Another chapter! Miracles do happen! In other words, I'm on leave :D
Nico and Percy materialised right in front of Bombilo's muffin store.
"Oh, good. I'm hungry." Nico fished inside his pocket, came up with a handful of silver denarii. "One box of muffins, please. Half chocolate chip, half banana raisin."
"I thought you said there was a battle going on." Percy turned in a circle, taking in the empty streets.
"The battle's over. We just missed it." Nico collected his box of muffins. "Let's go find Larry." He started down the street.
A Terminus statue exploded into being right in front of him. Nico jumped back, startled.
"No weapons within the city limits, di Angelo!" the statue shrieked. "Don't you dare think that by shadow-travelling in here, you can escape my watch!"
"Terminus, there's a war going on. Of course I'm carrying weapons around."
"No excuses!" Terminus insisted. "Hand everything over. Including those muffins. Now!"
"You're not getting my sword or my muffins." Nico held up his hand. "Now let me pass. I'm heading out of the city, alright?"
"Fine!" Terminus huffed. "But the next time—"
Nico stuffed a muffin into the statue's mouth, shutting him up.
"My guess is, they're waiting for nightfall. They're stronger at night. That's why they didn't attack immediately." Malcolm explained to Centurion Dani.
"Actually they're holding back because I'm here." Nico sidled up to the son of of Athena, making him jump. "It's not really because of the night."
"Holy shit, Nico! Don't do that!"
"Good to see you too." Nico bit into a chocolate muffin.
"Nico!" Centurion Larry's face lit up immediately. "Thank Mars you're here. We're about to die!"
"Not on my watch," Nico grumbled. "What's your strength?"
"Ninety-six Roman legionnaires. A hundred Greeks on Pegasi and flying chariots."
"I've had worse odds," Nico nodded. "What are your plans?"
The enemy is camped on the Berkeley Hills." Larry led Nico over to a whiteboard on which he'd pinned a map of New Rome. "The Twelfth Legion is holding the Field of Mars at the edge of the Pomerian Line. We've got ballistae and onagers set up facing the enemy. But there's too few of us to cover the entire perimeter of the city. Once the monsters spill around there's nothing stopping them from attacking the city."
"What about Camp Jupiter?"
"We've got a few lookouts stationed on the walls, but apart from that it's empty. We don't have enough troops to man the walls."
Camp Jupiter's fortifications were by far their biggest asset, a towering bastion that could anchor their left flank. Nico shook his head. "Put some of the legion on the walls. I'll summon skeletons to guard the city."
He turned to Malcolm. "You should get the Greeks on Temple Hill. We need to hold the high ground."
"I think that's a good idea." Malcolm agreed. "We can launch our air raids from there."
"What about the south side?" Dani pointed to the bottom of the map, where the Little Tiber flowed across two bridges and the valley's southern edge.
"We have him." Nico jerked a thumb at Percy.
"I'll drown them like rats." Percy promised.
Larry nodded. "I'll have the Lares cover the river banks too."
"Where's the rest of the Legion?" Malcolm asked.
"Still at Othrys." Nico crumpled a muffin wrapper in his fist. "The tunnel almost caved in on them. They barely made it out alive."
"They won't be coming to help us, then." Malcolm concluded.
The group of officers fell silent as the information sank in. Two hundred demigods against three thousand monsters. Bad odds, even by demigod standards.
"Right then," Malcolm clapped his hands together. "Let's get to work, people."
The group of demigods broke up, heading back toward their individual units. The legionnaires' conversations died down as Larry started snapping orders.
"It's not enough." Percy murmured.
"We're going to need more help." Nico agreed. He dug his phone out of his pocket and pressed speed dial. He put it to his ear. "Van Staal, get your lazy ass out of bed."
The citizens of Rome lit torches as evening began to fall, illuminating the buildings with a soft, flickering glow. The white buildings and orange flames gave the city a picturesque appearance that would have matched the sunset perfectly if not for the army of monsters waiting across the valley.
The last rays of light slanted across the Field of Mars, casting long shadows over US Marine skeletons patrolling the newly-erected earthern wall along the city limits. It was only three metres high, no taller than a typical laistrygonian giant, but it was all the legionnaires had managed to build in the short afternoon. It would at least keep the smaller monsters out and allow the skeletons to pick their shots. Behind the wall, Roman citizens had piled furniture to make barricades across the outermost streets. More skeletons were positioned on the outermost balconies and roofs, long M16 rifles pointing toward Berkeley Hills.
The demigods had not been idle in the hours leading up to darkness. Hephaestus campers manned two Napoleonic-war era cannons on Temple Hill. Apollo's archers watched from the roof of Jupiter's Temple, braziers of Greek Fire and bundles of spare arrows at their sides. The base of the hill was ringed with rows of barbed wire and sharpened stakes, pockmarked with patches of upturned earth where Hephaestus campers had buried Greek fire mines.
