Kyra Pafford has been at Camp-Half Blood for three months. The gates to Olympus have closed and she has yet to be claimed. When three demigods show up to Camp Half-Blood, everything begins to change. She finally gets her chance to prove herself to t...
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JASON WOULD'VE BOTCHED it right there. He hadn't been expecting to get the chance to talk, and now that he could, his voice abandoned him.
Piper saved him, "Your Majesty." She curtsied again with incredible poise, considering her life was on the line. She told Boreas the whole story, from the Grand Canyon to the prophecy, much better and faster than Jason could have, "All we ask for is guidance," Piper concluded. "These storm spirits attacked us, and they're working for some evil mistress. If we find them, maybe we can find Hera."
The King stroked the icicles in his beard. Out the windows, night had fallen, and the only light came from the aurora borealis overhead, washing everything in red and blue, "I know of these storm spirits," Boreas said. "I know where they are kept, and of the prisoner they took."
"You mean Coach Hedge?" Jason asked. "He's alive?"
Boreas waved aside the question. "For now. But the one who controls these storm winds ... It would be madness to oppose her. You would be better staying here as frozen statues."
"Somehow I don't think that that's the best option." Kyra mumbled,
"Hera's in trouble," Jason said. "In three days she's going to be—I don't know—consumed, destroyed, something. And a giant is going to rise."
"Yes," Boreas agreed. Was it Jason's imagination, or did he shoot Khione an angry look? "Many horrible things are waking. Even my children do not tell me all the news they should. The Great Stirring of monsters that began with Kronos—your father Zeus foolishly believed it would end when the Titans were defeated. But just as it was before, so it is now. The final battle is yet to come, and the one who will wake is more terrible than any Titan. Storm spirits—these are only beginning. The earth has many more horrors to yield up. When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades ... Olympus has good reason to fear."
Jason wasn't sure what all this meant, but he didn't like the way Khione was smiling—like this was her definition of fun.
"So you'll help us?" Jason asked the King.
Boreas scowled. "I did not say that."
"Please, Your Majesty," Piper begged, Everyone's eyes turned toward her. She had to be scared out of her mind, but she looked confident, "If you tell us where the storm spirits are, we can capture them and bring them to Aeolus. You'd look good in front of your boss. Aeolus might pardon us and the other demigods. We could even rescue Gleeson Hedge. Everyone wins."
"She's pretty," Zethes mumbled. "I mean, she's right."
"Father, don't listen to her," Khione said. "She's a child of Aphrodite. She dares to charmspeak a God? Freeze her now!"
Boreas considered this. Jason slipped his hand in his pocket and got ready to bring out the gold coin. If things went wrong, he'd have to move fast. Jason made eye contact with Kyra and she nodded, reaching down towards her bracelet.
