The Forgotten Hero (Book 1)

Chapter 16

We took a taxi up the mountain. Well, we tried to anyway. Halfway up, the wheels started to get stuck. The taxi driver apologized, and we started to head up the rest of the way by foot.

The ground was kind of sticky, like it was made of mud, but I was determined, I scarcely noticed. I looked behind me, and was met with a beautiful view of all the land around Diablo mountain.

Jason looked back at the view with me. "That's Concord." He pointed. "That's Danville. Below us is Walnut Valley. And over there," He paused. "That's the Berkeley Hills. Past that is the San Francisco bay area."

I placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Do you remember something?"

"Yes-- No. It just seems important."

"That's Titan Land. Bad place." Hedge grumbled. "Trust me. You want to stay as far from 'Frisco as possible."

If San Francisco was Titan land, and Jason was from there, there was a slim chance that he wasn't one of the good guys. I didn't care though. He could be good or evil and I still felt like I would stay with him.

I frowned at my thoughts. That was a lot of commitment for a guy I barely knew. "Let's keep going." I mumbled.

Leo attempted to walk, but saw that his feet were stuck. Gaea was getting stronger.

After a quick exchange between Leo and Hedge about Hedge's shoes, we were off.

We reached the top of the mountain and Jason immediately knelt down, urging us to do the same.

"I don't want to get my outfit dirty." Hedge whined.

I pulled him down to the ground.

We stared into the crater on the mountain. There was a giant purple bonfire in the center, and the whole place had construction equipment laying around. There were cones, and backhoes and all sorts of trucks. Tied up to a stake was a man, presumably Piper's dad. Next to him stood a giant. He was covered in scars, and various weapons were braided into his hair. He would have been my first pick for dodgeball on any day.

"Alright, here's the plan--" Hedge grinned.

"You're not charging in alone." Leo rolled his eyes.

I heard Piper gasp when she saw her dad. I gently placed a hand on her arm.

I looked back into the crater.

"There's four of us and only one of him." Hedge stated.

"Did you miss the fact that he's like 30 feet tall?" Leo grumbled.

"Here's the plan. Jason, Leo, Hedge and I distract Enceladus. Piper, you go after your dad."

They looked over to Jason. "What? I'm not the leader."

I smirked. "You kind of are. You have more experience that the rest of us. Not including Hedge."

"A distraction is Piper's best bet." Jason sighed.

"Good thing I'm great at distracting." I smiled.

I slipped the manica on my arm and tightened the straps. Jason slightly frowned but didn't say anything. I then pulled out my sword and I grinned.

"Let's kick some ass."

I stood and slid down the side of the mountain into the crater. I didn't know where this confidence was coming from, but I kinda liked it.

Jason came behind me, yelling. "Giant."

The giant grinned. "What a lovely surprise."

"Let the movie star go, you oversized cupcake, or I'll--"