Stormbreacher - Book 1 of Titanomachy Series

Chapter 16: Birthplace of Hell

Sneaking around in aluminum air ducts is way easier in the movies than it is in real life. For one, it's kinda creepy, and if you have claustrophobia, you have a nightmare ready for you. I do not, so I was good. But, I mean, I never completely shook off the idea that the vents would somehow collapse in on me and squish me to a pulp. Completely irrational, sure, but irrationality is sometimes your only bedfellow, and it becomes a very familiar one.

But there is also a problem number two: I have a dust allergy.

So while I'm exploring this dirty metal hellhole pondering my mortality that I fear I am soon to shed, I'm also literally crying because I'm scrunching my face up so that I don't sneeze out an incredible trumpet blast like some depressed elephant. Air ducts are, unsurprisingly, very dusty. And my nose quickly got very red.

And this was about when I began to regret my decision. Because, as it turns out...Stinger also couldn't remember which way Project: Basilisk was.

I am doomed.

"Wait, Athena, I do kinda remember the general direction though." Stinger interjected. "And—oh! I passed vents on the way up here! Like, grates! Where the air was flowing out! And I remember what those look like!"

"I can't believe you." I threw back my head with a groan, loudly bonking the crown of my head on the aluminum ceiling. "Ow. We'll have to leave a trail of some kind, hold on..."

I figured I had to have something in my backpack that would do the job, but I was too squished into the vent to unzip my backpack. "Stinger? Can you look around in my backpack for something to leave a trail with? Do we have, I dunno, string?"

Stinger glowered at me, his pupils thinning and his irises turning beet red. "Why can't you look?"

"I'm too big to move! Just look in there for me!"

"Ugh." Stinger cutely saluted me with his wing before diving into my backpack's contents. "Let's see, here we go...we have...Athena, why is there a knife in here?"

He spoke with this hilariously condescending tone, like an angry parent when they discover marijuana in their idiot kid's room. I smiled at the thought, and rolled my eyes. "In case I need to defend myself, maybe? I can't perfectly camouflage to my surroundings, Stinger."

"Yeah, yeah. Uh...there's a flashlight. Down there. And a phone. And..." There was the sound of something crinkling in the pack. I frowned—what did I bring that makes that noise? I can't even remember...

"What's Snickers, Athena? You have a thing down here that says Snickers in big letters on it."

Snickers!! That's what it was. I could totally use Snickers to make a trail for my way out, now that I remembered them.

"Gimme the Snickers!" I exclaimed.

"What are Snickers, Athena? I thought when you snicker at something, you're laughing at it." he said.

"It's also a candy. I brought it in case I got hungry. Give it to me." 

"Candy?!" Stinger gasped, probably starry-eyed and with his mouth watering. Oh, for God's sake... "Did you say candy? Can I have some?!"

"No!" I growled. "Just give me the goddamn Snickers!"

"Aww..." 

With grunts, groans, and whatever other synonyms there are for sounds you make when you exert force, Stinger dragged the surprisingly big Snickers bar out of the backpack, and let it tumble down to the ground. "Oof!" he panted, and plopped down on my shoulder. "You know, I should have some Snickers for how I dragged them through your backpack. They're pretty heavy, Athena!"