Daughter of Wine

Callida

Leo quickly grabs a flask of oil and splashes an arc in front of him. I light it immediately, and a wall of flames engulfs the nymphs. Jason and Piper do a one-eighty and run. Leo and I are right behind them.

There's no screaming behind us. There's laughter. I glance back and see the Maenads laughing and dancing barefoot on the flames.

"Thank you, unbeliever!" Babette laughs. "Our frenzy makes us immune to fire, but it does tickle! Trixie, send the unbelievers a thank you gift!"

Trixie skips over to the pile of boulders. She grasps a rock the size of a refrigerator and lifts it over her head.

"Run!" Piper says.

"We are running!" Jason picks up speed.

"Run better!" Leo shouts.

We reach the edge of the clearing when a shadow passes overhead.

"Keep running!" I command. I stop and hold out my hands. The trees and bushes all move with my hands, stopping the boulder very effectively. I turn and run again, slowly catching back up to my friends. I watch as they start skidding down a ravine, until Leo loses his footing and sends them tumbling down into Brooke's stream.

I sprint down the ravine behind them, easily catching up. I yank them up and we run deeper into the woods. Behind us, the Maenads laugh and shout, urging Leo to come back so that they can rip him apart.

Jason pulls us behind a massive oak tree, where we stand gasping for breath. Piper's elbow is scraped up pretty bad. Jason's left pants leg is ripped almost completely off, so it looks like his leg is wearing a denim cape.

"How do we beat them?" Jason demands. "They're immune to fire. They're superstrong."

"We can't kill them." Piper says.

"There has to be a way." Leo insists.

"No, we can't kill them." I insist. "Anyone who kills a Maenad is cursed by Dionysus. People who kill his followers go crazy or get morphed into animals or...well, bad stuff."

"Worse than letting the Maenads rip us to shreds?" Jason asks.

I don't answer. It's definitely worse than being ripped to shreds.

"That's just great." Jason sighs. "So, we have to stop them without killing them. Anyone got a really big piece of flypaper?"

"We're outnumbered four to one." Piper says. "Plus..." She grabs Leo's wrist and checks his watch. "We have twenty minutes until Bunker Nine explodes."

"It's impossible." Jason sums up.

"We're dead." Leo agrees.

An idea pops into my mind. "I've got it." I say. "Jason, you'll have to find Buford. You know which way he went. Circle back and find him, then bring him to the bunker, quick! Once you're far enough from the Maenads, maybe you can control the winds again. Then you can fly."

Jason frowns. "What about you three?"

"We're going to lead the Maenads out of your way." I say, "straight to Bunker Nine." I know there's a crazy look in my eye. I can feel it. But I'm so confident in this plan. This is my field of expertise.

Piper coughs. "Excuse me, but isn't Bunker Nine about to explode?"

"Yes, but if I can get the Maenads inside, I have a way to take care of them." I insist. "Leo, I need your help with that."

Jason looks skeptical. "Even if you can, I still have to find Buford and get the syncopator back to you in twenty minutes, or you, Leo, Piper, and a dozen crazy nymphs will blow up."