, I'll go over the basics of what they said," Hollie started.

"Basics? You were talking to them for less than a minute," Jordan pondered.

"Fish language, it tells you lots in just a few seconds," Hollie said, "So do you want me to tell you or not?"

"Go on," Broudie answered as they continued to walk up the wide track.

The sun was beaming, you could tell this place was near the equator. Jay had to take his jacket off and he really wished he'd bought some shorts. He was supposed to do well under hot conditions and even he felt the warmth. Broudie had rolled up his Jeans and Jordan had luckily worn some weird three-quarter length patchy trousers, so they were fine.

Jay had only just noticed as well that Claire and Hollie had changed clothing. They must've bought a change of clothes in their rucksacks, 'Maybe they shrunk them?' Jay thought.

"Ok, first they said are we alright and how were we doing. I told them to tell Poseidon that we were okay and that we were on our way to the temple. Then I said who we met on the way here and who persuaded Frederick. Then they said that Poseidon had some information that might make it easier in the temple. He had told them to tell me that there might be a certain monster in the temple. He was on about the sirens. I then asked how does he know, and they told me that he had not seen them in Tartarus. Then we said goodbye, and they swam back down into the sea to tell Poseidon."

"Sirens?" Jay questioned.

"Winged creatures that sing luring songs, ring a bell?" Broudie suggested.

"Yeah, I read something like that in the creature book Hollie gave me," Jay replied.

"Yeah, well basically if you hear them sing then you're dead."

"How?"

"Because you go into a sort of trance, and then they can hypnotise you and make you drown yourself," Jordan said.

"So we just need to wear some ear defenders," Jay said.

"That's the idea," Claire agreed.

"So anyway let's go find a map." Hollie marched on bobbling her head and smiling with that optimistic look she always had.

"Where are we going to find a map?" Jay pondered.

"Tourist information, any gift shop or stuff," Hollie answered.

"Well," Jordan looked around, all he could see was trees, a dirt path, beach and some small peaks to his right, "I don't know where you're gonna find a gift shop round here."

"How about somewhere along that road." Jay pointed ahead. There was a dark, black road lurking just over the horizon of the road. Cars were rolling pass every now and again – every now and again meaning once every minute.

"Take us in to town probably, let's go." Hollie continued at a much faster pace, clouds of dirt and sand were exploding at their feet.

They were a couple of hundred yards away from the road when Jay felt the wind change.

His eyes bolted open and his mind tuned in to the silent surroundings. He could sense something.

The trees! They rustled.

The sky! It darkened...as the shadow of a menacing green boulder hurled into view.

Jay skidded in his tracks and the others leaned away as the boulder began to move and the dust around its features descended - a devilish curtain unmasking the night.

"Hola'ssss," the two heads chorused in a friendly tone.

The green boulder was a snake.

A green, scaly snake.

Except it wasn't. It had two scaly legs with sharp claws on the end that was holding up the main body, which held the more evil looking reptillian. The more evil snake had two curly horns protruding from his head. The two snake heads also had small ears that were laid back behind them. Then sunk in each head were two blazing yellow eyes. Each end of the double headed snake wore a fearsome pair of glairing monstrosities.

"Amphisbaena," Hollie called.

"You's knows my namesss," the one head spoke in a deep romantic tone with a sort of Italian or Spanish accent.

" _Baffoliam._ " Claire shot a capturing spell at the monster.

"No!" The creature dodged the spell with its long tangling body. "Why aress you being ssso, mean to a nice sssnake."

"Nice? You're after the jewel aren't you?" Broudie panicked.

"A matter of fact, yesss."

"Well we're not going to tell you, so unless you want to travel back down to Tartarus, then I suggest you move out of the way," Hollie told.

"I'm afraidsss you, are going to Tartarusss." The two snake heads rose upwards and showed their fangs, hissing with their red fork tongues.

"Split up!" Hollie instructed leaping from a strike of the razor fangs. Jay flung himself to the side behind some trees.

" _Hortalia._ " He heard someone shout the stunning spell. Constant hissing was the only thing that told Jay the snake was still alive. He should do something, use a spell.

" _Citarlium._ " He shot from behind his tree and shot a punch spell at the snake monster. The snake ducked his spell, which hit someone else's and created a cloud of orange that fogged up the view of the snake.

He grasped at the rigid tree trunk that he hid behind, and peered around the side.

His neck tightened. His muscles ceased...

"Aaah!"

His head snapped to his left as he saw the snake scratching Jordan's face. Clawing aggressively from up in one of the branches.

Jay jumped to attention and sprinted across a nettle field, reaching Jordan to find nothing. All that was left was three piercing scratches on Jordan's pale, innocent face.

He looked above him, the trees were calm and still.

"Jay help!" He looked in front and saw Hollie with the snake wrapped round her neck, its feet kicking and scratching at her face and its scaly body entwined around her.

" _Degradium_ ," he yelled.

Fire erupted from his hands and plummeted towards Hollie. A ball of fury darting straight for them.

"Hollie, look!"

Hollie turned to see the fireball with wide, petrified eyes and she swung around, forcing one of the snake heads at the fireball. The head caught glance and leaped into the trees above.

Out of sight again.

Hollie ran towards Jay, turned, and dragged Jay out of the trees.

"We need to stay in the open!" Hollie demanded.

Broudie, Claire and Jordan scurried out from the trees to join Hollie and Jay. Each stepping backwards slowly and steadily.

They all huddled together searching the surrounding trees for the creature. Light on their feet, eyes fixed on every inch of the surrounding forest.

"C'mon then, take a strike," Hollie called, braking the thick, gloopy silence that hung within the humid heat.

There was silence.

Then suddenly the amphisbaena flew out from a nearby tree, slicing the air with its eagle claws. Blazing eyes met Jay's as the monster descended with a ferocious insanity.

" _Delargio._ "

A slice of white light span across Jay's hair, slicing the air as an invisible knife and wind-milling towards the snake's tail.

A splash of green gunk and a pig-like squeal shocked the scene as the blade of magic disappeared in the raining spotlight of the sun.

The duel-headed, now single-headed, snake hissed angrily as it tumbled to the ground with a suffocating last, venomous breath.

"Watch out!" Jordan pulled everyone back as the snake hit the ground with a thud.

It fell into a pile, blood pouring from its tail. Then it lifted its head, its eyes closing slowly, and bared its fangs one more time.

Yellow, intoxicating poison spat from the sharp fangs.

"MOVE!" Broudie budged Jay out of the way, shoved his hand into his jacket and took out a dark shield. The poison splattered over the shield and sizzled like oil in a pan. Oozing the final last words of the dying reptilian.

The snake head collapsed into the scaly pile and finally erupted into dust. The sandy cloud dissolved into the ground and silence fell once again.

"Another monster back in Tartarus," Jordan said.

"So we were on our way into town?" Jay questioned.

"Yeah, we best get going before we meet any more snake like creatures." Hollie raised her head and lead the way to the main road ahead. "What is up with the serpentines, two in the space of two days?"

"Did anyone see us?" Claire asked.

"We saw you, that slice spell was great," Broudie congratulated.

"Yeah, so my lessons paid off," Hollie concluded.

"Thanks guys," Claire smiled.

They strolled up to the main road and turned left following the signs into town.

Jay smiled to himself happily, thinking about the way he had gone from being petrified out of his life when meeting the Chimera, to returning back to a casual walk after killing the Amphisbaena.

It was mad to think that stuff like this, stuff you only read about in fantasy stories, could actually be true and that Jay could be living in it. Living the life. The magical, fantastical life.

"San Cristobal, where can we find a map?" Jordan pondered.

They had reached the town, people chattering as they made their way down the open streets. Sunlight flooded through the many gaps between the small detached buildings.

The five teenagers strolled along the road until they finally came across what they were looking for,

"Gift shop, full of souvenirs and stuff about the island. Will they sell maps is the question," Jordan announced.

"I wish you'd stop doing that it's getting annoying," Claire moaned.

"Doing what?"

"You know what I'm on about. Where can we find a map? Hmm, will they sell maps? Are maps sold in map shops?" Claire mimicked with a freakishly masculine tone, which even she was shocked by.

"Well let's hurry up, we haven't got long before nightfall," Hollie urged.

"Ok, let's see if they sell maps then," Broudie laughed, as he entered the shop.

There were no doors or windows, so basically you just walked from the road into the shop. There was a counter on the right with a smiley man behind it. Then there were shelves of souvenirs and objects, lined messily along the walls. Cards, beach equipment and ice lollies were also sold.

"Eh, excuse me, do you speak English?" Hollie questioned.

"Me speak bit," the man replied.

"Maps, do you have any maps of San Cristobal?"

"Yes, I's have," The man came from behind the counter and signalled them to follow him. He lead them down to the very back of the shop where there was a carousel packed with postcards.

"No, we want maps, map of island," Hollie spoke slowly and patronisingly.

"No's they here." The man squatted down and turned the carousel. He stopped it and then picked up a leaflet and rose up.

"These what you wan?" The man asked showing Hollie the leaflet and opening it up.

The inside was an in-detail map of San Cristobal, with streets and forests labelled. Attractions were also labelled in different colours with red stars next to them.

"Yes, how much?" Hollie took the leaflet and the man hurried down to the counter calling Hollie along.

"You can have eet for fifty pence." The man held out his hand for the money.

"I'll give you twenty pounds and you can buy stuff for your family, yes?" Hollie foraged through the bag and pulled out a twenty pound note. She handed it to the man who stood and held it up towards his face for a while.

"We are going now," Jordan hinted after a minute of silence.

"Yes, thankou, thankou." The man pocketed his note and waved them out the door.

"Weird people round here," Jay said.

"They're poor," Claire told.

"How much did it cost to get here, they must have had a load of money just to get here," Broudie argued.

"They could have come by boat for a better life," Claire suggested.

"Boats cost money too," Jay thought.

"Guys, you can argue another time, but now we need to take a look at this map." Hollie strolled over towards a wooden bench and took a seat.

"We're here," Hollie pointed to a small bay at the bottom left corner of the page, "and we're looking for a place out of the way, somewhere where no one will go," Hollie instructed.

"How about there?" Jay pointed to a circular rocky area where there were no roads or houses.

"Maybe, but it's near a beach, it could easily be found by someone who is hiking round the place. We need somewhere like..."

"There!" Broudie shouted, pointing at a large forest in the middle of the island.

"Could well be, let's head there then," Hollie concluded.

"How are we getting there?" Jordan asked.

"Not another way of flying please," Broudie wined.

"Well it would be easier, but we could take a taxi if you want?" Hollie suggested.

"As long as you're the one getting it and not Broudie then that's fine by me," Claire laughed, nudging Broudie.

"Right, now we find a taxi." Hollie looked up and down the quiet streets.

"If we had better luck. Look over there." Jay pointed at a yellow cab with a black roof sign on with a number.

They hurried along the streets to the yellow cab; the driver was half asleep.

"Do you speak English?" Hollie questioned.

"Ugh, oh you wan taxi, I take you where you wan go." The taxi man yawned unlocking the doors.

"You take us somewhere, we pay you," Jordan said.

"Yes, climb in, where do you wan go?" The man asked.

Hollie climbed into the front seat whilst everyone else squished into the back seat.

"Could you take us to that forest over there?" Hollie bought out her map and pointed to the forest.

"Yes, it will not be long, you pay in pounds?" The taxi driver questioned.

"Yes, how much?" Hollie asked.

"Forty pounds." The man started up the engine and pulled out into the middle of the road.

The journey was bumpy and unbearable. Jay was wriggling in his seat constantly, uncomfortably in close proximity to Claire and constantly being thrown around by sudden dips in the road.

If that wasn't bad enough, the car smelt terrible to. It was hard to place your finger on it, sort of like undecomposed waste, but masked by lavender or something, which just made it smell worse.

They arrived in a forest, which was exactly like what you'd expect the stereotypical rainforest to look like, about an hour later. The trees were thin and tall. There were vines climbing around them, damp soil under their feet, and rays of sunlight that shone through the canopy of green above.

"Where you like go exactly?" The man said.

"Here will do. C'mon guys were getting out here." Hollie opened her door and stretched. The others piled out of the car quickly, rubbing their sides from being so closely packed.

"My sides burn," Jay cringed.

"You don't have side burns?" Broudie furrowed his eyebrows, then realizing what Jay actually said and bowing his head, laughing.

"Thank you." Hollie waved the taxi driver as it reversed into a tree and drove back down the dusty forest path.

"How are we supposed to find this entrance?" Claire pondered.

"Can't you sense something?" Hollie looked around at the puzzled faces after she said that. "No one can sense something like as if it's tugging you?"

"The only tugging sensation I have is the one in my stomach telling me to turn into a herbivore and eat some leaves," Broudie replied.

"You think this tugging sensation is pulling us towards the entrance?" Jordan thought.

"Yeah, didn't Frederick mention something like that?

"He said we would be able to sense it."

"Ok, so which way do I go?" Hollie closed her eyes and everything went silent. All that was to be heard was the beautiful birds singing away in the evergreen trees.

"That way." Hollie pointed between Broudie and Claire.

"You seem certain."

"I am certain." Hollie kept still as if waiting for something.

"Are we gonna go?" Jay asked.

"There's something we need to do, but I can't think what." Hollie looked around at everyone and when her eyes met Jay's waist she had it.

"Invisibility spells on our equipment, we need to reverse them. Then we won't feel as drained," Hollie remembered.

"I don't feel drained?" Jay thought.

"You don't think you do," Hollie corrected.

Jay's sword and shield had been visible then invisible so many times now, his practise had made him never forget the procedure.

There was silence, and then a sudden outburst of 'Polacify's'. Jay spoke the spell and gasped as he gained the energy to run a marathon. It was amazing how the spell worked and it felt great!

"Gods, why do you feel so good when your energy comes back, but when you never lose it, you never feel good?" Jay questioned.

"It's like anything. Have your favourite toy, like having it with you, then it's not with you for a week and you miss it. When it returns you feel really really happy," Claire said.

They laughed at her pathetic example.

"So we were heading this way." Hollie changed the subject and strode off the dusty path and into the forest.

"Hey wait up." Broudie joined the back of the line behind Jay on their jungle trek.

"Have you still got the directions that Frederick gave us for when we enter the temple?" Broudie questioned.

"Yep safe in my pocket. Dunno how it didn't soak when we were in the sea," Hollie replied from the front, still staying focussed on where she was going.

"Didn't the Galapagos islands only recently rise above water?" Claire pondered.

"If you call four million years recent then yeah," Hollie answered.

"Oh, I was just wondering how Frederick managed to put the temple on this island whilst it was under sea, but now I know it's been here for a long time, I understand," Claire told.

"Well even if it had been under sea when he was hiding it, he still could have put it there, he could have put it under sea, couldn't he Hol?" Jordan wondered.

"Yep."

"What was that?" Broudie came to a halt and looked around for movement. "Sh, listen!"

Everyone stopped and looked back at Broudie.

"What's wrong with you?" Jordan asked.

Suddenly, the branch above him snapped from its trunk and fell towards the ground. There was a longing creak, a gradual crescendo as it shadowed everything below.

"Broudie move!" Jay shouted.

#  A deadly fall.

(Chapter 13)

The branch tumbled to the ground and blocked all sight of him.

"Broudie?!" Claire called.

"It's a creature," he whispered.

Then he emerged from behind the branch and swung across them. He shouted and screamed like Tarzan as he flew through the air, his hands holding onto a long bendy twig of a vine.

"Broudie watch ou-"

He swung over their heads and smashed into a small thin tree. He let go of the vine and fell to the ground, lying motionless.

"Broudie!" The group hurried over to him, he was lying there unconscious.

"We need to bring him round!" Hollie said franticly.

"We could make up a cure for unconsciousness to restore him," Jordan suggested.

"Well if someone can do it then yes, I've never done it before. What the hell was he doing?" Hollie turned Broudie's head on its side to stop him choking

"Liam showed me something like that, we need lots of leaves. Oh and a fire," Claire told, "Hurry!"

"C'mon let's try it, what's the worst that could happen?" Hollie hurried them on, as they collected leaves and twigs and placed them in a pile beside Claire.

"All you need is leaves and twigs?" Jay asked.

"Something else as well, I think it was something that's alive." Claire tried to remember what Liam had used when she was watching him.

"A fly?" Jordan questioned.

"Yes any animal that is alive." Claire piled up the leaves in a neat circle as Jay went to help Jordan with the fly catching.

"Does it have to be alive?" Jay asked.

"Yes!" Claire shouted.

"Use the capturing spell," Hollie told.

" _Baffoliam,_ " Jordan wailed shooting a spell at a fly crossing him. The fly was cased inside a bubble, so Jordan reached for it and hurried over.

Everything went fast in the jungle, the surrounding natural sounds continuing to whisper, oblivious.

"Right Jay, I need you to set the middle of the leaves alight," Claire instructed.

" _D_ _egradium._ " Jay quickly shot a flame at the centre of the leaves. It immediately set alight.

"The fly!" Claire ordered, grasping the bubble and letting it float slowly towards the flames. It touched a tip of the flames and popped, sending the fly down into a fiery pit.

Then Claire thrust out her hands and began to chant.

"What are you doing?" Jay asked.

"She's chanting a potion spell. Most potions are made with some sort of chant, and they usually stick in your head once you've learnt them. There's something about them that you remember I think. Well let's hope they can be remembered," Jordan said.

"Quick Claire, hurry. I can only just feel a pulse," Hollie informed, her two fingers pressed tightly on Broudie's wrist.

". _.outabley_!" Claire finished. The flames immediately vanished and the ashes started to rise into her hands. They floated upwards and seemed to change from black ashes to a blue-ish liquid. Then, the now water-like liquid, filled in Claire's small, pink hands. She carefully stood up and walked over to Hollie.

"Are you sure this is right?" Hollie questioned, as Claire lowered her hands to Broudie's mouth.

She tilted her hands and a small droplet of liquid fell into his mouth.

Nothing happened, as they all stared hopefully down at Broudie, wishing for him to regain consciousness.

Then Claire tilted her hands once more and a larger drop of liquid fell and landed on his dry lips.

Suddenly Broudie moved his mouth and swallowed. His eyes suddenly opened and he threw himself upright.

He choked and coughed, his hands wrapped around his throat.

"Wha, is, dat, stuff," he spluttered.

"My potion worked," Claire congratulated.

"Po-tion?" Broudie questioned.

"You hit the tree Broudie, does your head feel alright?" Hollie comforted, a sigh of relief echoed across their faces.

"I it the tree and I fell," Broudie repeated, now rubbing his head, his eyes squinting continually.

"Do you feel alright?" Hollie asked again.

"Yeah, just a bit dizzy and light head-ed."

"C'mon let's see if you can walk." Hollie grabbed him by his one arm, and Jay rushed over to his other. Together, Jay and Hollie lifted Broudie up slowly to his feet.

"I'm alright," Broudie said shaking Hollie and Jay off him. He swayed a bit then shook his head.

"I think Jay and Jordan should help you out for now, they can steady you." Hollie waved Jordan over and the three boys stood beside each other, Broudie's arms wrapped around their necks like a scarecrow.

"Well let's set off again then." Hollie stretched her back and continued their walk through the evergreen forest.

A few minutes later and someone else seemed to sense a sort of tugging sensation,

"I don't know whether my stomachs asking for food again, but I can feel a tugging sensation," Jordan told.

"Yeah I thought I sensed something earlier," Claire agreed.

"Well we must still have a way to go because me and Jay haven't sensed anything yet," Broudie said.

"Or maybe you have no sense to sense anything. No offence Jay," she added, laughing as she trailed behind Hollie.

"None taken," Jay smiled.

"Wait." Hollie stopped dead still and held out her hand, indicating to not move.

"What is it?" Claire asked, "I'm not making another potion so you can skip your Tarzan ideas!"

"Wait here." Hollie moved slowly up towards a clearing. She uncapped her two daggers and jumped out from behind the trees.

" _Ructomalius,_ " she screeched.

There was silence.

"Hollie, are you ok?" Jordan called.

"Oh, yeah. Come on out guys, nothing here." Hollie peeled back the leaves and led them out into a small clearing.

"What was all that about?" Jay questioned.

"Oh, I thought I heard someone talking," Hollie told.

"Oh, so we haven't reached the entrance yet," Broudie concluded.

"Were getting closer, I can feel something now," Jay informed, rubbing his stomach. The feeling was weird, it was like someone dragging you somewhere but tickling you at the same time.

"Why am I always the last for everything?" Broudie complained.

"Because, otherwise you wouldn't be Broudie," Claire replied.

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment."

"Off again then," Hollie announced.

"Hollie wait, come over here," Jordan instructed.

"What's the matter Jord?" Hollie asked, everyone crowding round him.

"A footprint?" Broudie looked puzzled.

"That disappears," Jordan finished, pointing in front.

"Someone might have got lost and called for a helicopter," Hollie suggested.

"I don't think so, this is a Greek footprint," Jordan told.

"How do you know?" Broudie questioned, amazed.

"Because of that." Jordan pointed to a small ball next to one of the footprints.

"What is it?" Jay pondered.

"It's got markings on," Hollie walked steadily towards it, "Greek markings."

"Hollie don't pick it up, it might be a trap." Jordan checked around the trees for anything unusual.

"It's of Perseus, and, and Medusa." Hollie leant down and picked up the small sphere. It was gold and shiny.

"Does it open?" Claire rushed over to take a closer look.

"No I think it's just an ornament," Hollie informed.

"Who would bring a Greek ornament out here?" Broudie and Jay strolled over to the golden ball, Broudie shaking off Jay's aid.

"Someone Greek," Jordan thought.

"We can't be sure this person was part of Greek mythology," Jay pondered.

"Well, I think we should take this and move on. We've got competition here, and we need to win." Hollie pocketed the small object and turned towards the trees. "C'mon."

The five teenagers strolled off through the forest, hurdling over branches and logs to reach the temple.

The tugging sensation in Jay's stomach was getting more and more powerful, urging him to hurry forward.

The trek continued for another half hour until they finally came to a stop, right in front of a large rock face.

"This is it guys, we've found it," Hollie declared, raising her arms as if she was a conductor and had just finished a big finale.

They were about ten metres away from a gigantic rock face, lines and cracks along the front and greenery patched along the edges. The trees were open around it and there was little noise at all.

"Let's go and get this jewel then," Broudie chirped pacing forward eagerly from behind Jay.

"No!" Hollie held him back. "There's a shielding around the entrance remember. Frederick told us."

"Well I can't see any shielding Hol," Claire informed.

"Do you really think the shielding is going to be visible? This is a really important jewel were talking about," Hollie replied.

"Well then we turn invisible and see the shielding. We can move round the lasers like on the films, enter the temple, grab the jewel, and then get loads of people queuing up for our autograph," Broudie summed up simplistically.

"This type of invisible shield won't have a simple invisibility spell on it. This one will be invisible to every eye," Hollie insisted.

"Well we don't even know if there is an invisible shield," Jordan thought.

"So that's why one of us should test it out," Broudie concluded.

"Look, we said that today was about finding the entrance and that we would have a good rest before entering it." Hollie let go of her hand holding Broudie back, and turned to face everyone else.

"We, you mean, you," Broudie put in.

"But what if this isn't even the entrance?" Jay asked, "It hasn't got a doorway or anything."

"It has a Greek symbol spread over the face of it," Hollie sighed and went off into the forest to find a good place to set up camp.

Jay hadn't noticed, he just thought the lines and cracks in the rock were natural. But now Hollie had mentioned it, the cracks did seem to be in some sort of shape.

"Can't I just see what happens if I take just, one, step."

Broudie was thrust back when Jordan reached out and pulled him back into the forest with a blast of wind.

The five teenagers walked slowly into a flat area in the forest, close to the temple entrance.

"So we light a fire, have a sleep and try and get into the temple in the morning?" Jordan questioned.

"Yeah, but I think we should inform the rest of us back at camp how we're doing as well," Hollie suggested.

"How?" Jay pondered.

"Bubble. Make a bubble message," Hollie answered.

"Sounds great," Jay smiled.

"I'm gonna send the message guys, so if there is anything you want to say, have a think," Hollie announced.

"Can't we say: it's been terrible and there's only Hollie left, the rest of us have been kidnapped by dracaenaes?" Claire thought.

"This is supposed to be a confident: we're all okay and we'll be back soon, sought of message," Hollie told.

"Oh alright then, if it has to be boring."

They all crowded round Hollie, who was holding a beaker of water.

"Ready?" Hollie made an ok sign with her one hand and spoke, " _Pamollia._ " Hollie poured some water from the beaker, over the ok-sign hand and it made a bubble over her fingers.

She closed her eyes, mouthed some words, and then opened them again. She blew into the circle made by her fingers and a bubble emerged into existence.

"Quick, we need to say our message before it detaches from my hand. Hi guys, we've found the entrance and are stood next to it now, we are entering in the morning and we are all fine."

"We met dracaenas, Panotii, amphisbaena, Hippocampi and we are supposed to meet some sirens in the temple according to Poseidon," Claire called.

"Poseidon sent us some tips via Hippocampi," Hollie said.

"Broudie threw himself at a tree and we had to make a potion for him," Jay told.

"Jay fell into the English channel because he got mesmerised," Broudie shouted from the back.

"See you soon," Hollie finished.

"Oh and Broudie got slapped by a giant ear," Jay added quickly as the bubble detached from Hollie's hand.

"Thanks Jay. Now they'll think I'm really stupid," Broudie decided.

"More than they already do?" Jordan laughed.

"Thank you once again."

"Let's get some sleep now, it's getting dark," Hollie instructed.

Jay set a small floating fire in the centre of some trees and sat beside it for a good half hour, sharpening his blade with a rock before sleep.

He stared into the flames smiling and watching them dance magically in the night air. It made him extremely relaxed and his eyes were dropping, soon enough he was ready for bed.

Jay yawned and stretched as he woke from an unsettled sleep. He reached up with his arms and hit the back of his head on the tree he was leaning on.

He yelped and then stumbled onto his feet. No one was up, so he decided to cook something up for his breakfast.

