Umbra

Chapter 16

The monsters charged.

For a split second, Emilia thought of how all of them were related, how the Olympians came from the Titans, how the Titans and Giants came from Gaea.

And the more she considered it, the more she considered that she wasn't descended from Gaea. Her grandmother, Nyx, was Gaea's sister, even Tartarus's sister. The rest of the demigods, they came from gods who had been sired by Kronos or others, nearly all descended from Titans (except for Aphrodite) and born of Gaea and Ouranos.

But she? She wasn't part of that. She went beyond it. It was no wonder she was strong enough to be an anchor. She was an ancient force and Gaea meant to use that. She wasn't just a child of the pit, she had the power of the pit.

As Jason was ambushed by the storm spirits and Leo leapt to battle Khione, Emilia swept out her hands. The Earthborn and the wolves that surged toward her and Piper were blasted back by a storm of shadows, drawn right from the earth that Porphyrion was rising out of. She channeled her and Gaea's connection to the pit, she channeled their darkness and flung it back to them.

Every single bolt turned into dark energy without her having to swipe her hands together to form it. Wolves fell injured all around, many Earthborn melted instantly, and those that didn't were taken care of Piper, who was slicing them apart with her dagger without a problem.

Leo was handling Khione perfectly fine. Each time she summoned ice daggers, blasts of winter air, or tornadoes of snow, Leo would burn through it, his whole body flickering with red tongues of flame like he'd been doused in gasoline. His fiery aura was heating up the whole courtyard, ice melting even around the Hunters. One by one they started getting up, launching themselves at the injured wolves.

Emilia stood her ground, the shadows continuing to flow out, Tartarus's presence felt on earth. The wolves were starting to scamper away, the storm spirits Jason hadn't already taken care of– while riding on one of the storm spirits that was in the form of a horse– were scattering, the Earthborn were melting back into the earth and staying there.

Porphyrion wasn't rising anymore. He stayed right where he was as Emilia channeled the energy being used to wake him toward the other monsters. There came a point when Khione burst into a puff of snow, not able to keep up with Leo. Most of the Hunters were awake, the Wolf House's battle was gone, and all that was left was to free Hera.

"I'll keep trying to hold him down!" said Emilia, though she realized she was getting tired now that the snowstorm was gone. It wasn't dark enough anymore.

"Hurry!" said Hera, now visible through the bars again. "The earth is trying to claim me!"

She was right. The ground was rising around her like water in a tank. Leo got to working on the cage, "Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage. Use everything you've got. Convince Gaea to sleep. Lull her into a daze. Just slow her down, try to get the tendrils to loosen. Emilia, can you channel the power back to Hera?"

"I can try," said Emilia uncertainly, tilting her hands toward the cage. The shadows swirled toward it, the earth ceasing its movement. Piper called out, "Hey, Gaea. Nice night, huh? Boy, I'm tired. How about you? Ready for some sleep?"

It was difficult for Emilia to keep herself from falling asleep. She kept listening to Piper's words and feeling herself starting to grow limp, only to be shaken by Jason, reminding her that Piper was talking to Gaea, not to them. He looked just as exhausted.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can channel the magic back," warned Emilia, arms beginning to shake. The earth stood still, Porphyrion remained trapped, still not fully risen, but she wasn't sure she could hold him for much longer.