Then Typhon launched upwards again and the force of the dragon’s cramped wings beating the cavern shuddered the rock. The impact hit just as Atalanta landed and she was thrown backwards.
‘Atalanta!’ Danae lurched forward, hurling herself towards the gap, her fingers closing around the warrior’s wrist as she tumbled over the edge. Danae ignored the pain searing through her shoulder, her entire being focused on the hand clutching Atalanta.
The warrior clung to Danae, her deep brown eyes flecked with fear.
‘I will not let you fall.’ Danae reached her other arm down, bracing her torso and legs against the steps. Atalanta swung up her free hand and grasped it.
A glow, like the blaze of dawn, swelled from the depths of the pit as Typhon opened its jaws.
Danae’s heart thundered. She heaved with all her might, her vision crackling with the effort, as a ball of fire billowed up through the cavern. As Danae pulled Atalanta onto the steps, the warrior roared, smacking her sandals against the rock to put out the flames licking her feet. Her lower legs were streaked with raw, blackened flesh.
‘Are you all right?’ asked Danae.
Atalanta moaned.
‘Can you climb?’
The warrior looked up at her, jaw clenched. ‘If you help me.’
Danae slipped her arm around Atalanta’s waist and hoisted her to her feet. Battered and bleeding, the two women clambered the length of the last coil and stumbled towards the entrance passage. Danae could feel Atalanta’s body tensing beside her with each agonizing step.
When they finally reached the entrance passage, she said, ‘I could carry you on my back?’
‘I’m not a child,’ grunted the warrior.
Danae was torn between frustration and relief. She didn’t know if she’d have had the strength.
It looked as though some of the giants had made it out despite the fire and crumbling steps. Chunks of rock had been ripped from the walls, and rubble littered the floor, all covered in a film of black soot from Typhon’s fire.
Halfway through the passage, Danae felt a swell of warmth at her back and glanced over her shoulder. The entrance to Tartarus was brightening.
‘Run!’
With a last burst of strength, they sprinted, Atalanta roaring in pain. Danae felt the skin on her back blistering as they reached the mouth of the entrance passage and threw themselves to the ground, just as a great tongue of fire licked from the stone serpent’s jaws.
She lifted her head, peering around through smoke-stung eyes. The Missing lingered in a cluster at a safe distance from the entrance. With them was Telamon, kneeling beside the prone body of Heracles. There seemed to be far fewer mortals than there had been in the chamber. At a glance only around two dozen had made it out. Some stared at Danae and Atalanta, others at something behind them.
Danae turned and let out a sob of relief.
Hylas trotted towards her, his white coat gleaming throughthe mist. The horse nibbled her ear then whinnied, tossing his head.
Danae began to push herself to her feet but was sent thudding back to the ground by another earth-shattering quake. She rolled onto her back as the roof of Tartarus cracked open like an egg, and from its depths emerged Typhon. Finally free of its rock cage, the great dragon unfurled its wings, each one the length of theArgo, and launched itself into the air with a deep, sulphurous roar.
The mist around them was blown away, revealing the River Acheron barely a yard from where they stood. For a heartbeat the air was filled with fire, the waters of the river stained with burning light as the dragon soared away across the plains of Erebus.
Before the brightness faded, the hulking forms of four giants could be seen thundering away along the riverbank. She stared after them, wondering what havoc they would wreak if they found their way to the surface.
A moan drew her attention. Atalanta lay on the scorched ground, curled into herself.
Telamon paced towards them. ‘Is she wounded?’
‘Her legs are burned. They need to be cleaned and bound.’ Danae cast around, but there was nothing save blackened rock.
‘What do we do now?’ The woman who had spoken in the mine detached herself from the Missing.
‘How do we get out of here?’ A man in a once fine teal cloak joined her, wringing his hands.
Danae opened her mouth, then her gaze settled on his cloak. She thrust out an arm. ‘Give me that.’
