𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐔𝐌 • Heroes of Olympus

XX

𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐁𝐈𝐍𝐆 a mountain while the earth was trying to swallow your feet? Fun. It was like jogging on a flypaper treadmill.

A cold, sharp wind blew around them, but Andy was already dripping with sweat. Her shiny gold shoes were covered in dirt. 

The stupid mountain frustrated Andy. Everytime they thought they reached the summit, it turned out to be just another ridge. She couldn't wait to get up there, save Nico, and get the hell out of this place.

By the time they made it to the crest, Andy was the most fashionably dressed, sweaty, dirty hero ever. Ahead of her, Leo, who had been tinkering with something the entire time, slipped his creation into his toolbelt.

Finally Jason crouched behind a wall of rock. He gestured for the others to do the same. Leo and Andy crawled up next to him. 

Just over the ridge where they were hiding, in the shadow of the mountain’s final crest, was a forested depression about the size of a football field, where the giant Enceladus had set up camp.

Trees had been cut down to make a towering purple bonfire. The outer rim of the clearing was littered with extra logs and construction equipment—an earthmover; a big crane thing with rotating blades at the end like an electric shaver—must be a tree harvester, Andy thought—and a long metal column with an ax blade, like a sideways guillotine—a hydraulic ax.

What a giant needed construction equipments for, Andy didn't know. She could barely focus on Enceladus's giant, ugly form.

To start with, he was thirty feet tall—easily as tall as the treetops. Andy was sure the giant could’ve seen them behind their ridge, but he seemed intent on the purple bonfire, circling it and chanting under his breath. From the waist up, the giant appeared humanoid, his muscular chest clad in bronze armor, decorated with flame designs. His arms were completely ripped. Each of his biceps was bigger than Andy. His skin was bronze but sooty with ash. His face was crudely shaped, like a half-finished clay figure, but his eyes glowed white, and his hair was matted in shaggy dreadlocks down to his shoulders, braided with bones.

From the waist down, he was even more terrifying. His legs were scaly green, with claws instead of feet—like the forelegs of a dragon. In his hand, Enceladus held a spear the size of a flagpole. Every so often he dipped its tip in the fire, turning the metal molten red.

Andy searched the clearing for Nico. In her dreams, he had been tied quite close to the bonfire. But there was nothing on this side of the bonfire. Maybe he was on the other side, hidden by the smoke.

"So what's the plan?" Leo whispered.

Andy didn't know. She still couldn't spot Nico. Her dread was growing. Were they too late?

"I don't see Nico." Andy's voice trembled. 

"Hey, I'm sure he's fine," Jason said.

"Yeah," Leo agreed. "We'll get him and be out before noon."

Andy wanted to believe them, but something felt wrong. She'd missed something. And it was about to backfire on her.

In the clearing, Enceladus closed his eyes. He stood still for a moment. Without his chanting, the only sound was the crackling of the bonfire. Andy was aware of her knees sinking into the earth.

Then Enceladus opened his eyes, and looked directly at the hidden demigods. He grinned, revealing fangs like that of a sabertooth tiger's.

"Good girl, Andy," he said. "Your job is done. You can leave now."

Jason and Leo whipped around to look at Andy, shock and betrayal etched onto their face. Andy gaped, chest heaving. What was the giant playing at?

"Where is Nico?" she yelled, shooting to her feet.