The ogres shuffled forward. They were small compared to Enceladus, about seven feet tall. Each one of them had six arms—one pair in the regular spot, then an extra pair sprouting out the top of their shoulders, and another set shooting from the sides of their rib cages. They wore only ragged leather loincloths, and even across the clearing, I could smell them. Six guys who never bathed, with six armpits each. I decided if I survived this day, I'd have to take a three-hour shower just to forget the stench.

I stepped toward Piper. "What—what are those?"

Her blade reflected the purple light of the bonfire. "Gegenees."

"In English?" I asked.

"The Earthborn," she said. "Six-armed giants who fought Jason—the first Jason."

"Very good, my dear!" Enceladus sounded delighted. "They used to live on a miserable place in Greece called Bear Mountain. Mount Diablo is much nicer! They are lesser children of Mother Earth, but they serve their purpose. They're good with construction equipment—"

"Vroom, vroom!" one of the Earthborn bellowed, and the others took up the chant, each moving his six hands as though driving a car, as if it were some kind of weird religious ritual. "Vroom, vroom!"

"Yes, thank you, boys," Encedalus said. "They also have a score to settle with heroes. Especially anyone named Jason."

"Yay-son!" the Earthborn screamed. They all picked up clumps of earth, which solidified in their hands, turning to nasty pointed stones. "Where Yay-son? Kill Yay-son!"

Enceladus smiled. "You see, Piper, you have a choice. Save your father, or ah, try to save your friends and face certain death."

Piper stepped forward. Her eyes blazed with such rage, even the Earthborn backed away. She radiated power and beauty, but it had nothing to do with her clothes or her makeup.

"You will not take the people I love," she said. "None of them."

Her words rippled across the clearing with such force, the Earthborn muttered, "Okay. Okay, sorry," and began to retreat.

"Stand your ground, fools!" Enceladus bellowed. He snarled at Piper. "This is why we wanted you alive, my dear. You could have been so useful to us. But as you wish. Earth-born! I will show you Jason."

My heart sank. But the giant didn't point to Jason. He pointed to the other side of the bonfire, where Tristan McLean hung helpless and half conscious.

"There is Jason," Enceladus said with pleasure. "Tear him apart!"

My biggest surprise: One look from Jason, and all four of us knew the game plan. When had that happened, that we could read each other so well?

Jason and I charged Enceladus, while Piper rushed to her father, and Leo dashed for the tree harvester, which stood between Mr. McLean and the Earthborn.

The Earthborn were fast, but Leo ran like a storm spirit. He leaped toward the harvester from five feet away and slammed into the driver's seat. His hands flew across the controls, and the machine responded with unnatural speed—coming to life as if it knew how important this was.

"Ha!" Leo screamed, and swung the crane arm through the bonfire, toppling burning logs onto the Earthborn and spraying sparks everywhere. Two giants went down under a fiery avalanche and melted back into the earth—hopefully to stay for a while.

The other four ogres stumbled across burning logs and hot coals while Leo brought the harvester around. He smashed a button, and on the end of the crane arm the wicked rotating blades began to whir.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Piper at the stake, cutting her father free. On the other side of the clearing was me and Jason, fighting the giant, somehow managing to dodge his massive spear and blasts of fire breath. Coach Hedge was still heroically passed out with his goat tail sticking up in the air.

The whole side of the mountain would soon be ablaze. The fire wouldn't bother Leo, but the rest of us would be slightly burnt demigod toast. No- that couldn't happen. As I dodged an attack, I prayed for Leo, that he'd do this.

One of the Earthborn—apparently not the most intelligent one—charged the tree harvester, and Leo swung the crane arm in his direction. As soon as the blades touched the ogre, he dissolved like wet clay and splattered all over the clearing. Most of him flew into Leo's face.

He spit clay out of his mouth and turned the harvester toward the three remaining Earthborn, who backed up quickly.

"Bad vroom-vroom!" one yelled.

"Yeah, that's right!" Leo yelled at them. "You want some bad vroom-vroom? Come on!"

Unfortunately, they did. Three ogres with six arms, each throwing large, hard rocks at super speed—and I knew it was over. Somehow, Leo launched himself in a backward somersault off the harvester half a second before a boulder demolished the driver's seat. Rocks slammed into metal. By the time Leo stumbled to his feet, the harvester looked like a crushed soda can, sinking in the mud.

"Dozer!" Leo yelled.

The ogres were picking up more clumps of earth, but this time they were glaring in Piper's direction.

Thirty feet away, the bulldozer roared to life. Leo's makeshift gadget had done its job, burrowing into the earthmover's controls and giving it a temporary life of its own. It roared toward the enemy.

Just as Piper cut her father free and caught him in her arms, the giants launched their second volley of stones. The dozer swiveled in the mud, skidding to intercept, and most of the rocks slammed into its shovel. The force was so great it pushed the dozer back. Two rocks ricocheted and struck their throwers. Two more Earthborn melted into clay. Unfortunately, one rock hit the dozer's engine, sending up a cloud of oily smoke, and the dozer groaned to a stop. Another great toy broken.

Piper dragged her father below the ridge. The last Earth-born charged after her.

I looked towards Jason. He was holding up good, so I took a deep breath, and ran to save Piper.

