Chapter Eleven: Cyclopes Island

Therese opened her eyes and squinted against the light. Her arms were chained above her head, and she hung from them, kneeling with her back against a wall of rock in the middle of a jungle with her knees deep in sand. She was still half-dazed, trying to figure out where she was and how she’d gotten here.

The last thing she could recall was Aphrodite beckoning to her after Hera and Phorcys had breached the castle door. Therese and Amphitrite, along with Rhode and Helios, had put up a good fight, until Zeus had struck the palace with his lightning bolt and had scattered them in different directions. Therese had hit her head on the palace wall but had opened her eyes in time to see Aphrodite beckoning to her to come. With her allies scattered, Therese had decided to trust Aphrodite. She had used her fastest free-style to swim to the goddess of love awaiting in her chariot, and the next thing she knew, Therese had awakened here, in the middle of who-knew-where.

“Therese.”

She turned her head but couldn’t see another living soul.

“Therese, it’s Helios. I’m in chains, too, in a cave behind you. Thanatos is on the floor at my feet, unconscious.”

“Than? Is he breathing?” She wasn’t sure if she was breathing herself.

“Yes. But he has a spear through his chest, and I have no way of pulling it out.”

Tears pricked her eyes. She wondered what was happening back at Poseidon’s palace. Whether it had been taken or defended, how many had been harmed or imprisoned…or worse?

“How did you get here?” she asked the sun god.

“Chimera bit off my arms and swallowed them,” he said. “Before I could escape, Ares scooped me up in his chariot and chained me here. You and Than were already here when I arrived.”

“Where are we?” Therese asked.

“Cyclopes Island.”

Therese knew this place. She’d come here years ago—once to take the eye of Polyphemus, and a second time to question Polyphemus when Amphitrite and the trident had gone missing.

“Hopefully our rescuers are on their way,” she said.

“No one knows we’re here,” Helios said. “Ares wore the helm. I haven’t been able to make telepathic contact with anyone. I’m not even sure if Selene will be able to notice us beneath these thick trees and with me stuck in here.”

“Some of your light is shining from the cave,” Therese pointed out. “Maybe someone will notice it.”

“Like I said, these trees are thick.”

“If you’re down here,” Therese asked, “does that mean the earth is in darkness?”

“My chariot is still making the rounds. It’s not as bright without me in it. The days will be overcast and dark, but not as dark as night.”

Therese pulled at her chains, to no avail. “I can’t believe Aphrodite tricked me. Or that I trusted her to begin with.”

“How did she capture you?” Helios asked.

“By pretending to be my friend. As soon as I climbed into her chariot, she stuck me with a needle, and I passed out. I woke up here, just now.”

“Therese?” another voice called out to her from a short distance across the jungle.

“Jen?” Therese stood up and leaned toward the sound of the voice, pulling her chains taut. “Is that you?”

“Yes! I’m here in a cage with Hip and Artemis. Can you break us out?”

Therese groaned. “No. I’m chained to the outside of a cave. Helios and Than are imprisoned inside. Are you guys okay?”

“I’m okay, but Artemis is paralyzed,” Jen said. “She hasn’t been able to speak. Zeus the dick probably struck her with a lightning bolt.”

“Oh, no!” Therese shouted. “What about Hip?”

“I’m here,” Hip said. “What about Than and Helios?”

“Here,” Helios said. “My arms were swallowed by Chimera, and Than’s out cold with a spear in his chest.”

“Great,” Hip said.

“Hip has been trying to find Morpheus in the Dreamworld,” Jen said. “To get him a message.”

“I haven’t had any luck finding him,” Hip said.

“But you’re the god of slumber,” Therese said. “Can’t you put us all into the deep boon of sleep, so we can look for Morpheus, too?”

“Than’s there looking for him,” Hip said. “We should come up with another plan, in case Morpheus isn’t there.”

“What kind of cage are you in?” Helios asked.

“Electric bars,” Jen replied. “We get zapped every time we touch it.”

“We’re in adamantine chains and cuffs,” Therese said. “But I still have my quiver and bow. Maybe one of our allies would notice if I shot an arrow into the sky.”

“It’s worth a try,” Helios said. “And I just might be close enough to light it on fire with my rays as you shoot it.”

Therese removed an arrow from her quiver and fit it into her bow. The chains didn’t allow her to pull the bow back as far as she could, but it would be enough to breach the treetops.

“Ready?” she asked Helios. “On the count of three.”

“Ready.”

“One, two, three.” She let the arrow fly.

