𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜

Getting Turned to Ice Isn't Fun, But at Least I Get to Go Home

WHAT SOUNDED LIKE GIANT ROCKS WERE pelting the windshield. Then I realized it was sleet. Frost built up around the edges of the glass, and slushy waves of ice blotted out my view.

"An ice storm?" Piper shouted over the engine and the wind. "Is it supposed to be this cold in Sonoma?"

No one answered.

Jason woke up quickly. He crawled forward, grabbing mine and Leo's seats for balance. "We've got to be getting close."

Leo looked too busy wrestling with the stick to reply. The chopper was no longer flying easily through the air. Its movements turned sluggish and jerky. The whole machine shuddered in the icy wind. The helicopter probably hadn't been prepared for cold-weather flying, in response, we started to lose altitude. Below us, the ground was a dark quilt of trees and fog. The ridge of a hill loomed in front of us and Leo yanked the stick, just clearing the treetops.

"There!" Jason shouted.

A small valley opened up before us, with the murky shape of a building in the middle. Leo aimed the helicopter straight for it. All around us were flashes of light that were heavily distracting. Trees cracked and exploded at the edges of the clearing. Shapes moved through the mist. Combat seemed to be everywhere. Leo set down the helicopter in an icy field about fifty yards from the house and killed the engine. I was about to relax when I heard a whistling sound and saw a dark shape hurtling toward us out of the mist.

"Out!" Leo screamed. We leaped from the helicopter and barely cleared the rotors before a massive BOOM shook the ground, knocking me off my feet and splattering ice all over the four of us.

Leo extended a hand to me, and helped me up. I looked at the chopper and saw that the world's largest snowball—a chunk of snow, ice, and dirt the size of a garage—had completely flattened the Bell412.

"You all right?" Jason ran up to Leo and I, Piper at his side. They both looked fine except for being speckled with snow and mud.

"Yeah." Leo shivered.

I nodded. "Guess we owe that ranger lady a new helicopter."

Piper pointed south. "Fighting's over there." Then she frowned. "No... it's all around us."

She was right. The sounds of combat rang across the valley. The snow and mist made it hard to tell for sure, but there seemed to be a circle of fighting all around the Wolf House. Behind us loomed Jack London's dream home—a massive ruin of red and gray stones and rough-hewn timber beams. I could imagine how it had looked before it burned down—a combination log cabin and castle, like a billionaire lumberjack might build. But in the mist and sleet, the place had a lonely, haunted feel. I could totally believe the ruins were cursed.

"Jason!" a girl's voice called. Thalia appeared from the fog, her parka caked with snow. Her bow was in her hand, and her quiver was almost empty. She ran toward us, but made it only a few steps before a six-armed ogre—one of the Earthborn—burst out of the storm behind her, a raised club in each hand.

"Look out!" Leo yelled. They rushed to help, but Thalia had it under control. She launched herself into a flip, notching an arrow as she pivoted like a gymnast and landed in a kneeling position. The ogre got a silver arrow right between the eyes and melted into a pile of clay. Thalia stood and retrieved her arrow, but the point had snapped off.

"That was my last one." She kicked the pile of clay resentfully. "Stupid ogre."

"Nice shot," I said. "I have more arrows, if you need them?"

Thalia shook her head. "I can't rob you of your ammo, Kody. I can handle without for now."

I nodded in understanding.