ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

87

KAT WAS CLEARLY not an 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 ( Kat fucking hated empousai, why did they always show up? ) gnashed their fangs and shouted orders at the other monsters. A dozen Cyclopes advanced on the crumbling bridges, while seal-shaped humanoids — telkhines, like Kat had seen in the last war — 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. Kat was all for arson, but what the fuck.

She, Jason, and Piper stood shoulder to shoulder. 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. Kat did not have any ranged weapons, but Cortana sliced through every monster that came close. She was also trying to look out for Leo, Hazel, and Frank to see if they were gone or what.

They were guarding Nico's back behind him. 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.

Still, they couldn't hold out forever. 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.

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

Kat raised an eyebrow. Would you look at that. Her bestie, growing up and leading armies!

She saw him come over as a wave of Cyclopes crashed into them. She took out half of them while he took the other half. Jason was on Kat's right flank, deflecting the incoming missiles with wind; Piper on her left, yelling charmspeak commands — encouraging the monsters to attack each other or take a refreshing jump into the chasm.

"It'll be fun!" she promised.

A few listened, but across the pit, the empousai were countering her orders, because, you know, they had charmspeak too. The monsters crowded so thickly around Kat that she was pressed against Frank, who looked completely out of it.

"Hey!" she barked, bringing his attention to her. "I need you to focus, alright?"

She gestured over at Nico and Jason.

"Stupid ghosts!" shouted Nico.

"They won't listen!" agreed Jason.

"Make us proud," Kat told Frank.

He nodded, took a breath, and yelled, "Cohorts — lock shields!"

The zombies around them 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.