He rooted around in Hollie's bag and finally bought out what he was looking for, the miniscule meals. He took out one small bag and one tiny saucepan. Then he placed them on the ground next to the fire, the bag inside the pot, and then whispered the enlarging spell,

" _Ginormius._ "

Suddenly, the saucepan erupted into full size and so did the mixture of foods in the bag. Carrots and potato were not the things he was thinking of, but they were better than nothing.

"Cooking some breakfast?" Hollie questioned dropping to the ground beside him.

"Yeah, didn't here you get up."

"Up before you, but couldn't be bothered to come down to cook, eh, breakfast..." she glanced inside the pot. "Carrots and potato?"

"I think I got the wrong bag," Jay laughed.

"Actually it's probably better if we have something like that. Fill us up more, we don't know how long we'll be in there." Hollie picked up the pot, placed it onto the floating fire, and water seemed to fill it.

"Oh, thanks."

"It's alright, I'll go get some plates then." Hollie wondered over to her bag to fetch some paper plates.

Half an hour later, all five of them were awake, and all fed and watered. Hollie had transfigured some leaves into wax, just in case there were, as Poseidon had warned, sirens in the temple. Each of them had been given some, and then they were all set to go.

"So now we can take a look at this shielding." Hollie sprang up from her log that she was sat on, and pulled over her bag.

"Technically, as you said yesterday, there's no way anyone can see the shielding, so we can't have a look at it."

Everyone laughed.

"Sorry I couldn't resist," Broudie added.

"C'mon then." Hollie lead the group out of the forest and into the clearing next to the rock face.

"What does that symbol mean then, in English please?" Jordan asked.

"It means, I think, locked or closed up forever," Hollie replied.

"What a surprise," Broudie said,

"We need someone to test out the shielding, so any volunteers, Broudie?" Hollie turned to Broudie who smiled.

"Yep, I'll do it." Broudie took off his rucksack and uncapped his sword and shield.

"We'll do all we can to help. And go slowly, there are probably lots of different shielding so if you run through, all will go off at the same time," Hollie instructed.

"Ok, is everyone ready?" Broudie asked.

"Yep, and remember guys, were looking for some sort of source of the shielding, so as we can turn it off," Hollie added.

"Here I go." Broudie took one step forward, nothing happened. Then another, nothing happened. Then a third, nothing happened. Then a-.

"I can't get through, it's an invisible wall." Broudie banged on the air in front of him. It made Jay laugh because it looked like on of those stupid mime acts.

"Try cracking it with your sword," Jay suggested.

"Alright." Broudie pulled back his sword and then thrust it forward. The sound of glass smashing and suddenly a cage emerged from the rock face. It fell to the ground where Broudie was standing, but Broudie dodged the cage and laughed.

"Shielding, really?"

"Carry on Broudie, take another step," Hollie urged.

Jay and the others stood in anticipation beside the trees in front of the rock face, waiting for something to happen.

So Broudie took another, quite confident, step forward. Nothing happened. Then another,

"Broudie stop!" Hollie shouted, "I heard something."

There was a longing groan from behind them.

The trees surrounding them moved, a sort of robotic sway.

"It's the wind Hol, nothing dangerous," Broudie chuckled.

"I think trees with eyes are bad, yes?" Jay squealed, turning round to face one of the trees bearing two deep, yellow eyes and a dark brown line as a mouth.

"Zap me Zeus, there alive," Hollie cursed.

"Run?" Jordan suggested timidly.

They ran towards Broudie who was stood still a few metres from the rock face.

"What are they?" Claire screeched.

"I don't know?" Hollie replied.

Four old, dark trees began to rise from the ground, each with two gleaming yellow eyes.

Then their large scraggily roots emerged from the soil and their straight dark mouths opened to reveal something more gruesome.

Millions of grotty, razor-sharp teeth lined the top and bottom of their mouths, mossy green saliva dribbling down their trunks.

"Let's get these guys." Broudie charged forward, his sword pointing out like in a jousting competition. Then one of the trees bent forward and Broudie swiped with his sword, cutting off one of its branches.

The tree swung with one of its others and swept Broudie off his feet, into the air and onto the floor metres away in the brambles.

"Broudie!" Claire screamed.

"He can deal with himself, we need to get these other three out of the way." Hollie pointed out the other monster trees that were slowly crawling towards them.

" _Tornadius!_ " Hollie shouted, making one of the trees start tangling itself together with its own branches. She leaped onto a nearby rock and signalled them to start fighting.

" _Votaldea._ " Jay threw the one tree only a metre or so back, he must have been so heavy that even a spell couldn't lift him.

Jay looked to his left and saw Claire slice off one of the more bulky branches and kick the tree in the face at the same time.

She landed on the floor next to it and looked up at her work. But the branch she had just cut off was growing back.

"THEIR BRANCHES GROW BACK WHEN YOU SLICE THEM OFF, WE CANT KILL THEM!" Broudie screamed from their right.

"Tell me now." Jay heard Claire mutter as Jay was thrown into the air by a large whack from his tree.

" _Lekisia,_ " Jay mumbled, breaking his fall.

He lifted himself off the ground, his stomach winded, and quickly dived to the left as he was nearly chopped to pieces by the same tree.

"Hollie, how are we supposed to kill them?" Jay called over, using a control spell to knock back the tree with the branch Claire had amputated.

"There isn't a way, we can't even knock them out, I think we're gonna have to," she sliced off a branch that was about to grab her, "get through the other shields and into the temple... DUCK!" she finished, helping Jay with _his_ monster tree.

"I'll try to get further in then." Jay sprinted towards the rock face.

He was a metre away when a large spike shot out from the wall, just missing his head.

"Watch out for the spikes!" Jay informed, taking another step forward.

This time a gust of wind emerged from the ground, forcing him up into the sky. He looked down and there were now hundreds of small holes in the ground, where air was spurting out in random jets. He slowed down and then began his descent back to the ground.

"JAY!" Broudie shouted, as he was tossed into the air by a shot of wind. Jay was about to look down when he sank into a tree. Branch by branch, he hit every brown twig in sight.

Then he was grabbed and pulled out from the cluster of branches. He choked as he was forced into the open.

He opened his eyes and looked straight into the evil eyes of the monster tree. The tree opened his mouth and slowly pulled in his meal.

He wriggled around and shouted as he was hit with the terrible stench of tree breath. Then he kicked with his legs at the monsters eyes and was dropped onto the floor.

The tree groaned as Jay sprang to his feet.

In front he saw Jordan and Hollie veering closer to the rock face. Then Hollie was ejected into the air and Jordan continued to run.

Then he touched the wall. One last spike shot from it and everyone stopped!

The trees stood still, Hollie lay with her head raised off the ground, and Claire and Broudie stood in fighting positions.

The markings on the wall began to light up, just like their veins did when they used the invisibility spell.

The symbol imprinted on the rock face glowed light purple, and the ground shook. Then cracks started to appear from the rock face along the ground and parts of the parched soil started falling into the abyss.

"Guys," Jordan cried, a pair of worried and defenseless eyes looked back at them before they disappeared underground.

No one said anything as the ground continued to disappear. Jay looked up at the rock face, with its glowing lines which had now started moving to form a new symbol.

He looked down again and realised what he'd just witnessed.

"Jordan?" Hollie eventually broke the silence as the crumbling rocks began to stop.

She hurried over towards the hole in the ground. Jay rushed over as well with Broudie and Claire, and they all stood at the edge staring down at, nothing.

It was complete darkness down there.

They had lost Jordan...gone forever.

#  The Sirens go off.

(Chapter 14)

"HOLLIE?" a voice called from the endless tunnel.

"Jordan?" Claire leant forward to see if she could see him clinging onto the edge.

"FALL! THE ENTRANCE IS DOWN HERE, QUICKLY I THINK THE HOLE IS FILLING BACK UP AGAIN!" Jordan shouted.

The rocks and dirt, as Jordan warned, seemed to be floating upwards and rejoining the ground which they stood on, closing the gap.

"The entrance is down there, we need to go down there," Hollie instructed frantically.

"Ladies first is what only a gentlemen would say, and right now, I am." Broudie stepped back.

"Right I'll go first, hurry behind else you'll be trapped above ground and then eaten by those stupid tree monsters." Hollie bent her knees and then sprang into the air, descending into darkness.

"C'mon Jay." Claire leapt off the edge, squealing as she fell.

"Let's go," Broudie told, running past Jay and bombing down as well.

Jay took one last look behind him at the old, scraggily trees with their deep yellow eyes, and then jumped, squeezing through a tiny gap. His heart was beating fast as he zoomed down into darkness. Above was only a small dot of white light, which eventually disappeared.

Air was rushing past his ears as he plummeted down the hole, they were popping more than popcorn in the sun.

Then he heard Jordan's voice,

"Jay, Claire, Broudie, are all of you here." Jay looked down and could make out two small torches lighting up some small faces.

"Claire, Broudie, where's Ja-"

Jay stopped inches away from the floor as the air suddenly froze and his stomach launched forward in a churning, super-queasy jolt.

A second later, he hit the ground.

"Now there's the problem with that spell, it breaks your fall so you don't die, but then drops you so as you break your nose." Jay heard Broudie moaning as usual.

"Jay, are you alright." Hollie picked Jay off the floor, presuming it was Hollie as all he could see was two face lit by the torches.

"Where are we?" Jay asked.

"We're in the temple, the temple of Barthimia," Hollie announced excitedly and still on a high from the action.

"There's a door," Jordan told, moving the torch from his face to an old, golden door knob, screwed onto a dark wood door.

"Do we enter?" Broudie questioned.

"Yes, if we're all ready that is?" Hollie asked.

"Right, let's go." Jordan reached out with his hand and turned the door knob. There was a click of the door unlocking and then the creak of it swinging open.

The moment the door opened, flames erupted from the many torches hung on each side of the hall. What showed was a long hallway, arched ceiling and a dusty, marble floor.

"We need the directions," Jay remembered.

"I've got them, right, here." Hollie rustled through what must have been her bag. She pulled out a piece of paper and lowered Claire's torch to it.

"Where first?" Broudie pondered.

"Well, when there's a choice, we'll have to go left. But for now I think straight forward is the only way," Hollie answered.

"I guess I'm going first," Jordan said, pushing the door fully back and entering the hallway. He grabbed one of the torches and wriggled it out of its stiff, rusty holder. He gave it to Broudie and then began walking.

Broudie went in next, then followed by Claire, Jay and finally Hollie. Jay and Hollie picked out their own torches and the five teenagers crept through the eerie hall.

They stooped through the tunnel, flickering lights of orange dazzling at the corners of their eyes. Dust clouds were being sent upwards in puffs with every careful step they took.

This continued for a few minutes, until they finally came to a halt.

"Claire, why d'you stop?" Jay rubbed his head.

"Because Jordan stopped," Claire told.

"Guys we're coming into a big room," Jordan called back, his voice echoing down the hallway.

"Well go inside then," Hollie shouted from behind.

Jay started shuffling forward again. A few footsteps and he began to raise his head, the ceiling was getting higher. He stretched out his hands and realised that the tunnel was getting wider as well.

"Now this is a room." Jay heard Jordan declare.

He moved to his right and the cave room came into sight. A big, beautiful, white chandelier was hung on the ceiling, illuminating every corner of the large, circular room.

It was like a dome of dark grey stone, rigid and untouched. The hallway opened up to the middle of the circular room, three doorways directly opposite them. One at the bottom left, one in the middle at the top, and one at the bottom right.

The middle door had winding steps leading up, and a beautiful flower perched randomly next to it – the only sign of colour in the room.

"Wow, this place is amazing," Claire said.

"You're telling me," Hollie agreed.

"Why is that flower there?" Broudie asked.

"Dunno, it's quite pretty isn't it," Jordan thought.

"I'm gonna take it as a souvenir, it'd look great in my dorm." Claire began to stroll over towards the flower.

"Claire, stop!" Hollie called.

"What?"

"It might be a trap," Hollie told.

"A flower? What's it gonna do? Turn into a chimera," Claire laughed.

It seemed the Chimera was the most famous of all the creatures as Jay had heard the name mentioned a lot, and every time, he pictured the day he first felt fire as just a warmth, when the monster had roared with that powerful blaze.

"You never know. But just on the safe side, leave it," Hollie instructed.

Claire rolled her eyes and walked back to the group.

"So which way was it?" Jordan questioned.

"Left," Jay replied.

"But wouldn't it be the big gleaming centre door," Broudie thought.

"No, Frederick said left, so left is right," Hollie insisted.

"So we go right. Get it?" Jordan giggled.

"Might be funny in a different situation Jord." Hollie shook her head.

"What if Frederick gave us the wrong directions for the temple?" Claire pondered.

"You saw the way he told us, he knew it off by heart," Hollie persisted.

"So, left it is." Jordan walked off towards the left doorway. They all followed, every step echoing a dark, cold tone.

As they veered closer, they noticed that the doorway led onto another hall, this one very old and dusty, and with no lights in at all.

"We can't see in here," Claire complained, bending her neck so as she didn't scrape her head on the rocky ceiling.

"Well when it was built, I doubt they thought about lighting much," Broudie told.

"We've got torches, it'll be fine." Hollie pushed her torch ahead and lit up the small cramped hall to reveal a long incline in front.

"A hill, oh c'mon why couldn't they make this easier for us," Jordan moaned starting the small hike up the steep bank.

A minute or so later the steep hike levelled off and Jordan gasped,

"Gods, this is creepy."

"What's creepy?" Broudie asked climbing out from the tunnel. They all piled out into a small box room, one candle flickering above a tiny oak table.

"What is this place?" Jay questioned.

"Dunno, what's that on the table?" Hollie pointed out a slab of rock lying in the centre of the table.

"It's got a message on," Jordan told edging slowly closer to the table.

"Careful," Hollie cautioned, hurrying to his side with everyone else.

They reached the table and Jordan stretched out his hand.

"Wait. Is there a door in here?" Broudie stopped, stealing Hollie's torch and moving it round the room.

No door was in sight as Broudie completed his three-sixty look around.

"What if it's a trap?" Jay questioned.

"Well, there isn't anywhere to go, and there isn't anything else in here," Hollie stated.

"It's got writing on," Jordan told, peering closer at the slab.

He reached out with his hands, checked with Hollie, and then picked up the rock slab.

Suddenly the sound of a conveyor belt rolling blasted into life, and three cages lowered down into the room. They all squinted their eyes, trying to see what was inside.

SCREECH!!

The sound of squawking lit some torches around the room. Then what was inside the cages became clear...

In each cage was one giant vulture, with long reptilian claws and a bony stomach hidden under a dark, black plumage.

Perched above the giant vulture bodies were faces, faces so hypnotising, they were hard to describe. The eyes seemed to soak into Jay's mind, blurring up his vision and swirling his sight, making him dizzy and confused.

"SIRENS!!" Hollie shouted.

Jay shook himself out of the daze and turned away from the evil vultures.

"Put the wax in!" Jordan ordered, pulling out two splodges of wax from his pockets and stuffing them in his ears.

Jay followed his lead and stuffed his two wax blobs in his own ears, muting the sound around him slightly.

"Hollie put the wax in your ears," Broudie told.

"NO, THERE'S SOMETHING BLOCKING THE SIRENS SONG BUT IT'S GETTING WEAKER, YOU CAN TAKE OUT THE WAX FROM YOUR EARS!" Hollie screamed, ordering them to remove the wax.

"It must be some sort of timed challenge," Jay thought.

"Yeah! Now, read the slab," Hollie instructed.

"It's written in Greek," Jordan replied.

"Then you can read it, go on," Hollie agreed.

Jay kept his eyes away from the vulture women, just in case he got dazed again. He looked over at the slab as Jordan read aloud:

I live in the sea, I breathe in water,

Gaea of whom I am a daughter,

Come near me or my friend, your life won't be spared,

For we have devoured the ones who have dared.

"It's a riddle," Jay blurted.

"So we need to work out who 'I' is?" Claire questioned.

"Yep, and before the sirens song reaches our ears," Hollie added.

"So this person is obviously Greek," Jordan said.

"And lives in the sea," Broudie added.

"Might be a nereid or Hippocampi," Hollie suggested.

"WRONG, WRONG!" A deep voice groaned.

"I breathe in water is saying again that this person lives in the water," Claire continued.

"Gaea of whom I am a daughter. Who's Gaea?" Jay asked.

"The earth goddess," Jordan answered.

"So it's a child of the earth goddess," Jay concluded.

He felt completely useless, standing in a room, the riddle their only means of escaping. He had no clue what the riddle was on about, he was new to all this stuff. He shouldn't even be on this quest, Amy should've taken his place, she has more experience. Jay shuffled on the spot uneasily, as the other continued to try and take apart the lines of the riddle.

"Yeah, like the hydra," Hollie told.

"WRONG." the deep voice rattled the whole room as it spoke.

"Stop guessing and naming who it could be, we might only have a few chances to guess it!" Broudie shouted at Hollie.

"Ok so the next line reads, come near me or my friend your life won't be spared," Jordan read out the cryptic writing, which looked like a load of scribbles to Jay.

But, although he couldn't read it from a distant, as he peered closer the writing seemed to make sense.

He could read Greek writing! Jay smiled a bit but then shook himself back to earth with a quick glance at the situation he was in now.

"So this person has a partner, and they both are evil ones," Hollie thought.

"They must be monsters," Claire stated. The harmonic tunes of the sirens were slowly getting less faint by this stage. It only really sounded like a continuous note harmony.

"For we have devoured the ones who have dared. So they eat them?" Broudie pondered.

"Were looking for a child of Gaea, who lives in the sea and has a partner who devours people just like itself," Jay pieced together, trying to be useful.

"There aren't any monsters like that. The giants live on land, the chimaera lives on land, nothing," Jordan shrugged.

"Don't say their na-"

"WRONG, WRONG, ONE GUESS REMAINING!" Broudie was interrupted.

"Oh gods," Jay cursed.

"I got it, it begins with a c. That sea monster," Jordan chirped up.

"Oh yeah, I know which one you're on about, something like cormas," Claire agreed.

"NO! We've lost our last guess." Jay's throat closed as he prepared for the final words of the voice.

The anticipation rose in the room like smoke from a blazing fire.

"Were not," Hollie said a silent moment later. "I think it only picks up Geek speech."

"That's convenient," Claire thanked.

"Don't worry we've got time to think of the answer," Hollie said calmly.

"No we haven't I can hear the siren songs already. They're so lovely and so, so soft," Jay told, falling into another daze.

The voices filled his head, pouring through his mind and possessing him. He swayed happily.

Their songs seemed to comfort him and make everything seem so great in life. Jay could even hear words. Then suddenly he was awoken when Hollie shouted,

"CHARYBDIS!"

"CORRECT, DOOR OPEN!" The voice ordered. A door appeared behind the sirens, dark with no lighting.

"Theeeey do not knoooooow," The sirens called in a high-pitched song.

"Run for it!" Hollie instructed, leaping round the wooden table, scooting between the sirens and heading for the door. She reached into her pockets and pulled out some wax, which she stuffed in her ears on the way.

"C'mon." Jordan put down the slab of rock, grabbed Jay by the arm and pulled him towards the door.

They crossed through the sirens that began to stretch their wings and necks. The soft songs stopped and they turned to face the door.

Jay looked back as they raced through the doorway. One last look into their evil eyes.

"Thrown to mortality, he tuuuurned on them, built a-" The sirens songs was immediately closed off as the door was shut tight by a falling boulder.

"Jordan, wait, they were telling me something," Jay called out, trying to loosen Jordan's grip on his arm.

"Not now Jay." Jordan tugged at him.

Jay shook his head and he felt in control of himself again, but the sirens song didn't seem so tempting and hypnotising, more trustworthy and truthful.

Then Jay remembered what it had said in the book, it had said the creatures sing truth and of the future. But what they'd said wasn't exactly a certain give-away about how he'd die or anything.

Jay ran behind Jordan for a minute or so, continuingly thinking of what the sirens could of told him if he had just heard a little bit more.

Then he threw the thought out of his mind, this was what the sirens did, they lured people with their songs. Maybe they were trying to get him to come closer so as they could tear him apart.

That was probably it, they were just trying to lure him and his friends.

With that safely settled, Jay followed.

"Whoa!" Hollie screamed ahead of him, after a minute of racing the treacherous tunnels.

"Hollie, are you alright?" Jordan shouted, his voice echoing through the tunnel, sending that same col, eerie feeling through Jay's bones.

"What's happened?" Jay asked as another few different squeals emerged from in front.

Looking down he saw Jordan, Claire and Broudie all with their hands clutched onto a small rock. He then realised what had happened.

"Jay, pull us up." Jordan took one of his hands off the rock and reached up. Jay bent down and tried to help him, but Jordan slipped, knocking Claire and Broudie down the slide.

"Help us up," Jordan gasped, he was holding onto Jay's hand completely now.

"Ready? One, two, three..." Jay lifted with all his strength, but he couldn't hold him. He slipped on the ground, and Jordan dragged him down the slide behind him.

Jay fell on his front, smashing his ribs against the slide walls, making him groan with pain.

Jay and Jordan slid down the slippery surface, twisting round corners, hurt and groaning.

They must have been so deep underground now just one misplaced knock and the soil could just collapse in on them.

"I'LL BREAK YOUR FALL!" Hollie shouted from below.

Suddenly the slide they were sliding down disappeared and they freefell towards the floor.

Then suddenly Jay stopped in midair and face-planted the hard surface.

"They need to get a cleaner round here with a feather duster, it's well dusty," Broudie said, pulling Jay to his feet.

Jay held his stomach and his face in pain and then opened his eyes, trying to forget how much his body hurt.

"C'mon, we don't know how long we've got in here, there might be a timer so as you can't take too long." Hollie pulled Jordan up and then took a look around.

They were in a small room, with a ceiling fifty ft high, and two doors in front.

"Which way next Hol?" Claire asked.

"Left again," Hollie read out. "Let's go."

Another gloomy tunnel was this one, more eerie atmosphere that misted over them as they steadily paced through.

A while later they emerged at a crossroad, another left or right turn.

"Right this time," Hollie instructed, moving towards the doorway.

They walked through and then had to climb up a mountain of steps.

"Blimming hell, did they not think about how tired people would be if they came in here, gods," Claire complained.

"Well I think that was the idea," Broudie told.

"Guys, there's a massive chamber up here," Hollie declared.

Jay looked up and saw a brightly lit room above.

"As long as it has nothing in it, then I'll come up," Jordan said timidly.

"If you think floors can come alive then yeah," Claire laughed, as she too reached the top.

"Don't laugh, there are actually such things," Broudie corrected.

"Does Greek mythology get any weirder?" Jay asked.

"They can still here you if they want y'know, you can still get blasted off the face of Gaea," Jordan told.

"God, is that this blimming earth goddess again?" Jay shook his head, climbing up the last few steps. Any ounce of humour was a relief and a sort of pinch in the arm to say everyone was still alive.

"That's gods, not god," Jordan corrected.

Jay decided to keep quiet as he reached the top and looked around the chamber.

Torches were hung everywhere, and twenty odd columns stood, cracks scattered around them. There was no sound, and when Hollie spoke, her voice echoed loudly two or three times,

"Our temple should be this big."

"Too right," Jay agreed.

"What are we supposed to do in here?" Claire asked.

"Have a look around, I think," Jordan answered, creeping up to one of the stone columns, and feeling it with his hand.

"Well according to the directions Frederick gave us," Hollie pulled out her little sheet of paper, "we're supposed to go in the centre."

"The centre of the temple or like the middle as in a middle doorway?" Broudie questioned.

"Well probably the middle doorway," Hollie replied.

"But there isn't any door in here," Jordan told.

"There must be something in here we have to do, like in the siren room."

"So we're looking for a slab of rock," Jay suggested.

"Not just a slab of rock, anything." Hollie walked off to another column and bent round the corner to see if anything lay behind it. "Well c'mon then," she added, "haven't got all day."

They split up around the temple, but Jay always made sure he was close enough, or in eyesight of someone at all times, just in case anything weird happened.

He walked over to one of the stone columns and circled it. The stone was covered in cracks and dust. He felt around the stone column and it was ice cold.

Then he walked over into the centre of the room.

There were three slightly thicker columns that stood quite close together.

Jay circled the three columns slowly, searching for anything not of the norm.

But nothing.

He felt them and they weren't as cold as the previous column, in fact, they were quite warm. Or was that just Jay being picky and cautious of everything?

He looked back to check everyone was still searching and that at least one person was in eye sight. He spotted Jordan and then slipped through into the centre of the three pillars.

He stood still and then did a three sixty turn to see if anything was there.

"UNLEASH!!!" The same deep voice as in the siren room groaned.

"That doesn't sound good," Broudie said.

The room started shaking like there was an earthquake and Jay leapt from between the three pillars.

Hollie, Jordan, Broudie and Claire all came to Jay's side.

They stood there motionless as the three pillars began to rise.

#  'ROTATION!'

(Chapter 15)

The column's disappeared into the ceiling. They were hollow, and they contained something...

Something with giant human feet, and hairy legs.

As the pillars continued to rise, more of the three giant humans were shown. They were just normal humans from back in the Stone Age. The cavemen style clothes, huge stubby fingers, big muscular biceps, large round faces, and one, giant, green eye. A normal hum-

One eye?

One green eye?

"Cyclopes!" Hollie yelled.

A humungous roar shook the temple and the five ring-bearers split up, each hiding behind one of the many columns.

Jay's heart beat rocketed, he was still a beginner with Greek mythology but he knew who the Cyclopes were, and as far as he knew, they weren't friendly creatures.

His hands were gripped tightly to the column he hid behind, his hand clutched at his sword in his belt and his shield measly packed behind his back.

ROARRR!

"The amount of time I've waited," one of the Cyclopes growled.

"So, so hungry, for meat," another one yawned.

"Well anyone here to eat?" The deepest voice roared.

"We have great noses, smell people a mile away," the one told.

"Especially one's with magic, they taste better too," a quieter growl called.

Silence covered the temple-like room for one antagonising minute, the five hearts of five terrified youths could be heard, every, single, beat...

"HELP, they've got me," Claire screamed.

They all came out of hiding, even Claire.

'Wait what?'

"I'm here," Claire said, confused.

"Oh hello there," the deep voiced one introduced, "we're the youngest Cyclopes."

