Nemesism

12)

I WAS NO EXPERT ON GHOSTS, but the dead legionnaires must have all been demigods, because they were totally ADHD.

    They clawed their way out of the pit, then milled about aimlessly, chest-bumping each other for no apparent reason, pushing one another back into the chasm, shooting arrows into the air as if trying to kill flies, and occasionally, out of sheer luck, throwing a javelin, a sword, or an ally in the direction of the enemy.

    Meanwhile, the army of monsters got thicker and angrier. Earthborn threw volleys of stones that plowed into the zombie legionnaires, crushing them like paper. Female demons with mismatched legs and fiery hair (I guessed they were empousai) gnashed their fangs and shouted orders at the other monsters. A dozen Cyclopes advanced on the crumbling bridges, while seal-shaped humanoids—telkhines—lobbed vials of Greek fire across the chasm. There were even some wild centaurs in the mix, shooting flaming arrows and trampling their smaller allies under hoof. In fact, most of the enemy seemed to be armed with some kind of fiery weapon.

    Nico was swinging his black sword with one hand, holding the scepter of Diocletian aloft with the other. He kept shouting orders at the legionnaires, but they paid him no attention.

    Jason, Piper and I stood at Nico's back. Jason summoned gusts of wind to blast aside javelins and arrows. He deflected a vial of Greek fire right up the throat of a gryphon, which burst into flames and spiraled into the pit. Piper put her new sword to good use, while spraying food from the cornucopia in her other hand—using hams, chickens, apples, and oranges as interceptor missiles. The air above the chasm turned into a fireworks show of flaming projectiles, exploding rocks, and fresh produce. I summoned dagger with my powers and threw it at them.

    Jason's face was already beaded with sweat. He kept shouting in Latin: "Form ranks!" But the dead legionnaires wouldn't listen to him, either. Some of the zombies were helpful just by standing in the way, blocking monsters and taking fire. If they kept getting mowed down, though, there wouldn't be enough of them left to organize.

    "Hey," I yelled at the dead legionnaires.

    They faced me for a moment then went back to literally not helping.

    "Make way!" Frank shouted. To my surprise, the dead legionnaires parted for him. The closest ones turned and stared at him with blank eyes, as if waiting for further orders.

    "Oh, great..." Frank mumbled.

    The truth hit me. Jason wasn't quite Roman anymore. His time at Camp Half-Blood had changed him. Reyna had recognized that. Apparently, so did the undead legionnaires. If Jason no longer gave off the right sort of vibe, or the aura of a Roman leader...

    Jason is greek. I celebrated inside my head. Took another to the dark side. That's a joke. It just, Greeks are better.

    Jason on franks left flank, deflecting the incoming missiles with wind; Piper on his right, yelling charmspeak commands— encouraging the monsters to attack each other or take a refreshing jump into the chasm.

    "It'll be fun!" she promised.

    I stood with Nico trying to help him out.

    A few listened, but across the pit, the empousai were countering her orders. Apparently they had charmspeak too. The monsters crowded so thickly around Frank that he could barely use his sword. The stench of their breath and body odor was almost enough to knock him out, even without the arrow throbbing in his arm.

    "Stupid ghosts!" Nico shouted.

    "They won't listen!" Jason agreed.

    "I hate this!" I added.

    He summoned all his strength and yelled, "Cohorts—lock shields!"

    The zombies around him stirred. They lined up in front of Frank, putting their shields together in a ragged defensive formation. But they were moving too slowly, like sleepwalkers, and only a few had responded to his voice.

    "Frank, how did you do that?" Jason yelled.

    Frank's head swam with pain. He forced himself not to pass out. "I'm the ranking Roman officer," he said. "They—uh, they don't recognize you. Sorry."

    Jason grimaced, but he didn't look particularly surprised. "How can we help?"

    A gryphon soared overhead, almost decapitating Frank with its talons. Nico smacked it with the scepter of Diocletian, and the monster veered into a wall.

    "Orbem formate!" Frank ordered.

    About two dozen zombies obeyed, struggling to form a defensive ring around Frank and his friends. It was enough to give the demigods a little respite, but there were too many enemies pressing forward. Most of the ghostly legionnaires were still wandering around in a daze.

    "My rank," Frank realized.

    "All these monsters are rank!" Piper yelled, stabbing a wild centaur.

    "No," Frank said. "I'm only a centurion."

    Jason cursed in Latin. "He means he can't control a whole legion. He's not of high enough rank."

    Nico swung at another gryphon. "Well, then, promote him, you idiot!"

    Jason shouted in his best drill-sergeant voice: "Frank Zhang! I, Jason Grace, praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, give you my final order: I resign my post and give you emergency field promotion to praetor, with the full powers of that rank. Take command of this legion!"

    Frank hardly recognized his own voice when he yelled: "Legion, agmen formate!"

    Instantly, every dead legionnaire in the cavern drew his sword and raised his shield. They scrambled toward Frank's position, pushing and hacking monsters out of their way until they stood shoulder to shoulder with the comrades, arranging themselves in a square formation. Stones, javelins, and fire rained down, but now Frank had a disciplined defensive line sheltering them behind a wall of bronze and leather.

    "Archers!" Frank yelled. "Eiaculare flammas!"

Several dozen ghostly skirmishers nocked arrows in unison. Their arrowheads caught fire spontaneously and a flaming wave of death arced over the legion's line, straight into the enemy. Cyclopes fell. Centaurs stumbled. A telkhine shrieked and ran in circles with a burning arrow impaled in his forehead.

    I heard Nico laugh. I immediately turn to him with a smile on my face. It has been a while since I heard that. My heart warmed when Nico looked at me with a smile.

    "That's more like it," Nico said. "Let's turn this tide!"

    "Hell ya bitches, how you like that?" I yelled feeling energized.

     "Cuneum formate!" Frank yelled. "Advance with pila!"

    The zombie line thickened in the center, forming a wedge designed to break through the enemy host. They lowered their spears in a bristling row and pushed forward.

    Earthborn wailed and threw boulders. Cyclopes smashed their fists and clubs against the locked shields, but the zombie legionnaires were no longer paper targets. They had inhuman strength, hardly wavering under the fiercest attacks. Soon the floor was covered with monster dust. The line of javelins chewed through the enemy like a set of giant teeth, felling ogres and snake women and hellhounds. Frank's archers shot gryphons out of the air and caused chaos in the main body of the monster army across the chasm.

    Frank's forces began to take control of their side of the cavern. One of the stone bridges collapsed, but more monsters kept pouring over the other one. Frank would have to stop that.

    "Jason," he called, "can you fly a few legionnaires across the pit? The enemy's left flank is weak—see? Take it! Bring Alister with you."

    Jason smiled. "With pleasure."

    Three dead Romans rose into the air and flew across the chasm. Then three more joined them. Finally Jason grabbed me and we flew across and we began cutting through some very surprised-looking telkhines, spreading fear through the enemy's ranks.

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1269 words