XXVIII

JASON

Jason turned around, shaking his head to clear it. He helped Nico to his feet, Frank already standing. They stumbled to the spot where the three gods and goddess had been lying, but there was no trace of them.

Jason swore, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Nico. They roamed around the courtyard looking for something, anything, which would give them a clue as to what had just happened. Finding none, they walked to the warehouse, Nico drawing his Stygian iron sword. They entered the darkness of the warehouse, the dull glow from Nico's sword illuminating their immediate surroundings. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, Jason realised it was a workshop, none other than the one Leo's mother had perished in.

As they went further into the workshop, they saw a dull glow emanating from the interior of a large room. Jason drew his sword and burst into the room, revealing – Festus? The bronze dragon lay coiled up on the floor, its armour dented in several places and its snout bashed in. It blew smoke as the trio entered and raised its head in recognition. Jason ran over to him and slowly stroked his neck. Festus creaked and clacked, more smoke emanating from his nostrils.

"We can't just leave him here," Jason pleaded with the others. Whilst Nico looked sceptical, Frank seemed to agree with him. "If we can get him back to camp, the Hephaestus kids may be able to fix him up," Frank said.

Suddenly, a large red light appeared from a wall and shone brightly on their faces. Blinded, the three reeled backwards, closing their eyes in pain. Jason saw Frank nock an arrow and it went flying, hitting the light and breaking it. As the warehouse returned to its original darkness, Jason blinked his eyes to rid them of the pain.

Out of nowhere, a voice spoke. "My, my. I foresaw you three coming here, but I never believed you'd be so stupid as to actually do it." With a shock, Jason recognised the voice. "Gaius," he growled. The voice laughed. "Very good, Jason. Now, I'm afraid you can't really be allowed to live. So choose, the dragon or your lives," the voice spoke and the speaker shut off. A timer appeared on a screen, displaying 1:00. It began counting down.

Jason looked at Frank pleadingly and he sighed. "Alright," he said and transformed into a dragon, bigger than before. As Jason and Nico clambered onto his back, Frank rose slightly in the air and hovered over Festus. 0:42. He opened his claws and grabbed Festus' back, ignoring his groans of pain. 0:35. Frank flapped his wings and rose higher, but Festus' immense bulk kept him from going any further. 0:29.

"C'mon Frank," Jason encouraged. "For Percy." Frank roared with the effort but he managed to raise Festus off the ground. 0:17. He flapped his wings faster and they neared the hole in the roof. 0:12. Frank roared again and burst through the roof, the collision delaying him by a few precious seconds, 0:08.He continued rising and the suspended form of Festus soon cleared the roof. 0:03.

As they cleared the roof, a huge explosion split the warehouse in half, the fireball rising up through the roof. Jason hugged Nico to protect him, and the fireball reached them.