Piper drew her dagger. Jason grabbed an ice-covered plank off the pool floor. Leo reached into his tool belt, but all he produced was a tin of breath mints. He shoved them back in, and drew a hammer instead. I pulled out my sword, not having time to reach in and grab my bow.
One of the wolves padded forward. It was dragging a human-size statue by the leg. At the edge of the pool, the wolf opened its maw and dropped the statue for us to see—an ice sculpture of a girl, an archer with short spiky hair and a surprised look on her face.
"Thalia!" Jason rushed forward, but Piper and I pulled him back. The ground around Thalia's statue was already webbed with ice. I was scared that if Jason touched her, he might freeze too.
"Who did this?" Jason yelled. His body crackled with electricity. "I'll kill you myself!"
From somewhere behind the monsters, I heard a girl's laughter, clear and cold. She stepped out of the mist in her snowy white dress, a silver crown atop her long black hair. She regarded them with those deep brown eyes Leo had fallen for in Quebec.
"Bon soir, mes amis," said Khione, the goddess of snow. She gave Leo a frosty smile. "Alas, son of Hephaestus, you say you need time? I'm afraid time is one tool you do not have."
After the fight on Mount Dioablo, I didn't think I could ever feel more afraid or devastated.
Now one of my best friends, and fellow archer, was frozen at my feet. We were surrounded by monsters. I didn't have the aim or long range shooting of a sword. We had approximately five minutes until the king of the giants busted out and destroyed us. Jason had already pulled his biggest ace, calling down Zeus's lightning when he'd fought Enceladus, and I doubted he'd have the strength or the cooperation from above to do it again. They must hav recieved word from Enceladus about Piper, which means thay would be prepared for her. As for me, thay knew my strategies, and Leo-they knew he was deadly with a scrap of metal. Which meant our only assets were one whiny imprisoned goddess, a tired boy holding a wooden slab, Piper with a dagger, me with my sword, and Leo, who apparently thought he could defeat the armies of darkness with breath mints.
On top of all this, I could sense dangers about this place, dangers far worse that what either Thalia or Jason warned us of. Which most of the time wasn't a good thing.
The enemy was beautiful. Khione smiled, her dark eyes glittering, as a dagger of ice grew in her hand.
"What've you done?" Jason demanded.
"Oh, so many things," the snow goddess purred. "Your sister's not dead, if that's what you mean. She and her Hunters will make fine toys for our wolves. I thought we'd defrost them one at a time and hunt them down for amusement. Let them be the prey for once."
The wolves snarled appreciatively.
"Yes, my dears." Khione kept her eyes on Jason. "Your sister almost killed their king, you know. Lycaon's off in a cave somewhere, no doubt licking his wounds, but his minions have joined us to take revenge for their master. And soon Porphyrion will arise, and we shall rule the world."
"Traitor!" Hera shouted. "You meddlesome, D-list goddess! You aren't worthy to pour my wine, much less rule the world."
Khione sighed. "Tiresome as ever, Queen Hera. I've been wanting to shut you up for millennia."
Khione waved her hand, and ice encased the prison, sealing in the spaces between the earthen tendrils.
"That's better," the snow goddess said. "Now, demigods, about your death—"
"You're the one who tricked Hera into coming here," Jason said. "You gave Zeus the idea of closing Olympus."
The wolves snarled, and the storm spirits whinnied, ready to attack, but Khione held up her hand. "Patience, my loves. If he wants to talk, what matter? The sun is setting, and time is on our side. Of course, Jason Grace. Like snow, my voice is quiet and gentle, and very cold. It's easy for me to whisper to the other gods, especially when I am only confirming their own deepest fears. I also whispered in Aeolus's ear that he should issue an order to kill demigods. It is a small service for Gaea, but I'm sure I will be well rewarded when her sons the giants come to power."
"You could've killed us in Quebec," Jason said. "Why let us live?"
Khione wrinkled her nose. "Messy business, killing you in my father's house, especially when he insists on meeting all visitors. I did try, you remember. It would've been lovely if he'd agreed to turn you to ice. But once he'd given you guarantee of safe passage, I couldn't openly disobey him. My father is an old fool. He lives in fear of Zeus and Aeolus, but he's still powerful. Soon enough, when my new masters have awakened, I will depose Boreas and take the throne of the North Wind, but not just yet. Besides, my father did have a point. Your quest was suicidal. I fully expected you to fail."
"And to help us with that," Leo said, "you knocked our dragon out of the sky over Detroit. Those frozen wires in his head—that was your fault. You're gonna pay for that."
"You're also the one who kept Enceladus informed about us," I added. "We've been plagued by snowstorms the whole trip."
"Yes, I feel so close to all of you now!" Khione said. "Once you made it past Omaha, I decided to asked Lycaon to track you down so Jason could die here, at the Wolf House." Khione smiled at him. "You see, Jason, your blood spilled on this sacred ground will taint it for generations. Your demigod brethren will be outraged, especially when they find the bodies of these three from Camp Half-Blood. They'll believe the Greeks have conspired with giants. It will be … delicious."
