𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐌𝐀 [𝐩𝐣𝐨 𝐱 𝐡𝐩]

❝ LOVE, WAR, DEATH ❞

|| CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO ||

❝ LOVE, WAR AND DEATH ❞

SUNSET HAD FALLEN and Lilith's mother was silently dropping her veil.

They rode the boar all the day, which was about as much as Lilith's back end could take. Imagine riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day. That's about how comfortable boar riding was.

Lilith have no idea how many miles they have covered, but the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and scrub brush got sparser until they were galloping across the desert.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating."

Nobody needed convincing. We slipped off the boar's back while he was busy ripping up cacti. Then they waddled away as best they could with our saddle sores.

After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.

"It likes the mountains better," Percy guessed.

"I can't blame it," Lilith said. "Look."

Ahead of them was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since years and a white stucco post office
with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door.

"I bet that Taco haven't been opened since Aurelia was born." Marcus muttered to Lilith who slapped his head and gave him a glare.

Beyond that was a range of hills... but then Lilith noticed they weren't regular hills. The countryside was way too flat for that. The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

"Whoa," Percy said.

"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia said. She looked at Grover. "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

"Please don't." The Children of Rome groaned.

Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made no sense, but Grover looked concerned.

"That's us," he said. "Those seven nuts right there."

"Which one is me?" Percy asked.

"The little deformed one," Zoe suggested.