Olympiad is Falling, The Rise of Artemis

The wind was mischievous. It pushed my hair around like a child.

“This place is… alive isn’t it?” I asked Orion.

“All nature lives. You should know this.” He grumbled.

He had to say goodbye to his wife again. I felt bad for making him leave when she had to be one of the reasons making him stay. Though, there were dimensions dying as we spoke. Olympiad needed all the help it could get.

“Well are there spirts that give hugs?”

Orion stopped and looked over his shoulder then forward again. “Something hugged you?”

I tucked a strand behind my ear. “Well, I don’t know. I felt something last night. Something warm.”

He continued walking. “There’s a high chance that was Sophia… your mother.”

“My… mom?” I stopped, when Orion didn’t I hurried to catch up to him.

“Yes, Apollo must have told her you were here and knowing her she wanted to communicate.”

“How can I communicate back?”

“It’ll be difficult. The best way would be to get to her personal dimension, but it’s difficult to get to.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s on an island, heavily guarded by sirens.”

“Sirens? Like sending men to their doom sirens?” I gawked, why what was on it?

Orion sighed, but he didn’t stop walking. “Yes, you’re going to ask why, because you’re fond of questions. After you and your brother were born something places a curse on the island. Only Zeus knows why his wife only has one territory.”

I swallowed. Good to know. So I had no way of communicating with my mother. Another reason to win this war. I had a family to get to just when I was about to grill Orion for information on my family thunder clapped and lightning lit up the sky like roots in the ground.

“And that is your father.” Orion yelled. Lightning tore up the sky one more time. “He says hi.”

“Hi dad!”

***

“We have a few things we need to do when we get to the mage dimension.” I said.

We came to a halt somewhere in the clearing. I noticed some of the grass started to turn brown. Orion dumped his bag and for the last several seconds had been rummaging through it.

“I’m in charge Artemis.” He grumbled.

“I know, but there are still some important things we have to do. Like find Stella. She was kidnapped by that thing that led me to the veil.”

“Do any of these important things have anything to do with your dinemus angel?”

I looked away. I wasn’t sure about my dinemus angel.

“We have to find Rocky too… I need to know if she’s alive or not. I need to know for sure.” I completely, brushed aside Orion’s statement and said.

He huffed seconds later he concentrated on the open space. I wanted to ask what he was doing but then a purple dot materialized and swirled until it was a gaping hole in front of us.

“What the-”

“It’s a portal, it’ll take us back to the mage dimension. First thing we do is go to Queen Solaris’ court. We’ll need the dinemus’s help.”

He picked up his bag and stepped through the portal. I took one final look at the green of my brother’s territory. I was going to save it all. I stepped through the portal and it felt like a brush of strong cold wind was compressing me. It last for seconds before I landed on my feet in a chilly dark mage dimension street.

“We’re back.” I said.

“Orion?” I looked around.

Nothing but flickering lamps shadows in the alley, dead houses staring at me and puddles in the portals in the stony road. My face fell. Where the hell was Orion? I stepped in after him for crying out loud!

“Orion? This isn’t funny?” I took a step forward onto the road and almost got trampled on by a midnight horse without a driver.

I didn’t even know which part of town I was in. The buildings were boarded up, had gone dry and decayed. I wrapped my arms around myself and started walking up the road in the opposite direction of the road. Could it be possible we’d been taken to different dimensions?

I didn’t know how this worked, but Orion wasn’t here. There was no sign of life near me. I kept walking, getting my boats wet as I went. I looked around all that glanced back were rats scattering into the sewers. I hated rats. I pushed my legs faster. I didn’t even know how to call for help. I didn’t want the streets to be my home for the night, but it was looking likely.

After rounding corners only to feel like I was walking through a maze. It was getting colder. I had to find shelter for the night. My hand went to my chest. The buildings were boarded up and abandoned. My heart raced at the thought of what I would find there. I squeezed the metal around my chest. My eyes went wide. Daylen! He gave me a way to communicate with him. I tightened my grip and called with my entire heart. I didn’t want to believe he would hear my call and ignore it. He’d always been there when I needed him. I needed him now.

