At first, I think rocks are pelting a windshield. Frost builds around the edges of the glass, and I realize it's sleet. Shushy waves of ice blot out my view.
"An ice storm?" Piper asks, shouting over the engine and wind. "Is it supposed to be this cold in Sonoma?"
"No." Theo looks absolutely terrified beside me. She's gripping her armrest tightly.
Jason wakes up quickly too. "We've got to be getting close."
I'm too busy wrestling with the stick to reply. Suddenly, it's not so easy to drive the chopper. The moves turn sluggish and jerky, and the whole machine shudders in the icy wind. It probably wasn't prepped for cold weather flying. The controls refuse to respond, and we start to lose altitude.
Below us, the ground is a quilt of trees and fog. I have to yank the stick to avoid hitting the treetops on a hill.
A small valley opens up below us, and Theo leans forwards to look. There's a murky shape of a building in the middle of the valley, so I aim the helicopter towards it. All around us are flashes of light, trees crack and explode at the edges of the clearing. Shapes move through the mist. Combat seems to be everywhere.
I set down the helicopter in an icy field about fifty yards from the houuse. I'm about to relax when I hear a whistling sound and see a dark shape hurtling towards us.
"Out!" Theo screams.
We leap from the helicopter and barely clear the rotors before a massive explosion shakes the ground.
"How am I supposed to return it now?" Theo asks.
I look and see that the world's largest snowball has completely flattened the Bell 412.
"You all right?" Jason asks, runing up to me, Piper at his side. They look fine despite being speckled with snow and mud.
"Yeah." Piper points south. "Fighting's over there."
"No." Theo comes over to us too. "It's all around us."
She's right. Sounds of combat ring across the valley. There's a circle of fighting all around the Wolf House. Behind us looms Jack London's dream home. A massive ruin of red and gray stones and rough-hewn timber beams.
"Jason!" A girl's voice calls.
Thalia appears out of the fog, her parka caked with snow. Her bow is in her hand, and her quiver is almost empty. She runs towards us, but only makes it a few steps before a six-armed ogre, an Earthborn, bursts out of the storm behind her, a raised club in each hand.
"Look out!" I manage to yell.
Theo rushes forwards, rolling forwards and landing on her knee. She holds out her hands and a pillar of earth shoots upwards, launching the Earthborn into the sky. Thalia notches her last arrow and shoots the ogre. Clay rains down around them.
"Oh. Nice shot." I squeak.
Theo and Thalia hug, then Thalia comes over to hug Jason. "Just in time. My Hunters are holding a perimeter around the mansion, but we'll be overrun any minute."
"By Earthborn?" Jason asks.
"And wolves. Lycaon's minions. Also storm spirits-"
"But we gave them to Aeolus!" Piper protests.
"Who tried to kill us." I remind her.
"Maybe he's helping Gaea again?" Theo offers. She blows a fleck of ice off her nose.
"I don't know." Thalia admits. "But the monsters keep reforming almost as fast as we can kill them. We took the Wolf House with no problem. Surprised the guards and sent them straight to Tartarus. But then this freak snowstorm blew in. Wave after wave of monsters started attacking. Now we're surrouunded. I don't know who or what is leading the assault, but I think they planned this. It was a trap to kill anyone who tried to rescue Hera."
"Where is she?" Theo asks.
"Inside." Thalia says. "We tried to free her, but we can't figure out how to break the cage. It's only a few minutes until the sun goes down. Hera thinks that's the moment when Porphyrion will be reborn. Plus, most monsters are stronger at night. If we don't free Hera soon-"
She doesn't need to finish the thought. We follow her inside the ruined mansion. Theo grabs my hand, the warmth spreading up my arm. She's trembling.
"You okay?" I ask her quietly.
"No." She's incredibly tense. "Leo...this place... I'm not supposed to be here."
