To Save Olympus

Chapter Five

Malorie's Time

'Ok, potions time', said Ember, trying to ignore the tension between Eric and Eve. 'Malorie, this is your relic, Eric already has his, I have mine. Eve, do you know where the potions bag is?' Ember asked.

'We're about a hundred miles from the next item.' Eve replied in her soft flowing voice.

'How could you tell? There are no landmarks to tell where we are,' enquired Malorie.

'The map says. See here, I am the purple dot, Eric, you're the green, Malorie is blue, and Ember is the red', said Eve confidently.

'So, where to next?' asked Ember, leaning to look over Eric's shoulder at the map.

'The east side of the Sunrise Beaches, 'said Eve pointing at the blue dot.

'Let's go then,' declared Malorie, sounding only slightly less than convincing.

The party started off towards the sunset. All that was visible were the trees, and the shadows of the three demigods, the orange-haired Goddess, and her panther.

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The sun was a pinprick of light swiftly rising as they reached the beach. The palms leaned in peculiar directions as if caught in a never-ending hurricane.

'We need to head east, toward the caverns.' Malorie was grasping the map in two hands and strutting in the direction of the deep caverns.

By the time they reached the caverns, they were thirsty and tired. They hadn't slept for two days, and they hadn't eaten yet today. Their food stock had run out twelve hours ago, and they only had half a litre of water to share around.

The cool shadows washed over them like water over glass, and they sighed in relief. They had endured the scorching sun for hours without break. A warning etched in stone at the entrance stated that the caverns could twist and manipulated the traveler's mind into madness. It stated that many had ventured beyond the shadows and never returned. An enticing smell wafted through the clean air and reached party's noses. They stumbled forward, entranced by the smells of fresh cakes and baked pastries. At the end of the cool tunnel stood a table, filled with cakes, sweets and wine. The children fell on the food and started stuffing their faces with all kinds of foods. The only person not stuffing their face, was Malorie. She stood, just looking at her friends. Her eyes fell to the only cabinet in the vicinity and she became suspicious. She stumbled over and reached to pull the knob of the middle drawer. Inside was a small wooden chest. She opened the clasp and pulled out a sizable velvet satchel filled with medicines, ingredients and flasks. She turned to face her comrades, only to find them still stuffing their faces.

'Come on guys, we need to go.' There was no response. 'Hey!' She shouted. The teens stopped stuffing their faces and looked up at her. 'We can't stop. It's toooo good.' Eric spoke dreamily through a mouthful of carrot cake, lips and hands smeared with creamy icing.

'Wait a minute, can you hear that?' Malorie turned to the mouth of the cave to see a beast, a huge monster stomping toward them.

'The food! The food has been enchanted! Run!' Malorie started towards the beast, but when she turned to see if her friends were following, she realized she was alone. She rushed back, and without hesitation, pulled out her potions bag and started concocting a potion to save her friends.

'Take this. It will help' She said, rushing over, handing a small test tube filled with a green liquid to her friends' hands. They swallowed the liquid quickly, not noticing the trouble they were in. The remedy had worked its magic, snapping the others out of the trance they were captured in. Ember pulled out her spell book, Eric armed his bow, and Malorie started making harming potions. Eve stood with the map in her hand. The party shot magic and arrows at the beast, Malorie's potions burnt its skin.

'Over here!' Eve yelled over the shrieking of the beast. She was standing in front of a door, where a curtain used to stand. The door had the same strange markings as the spell book in Ember's hand. They rush out of the door, leaving the horrific monster behind.

'Four down, now just two to go. It's time to enter the human world.'