I convinced myself that there would be other nice buildings to seek shelter in so I waded on. I heard footsteps. More like hammering against the concrete. I peered around the corner and an army of men and women in black marched down the street.

I swallowed. “Oh no.”

Hera’s forces. I turned the other way and bolted. Their voices echoed throughout the streets. I hoped I hadn’t called Daylen into trouble. I pushed my legs harder. I was too exposed. I ducked into an alley and came out on a different street with the same flickering lamp posts. I kept going until I came to a forgotten market. I squashed rotten fruit on my way out of there.

At least I couldn’t hear their shouts anymore. I hunched down under metal steps. For how long though? I wrapped my hand around the necklace on my chest.

“Daylen please come.”

I must have passed out when I came around someone was shaking me.

“Artemis, wake up.” A guy hissed.

“Daylen?” I mumbled.

“No.”

I jumped back when black framed glasses came into voice. I screamed and slammed into the wall.

“Quiet down. It’s just me.” Alfie grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my hiding spot.

“Alfie? What the heck are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” He gave me his sweet boyish smile then went serious again. He grabbed my arm and ushered me forward.

“We need to get out of here. Dark angels are mobilizing in this area.”

“Dark angels? I thought they were Hera’s troops.”

He shook his head. “No. Dark angels are claiming as much territory as Hera.”

“Wait.” I stopped. “Why are you here? This place looks totally abandoned.”

“This was my home Artemis. We fought to defend it but we had to leave. We’re still getting people out.”

This was someone’s home. Alfie’s home.

“I’m sorry. I can help you get people out. Quickly before the troops get here.”

He shook his head. “No, I’m getting you out of here. I’m not risking Hera getting you or the dark angels.”

He murmured something under his breath and a black and white portal swirled into existence. He laced his fingers through mine and pulled me through the portal. Seconds later we were outside a tall skyscraper. Like the ones we had on earth. The street lights didn’t struggle to stay on. Sports cars zoomed down the street.

I turned to Alfie, relieved he was still there. “Are we back on earth?”

“No this is Adessa. The capital of the mage dimension. Thankfully, she’s still standing.”

Flashing lights and billboards caught my attention. People dined outside restaurants without a car in the world. Two women laughed outside a restaurant with wine glasses between their fingers. It almost didn’t feel like part of the same place. Alfie grabbed my hand and hauled me through glass double doors that opened when we neared.

We took the elevator up. Only then did I realize how tired I was. It was daytime when we left Grin-land, now I was ready to crash.

“You must be freezing.” Alfie said, unlocking a door with a keycard.

“Whose place is this?”

“My dad’s. He’s… helping out. We won’t be disturbed.”

Leather couches, black grand piano filling up more of the living room. The fire place looked like the most inviting place.

“Follow me.” He said.

I followed Alfie down a hall. I can’t believe Daylen didn’t come. Alfie had been there instead. A nice guy I’d been looking forward to exploring a relationship with before the madness came down on me. He knew we would never be anything other than friends, but he was still sweet to me.

“You’ll be safe here Artemis.”

The room was massive, bigger than my whole trailer car. I settled on the king sized bed gently and looked up at him. His eyes never wandered from seriousness.

“I’m sorry I took you away from your family. You don’t have to stay with me. I’ll be fine until you’re back.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. He settled down next to me. He picked up my hand and squeezed. He looked into my eyes and for the first time there was something about Alfie that clawed at my memory.

“I’d rather be here with you Artemis.” He said.

His hand found my cheek and I stiffened. “Thanks for thinking about my family.”

“Uh, don’t mention it.”

He smirked and shifted a little closer. My heart slammed against my ribcage. This is not what I was expecting. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to have you.”

“Alfie-”

“Oh, no Artemis. You don’t have to say anything.”

I must have been extremely tired because I felt my eyes droop and my shoulders slump.

“You’re tired aren’t you, gorgeous?”

I nodded. “I should get some rest.”

“Yeah.” He moved his head toward my neck and kissed it. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Alfie… I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.” He kissed my cheek. I raised a hand to push him away, but his chest was solid rock. My protests were silenced when his lips came crashing down on me.