The Veiled Legacy | PJO - Book Two

fifteen

OLYMPIANS

Ariana watched in horror as the giant king rose to his full height - almost as tall as the temple columns.

His face looked just as horrible as she imagined - green as bile, with a twisted sneer, his seaweed-coloured hair braided with swords and axes taken from dead demigods.

He loomed over the captives, watching them wriggle. "They arrived just as you foresaw, Enceladus! Well done!"

The giant bowed his head, braided bones clattering in his dreadlocks. "It was simple, my king."

The flame designs gleamed on his armour. His spear burned with purplish fire. He only needed one hand to hold his captive.

Despite all of Percy Jackson's power, despite everything he had survived, in the end he was helpless against the sheer strength of the giant - and the inevitability of the prophecy.

Ariana wanted to scream, to run away and cry. She couldn't watch it - she didn't want to watch her best friend die right in front of her.

She wondered how Annabeth would react - she'd be heartbroken, destroyed. The love of her life dead and Ariana just stood there watching, completely frozen on the spot.

"I knew these two would lead the assault." Enceladus continued. "I understand how they think. Athena and Poseidon ... they were just like these children! They both came here thinking to claim this city. Their arrogance has undone them!"

Over the roar of the crowd, Ariana could barely hear herself think, but she replayed Enceladus's words: these two would lead the assault. Her heart raced.

The giants had expected Percy and Annabeth. They didnt expect her or Piper. Ariana turned her head, Piper was already looking at her.

Annabeth tried to say something, but the giantess Periboia shook her by the neck. "Shut up! None of your silver-tongued trickery!"

It was the first time Ariana noticed Annabeth; her heart dropped all the way to her stomach.

The princess drew a hunting knife as long as Piper's sword. "Let me do the honours, Father!"

"Wait, Daughter." The king stepped back. "The sacrifice must be done properly. Thoon, destroyer of the Fates, come forward!"

The wizened grey giant shuffled into sight, holding an oversized meat cleaver. He fixed his milky eyes on Annabeth.

Percy shouted. At the other end of the Acropolis, a hundred yards away, a geyser of water shot into the sky.

King Porphyrion laughed. "You'll have to do better than that, son of Poseidon. The earth is too powerful here. Even your father wouldnt be able to summon more than a salty spring. But never fear. The only liquid we require from you is your blood!"

Ariana scanned the sky desperately. Where was the Argo II?

Thoon knelt and touched the blade of his cleaver reverently against the earth.

"Mother Gaia.." His voice was impossibly deep, shaking the ruins, making the metal scaffold resonate under Piper's feet. "In ancient times, blood mixed with your soil to create life. Now, let the blood of these demigods return the favour. We bring you to full wakefulness. We greet you as our eternal mistress."

Without thinking, Ariana leaped from the scaffolding. She sailed over the heads of the Cyclopes and ogres, landed in the centre of the courtyard and pushed her way into the circle of giants.

As Thoon rose to use his cleaver, Ariana slashed upward with her sword. She took off Thoon's hand at the wrist.

The old giant wailed. The cleaver and severed hand lay in the dust at Ariana's feet. She felt her Mist disguise burn away until she was just Ariana again - one girl in the midst of an army of giants, her jagged bronze blade like a toothpick compared to their massive weapons.