Helios blew a ray of sunshine but missed the arrow by a few inches.

“Let’s try that again,” Therese said. “This time, shine a ray, and I’ll shoot the arrow through it.”

She worried the arrow would fly through the ray too quickly to catch fire. She would shoot with less speed, even if it meant it would barely breach the canopy above them.

Helios blew a ray of sunshine, and Therese launched the arrow. With luck, the arrow caught fire and disappeared above the trees. Therese suspected it would start a fire and create an even better signal than the single arrow.

“Now we wait,” she said, hoping it was an ally, and not an enemy, that noticed the signal first.

***

 

Morpheus stopped kissing Iris and sat up on the couch.

“What’s wrong?” Iris asked.

“My Uncle Than found me in the Dreamworld. He’s a prisoner, along with my parents and Artemis.”

“Oh, no!” Iris flew up from the couch and scurried about the room. “What should we do? Alert the others?”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

They flew together to the throne room, but no one was there. After finding the meeting rooms empty and Tartarus all but deserted, they knocked on the door of Hecate’s chambers. When they received no answer, they flew to the Furies’ abode. No answer there, either.

“Where is everybody?” Iris said anxiously, as they followed the Phlegethon to the River Styx, where Charon ferried his skiff toward the gates.

They flew to the boat.

Hovering above the ferryman, Morpheus asked, “Do you know where everybody went?”

“The dead cannot die,” Charon said.

Morpheus scratched his head. “Why not?”

“The duty of death cannot fall upon anyone,” the old god said.

Morpheus had known the most decrepit god was one of few words, but this was ridiculous. “Come on,” he said to Iris. “This isn’t helping.”

Remembering that his grandmother was still recovering from having been swallowed by Zeus, he led Iris to Persephone’s chambers.

Morpheus knocked on the door. “Please be there. Anybody.”

Demeter answered. “How dare you disturb us? Don’t you know what my daughter has been through?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t find anyone else,” Morpheus explained. “Do you know where they’ve gone?”

Demeter scoffed. “How should I know what goes on in this dastardly place?”

She was about to slam the door in his face, but he stopped her with his hand. “Can I please talk to my grandmother?”

“She’s sleeping and needs her rest,” Demeter said.

This time, she did slam the door. Morpheus was surprised the noise wasn’t enough to wake Persephone, much less the dead.

“What an obstinate woman!” Iris said under her breath.

Morpheus was sure Demeter heard it. “I’m going to look for Persephone in the Dreamworld. I don’t know what else to do.”

He and Iris flew to the field of asphodel, so it would be easier for Morpheus to concentrate. They lay side by side, holding hands. Once he was completely asleep, he focused all his attention on seeking out his grandmother. She would know what to do, he thought.

He ran through the colorful prism, from one sleeper’s dream to another, seeking out Persephone. He called out to her, shouting until his throat hurt; then, realizing he might wake her, he turned into a butterfly and flew to a field of jonquils—his grandmother’s favorite flowers.

Sure enough, he saw her there, with a basket, picking the golden flowers in a sparkling meadow.

“Grandma Persephone,” he said, still in butterfly form. “It’s Morpheus.”

“Don’t you look lovely,” she said with a smile.

“I need your help.”

“What can I do for you, darling?”

“My parents and Than and Artemis are trapped on Cyclopes Island, and I can’t find Lord Hades, or Hecate, or my Aunt Therese, or the Furies, or anyone else. Charon even said there’s no one left to be death.”

“Oh, dear!”

“Demeter won’t let me into your room to talk to you. What should I do?”

“My mother sure is a piece of work, isn’t she?”

“Tell me what to do. Iris is with me. I don’t know where my cousins went.”

“Take Iris’s rainbow to Mount Olympus and see if you can find any of our people there. Then report back to me. I’ll tell my mother to let you in.”

“What about my parents?”

“We need to find the others if we’re to have any hope of rescuing them,” Persephone said.

Morpheus sat up in the field of asphodel and nudged Iris awake. “We need to go to Mount Olympus. Come on.”

***

 

Than woke up to the sight of Polyphemus hovering over him. Without warning, the Cyclops yanked the spear from Than’s chest. The pain seared through his body. The weapon had obviously been tainted with poison. It hurt like hell.

“What’s going on?” Than asked the giant.

“Zeus ordered the others to guard yer,” Polyphemus said. “But I’m loyal to me father. I’ve been runnin’ like a chicken with its head cut off, tryin’ to keep hidden. We better go, yer idiots.”

“Than?” It was Therese.

Than was still healing, or he’d disintegrate and go to her at once.

