𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 [Jason Grace]

55

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 when Jason heard voices.

He plodded along, half in a stupor, trying to form a plan. Since they didn't have Annabeth, he figured the two of them could come up with a plan by putting their heads together.

His head started to droop with exhaustion. Then he heard them—female voices having some sort of argument—and he was instantly alert.

He whispered, "Pierce, down!"

He pulled him behind the nearest boulder, wedging himself so close against the riverbank that his shoes almost touched the river's fire. On the other side, in the narrow path between the river and the cliffs, voices snarled, getting louder as they approached from upstream.

Jason tried to steady his breathing. The voices sounded vaguely human, but that meant nothing. He assumed anything in Tartarus was their enemy. He didn't know how the monsters could have failed to spot them already. Besides, monsters could smell demigods—especially powerful ones like him, son of Jupiter. Jason doubted that hiding behind a boulder would do any good when the monsters caught their scent.

Still, as the monsters got nearer, their voices didn't change in tone. Their uneven footsteps—scrap, clump, scrap, clump—didn't get any faster.

"Soon?" one of them asked in a raspy voice, as if she'd been gargling in the Phlegethon.

"Oh my gods!" said another voice. This one sounded much younger and much more human, like a teenaged mortal girl getting exasperated with her friends at the mall. For some reason, she sounded familiar to Jason. "You guys are totally annoying! I told you, it's like days from here."

Dante gripped Jason's wrist. The touch felt like the water of the Phlegethon. He looked at Jason with alarm, as if he recognized the mall girl's voice too.

There was a chorus of growling and grumbling. The creatures—maybe half a dozen, Jason guessed—had paused just on the other side of the boulder, but still they gave no indication that they'd caught the demigods' scent. Jason wondered if demigods didn't smell the same in Tartarus, or if the other scents here were so powerful, they masked a demigod's aura.

"I wonder," said a third voice, gravelly and ancient like the first, "if perhaps you do not know the way, young one."

"Oh, shut your fang hole, Serephone," said the mall girl. "When's the last time you escaped to the mortal world? I was there a couple of years ago. I know the way! Besides, I understand what we're facing up there. You don't have a clue!"

"The Earth Mother did not make you boss!" shrieked a fourth voice.

More hissing, scuffling, and feral moans—like giant alley cats fighting. At last the one called Serephone yelled, "Enough!"

The scuffling died down.

"We will follow for now," Serephone said. "But if you do not lead us well, if we find you have lied about the summons of Gaea—"

"I don't lie!" snapped the mall girl. "Believe me, I've got good reason to get into this battle. I have some enemies to devour, and you'll feast on the blood of heroes. Just leave one special morsel for me—the one named Dante Pierce."

Jason fought down a snarl of his own. He forgot about his fear. He wanted to jump over the boulder and slash the monsters to dust with his new sword.

"Believe me," said the mall girl. "Gaea has called us, and we're going to have so much fun. Before this war is over, mortals and demigods will tremble at the sound of my name—Tammi!"