On the western edge of the valley the sun reflected off the helmets and spears of legionnaires on the walls of Camp Jupiter. Every camper that could hold a sword was stationed on the ramparts. Spiked logs and pots of boiling oil lined the parapet. They were ready for anything the monsters could throw at them.
The sun continued to sink, lengthening the shadows across the Field of Mars. Darkness set in as the moon rose, turning everything on the walls into silhouettes and glints of metal. The very air seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for the first spark that would light the fire of the coming battle.
A pinprick of light appeared on the Berkeley Hills, flickering like a torch against the landscape of black. A second light appeared, then another, and another, until there were fifty or sixty little lights shining on the Hills like a string of Christmas lights.
The first light rose straight into the air, hovering in the sky like a firefly. On the walls of Camp Jupiter, Larry's eyes widened.
"INCOMING!"
The ball of fire hurtled straight toward the ramparts. Legionnaires scattered. Larry ducked behind his shield.
A half-dozen legion archers took aim and fired at the incoming missile. Two of the arrows connected and the Imperial gold arrowheads blew it apart with a deafening CRACK.
All across the valley more flaming boulders were launched, shooting stars of death that blazed with hellish light. The legion archers fired as fast as they could, detonating them before they could hit the walls.
A purple energy barrier formed around New Rome, encasing the city in a protective forcefield. The incendiary projectiles exploded against its surface in a cacophony of explosions that rolled across the valley like thunder.
The legion artillery fired back, but their firepower looked pitiful compared to the monsters' bombardment. A half-dozen ballista bolts and flaming boulders arced across the valley. A few seconds later the Legion cheered as the Roman projectiles found their mark, explosions blossoming across the Berkeley Hills.
On the right of the valley Camp Half-Blood's cannons were firing glowing green cannonballs that detonated in bursts of green, engulfing the Berkeley Hills in Greek fire. One cannonball struck an enemy onager, blowing it apart in an eruption of green flames and flying debris. The onager's stack of ammunition blew up as well, lighting the hill in a bigger explosion that reflected off the faces of the defenders across the valley before fading to swathes of burning hillside.
The artillery duel ground on, turning the valley into a deadly fireworks show like the Fourth of July. The monster army seemed content to keep up the bombardment despite an obvious lack of effectiveness.
Over the rolling thunder of artillery came the sharp staccato snap of rifle fire. Larry stared toward the city through his binoculars and saw Nico's skeletons firing up into the sky. Larry could not make out what they were shooting at, but the volume of the skeletons' fire was evidence that there was a sizeable threat heading toward them.
"Watch the sky!" Larry shouted at his troops. "Something's coming."
Camp Half-Blood's pegasi took to the sky, dozens of them, swords and spears glinting in their riders' grips. Larry followed them with his binoculars, then jerked backwards as something large and dark suddenly filled his field of vision. The large shape crashed into a pegasus rider and sent it spiralling towards the ground. More dark shapes appeared in his view, swarming around Camp Half-Blood's riders. Larry squinted, trying to make out what they were.
"Look out!" Three Legion archers fired arrows out into the darkness. A few seconds later the custom-made warheads erupted like flares, illuminating the space around them in harsh, blinding light.
And in that few seconds of revelation the Romans saw that the sky, which had seemed empty in the darkness, was filled with large, winged creatures heading straight toward them, claws and beaks gleaming in the flares' light.
"Shit!"
"Gryphons!"
"PILA!" Larry's voice cut through the commotion.
Fifty spears lifted onto fifty shoulders. The Imperial gold spear tips seemed to glow in reaction to the monsters' presence.
"FIRE!"
A wave of golden death slammed into the crowd of beasts. Gryphons dropped out of the air like hailstones.
The Legion archers opened fire, sending shafts into the sky fast as they could. They hardly needed to aim against such a horde, but there were too few archers to have any hope of stopping the enemy by arrows alone.
Ballista bolts sliced into the packed mass, cutting down gryphons three or four at a time. The Legion onagers loaded their buckets with Imperial gold shrapnel, spraying glowing fragmented bursts into the night sky.
Still the gryphons came, squawking and snapping around the ramparts. Some flew straight toward the ramparts and the legionnaires cut them apart as they came into range. Others dropped directly onto the walls in a frenzy of claws and beaks, throwing legionnaires aside like rag dolls. More Romans swarmed over them, slashing and stabbing them into dust with swords and spears.
Giant eagles counterattacked from the south, flying hard into the fight in a series of V-formations. The Roman birds were outnumbered, but they were closed up and ready whereas the gryphons were scattered around the ramparts and were completely unaware of them. The result was carnage. The eagles' powerful talons grabbed the smaller gryphons and crushed them into dust. Snapping eagle beaks closed on gryphon wings and necks, disabling them with terrible force. The air was filled with gryphon shrieks and the beating of giant wings.