"Have a slice." Hollie threw one of her two knives at the middle Cyclops.

"Whoa," the Cyclops reached out, caught the knife, and then slowly bent it in two, "that's no way to greet your semi-relative. First we say hello...Then we play."

"I guess when he says play, he doesn't mean a game of snakes and ladders?" Broudie whispered.

ROAR!

"Don't listen to anybody, even ourselves." Hollie raced away from the group and lead one of the Cyclopes away.

"C'mon I'll help you." Jordan pulled Jay behind one of the pillars.

The dreaded thuds of giant Cyclopes feet shook the ground, each one getting louder, and louder.

"Fee, fy, foe," The Cyclops crept towards them then leaped into view, "Hello there."

"Duck," Jordan ordered, uncapping his sword, swinging it round the pillar and slicing a cut in the Cyclops' chest.

The Cyclops gasped from shock then swung his fist down at Jay, who rolled out of the way.

Jordan lifted him to his feet and Jay, too, uncapped his sword and shield.

"Step back Jord. Activate arrows!" Jay pushed Jordan behind him and held out his shield.

A hole in the centre of the shield opened up and a fire tipped arrow erupted from it. Shooting from the shield were flame covered arrows, darting at the Cyclops continuously like a machine gun.

But the Cyclops caught the arrows stupidly. 'Who would catch a fire tipped arrow, these Cyclops must be so dumb?' Jay thought to himself.

The monster opened up his clenched fist and he wasn't harmed by the fire at all.

"Do some research, we can't be harmed by fire. Ha," the Cyclops chuckled again.

"Nice." Jordan nodded at Jay, stepping in front and swinging again with his shining blade.

"Maybe." Jay thrust the shield forward, and another arrow erupted from it, shooting through the air and just catching the Cyclops on the ear.

" _Votaldea,_ " Jordan chanted, scooping the Cyclops up into the air. The giant fell almost immediately from his enormous weight.

"Aargh," The Cyclops roared, landing on the floor and then charging at them.

" _Hortalia,_ " Jay yelled, stunning the Cyclops and making him unbalanced and dizzy, his one eye swirling in its socket.

He straightened himself then started pulling down his fists continuingly, one after another.

Jay and Jordan leapt from side to side, not able to strike at all with their weapons.

"Jay, go round the back," Jordan whispered to him as the Cyclops pounded with one of his meaty fists again.

Jay did what he said and hid behind a nearby column. He held his sword against his cheek and he breathed slowly on the blade. He loosened his grip on the hilt and shivered in preparation, ready to swing.

He jumped behind the Cyclops and pulled back his sword. He was about to strike when Jordan shouted and the Cyclops turned round.

The creature had Jordan in his hand, holding him tight, upside down, and Jordan's weapon was lying on the floor beneath him.

"Any last words you want to say to your dear friend," the Cyclops laughed, lifting him up in the air.

"No!" Jay began slicing the air between him and the Cyclops, edging closer and making the Cyclops step back.

"Ugh," the Cyclops groaned, knocking the sword and shield out of Jay's hand and sweeping him off his feet. "And you thought you could beat us?"

"Bring them here, Ganymus," the deep voiced Cyclops called.

Jay looked up and saw that the Cyclops was holding some more of his friends.

"Claire, Broudie!" Jordan shouted.

"Where's Hollie?" Broudie asked, hanging upside down beside their Cyclops' dirty thigh.

"Yes I knew the Cyclops Polyphemus. We used to play together and then when we got older, I used to come round and we'd have lamb for tea," Hollie told the other Cyclops happily.

"Really, _the_ Polyphemus. The king of the Cyclopes, and the ultimate herder?"

"Yes Horomas, I knew him well," Hollie smiled.

"What are you doing Hollie?" Claire questioned.

"Oh shut up, I'm with family now, they know of Polyphemus," Hollie sneered.

"What?" Jay was confused.

"Oh shut up all of you, soon I and the Cyclopes shall return to the island with you as our snack for the way," she laughed and so did Horomas.

"What is this Horomas?" The deep voiced one asked.

"Oh Carlogin, Hollie here knows the famous Polyphemus well. She is going to help us get back," Horomas said excitedly in a playful, excited tone which didn't match his appearance.

"Her name is Hollie? That is not Greek." Carlogin shook his head suspiciously.

"No, my real name is, is ferg-imus," Hollie replied.

The Cyclops raised his eyes.

"You know, forget your name after a while of getting used to this stupid name, Hollie," she chuckled.

"Then why are you here?" Carlogin asked.

"He sent me, he called in my dreams and told me that, that I must retrieve all of his fellow Cyclopes, he told me where I had to find you," Hollie answered.

"Then what are you doing with these, these mortals?" Carlogin looked down at Broudie and Claire, disgusted.

"I could not get here by myself, oh how stupid they were to take me on." All of the Cyclopes laughed and Carlogin stepped up to shake Hollie's hand.

"So how do we get out of here then?" Horomas asked.

"Oh, first we need to fill our stomachs, pass me the mortals, I'll boil 'em up," Hollie smirked, and, as the Cyclops turned away, she gave a cheeky wink to Jay.

"Here ya go." Ganymus and Carlogin handed Hollie her mates, dumping them on the floor in a pile.

Jay fell in a clump beside Hollie, lightheaded from being held upside down.

"Go and fetch them swords, don't want them thinking up any escape plans," she laughed again.

Horomas and Ganymus raced over to the weapons which were lying on the floor.

" _Alovium_." Hollie reached out and then pulled her hand back to her chest.

Both Jordan and Jay's swords levitated off the ground then pierced through two of the Cyclopes.

They erupted into pieces then disappeared beneath the ground.

"Wha-?" Ganymus turned to meet Broudie's blade, which Broudie had somehow retrieved.

The Cyclops turned to dust, and shot through the ground too.

"Well I couldn't let you take all the credit, could I?" Broudie smiled.

"What was that all about?" Claire questioned.

"Well they may have strength, but they aren't exactly the cleverest of the bunch," Hollie said.

"That was epic!" Jay nodded, retrieving his shield and taking his sword back off Jordan. Jay raised the blade to inspect the blood that dripped down towards the hilt. He gave it a disgusted look then noticed that the blood was disappearing.

"Thanks!" Hollie held his shoulder and walked him over towards the columns as he pocketed his sword.

"Now where do we go?" Jordan questioned.

"The centre," Hollie told easily, strolling over to the three pillars. She climbed in between them and stood in preparation.

"What now?" Jordan pondered.

"I go," Hollie answered. A light shone from a spot in the ceiling above Hollie, and she disintegrated into light.

"I guess that was meant to happen?" Claire questioned.

"Yep, me next." Broudie pushed his way into the centre, and he too dissolved into light.

"Go on Jay." Jordan ushered him between the pillars.

"Will it hurt?" Jay asked worryingly.

"Not really, just a bit like being thrown off a cliff, ha."

"What?"

"Don't wor-"

Jordan's sentence was cut short, as the light that had appeared above both Hollie's and Broudie's head, now shone above Jay's. He felt the floor beneath him disappear, then the light got brighter, eventually blinding his sight.

He raised his hands, which had started tingling, and saw that they were crumbling to pieces, even though he felt they were still attached.

It had to be the creepiest and scariest feeling he'd felt in his whole life.

Then suddenly an enormous amount of pressure shot from beneath him, and he closed his eyes, rocketing into more white light. The sound of gale force winds bulged in his head, making his mind blank and giving him the feeling of complete calmness.

Then the light died down, he opened his eyes, and a floor he stood on once again.

He looked in front and he was in a small, round, cylindrical room, with numerous exits. Black doorways were placed in front, behind, to the left and to the right of him. All dark and gloomy inside.

"Jay's here," Broudie informed, slapping Jay on the back.

"Oh, eh, where is here?" Jay questioned.

"Still in the temple, which you could say is a good thing or a bad thing. Depends how you look at it," Broudie replied.

Jay was about to turn around when Hollie shouted at him,

"Don't move!"

"Why can't he move, I'm moving?" Broudie asked.

"Because our next direction is right and we don't know where right is," Hollie said.

"Yeah we do it's there." Jay pointed to his right at one of the doorways.

"To you it's there yes, but to Broudie it's that one." Hollie pointed to the doorway behind Jay.

"What?"

"I'm trying to see if we all face the same direction, and if we do, then we will know which one is right," Hollie told.

"Hi guys, did I frighten you Jay?" Jordan laughed, appearing beside Jay.

"Not then, but before. Look Hol, he's facing the same way." Jay pointed out.

"Yep, I think we know which way were going," Hollie said.

"ROTATION," the deep voice that they had heard previously called once again.

"Rotation? What's that supposed to mean?" Broudie pondered.

His question was answered when the four doors started moving, first rising up the walls a few metres then moving quickly around the circular walls, mixing themselves up. Like something out of an illusionist act, the doors shuffled around at a speed, zooming around giving Jay a headache.

They then slowed down and sat once again, at four positions, all equal distance from each other.

"Where's right now?" Jay looked around him, still not moving from his position.

Then Claire broke the silence, emerging as a white light.

"What do we do in here then?" she said, oblivious to what had happened. "Did I say something?" she added, a moment of silence later.

"No, you didn't." Hollie looked straight at her, then at the door to Claire's right. "You're standing in a different position to everyone else, because, because they shuffled the doorways. And the teleport system must always enter people into the room facing the same doorway," Hollie talked to herself.

"Now I'm confused, can someone tell me what's going on?" Claire insisted.

"The doors move around, and Hollie's trying to work out which door we have to go through," Jordan answered.

"So we need to go through that door," Hollie concluded, pointing to the one to the right of Claire.

She ran to the doorway, and then when she was a ft. away from it, the deep voice cried out,

"ROTATION!"

"No." Hollie leaped forward but missed the door, and instead, hit the very hard, rock wall.

"Keep your eye on the door," Jordan shouted out, Hollie groaning, as she lifted herself to her feet.

The doors levitated three metres above the floor and then began to shuffle round. Jay locked both his eyes onto the blank doorway, and followed it.

The doorway sped round the room time after time, circling the other doors as it passed them, and trying to lose his fixed stare.

Four heads shot robotically round the room, as the doors continued to mix up.

Then they slowed down and the doorways came to a stop. Hollie stood right next to one, holding her head in pain.

"It's that one." Claire pointed to the one to the right of Hollie, the same one Jay thought it was.

"No it's this one," Jordan said, pointing at the one to the left of the one Claire and Jay thought it was.

"No it's definitely that one Jord," Broudie told.

"Look, let's just go for the one most people thought it was." Hollie declared stumbling over towards the one black doorway.

"C'mon Jord." Claire, Jay and Broudie all ran over to the door.

Then, just like when Hollie ran for the door the first time, the deep voice cried out,

"ROTATION!"

Claire reached with her one hand, touched the ledge of the door, but couldn't grab hold of it. They sighed, as the doors once again, rose from the floor.

"Everyone stand underneath a door, I'll stand in the middle, and, and, KEEP AN EYE ON THAT DOOR!" Hollie screamed, racing to the middle.

Jay took his place under the door they were trying to catch, while Jordan, Claire and Broudie ran to the other three.

The doorways then started shuffling once again, zooming round the circular walls like bees.

They dived up and down for a lot longer than before, then eventually slowed down.

"Broudie, it's the one above you," Hollie told, as the doorways gradually floated to the ground.

She ran over to Broudie and signalled the rest to follow. So Jay, Claire, and Jordan sprinted across as well.

Broudie turned to face the wall and then started jumping up and down, trying to reach for the door.

"ROTATION!"

He caught the ledge, and suddenly the doors rocketed up to the top of the room, before they'd even touched ground again.

"BROUDIE! HOLD ON!" Hollie yelled.

"As if I wouldn't," he muttered.

Hollie, Jay, Claire and Jordan stood in the centre of the room whilst the doorways began to shuffle again.

Broudie swung round the room with only one hand grasped on the doorway, as it spun him like a rag doll around the rooms.

The rest on the floor stood in silence, following Broudie's door, no eyes lay on anything else.

"Guys I can't," Broudie cried, as one of his finger unhooked from the door.

"You can Broudie, just hold on, I think it's slowing down," Jordan called up. Then, to Jordan's statement, the doors somehow thankfully came to a stop.

"See you'll lower down now," Claire encouraged.

Suddenly the doors dropped to ground level and Broudie forward rolled into the doorway, disappearing into gloominess.

"I'm getting in this one," Hollie demanded, " _relacian formalios_."

She shot across the ground like a bullet and then she, too, disappeared into darkness.

"C'mon." Jordan hurried forward, " _relacian formalios_." He zoomed through the doorway, leaving Claire and Jay.

" _Hokvalmia._ " Claire shone white and flew slowly and elegantly towards the doorway. She was a metre away when the door shot up once again,

"ROTATION!"

Jay knew what he had to do.

" _Relacian formalios_." His feet erupted into flames then he sped along the ground.

He stretched out his hand, grabbed the falling dove that had hit the wall head on, then immediately turned upwards and into the dark doorway.

When darkness engulfed them, Jay let go of Claire, and then extinguished the flames that were still burning around his feet, the only thing alight in the darkness.

Then a bright light chased out the pitch black and Jay took a look around to see where he was.

He was in an enormous chamber, standing on a platform surrounded with sparkling turquoise water. In the centre of the platform was a staircase that spiralled around the hexagonal chamber. It lead up to the top, which was covered in thick muggy fog.

How they'd gone from a doorway to a huge room, Jay had no clue.

"Up is the way," Hollie declared.

"Can we change camp? This place is awesome, I am totally gonna come back here," Broudie said.

"So we go up that staircase then?" Jay questioned, ignoring Broudie's comment.

"There's something fishy round here, literally fishy," Hollie replied.

"I say we don't use the stairs and just fly up there," Jordan suggested.

"C'mon then, no time to waste. _Relacian formalios,_ " Hollie chirped.

She didn't move.

Then suddenly a spark of electricity shot from one of the walls of the chamber.

It struck Hollie and stunned her.

She was thrown into the air and landed in a heap on the hard marble platform.

Everyone stood in silence, as Hollie groaned in a pile on the floor.

"What was that?" Jordan pondered.

"Never mind what was it, is Hollie ok?" Claire shook her head and ran over to Hollie.

Jay, Jordan and Broudie followed.

Hollie lay in a ball, her hands wrapped round her leg.

"Are you alright?" Claire asked.

"I, my leg."

"Is it broken?" Claire questioned.

"No, I can walk." Hollie lifted herself into a sitting position, then got helped up to her feet.

"What happened there then?" Jay pondered.

"Its magic proof, every time you, ah, use a spell, it electrocutes you," Hollie said.

"That's not very nice," Jordan said.

"C'mon then, I guess were taking the stairs." Broudie headed off towards the staircase with everyone else in pursuit. After Hollie had hobbled over, they began the, what looked like, mile walk.

"They don't exactly make it hard for you here," Jay thought.

"Well, it's the same as in that first room, there was nothing there that could endanger us," Claire told.

"I was actually being sarcastic."

They strode upwards, around the winding corners and up the uneven steps.

They reached about a quarter of the way up when they heard a rumbling.

"I hope that was someone's belly," Broudie said, calmly continuing up the stairs.

"Look." Jordan pointed to their left.

The water was rising like a water feature, and then tumbling back down.

"It's beautiful," Claire said.

"Everything's beautiful to you. I tell you what, if a garbage heap was in the shape of a flower you'd like it." Broudie shook his head.

"Look there's more." Jay pointed out.

The water fountains were beautiful and quite elegant, but what didn't make sense to Jay was that there was no noise as the water regained its source.

Just silent splashing. That meant only one thing...magic.

"I think there's something wrong guys. That water isn't like normal water. I can feel something flowing through it. Something, something dangerous," Hollie warned, as Claire helped her up another few steps.

"Hollie, it's just water," Broudie laughed.

"No it's definitely not, it's got something in it. We need to get a move on. I think it's getting stronger." Hollie hurried along.

Then suddenly the fountains stopped and there was an even bigger rumble.

"DESTROY ALL TRESPASSERS!" The deep voice called.

"Gods I wish that blimming person would shut up, every time he says something, something bad happens," Broudie huffed.

"Yep, and I don't think it's gonna change here, look!" Claire shivered.

#  Sliding into a hot death.

(Chapter 16)

Jay looked over his shoulder and saw a wall of water.

It was opening up in the middle like a portal, and moulding small blobs of water into something. Something round with two long arm-like pieces protruding from each side.

"Hollie, there's no time to be injured, we gotta run." Broudie sped up the steps as fast as he could, uncapping his sword (like that was going to do any good against water!).

"How can we kill something made of water, without magic?" Jay puffed, chasing up behind Broudie.

"Cold stuff I guess," Broudie answered.

"GUYS!" Claire called up, "WHAT ABOUT HOLLIE?"

Broudie, Jay and Jordan turned back and began racing back down the steps towards Hollie and Claire.

As they were rushing down Jay got a mouthful of water. The tingling sensation slapped him as hard as a hand.

The blobs of water were throwing water bombs at them. Jay spat out the water, cleared his eyes and carried on down, grunting with anger.

It was a terrible thing for Jay to laugh at the childish look these water creatures had, but they really didn't look scary.

When they reached Claire and Hollie, Broudie took Hollie's other arm and both of them heaved her up the next few steps.

"You lot need to protect us ok," Broudie ordered.

"How?" Jay questioned.

"I don't know, find a way."

"It's only water, all were going to do is get absolutely soaked, none of us will get hurt," Jordan said.

"Really?" Beside them was one of the balls of water, which had now grown a very duck-like mouth. "Let's see what you think of this then." The ball of water sparked orange and transformed into fire.

"Gustarmia," Jordan howled.

A shock of electricity erupted from the wall and struck its way at Jordan.

Jay was just quick enough to reveal his shield from his rucksack and reflect it. The charge bounced off his shield and straight at the fat-lipped fireball, which somersaulted backwards into the wall of water.

"I guess that's how we get rid of them then Jay," Jordan concluded, sprinting up the stairs to catch up with Broudie, Claire and Hollie, who had managed to hobble up another twenty odd steps.

"Jay, we got loads more to battle here," Jordan informed, uncapping his sword to use to reflect the electricity.

Now there were at least eight water bombs with arms, and two that were now made of fire.

"What on earth is happening now?" Broudie asked, as Jay hurried past him.

"Oh, the water bomb things can turn into anything, like eh," a fireball zoomed between him and Broudie, "fire!"

"Degradium," Jay screamed.

"What are you doing?" Broudie said, frustrated.

The electricity shot out from one of the walls and Jay swung round his shield so as the electricity rebounded off it and spun another water bomb monster back into the water wall.

"Shut up and get a move on." Broudie hurried, meeting Jay's 'Sorry, did you say something' smile.

"Polacify," he shouted another spell.

Every time he screamed one of the many spells he had learnt, a shot of lightning would strike from a wall, reflect off his shield and stun one of the orange or blue monster balls.

This was quite hard seeming he had to dodge fireballs and water bombs, plus them themselves, who had now started plucking up the courage to come up to them.

Jay leapt from side to side of the rickety staircase as he fought the monstrous bombs.

Then, when they were about three quarters of the way up to the muggy fog, they heard a scream. A bone-rattling shriek that echoed like shards of glass in your ears.

The monsters froze in motion, the water wall and Jay as well.

Everything was silent as the screaming got louder and louder. The hexagonal chamber was filled with thick battle, twenty no-eyed monster bombs were floating motionless around the room now, their fat lips gaping around for the source of the screaming.

Then suddenly, a ghost drifted swiftly through the wall and started circling the monsters.

It came to a stop in front of Jay, and he stared for the first few minutes in ore.

It was a vampire, a vampire ghost.

It had two long, sharp teeth and evil, devilish eyes. It wore a ripped cloak of white and swooped along with its two miniature, pale feet.

"Mormo doesn't like bad children. Mormo knows these bad children, these are entering the temple of the mighty jewel. Oh Mormo been here long, and Mormo needs to rid the jewel of these pests." The vampire-like, demon ghost looked down on Jay and his friends as she floated lightly in front of them.

She was the one who was screaming, the high-pitched scream that made them cringe had now turned into a soft, high-pitched talk of innocence and fragility.

"Mormo?" Jay pondered.

"Children, frightener. The one who bites naughty children in the ancient myths," Hollie said.

"Well, at least you know who I am," she snarled.

"Is she here to help us?" Broudie questioned.

"I rather doubt it, being someone who bites naughty children," Jordan replied.

"Mormo thinks you may resume the fight boys, Mormo not needed. Oh, I doubt Mormo will be seeing you lot again, bye." she smiled then swooped off.

She stopped next to the wall and spoke, "Let's add some more heat, ha, ha, ha." The once wall of water, now erupted in flames, a surge of heat and light illuminating the area and the tension.

The fire wall lit the chamber even more, sparkling in a ring around the central platform below them.

She swept through the wall and then the monster fireballs began to shout once again.

"Let's get going," Claire said.

The war against the monster blobs was now back on, but the second half was far from easier.

Balls of fire shot from all different directions, Jay having to block them all, to stop Hollie, Broudie or Claire getting hit.

The fire arrows he had implanted in the shield didn't seem to harm the fireballs, so he decided to use something else. Another thing he had done to the shield.

"Activate protection," he ordered.

The shield followed his instruction, and immediately started building a bubble round Jay. He shuffled over to Hollie, Claire and Broudie so as the protection would cover them.

"Jordan, get here," Jay called. Jordan turned round, saw the protection barrier, and huddled underneath it.

"Wow, what else did you do to that shield?" Jordan said astounded.

"Never mind that, we need to get going. Will this keep them out?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, I think so, I mean that's what it said in the book," Jay replied. The protective barrier completely covered them like a bubble and left a small round gap at the bottom so as they could still run up the stairs.

So they carried on up the stairs, the monster fireballs pelting balls of fire at them constantly, making them more and more angry as they kept rebounding away.

"Look, we're nearly at the top," Broudie told.

Jay looked up and saw there was only one last turn left of the winding rickety staircase, and then they'd be there, up in the cloudy mist.

"Ah!" Jordan squealed as a small orange fist punched its way through the stair case.

"They can get in through the bottom," Claire screamed.

"They don t know that." Jay carried on climbing his way up.

"Oh yes they do," Broudie said, as five fireballs darted underneath them.

"We best get a move on then," Jordan concluded, "Let me and Jay take Hol the rest of the way, you lot sort out these monsters."

Broudie handed over Hollie's one arm to Jay and Claire gave her side to Jordan.

Jay had never been so hyped up in his life. Once again in a time of action his mind trailed off to his new friends.

In less than two weeks he'd created eleven new friends, without one, single enemy. He had befriended them all, and he felt like he'd known them all his life. It was a strange feeling, but a comfortable feeling. He finally felt like he was wanted, and at this particular time, he was really wanted!

As Claire handed over Hollie's arm to Jordan, another fist punched its way through the floor and grabbed hold of Jay's leg.

"Let, go, of, me," Jay struggled, trying to throw the monster off him.

Then, with one big pull, the two handed fireball managed to drag Jay's foot half way through the whole, leaving his whole leg protection free.

Jay felt the grasp withdraw from his ankle and a fireball hit his leg. All he felt was warmth, it wasn't even hot.

"Jay, c'mon!" Broudie hurried, looking back and seeing him stuck with his leg dangling beneath them.

"I, am." Jay gave one big pull and lifted his leg out of the hole. He looked down and saw that one of his trainers were on fire.

He ignored it and carried on, lifting Hollie up every step. She hadn't breathed a word since Mormo's short visit, and they didn't even know if she was breathing. For all they knew, she could have been dead.

"Watch out there's a big one coming," Broudie informed.

Jay looked to his right and saw that there was now a giant fireball, about thirty times the size of the small ones, with muscular biceps the size of boulders.

"That's not good," he mumbled to himself as the monster drifted closer.

"Just another few steps now guys, c'mon," Claire encouraged, jumping up as another fist pounded its way through into their protective shield.

"Uuuuggh." The giant fireball smashed down with one of his bulky fists, breaking the stairs behind them in two.

Jay looked in front and saw nothing but murkiness and fog, he looked to see what he was standing on, but he couldn't. He was surrounded in mist.

"We're here," Broudie said, relief filled his voice.

Another grunt told them otherwise.

The bubble somehow popped and they were left once again, unprotected.

The ground that they were stood on, whether they were still on the staircase or not, suddenly disappeared and the five teenager's free-fell. This was beginning to be a constant occurrence.

Jay held tightly to his shield and to his sword, which was pocketed in his belt. He had lost grip of Hollie when the floor had gone, and he couldn't see or hear anyone.

His heart raced and his body tightened. All his nerves had shut down, he could feel, see, smell, taste, hear...nothing.

Silence overwhelmed their fear. He couldn't even scream. All he could do was fall.

Then he collided into something soft and fluffy, like a giant bag of wool.

It was so soft, like a marshmallow pond.

He sprung upwards like he was on a trampoline, then come back into contact with the fluffy bed.

"Whoa," he heard Claire say.

He didn't want to open his eyes. He thought may be if he just stayed there and didn't look up, then he wouldn't have to fight anyone anymore, and he could just lie there forever.

"Jay," Jordan whispered to him, as he patted him on the shoulder. He raised his head, unwillingly, and opened his eyes.

"Wow." He was lost for words. The place was amazing.

He was stood on clouds surrounded with clear blue skies - it was like a dream.

In the centre was a ladder. It lead upwards, dissolving into blue as it reached the top. The other end lead down through the white fluffy clouds.

"Are we dead?" Jay asked.

"I doubt it, seems as there's no such thing as heaven and hell it's Hades all the way. Fields of punishment, Fields of asphodel or wherever that other place is for the heroes." Hollie went into a bit more depth than he'd thought, squinting her eyes now and again from the pain in her leg.

"You'd think they'd make this temple a bit less luxurious, it's like a five star magic hotel," Claire said.

"Yeah, and the cleaners shoot fireballs at you, punch you up and sing you to death," Hollie added sarcastically.

"Which way now then?" Jay questioned, pulling himself to his feet and taking deep breaths to try and reclaim his calm attitude.

"Em, I'm not quite sure," Hollie replied lifting herself to her feet, and rubbing her knees.

