𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

ave romae

JASPER ELIANO
"TURN BACK!" Reyna shouted from Jasper's left. She rode Pegasus as they approached Camp Half-Blood in the predawn hours of August 1.

Even in the dark, Jasper could see six Roman onagers. Their Imperial gold plating glinted. Their massive throwing arms bent back like ship masts listing in a storm. Crews of artillerists scurried around the machines, loading the slings, checking the torsion of the ropes.

"What are those?" Nico called.

He flew about twenty feet to the left of Reyna on a dark pegasus.

"Siege weapons," Reyna said. "If we get any closer, they can shoot us out of the sky."

"From this high up?"

"Yes," Jasper said grimly. "From very high up."

"Lord Pegasus," Reyna said, "we need a safe place to land."

Pegasus seemed to understand. He wheeled to the left. The other flying horses followed―the black horse Nico rode, the one Jasper rode, and the six others who were towing the Athena Parthenos beneath them on cables.

As they skirted the western edge of the camp, Jasper took in the scene. The legion lined the base of the eastern hills, ready for a dawn attack. The onagers were arrayed behind them in a loose semicircle at three-hundred-yard intervals. Judging from the size of the weapons, Jasper calculated that Octavian had enough firepower to destroy every living thing in the valley.

But that was only part of the threat. Encamped along the legion's flanks were hundreds of auxilia forces. Jasper couldn't see well in the dark, but he spotted at least one tribe of wild centaurs and an army of cynocephali, the dog-headed men who'd made an uneasy truce with the legion centuries ago. The Romans were badly outnumbered, surrounded by a sea of unreliable allies.

"There." Nico pointed toward Long Island Sound, where the lights of a large yacht gleamed a quarter mile offshore. "We could land on the deck of that ship. The Greeks control the sea."

"Splendid," Jasper said. "We can get murdered by Greeks rather than Romans. I'm thrilled."

"They won't murder us on sight," Nico replied as their pegasi banked toward the dark waters of the Sound. "Probably."

The ship was a white pleasure craft a hundred feet long, with sleek lines and dark tinted portals. Painted on the bow in red letters was the name MI AMOR. On the forward deck was a helipad big enough for the Athena Parthenos.

Jasper saw no crew. He guessed the ship was a regular mortal vessel anchored for the night, but if Nico was wrong and the ship was a trap...

"It's our best shot," Nico said. "The horses are tired. We need to set down."

Reyna nodded reluctantly. "Let's do it."

Pegasus landed on the forward deck with Nico's and Jasper's horses. The six others gently set the Athena Parthenos on the helipad and then settled around it. With their cables and harnesses, they looked like carousel animals.

Jasper dismounted, as did Reyna and Nico. He watched as Reyna knelt in front of Pegasus, then followed her example.

"Thank you, great one," Reyna breathed. Pegasus spread his wings and inclined his head.

Jasper looked at his pegasus. "Thank you." The animal snorted and pawed the deck, then reached down and nuzzled Jasper's cheek.

Pegasus pawed the deck. The other winged horses whinnied in salute. Then their sire launched himself upward and spiraled into the night.