Page 125 of The Mortal Trials

When the divine see the changes in Koda, how will we explain his transformation? What will they do to us to learn what healed him?

I watch the two of them from the doorway as they cross the pathway to the main shore, waiting to see if Koda will need Niall’s hand in the deeper sand. He doesn’t.

It’s like he’s twenty years younger.

I’m not sure what today’s trial will bring, but Koda’s newfound strength will help us if it doesn’t damn us first.

Vailea stopped by yesterday to tell us that the announcement made at the championed palaestra feast was that we’ll all be given another surprise today. We’ll receive this one during the contest itself instead of before it. After the last surprise they gave us, I’m not eager to receive another one.

The shower water shuts off and shortly after, August walks out of the bathing room dressed in cargo pants and a white tee shirt. “Where’s Koda?” he asks, moving to pick up the cane he left behind.

“August… The tea healed more than his sickness. He’s able to walk on his own now.”

August’s shoulders tense. “I imagine there aren’t many things that could heal him like that.”

I bite my nail. “Anansi is capable.”

“Will he lie and say it was his doing?”

I shrug. I don’t know what the tricky god will do. If he thinks I’ll divulge the source of the ingredient he wants, he might, but he would certainly threaten to tell the truth if I don’t reveal it.

Susanoo wasn’t allowed to help Akira. What if Anansi’s lie backfires and Koda is killed because the divine think he healed Koda to give his mortal an advantage?

Today, I decide to wear my bloodstained bodysuit. It protects my prosthesis better than any of the other clothes, which matters more than being fashionable.

Feathers and all, I pull my hair back in a high ponytail. My obsidian shard is secured in a makeshift cloth sheath hanging from a torn piece of fabric tied around my waist. I take my spear from the corner and hand Torsten’s – Elias’s – sword to August.

“Should we give it back to our Greek friend?” he asks.

“No. And I can’t wield them both.” I try to smile.

“Okay, then. We can win,” he tells me, holding my eyes.

I want to believe him. I want to feel as sure as he sounds when he says it. So I say it, in case speaking it will somehow make it happen. “We can win.”

“Are the others meeting us at the temple?”

“Yeah.” I glance at his fresco before we leave the oikos, the little island, and the shore, in case it’s the last time I see it. We take the stairs and march toward the fourth trial.

Peng and Tae are waiting inside when we push aside a swath of pale fabric. Peng’s leathers are soft pink, while Tae shimmers in new armor with Isis, wings outstretched, etched into the gold over her chest.

Ulani and Vailea arrive; he wears bronze and she is in leather armor of the palest blue. They carry their sword and trident, looking like they might tear the world apart if the gods separate them today.

Elias arrives in blue with black-garbed Niall and red-clad Koda.

Hazi comes in alone, the only one wearing the deep purple fabric of the Mesopotamians. In the last trial, he said he’d tell me about the gift he received from the oracle, but I haven’t seen him since. I wonder if he changed his mind.

Then Kallik and Torsten stride across the stone, Kallik in dark brown leather and Torsten in silver. His armor is bulky. He sees the sword I took from him in August’s hand and sneers.

August smiles in reply, which pisses Torsten off. The Norseman’s stare glints with the promise of a fight.

Marima, Brigid’s choice from last night, marches in wearing a skin-tight black suit and no armor at all, like me. Her outfit eases my nerves. If Brigid didn’t dress her for hand-to-hand combat, maybe the fourth trial won’t require it, after all.

Nikolai, Njord’s mortal, wears silver to match Torsten, while Sura, Pele’s selected, is clad in bronze armor like Ulani.

Next to enter the temple are Wen, brutal Triglav’s angry mortal, and Veronia, huntress Devona’s, both wearing lavender ensembles and looking like they plan to win this trial together for their pantheon’s glory.

I’m counting to make sure everyone’s here when the sound of the horn blares all around us. Yuuki jogs in, wearing golden armor with Thoth engraved into the breastplate, and settles next to Tae.