04 The Mark of Athena

THE HERCULES GUIDE TO THE MARE NOSTRUM didn’t help much with snakes and mosquitoes.
“If this is a magic island,” Piper grumbled, “why couldn’t it be a nice magic island?”
They tromped up a hill and down into a heavily wooded valley, careful to avoid the black-and-redstriped
snakes sunning themselves on the rocks. Mosquitoes swarmed over stagnant ponds in the
lowest areas. The trees were mostly stunted olives, cypress, and pines. The chirring of the cicadas and
the oppressive heat reminded Piper of the rez in Oklahoma during the summer.
So far they hadn’t found any river.
“We could fly,” Jason suggested again.
“We might miss something,” Piper said. “Besides, I’m not sure I want to drop in on an unfriendly
god. What was his name? Etch-a-Sketch?”
“Achelous.” Jason was trying to read the guidebook while they walked, so he kept running into
trees and stumbling over rocks. “Says here he’s a potamus.”
“He’s a hippopotamus?”
“No. Potamus. A river god. According to this, he’s the spirit of some river in Greece.”
“Since we’re not in Greece, let’s assume he’s moved,” Piper said. “Doesn’t bode well for how useful
that book is going to be. Anything else?”
“Says Hercules fought him one time,” Jason offered.
“Hercules fought ninety-nine percent of everything in Ancient Greece.”
“Yeah. Let’s see. Pillars of Hercules…” Jason flipped a page. “Says here this island has no hotels,
no restaurants, no transportation. Attractions: Hercules and two pillars. Huh, this is interesting.
Supposedly the dollar sign—you know, the S with the two lines through it?—that came from the
Spanish coat of arms, which showed the Pillars of Hercules with a banner curling between them.”