Leo looked warily at Mount Diablo. "So … climbing a mountain. That would be bad. "

Piper's face darkened, and she looked down. I could understand why. First, she'd been asked to betray us. Now we were trying to help her rescue her dad even though we knew we were walking into a trap. The idea of fighting a giant had been scary enough. But the idea that Gaea was behind it—a force more powerful than a god or Titan …

"Guys, I can't ask you to do this," Piper said. "This is too dangerous. "

"You kidding?" Gleeson belched and showed them his blue carnation smile. "Who's ready to beat stuff up?"


I hoped the taxi could take us all the way to the top.

No such luck. The cab made lurching, grinding sounds as it climbed the mountain road, and halfway up they found the ranger's station closed, a chain blocking the way.

"Far as I can go," the cabbie said. "You sure about this? Gonna be a long walk back, and my car's acting funny. I can't wait for you. "

"We're sure. " I was the first one out, with Leo in close second. I had a bad feeling about what was wrong with the cab, and when I looked down I saw I was right. The wheels were sinking into the road like it was made of quicksand. Not fast—just enough to make the driver think he had a transmission problem or a bad axle—but I knew different.

The road was hard-packed dirt. No reason at all it should have been soft, but already my shoes were starting to sink. Gaea was messing with us.

While the rest of us got out, Leo paid the cabbie. He was generous—heck, why not? It was Aphrodite's money. Plus, we might never be coming off this mountain.

"Keep the change," he said. "And get out of here. Quick. "

The driver didn't argue. Soon all all could see was his dust trail.

The view from the mountain was pretty amazing. The whole inland valley around Mount Diablo was a patchwork of towns—grids of tree-lined streets and nice middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. All these normal people living normal lives—the kind I had never known.

"That's Concord," Jason said, pointing to the north. "Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way …"

He pointed west, where a ridge of golden hills held back a layer of fog, like the rim of a bowl. "That's the Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco. "

"Jason?" Piper touched his arm. "You remember something? You've been here?"

"Yes … no. " He gave her an anguished look. "It just seems important. "

"That's Titan land. " Coach Hedge nodded toward the west. "Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get. "

But Jason looked toward the foggy basin with such longing that I felt uneasy. Why did Jason seem so connected with that place—a place Hedge said was evil, full of bad magic and old enemies? What if Jason came from here? Everybody kept hinting Jason was an enemy, that his arrival at Camp Half-Blood was a dangerous mistake.

No, I thought. Ridiculous. Jason was our friend.

I tried to move my foot, but my heels were now completely embedded in the dirt.

"Hey, guys," Leo said. "Let's keep moving. "

The others noticed the problem.

"Gaea is stronger here," Hedge grumbled. He popped his hooves free from his shoes, then handed the shoes to Leo. "Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice. "

Leo snorted. "Yes, sir, Coach. Would you like them polished?"

"That's varsity thinking, Valdez. " Hedge nodded approvingly. "But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can. "

"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper asked.

Jason pointed toward the peak. Drifting across the summit was a plume of smoke. From a distance, I had thought it was a cloud, but it wasn't. Something was burning.

"Smoke equals fire," Jason said. "We'd better hurry. "

The nymphs at Camp had taken me on several forced marches. I thought I was in good shape. But climbing a mountain when the earth was trying to swallow my feet was like jogging on a flypaper treadmill.

In no time, I had rolled up the sleeves on my hoddie, even though the wind was cold and sharp. I wished Aphrodite had given me some more comfortable shoes, but I was grateful for the instant sun protection of your eyes hat came in the 'Child of Apollo' package. I slipped my hands into my first aid kit and started summoning supplies—plasters, bandages, a pair of tweezers. As I walked, I fiddled-not really thinking, just de-stressing bandages with tweezers, and sticking then back together with plasters.

By the time we neared the crest of the mountain, I had a heap of plastered bandages in my hands, and when Piper was giving me strange looks, I decided to put them away.