"What d'you mean, not quite sure?" Jordan asked.

"Well, the next one is up, but we went up the staircase before, so does that count?" Hollie pondered.

"Course it doesn't, there was no other doors to go through," Broudie laughed, as if it was a stupid question.

"But maybe there was another way out, but we didn't see it," Claire debated.

"I didn't see anything," Jordan told.

"We might not have, but maybe we just weren't looking properly." Jay sided with Claire.

"You two didn't see anything though did you," Broudie shot back.

"No, but we didn't look very well did we, there could have been a doorway under the water or something," Claire persisted.

"Hollie, what do you say?" Jordan asked.

They all looked to Hollie who simply stood their, her one leg slightly raised and her face revealing a blank expression.

"Eh, I say we should have bought the chooser with us," Hollie answered.

"Which way should we go, you're the leader, and you make the decisions," Jordan told.

"I don't know which way," Hollie sighed.

"How about two of us go that way and two of us go the other way," Claire suggested.

"No, we'll all go the one way. We don't want to be getting lost in this place." Hollie rejected the idea.

"Then which way," Jordan asked once again.

"I don't know."

"Hol, we won't hate you if we go the wrong way," Jay comforted.

"Fine, we'll go...up," Hollie instructed.

"What about your leg?" Jay asked.

"Numbing spell, I should have thought of it, ah, before." Hollie straightened out her leg and said, "Gollia deserlium."

There was a flash of red.

"Cool," Jay said.

"Right, c'mon then." Claire strolled over towards the ladders and began the ascent.

"Hold on, numbing spell means you have no feeling in your leg, how are you going to climb?" Jordan asked.

"I have enough upper body strength to pull myself up, don't you worry," Hollie replied, hopping over to the ladders.

Jay and the rest followed her, climbing up away from the clouds.

The ladders were ice cold and made of metal.

The metal bars were thin and shiny, as if they'd been polished a few minutes ago - unlike the rest of the temple that was mostly covered in dust and cobwebs.

As they climbed, the blue skies that surrounded them seemed to fade into darkness. Eventually they were climbing in the pitch dark.

Jay was behind Hollie. Watching her pull herself up every step with just her arms was quite amazing, her courage, he deeply admired.

"Now this is a bit less luxurious," Claire said.

"How long do we have to climb for?" Hollie complained.

"Not long," Claire answered.

"What d'you mean, have we reached the top?" Jordan questioned eagerly.

"Yep," Claire called down.

Jay went to grab another set of bars to steady him, but they had gone. He felt around and felt a cold icy floor. He pushed all his weight on it and pulled himself up.

"Gods, the floors absolute freezing," Broudie moaned.

"Sparkinum," Claire whispered. A ball of light popped out in front of her, lighting up her face. She reached out with her hand and the ball of light floated away from her, gliding slowly outwards. The light reached a wall and then floated around it.

"Sparkinum." Jay lit his own light, along with Jordan and Hollie.

"What is this place, a freezer?" Broudie questioned.

"We need a bigger light," Claire decided.

"Too right," Jay agreed.

"Jord, have you ever done it since?" Hollie asked.

"No way," he replied.

"You might be able to control it now," Hollie insisted

"What might he be able to do?" Jay pondered.

"Nothing, I'm not gonna try, we'll have to find another way," Jordan told.

"What are you two on about?" Broudie asked again.

"Nothing," they said in unison.

"How about we just make more of them," Claire suggested, narrowing her eyes and giving Hollie and Jordan a suspicious look.

"Can you do that Hol?" Jay wondered.

"Yeah, as far as I know," Hollie answered, glad to have changed the subject.

"Sparkinum, sparkinum, sparkinum," Jordan chanted, sending rays of light shooting from the palms of his hands.

The rays lit the icy room up completely.

"Good at that, aren't ya. You practised?" Claire asked gob smacked.

"Comes naturally." Jordan shot one more strike of white from his palm, which shot into the only gloomy corner left.

The room they were stood in was wall to wall with ice, the ceiling and the floor were covered too.

It's a miracle how none of them had slipped over. There were two doors in front of them, side by side, directly opposite the ladders they'd scaled up.

"Didn't you say we were supposed to go down next?" Jordan asked.

"Yep," Hollie replied, checking the sheet of paper in her pocket.

"We've gone the wrong way!" Broudie shouted.

There was a deafening silence that suddenly filled the room.

"We can go back down." Jay shot across the room in desperation. "If we go quick enough then the room will still be there."

"We can't go back remember what Frederick said," Hollie told.

"Maybe before the room changes!" Jay urged, his mind had gone fixed on the ladder at the other end of the room.

His feet were losing grip from his speed.

"Jay. It will lead somewhere else and we'll be lost forever!" Hollie shouted.

Just then he came to his senses. What was he doing?

Then he lost balance and the icy cold floor took his stability, keeping his pace, sending him sliding away.

It was too late now, he couldn't stop himself from sliding along the floor, he tried to grip in with his nails, but he couldn't.

"I can't."

"JAY!" Jordan turned around and started racing towards him. Jay reached out with his hand, still sliding along the ground.

He just touched Jordan's hand when he felt the floor beneath him disappear once again...and he fell.

"HELP!" He screamed as he freefell through the gap. He reached out trying to stop himself by using the ladder, but it just disappeared. He looked down and saw that the room had changed.

It didn't have soft fluffy clouds as a carpet, or beautiful clear skies as walls. No marshmallow land of heaven.

It was a cylindrical, rocky chamber. Full with scorching hot lava...

He shouted and screamed as he plummeted towards the lava pit, heat radiating through his body as he came closer.

He looked up and saw Jordan, Hollie, Broudie and Claire shouting from a small square window metres above.

The air rushed past him, robbing him of his breath. Three metres, two metres, one metre...

SPLASH!

Thick orange liquid engulfed him. His skin tingled as he sank a few metres into the lava. He closed his eyes in pure shock.

His mouth was sealed shut but he couldn't hold it.

His throat burned as the hot lava sank in.

The liquid trickled down his throat, he felt it running down into his lungs. They filled up, and he couldn't breathe. The fiery blaze burnt a terrifying glow in his eyes.

Death was near.

Again.

#  All is revealed.

(Chapter 17)

Then he felt an unusual sensation in his throat. He opened his mouth, gasping for breath, and more lava fell in. Then he breathed out and back in again.

The lava circulated...He was breathing!

Then suddenly he felt full of energy, his mind raced like a thousand cars.

He opened his eyes, and all he could see was orange. He looked up, and somehow he could make out a black square, with four heads inside, above him through the lava.

He concentrated hard on the doorway and took in a humungous gulp of hot, orange liquid. He felt like he was the whole pit of lava, he felt every bubble that popped as it met the surface.

Then he urged himself upwards. He heard a rumble, and the volcanic liquid seemed to react to his command.

He shot out of the lava like a rocket. The lava spurting behind him, and then it suddenly solidified. The lava froze creating a platform for Jay to stand on.

He felt full of energy, and had to let it go. He willed the lava upwards.

Five spirals of lava erupted from the pool, shot upwards, then descended beautifully, making no splashes at all as it regained its source \- just like the water/fire in the hexagonal chamber.

Jay took another gasp, and the unusual feeling in his throat disappeared. He felt oxygen push out the heat from his lungs, and his enormous amount of energy dissolved into reality.

He looked down and nearly fainted. He was stood on a very thin stick of solidified lava, a kilometre up at least. Directly above stood his four friends, mouths wide open in awe.

"Holy Hephaestus," Hollie exclaimed.

"Help," Jay shivered.

"Really?" Broudie's eyes widened.

"Yeah, I don't like heights."

"Gods, how did you do that?" Claire questioned.

"That was amazing," Jordan agreed.

"I need to get across." Jay looked down terrified. Somehow the lava was still responding to him. Small trickles of lava were floating upwards, pushing him closer to the gap like he was on some sort of elevator.

He stood as still as a statue as he was lifted through the gap by the tower of solidifying lava.

"I really don't like heights." Jay jumped onto the icy floor.

"How in the name of Heracles did you do that?" Hollie asked.

"I don't know, I just, I don't know."

"Calm down man, I thought you were gonna blow us all to bits when those lava waterfalls came on the scene, I thought you were gonna explode," Broudie told.

"Me too," Jay agreed.

"Bit slippery the floor, want it?" Claire laughed.

"Yeah."

"Right we best carry on," Hollie chirped.

"We're lost Hol," Jordan sighed.

"Well you're the optimistic one," Broudie said.

"C'mon, we're not gonna get anywhere by staying here." Hollie strolled off towards the left doorway.

"D'you reckon we could break our way out of here?" Jordan asked.

"Doubt it," Jay replied, as he went over to Hollie's aid, helping her walk with only one leg in feeling.

The doorway led into another dark-ish tunnel with torches lit either side. They walked down the old, dusty tunnel for a few minutes when they heard a voice. The dreaded voice they had heard so many times before,

"TELEPORTATION IN PROCESS!"

"What now?" Broudie complained.

"Teleportation doesn't sound good," Hollie said.

"Maybe it's teleportation out of here," Jay suggested.

Then suddenly the torches along the walls of the tunnel went out, and a cold wind swept through.

A bright light appeared above each of the five ring bearers.

"Oo, spotlights," Claire admired, smiling a look of hopefulness.

The lights descended around them, engulfing them in light.

As the light shone brighter Jay felt relaxed, as soothed as the LE baker chocolate.

"GO!"

Suddenly they were swept off their feet. Swirling round in a world of white. Air rushing past them. Worries rushing away with it.

They were teleported through the dream world.

It lasted a minute, two at most, until the calming glow began to fade.

Jay looked below and realised that he was levitating above the ground. He looked around and saw that he was in a gigantic hallway, with millions of floating fires spread along the walls. There was only one way to go in the hallway, because the other side had been blocked off by a big clump of tumbling rubble.

None of them spoke as the light faded completely, the levitation broke and they all fell to the floor.

"Come, my dears," a soft whisper echoed from deep down in the tunnel.

"Yeah ok," Jay replied sarcastically, lifting himself to his feet.

"Eh I think we are anyway, there's no other way to go." Hollie pointed out.

"We can break through that," Jordan told.

"I don't think you can," the whisper called.

"Oh yeah we can. _Alovium_." Jordan turned, shooting a control spell at the heap of rubble. The spell rebounded off the rubble as if it was a mirror and shot straight back at him.

Jordan dodged it and the spell shot through the dimly lit tunnel.

"Maybe we can't," Hollie muttered.

"Right I say we go that way." Jordan ignored Hollie's comment and strode off.

"Ok Jord," Jay laughed and followed him, then remembered Hollie's condition and turned to help.

"It's alright. I think it's fixed, somehow?" Hollie wondered to herself, looking down at her legs and shaking them around as if to check they were still in tact.

Jay shrugged and lazily dragged his feet, following Jordan.

The tunnel gradually got bigger as they walked. The floating fires that lines the path, becoming more frequent, and lighting the hallway up more and more. They walked slowly in silence, scanning the walls and floor for anything that could be of threat.

A few minutes walk into the tunnel, and it was completely lit, showing some unusual things to say the least.

Things like flowers of gold, pools of swirling pink water, stalactites that swayed left and right in unison, frozen statues of silver bats and...

"Ah!!" Claire screamed.

Jay jumped and turned to see what had happened. A floating fire emerged from a wall and revealed something that changed colour and shape, from a dragon to a spooky tree.

"Claire there's bars, it can't get out," Hollie comforted, pulling her away.

This room felt extremely eerie, every breath and step could be heard and the strange ornamental creatures made it look like a scene the belonged in some witch's castle.

"Where are we?" Jay questioned.

"If I knew I'd tell you," Jordan replied.

"You're near," the voice whispered again.

"Near what?" Broudie shouted impatiently. They'd all just about had enough of all this walking and searching and battling, and the constant fear of something lurking just ahead.

"Near what you seek," the whispering voice answered.

"The jewel?" Jordan murmured.

They all paused in their tracks and turned to face each other. Had they reached the jewel room? Were they at the end of their quest? Had they found the jewel of Barthimia?

They stared at each other again, then immediately broke into a run along the gigantic tunnel.

One minute they were running along a dusty tunnel, the next, they were running through a palace, with amazing plants hanging down from beautiful, wicker baskets.

Bunches of colour and life flowed out of them: ladybirds with green spots; miniature monkeys with curly golden tails and tiny pink ears; small gerbil-like creatures with flippers as arms. The place was out of a kid's fairytale adventure story.

Jay wanted to stop and take it in, but he just had an urge to reach this jewel, take it back, and then be honoured in history forever. The five teenagers continued their run through the amazing palace. All Jay could do was smile. He felt stupid, but he just couldn't stop smiling.

It was only when Mormo appeared on the scene that they actually paused for breath.

"MORMO?!" Hollie screamed.

"Mormo was wrong, you are nice children. Mormo sorry. Please follow Mormo," she whimpered, her words rushed.

"Follow you?" Broudie repeated.

"To the jewel," she added.

"This is to lead us off track we need to ignore her," Jay thought.

"As far as I thought, Mormo was a good person," Hollie put in.

"Mormo shall take you there," the whispering called again.

"This way." Mormo scooted under a hanging basket and floated away.

"C'mon let's go. We haven't got any other heading." Jordan led them behind the ghost-like child biter, Mormo.

They raced through the beautiful palace to a gigantic water feature, with fish that dived down the different layers. The feature was made of white marble that shimmered as the water trickled down from top to bottom.

Surrounding them were more hanging baskets of weird animals and plants, all floating freehand.

There was a beautiful chandelier that shone at the top of the feature that made the top hard to see. Mormo glided towards it and disappeared from sight.

"Mormo!" Jordan shouted, stopping at the foot of the water feature.

"I knew she'd lead us out of the way," Claire puffed.

"Is that Mormo?" Hollie pointed to the top of the water feature.

A woman with long black hair and hypnotising green eyes swept down from the top of the water feature.

She wore a long, white dress with elegant sandals, the leather straps weaving beautifully up her ankles. She must have been at least six and a half ft. tall, and her voice was so soft and calm, but had a sense of power within it. She radiated assertiveness.

"Hello, welcome to the temple of Barthimia," she smiled.

"Well Mormo's gone a bit up market," Jordan whispered.

"Jordan Quelch, welcome." the lady walked up to Jordan nodded and then turned to face them all. "Hollie Williamson, Jay Perry, Broudie Morris and Claire Hamer. Five of the twelve."

"Hello, I would introduce ourselves but it sounds like you already have," Hollie said.

The lady hovered slightly, her laced sandals not touching the ground. Up close the white lady was even taller than they expected.

"Oh," the lady laughed, "you mortals are so funny."

"Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Jay asked.

"It doesn't matter, she's probably someone else who's gonna try and leer us away from our goal." Jordan went to walk off when the beautiful woman answered back,

"Yes, your goal, as you call it. You are near, so near yet so far." She smiled, her pristine, perfect teeth shimmering in the light.

"Thanks for the help, but we're on a quest," Jordan insisted.

"No Jord, listen," Claire told.

"It is alright, if you believe you should ignore me then please do. It does not change me." the lady folded her arms and went to sit on the side of the giant water feature.

"C'mon guys, we need to get going," Broudie called.

"We're wasting time." Jordan glanced at Claire's annoyed face. "Look she's trying to distract us, drive us off course, she's probably a hypnotist in Greek mythology."

"You're talking as if she's not even here," Jay said, frustrated at how rude they were being to such a nice woman. She seemed so genuinely kind and caring.

"Go on, your quest awaits you." she waved them on.

"What's your name?" Hollie questioned.

"My name is my name," she sighed.

Hollie started walking away from the fountain and Claire and Jay followed.

"Before you go, I give you some advice." they turned back as she rose to her feet, "Listen to the words of others."

"Oh, c'mon guys," Broudie urged.

They turned back and began to run once again, their footsteps echoing in the gigantic palace.

Jay wondered what the lady had meant. 'Listen to the words of others'? What was that supposed to mean?

"Where's Mormo gone?" Hollie questioned.

"She was probably trying to take us off our track," Jordan sighed.

"Well why are we running this way then?" Jay pondered.

"I don't know." Hollie stopped and turned to face everyone behind her.

"Why would Mormo take us past that weird lady anyway?" Broudie asked.

"I don't think she was going to hurt us, or distract us from our quest either," Claire told.

"Well she certainly radiated power," Jordan said.

"Too right," Jay agreed.

"Why are you not with the lady of the temple?" Mormo, the child biter, swooped from behind a massive pillar.

'Lady of the temple? Oh great!' Jay thought, 'That means that we have to kill her so as we can get the jewel which is probably just a ring on her finger or something. Sounds perfect! More tiring fighting.'

"Well if it isn't Mormo," Hollie glared at her.

"What are you doing here?" she cried.

"Were looking for the jewel, not some crazy lady," Jordan broke in.

"That was no crazy lady. You must go back." Mormo shook her head.

"Like we'd listen to you," Jay laughed.

"Listen to Mormo, please."

"You lead us out of our way Mormo. You're not a nice person at all," Broudie sniggered.

"Mormo sorry, but you must go back to the lady, she is powerful."

"You're telling us, what did you expect us to get vaporized by her or something? Well unfortunately your plan failed," Hollie said.

"No you do not understand," Mormo insisted.

"No I think we understand perfectly, now it's been nice meeting you, but we really must be going," Claire retaliated.

"The lady, she is-" Mormo was interrupted by the others' malicious remarks,

"A weirdo."

"Crazy."

"Evil."

"HECATE!" Mormo screamed in her high pitched tone that thrashed at your ear drums.

"What?" Jay was confused. He had heard that name before back at the hideout

"The woman, the lady you met was the powerful goddess of witchcraft and magic, associated with light, the moon, dogs and crossroads. Her name, Hecate," Mormo gasped for breath, if ghosts breathe that is?

"Heca-, the lady was a goddess?" Jay questioned, gob smacked.

"Hecate herself, in full form?" Hollie asked.

"Yes my dears."

They turned around to meet the same white dressed woman they'd met at the fountain.

"We are so sorry, goddess Hecate." Hollie, Jordan, Claire and Broudie bent forward in honour - Jay followed their lead.

"Arise young ring-bearers," Hecate instructed, waving her hand elegantly in the air.

"We did not know," Hollie told.

"Clearly." Hecate waved Mormo to her side.

"Could I ask a question?" Hollie pondered, "What would such a powerful goddess be doing in this temple?"

"I live here, at the moment. And you, I see, are after the jewel of Barthimia?"

"Correct Madame," Hollie replied.

"Well welcome, once again, to the temple of Barthimia."

"Could we offer you something as a sorry for ignoring such a powerful and respected goddess?" Jordan asked.

"Why of course," she smiled.

Jordan held out his arm and drew what looked like a dog in midair out of smoke that seemed to puff from his finger. The mouth opened and a bark sounded. Jordan bent down once again and raised his arms,

"I give this on behalf of us five ring bearers, to the mighty goddess Hecate." When Jordan finished and arose, the dog of smoke drifted slowly towards the goddess.

Hecate breathed in and the smoke outline dissolved into air. The goddess smiled and a creepy hologram of two identical siblings flashed to life. Only to flash back out of existence when the goddess reopened her eyes.

'Must be an offering.' Jay thought, confused at why there was suddenly three Hecates.

"Thank you, but there was really no need. For I did not display myself in my true form. But how nice it is to feel the loving sensation of a sacrifice." Hecate smiled again.

"We should have known that you were the great goddess Hecate. I mean, with the clues: Mormo your companion, the great sense of power that only gods do radiate, and how much our magic was strong in your company," Hollie apologised.

"Mormo informed me of a certain five children that were trying to overcome the powers of the temple. See there has never been a break in, not since Zeus sent that test run a millennia ago." She looked up as if over running the memory.

"I asked Mormo, as anyone would, what they were like. She described that you had powers, that you wore rings, and that you reminded her of what she had heard the Olympians describe. I knew who you were, the gods had contacted me just two years ago to inform me of what Athena had done. The oracle and the rings, everything. So I used some of my power to teleport you to me, for I knew you would not find me, for you had taken a wrong turning, so to speak."

"We thank you again for doing such a kind thing." Hollie nodded.

"Well, yes."

"Why have you been stuck in this palace by yourself for so long, if you don't mind me asking?" Claire questioned.

"Why? Well I helped the gods with their quest and now I must be hidden. Just me and Mormo."

"Their quest?" Hollie pondered.

"They had to lock up the monsters in Tartarus didn't they? So I helped them, I helped them seal the gates and I did something else." Hecate's smile faded.

"What did you do, Hecate?" Jordan asked.

"I used a spell, a very powerful spell on all the monsters. I cursed them. I made sure that every single monster that was trapped in Tartarus, would always return," she told the story with a deep threatening tone.

"So this temple hides you and the jewel from the monsters. It's like killing two birds with one stone," Jordan added up.

Hecate shrugged.

"Another question we do ask. Do you know the location of the jewel?" Claire asked timidly.

"Oh I do, very well actually. It changes, moves, always stays in this temple, in this palace, but in different places."

"Do you know where it is now?" Jay asked, searching her jewellery for something which could look precious enough to be the item of their quest.

"Yes."

"Could you tell us, Queen Hecate?" Hollie questioned.

"I could, but I'm afraid it is not my quest." Hecate turned and walked over to one of the baskets.

"But could you give us a clue? Seems as you know," Jordan said desperately.

"I have already."

"A clue?" Hollie repeated.

"She hasn't given us a clue," Claire whispered.

"She has, what she said back at the fountain. She said we should listen to the words of others," Jay remembered.

"That's really a clue," Broudie huffed.

"What would we listen to?" Jordan pondered.

"I don't know, there isn't anything is there?" Hollie replied.

"How about, the sirens song?" Jay suggested

"But how would that help us find the jewel?" Jordan thought.

"It's gotta be something about the jewel," Hollie said.

"Well that's a start," Hecate said sarcastically, flicking her wrist and making a beautiful flower grow out from the basket, open up, and start singing quiet hymns.

"Em, maybe it's the location itself. Maybe it's the way Athena only told us where Frederick might be, or something on the lines of that?" Hollie suggested, confusing herself.

"No," Hecate called back continuing to tidy up her baskets.

"How about what it looks like!" Broudie shouted out.

Hecate turned to face them then smiled.

"So you're saying that we don't know what it looks like, so I expect the jewel to be..."

"Big, really strong in colour, like bright red or green," Claire finished.

"Yeah and carved beautifully," Jay added.

"And it would be the opposite, so it would be a tiny black stone, like the ones you find on the beach," Hollie concluded. "But no one has told us what the jewel looks like, we know nothing about it!"

Hecate's smile faded.

"That isn't listening to others, that's listening to ourselves," Broudie sighed.

"You are close, it's to do with what it looks like, but more like, what do you humans call it? Noun? Verb?"

Jay tried to think about what the verb was, it was one of those things he learnt in English. It was the doing word? The descriptive word...? He had no clue.

"The thing itself. We think the jewel is a jewel or a stone, but it's not it's something else," Claire squealed.

"Correct Miss Hamer." Hecate waved her hand and a flower sprung from within her hair. It had pink petals and a weird green and blue centre.

"How does that help us, Hecate?" Hollie asked.

"Well, that should hopefully help you put the pieces together. Does it?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Another clue?" Jordan smiled.

"Oh," Hecate laughed, "you do make us laugh, obviously I would never go as far as Zeus' dad, but you do have humour."

"What is there to piece together?" Jay questioned.

"Frederick gave you a hint and I've given you loads, whether you pick up on them or not," Hecate said.

"What did Frederick say that was a clue?" Broudie wondered.

"Wait, the gods imprisoned you here because they didn't want you removing the monsters curses?"

"Yes."

"So there isn't a jewel here," Hollie concluded.

"What?" Jay questioned, not understanding the code conversation.

"Well there is," Hecate corrected.

"Yeah, but not a jewel jewel," Hollie said.

"Wait, are you saying we came all this way to find a jewel, that isn't even here?!" Broudie asked frustratingly.

"So we went to find Frederick, battled dracaenae, Panotii, amphisbaena, Cyclops, riddles, moving trees and blimming fire and water bombs, all that for nothing?" Jordan's voice was full of anger and frustration.

"Guys, don't you get it?" Hollie asked.

"No," Claire replied sternly.

Then Jay had an idea. A stupid idea. No the jewel wouldn't be, no he was probably wrong. Or was he?

"I think I get it," Jay revealed.

"Get what? That this quest was a fake," Broudie pondered.

"This quest was not a fake, it was a very important quest. The quest was for the jewel of Barthimia. You have found the jewel of Barthimia," Hecate announced

"We haven't found it! Please just someone explain what's going on?" Claire said kindly.

"Oh you have, the jewel is here, right in front of you. She is speaking to you." Hecate gave out another smile.

"Hecate...you're the jewel of Barthimia?"

#  The Jewel orders a flight.

(Chapter 18)

"Why yes, young ring bearers, I am," Hecate congratulated.

"But why?" Claire pondered.

"Why did you bother going on a quest to retrieve a very powerful goddess? You mean. Well, I do ask myself that question. Because if they wanted me back on Olympus I could make my way out of this temple quickly and quietly. Then I say, well, they don't trust me that much. But then who would trust the goddess of magic? I haven't been that nice to them, or horrible really. To be honest, I think the quest was a great way to test you, and get me back without any monsters coming to talk to me about removing their curse," Hecate said.

"If you could get out of here easily, then why haven't you?" Broudie asked.

"Well I had a party with the gods once, we all got really drunk, I don't know what Dionysus put into that stuff. Anyway, so that night was to celebrate the capturing of all the monsters. I had helped them, so I came to the party. So then I stupidly asked what would happen if a monster got out. Well that's when Zeus said that I was going to curse them, then I agreed, and swore on the river Styx, that I would curse the monsters and lock myself away till someone retrieves me," she puffed.

"Swore on a river with sticks?" Jay pondered.

"The river Styx in the underworld. Don't worry, he's the newest," Hollie told the goddess.

"Yes I know, I was informed when you had all been found," Hecate said.

"Well what happens now?" Jordan questioned.