"Hey, stupid!" I yelled, and threw a bandage roll at the Earthborn.

It didn't kill the ogre, but it sure got his attention. The roll went around the Earthborn's forehead like a turban.

The Earthborn yelped in embarrassment. He unravelled the bandages, turned and glared at me. Sadly, this last ogre looked like the biggest and nastiest of the bunch. Gaea had really gone all out creating him—with extra muscle upgrades, deluxe ugly face, the whole package.

Oh, great, I thought. I've made a friend.

"You die!" the Earthborn roared. "Friend of Yay-son dies!"

The ogre scooped up handfuls of dirt, which immediately hardened into rock cannonballs.

My mind went blank. I pulled out my bow and arrows, but for some reason, my hands were trembling. I was supposed to be good at archery, but it looked like I was not doing anything on this one.

Fine, I thought. I'll go out Apollo-style.

I pulled out the magical singing arrow, yelled, "Apollo!" over the deafening din that was my father's awful voice, and charged at the ogre arrowhanded.

I never got there.

A blur of turquoise and black flashed behind the ogre. A gleaming bronze blade sliced up one side of the Earthborn and down the other.

Six large arms dropped to the ground, boulders rolling out of their useless hands. The Earthborn looked down, very surprised. He mumbled, "Arms go bye-bye."

Then he melted into the ground.

Piper stood there, breathing hard, her dagger covered with clay. Her dad sat at the ridge, dazed and wounded, but still alive.

Piper's expression was ferocious—almost crazy, like a cornered animal. I was glad she was on my side.

"Nobody hurts my friends," she said, and with a sudden warm feeling, I realized she was talking about the rest of us. Then she yelled, "Come on!"

But the battle still wasn't over. Jason was still fighting the giant Enceladus—and it wasn't going well. I cursed in Ancient Greek, and slapped myself sharply on the face. How could I leave Jason like this?

I rushed into help him at once.

The battle went in fully fledged. Jason's lance broke, but just as Enceladus came in for a final strike, I shot an arrow in his eye, temporarily blinding him.

Jason rolled away from the giant's first spear thrust and jabbed Enceladus in the ankle. His javelin managed to pierce the thick dragon hide, and golden ichor—the blood of immortals—trickled down the giant's clawed foot.

Enceladus bellowed in pain and blasted him with fire. Jason scrambled away, rolling behind the giant, and struck again behind his knee.

It went on like that for seconds, minutes—it was hard to judge. I heard combat across the clearing—construction equipment grinding, fire roaring, monsters shouting, and rocks smashing into metal. I heard Leo and Piper yelling defiantly, which meant they were still alive. I tried not to think about it. I couldn't afford to get distracted.

Enceladus's spear missed me by a millimeter. I kept dodging, but the ground stuck to my feet. Gaea was getting stronger, and the giant was getting faster. Enceladus might be slow, but he wasn't dumb. He began anticipating my moves, and my attacks were only annoying him, making him more enraged.

"I'm not some minor monster," Enceladus bellowed. "I am a giant, born to destroy gods! Your little golden toothpicks can't kill me, demigods!"

I didn't waste energy replying. I was already tired. The ground clung to my feet, making me feel like I weighed an extra hundred pounds. The air was full of smoke that burned my lungs. My breath was raspy. Fires roared around me, stoked by the winds, and the temperature was approaching the heat of an oven.

Jason raised his javelin to block the giant's next strike—a big mistake. He managed to deflect the spear, but it grazed his shoulder, and his arm dropped. I suddenly collapsed from exhaustion. I could now do nothing but watch.

He backed up, almost tripping over a burning log.

Jason had to delay—to keep the giant's attention fixed on him while Piper and Leo dealt with the Earthborn and rescued Piper's dad. He couldn't fail. All hopes were riding on him. I really hoped he didn't fail.

He retreated, trying to lure the giant to the edge of the clearing. Enceladus could sense he was tired. The giant smiled, baring his fangs.

"The mighty Jason Grace," he taunted. "Yes, we know about you, son of Jupiter. The one who led the assault on Mount Othrys. The one who single-handedly slew the Titan Krios and toppled the black throne."

Jason's face went blank with recognition.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. He must've realized his mistake when Enceladus breathed fire.

Distracted, Jason moved too slowly. The blast missed him, but heat blistered his back. He slammed into the ground, his clothes smoldering. He was choking as he tried to breathe.

He scrambled back as the giant's spear cleaved the ground between his feet.

Jason managed to stand.

If he could only summon one good blast of lightning—but he was already drained, and in this condition, the effort might kill him. I didn't even know if electricity would harm the giant.

Death in battle is honourable, said a voice.

Who said that? I asked. But I already knew.

Lupa, my dear. I am Lupa. And I am the protector of Jason Grace.

Wait, what?! I screeched.

And hurry! She taunted. Soon I will also be the guardian of your friend and fellow warrior.

Wait!...My breath was dry. You...You don't mean Percy...

Yes my child. And the image of a kindly yet fierce she-wolf came into my head.

Percy Jackson.


Chapter 36...almost to the 40 mark! I don't know what to say, except Exams are killing me. You lucky preschoolers.

Yours,

MilkandCheez