I missed my Camp shirt with it's secret pockets. Even more than that, I missed Festus. We could use a fire-breathing bronze dragon right now. But I knew Festus would not be coming back.

I looked at Leo, who had pulled out the dubbed 'Crayon drawing of destiny.' I wondered what it meant, what it had to do with our future.

First things first, I told myself. Survive today. Figure out crayon drawing of destiny later.

Finally Jason crouched behind a wall of rock. He gestured for the rest of us to do the same. Leo crawled up next to him, followed by me. Piper had to pull Coach Hedge down.

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

"Shhh!" Piper said.

Reluctantly, the satyr knelt.

Just over the ridge where we were hiding, in the shadow of the mountain's final crest, was a forested depression about the size of a football field, where the giant Enceladus had set up camp.

Trees had been cut down to make a towering purple bonfire. The outer rim of the clearing was littered with extra logs and construction equipment—an earthmover; a big crane thing with rotating blades at the end like an electric shaver—must be a tree harvester, I thought—and a long metal column with an ax blade, like a sideways guillotine—a hydraulic ax.

Why a giant needed construction equipment, I wasn't sure. I didn't see how the creature in front of him could even fit in the driver's seat. The giant Enceladus was so large, so horrible, I didn't want to look at him.

But I forced myself to focus on the monster.

To start with, he was thirty feet tall—easily as tall as the treetops. I was sure the giant could've seen us behind our ridge, but he seemed intent on the weird purple bonfire, circling it and chanting under his breath. From the waist up, the giant appeared humanoid, his muscular chest clad in bronze armor, decorated with flame designs. His arms were completely ripped. Each of his biceps was bigger than me. His skin was bronze but sooty with ash. His face was crudely shaped, like a half-finished clay figure, but his eyes glowed white, and his hair was matted in shaggy dreadlocks down to his shoulders, braided with bones.

From the waist down, he was even more terrifying. His legs were scaly green, with claws instead of feet—like the forelegs of a dragon. In his hand, Enceladus held a spear the size of a flagpole. Every so often he dipped its tip in the fire, turning the metal molten red.

"Okay," Coach Hedge whispered. "Here's the plan—"

Leo elbowed him. "You're not charging him alone!"

"Aw, c'mon. "

Piper choked back a sob. "Look. "

Just visible on the other side of the bonfire was a man tied to a post. His head slumped like he was unconscious, so I couldn't make out his face, but Piper didn't seem to have any doubts.

"Dad," she said.

I swallowed. I wished this were a Tristan McLean movie. Then Piper's dad would be faking unconsciousness. He'd untie his bonds and knock out the giant with some cleverly hidden anti-giant gas. Heroic music would start to play, and Tristan McLean would make his amazing escape, running away in slow motion while the mountainside exploded behind him.

But this wasn't a movie. Tristan McLean was half dead and about to be eaten. The only people who could stop it—four fashionably dressed teenaged demigods and a megalomaniac goat.

"There's five of us," Hedge whispered urgently. "And only one of him. "

"Did you miss the fact that he's thirty feet tall?" Leo asked.

"Okay," Hedge said. "So you, me, and Jason distract him. Piper sneaks around and frees her dad. "

We all looked at Jason.

"What?" Jason asked. "I'm not the leader. "

"Yes," Piper said. "You are. "

We'd never really talked about it, but no one disagreed, not even Hedge. Coming this far had been a team effort, but when it came to a life-and-death decision, I knew Jason was the one to ask. Even if he had no memory, Jason had a kind of balance to him. You could just tell he'd been in battles before, and he knew how to keep his cool. I wasn't exactly the trusting type, but I trusted Jason with my life.

"I hate to say it," Jason sighed, "but Coach Hedge is right. A distraction is Piper's best chance. "

Not a good chance, I thought. Not even a survivable chance. Just our best chance.

We couldn't sit there all day and talk about it, though. It had to be close to noon—the giant's deadline—and the ground was still trying to pull them down. My knees had already sunk two inches into the dirt.