"We all shall go to your little hideout. Me, Mormo, if you don't mind, and you five. I'd love to see what it's like. Then I shall ascend to Olympus, where I know I will be greeted with much, appreciation." Hecate frowned at the last few words.

"How?" Broudie asked.

"We don't have to go back through the temple do we?" Jay sobbed.

"Did you hear what Hecate said, she could easily bust out of here. All she needed was someone to come here and retrieve her," Hollie chirped.

"No Jay, we won't have to go through that lovely temple," Hecate repeated.

"Lovely? Do you call fisted fireballs lovely?" Broudie asked quite rudely.

"Fisted fireballs?" Hecate questioned.

"What? Haven't you seen the monsters in this temple?" Jordan asked.

"Are you on about the Ampherlios?" She pondered.

"Ampherlios? Never heard of those in Greek mythology," Hollie told.

"You wouldn't, they're my very own creation," Hecate replied.

"You created those things, they weren't as nice as you?" Claire complimented.

"That's good. They aren't meant to. I created them when Frederick led me through to my chamber. He had designed a winding staircase that had loose floorboards. Very terrifying. So then, before we went up, I carved out a moat and filled it full of water. I chucked about a few curses and jinxes. And then I created the Ampherlios and the misty fog at the top," Hecate said.

"So _you_ put the anti-magic curse on the room then?" Hollie questioned.

"Yeah, but good job I did, Mormo told me what you did. Good thinking," Hecate congratulated.

"More of an accidental thing really," Jay told, then being elbowed in the ribs by Jordan.

"Well, it all worked out in the end."

As soon as Hecate finished her sentence, there was a rumble and the columns began to crack. The baskets of beautiful bugs and plants scurried into their holds for shelter, the petals masking their insides and retreating behind their elongated leaves.

"What's happening?" Claire squealed.

"I don't know. Frederick never mentioned anything like this." Hecate craned her neck around the palace.

"We best get out of here," Hollie said.

"Too right," Mormo whimpered, clearly adding to the conversation just because she was feeling left out.

"Come close," Hecate ordered, holding out her arms.

The five ring-bearers and Mormo scurried over to Hecate. Jay stood beside her, his heart pumping drastically.

Not because of what was happening, it was because of the extremely powerful aura that Hecate was giving off, the liquid power oozing over them.

The palace was trembling, parts of the ceiling were collapsing, falling to the ground in a shower of boulders.

"Stay near me," Hecate ordered. She raised her one arm and started yelling cryptic words like Kar-me-fay and ho-ra-keelay. She paused, and a shield of translucent green covered their heads like an umbrella. She waved her other hand and all the baskets disappeared, the animals too. Then she looked up and mouthed something quite familiar to Jay, a spell he'd learnt,

" _Votaldea_." They were lifted off their feet immediately, thrown upwards. Jay's face drooped under the pressure.

They shot upwards at sonic speeds, braking their way through the mountains of rubble.

Darkness engulfed them for just a few seconds before they were blinded by the morning sun. It must have been about six o clock in the morning. The birds were singing in the evergreen forest that surrounded them below their feet. The sight of buildings a mile or two away seemed so appetising after exploring the monstrous tunnels in the temple of Barthimia.

They stopped midair for a couple of minutes, watching the temple tremble to pieces. The temple itself they now realised was just a humungous boulder.

It cracked into pieces, crushing trees and sending giant puffs of sand and dust up into the exotic air. Next to one side of the large rock stood four trees, the ones they had battled at the entrance. The four trees spotted them, started growling with their black mouths, then got forced to the ground by part of the rocky temple. Water poured out from parts of the crumbling rock, even the lava, which immediately turned to rock, poured into the forest.

But the most frightening thing of all, was when Jay spotted three birds. Black winged birds, like vultures.

The sirens were flying out from the rubble, completely unharmed. They were closely followed by millions of water and fire balls.

Hecate must have spotted them too, for she used her unused hand to try and blast some of the monsters.

The sirens descended into the trees, making it impossible to shoot them down. Hecate sighed then changed her aim.

She drew an imaginary circle around the heap of rubble and smoke. Then she whispered something, and the whole scene disappeared. The whole temple just disappeared in a puff of, literally, smoke.

Jay gasped, how lucky he should be, he was being protected by an amazingly powerful goddess.

"I say our work here is done, anyone like to do the honours." Hecate glanced down at Jay and his mates beside her.

"I will," Claire replied.

"Go ahead." Hecate smiled.

" _Decendio_."

They plummeted to the ground, Jay's ears popping and his belly tingling. It looked like they were going to crash into the trees, but the trees seemed to know better than to stand in the way of a goddess.

They swept sideways, leaving a patch of clear landing space. They were about to hit ground when they stopped an inch from the ground, just like they did when Jay went to camp from his foster home with Jordan.

"There we go," Hecate announced, stepping forward onto the hard ground. "How much this place has changed, used to be covered in trees and beautiful animals. No mortal buildings."

"I bet it was much better then," Hollie agreed, leaping to the ground.

"Yeah, you mortals pop up a few towers wherever you go. All Prometheus' fault really. But you are quite helpful sometimes," she told with a pleasant smile.

"Where shall we go now great Hecate?" Mormo questioned.

"Well I hope you have some guest rooms?" Hecate looked around.

"Yeah we have, probably not to your standard though," Claire answered.

"We have?" Jay pondered.

"One of those doors like the weapon room," Broudie whispered.

"Transport won't be a problem." Hecate let out a small grin.

"Oh we can all fly, maybe not all the way, but with you around we could do it easily. It seems your powers of magic strengthen ours," Hollie informed.

"Yes they will, I am the goddess of magic. I choose to build up your skills," Hecate revealed.

"You can control how good or bad we are?" Jordan asked.

"No not really, I just feel the power you have, it's up to how skilled you are, if you can use that power." She winked at Jordan, who bowed his head disappointedly.

"So shall we start?" Jay questioned eagerly.

"I shall create our transport." Hecate turned to face the trees. She raised her hands, and the trees parted to make another wide open space. Then the goddess threw her hands forward and a ball of fire shot into the centre of the ground. The fire shot up high and out wide, making the fire the size of a house.

"Dragon," Hecate growled. The fire spun into a tornado. Seconds later the fire extinguished into smoke and it began swirling round in rhythmic circles. The smoke wove into a shape like a giant dog with spines and bony wings.

Then the smoke faded into purple. The spines went darker burgundy, the ears and tails as well.

It was a dragon.

Its eyes were deep black, the nostrils a metre in width. The scales seemed to change from red to blue as it moved to face its master.

"May we ride?" Hecate questioned aloud.

The dragon snorted, two puffs of smoke exploding from its nose like a chimney.

"This way dears, our transport is ready." Hecate walked slowly over towards the dragon, casually, walking up through the air as if there was a staircase.

"Do we follow?" Jay asked.

"Yeah," Broudie answered.

"It's a dragon..." Claire stated nervously.

"C'mon guys, Broudie's right. We should go," Hollie told.

"I'm sure we could find a safer way to get back home," Jay muttered, following the goddess and Mormo to the fearsome monster.

As they drew nearer a powerful odour was getting stronger. It was like burnt dung, except it was sweet, and almost made the manure-like stench likeable? Weird.

"Climb aboard," Hecate called happily, stepping onto the creatures back, between one of its terrifying spines. Mormo floated behind her.

" _Relacian formalios,_ " Broudie chanted, gliding up into the air and landing behind the ghostly child biter.

"Do hurry, he won't wait you know," Hecate urged.

"C'mon," Hollie encouraged, darting into the air elegantly, and filling the space behind Broudie.

" _Relacian formalios_ ," Jay called. His feet set alight and he flew up towards the back end of the dragon. It moved its bony wing as Jay swept above it, sending a chill of cool air up his back.

He landed beautifully between the spines. Hollie was right, Hecate was strengthening their powers! He felt so much more in control, it was amazing!

"He's getting inpatient," Hecate warned.

Jay looked behind him to see Jordan, and finally Claire, looking very frightened.

"Let's go." Claire forced a smile, glancing worryingly at the dragon's wings as it moved.

Hecate leant forward and whispered something to the dragon, who immediately fell back, shifting all its weight on to its two back feet. They were held in a near vertical position before slamming back down onto the ground and starting a run.

The wind swept past them like formula one racers. The trees also seemed to move like they had done for Hecate, making a clear runway.

The dragon unfolded his wings and they took off from the ground. Jay heard Claire screaming behind him and Broudie yelling about how cool this was in front.

The dragon squawked like a bird as it reached the height it wanted.

The creature stretched his neck outwards and then began to flap its wings. They soared through the air, rising and descending slightly as the monster flapped. Not a pleasant feeling at first, but very beautiful once you got used to the whole seesaw effect.

Jay looked down and could see the whole of the island they were on, plus the little island they'd landed on, and loads more. They were already crossing the sea, the pacific, if Jay had studied right in class.

"What if they see us?" Jordan called from behind him.

"Who?" Hecate questioned.

"Humans," he replied.

"Invisible, even to the invisible," Hecate told.

"Wow, how can she do that?" Jay asked Hollie in front of him.

"She's a goddess, and not only that she's the goddess of magic, if you'd forgot!" Hollie shouted back in a what-a-stupid-question sort of tone.

"Well if she can do it, why cant we? She could teach it to us," Jay suggested.

"Doubt it," Hollie answered.

"Why." Jay pondered.

"Because that's one of the lost spells."

"Lost spells?"

"There are a list of lost spells and forbidden ones. The lost ones Hecate never taught, the forbidden ones are just, forbidden. Haven't I told you this already?" Hollie finished.

"Yeah, it rings a bell now. She burned all the spells, right?"

"Did I tell you how good at ancient Greek you lot are?" Hecate shouted from up front.

"What do you mean?" Jay asked.

"Well you've had a very in depth conversation with me," Hecate replied.

"Have we?" Claire questioned.

"You're speaking Greek now. It's quite amazing," Hecate informed.

"I'm speaking English," Jay stated.

"No, you think you are," Jordan corrected.

"What?"

"You think you're speaking English but you're speaking ancient Greek. The ring gives you that power, like it gives you magic and some sort of hidden knowledge about Greek mythology," Broudie said.

"Right," Jay said confusedly. He glanced down and saw that they were passing over land. It must have been Brazil or one of the other South American countries. It was beautiful.

The sun rose quickly as they passed over sea once again. The journey was so fast. They must have been about half an hour tops. The ride had been really clear as well, no clouds or storms, 'Zeus must have been having a good day,' Jay laughed to himself.

They had been riding in silence for most of the time until they passed over land once again.

"Nearly there dears," Hecate informed.

"Gods, already?" Broudie said.

"So where's your little hideout then?" Hecate questioned.

"It's near London," Hollie told.

Jay had never asked where the camp actually was, he had just presumed it was in a cave with a small stream. That means that when Jordan took them to camp, they must have been travelling extremely fast. He got them there in just several minutes.

"I was told you had a secret entrance, in a cave, yes?" Hecate asked.

"Yeah," Broudie replied.

"How does the dragon know where it's going?" Claire pondered. She must have been scared to death throughout the whole of the journey.

"I told him to go to your camp and he does. Even _I_ don't know how," Hecate said.

"Maybe he has a sat nav implanted in his brain," Jay laughed.

"Sat nav?" Hecate questioned.

"Mortal technology," Hollie translated.

"Oh," she chuckled. "We're here."

The dragon slowed down in the air, gave one last flap with its humungous wings, and nose-dived towards the ground. The sun was high in the clear blue sky.

There wasn't much of a breeze, before they began the fall. From up above they couldn't see anything, but as they got closer Jay could make out a large coppice.

Then, just like they had done before, the trees shuffled to the sides to make another perfect landing space.

The dragon lifted back his head and then spread out its wings. He flapped several times to steady himself as he lowered them to the ground.

Then, with one giant thud, the creature hit the ground. The trees swayed back and forth from the gusts made by the landing, must have really annoyed the tree nymphs.

The dragon shook a little bit, making Claire squeal, and then folded in his wings.

"Off we get." Hecate waved her hand, and they all rose from their seats between the dragon's spines. The dragon trotted over to the side, and Hecate sliced downwards with her hand. She cut off the levitation, and they fell to the floor.

Hecate landed perfectly on her feet, and Jay landed as an elegant clump on the floor. He lifted himself to his feet and stretched.

"Well, wasn't a bad journey really was it?" Hecate announced.

"If you take away the last bit, yeah," Broudie agreed.

"Thank you," Hecate told the dragon, throwing her hand towards the creature.

A huge chunk of red meat, the size of a small car, erupted from her finger tip. The dragon craned its neck and grabbed the piece of meat between his teeth. He turned around once or twice then fell to the ground in a ball, like a cute, household pet.

The dragon sat there chewing his slab of meat with his super sharp teeth.

"So, let's see what this place is like then, the finished project." Hecate smiled.

Whatever she meant by finished project as if she'd seen it in the making, Jay decided not to bother asking.

"What about the dragon?" Claire questioned.

"Oh, yes, well we'll have to wait for him to finish his meal first," Hecate answered.

"What will you do with him then?" Jay asked.

"Oh, I don't like to destroy my work, you know what I mean. So, I think I'll shrink him and use him as a messenger. He can send my mail," Hecate decided.

"Doesn't Hermes do that for you?" Hollie pondered.

"Oh, whenever I send a message with Hermes, Zeus goes to him and reads it first. Then it gets sent. They don't trust me at all, do they Mormo?"

"No, don't trust great Hecate, they don't," Mormo agreed.

"The dragon's finished," Broudie said.

"Greedy thing ate it one bite probably." Hecate shook her head, and with another wave of her hand, the dragon shrunk to the size of a large bird. "Come on you."

The tiny dragon sprinted along the ground and flew up onto Hecate's shoulder.

Claire gave a quiet 'aw', now not minding the creature because it had shrunk a bit, though Jay reckoned he could probably still give a nasty bite.

"Which way is it?" Jay asked, looking from the left to the right at the two paths.

"It's that way isn't it?" Hecate suggested, pointing to the left.

"What about the trees?" Jordan questioned.

"Oh yes." Hecate waved her hand and bought the trees back into place. "Off we go then."

"Follow me," Hollie said, marching off along the track. "Off back home."

#  Olympus calls.

(Chapter 19)

They strolled down the path for a minute or so, until they reached the entrance. Where they had started their quest.

Jay smiled to himself as he thought in his mind: 'Home sweet home'. Being in a foster home you never feel a part of anything, even if they try to make it homely, things are constantly changing. There's always a new child, or one leaving that you've just started calling your closest friend. It's not a nice feeling, its better than nothing Jay used to think. Until now.

Now he had a home he _wanted_ to call home. A place where he felt he could fit in. That was about the nicest part of this all, he had a place. That empty pocket within him that had always lingered in the back of his mind. That darkness. It was gone now. It was fulfilled and bright as morning sky. His dreams had come true and, even though it sounds a bit pathetic, it was sort of like a fairytale.

"Here we are," Hollie announced, braking off Jay's daze.

"Hm, good hiding place," Hecate said.

"Anyone for the honours?" Hollie asked.

"I will," Broudie called.

He stepped up to the stream that trickled between the path and the stalactite covered cave. He hopped onto the stone, steadied himself, and then said the magic word (literally the magic word),

" _Misgardio_."

The stalactites retreated and the sound of crumbling rock engulfed the midday tweets of the birds around them. Then the stream rose, creating a circle of water over the cave mouth.

"This is it." Broudie smiled at the goddess, with her dragon on her shoulder and her friend/companion Mormo beside her, making her look like one of those really bad parrot training acts you have on holiday.

"Go on then Broudie," Hollie signaled.

"Okay." Broudie turned to face the water and leapt through it.

"Hecate, would you like to go next?" Hollie asked.

"No, I'll go last," Hecate replied.

"Sure?" Hollie jumped through the water wall.

"Go on Jay," Jordan said.

"Okay." He leapt to the rock and then stepped into the water. He was engulfed by it, blue and white swirling round him. Even now in this extremely weird transportation portal, he felt safe and at home.

Then he emerged from the water. He was thrown into the air, but he was ready for it this time. He bent his knees as he reached the ground and he didn't even stumble.

"I can't believe you've done it," Liam squealed.

"Hi Liam," Jay said.

"How was it? We got your bubble, who in the name of Zeus did you encounter?" Liam asked hurryingly.

"It was good. And to be honest I didn't know what half of them were anyway," Jay replied, a wide smile stretched across his face.

"I gotta go, we had an agreement that someone had to stay here and then to gather everyone up first. I'll meet you at the temple." Liam jumped up and down and then sprinted under the banner towards mount Mouvast. There was the sound of splashing water, and Jordan erupted onto the scene.

"You know I'd love it if you actually fell one time," Hollie said, staring at Jordan, who had landed in a perfect fighting position, just like he had done when Jay arrived.

"I wouldn't," Jordan laughed.

"Well Liam seemed excited," Broudie said.

"You've spoke to Liam already?" Jordan questioned.

"They've had a rotor, so as there's always someone by the entrance. And they had a deal so the person who met us first, couldn't talk before gathering up everyone else," Hollie said.

"Nice," Jordan told, "I feel like a celebrity."

With another splash of water Claire burst out of the miniature pool.

"Just waiting for Hecate then," Jay thought.

"Did you tell Liam?" Jordan asked.

"No, I think we'll leave that for when they're all together," Hollie replied.

"It feels so good to be home," Claire smiled.

"Yeah," Broudie agreed.

Then the pool let out Hecate. She leaped into the air and landed elegantly on the ground beside Jay. She still had her messenger pet on her shoulder as well.

"Well I like the teleportation device," Hecate approved.

"Is that what it is?" Jordan pondered.

"You did not know?" Hecate asked.

"Athena did not tell us where the camp was, she just said the entrance was out of London," Hollie replied.

"Where is our exact location? Are we even in London?" Jordan questioned.

"You are on an island, an island that was once owned by someone," Hecate revealed.

"Who?" Broudie shouted.

"Can't tell you that can I? Too easy," Hecate answered.

"Well what island is it?" Hollie asked.

"Can't tell you that either. But what I can say is that Athena used the island as a camp for you, she said it was ideal. It was completely mythological, so no mortal would ever find it," Hecate said.

"Wait so where are we?" Jordan asked.

"You are in the Mediterranean," Hecate answered.

"Where's the Mediterranean?" Jay questioned.

"North Africa coast and southern Europe coast," Claire replied.

"Wait, if we're on an island, then there must be a beach?" Broudie pondered.

"Yes," Hecate agreed.

"Well where is it then?" Jay asked.

"It's the other side of the trees, mind you I wouldn't want to go walking through those. I'd make a wide path if I was you," Hecate suggested.

"Wow, how much land have we got then here?" Hollie said eagerly.

"Well you've probably got another four times what you've got now," Hecate answered.

"Gods, we've got a beach," Claire squealed.

"Mormo thinks your friends have found each other and are on their way," Mormo told them.

"We best get going then." Hecate walked under the camp banner. They all followed behind her.

"How d'you know the way to the temple?" Hollie questioned.

"Oh well I helped Athena with the transformation of this place. We decided that it was best to just stick with a small area away from the sea. So, Athena grew some trees round here, told Amy, it is Amy isn't it, that they should not go near the woods. And you lot haven't," Hecate said.

"You helped Athena make this place?" Jordan asked.

"Why yes, it was a big job, what with all the secret doorways and stuff," Hecate replied as they veered closer to the temple. The sight of it warmed to Jay, he felt so safe, and so excited that there was even more of this place that they could explore.

"That's what you meant when you said the finished project," Jay said.

"Oh yes, I didn't do everything but I helped with most of it."

They reached the temple, swept between the pillars and entered the hallway. The columns at the front scared Jay a bit, he thought a load of Cyclopes would climb from underneath them if he got too close, and then he laughed at his own stupidity.

"So I'll be sleeping in this room then?" Hecate asked, strolling past a picture of a large boat on the seas.

"Yeah. It might not be great." Hollie bit her lip.

"Oh don't worry, I'll spruce it up." Hecate smiled, now moving into the main hall, with the two lots of seats either side.

Hecate picked the tiny dragon off her shoulder and placed it on the one table then sat on the sofa. Mormo glided over to her side.

"Chairs?" Hecate pondered, raising her hand and making her sofa split into six, so there were now six chairs and a sofa opposite.

"Take a seat," Hecate laughed.

Jay sat next to Jordan who was sat next to the goddess herself. The other side of Hecate was Mormo, Hollie, Claire, and Broudie.

The problem with sitting so close to Hecate was that it was hard not to fall on the floor and start begging at her feet, as that's what the aura made you think, it was so powerful.

Hecate leant forward on her chair and put her fist on the table. As she pulled it away, a small red ball took its place. The dragon stared at the ball and sat down on its hind legs.

"May he play?" Hecate asked.

"Yeah, sure," Hollie answered.

The dragon turned its head to face Hecate, who nodded.

With that he ran at the ball and jumped on it. The ball rolled under its belly and flipped up into the air. When it fell, the dragon wagged its tail and leapt into the air. He caught the ball and then dropped it on the table.

The cute, little dragon played with his tiny red ball, chasing it round the table, making everyone laugh.

They sat by themselves for a minute or so, when they heard the rustling of feet and chattering. Hecate immediately stood up and the dragon curled up in a ball around its toy.

"Hi guy-" Philippa called, racing round the corner and stopping in her tracks immediately at the sight of the extraordinarily tall goddess, Hecate.

Everyone else piled into the room, all shutting up when they saw Hecate, oblivious to who she was.

"Good Morning," Hecate greeted.

"Hi," Bobby said confusedly.

"And you are?" Cameron questioned.

"I am-" Hecate was interrupted by Amy who had just entered the room and got down on her knees immediately,

"Hecate, goddess of magic."

"Wha-" Liam was nudged by Alice, who pulled him to his knees as well.

"Do take a seat," Hecate declared.

"That is so unfair, how did Amy recognise you so easily?" Claire mumbled to herself.

They all rose to their feet, most of them wearing utterly confused looks. Amy took the seat opposite Hecate and they both sat at the same time as if they were old enemies.

"So Hollie would you like to explain?" Hecate asked, once all the seats were occupied.

"Thank you Hecate," Hollie replied. The dragon jumped into the air at this point, shocking everyone who had just entered the room.

"Well I'll start off with the journey there..." Hollie recalled the whole quest from the start where Jay was dipped in the sea, to when they tumbled to their death at the entrance to the temple. Most of them laughed at the bit where Broudie was hit by an ear and most of them had their mouths wide open when she told them about when Jay incinerated a dracaenae and when Claire sliced the amphisbaena in half.

She pulled out the ball from her pocket and showed it when she told them how Broudie had been knocked out and how Claire had made a conscious potion to help.

When she got to the bit where they entered the temple she paused for a breath.

"Gods what was it like in the temple?" Amy questioned.

"Eh, does anybody else want to do this bit?" Hollie looked around, "Talking is quite tiring."

"I'll do it," Jay volunteered.

"Go on then."

Then Jay told them about the temple. The strange flower, the sirens and the riddle, the Cyclops, the moving doors, the hexagonal chamber, the cloud land, the icy room, the lava pit and then finally the palace and the fountain.

"Yeah and then we ignored Hecate thinking she was going to take us off our track. We didn't know who she was then though. So we ran along when Mormo took us back to Hecate and she introduced herself. Then we had to work out the last bit," Jay said.

"Well where's the jewel?" Bobby questioned.

"Here," Jordan nodded his head towards Hecate, who was smiling mischievously.

"Here?" Lochlan pondered.

"It all makes sense," Amy blurted.

"Nothing makes sense," Cameron debated.

"Hecate's the jewel of Barthimia," Amy revealed.

Then Jordan, with the help of Hecate, had to explain why the goddess was there, why she was the jewel, and everything else they'd been told on their journey back home.

"So that's why the monsters were after you, because they thought you would remove their curse," Philippa summed up.

"And the gods didn't trust you much, so when you swore on the river they were really pleased," Liam finished.

"Yes," Hecate agreed.

"Wow," Bobby said as the dragon blew some fire at the red ball, which disintegrated immediately.

"Yeah we used him to get back, then Hecate shrunk him," Broudie told.

"So I say we should go and contact Olympus, they can congratulate you," Hecate suggested.

"Let's go," Liam said.

"Mount Mouvast, yes?" Hecate questioned.

"Yeah." Hollie leapt to her feet, closely followed by Hecate.

"How do you know about Mount Mouvast?" Cameron asked.

"I helped Athena create this place," Hecate replied simply.

"What?" Alice pondered.

They all strolled out of the temple and towards Mount Mouvast, Hollie explaining the whole island thing, which they all got really excited about, thinking about how much they could do now, all the exploring.

"How are we getting up?" Hecate asked.

"We've got our own ways," Amy answered.

"Meet you up the top then, come on Mormo." Hecate shot like a rocket up the mountain, Mormo and the miniature dragon flying slowly up behind her.

"She's not like most gods is she?" Bobby said.

"She's really nice," Lochlan agreed.

It was strange. Jay's first impressions of the goddess were quite negative, and he'd suddenly changed to love her like she was some awesomely amazing aunty or something.

"C'mon, don't want to keep her waiting." Hollie whispered a spell then shot up the mountain, water gushing from her feet.

"Would you like me to take you up?" Jordan laughed then transformed into his eagle self, " _Hokvalmia_."

"No thanks," Jay replied as Jordan swooped off.

Everyone else was already on their way up: the dog, the deer, the lion, everyone. So Jay got in position and chanted the spell,

" _Hokvalmia_."

He erupted into flames and sped up the mountain side. He was drizzled with water now and again from Hollie. Thankfully he didn't fall like he did whilst crossing the English Channel at the start of their quest, which was a bonus.

He shone orange and yellow as he passed over the top of the mountain. He could see Mormo, Amy, Jordan, Hollie and Hecate already stood on the top.

So, he dived towards them, air rushing past him at supersonic speed.

As he approached the ground, he pulled up and landed perfectly.

Across the forest the same misty murk hung on top of the trees. It must have been blocking all sight of anything beyond - the rest of the island, the beaches!

The fire around him distinguished and he breathed a sigh of relief. It must have been Hecate strengthening his powers again.

"I forgot, we haven't got the box," Hollie told.

