Robert Harris - Jason and the Gorgon's Blood

“You know nothing of kings, Jason!” Acastus yelled. “I would be a shame to my people, a weakling. No one could rule that way.” He attacked again, bronze ringing on bronze. One blow, two, then a third.

For a moment, they paused again, both boys exhausted and sweating.

“You can’t beat me with a sword, Jason,” Acastus said, gulping air. “I’ve trained an hour each day with my father’s royal guards since I was six years old.”

“Then why are you so out of breath, mighty prince?” asked Jason, though he, too, was gasping.

Acastus slashed at him.

As Jason stepped back to avoid the blow, his foot slipped on damp leaves. He stumbled to his knees, shoving the edge of his blade up before his face. The impact of blade on blade jarred the sword from Jason’s fingers, and it fell onto the ground.

Looking up, Jason saw the prince looming over him, poised for a killing thrust.

In the back of his mind, Jason heard Hera’s laughter.

CHAPTER 26

THE SPRING

“SEE TO IT THAT MY people are warned,” Acastus said.

He tossed the sword aside as if the hilt burned his fingers, then turned and ran toward the pool.

Jason jumped up. “You may be better with a sword,” he muttered, “but I’m the faster runner.” He raced off in pursuit, and—at the last second—Jason threw himself at Acastus, wrapping his arms tightly around the other boy’s legs.

Acastus toppled to the ground, and they rolled together in a flurry of kicks and punches.

“The gods damn you, Jason!” Acastus cried. “Do you want to die?” He jammed a knee into Jason’s belly and made a grab for his throat.

Jason shifted his weight and flipped the prince onto his back, pinning his shoulders to the ground.

“No more than you, Prince Acastus.” He was panting. There was a sharp pain under his breastbone. His arms ached. “But if you want a witness to your sacrifice, you should have picked somebody more obliging.”

Clenching his fist, he smacked Acastus across the jaw, hard enough to leave him stunned. Pushing himself up, he staggered the last few yards to the lake and dropped to his knees.

To his right several sparkling streams were pouring down a series of high, rocky tiers to splash into the pool. The water looked pure and clear.

Innocent, he thought. But he knew that if the Gorgon’s blood had already been poured in, the running waters would have long since diluted its crimson color. Yet it would still be just as deadly.

Jason had not been raised as the prince of Iolcus, but he had been raised with a sense of duty. It was clear to him that his duty was to protect the land and its people just as a shepherd protects his flock—even at the risk of his life. Taking a deep breath, aware that it might be his last, he cupped his hands and dipped them into the pool. He lifted the water to his lips and swallowed. As he did so he was aware of a sudden splash to his right.

Acastus had caught up, thrown himself flat on the bank, and plunged his head into the pool. He came up, choking on the water he had swallowed, his face dripping. Coughing three times, he rolled onto his back.

“So now we die together, eh?”

“Or live,” said Jason. The water had tasted normal, but what did normal mean? Each beat of his heart seemed to measure out a vast distance of time, like the slow boom of a far-off tide.

One beat.

Two.

Acastus sat up. The boys looked at each other.

Three … four …

“Are we dead yet?” Acastus asked.

Jason squinted about him. “The sun’s too bright and the grass too green for this to be Hades’ realm.” He sighed. “I think … we’re alive.”

“That’s good news,” Acastus declared. All at once he began to chuckle. Then he threw back his head and laughed long and loud.

Jason flopped onto his back and dissolved into laughter as well. It sounded rich, foolish, and wonderful.

Eventually they calmed down and remembered why they were here and how much they still had to do.

Just then, Lynceus and Idas came charging through the bushes. “Dust,” Lynceus gasped. “To the southeast.”

“Great clouds of it,” Idas confirmed. “Could be horses.”

“It’s coming from the direction of the city,” said Acastus. “The centaurs wouldn’t be coming that way.”

“So it must be—” Lynceus began.

“Chariots!” Idas finished for him.

Acastus nodded. “Warriors from Iolcus,” said Acastus. He turned to Jason. “My father’s horses are the swiftest in Thessaly.”

“We still can’t wait around for him,” said Jason. “We have to guard the spring.”

“You’ll need these,” said Idas, tossing their swords at their feet. “I found them lying on the ground. Is there any point asking what’s been going on?”

“We were having a race,” Acastus replied. He snatched up his sword and sheathed it. “Lynceus, go and meet the chariots. Tell them where we are and that they need to hurry.”

“Won’t you need another sword at your side?” Lynceus asked.

“We need reinforcements even more,” said Idas, clapping him on the back. “Go, fetch them.”

Lynceus gave his brother a stern look. “You take care of yourself till I get back,” he warned, wagging his finger at him.

As Lynceus ran off through the trees, Jason retrieved his own sword and the three boys started up the stony slope, working their way around the shoulder of the crag. They peered down through the rocks and beheld an awesome sight.

On the plain below, the centaurs were approaching from the north. They were waving clubs over their heads, whooping and yelling.

Jason jerked back and signaled the others to keep low.

Below them, the centaur host had come to a halt. They formed a broad crescent around Kentauros and let out a ragged cheer. Wedged under Kentauros’ muscular arm Jason could see the red jar containing the Gorgon’s blood.

“There may be hundreds of them,” Acastus said, “but no more than two or three of them at a time can climb up here to the spring. That evens the odds a bit.”

“Maybe long enough for Lynceus to bring up your father’s troops ….” Idas said. But the three looked at one another, all thinking the same thing.

“Only if we can get our hands on that jar,” Jason said at last.

“The important thing is to keep the spring safe,” said Acastus, “even at the cost of our lives.”

Just then they heard Kentauros bellow, “My brothers, now we shall have our vengeance. Ages ago we were driven from this land by the hordes of man. Now we shall turn this stolen country into a wasteland. The survivors will become our slaves and our prey! Onward … on to the source of Demeter’s Pool.”

A huge cheer went up. The centaurs drummed their hooves on the ground and chanted, “KEN-TAU-ROS! KEN-TAU-ROS!”

“We need a place for an ambush,” said Idas. “Surprise is the only advantage we’ll have.”

They climbed up the slope, scrambling over rocks to where the spring gushed out of a hole in the crag before splitting into several lesser streams on its way down. They found a stony outcropping where, crouched in the shadows, they waited.

Jason drew his sword and ran his thumb lightly over the edge to assure himself of its sharpness.

“What do you think old Chiron would say if he could see us now?” Idas asked.

“He’d probably say we’d come poorly equipped,” said Acastus, “that we should have planned better.”

“No,” said Jason, “I think he’d be proud, proud of all of us for making it this far together.” He stretched his sword out before him and the others laid their blades on top of it.

“We are bound together now,” said Jason, “sworn comrades in the battle to come.”