2 Demigods with 1 Arrow (Leo Valdez)

Here comes the tears

Leo steered the dragon toward the southwest.

"Good job, Festus. " He patted the dragon's metal hide. "You did awesome. "

The dragon shuddered. Gears popped and clicked in his neck.

Amoriel frowned. Those clicks didn't sound too good. If the corroded control disk was failing again—No, Leo spent ages repairing that. This would be a minor problem. Something Leo could fix. Leo looked around and gave her a worried look. He seemed to be having the same thoughts as her.

"I'll give you a tune-up next time we land," Leo promised. "You've earned some motor oil and Tabasco sauce. "

Festus whirled his teeth, but even that sounded weak. He flew at a steady pace, his great wings angling to catch the wind, but he was carrying a heavy load. Two cages in his claws plus four people on his back—the more Amoriel thought about it, the more worried she got. Even metal dragons had limits.

"Leo." Amoriel patted his shoulder. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah … not bad for a brainwashed zombie. " His dark skin showed a tinge of pink. "Thanks for saving us back there, Snow White. If you didn't stopped us when you did, and If you hadn't chased after her-"

"Don't worry about it," Amoriel said. "Told you, I would not let anybody hurt you ever again."

Leo tried for a grin, but even that was failing. Amoriel knew he felt terrible about how easily Medea had set him against his best friend. And those feelings hadn't come from nowhere—his resentment of the way Jason always got the spotlight and didn't really seem to need him. She didn't know what to say to him, really.

Medae helped to kill his mom. Amoriel could only tell a little about how that was for him.

When she drive her sword through Medae's heart, she had felt a little too good. She hoped she wouldn't make it out, and would go right back to the Fields of Punishment, where she belonged. Those feelings made her proud, really.

"We're going to have to put down soon," Leo warned them. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that. "

"Yeah," Piper agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is—where are we going?"

"The Bay Area," Amoriel guessed. She seemed to remember Medae saying something like that. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"

Nobody responded as Piper let her head hang. Amoriel couldn't help but feel sorry for her friend.

"Piper's dad," Jason put in. "Something's happened to your dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap. "

Piper let out a shaky breath. "Look, Medea said all three of you would die in the Bay Area. And besides … even if we went there, the Bay Area is huge! First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go. "

Sensing that Piper didn't want to talk about it, Amoriel nodded in agreement. "She's right. Aeolus is the only thing we've got right now. We still have no idea where Hera is and the Solstice is nearing."

Leo grunted. "So how do we find Aeolus?"

Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?" He pointed at something ahead of them but Amoriel couldn't see anything except clouds and the distant flickering lights of a few towns glowing in the dusk.

"What?" Leo asked.

"That … whatever it is," Jason said. "In the air. "

Amoriel glanced back. Piper looked just as confused as she was.