"Don't worry, I don't think we're going to need it. I think Athena will be able to contact us easily now with you lot showing how good you can be." Hecate smiled.

"You think?" Hollie questioned.

"Yeah, that wasn't a small quest at all. I mean not as big as the Golden Fleece quest or anything, but very good. You've proved yourself," Hecate replied.

They waited on the hill as the others galloped up the side. The dog, the lion, the deer, Lochlan on his vines, a fox (which must have been Liam), the dove and the flying shoed Cameron all gathered round, transforming back to their normal selves.

"So do we just wait till she calls?" Jay asked.

"I'll see where she is." Hecate closed her eyes and then reopened them. "She's informing Zeus of your accomplishment." Then she closed her eyes again. "Wait, she wants us to call her, she's going to show Zeus."

"What?" Bobby blurted, unable to contain her surprise.

"Zeus himself?" Claire questioned, uneasily.

"Oh he's all talk, he's not even that bad. Just a bit unforgiving and a bit annoyed about getting help from anyone else, he's like that," Hecate answered.

"So do we?" Hollie asked.

"Yes." Hecate turned to face the rock where they'd placed the box when they had called Olympus the last time. She opened up her arms and started chanting a few words, then clapped her hands together.

A shot of white light sped out from her hands making a large white circle. She threw her hand at the cloudy circle and whispered,

"Athena."

The circle of clouds swirled together and then cleared, to show a tall, bearded man sat strongly on his chair, with a woman sat at his feet. The chair was grey and gloomy and seemed to sparkle like thunder now and again.

The old man wore a cream toga with a bright gold, badge type thing on his shoulder. He wore a thistle crown made of gold and green vines. His eyes were terrifying and dominating, electricity shot around his black pupils as he looked down from his mighty thone.

The woman Jay recognised as Athena, the same woman they'd talked to on mount Mouvast the last time, and she was sat beneath. She wore a turquoise tinged sheet and beautiful accessories on her arms. Not the plastic ones, but bronze and silver ones laced around her arms and a gorgeous silver necklace that had a dull gem inside.

Behind them was a crystal white, marble temple. Columns dressed with sculptured of beasts and plants.

The old man narrowed his eyes at the sight of them.

"Hello Lord Zeus of the sky. I have called on behalf of these twelve ring bearers, to inform you of the completion of a quest Athena of wisdom did give to them." Hecate bent down on one knee, Amy and everyone else followed her lead.

"Rise," Zeus told in a deep, angry voice.

They did as he said, rising to their feet slowly, as if a giant was pressing a finger down on their backs.

"Lord Zeus, do you know of their quest?" Hecate asked.

"I do," Zeus replied.

"Then you know that their quest was to find me, the jewel of Barthimia. And that they had to find Frederick, the great demi-god that helped us with our duties at the beginning of the fading millennia's, first, to find out the whereabouts of my latest home?" Hecate questioned.

"I do," Zeus agreed.

"And do you know the type of monsters they have come up against. The ones they have sent back to Tartarus?"

"I do Hecate."

"Would you like to say anything to these young ring bearers, who are going to spend the rest of their life fighting to protect Olympus and its gods?"

"Yes, a word or so." Zeus breathed slowly. Even though they weren't in the same room, Jay could still feel the power radiating off him.

"This quest," Lord Zeus started, "was a quest of importance. Not only for the safety of humanity and of the curse the monsters still bare. But of another importance. The importance of trust. During this quest, many gods and goddesses have been watching you. You're every move. We have seen what you are capable of, and we know now, that you are trustworthy. I have had nothing to do with you, for reasons I keep to myself. But, it looks like the prophecy does speak truth. You may be the ones who are to save the earth from the monsters of Tartarus. And I hope you will keep this trust. I cannot, as you should understand, trust you too much. You are mortals, and are capable of breaking this trust, turning on Olympus and creating your own world. This is, I hope, not within your minds, for we gods of Olympus need someone who can do the things we gods used to do. I finish this speech to you on a high note. You are building trust with Olympus, and when the barrier of trust is so thick that there will be no way of breaking it, we shall support you in all ways possible. But for now, you must become experienced, you must build this barrier for yourselves, and for the survival of earth's mortals. Train hard and show us how good you really are."

There was a short pause of dreadful silence.

"Thank you, Lord Zeus." Amy knelt down.

"Thank you," everyone repeated, except Jay, who quickly knelt and joined in.

"Hecate," Zeus called.

"Yes," she replied without her formal tone.

"I would like you to return to Olympus as soon as you are ready. I shall order a chariot. Apollo or Hermes shall meet you there. Send a signal when you are finished with the ring bearers. Good day all," Zeus finished.

"Good day." The woman, Athena, winked a comforting smile.

The cloudy circle fogged up again, and then disappeared, leaving everyone on top of the mountain, except the dragon, silent.

"Well, I told you he wasn't bad," Hecate told.

"Yeah, em Hecate, how long will you stay here?" Liam asked.

"I think I'll have a guided tour of the place, I can't remember much. Then I'll help you build a path through the forest to the rest of the island. And then I think I'll be off. I'd say about three days," Hecate answered.

"Yes!" Jay mumbled under his breath.

#  A dream team.

(Chapter 20)

They flew back down Mouvast Mountain, excited about this 'tour'.

"Yes, I think we'll finish at the temple, seems as I'll be sleeping there," Hecate agreed.

"So, the fighting area," Broudie said, Jay could tell he was excited, it was Broudie's favourite place, other than the weapon room.

They strolled along the grass, climbed over the bridge and walked into the fighting area.

"You know. I wanted to have twelve entrances to here. Athena said it was too much hassle," Hecate told.

"Really?" Jordan questioned.

"Yes, and I said that the fighting area should have a changeable ground level as well. With a podium in the middle so as you could make it a bit more real, but, yet again, too much hassle."

"That would be awesome," Broudie agreed dreamily.

"Athena's going to have me weaving when I get up to Olympus, what with me saying all these things," Hecate laughed to herself.

"Maybe we could change it," Bobby suggested.

"Yeah, it'd be simple with thirteen magic users around," Hecate said.

"More like five hundred and thirteen. You count as five hundred odd sorceresses," Jay corrected, getting in with the whole 'sucking up to a god' thing.

"Oh, we have to be careful here, you need to look out for spears," Alice chuckled, pointing to the small gap in the tree to their right.

"Why is that then?" Hecate questioned.

"Jay got speared by Broudie accidentally as he was walking in," Amy told.

"And you are alive!?" Hecate asked.

"He turned himself into fire and the spear passed through him, wasn't very well at all after," Liam replied.

"No I wasn't," Jay agreed.

"And that was in his first few weeks," Hollie said.

Jay felt quite embarrassed. He liked being really good at things, but he didn't like people admiring him, he was just uncomfortable with it.

They walked towards the campfire now, which was burning bright orange and yellow like it always did.

"And here's where we sleep," Amy told.

"Oh, I don't think I helped with this bit," Hecate pondered, trying to see if she recognized anything.

"You won't be able to go in them though, some sort of barrier on the door so only the owners can go in," Jay informed.

"Oh, I'll be able to get in easily," Hecate laughed.

"Mormo can too," Mormo told.

"Well I hope it's tidy?" Hecate chuckled.

"I haven't exactly used mine much," Jay replied.

"Then we'll start with yours." Hecate strolled into the centre where the campfire burned. She did a three sixty turn then pointed to Jay's hut and walked over to it.

"Eh, we'll get ours sorted," Liam said, racing over to his own. The others did the same, all looking slightly worried that they hadn't cleaned up.

Jay walked behind Hecate as she opened the door.

"Can't even see inside can you? Quite clever is our Athena. But can't keep me out." Hecate walked straight through the doorway without any struggle.

Jay followed and closed the door behind him. The heat of the house was so relaxing he just felt like falling to sleep or slouching into his hot comfy sofa and reading one of his books that Hollie had given him.

"Eh, welcome to my hut," Jay announced timidly.

"Well did a nice job in here, very Hephaestus, and very warm," Hecate said, turning left into the lounge.

The books were spread on the table, one on the chair. The rug was curled on the sides and there were little bits of grass on the carpet. Hecate glanced at Jay and then waved her hand. The carpet uncurled and the books packed themselves into a neat pile.

"Bit empty, needs to have some ornaments or something in here. Do you think?" Hecate asked.

"Mormo thinks so," the ghost agreed and the dragon squawked like a bird.

"Eh, yeah sure," Jay said.

"Great, how about here." She pointed at an empty corner and a dark red wood cupboard appeared, the books that were on the table floated onto it and then Hecate pointed her finger at the blank coloured wall. A shelf appeared, and loads of stones and shells appeared along it, weird ornaments that moved like seaweed stood on either side.

"Wow."

"Good isn't it, let's move onto the kitchen." Hecate swept through into the kitchen. She made no change in the kitchen apart from sprucing a wall up in yellow and red tiles that read, 'Jay wears the ring of Hephaestus'.

"How about upstairs?"

Hecate moved into the hallway, added some elegant, moving plants and a venus flytrap. Then she saw the cupboard under the stairs that Jay had never opened before. She opened it up and peered inside.

"What's in there?" Jay questioned.

"Well nothing, but I think you need your own workshop so I'll use this space as one, if that's all right? Doubt you have one upstairs."

"A real workshop?"

"So you don't have one, well you do wear the ring of Hephaestus, god of the forges. I reckon you best have one." Hecate ducked, and she had to at her height, her head into the gloomy cupboard. She was there for a minute or so, and when she came back out, a switch appeared by the door.

"All done," Hecate announced.

"Can I have a-"

"Not yet, have a look tonight."

"What's it like?"

"Wait patiently, I've added some pictures and some stuff you could do. I'll be waiting for my package on Olympus, take your time on it, I want it to be as good as Hephaestus' work. But for now, I'll take a look upstairs, come on."

Did Hecate just ask him to make something for her? A goddess had asked Jay to make something for her, how great was this? He could have is own company and sell everything, 'J P'S PARLOUR OF ACCESSORIES, EVERYTHING YOU'LL EVER NEED IN ONE SHOP'. 'Other than food,' he thought.

Then she went on upstairs, Jay bouncing happily up behind her.

She added another moving plant in the bedroom and spread two pictures on the wall. One was of everyone at the hideout, all in fighting positions and the other was of all of their adventures on the quest.

It was like a cartoon strip with dozens of scenes. Jay diving into the sea, the Panotii and Frederick, the dracaenaes, the Hippocampi visit, the two headed snake Amphisbaena, the entrance with the trees, the sirens, the Cyclops, the Ampherlios, the palace, Hecate and Mormo, and finally the dragon.

"How did you know of our journey?" Jay questioned.

"I can read minds, the gods used to too. But the ones that have started fading can't do it no more," Hecate answered.

"So not all the gods are fading?" Jay asked.

"Course not, do I look like I'm fading, do you think Hephaestus' fading. He's probably getting stronger," Hecate replied.

"Really?"

Jay had presumed all the Gods were fading and that eventually they'd all be gone. But now when he thought about it, Hollie had told him the reason why they were fading was because of mortals evolving. But with all the technology round in the twenty first century why wouldn't Hephaestus be stronger, and Aphrodite, she was the goddess of love. So love is still around and there are more mortals nowadays so there would be more love.

Now Jay thought about it, it seemed most of the Gods weren't fading. But then there's Artemis, she must be getting weaker because no one hunts for food no more. And Ares, well there aren't any wars nowadays, it's all to do with keeping peace.

With those thoughts in his mind, Jay, Hecate, Mormo and the dragon walked back down the stairs and out of the hut. Hecate gave out a huge sigh of relief as she exited,

"Fresh air, I was boiling."

"Mormo didn't feel it."

"Because Mormo doesn't feel," Hecate said harshly. "Well I'll move onto the next now." Hecate, Mormo and the dragon opened the door beside Jay's and walked through.

Jay walked over to the campfire and sat on one of the logs. He waited for a few minutes, playing with the fire.

He could sit and watch the orange flames dance all day, it mesmerised him and comforted him. Either that or there was a siren inside the fire singing their stupid songs.

That bought Jay back to what they'd said: 'Thrown to mortality, he turned on them.' What could that have meant? It must've been true, they spoke truth, that's what it said in the book. And what about the conversation on the plane? Nothing had come of that either. And the sphere, the disappearing tracks, the Nereids at the waterfall the week he arrived.

What had happened with all that? They'd completed their quest, yes, but no one had figured out who the people on the plane were, or who might've left the tracks, who the sirens could've been singing about! It hadn't even been mentioned. It had been forgotten.

Maybe they were clues? Clues to why the Gods are fading, or how to stop them fading. What if Jay could piece all the clues together and find out what's going on, find a way to save the mortal and magical world from fading away?

Then Liam came out, followed by Hecate and Mormo. The goddess moved to the next hut whilst Liam came to join Jay.

"What did she do in yours then?" Jay asked, knocking back his thoughts, saving them for later.

"Loads. She replaced the front room lighting with an actual replica of the sun. She added a whole new room for me to do my potions in and gave me loads more stuff to make them with. But she didn't even let me take a look," Liam said, sitting on the log beside Jay.

"Yeah she made me a room, like a forge, under the stairs and said I couldn't look in it until tonight," Jay agreed.

"Well, obeying the gods aren't much fun," Liam concluded jokingly.

"Did she put any moving plants up?" Jay questioned.

"Loads, and a big poster of your quest, she said she was going to put it up in each hut," Liam replied.

"Did she say yours was empty?"

"No, she said I should be careful with my potions though, said I must have spilled something on the floor and if I'd have stood on it I could have died, that's the main reason why she made the potion room for me," Liam bit his lip then laughed.

They told each other what Hecate had done in their huts just in time for someone else to join them on the logs.

Lochlan told them about his, then when Broudie came out, he told them about his. And then eventually there were eleven of them sat around the fire, chatting and discussing with excited expressions.

"I really can't imagine you weaving, or doing anything like that," Bobby chuckled.

"I quite like it, and it is a skill of Athena so I am good at it," Amy persisted.

"That's all of you then isn't it?" Hecate concluded, strolling out of Alice's hut and joining the ring bearers at the fire. Alice closed the door behind her and skipped over.

"So where does our guided tour take us next?" Hecate questioned.

"The waterfall?" Jay suggested.  
"Nah, not much there really, I know what that it looks like. Anything else?" Hecate asked.

"Well then, we'll go to the court," Hollie told.

"Now that's more like it. A good old game of squally ball," Hecate agreed.

"You play squally ball?" Broudie pondered.

"You do make me laugh. I am the goddess of magic, I invented squally ball. Well along with a load of other sorcerers and sorceresses," Hecate replied.

"Let's go then." Philippa jumped up excitedly.

"Race you." Hecate clicked her fingers and disappeared.

"Gods, she's nothing like a goddess, it's ridiculous," Alice said.

"Yeah. She's more like a big kid," Liam agreed.

"Well as she said, _Hokvalmia._ " Philippa erupted into grass and appeared again about twenty metres in front.

Jay got himself ready and was about to chant the spell when he turned into fire?

Wait? Did he just...? Without a spell!

It must have been Hecate strengthening their powers again. He jumped into the sky and rocketed along the grass, over the huts, over the stream and then towards the stadium.

He slowed down and dived towards the ground. He saw Hecate and Mormo, then suddenly Philippa emerged from the grass.

Jay hit ground and extinguished, just like he had done on mount Mouvast, except this time with extreme satisfaction glowing from his face.

"Took long enough." Hecate lifted her arm up as if checking the time, and as she did, a clock appeared and disappeared. "Habits," she muttered.

"Can I go on your team?" Jay asked, "For squally ball."

"Me too?" Philippa added.

"Yeah, Mormo will play too, you two can play front and us two will play back," Hecate agreed.

"Great," Jay muttered as everyone else joined them.

"So, let's play then." Hecate wondered into the stadium and walked onto the far court. Mormo followed.

"Who's going to go on your team Hecate?" Amy questioned.

"I have my team," Hecate replied.

Jay and Philippa looked at each other and then sprinted over to join the goddess.

"Ok, who's up against these then?" Amy looked around.

"I'll go," Hollie volunteered.

"Me too," Liam said.

"And us." Broudie and Lochlan strolled onto the pitch.

"Let's take our seats then guys." Amy and the rest climbed up into the stands. The floating speaker still levitating above the net. "I have a feeling this'll be a fun game."

"Which side shall I play?" Jay asked Philippa.

"You take left," Philippa told.

"Right then, we'll play a high short game and play a back win. Hit it from height and around for you two," Hecate spoke.

"Said like a professional." Mormo nodded from behind Philippa.

"What does that mean?" Jay whispered.

"Just always hit the ball straight down and jump high. Then the two at the back will score the winners when the front two on the other side hit it long," Philippa said.

"I think you've got me more confused," Jay laughed.

"Everyone ready?" Amy asked from the stands. "Then let's start. Rackets at the ready," After that part of the sentence giant rackets appeared in all the players' hands, "and the squally," this time the ball appeared on the ground next to Hecate who picked it up with her hands, "Then let's play squally ball!!!"

A whistle blew and the game began.

Jay heard the swing of a racket and the sound of a spell, one he'd never heard of before. The speaker started with a huge gasp and screamed 'Hecate' when the squally darted over the net and then immediately changed direction as it passed over the net, so as it was now falling vertically down.

The speaker began commentating on the game, much more excitedly than it had done before.

"Get it!" Hollie screamed from the back.

"Broudie and Lochlan both dived for the ball and missed. It hit the ground and the speaker screamed,

"Two points for team Hecate ghost and kids."

"Good name," Philippa agreed jumping into the air at the first point.

The ball was in Liam's hand now. He leapt into the air and swung his racket. The squally flew over the net towards Jay, who did as Philippa had said and jumped up high. He screamed the invisibility spell and hit the ball. He touched ground again and something wrapped round his ankle. He looked down and saw that there were vines shooting from the ground and catching his feet, which made him think of when he tortured Frederick with his rampant waffle about saving the gods.

He tugged his leg free and focussed back on the game, constantly moving to prevent getting caught. He was jumping around like he was stood on a hot plate, dodging the leg holding weeds that continued to erupt from the ground.

"Mormo gets this one," Mormo screamed as the ball travelled back into their court.

She shot up into the air and hit the ball just above Jay's head. She didn't even say a spell, maybe she didn't possess magic?

Jay sighed thinking the ball was out of the court, but instead the squally bounced off the air.

The invisible barrier around the court shone white, and the ball shot back at Lochlan, who saved the ball from touching the ground.

They shot around the court for about four minutes. Jay and Philippa now wearing more than one pair of legs and melting into the floor if they stood still for too long.

Hecate, on the other hand, was only suffering from a giant beak, which, according to Jay was something that would get in the way, but apparently not for Hecate, who used her yellow and red beak to hit the ball higher and then hit it again with her racket so as she had more height.

The game was slightly unfair to say the least. Hecate was doing great for Jay's team. What with blurting out weird spells that did amazing things, like some which spelt a letter in midair whilst crossing the net, changing directions and making it harder for the other team to hit. The score was forty eight to twenty four. They needed just one more hit to win.

" _Aquamarnias!_ " Hecate yelled shooting the squally to the back of Liam's side of the court.

"Liam hit the ball back, drenched, and it came for Philippa. She backed up as the ball flew over the net. Then Jay had a brain wave,

"SLICING SPELL!" He urged.

"What?" Philippa replied getting ready to swing.

"Do it," Jay ordered.

Philippa hesitated for a moment then shouted, " _Delargio!_ "

A vine wrapped round her ankle and she was thrown to the ground.

She just managed to hit the squally back over the net. Her arms went brown and fury and her head smashed on the ground. Jay went over to help then looked up.

The squally had transformed into a small blade, like a knife, and was spiraling its way at Lochlan.

Lochlan went to swing with his racket but stepped away in fear. The squally hit the ground as a blade in the centre circle, sticking vertically in the ground. Ten points!

The blade transformed back into the large squally, and Lochlan was completely dumbstruck.

"Yeah!" Jay jumped into the air with delight.

"THAT'S A WIN FOR TEAM HECATE GHOST AND KIDS. A MILE IN THE LEAD. WHAT A GREAT SPELL!" The speaker concluded, "Curses withdrawn."

Jay returned to his normal self the vines that had wrapped round his ankles retreated and Philippa got to her feet.

"Great idea," she smiled rubbing the back of her head.

"Thanks." Jay put the bat on the floor and it disappeared.

"Good game." Hecate strolled over, Mormo happily smiling behind her.

"Ok, who's gonna play next?" Amy called out.

"I'll stay on for another game, and Mormo. That makes another two teams, yes?" Hecate suggested, doing a one eighty and going back to her position on the court.

"Me, Alice anyone else for our team." Amy looked around, walking down from the stands.

"Good game guys, you deffo had an advantage," Lochlan told.

"Well, you could say that." Jay smiled, climbing up above the court.

"Well great spell choice Philippa, never knew you could use that one," Liam congratulated.

"It was Jay really," Philippa corrected.

"Really?" Hollie asked.

"Brain wave," Jay said.

"Never mind brain wave, what about heat wave, I'm glad you didn't use that," Broudie said chuffed.

"I forgot about that." Jay pondered about what a winner that would have been for his team.

"Try it out against Hecate maybe," Liam suggested.

"She's only gonna slaughter you anyway," Hollie agreed.

"I was hoping that was my last game," Jay laughed, taking a seat next to Philippa and Liam in the stands.

"I'll do it." Hollie walked past them and stood at the stand in the centre of the seats.

Everyone was already in the right places. It was Alice, Amy, Jordan and Bobby against Hecate, Mormo, Cameron and Claire.

"Everyone ready?" Hollie started, "Racket's at the ready...and the squall...Then let's play squally ball."

The game was a near twin to the one Jay had just played. Hecate's team were doing great with the goddess of magic, could you possibly lose? The game ended with one of Mormo's rebound hit's that confused Amy and Cameron, and made them bang into each other. They fell to the ground letting the squally touch the ground in one of the back quadrants.

"That's a win for heca-morma-cama-claire. Leading by twenty clear points. Curses withdrawn."

So that was the end of the second game of squally ball.

After that, they played another four more! Hecate's team winning every time, her having more than double the amount of points of the loosing team. Jay played in two of the games using his ultimate heat wave attack three times in each. It worked quite well on Hecate the first time. But she got to know the trick. Unlike Mormo who went into a daze and scored his team ten points.

The games finished, Hecate not out of breath whatsoever in comparison everyone else's flustered cheeks.

"Well," Amy announced, the sun hidden behind the stadium walls, "I know that most of us, excluding Hecate, are well out of breath and will extremely appreciate a hearty dinner." Amy herself closed her eyes dreamily at that sentence.

"Great, I was feeling a bit puckish," Hecate agreed. "C'mon Porseus," Hecate called.

"You've named the dragon?" Liam questioned.

"Well it sounds a nice name, no?" Hecate asked.

"I suppose, does it mean anything?" Bobby questioned.

"No," Hecate laughed, "nothing in Greek mythology means anything, or makes any sense. It's what makes it so fun."

She smiled, and the twelve teenagers, Mormo and herself walked slowly out of the squally ball stadium and out into the fresh evening fields.

#  Make way for magic.

(Chapter 21)

They reached the temple, stomachs rumbling.

"Cannot wait." Jay rubbed his hands together eagerly as they approached the table.

"We haven't got enough chairs," Claire sighed.

"Now we have." Hecate extended the table and added three more chairs, one double the size, with just a flick of a hand. It was amazing her power.

"Three?" Jordan pondered.

"Porseus is aloud, no?" Hecate asked.

"Yeah as long as he has manners," Jay chuckled to himself, as they each took their seats at the table.

"Oh, the plates, I remember these. Hard work were these," Hecate told.

"You made them?" Lochlan questioned.

"Hephaestus did, sneakily without Zeus seeing," Hecate whispered.

Jay thought about how he might be able to create something like these plates in his new workshop, he hadn't even seen it yet. Would it be like a full-functioning factory? Or was he asking too much?

"Lovely," Hecate announced, a selection of cheese, berries and bread appeared on her plate beside two MilkyWay-like bars.

"Ambrosia if you're wondering," Hecate told, cutting one of the bars with her knife, topping it with a berry, and eating it with a super straight back utter snobbishness.

"Ambrosia?" Jay questioned.

"Food of the gods," Amy answered.

Jay looked down at his plate. He hadn't had a substantial meal in days.

He focussed hard and whispered the spell, a delicious curry appearing before him. The rice was moulded into the shape of a tree and the curry surrounded it like a swamp. The exotic spices wafted up into his nose.

He ate the meal slowly, savouring every mouthful. He had missed a meal today and he needed to replace it.

After they finished their meals, Porseus eating a small dollop of meat and a tiny carrot which he left, unsurprisingly, Mormo, Hecate and Porseus left the table and strolled off into the guest room, the one Jay had never seen before.

The ring bearers also left the table seconds later and retired to their huts.

"Well, busy day," Bobby said.

"Would talk, but cant." Hollie staggered into her dorm. It was well into night when Jay finally went to sleep in his cosy hut of red and yellow. The fire burned in the fireplace as he closed his eyes.

The next morning Jay was straight out of bed really early, knowing that Hecate was going to dig out a path through to the rest of the island, and that he would be able to see his new workshop!

He jumped out of bed and put on some clothes. He whizzed into the hall, looking away from the under stair doorway in case he got tempted, and got himself some breakfast using his supermarket fridge.

Then, Jay walked slowly over to the door under the stairs, standing in a daze for a moment, pondering what it was going to be like.

He reached out with his hand, and flicked the switch, which lit up the gaps around the door.

Then he grasped the handle. He slowly turned it till it clicked, and then opened the door steadily.

He looked down to see a proper concrete floor, then closed his eyes, ducked his head, and walked into his dream.

Opening his eyes, he smiled with delight.

The workshop was about two times the size of the insides of the hut. There were nine chandeliers of pure gold, in rows of three, hanging beautifully off the ceiling. There was a twenty five ft. square of open space at the far end of the room, a small squashed cylinder sat in the centre like a podium. Behind the large area were three doors.

Along each side of the room were work benches, above them, hundreds of shelves. There was another giant worktop in the centre, directly in front of him. A large dent was made in one of the tops, a large lump on another.