Some gryphons tried to surround the eagles with their numbers, but the eagles were too large and fast to be caught, smacking them aside with their wings, making sudden dives upwards and downwards to evade their pursuers. Into the confused gryphons' ranks came Camp Half-Blood's pegasi riders, swords gleaming. There was so much monster dust falling through the air it seemed like it was snowing.
Despite the intensity of the fighting thus far, Larry knew that this was just the beginning. These first assaults were only meant to test and weaken the demigods' defences. The monsters had yet to commit the bulk of their forces in an all-out attack, as they always did, and it was that massive attack that Larry was concerned about. He cast his glance to the south where the Little Tiber flowed through the valley. The river's banks were littered with discarded weapons and armour. The river itself was a churning, surging torrent. Monsters struggled in its waters like ants, shouting and flailing as they were dragged under by an unseen force. Shimmering purple Lares lined the river bank, cutting down any monster than managed to survive the Tiber. Larry smiled. Whatever assault the enemy had been attempting, they were no match for Percy Jackson in his element.
Satisfied that the river was safe, Larry turned back to the ramparts to see two flaming boulders heading straight for the walls.
"LOOK OUT!"
A legion archer heard the shout and took aim. Two arrows hit the first boulder, blowing it apart. Larry could only watch in horror as the second boulder struck the wall and exploded. The impact shook the ramparts, sending everybody staggering. A few legionnaires fell screaming off the wall. Others, too close to the explosion, were tossed into the air like rag dolls. A gap the size of a dump truck appeared in the wall, steaming in the cold California air.
Across the valley, a great roar went up from the monster army as they saw the explosion. Thousands of them surged forward, an irresistable tide washing onto the Field of Mars.
"Here we go." Nico muttered.
The Son of Hades brushed the last muffin crumbs from his mouth and straightened, kicking the empty muffin box into the corner of the balcony. Around him, skeletons on the balcony started to open fire as the wave of monsters came into range.
The legion artillery and Camp Half-Blood's cannons levelled their aim and opened fire. Ballista bolts, glowing shrapnel and explosive cannonballs tore into the monster charge. Nico's skeletons scythed them down in the hundreds.
The weight of the skeletons' firepower was beginning to make headway against the enemy charge. The tidal wave of monsters flinched away from the stinging bullets. parting around the city limits like the Red Sea. The bad news: they headed straight toward Temple Hill and Camp Jupiter instead.
"They're coming!" Katie Gardner yelled a little unnecessarily from the temple roof of Mars Ultor.
"Like anyone hasn't noticed that already," Malcolm muttered.
They were barely an hour into the battle and already they were stretched. Half their force was busy keeping the skies clear. To the remaining campers on the hill, it looked like every monster in the world was charging straight towards them.
Fifty metres from the hillslope, the traps activated. Landmines erupted in bursts of dirty grey smoke. Greek fire pots engulfed monsters in flames. Other monsters staggered through the smoke and fire and got tangled in rows of barbed wire.
A line of Greek warriors waited at the hill's summit. Spears and arrows whistled from the temple roofs, cutting down monsters as they slogged forward. For all the monsters' eagerness, they could not get past the line of defences.
A half-dozen chariots flew past, releasing Celestial bronze grenades in their wake. The hillside erupted in bursts of bronze shrapnel, monsters vaporising at the touch of the deadly metal.
Here and there a monster made it through the flames and arrows, only to be cut down by the waiting Greeks. As the night dragged on more and more of them broke through the defences, charging up the hill several at a time. The demigods smashed each small group as it appeared, but for every monster they cut down another soon appeared. Slowly but surely the trickle of monsters grew, forcing the demigods back step by step.
In the centre of the valley monsters piled against the glowing purple dome like crazed fans at a concert, scratching and pounding with weapons and claws. Skeletons levelled their rifles in response, blowing their heads off at point-blank range.
On the western edge of the valley, the battle for Camp Jupiter ground on.
Twenty legionnaires stood shoulder-to-shoulder across the breach in the wall, holding the line against an onslaught of dracanae, giants and wild centaurs. Above them, the other legionnaires fought furiously to hold the ramparts. The crowd at the foot of the walls was a chaotic mess of ladders, monsters and half-collapsed rows of wooden spikes and trenches. Arrows, spiked logs and pots of boiling oil rained down from the ramparts, smashing the enemy as they tried to advance.
Giants advanced through the throng of monsters, carrying large round metal spiked objects the size of tractor wheels. Their large size made them conspicuous targets for the Roman archers. Most of them were shot down, but one trudged his way to the wall and planted his large object at the foot of the wall.
"For Othrys!" he bellowed, and slammed his fist down on it.
