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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐓 was another level for Iliya to fights. "Excellent!" the giant roared as Jason and her approached. "An appetizer! Who are you—Hermes? Ares? Artemis? Demeter?"
"I'm Jason Grace," her brother started. "Son of Jupiter." and Iliya continue. "And I'm Iliya Ivanova, Daughter of Psyche."
Those white eyes bored into them. Behind him, Leo's circular saw whirred, and Piper talked to the cage in soothing tones, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. Porphyrion threw back his head and laughed.
"Outstanding!" He looked up at the cloudy night sky. "So, Zeus, Psyche, you sacrifice a son and daughter to me? The gesture is appreciated, but it will not save you."
The sky didn't even rumble. No help from above. They were on their own.
"If you knew who we were," Jason yelled up at the giant, "you'd be worried about us, not our parents. I hope you enjoyed your two and a half minutes of rebirth, giant, because We're going to send you right back to Tartarus."
The giant's eyes narrowed. He planted one foot outside the pool and crouched to get a better look at his opponent.
"So ... we'll start by boasting, will we? Just like old times! Very well, demigods. I am Porphryion, king of the giants, son of Gaea. In olden times, I rose from Tatarus, the abyss of my father, to challenge the gods. To start the war, I stole Zeus's queen."
He grinned at the goddess's cage. "Hello, Hera."
"My husband destroyed you once, monster!" Hera said. "He'll do it again!"
"But he didn't, my dear! Zeus wasn't powerful enough to kill me. He had to rely on a puny demigod to help, and even then, we almost won. This time, we will complete what we started. Gaea is waking. She has provisioned us with many fine servants. Our armies will shake the earth—and we will destroy you at the roots."
"You wouldn't dare," Hera said, but she was weakening. Iliya could hear it in her voice. Piper kept whispering to the cage, and Leo kept sawing, but the earth was still rising inside Hera's prison, covering her up to her waist.
"Oh, yes," the giant said. "The Titans sought to attack your new home in New York. Bold, but ineffective. Gaea is wiser and more patient. And we, her greatest children, are much, much stronger than Kronos. We know how to kill you Olympians once and for all. You must be dug up completely like rotten trees—your eldest roots torn out and burned."
The giant frowned at Piper and Leo, as if he'd just noticed them working at the cage. Jason and Iliya stepped forward and yelled to get back Porphyrion's attention.