Piper and Leo didn't seem to understand what she was saying. But Jason and I knew. Me from experience, and Jason's memories seemed to be returning fast enough for him to know that that plan could be very dangerous.
"You'll set demigods against demigods," he said.
"It's so easy!" said Khione. "As I told you, I only encourage what you would do anyway."
"But why?" Piper spread her hands. "Khione, you'll tear the world apart. The giants will destroy everything. You don't want that. Call off your monsters."
Khione hesitated, then laughed. "Your persuasive powers are improving, girl. But I am a goddess. You can't charm-speak me. We wind gods are creatures of chaos! I'll overthrow Aeolus and let the storms run free. If we destroy the mortal world, all the better! They never honored me, even in Greek times. Humans and their talk of global warming. Pah! I'll cool them down quickly enough. When we retake the ancient places, I will cover the Acropolis in snow."
"The ancient places." My eyes widened. "That's what Enceladus meant about destroy the roots of the gods. He meant Greece."
"You could join me, son of Hephaestus," Khione said. "I know you find me beautiful. It would be enough for my plan if these other two were to die. Reject that ridiculous destiny the Fates have given you. Live and be my champion, instead. Your skills would be quite useful."
Leo looked stunned. He glanced behind him, like Khione might be talking to somebody else. For a second I was worried. I figured Leo didn't have beautiful goddesses make him offers like this every day.
Then Leo laughed so hard, he doubled over. "Yeah, join you. Right. Until you get bored of me and turn me into a Leosicle? Lady, nobody messes with my dragon and gets away with it. I can't believe I thought you were hot."
Khione's face turned red. "Hot? You dare insult me? I am cold, Leo Valdez. Very, very cold."
She shot a blast of wintry sleet at the demigods, but Leo held up his hand. A wall of fire roared to life in front of us, and the snow dissolved in a steamy cloud.
Leo grinned. "See, lady, that's what happens to snow in Texas. It—freaking—melts."
Khione hissed. "Enough of this. Hera is failing. Porphyrion is rising. Kill the demigods. Let them be our king's first meal!"
I raised my sword, as Jason hefted his icy wooden plank—a stupid weapon to die fighting with—and the monsters charged.
A wolf launched itself at Jason. He stepped back and swung his scrap wood into the beast's snout with a satisfying crack. Maybe only silver could kill it, but a good old-fashioned board could still give it a Tylenol headache. I shot a silver arrow, and the wolf burst into golden dust.
He turned toward the sound of hooves and saw a storm spirit horse bearing down on him. Jason concentrated and summoned the wind. Just before the spirit could trample him, Jason launched himself into the air, grabbed the horse's smoky neck, and pirouetted onto its back.
The storm spirit reared. It tried to shake Jason, then tried to dissolve into mist to lose him; but somehow Jason stayed on.
"You're mine now," Jason said.
The horse bucked, but Jason held fast. Its mane flickered as it circled around the empty pool, its hooves causing miniature thunderstorms—tempests—whenever they touched.
"Tempest?" Jason said. "Is that your name?"
The horse spirit shook its mane, evidently pleased to be recognized.
"Fine," Jason said. "Now, let's fight."
He charged into battle, swinging his icy piece of wood, knocking aside wolves and plunging straight through other venti. I decided to join him, though my puny human legs were nowhere near as fast as the horse. Tempest was a strong spirit, and every time he plowed through one of his brethren, he discharged so much electricity, the other spirit vaporized into a harmless cloud of mist.
Through the chaos, I caught glimpses of my friends. Piper was surrounded by Earthborn, but she seemed to be holding her own. She was so impressive-looking as she fought, almost glowing with beauty, that the Earthborn stared at her in awe, forgetting that they were supposed to kill her. They'd lower their clubs and watch dumbfounded as she smiled and charged them. They'd smile back—until she sliced them apart with her dagger, and they melted into mounds of mud.
Leo had taken on Khione herself. While fighting a goddess should've been suicide, Leo was the right man for the job. She kept summoning ice daggers to throw at him, blasts of winter air, tornadoes of snow. Leo burned through all of it. His whole body flickered with red tongues of flame like he'd been doused with gasoline. He advanced on the goddess, using two silver-tipped ball-pen hammers to smash any monsters that got in his way.
I realized that Leo was the only reason we were still alive. His fiery aura was heating up the whole courtyard, countering Khione's winter magic. Without him, we would've been frozen like the Hunters long ago. Wherever Leo went, ice melted off the stones. Even Thalia started to defrost a little when Leo stepped near her. I grinned at this. Maybe Leo could save his virgin love after all.
Khione slowly backed away. Her expression went from enraged to shocked to slightly panicked as Leo got closer.
Hey I'm back! With 40 chapters. Did you hear that? 40. 40. 40 frigging chapters! Milestone number...3 is it now?
Yours,
MilkandCheez
