Keeper of the Lost Cities: Hurricane (PJO/HOO and KOTLC crossover)

Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: YOU RECOGNIZE IT, I DON'T OWN IT!

WYLIE

I snap my fingers, and the light surrounding one of the entrances moves a bit. Tam guides his shadows along and suddenly, the entrance is perfectly visible. We walk through, and look up at the giant, destroyed hive.

Pieces of it lie everywhere on the ground, but it is too large to carry home. Tam rolls his eyes. "You people from Foxfire always forget your telekinesis. It is so useful."

He closes his eyes, and the piece of the hive floats off of the ground. We walk out of the clearing, back into Everglen, and I clear my throat. Tam looks towards me, an eyebrow raised. "Yes?"

I can feel the blood rush to my cheeks, and I'm sure my face is tinged red. "Ah, I wanted to talk to you about your sister. I, um, I was wondering if-"

"You want to know if I'm okay with you liking Linh."

I nod, looking at the ground, avoiding his eyes at any cost. I can hear Tam groan, and then gingerly pat me on the shoulder.

"I'm fine with it. But if you hurt her in any way, I will rip you apart and feed you to a baby troll."

I shudder and nod. I understand the instinct to protect Linh. She's so innocent and sweet, and you don't want her to get hurt, ever.

"Thanks, Tam."

He nods and walks out of Everglen. I follow him, and we light leap back to Havenfield.

Biana, Dex, and Stina are already there, sitting by the Panakes tree. We place the giant piece of hive next to everything else, and small talk with them until the others come back.

LINH

Sandor whistles loudly. Almost immediately, a giant snake pops out of the ground. Marella screams and scrambles backwards, but I think that it's beautiful. Its scales are shiny and yellow, and its eyes are intelligent. "What's her name?"

Sandor smiles at me. "Her name is Twinkle."

Maruca laughs hysterically as we board the carriage to Gildingham. "It's named Twinkle!"

I glare at her. "Twinkle is a she, not an it. And she's absolutely beautiful!" I beam at Twinkle. "Aren't you a beautiful whittle snakey-flakey."

I can hear Marella and Maruca groan, and suddenly, the carriage comes to a stop. "Are we here already?"

Sandor nods and tells us how Twinkle can go at super high speeds to get to Gildingham quickly. That is very cool. I'm going to ask Tam if we can get a snake once we get home.

We walk towards the golden palace where Queen Hylda lives. As we approach the throne, Sandor drops to his knees in a bow. Marella, Maruca, and I follow suit.

"What is your business for being here?"

"My queen, we have come with a request that would aid us in our quest to vanquish the Neverseen. We have found a way to capture them all, and we wish for an ingredient in the spell to do so."

"And what is this... ingredient?"

Sandor gulps. "An aurified goblin from a battle that ended in victory."

"WHAT?"

Sandor steels himself. "We must stop the slaughter of our people at the hands of the Neverseen. To do so, we need a symbol of victory."

"And you have decided to use one of your fallen comrades," seethes the queen.

"Your Highness, it is a necessary evil."