Volcanoes Read Free

but it didn't feel substantial enough. I needed something that would keep it down and blocked off – something big. 
    I'd skipped over a dormant volcano in my earlier exploration. Yeah – that would be big.
    In typical Grace Fashion, I didn't think this one through; I just blew it – the volcano, that is.
    I could hear Hephaestus screaming his objection in the background but it was too late. Lava rocketed from the Earth's crust, ballooning up around the city, c ooling almost as fast as it propelled forward, creating a hardened shell. 
    I threw everything I had into this. I coaxed, teased, and silently pleaded with the Earth for this to work, willing the lava to stream upward, faster, and harder.
    Without thought, I threw myself into the stream – my psyche surfing a river of fire while my body lay unconscious on the shore. The heat of it filled me like a luscious caress and I never wanted it to stop.
    I directed the flow of lava as it propelled toward the rising is land but resistance came in the form of icy cold water cooling the stream before it could work as an anchor - binding the sunken city to the ocean floor. In my frustration, I poured more power into the task - my very existence broke apart and barreled thr o ugh the now boiling water.  Nothing could cool me down and I distantly realized that I'd burst into flame within my living body.  
    Somewhere in the back of my mind, human Grace was jumping up and down – waving her arms around in a panic that my present th oughts were choosing to ignore. The focus became a singular pinpoint of desire.
    Atlantis needed to stay on the floor. Nyx needed to stay buried.
    I wasn't ready for her yet, because I wasn't ready to be the Hero of everyone's expectations. 
    I could do th is though. I could wall this city up, keeping it from moving any higher.  Nothing could stop me, not even my own sense of self-preservation.
    The sheer output of power was staggering in retrospect, but the idiotic tactic worked. Atlantis' ascent slowed as chains of mud and lava wrapped around the city. Typically lava rock is a porous material that isn't much stronger than a pumice stone. However, the mixture of saltwater, sand, lava, and eau de Grace created an unbreakable wall that brought Hypnos' efforts to a complete standstill.
    I'm sure Poseidon had something to do with it as well, but I'm taking credit. Who stopped the raising of Atlantis? That's right, this kid did.
    When I came to, I was panting and lying like a limp ragdoll, limbs akimbo. "Poseidon, can you tell?" There was no energy for words, or even for complete thoughts. Drained was a road sign that I'd passed ten miles ago.
    He waded into the water and stood still, concentrating intently on the flow of the ocean.  Finally, he nodded. "It won't b e going anywhere soon.  Girl, I don't know how you got that much power, but you've done it. Atlantis has stopped its ascent. I'm going to head back to Olympus to give a report. I will see you there."
    "Oh good," I breathed a sigh of relief stared at the cer ulean sky, digging my head further into… glass? I rolled enough to see that the sand beneath me had burned so hot that it'd created a glass outline of my body. I let myself relax with a shocked exhale. Whoa. "Give me a few minutes and we can get the hell o ut of here."
    The sun was blotted out by a mountain, casting me in shadow. Hephaestus kneeled next to me and took my face in his massive paw, turning my head side to side.
    "Do you know what you just did? Do you realize that you have completely wrecked the balance of nature in this area with your stupid stunt?"
    I opened my mouth to reply but his fingers gripped my jaw, preventing words. "No, you don't talk. You listen."
    His face held a fury that I'd never seen before.  If there'd been any energy left in me, my fight or flight instinct would have teleported me the hell out of there.
    As it was, I shrank into myself and nodded as much as I could with his grip limiting my