Page 79
Story: Gods' Battleground
“I’ll go first,” he said.
“No, I’ll go.” I sighed because I really didn’t want to. “I should go first because I have seniority.”
Nero snorted. “Since when?”
“Uh, since I became a member of the gods’ and demons’ councils.”
“You might sit on the councils, Pandora, but I have been a soldier for a very long time, much longer than you have been alive. I was doing things like this centuries before you were born.”
“Doing things like what?” I asked. “Scaling smooth rock faces with your bare hands and no magic parachute to catch you?”
“Yes,” Nero said, totally unwavering in his confidence. “Among other things.”
“All right then.” I gave him a playful nudge with my hip. “I’ll let you go first, old man.”
Nero nodded. “A wise decision.”
He gave me a quick kiss, then squeezed through the aperture. For a moment, I thought his wide shoulders were going to get stuck in the narrow opening, but he managed to shimmythrough with some vigorous wiggling that I found absolutely adorable.
Once he was clear, I carefully lowered myself closer to the aperture. I could hear the soft, subdued creak of his leather armor as he scaled down the wall—and then a quiet tap as he set down on the ground.
“All right, Pandora!” Nero called up to me. “Come on down. But take it slow and easy.”
I slid through the opening. I was much smaller than Nero, so I didn’t have to wiggle.
And then I was inside a high, rocky chamber. And boy was this underground cave high! Actually, it wasn’t so much a cave as it was a chute.
It felt especially high since I didn’t have my wings to catch me if I fell. I drew in a few deep, calming breaths, then started down the wall. Very, very slowly.
“Are you ok?” Nero called up to me when I was nearly halfway down the wall.
“Sure, fine,” I said. “Why do you ask?”
“Because you’ve been stuck to that same spot for nearly five minutes.”
I took another deep breath. “Just getting my bearings.”
“I can come back up there,” he offered.
“It’s no problem, General. I can totally handle it.”
I reached out my arm for the next crevice in the rock. But my hands were really sweaty. I’d been holding to the wall for too long. I slipped.
I felt the sudden, unwelcome sensation of falling. I tried to right myself to land feet first, concentrating the impact there. But my feet never touched down. Nero caught me first.
“I’ve got you, Pandora,” he said, his hold secure. I could feel his heart racing in his chest. “I’ve got you.”
“You always do.” I finally let out the breath I’d forgotten to take during the long way down.
“Always,” Nero agreed.
“Well, I guess you can put me down now.”
“Are you sure?” He held on to me, his face worried.
I could tell he really didn’t want to let me go. Like he thought I would drop through the floor or something.
“Yeah, it’s ok,” I assured him. “I’ll be all right.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79 (Reading here)
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125