Page 9

Memories flashed horribly through her mind, bubbling up like something buried on the ocean bed.

A bird without a head. A bloodied pool of eels. Her father’s dying words. The sound of a sword entering flesh.

The waters roiled, glowing with Jupiter’s fire, but she couldn’t scream, her chest winded from the impact, her arms aching as she struggled to hold on to the rocking boat.

Claudia gasped as she glimpsed a dark, serpentine shape moving beneath her, snaking slowly through the deep water, unseen by the crew, who battled the fire, as it slithered under the ship.

Tired, distracted, muscles aching, her fingers began to slip, one by one. She lost her hold with one hand, her strangled cry cut short as she slammed against the body of the boat.

Claudia hung on for a brief moment before she lost purchase, plummeting down towards the frigid cold water with her arms still outstretched, grasping for a hand that didn’t come.

As Claudia fell through the air, time seemed to slow, her vision brightening then fading, before a giant wave rose up beneath her. It deposited her back on deck in a heap, drenched but mysteriously unharmed. It all happened so quickly she had no opportunity to process it.

Gia and Cassius raced over as Claudia climbed unsteadily to her feet, goggling at her in awe.

‘You… you went overboard,’ Cassius said, shaking his head. ‘How is it—’

Gia interrupted him, embracing her tightly.

‘I almost lost you,’ she said.

A tremendous splashing and dripping noise sounded, as Claudia pulled back curiously from their embrace.

She watched Gia’s eyes catch on something behind her, then widen in horror, her face slackening and paling, as a large, unnatural shadow, cast by the fire, fell upon the ship.

Sailors and soldiers were already screaming before Claudia set eyes on it: an enormous serpentine beast.

One man tossed himself overboard with the resolution of someone who had seen enough already. The others formed a huddle, clumping together fearfully.

‘What is it?’ said Gia. ‘A creature of Jupiter?’

‘The king of the gods has many such beasts of legend to fight for him, but they are rarely seen,’ said Rectina.

The monster was never fully visible, submerged beneath the foaming waves. Claudia could see only glimpses of its form – its snake-like loops, its dark scaly skin, its horns and claws. That was terrifying enough. She imagined it sinking its sharp teeth into her, swallowing her up like a mouse and spitting out her bones.

But then the beast did something unexpected.

When another bolt of bright, hot lightning tore towards the ship, the creature used its body as a shield, repelling the fiery spears. They bounced off, sizzling into the water. Its draconian head struck out, shattering one of Jupiter’s bolts into a shower of fine sparks.

A deep baritone grumble sounded as fire and water clashed mid-air, creating landscapes of steam.

The beast was on their side.

The storm began to subside. Through the spray of water and the smoke of the fire, Claudia glimpsed what appeared to be a large, fish-tailed woman riding the beast and hoisting a golden trident, though she was shrouded by mist, her eyes hidden beneath her seaweed hair.

‘Salacia,’ whispered Rectina, joining Claudia to stare over the rail at the mysterious deity.

‘You know her?’ said Gia, in awe.

‘The goddess of saltwater. I recognize her trident. Made by Vulcan, gifted to her by Neptune. I have a relief of her in my spa.’ Rectina’s face crumpled, as though picturing her villa in Herculaneum, now buried beneath the volcano’s fire. ‘I had a relief, I should say.’

The strange goddess raised her trident with an energetic grunt, like a competitor in the Olympic Games.

‘What is she doing here?’ Gia asked.

‘She clearly came to our aid,’ said Claudia.

Seawater shot up from its prongs, drowning out the fires of Jupiter’s lightning bolts as they fell.