“Help Therese,” he told Polyphemus. Then he noticed Helios. The Titan’s arms were missing, and at each shoulder were thick globs of blood. “And the sun god, too.”

“Jen and Hip and Artemis are in a cage on the other side of those trees,” Therese said as Polyphemus yanked the adamantine chains from the rock wall.

“I know,” Than said, trying to climb to his feet. “I talked to Hip in the Dreamworld. I saw Morpheus. He’s getting help.”

“We better hurry, yer idiots,” Polyphemus said as he ripped the sun god’s chains. He couldn’t crack open the cuffs, but at least they were free. “I ain’t the only ‘un who saw yer signal.”

Therese was soon beside Than, helping him to his feet.

“Are you hurt?” Than asked her.

“I’m okay. I shot an arrow of fire into the air.”

“Not the brightest idear,” Polyphemus said. “We better run.”

With Therese helping him along, Than followed Polyphemus and the armless sun god across the jungle to the prison holding Hip and Jen. Artemis lay on the floor, but her eyes were open.

“She’s paralyzed,” Therese said to him.

“We can’t get ‘em out,” Polyphemus said of the others. “Let’s leave ‘em and go.”

“We can’t leave them,” Than said.

He was afraid the other Cyclopes would take out their anger on the remaining prisoners, or worse, move them to a new location, without anyone else knowing what it was.

“I done me part,” Polyphemus said before he ran into the jungle. “Good luck to yer, yer idiots.”

“I need to find Chimera,” Helios said. “I’m no help without my arms.”

“Go,” Than told him. “But first recruit a rescue team. Therese and I will hide in the jungle and keep an eye on the others.”

“Someone’s coming,” Hip warned though the electric bars of his cage. “Hide.”

Therese helped Than to a cluster of low-growing shrubs in the undergrowth of the thick-leaved loquat trees that dominated the jungle canopy. The ground shook from the weight of the heavy giants making their way to this part of the island. Soon the area was filled with at least a dozen half-naked Cyclopes, most carrying primitive tools, such as clubs and axes. Than squeezed Therese’s hand, trying to comfort her, even though he knew they were in trouble.

One of the giants cried out from the cave where Than had awakened. “They’re escaped! They’re escaped!”

“That’ll be the end of us,” another wailed.

“If we don’t find ‘em first!” another shouted.

“Yer go that a way, and I’ll go this a way!” someone said.

“No, yer idiot! Yer go that a way, and I’ll go this a way!” another said.

“Scatter, yer idiots!” another said. “Or I’ll eat yer alive!”

The Cyclopes bumbled about, bumping into each other before deciding on a direction to run. Than observed that they were as quick with their feet as they were with their wits.

Than’s feelings of superiority diminished when a crowd of them stumbled upon the undergrowth where he and Therese were hiding.

Therese had an arrow fitted to her bow, ready to launch. Than was shocked when, instead of directing it into the Cyclopes, she shot it at Than. Once he got over the shock of being shot by his own wife, he was surprised that the arrow did not hurt his already opened wound. When he gazed back at her with a lifted brow, he saw her take another arrow and pierce her own heart before turning into a…gibbon?

“Lookie here,” one of the Cyclopes said. “It’s a pair o’ monkeys!”

“Ain’t they cute!” another said, lifting the leaves beneath which Than and Therese were hidden.

“Come lookie,” the first said to his cohorts. “I ain’t never seen monkeys on this here island.”

“Two little monkeys a sittin’ in a tree,” one sang. “K-i-s-s…er, I forget the rest.”

“Yer idiot!” the first one said. “Yer forget everything.”

“I do not!”

“Yer do, too!”

While the Cyclopes argued, Therese led Than through the leaves and up to the highest branches of the loquat tree, higher than even the giants could reach. Because their monkey hands were too small for the cuffs, they were free of the adamantine chains, which they left behind.

“Where’d they go?” the first one said.

“Lookie there! Ain’t they cute! Up in that there tree!”

“Those ain’t monkeys, yer idiot!” another said. “Look! The chains!”

Than followed Therese from one branch to the next, running and jumping. The pain of his wound slowed him down. The poison from the spear had severely inhibited his ability to heal.

Once they were free from the thick of the jungle, they came upon the rolling hills, where the sheep grazed. Therese returned to her godly form, so Than followed suit.

“What do we do now?” she asked him.

“We can’t leave the others.”

Therese’s face transformed into a look of terror as she gazed overhead. Than followed her eyes to the sky where three ugly Harpies were descending on them.

“Run!” Than said.