The shelves and worktops were completely empty and sparkling clean. It was amazing, it even smelt of what it should have smelt of.

Jay raced down the one side of the room, running his hand along the worktop. He leapt on and off of the podium and then stared at the three doors.

What was inside them?

He paced over to the right door and turned the knob. He opened it up and a surge of heat hit him, and it must've been hot as it literally did hit him.

The light was blinding yellow, he could hardly see, but he could just make out some shelves on either side.

He shut the door exhausted, it must have been an oven. Then he strolled over to the middle door, and slowly opened it.

This room was a storage room; there were millions of shelves and tables, hooks and rails everywhere. The best bit was that they were partly full. Bits of scrap metal and plastic, pistons and wires were piled neatly in stacks, all assorted.

Jay was so excited that he ran over to one of the shelves, grabbed some scrap metal, and weirdly hugged it.

He stopped himself, laughed, and then sped out of the room so as he could check out the last door.

With another click he was blasted with a bitter chill. It was like opening an enormous freezer set at minus six thousand. His skin tingled and his eyes burned. He immediately shut the door and did a quick shiver-dance.

How cool could his life get? It started off so lame and boring, and now it was full of deadly fun, amazingly cool stuff everywhere. He had his own, fully functioning workshop, well, fully functioning soon anyway.

He felt so excited that he had to go and share it. He couldn't wait to tell everyone. So he sprinted to the door the other side and closed it behind him. He opened his front door and jumped out into a lovely fresh summer morning.

The sun was shining beautifully in the sky, not a cloud was in sight. The birds, who probably had monkey tails and lion bodies, sang the morning chorus.

In fact, when he thought about it, he had never actually seen a bird at the hideout, only a nymph, which he didn't exactly meet, and a nereid which had been smashed to pieces by tumbling rocks.

He'd got back to worrying about it again, all those unanswered questions.

Suddenly his excitement melted away and he began pondering in thought once again.

"Hi Jay, coming to find Hecate?" Bobby questioned.

"Oh, yeah I was," Jay replied.

"You alright?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah."

"You don't look it."

"I was just thinking about things."

"Oh, well you coming then?"  
Jay and Bobby strolled over towards the temple. They flew over the stream and across the field, Jay explaining his whole workshop to Bobby, who sounded genuinely interested.

"Well I'll get you making me a bow and arrow, I'll send you an order form," Bobby laughed.

"Yeah I'll put you on my list, I've got a long waiting queue, so many orders," Jay chuckled as they walked into the temple.

"Well where do you think she is then?" Bobby thought.

"There," Jay answered, pointing straight ahead of him.

Inside the main room sat Hecate, Mormo, Porseus and Amy, all in deep conversation.

"Yeah, well I don't think I can stay much longer, I think I should go tomorrow," Hecate told.

"Well you're welcome to come and stay anytime." Amy smiled, glancing round and noticing Bobby and Jay, who were stood in the hall.

"Hi guys, anyone else up yet?" Amy questioned.

"Morning all," Hecate greeted.

"I'd like to say thanks for the workshop Hecate, it's great," Jay thanked.

"Yeah well I forgot to put any tools in there, but then I thought about it, and there isn't really any need for them anyway," Hecate replied.

"Well thanks." Jay walked into the room and Hecate stood up.

"Got a lot to do today again then. It's time to explore this place," Hecate said, reaching out with her hand so as Porseus could climb up onto her shoulder.

"No one's up, I don't think," Bobby told.

"I doubt it, they'll all be well excited, and they're probably on their way here now," Amy corrected.

All five of them, if you count Mormo, six if you count Porseus, strolled out of the temple and back out into the morning breeze.

"See, I told you they'd be up." Amy pointed out a large group of kids wondering through the fighting area.

"So where are we going to cut through then?" Hecate asked.

"You mean through the forest?" Jay pondered.

"Yes," Hecate replied.

"I say we open up the forest there." Bobby pointed to the back side of the fighting area.

"Yes, and that's the closest way to get to the beach as well. Clever girl." Hecate smiled.

"I always pick right," Bobby said.

Hecate, Hollie, Bobby, Jay and Mormo swept over the stream to meet everyone else in a group at the one entrance to the fighting area.

"Morning all," Hecate greeted.

"My potions lab is ace," Liam blurted.

"It's what?" Hecate asked.

"He says his potion lavatory is really good, we should know, he hasn't shut up about it since we first seen him this morning," Alice sighed.

"Jay hasn't told you about his workshop yet either." Bobby rolled her eyes.

"What's it like?" Broudie questioned eagerly.

"Oh interested in his place then." Liam shook his head.

They laughed.

"So we're going to open up the forest today, explore the island," Amy informed.

"Yeah, this island which Hecate hasn't told us the name of," Philippa added.

"I cannot tell you, it is not for me to say." Hecate smiled.

"Let's go then." Amy announced and began trekking down the field.

Jay told of his workshop to the others and Liam told his sister and Amy about his lavatory.

They slipped through the fighting area's trees and then stopped at the forest wall, ready to make the entrance to the rest of the island.

"So, this part of the forest is quite slim so it should be just a simple bit of manoeuvring, but then it might not be," Hecate muttered turning back to face the trees.

"How about you just walk at them, they moved when we were on San Cristobal," Hollie suggested.

"We don't want to upset any nymphs do we, especially seems as you'll have to put up with them yelling at you all the time," Hecate chuckled.

She shook her shoulders and the dragon, Porseus, jumped down to the ground. She put her hands out front in a diving position and pulled them apart. As she did, the trees moved sideways, nudging other trees into a dense pack.

The trees groaned and wined as they were pushed closer together, the soil rumbling.

"What an earth are you doing?!" Shouted a tiny little voice.

Jay squinted his eyes, searching the trees.

"I'm up here." The squeaky voice was tense and angry.

Jay looked up in the trees and spotted a small, fragile girl. Her skin was light green and she wore a dress made of leaves. Her ears were like elves and her hair was as brown as the branch she was sat on.

"Hello there." Hecate walked up to her.

"What are you doing, trying to suffocate us?" The nymph screamed.

"Don't worry little dryad, I am creating a path so as whenever we have to come through here, we won't disturb you," Hecate said nicely.

"Well how are we supposed to survive being so close to each other?!" The dryad yelled, swinging her feet.

"Give us a moment." Hecate turned to face the bottom of the tree she was sat on.

"Off my tree you!" The dryad called down.

"How about this." Hecate touched the bottom of the tree and the angry, elf-like nymph shut up.

Hecate pulled her finger off the bark and the little dryad blushed. Her hair went silky and wavy, her leaf dress suddenly blossomed with a tiny pink flower at the top. Her light green skin became less pale and she closed her eyes delightfully.

"Better?" Hecate asked.

"Much." The dryad put her hands together, tilted her head to one side and vanished.

"So shall we move on?" Hecate moved into the woods, everyone staying close to her tail. Hecate had moved the first few trees either side so as they could just about fit a land rover through, so quite wide. She stopped at the trees again and did the same thing.

"Why did you call that nymph a dryad?" Liam asked.

"Because that's what a dryad is, a tree nymph," Lochlan answered.

"Yeah, I'll have to teach you how to bless them wont I? It's quite simple, all you have to do is touch the base of the tree and focus on trees blossoming and growing tall and strong. Then there's a spell as usual but you'll learn to do it without the spell once you've practised. It's great when you're dealing with an angry nymph," Hecate said.

"What's the spell?" Jay asked.

" _Wongarmiant_."

"So what about all the other nymphs?" Lochlan asked. "Won't they get jealous of whatever you did?"

"Probably, but then that means that you'll have to do it to all of them. They'll all say how kind you are and then you'll have some great allies," Hecate said simply.

"Tiny elf people?" Jay pondered.

"They're nasty. I correct myself, really nasty, when they know their forest is under attack."

"It's under attack?" Cameron looked around suspiciously.

"If it ever was, you'd be fine," Hecate corrected.

Then she turned to face the trees and did the same thing, spreading the trees apart to reveal more and more of a path way. Every time she pulled apart the trees, one or two dryads would start yelling in a high pitched tone at them, then Hecate would do that thing and they'd disappear.

Six or seven dryads later, they found a couple sat beneath a tree.

There was a dryad with her evergreen skin and leafy dress, and then there was a man, a man with sharp goat-like ears poking out of a curly nest on his head. He was wearing nothing from the waist up, but from the waist down, he wore fury trousers.

On his feet he was wearing some shoes that looked a lot like goats feet, like hooves. They were sat under a large tree in front of them, both staring worriedly at Hecate.

"What do you think you're doing?" The dryad leapt to her feet leaving the weird man and his fury trousers sat by himself.

"Sorry, we're just making a pathway so as when we come through here, we won't disturb you," Hecate repeated rhythmically.

"Well you've disturbed me now." The nymph crossed her arms angrily.

"Dear? Who are they?" The man asked.

"Oh, there them strange mortals from inside the tree circle. You know the ones that jump around with their swords and shields all day," the nymph huffed.

"Hello satyr, Dionysus sends his regards," Hecate told the...the satyr?

He wasn't wearing fury trousers, his legs _were_ the fury trousers. And the shoes _were_ his feet.

He was a donkey from the waist down.

"Dionysus? Pan?" The satyr jumped to his feet, now showing his small donkey tail.

"Yes, the gods don't forget you. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I was going to your tree." Hecate wondered past the nymph and touched her tree. As soon as she touched the trunk, the little nymph smiled joyfully and closed her eyes. She disappeared into nothing.

"Do you see Dionysus and Pan, the great gods?" The satyr questioned eagerly.

"Yes Vincent, I shall tell them, he may remember your great times thirty five uncle is the satyr who helped him as an infant. But we must be off."

"I must bring all my satyr friends here, we can have a party, drinks all around." The satyrs eyes lit up and he started trotting on the spot.

"A party, your whole life is a party, surrounded by drink silliness," Hecate laughed pitifully.

"Parties are fun. We have party all night. Wait you are nice aren't you, you like parties?"

"Yes Vincent."

"You might be the nasty ones though, we might be dealing with the enemy." Vincent started walking back behind the trees, tripping on a bramble bush.

"We aren't the enemy Vincent, we are your friends," Hecate told.

"How will I know? You could trick me," Vincent bleated.

Hecate sighed and then pointed to the ground. A dust cloud whipped into existence and rose gradually.

Then it span its way back down to the floor leaving a musical instrument behind, floating elegantly as if it was bobbing in the sea.

"Reed pipes, you may have them as a gift. Go tell your friends that the people inside the tree circle are your friends and that you should always help them, for they will help you." Hecate ordered.

"A true sign of the satyr gods, will do mam. Greetings to all." The satyr jumped high into the air, grabbed the pipes and galloped off behind the trees, putting the instrument to his mouth and playing tunes on it as he scrambled away.

"Satyr?" Jay questioned, baffled by the scene.

"Oh, they're harmless, just like a bit of partying really," Hecate replied.

"Too much partying if you ask me, do things they shouldn't," Amy said.

"A nymph and a satyr?" Alice questioned.

"Yeah, they usually couple up," Hecate answered. She turned back to the trees and carried on digging her way through.

About five minutes later they separated some trees that were swamped in fog (the same fog that blocked the sight of the rest of the island from inside the tree circle), to find an evergreen field. Flowers of white, yellow, purple and pink spurted from the ground.

Beyond the lumpy fields was a tranquil, glorious sight, the Mediterranean Sea.

There were no birds there and no animals as far as Jay could see. To the left he saw a large hill, at the top was something he recognised.

There was a small stream of water trickling down the hillside, disappearing behind some rocks just above the trees. It was the top of the water fall.

To the left there were more fields and there was a cove. Jay could just make out some sand inside the cove, shells littered the floor making it look like a sheet of white.

The last time Jay had been to the beach was when Hollie took them over to one of the islands in the Galapagos, all the tourists staring at them. This was much better, it was their own. They actually owned it!

"So, where do we start then?" Hecate asked, Porseus jumping off her shoulder and flying up into the air.

"The beach for sure," Claire replied.

"Agreed," Hollie said, taking in the scenery with her bulging eyes.

"Well you would agree wouldn't you?" Bobby put in.

"You should have seen what she did when we were by the sea at the Galapagos Islands," Jordan laughed.

"Yeah you told us Jord," Alice said.

"Oh yeah."

Hecate led them across the ankle high grass all the way to the beach, the landscape slowly declining as they veered closer to the thunderous beauty of the blanket of blue.

#  Exploring the cave.

(Chapter 22)

"I love the fresh sea breeze as the wave's crash on the sand." Hollie smiled dreamily.

"Who would have guessed?" Amy said sarcastically.

"You know how long it took us to rid this place of weird creatures?" Hecate asked.

"A day with your power probably," Jordan replied.

"Two days, it's not an easy job, you've got to clear the whole area of sea and you've got to find all those stupid ones that live underground," Hecate corrected, as if two days of work was unbelievable.

"Couldn't you have just used some spell to get rid of all living things?" Broudie suggested.

"It's not just animals that are alive Broudie, forgetting about plants? The place would have been a dessert if I'd have done that." Hecate shook her head and stumbled down a bank.

The bank lead straight to the beach.

White sand covered the floor, broken up by shells and pebbles. The sea had no waves at all, just little ripples on the surface and a slight lip that curled over as the ripples came to land, snarling a faint grumble.

As soon as they reached the beach, they all, bar Hecate and Mormo, fell to the ground.

The sand was warm to the touch and it felt so nice. Jay sat upright and then took in the magnificent view. The beach must have been a mile in length and the sea was a turquoise jelly of yumminess.

Hollie leapt to her feet and sprinted to the sea. She splashed into the shallows and then dived underwater, just as she'd done at the Galapagos.

Hollie emerged from the water, completely drenched in sea, though she didn't seem to mind.

"I like this place." Hollie skipped back out of the water. " _Exothius,_ " she chanted, the spell drying her and her clothes.

"You need to start trying to use your powers without those boring spells. You'd lose in a battle you would. By the time you've squealed something, the enemy would have cut you to pieces." Hecate shrugged.

"We can do certain spells without saying anything," Jordan told.

"Certain things are not as good as most things," Hecate replied.

"You used spells in the temple," Claire blurted, immediately wanting to retract the comment.

"I did. And do you know why we use words?" Hecate asked.

"Eh," Claire mumbled submissively.

"We use spells because if we get distracted whilst making a spell without words, we might accidentally do them wrong, and the consequences could be fatal," Hecate answered her own question.

"But you said we shouldn't say the spells when we're in battle, touch sand we won't ever be," Cameron asked.

"Well, usually you'll use a spell in a battle against the enemy, so if it did go wrong, it would be quite good," Hecate replied.

"Gods have an answer to everything," Liam said under his breath.

"Because we have had lots of practise." Hecate turned to him, smiling, as Jay giggled.

They stayed at the beach for a few more minutes, building sand castles, if that's what Broudie wanted to call his. With magic it was so much easier than with a bucket, and you could even make little army sand men that could move around the castle \- well that's what Hecate could make anyway.

Then the goddess of magic decided she'd had enough and that they had a very important thing to do today,

"I suggest we take a look from up there at the island, there's something I need to show you," Hecate called from by her humungous sandcastle mansion.

"Can you get us up there?" Lochlan asked.

"Bit of a stupid question really," she replied.

Hecate didn't move a muscle, she didn't even use her hands. Jay and the others, levitated off the ground with no warning, which startled a few of them.

They rose up into the skies, thankfully Jay had got so used to this happening that he didn't even flinch or panic. As they flew up higher, Jay could make out the shape of the island they were on, he could make out the hideout and mount Mouvast, everything.

The island was the typical rounded shape and had a small part of land sticking out at the far right corner. There was a massive rock hill over the one side of the island and a small green hill to the left.

On top of the hill he could see there was a large hole. The water was spurting out from the top and streaming down the hill towards some rocks, the water falling as a waterfall within the trees of camp.

Surrounding the island was sand and then dark blue sea. But protruding from the sea to the left of them was a massive island.

"What's that?" Jay asked, thinking it could be somewhere like Mallorca, or Crete.

"You'll have to find out," Hecate smiled.

"That's beginning to be a familiar phrase," Jordan laughed.

"There's your little hideout and there's our new destination, the cave." Hecate pointed to the large hill of rock.

"Wha-" Hollie was cut off as they were all swept off their feet. They soared through the sky, Jay rolling round and screaming. The air whipped around them, bending them towards the rocky mountain.

There was a large opening at the bottom of the rock, a cave, all dark and gloomy.

"Straighten out dears," Hecate told, floating perfectly from behind them.

Jay spread his arms out to catch balance, he steadied himself as he approached the ground and stumbled along the grass.

He went headfirst into the soft green bed of blunt spears. Eight thumps later, he raised his head to see most of his friends also spread along the floor beside the giant rock mountain.

"Everyone alright?" Hecate questioned, helping Cameron to his feet.

"Yeah I'm fine," Jordan answered, helping Jay up.

"Well it would be bad if you weren't." Hecate raised her eyebrows and then looked over to the rock hill.

"What's in the cave?" Hollie asked. "That was what I was going to ask you before you threw us down here."

"The reason why I wanted you to come here is because this place is important to more people than just you," Hecate replied.

"Honestly, you're worse than the oracle of Delphi," Alice chuckled.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Anyway, anyone hungry?" Hecate asked looking round.

Jay was about to reply, his stomach was feeling kind of empty, when he suddenly felt full. It was as if he had been knocked out, eaten some food, and suddenly awoke. He felt somewhat, somehow, bloated?

"That's better, no?" Hecate smiled, turned around, and began pacing off towards the large dark opening.

Jay and his mates followed the goddess around to the cave entrance. The cave itself was giving off powerful sources of bitterness. It was like walking along the freezer section when you go in a shop, except five times worse.

Nothing was visible from the outside, all you could see was darkness. Pitch, black darkness.

"What is this place?" Claire asked shyly.

"It's a cave, home of the one who lived here," Hecate replied.

"Who's the one who lived here?" Jay tried.

"I don't get fooled often, apart from obviously this jewel stuff." Hecate smiled.

"It's freezing," Hollie said, "Who would want to live in here?"

"You weren't expecting central heating were ya?" Amy laughed.

"C'mon then, let's explore." Hecate walked into the dark, cold cave.

"Do we have to follow her?" Lochlan questioned.

"Yep." Jordan smiled, following Hecate into the darkness, Jay strolled timidly in next.

It was pitch black, all you could see was the brightness of the day behind you. When you walked in it was as if the darkness literally consumed you, it was thick and heavy.

"We need some light." Hecate said somewhere within the cave. Then suddenly the darkness of the cave was enveloped by a blinding light, which faded to reveal the true scale of the cave, or should Jay say something grander? This wasn't a cave, it was a monster of a cave, not even worthy of a tiny title.

It was absolutely massive.

There were several large, cream columns with sketches of mythical monsters on them. The ceiling was a dome about twenty metres high.

There were many little tunnels around the giant cave, leading in all directions, it was probably just under a quarter a mile in width.

There was a strange feeling in the cave though, as if it was haunted. Chills and tingles crept up your back like spiders.

It was quite creepy really, Jay didn't know why someone would want to live here. It was horrible.

"Well, its empty now, but I can assure you it never used to be," Hecate said.

"You cleared this place of everything that the previous owner left here? Why?" Hollie asked.

"Well they didn't exactly plan to leave, so when they did leave, everything was still here. And there is a reason why we cleared this island, we didn't just do it for no reason," Hecate told.

"What type of things were in here?" Liam questioned.

"Now you're trying to find out who lived here again, aren't you? Well I've already told you, I cannot tell," Hecate replied.

"Do you know this place?" Bobby said.

"Yes, and I think now it's time for me to continue my guided tour." Hecate began to walk straight ahead, her light, which floated elegantly above the cave, followed the goddess like a dog on a leash.

"Well, now we've taken everything out of here, I think we need to put some stuff _in_ here," Hecate spoke aloud. 'First signs of insanity,' Jay thought in his head.

"Central heating could be a start," Lochlan suggested, holding his elbows in a shivering position.

"Good idea, I think we need a boost of energy first though, Jay?" Hecate smiled, turning to face him, her face lit scarily by the crystal white light, giving her a pale, ghostly complexion.

"Whoa, I don't think this is a good idea." Philippa shook her head.

"What is a bad idea?" Jay asked.

"You performing the heat wave spell." Hollie raised her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah, real bad idea," Jay agreed.

"Unless your being slaughtered by a dracaenae and about to be killed, then, it's a good idea right?" Hecate said.

"Dracaena? How do you know about that?" Amy questioned.

"I had a lot of talks with Athena as you started your quest. I asked for her to contact me as much as she could. So I know all about your quest. Anyway, I think it's safe, in any case we can use a shield to stop it if it goes wrong," Hecate said.

"Go on then Jay," Amy told, gathering up everyone else in a circle behind Hecate, showing utter belief in him doing the spell right.

"Jay, try and concentrate on heating the cave, imagine heat, not fire," Hecate guided.

"Okay." Jay closed his eyes as Hecate created a transparent shield around them.

He shook his head and tried to think of a time when it was hot, when there was a nice heat around them. The time when the foster home had sent them on a trip to the beach and the sun had come out good and proper.

He pictured everyone there building sandcastles and sunbathing. He felt as if he was there, he could even feel the heat on his skin.

" _Flaixor minthamya_ ," Jay whispered, still picturing the seaside scene. He felt his skin getting slowly hotter and hotter, he felt the chills push past him and gusts of hot air reclaim their space.

'He was controlling the spell,' he thought. Then he looked up to the blue sky, then across to the thing he shouldn't have looked at, especially not with the spell.

As his eyes met the sun, he felt a tremendous amount of heat push down on his shoulders. It was nice and warm, but very uncomfortable. He knew he'd done wrong, so opened his eyes and tried to cut off the heat waves.

"Calm Jay, you were doing well," Hecate comforted from behind her shield. She reached out with her hand and some of the searing heat was sucked from the cave into her palm. As she closed her hand her shield disappeared and Jay could feel some of the coldness returning.

"Sorry," Jay huffed.

"Don't worry, you did well. But you must practise Jay, if you don't, you won't get better."

"I tried, it's just I accidentally looked up to the sun," Jay sighed.

"Eventually you'll get there, you just need some practise. Anyway, my guided tour continues." Hecate walked off away from the door. Jay and his mates followed.

Jay was consumed by disappointment, even with Hecate's help he still couldn't work that rise in temperature spell. It wasn't difficult, 'Just don't look at the bloody sun!' his mind shouted at him.

"Where does this take you to?" Bobby asked as they turned down a smaller tunnel.

"Another blank room," Hecate answered.

They walked through the tunnel and emerged at a medium sized room. The ball of light swept over their heads and levitated below the ceiling.

"I think a heated swimming pool would do well here," Liam laughed.

"Not a bad idea, this could be a party room," Hecate agreed.

"Really, in a cave?" Jay asked.

"Of course, makes it more natural, so where do we want it?" Hecate questioned.

"Anywhere," Broudie answered excitedly.

"Here?" Hecate flicked her wrist and a gigantic paint splat shaped hole appeared in the floor. Its insides were covered in miniature tiles that spelt the words 'ATHENA'S DESCENDANTS'.

"Why didn't you make a swimming pool when you cleared this island of whatever it was that was still on here?" Bobby asked.

"Well, how would I know what you mortals would be like in two millennia? You might have completely changed and prefer lava baths," Hecate said.

"Wait a minute. If you helped Athena make this place, and you were locked up two millennia ago, it means you must have made the island before the prophecy was given. Did you create the island for another use or something?" Amy thought.

"I was surprised you hadn't asked me earlier. The oracle told Athena that she must transform one of the islands into a home for people with magic. So I helped her after we cleared the monsters. Then, bla bla bla, I end up in the temple and then years and years later Athena gets another prophecy. The one with you twelve and the whole saving the earth nonsense. She tells me, must've created the twelve huts, and then another two years later you get set a quest for me, and you succeed. Then apparently some time in your life time you will save the earth from the monsters or bring the date forward. But then that's before the other sixteen lines are fulfilled, which no one can work out," Hecate said.

"Wait what did you say after the saving the world from monsters part?" Jordan asked.

"That was it," Hecate replied.

Jay heard it as well. Had she slipped up?

"No you said or," Lochlan said.

"Well you're not supposed to know but your destiny is to save the world or bring the end of the human race and the Greek gods forward," Hecate revealed.

"That's why we don't have the full support of everyone on Olympus, they think we'll bring the date forward!" Alice blurted.

"Yeah well don't tell Athena I told you that," Hecate told.

"We were never told of this bringing the date forward stuff," Hollie insisted, clearly worried.

"Look, I want my stay to be happy, so forget about it for now. Where were we, oh yeah filling up the pool." Hecate turned to the empty hole, waved her finger and the pool filled with sparkling topaz water, ripples rolling on the surface.

Jay thought to himself about the first time he met Hollie, Jordan, Philippa and Liam. Hollie had told him that he could stay here and die or join them and save the earth. They did not know that they could destroy the earth before time, they believed that they would save the earth whatever.

Jay thought about what else that prophecy might've mentioned that they didn't know, maybe this quest was part of it. Maybe if he found out what the prophecy was, then they'd be prepared for what to come, or did it not work like that?

"So maybe we should add some other fun stuff in here."

Hecate transformed the room into a teenagers dream, desperately trying to pull the ring bearers to the joyful souls they usually were.

There was a dance floor with a shining glitter ball with hands that, when turned on, would dance to the music as well.

There was a game station which played loads of games like Tetris, space invaders and the famous fruit machine.

The best part though, the part that actually lifted their spirits, was the liquid fountain.

Hecate built a large water fountain at the one end, right next to the electrical games. The fountain spurted water from the top and it flowed layer by layer down to the large pot at the bottom.

There was a large stack of cups at the side that you could use, and then to fill up, all you had to do was put the cup under one of the trickling water falls.

The best part was that the water was absolutely gorgeous. It was like sweet lemon at one time, then like fresh strawberries, and then it tasted like chocolate caramel. Jay could see himself coming here a lot.

They finished in that chamber of the cave completely full of the magic liquid. After that room they moved back into the main cave and then headed forward.

They reached another walkway, which lead all the way back round to the main cave.