Leo looked at the construction equipment, and then nudged my shoulder. He brought out a little toy he'd made on the climb, and I realized what it could do—if we were lucky, which we almost never were.

"Let's boogie," he said. "Before I come to my senses. "

The plan went wrong almost immediately. Piper scrambled along the ridge, trying to keep her head down, while Leo, Jason,me, and Coach Hedge walked straight into the clearing.

Jason summoned his golden lance. He brandished it over his head and yelled, "Giant!" Which sounded pretty good, and a lot more confident than I could've managed. I was thinking more along the lines of, "We are pathetic ants! Don't kill us!"

Enceladus stopped chanting at the flames. He turned toward them and grinned, revealing fangs like a saber-toothed tiger's.

"Well," the giant rumbled. "What a nice surprise. "

I didn't like the sound of that. I nudged Leo, and his hand closed on his windup gadget. He stepped sideways, edging his way toward the bulldozer.

Coach Hedge shouted, "Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up your—"

"Coach," Jason said. "Shut up. "

Enceladus roared with laughter. "I've forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals. "

"Is that a compliment?" Hedge frowned at me. "I don't think that was a compliment. "

Enceladus opened his mouth wide, and his teeth began to glow.

"Scatter!" Leo yelled.

Jason and Hedge dove to the left as the giant blew fire, and I ducked right—a furnace blast so hot even Festus would've been jealous. Leo dodged behind the bulldozer, wound up his homemade device, and dropped it into the driver's seat. Then he ran to the right, heading for the tree harvester.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jason rise and charge the giant. Coach Hedge ripped off his canary yellow jacket, which was now on fire, and bleated angrily. "I liked that outfit!" Then he raised his club and charged, too.

Before they could get very far, Enceladus slammed his spear against the ground. The entire mountain shook.

The shockwave sent me sprawling. I blinked, momentarily stunned. Through a haze of grassfire and bitter smoke, I saw Jason staggering to his feet on the other side of the clearing. Coach Hedge was knocked out cold. He'd fallen forward and hit his head on a log. His furry hindquarters were sticking straight up, with his canary yellow pants around his knees—a view I really didn't need.

I didn't need more convincing. I grabbed my sword off my neck so fast it hurt, and I couldn't breathe for a bit.

The giant bellowed, "I see you, Piper McLean!" He turned and blew fire at a line of bushes to my right. Piper ran into the clearing like a flushed quail, the underbrush burning behind her.

Enceladus laughed. "I'm happy you've arrived. And you brought me my prizes!"

My gut twisted. This was the moment Piper had warned us about. We'd played right into Enceladus's hands.

The giant must've read my expression, because he laughed even louder. "That's right, daughter of Apollo. I didn't expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn't matter. By bringing you here, Piper McLean has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I'm as good as my word. She can take her father and go. What do I care about a movie star?"

I could see Piper's dad more clearly now. He wore a ragged dress shirt and torn slacks. His bare feet were caked with mud. He wasn't completely unconscious, because he lifted his head and groaned—yep, Tristan McLean all right. I had seen that face in enough movies. But he had a nasty cut down the side of his face, and he looked thin and sickly—not heroic at all.

"Dad!" Piper yelled.

Mr. McLean blinked, trying to focus. "Pipes … ? Where …"

Piper drew her dagger and faced Enceladus. "Let him go!"

"Of course, dear," the giant rumbled. "Swear your loyalty to me, and we have no problem. Only these others must die. "

Piper looked back and forth between Leo and her dad.

"He'll kill you," Leo warned. "Don't trust him!"

"Oh, come now," Enceladus bellowed. "You know I was born to fight Athena herself? Mother Gaea made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athena's nemesis, the anti-Athena, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren—I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Piper McLean. It's part of my plan!"

Jason was on his feet now, lance ready; but before he could act, Enceladus roared—a call so loud it echoed down the valley and was probably heard all the way to San Francisco.

At the edge the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rose up. I realized with nauseating certainty that they hadn't simply been hiding there. They'd risen straight out of the earth.