Blade's Edge || Deception Book II ||

Chapter 18: Convening in Olympus Pt. 1

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"What's that noise," I grumbled, shoving my head deeper into my pillow in an attempt to block it out. "It's the dead of night."

I felt the bed shift under me as Avalanche jumped off on silent feet and padded over to the window, rearing up on her hind legs to poke her fluffy head up.

"Avalanche?" I muttered, sighing as I sat up. "What is it?"

"Athena," she growled softly.

"What?" I said, jerking upright, the fog of sleep immediately vanishing from my mind. I flicked my fingers, illuminating my cabin with flickering torches, and glanced at the window to see a huge grey owl staring back at me with golden eyes.

"Oh, crap," I muttered, kicking my blankets off and rolling out of bed. I walked over to the window in my black pyjamas and unlatched the window, letting the owl hop in.

"Hey," I murmured, stroking the bird's feathers softly as my gaze landed on the pouch tied to its feet. "Thanks."

I quickly untied the string and opened the pouch, finding a scroll and a small golden card inside.

I knew what it was. A summoning card.

I picked up the card carefully, tucking it into my pocket, and unrolled the scroll, the paper crinkling softly.

It was short, in true immortal fashion, with only two lines written on it in Athena's elegant scrawl.

Olympian council meeting in two days, on July 1, at dawn. Zeus requests your presence.

A.

***

"You think we're far enough?" I whispered to Avalanche as we silently crept through the forest in Halibut Point State Park in Massachusetts. "I'm pretty sure Luke wouldn't be able to see a flash of golden light six kilometres into the forest."

After I'd received Athena's message, I'd told Luke and the rest of the crew the next day that I wanted to go visit the national park and explore some nature, by myself.

Luke had argued about safety, monster attacks, mortals, etc. etc. etc, though he quickly realized that it was futile, shrugged, and said that since we didn't really have anything to do, I might as well go enjoy myself. If anyone found it suspicious, they certainly hadn't shown it. No one had asked any questions, as if I was always prone to stopping in random places to go take a walk through the woods.

I mean, it was only a few times last year. And that was because I'd wanted to go skiing.

Regardless, here I was, before the sunrise, in an ocean-side national park in Massachusetts with Avalanche, the summoning card to Olympus in my hand.

I gulped, shoving down my anxiety at facing the Olympian gods and possibly my mother after a year, and nodded, my other hand resting firmly in Avalanche's fur. "Okay, here goes nothing."

I twirled the card in my hand and immediately felt that warping sensation as the world blurred and, a moment later, I blinked open my eyes to find myself standing on the paved marble road that wound up towards the sparkling golden palace at the top of the snow-capped mountain.

I stood still for a moment, breathing in the clean air of the home of the gods. This early, with the sun barely peeking above the horizon, colouring the sky in pale pink and gold, the streets were silent. The open-air markets were empty, street vendors closed, the parks peaceful. 

Home.

After a year, I was back.

Granted, it wasn't for a good reason, but I suddenly felt tears pricking my eyelashes as I stood in the silence, the slight breeze sighing in the wind. I could almost believe that if I just closed my eyes, hearing a faint echo of the ethereal music of the nine muses drifting through the wind, I would be able to go back to those long years ago where I hadn't had a care in the world except for training with Athena, racing with Artemis, practicing magic with my mother, and bantering with Apollo.