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I strap on my sword and turn to face Ares.
He’s back in his armor, standing straight and tall, with his eyes closed and his head tilted back. I’m not sure what I was expecting merging with an entire realm to look like, but all he did was let out a long breath like they tried to teach me to do in yoga class.
There’s an oddsnap, like a dislocated joint being brought into place. It’s not an audible thing, but I feel it throughout my entire body, my bones tremble with it, and I can feel that quiver echoing throughout the entire castle.
Ares opens his eyes, his head turning to one side with a small hum of consideration. Then he’s reaching out, sliding an arm around my waist and pulling me in close to his body. I don’t have time to do more than raise an eyebrow at the gesture, and stomp down the little flicker of interest that flares up, before the world around us twists.
Just like that, we’re standing outside the castle. The sky above is a dark, scabby red, like an old wound torn open. The light causes me to blink away tears, as dim as it is through the clouds of ash and smoke, and the sudden transition makes me stumble. Ares’s arm tightens around me, and I’m actually grateful for it.
I give him a questioning look once I’ve got my bearings, and Ares just nods with his chin towards a weird, lumpy mass of rock that doesn’t look any different than any other mound of volcanic rock in this place.
“Okay.” I give the stone another look, but I still can’t see anything special about it. “What about it?”
“It’s always felt strange to me. I assumed it was because I wasn’t a Death God and didn’t belong here, but now I’m not so sure.” Ares shrugs. “It’s the only thing that stands out in the realm.”
Okay. Well, if it sticks out to Ares’s senses, and he’s the Lord of the Fifth Gate, then it has to be important, right? Assuming Rhiannon knows what she’s talking about, and this isn’t all wishful thinking on her part, and Arawn isn’t off on a white sand beach somewhere drinking pina coladas.
I almost ask, so what now? But Ares is watching me expectantly, and oh right, this whole thing was kind of my idea.Okay, think, Pen.Something about the rock, and how to figure out what it is, exactly. The sword I’m carrying is probably less than helpful for such a task. What else do I have?
A ring that shores up my personality, a necklace with a few shreds of ghost left in it, a diadem that gives me clear thoughts, and good gods I hate to think how much of a blubbering mess I’d be without it if I’m this anxious wearing it. And a mirror that shows me what I want to see.
A glance in the mirror shows me a brilliant, pale white light oozing from the porous cracks in the stone, so there is definitely something up with it. Too bad it doesn’t come with settings, like a scanner from Star Trek. Or even a voice over. What kind of magic mirror is this, anyway?
I weigh the helm of the Fifth Gate in my hand. I’m not sure if it could even be useful, but I’m running out of ideas. I turn to Ares, the helm in my hands. “Do you know what this does?”
“I’ve never worn it,” he admits. “I wanted nothing from this place, not even its relics or powers. I allowed passage through the Gate only because I didn’t want to hear Hades complain about it, at least until the Fallen damned the flow of souls.”
I bite my lip, debating just putting the stupid thing on. But I’ve also read a lot of Greek myths and legends, and just toying around with sacred items historically does not end well.
Ares takes a step forward, and rests his hand on the bronze curve of the helm’s crown. “From what Hades has said, I believe it offers a glimpse of the past, and on rare occasions, the future. It allows one to see what was, and to plan for what will be.”
Okay, that doesn’t sound terrible. Or at least, not like it’s going to clamp down and get stuck on my head for eternity. Maybe I’ll get lucky and it will show me a future where we figure out how to get Arawn back. I feel like I’m owed some luck, quite frankly.
“Okay, well. Here goes.” I blow out a breath, my cheeks puffing up. “Kind of a Hail Mary, but I don’t have a better idea.”
I probably shouldn’t have said that last part out loud. Too late now.
I slip the helm on, and feel nothing. Well, the metal is a bit warm, and the press of it against my scalp is low-key claustrophobic. I’m not used to looking out at the world through a little slit. The nose guard is uncomfortable.
A huff of frustration slips past my lips, and I start to reach up to take the stupid thing off again. Just as my fingers brush the bronze sides, the world shimmers slightly. And then it changes.
I gape, staring at the world around me.
Gone are the cracked, magma fields. There are no volcanos, no ash and smoke falling from the sky. Instead, the world is painted in tones of soft twilight, dusk blues and purples and velvety blackness. Stars shimmer overhead, like diamonds strewn across dark silk.
Fire and rock is replaced by lush forests, enormous trees rising up to brush the sky with their branches. There are birds calling sleepily to one another beneath the boughs, and the wind rustles the leaves with a gentle murmur of sound.
Even Ares’s lumpy termite mound of a keep is gone. In the distance, I can see a proper castle, made of dark gray stone and covered in ivy. It’s not all harsh angles, like I expected, but something with sweeping arches and delicate looking towers, like something out of a fairy tale.
Is this the future? Is this what the Fifth Garden will look like when its rightful lord is restored? But how do we get him back? Frustration gnaws at me, and I think its only the diadem that keeps me examining my surroundings instead of stomping my foot like a toddler.
The woods fall silent, and I whirl around to catch sight of a lone figure moving through the trees.
It’s Arawn. It has to be. He’s taller than I expected, long and lean like a birch tree. His skin is pale in the rising moonlight, and his dark hair shimmers like a curtain of silk as it hangs down his back. He’s dressed like something out of medieval tales of courtly love, with a long cloak sweeping the earth behind him.
His boots make no sound as he approaches, and I scuttle out of his way before I remember that this is just a vision and no one is going to bump into me.
He settles down onto a smooth boulder with the air of a man prepared to wait, and he turns his gaze to the distance.
