As I'd done in Athens, I bolstered the demigods' efforts with my powers. My attacks weren't as widespread as they'd been at the Acropolis out of fear of hurting the others, but I knew I'd bought time for those who'd gotten stuck in the dirt.
Lines of fire ran through the enemy army. Onager payloads exploded in the face of the Earthborn commanded to guard them. Patches of ice appeared underneath packs of wild centaurs, sending them careening into each other at breakneck speeds. The legion pressed its advantage, piercing the stunned horsemen with their spears or zapping huge swaths of them with the golden eagle standard.
"There!" I said, pointing at the neighboring hill. There she was in all her earthen glory.
"Hyah!" Leo said, diving straight down.
FOOOOMP!
In a flash, Gaea was swept off the hillside, snarled in the claws of a fifty-ton metal dragon.
Festus rose into the sky on gleaming wings, spewing fire from his maw triumphantly. We ascended as fast as we could while Gaea screamed curses and threats, wriggling in Festus's grasp. He paid her no attention and instead tightened his grip.
"Pipes! Jason!" Leo shouted, looking down. "You coming? The fight's up here!"
"You insufferable brats!" Gaea howled, hands slamming onto Festus's claw.
She tried to disintegrate into sand. I blasted her with water from the air, keeping her solid. She gagged and spluttered as I'd purposefully shot her in the face and up her nose.
The winds and clouds swirling around us only strengthened as Jason drew near. Thunder clapped in our ears. Bands of rain lashed us from the sides, stinging like a thousand freezing needles. I heard the woosh of Leo and Festus's streams of fire as they attempted to melt Gaea into magma. Despite the rain, I remained dry from the sheer amount of heat generated by my friends' attacks.
"Potty Sludge! Dirt Face! THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA VALDEZ!"
My palms glowed green as I nailed Gaea with a shot of pure Greek fire and torched her grassy dress. A small part of me delighted in hearing her frustration. She retaliated with shrapnel blasts of stone and soil that failed to hit every target.
I didn't care if we shot into the stratosphere; I'd keep my friends safe from this psycho.
"How could you do this to your grandmother?" Gaea said, green eyes swirling with unbridled hatred. Her lips drew into a cold sneer. "You'll be the next to fall, girl! You will know the same pain I have felt!"
"I already have!" My fire grew hotter, if that was even possible. I slid down Festus's arm and clamped my hands onto Gaea's face with a vice-like grip. "THIS IS FOR LUKE CASTELLAN!"
She yelled as her body melted into a lump of glass, shattered, then reformed again as a human.
"YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME! I AM ETERNAL!"
"Eternally annoying!" Leo yelled, and he urged Festus higher.
Jason and Piper rose with us.
Jason moved in with Piper until they were right next to Gaea and me. His winds encased the goddess, keeping her solid. I continued diverting her blasts of sand and soil, shooting them far away from us.
"FOOLISH CHILDREN!" Her face contorted with miniature earthquakes and mudslides.
"You are so weary," Piper told the goddess, her voice radiating kindness and sympathy. "Eons of pain and disappointment weigh on you."
"SILENCE!"
The force of Gaea's anger was strong enough to break Jason's concentration. He would've plummeted to the ground, but Festus caught him and Piper in his other huge claw.
YOU ARE READING
Changing the Future
Fanfiction"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood..." With one sentence, her life would be changed forever. Andy Collins could never have expected how her love of reading turned into something right out of her favorite series, plunging her into a world where...