In this walkway Hecate hung a gigantic picture, the same one she'd hung in Jay's room. The one about their first quest.

'This can be a gallery of your quests,' she told them. Jay sighed, still hoping that would be the last quest he would have to undertake.

He was thankful and all for being part of the quest and getting the chance to prove himself, but it was quite hard and very tiring, plus his life was in danger ninety nine percent of the time. Jay thought though, that if he was offered another quest he would probably take it on and complete it with the help of his new mates to save the world. Hopefully not kill the world, according to the prophecy.

Then, after that walkway, they moved into another room directly opposite the entrance. Hecate put up a large brown gate with a tiny door as an entrance. She declared this chamber a 'guest's room', and planted loads of handy stuff like chairs, televisions, a bathroom and, of course, beds. Finishing the guest room they carried on around the giant main room.

"I think you need a stage," Hecate told.

"Mormo agrees," the ghost added.

"Why would we need a stage?" Broudie asked.

"Because if you're going to save the world from all the Greek monsters, I think you're going to need some help, and what's the point saying the same thing over and over again to all your allies? Just make one big speech."

"As long as it's not me making the speech," Jay muttered, trying to pull back the happiness as once again the idea of destroying the world before its time had slipped into Hecate's sentences.

"We'll put it over there," Hecate pointed to the far corner of the cave "that means you've got all this space for an audience."

"Big audience," Claire said.

"So, we'll have one big stage." Hecate waved her finger and a giant platform, a metre off the ground, appeared. "A bit higher I'd say." The platform rose to about five and a half ft tall, hovering steadily above the ground.

"Wont we need a way of getting up there?" Bobby questioned.

"Yes." Hecate created two winding steps either side that lead up to the stage.

"Wow, that's big," Hollie nodded.

"Can we go up there?" Jordan asked.

"Tomorrow, we haven't got much of a day left and we haven't even finished in the cave," Hecate replied.

"We need some more light," Philippa said.

"Spotlights in the ceiling, yes," Hecate agreed, adding millions of small lights on the dome ceiling with just a sharp glance.

The ceiling rained with glistening rays of bright light, illuminating the cave, fighting against the dark shadows.

"C'mon then, I wonder what else this place has got to offer." Amy smiled and followed Hecate as she turned and walked back towards the entrance.

Before they got to the blinding light near the entrance, they had one last thing to do: discover yet another tunnel.

This one was just like the quest gallery, except larger. At the middle though there was a waterfall of mounted rocks.

"Wow, what's that?" Liam asked.

"A large pile of rocks," Hecate answered simply.

"There are markings on them," Jay noticed.

"They're Greek markings, the alphabet, probably marked by the previous occupants," Amy suggested.

Hecate nodded in reply, though not the way she would normally nod. It was strange, as if she did not want to agree.

"Let's try moving them." Lochlan summoned a vine which wrapped around one of the smaller rocks. The vine pulled, snapped and then disintegrated. "Or maybe not," he added.

"They won't move," Hecate told.

"Well what are they there for?" Philippa questioned.

"Pretty scenery," Alice suggested.

"Probably," Amy agreed.

"What are we going to put in here?" Jay asked.

"I think we should leave it empty for now, you decide what you want to do with it later," Hecate decided, growing freakishly quiet.

"Shall we make our way back to the camp now?" Cameron suggested.

"Yeah, I'm hungry already," Hecate replied.

"Mormo is too," the ghost agreed.

They all looked to Mormo in confusion which she replied with: "Mormo just wanted to be a part of the conversation."

The fourteen of them strolled out of the cave and back over towards the large group of trees making up the surrounding forest of the hideout. The sun had already started setting and the day had started to fade.

When they reached the forest wall they decided going through the forest would take too long,

"So everyone ready?" Hecate asked.

"Let's go," Jay answered.

They were slowly picked off the ground and drifted gently over the forest wall and through the murky fog.

Jay kept his balance as he came out of the fog to see they had crossed over just in front of the temple.

He was lowered to the ground and dropped lightly, letting him land on his feet.

#  Another challenge awaits.

(Chapter 23)

Jay watched as his mates flew over the forest, the murky barrier, a cool vapour on his skin.

"I think we'll get an early night, I'll make myself some dinner," Hecate said as everyone landed successfully.

"Are you sure?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, you lot go run off to your huts, I'll see you in the morning," Hecate repeated.

"Seeya." They waved the goddess, Mormo and the dragon off to the temple.

"So, today's been cool," Liam said as they walked over to the campfire.

"Too right, I am totally gonna be in that cave every day," Jay laughed.

"D'you imagine drinking an apple and raspberry one, ooh, that'd be absolutely scrumptious."

"Pineapple," Jay suggested.

They continued naming flavours that there could be all the way back to their dorms.

"Ok guys, we'll all meet out here at nine, have a lie in if you want. We'll go over to the temple together," Amy informed.

"What's the time?" Jordan asked.

"Don't know." Lochlan pretended to look at his wrist, looking at his band instead.

"You always wear that band," Jay said.

"Because it gives me energy," Lochlan replied.

"It's a sweat band." Jay raised his eyebrows, recalling a conversation he had had with Hollie about a gift Lochlan had been given.

"And it gives me energy," Lochlan repeated.

"Whatever, see you in the morning guys." Jay walked off into his dorm.

After a bit of reading in his book about gods and goddesses, he ate his dinner which his oven cooked for him. A luscious cottage pie, nice homely comfort food.

Then, after he took a quick look around his workshop storage cupboard, he went to bed.

Jay woke to his alarm screaming beeps at him from beside his bed. He pulled off the cover, scrambled into some clothes and trotted down the stairs.

One bowl of cereal later, he was ready, and just in time he realised, as the time was nearly nine 'o' clock.

He rushed out the door to everyone else sat around the campfire, all waiting for him.

"Well at least it wasn't me who was last." Hollie chirped.

The sun was already rising in the blue sky and a few rain clouds drifted around it.

"Sorry about that," Jay excused, shutting his dorm door.

"Don't worry, let's go then guys," Amy declared, leading the way wearing her Athena's descendants t-shirt.

As they made their way over to the temple, more rain clouds formed in the sky, darkening the hideout. It had never rained at the camp since Jay had been here, he had presumed it never did.

They reached the temple and walked into the main hall all happy and laughing.

"Guys," Amy hushed as she entered the room.

Jay looked around and saw that there, lay on the oval table, was a scroll with Greek writing scribbled on it.

"What is it?" Jay asked.

"It's a note," Alice replied.

"From Hecate," Amy added, picking up the sheet.

Jay and his mates huddled around Amy as she read the note aloud,

"Sorry about leaving without warning, Zeus, as you can probably tell, was getting fidgety with me not on Olympus in his hands. The rain will soon pass when I arrive. So, yes, I'm sorry about the sudden leave and I would have loved to stay longer. Though I know we shall see each other soon and we can catch up about what you've done since I've been away. I will tell Athena about our discoveries and changes, I hope she likes them. If you ever want to talk to me just send a message via Porseus. He should answer to his name if you hold out something tasty. I will get some satyrs and nymphs to train him for me. So, I look forward to seeing you soon. Love, your friendliest goddess, Hecate. P.S. Mormo says high, and if you do anything bad you better watch out for bites. She is returning to her job as child biter," Amy finished, putting the sheet down on the table, her uplifting smile too.

"She can't have just left." Philippa sprinted down the hallway to the guest room, opened it up and craned her neck. She shut the door and came running back still wearing a puzzled expression.

"Well that explains the rain clouds," Amy said.

"She's more powerful than Zeus, couldn't she just ignore him?" Bobby suggested.

"Definitely not, Zeus would lock her up again good and proper. He's got the support of all the other gods," Hollie answered.

"Well what do we do now?" Liam asked.

"Back to normal I suppose," Amy replied unenthusiastically.

Jay wore a drained face, just like most of the others. He'd only known Hecate for two days and he'd loved every single moment, she was awesome, like the best goddess ever! He had so many questions to ask her about spells, the lost and forbidden ones and stuff to do with Greek mythology, ancient times. He could ask Hollie but Hecate seemed to explain things more bluntly and truthfully. He was quite angry with her in a way.

Hopefully their paths would meet in the future.

Everyone exited the temple wearing sad and drowned faces, no one said a word.

That's when the clouds began to clear.

"Looks like Hecate's got to Olympus safely," Cameron moaned.

"Anybody up for a game of archery?" Bobby asked.

"Me," her brother, Liam, unsurprisingly replied, but he didn't seem that excited either.

"I'll have a go, but I don't know how to do it," Jay volunteered, thinking maybe a good spot of fighting might life his mood.

"It's simple, you just pull back the bow, aim and..." Liam paused aiming at the sky with his imaginary bow and arrow.

"Then?" Jay questioned.

"No. Look. Up there. Is that Porseus?" Liam pondered, pointing into the air.

Jay looked up to see a miniature bird soaring towards them in front of nine other smaller ones.

"It is Porseus," Broudie called.

"What's Porseus, whoa, what are those things behind him?" Amy asked.

"Wait a minute, isn't that how Lochlan's gift came down?" Alice pondered.

"That's how Hollie's came down as well," Jordan told.

"They're gifts?" Jay questioned, "Like your gooble watch?"

Porseus flew swiftly down to the ground. He raced up to Amy and sat down obediently. He lifted his paw which had lots of little scrolls attached to it.

"Our gifts from Olympus, the gifts of the gods," Amy revealed.

The small birds turned out to be small wrapped up presents gliding through the air via red balloons.

Each of the nine presents landed one by one on the floor. Jay had a present that landed at his feet, it had red wrapping paper and yellow ribbon. Around him others stood with present at their feet.

"I'll read the letters first." Amy bent down and untied the nine scrolls of paper from Porseus' foot. She unrolled each one in turn and read them out, starting with Jordan,

"To my ring bearer, Jordan Quelch, I hand this gift as a sign of my pride. I feel this will help in future battles and will help control your powers." Amy's voice turned to a mutter at the last words like she was trying to hide it, as she rolled the paper back up and handed it to Jordan. Jordan gave a faint smile to the others around him, and placed it on the floor as he picked up his tiny present.

"Shall I open it?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah," Liam replied enthusiastically.

Jordan pulled at the white ribbon that surrounded the electric blue paper and untied the knot. He pulled off the present lid and the present disintegrated.

Jordan, in shock, stepped back.

The ashes built up into a long stick that split into two at the top. It reminded Jay of the Panotii's sticks that they used on the Eiffel tower. It was a shining brown staff, neatly polished and carved.

As he opened his clenched fist, the staff was sucked into his hand. A shock of electricity shot down the staff, disappearing into the ground.

"Wow!" he said.

"Anybody'd think you were ninety," Broudie laughed.

"I'd watch your mouth, the clouds haven't gone yet," Hollie warned, checking the skies as if a thunderbolt was going to shoot down from it.

"So next up we've got." Amy unravelled another piece of paper. "To my ring bearer, Amy Robinson, I hand this gift as a sign of my pride. I feel this shall help in planning battles if ever you need to. This will hopefully strengthen your battle strategy power and will be of great help. Only your touch and your voice can sketch out the plans." Amy picked up her present, pulled the grey ribbon and opened the yellow box.

She picked out a map, the typical burnt and stained piece with ragged ends. The map was completely blank.

"I'll have a look at this later," Amy said happily.

Jay shuffled in his place, eager to find out what he was going to get.

"Next," Amy read out the third piece of paper, "To my ring bearer, Alice Challinor, I hand this gift as a sign of my pride. This piece of jewellery may help you with persuading others. Its power can hypnotise or possess people or animals, plus some other handy things. I hope it will help you."

Alice untied the turquoise ribbon and opened the box. She pulled out a beautiful necklace, made with silver chains. The necklace held a glimmering red stone encased in a golden frame.

"I love it." Alice hugged the necklace and stared at it longingly.

"To my ring bearer, Broudie Morris, I hand this gift as a sign of my pride. Use it as a lethal weapon only against enemies. A touch from the blade will slice an incurable cut in the victim's skin. A true weapon for a great ring bearer."

Before she'd finished Broudie had untied his red ribbon and lifted the box lid. Just like Jordan's, the box disintegrated and built up into a gleaming, long sword. There were three red, purple and yellow jewels in the golden hilt of the sword. Its blade shimmered in the morning sun.

"Slice." Broudie picked up the sword and swung it through the air. Ripples of terror shook through Jay, his vision distorting, as it swung in front of him.

"To my ring bearer, Liam Joyce, I hand this gift as a sign of my pride. Shoot at will with one of my prised possessions. Similar powers to your current bow plus this bow and arrow has an unlimited amount of ammo. Accuracy only I can beat," Amy read.

Liam opened his box, which widened as he untied the ribbon. He picked out an elegant bow and arrow. The wood curved at the edges, the string thin and long.

There were no arrows, but when Liam pulled the bow, an arrow appeared between his two fingers. He nodded in delight as Amy continued reading off the scrolls,

"To my ring bearer, Bobby Jo Joyce, I hand this gift as a sign of my pride. This gift may confuse you a lot, but use it in a hunt, and you will know how useful it is. An amazing sense of smell," Amy wore a confused expression at this part, "will always lead you to your victory."

Bobby, just as confused as everyone else, untied the ribbon and the box disintegrated, reforming in the shape of four paws, four legs and a wagging tail. They realised how the 'amazing sense of smell' part now made sense.

Bobby smiled and crouched down to stroke the dog, who sat down to attention and steadied Bobby's hug.

"That can't be." Hollie squinted at the black, short furred dog. It was like an all-black spaniel, with bulging black eyes.

"He's so cute," Bobby cried.

"It is Hollie, its Laelaps," Amy agreed.

"Laelaps?" Jay questioned.

"The dog destined to always catch his prey. Turned to stone during the Teumessian fox hunt and cast into the stars by Zeus," Amy said.

"Right-ee-oh," Jay said.

"Well, next we've got...To my ring bearer, Claire Hamer, I hand this gift as a sign of my pride. A beauty I give to you. With powers beyond the magic of Hecate, this gift shall help you through all your struggles."

Excited, Claire untied the pink ribbon and opened the lid. It disintegrated and immediately set a patch of grass alight.

Jay watched intensely as the flames began to fade and a beautiful orange and red bird replaced it. The bird had an elegant curved beak and colourful yellow and red plumage. Its tail was long and the actual size of the bird was massive, about the size of a 4yr old infant.

"A phoenix," Jay blurted, remembering the bird from a fantasy book he'd read on one of his boring days at the foster home.

"Beautiful, truly beautiful," Claire gasped as the bird shot up into the sky. It burst into flames and drew a giant heart made of flames in the sky.

Jay stared at the sky in disbelief as the bird plummeted to the ground and came to a stop beside its owner's feet.

"To my ring-bearer, Jay Perry, I hand this gift as a sign of my pride. This shall protect you and develop you in many ways in just a beat of the chest. Use it wisely in battles, you'd be surprised what it can do."

"Right," Jay said aloud, confused. He untied the ribbon and opened the lid, and as he did, the box grew wider and a gift appeared. Jay leant down and picked out a bronze breastplate. He looked at it, still confused, thinking he could make this himself. Then, Amy unravelled the last scroll,

"And our final letter. To my ring bearer, Philippa Jennings, I hand this gift as a sign of my pride. Unrecognisable in ancient mythology as this is a gift I have made myself. It was woven from one grain from each grass on earth to create an amazing beast capable of travelling and hiding anywhere between our element. She is very obedient."

Philippa was quite careful opening the box, probably because of the 'beast' part.

The box disintegrated and rebuilt an elegant creature that was hardly noticeable. It was camouflaged into the grass, but Jay could still make out an outline. It was like a panther with tiny ears and a long curly tail. It had claws as long as your finger that looked deadly sharp.

"I can't see it?" Cameron complained.

As if listening to Cameron, the panther-like creature changed colour like a chameleon into a rich burgundy colour. The beast glanced at Cameron with its thin slits of eyes and returned gaze to its owner, Philippa.

Then it exploded, just like Philippa did when she changed into grass, and made small rustling around Philippa's feet. She went down to stroke the air and the panther reappeared.

"That's it," Amy concluded.

Jay looked at his breastplate once more and then took a look around at all the other wonderful gifts they'd been given. A breastplate, how exciting.

"Zeus as well, that's a bonus," Hollie said, shocked.

"What are you going to call her?" Broudie asked Philippa, swinging his sword again.

"Something Greek," Philippa replied.

"He's called Apollonectris," Liam joked, looking at his magnificently carved bow.

"Huh, really?" Bobby laughed.

"Yeah really, Apollonectris sounds Greek and it has a meaning."

"My owner called me this, I'm ever so embarrassed," Jay chuckled.

"It's a good idea, most famous weapons have names. Aegis was given to Zeus'/Athena's shield, Harpe was the sword Perseus used to slaughter medusa, Caduceus and Thyrsus were both staves of the gods Hermes and Dionysus. Well not really Dionysus but one of his followers," Amy said.

"Why didn't Lochlan get one, or Cameron?" Jay questioned.

"They've already had their gifts. Flying shoes and energy bands can be very useful," Amy answered.

"I did tell you." Hollie shook her head.

"Oh yeah. Anyway, let's go test these things out," Jay said enthusiastically.

"At the fighting area, that's cool," Hollie agreed, "me, Cameron and Lochlan'll just sit and watch then."

"That's fine." Amy smiled and led the group over towards the fighting area. Their moods had brightened as they skipped across the hideout grounds, leaving the empty present boxes thrown on the floor.

They jumped over the stream and walked through the gap in the trees into the fighting area.

"Let's get this thing on then." Jay took off his jacket and slipped the breastplate over his head and into position. It was a perfect fit. What did Hephaestus say in the letter, something about beating his chest to get it to work?

So Jay clenched his fist and thumped on his hard metal breastplate. When he did his fist went bronze and shiny just like his gift. He looked down and realized that his whole body, excluding his face, was covered in shiny bronze metal.

"Whoa!" Jay squealed.

"What happened to you?" Liam raised his eyebrows.

Jay quickly thumped his breastplate and the all-body armour disappeared.

"What on earth is this thing?" Jay looked down at his metallic gift.

"Some sort of changeable clothing thing, maybe you could coat yourself in some stronger metal, try focussing on a real strong metal like titanium or diamond," Liam suggested.

Jay looked across and saw that everyone was testing out their own gifts across the field. Claire was watching her phoenix dart around the sky, whilst Lochlan and Broudie were playing with Broudie's new sword.

"Go on then," Liam urged.

So Jay thumped his chest and pictured the finish dishwasher tablet advert in his head. The bit where they say 'the diamond standard'.

Jay looked down and saw he was now covered in a glass-like metal, he could see through the diamond material to the grass behind him, it was as if his whole body, inside and out had turned to metal. He could see through himself!

"God that's bright." Liam hid behind his arms, sun reflecting beams of light as if Jay was glowing.

"I prefer titanium." Jay beat his chest again and the diamond metal changed to a silver metal.

"Can I try out my arrows? You can try covering your face and then I can try shooting you," Liam told.

"My face?" Jay thumped his chest and, to his surprise, a sheet of metal swept over his eyes. He squinted and then the metal seemed to fade as if he had x-ray vision.

"Right I'll try shooting and you try to not get hit," Liam ordered.

"Alright," Jay said, soon wanting to take back that statement.

Liam kept pelting arrows at him constantly, they were really hard and really strong, some of them even made him stumble.

Every time an arrow fell to the ground, it disappeared into thin air.

After a few minutes of tiring dodging, the pair moved on to have a look at what everyone else was doing. They played fetch with the dog Laelaps, trying to use the controlling spell to stop the dog from catching the stick, but it was no use, somehow the dog always seemed to always catch it.

Then they stroked the phoenix, which set alight and burnt Liam and Claire's hands.

They talked to Amy about her map and she showed them how it worked. To be honest, Jay thought it was a pretty rubbish present at the start, but it was amazing. You could plot out the battle ground, enter little men and animals, work out paths and underground tunnels that they could use. It could even say where the less dense soil was, meaning it was easier to dig there.

Jay and Philippa also had a go at catching Philippa's pet, which was impossible as all it had to do was change colour and trip them over. Which they did many times.

The morning rolled on as they played around with their gifts, no one noticed that Porseus had gone till the sun hit midday heat,

"Guys, where's Perseus? He's not here," Broudie hesitated.

"Maybe he's just wondered off," Amy suggested.

"Well no one gave him much attention," Jay said.

"We could do what Hecate said, hold some meat out and call him," Cameron thought.

"He's gone, I sent him off with a thank you from all of us," Hollie told.

"Well I'm a bit knackered now," Jay hinted, wanting to put his feet up and do some good old pondering.

"What happens now?" Bobby asked as silence fell on the field.

Suddenly, there was a powerful misty grunt from behind. Then Jay felt a misty fog creep around his neck, it was cold, eerie and bitterly mysterious.

"We prepare," Liam said sternly.

"What?" Jay turned around and saw that Liam's eyes had gone all green and sparkling. He was the one giving out the ice cold mist. "Are you alright," Jay asked, walking over to him.

"Leave him, if it's what I think it is," Amy ordered urgently.

"Why is he ill? Some mythical illness? Is he being possessed?" Bobby cried.

There was a terrible silence as Liam closed his eyes and then reopened them, this time wide and bold - his pupils bulging black,

" _Three shall leave for the land of the severed,_

Must fight off the ones who guard one that's tethered,

Must sail the seas to talk with the sun,

And finish the quest before it's begun.

The twelve will unite for the first time,

Against one of the ones of the deadly crime,

The sky is poisoned and the twelve are tried,

As the one sandaled man carries at his side."

Liam spoke the poem in a hushed misty voice which left everyone stunned in silence as he took a gasp.

His eyes returned to his normal colour and he shook his head.

"That was a...a prophecy wasn't it?" Bobby asked, terrified.

"That was, and it was a prophecy for us," Amy agreed.

Bobby ran over to her brother and hugged him, he didn't say a word as she squeezed him to death.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, what just happened?" Liam questioned.

"You just told us some gobaldy goup about what not, and told us to go on another bloody quest," Jay told.

"You told us a prophecy Liam," Hollie translated.

"A prophecy? Aren't those them weird riddles that tell people how bad their lives are going to be?"

"Yeah, and you didn't exactly give us the heads up, talking about fighting and death doesn't sound good at all," Broudie said.

"That was a prophecy Liam for sure, your ring is of Apollo, and he is the god of prophecies. But I don't like the sound of it," Amy sighed.

"But how come I don't remember it?"

"Good job you don't, you'd have nightmares," Bobby said, holding him close.

"Do you not remember anything?" Cameron asked.

"No."

Jay looked around him.

His new friends were all stood as dead as the night, shocked and motionless. Jay had grown so close to these people. These people he'd just met not even a month ago. These people that finally made him feel like he belonged somewhere. These people, his true family.

This was his life now. They were his life. 'And it's going to be a good'n. No matter what dangers or hurdles we face, we'll face them together, and, as a family, Athena's Descendants are going to save the world. No matter how unreassuringly difficult our paths are described to be. We'll do it.' Jay smiled.

This prophecy, whatever it was babbling on about, was just going to be one simple hurdle. And there's going to be so many more hurdles to climb in the future: higher ones, harder ones, scarier ones, this was just simply the beginning.

'The beginning of a monstrous journey to the moon, to the sun, to the z8_GND_5296 galaxy and back. In fact, to the invisible 'hide-and-never-seek' galaxy that's only visible to those of Greek mythology.'

Jay raised his eyebrows at his own magical mind of nonsense, and then looked, once again, to the blank faces that hung around him.

Then his eyes met Amy's, who reflected the same courageous dream as his,

"Looks like another challenge awaits," she smiled...

The End.

# Spells.

FREEZE TIME - " _Kareymas_ " (ka-ray-mas) gooble watch

UN FREEZE TIME - " _Karomas_ " (ka-ro-mas) gooble watch

TWIST - " _Tornadius_ " (tor-nade-ee-us)

RISE - " _Votaldea_ " (vo-tal-dia)

FLAME - " _Degradium_ " (de-grade-ee-um)

GET BIGGER - "G _inormius_ " (gee-norm-ee-us)

INVISIBILITY - " _Polacify_ " (po-lass-if-i)

WIND - " _Gustarmia_ " (gust-arm-ee-a)

FLY - " _Relacian formalios_ " (ree-lass-ian for-mal-ee-us)

DOWN - " _Decendio_ " (de-send-ee-o)

OPEN - " _Misgardio_ " (miss-gar-dee-o)

CHANGE INTO SYMBOL - " _Hokvalmia_ " (hock-val- _me_ -a)

SHOW SOMETHING - "A _perium_ " (appear-ee-um)

DRY - "E _xothius_ " (eg-zo-thee-us)

TEMPERATURE CHANGE (HIGH) - " _Flaixor minthamya_ " (Flake-sor min-tham-ya)

TRANSFORMATION SPELL - " _Repuntas_ " (ru-pun-tas)

SCARE SPELL - " _Hauntus_ " (haunt-us)

DUPLICATE SPELL - " _Dublicatius_ " (dube-li-cate-ee-us)

BRIGHT LIGHT - " _Sparkinum_ " (spark-in-um)

LEG HOLDING WEEDS - " _Vinatonius_ " (vine-a-toe-nee-us)

DANCING CURSE - " _Iglormafy_ " (I-glor-ma-fy)

CONTROL SPELL (GOOD) - " _Alovium_ " (a-low-vee-um)

PROTECTED SHIELD - " _Ructomalius_ " (ruck-toe-mal-ee-us)

NUMBING SPELL - " _Gollia deserlium_ " (go-leea deh-zer-lee-um)

CAPTURING SPELL - " _Baffoliam_ " (ba-foe-lee-um)

BUBBLE SPELL - " _Pamollia_ " (pa-moe-lee-a)

STUNNING SPELL - " _Hortalia_ " (hor-tay-lee-a)

KNOCKOUT SPELL - " _Citarlium_ " (see-tar-lee-um)

SLICING SPELL - " _Delargio_ " (de-lar-gee-o)

BREAK THE FALL - " _Lekisia_ " (le-key-zee-a)

BLESSING SPELL - " _Wongarmiant_ " (won-gar-mee-ont)

