𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

xii ━━ what a valiant roar, what a bland goodbye

05. chapter twelve

━━━━━━━━ ( 💫 ) ━━━━━━━━

WAS EVERYBODY INSANE?

Leaving Leo behind was just about the dumbest thing the crew had ever done and I would not accept it. I probably told Jason he was an idiot about twenty times before we really plummeted.

When I saw the pandemonium below, my voice died in my throat. There was a vast army of monsters spread across the hills–cynocephali, two-headed men, wild centaurs, ogres and others he couldn't even name–surrounding two tiny islands of demigods. At the crest of Half-Blood Hill, gathered at the feet of the Athena Parthenos, was the main force of Camp Half-Blood along with the First and Fifth Cohorts, rallied around the golden eagle of the legion. The other three Roman cohorts were in a defensive formation several hundred yards away and seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack.

Giant eagles circled Jason, Piper, and I, screeching urgently, as if looking for orders.

Frank the grey dragon flew alongside with his passengers.

"Hazel!" Jason yelled. "Those three cohorts are in trouble! If they don't merge with the rest of the demigods–"

"On it!" Hazel said. "Go, Frank!"

Dragon Frank veered to the left with Annabeth in one claw yelling, "Let's get 'em!" and Percy in the other claw screaming, "I hate flying!"

Piper, Jason, and I veered right towards the summit of Half-Blood Hill.

My heart lifted slightly when I saw Nico di Angelo on the front lines with the Greeks, slashing his way through a crowd of two-headed men. A few feet away, Reyna sat astride a new pegasus, her sword drawn. She shouted orders at the legion, and the Romans obeyed without question, as if she'd never been away.

I didn't see Octavian anywhere. Good. Neither did I see a colossal earth goddess laying waste to the world. Very good. Perhaps Gaea had risen, taken one look at the modern world and decided to go back to sleep. I wished we could be that lucky, but I doubted it.

We landed on the hill, our swords drawn, and a cheer went up from the Greeks and the Romans.

"About time!" Reyna called. "Glad you could join us!"

Piper grinned. "We had some giants to kill!"

"Excellent!" Reyna returned the smile. "Help yourself to some barbarians."

"Why, thank you!"

The two girls launched into battle side by side.

I shared a look with Nico that spoke just about a thousand words, but quickly turned away and ran into battle. The best thing I could do right now was kill monsters.

My anger gave me renewed strength. The Greeks and Romans slowly pushed back the enemies. Wild centaurs toppled. Wolf-headed men howled as they were cut to ashes.

More monsters kept appearing–karpoi grain spirits swirling out of the grass, gryphons diving from the sky, lumpy clay humanoids. Ghosts with earthen shells, I somehow knew.

I killed another centaur with a jab in his chest. His soul extinguished.

I was so angry and focused on fighting I almost didn't notice the small girl being advanced on by a karpoi. She only wielded a thin dagger.

I rushed over, sword raised. With a quick slash, the karpoi was gone.

The small girl breathed heavily, her face panic stricken and timid. I didn't recognize her, but she wore a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, so she must've been a new camper over the summer. She looked no older than ten. Her hair was dark and long with eyes alike. Her skin was pale and freckled. She looked so much like myself it was frightening.