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“Little ickle demigoddesss girl.” My hairs stood on end, hearing the gorgon’s voice. “You ssshall not take our treasssure. You’re not ssstrong enough. You’re not ssssmart enough. You’re not brave enough. Aella Vanda,” she whispered, shooting my heart into my throat. “You are what you will alwaysss be.
“A failure.”
I trembled against a stone dog, clutching my shoulder. It hurt so much, it felt like someone bathed it with fire. Every nerve ending screamed its agony.
“Give up,” they hissed, gorgon after gorgon joining the chorus. “You cannot win, child of the Fates.”
I went cold. They knew. Of course, they knew.
“Thisss place. On thisss very night. You will meet your mothers. You will die.”
“Maybe I will,” I rasped, rising to my feet. “But not before you.”
I spun. Copying Ionna, I did her drop-knee, slice-high, spin-on-the-balls-of-my-foot move—my sword cutting the air, and the sneaking beast coming up on my back. The gorgons really should do something about the noisy rattlesnakes sprouting from their scalps.
A wet slick sound filled my ears, thenthud.
Did it work? Did I do it right? Oh my gods, it worked!Peering through my lashes, I grabbed the medusa head, jumped on Nitsa’s back and flew—launched through the air by her powerful back jump.
The spectacle of a flying demigoddess tipped their heads up, complete with wide eyes that looked straight at the medusa.
“Arggh!” Their shouts faded to nothing as they turned to stone.
I smashed into the torch. It broke across my back, and we both fell in a crumpled heap—rolling to a hard stop against a forgotten storefront.
“Oh, gods.” My back was one massive bruise waiting to form. I pushed up and screamed through my teeth, agony bursting in my shoulder. “I’m really starting to hate this place.”
“Aella!” Rapid footfalls approached me. Alex kicked away the gorgon head. “I’m here,kara.”
My friends descended on me as he took me in his arms. Daciana jumped off the roof, shifting in midair. She hissed at my wound.
“That’s bad.”
“F-feels worse,” I replied, wincing.
“What do we do?” Nitsa dropped next to us, taking my hand. “I’m sorry, Aella. I should’ve seen the archer.”
“No, it’s not your fault.” I glanced up at Tycho. He leaned heavily against the statue. We agreed he would only command his army, and not do any fighting. Didn’t look like he kept his end of the bargain. “What happened? Is the battle over?”
He nodded. “It was weird. All of a sudden, they tossed down their weapons, said thas ous necros ses, and retreated.”
“Thas ous necros ses?” I grabbed Alex, squeezing him tight when Daciana peeled away my tunic to examine my wound.“What does that mean?” I gritted, trying to distract myself from what I knew was coming.
“It means bury your dead,” Theron replied. “It’s battlefield code of honor. Both sides cease fire, carry away their fallen soldiers, and give them a proper burial. They won’t attack us right now, and we don’t attack them.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know monsters knew about battlefield ethics, let alone respected them.”
“How long does it—?” Daciana ripped out the arrow. “Ahh, gods, fuck! Ah, that hurts!”
“Sorry,” she soothed. “It wouldn’t have been any better if I did it slowly. Trust me. I’ll bandage it best I can but you’ll need a healer.”
“She’ll get one soon because we can’t hang around,” Tycho continued. “The ceasefire could end in ten hours or ten minutes. We need to move on before it does.” He held out his uncontrollably shaking hands. Said hands took three times as long as they should have to lift his tunic.
His bandages were soaked through with blood.
“And I’m really sor— sorry, guys, but you’re... gonna have to... carry me.” His eyes rolled up in his head. Tycho passed out. It was only Theron’s quick steps that saved him from hitting the ground.
“Oh, Tycho.” Ionna cradled his head. He didn’t stir.
Behind her, the door materialized out of thin air.