A powerful explosion erupted from the bomb, its spikes sent flying in all directions. One of them buried itself in a legionnaire's brain as he leaned over the wall to throw a spear. The legionnaire toppled over the edge, the spear clattering onto the parapet. Larry gaped, aghast, as a section of the eastern wall blew inward in an explosion of bricks and masonry. Through the cloud of dust came a surge of monsters, yelling and waving weapons above their heads.
"Stop them!" Larry shouted.
But every Roman in the fort was already committed to defending the walls. There was no reserve left to meet the threat. A few legionnaires turned toward the breach. Some archers fired into the crowd of monsters, but there were too few of them to have any hope of stopping the monsters from coming through.
Then a shadow fell over them.
Nico swore as he saw the second breach blown in Camp Jupiter's wall. All his forces were occupied with the defence of the city. Some of his skeletons on the western edge of the city were providing support fire, but like everywhere else there were too few of them to have a significant effect.
There were no reserves left. The Greeks were surrounded on Temple Hill, fighting for their lives against a growing number of charred monsters coming through the blazing inferno at the hill's foot. The circle of flames was the only reason they hadn't been overrun by the horde of monsters, although Temple Hill was so ravaged by battle that the fire only seemed to add to its battered appearance. Half the temples had collapsed. Wounded campers sheltered in the surviving structures, trying to ignore the tremors every time an artillery payload detonated nearby.
"Nico!" the Terminus statue next to him shouted. "Look!"
The marble bust had been giving him a running commentary of the battle as it progressed, keeping him updated with accurate but mostly useless information that Nico had tuned out, but as the night dragged on he'd started listening to the statue in the hope of hearing some good news.
"Over there!" Terminus said.
Nico opened his mouth to remind the statue that he didn't have arms, then forgot about his remark as a loud cracking sound reveberated through the city. The purple dome flickered ominously.
"What the—" Nico spotted the source of the noise, a three-metre tall warrior hacking at the energy dome with a sword the size of a surfboard. Cracks spread through the section of the dome in front of him. Even from a hundred metres away Nico could feel his powerful aura, freezing cold radiating through the barrier like a glacier.
"Oh, brother." Nico recognised the Titan Koios immediately.
"Stop him!" Terminus shrieked.
Too late. Koios stabbed his sword into the barrier and ripped it downward. Part of the protective field disintegrated with a sound like a thousand windows shattering, creating a gap the size of an MPV in the purple dome.
"CHARGE!" Koios yelled.
A roar went up from the crowd of monsters as they surged into the breach.
"Shoot them!" Nico ordered in response.
A dozen skeletons on the closest roofs and balconies levelled their assault rifles and opened fire. Monsters collapsed as the sudden volley tore into them, yellow dust spraying onto the streets of New Rome like disgusting confetti. Koios stumbled to a halt, bullets pinging off his stygian iron armour. He turned away from the storm of bullets, holding a hand in front of his face, then swept his sword toward the skeletons in a wide arc.
"BACK!"
An invisible force slammed into the nearest houses, sending Nico's skeletons flying like toys. Several buildings collapsed against the massive impact, sending large plumes of dust into the air.
"Bastard!" Nico leaped over the balcony railing, sword drawn, and disappeared into his own shadow. He materialised in an alley adjacent to the street Koios was advancing down and ran out.
"The son of Hades," Koios's lip curled into a sneer. "I hear you still wet the bed whenever Tartarus sends you a nightmare."
Nico's vision went red at the mention of Tartarus. Two throwing stars flickered out of his hand, shattering harmlessly against Koios's helm. The Titan didn't even flinch, raising his sword as Nico came into range.
The two Stygian blades met with an impact that shook the ground. Nico's boots slid backwards against the immense force. He deflected the Titan's blade to one side, sidestepped and swept his blade low, aiming for the gap between Koios's breastplate and greave.
Koios simply lifted his massive foot, allowing the strike to scrape harmlessly against his greave, and hammered his hilt into the side of Nico's helmet. Nico saw the blow coming at the last second and half-managed to duck under it, but the glancing impact off the top of his helmet still sent him stumbling. He lashed out blindly, feeling his blade bite into something. Koios yelled in pain and kicked Nico in the side, sending him flying into the ruins of the nearest building.
"Aggghh." Nico crumpled to the ground, then pushed himself back up, ignoring the agony as pain flared through his body. He blinked spots out of his eyes to see that Koios had not moved; he was standing in the middle of the street, inspecting a cut on his thigh.
"Impressive," the Titan rumbled. "You actually managed to hurt me."
Nico realised he must have instinctively slashed at Koios when he'd been kicked.
"You're getting old." Nico snarled.
"Old?" Koios brought his massive sword around in a hard, chopping sweep.
"I was old before your father was even born! I was a warrior before your cretinous kind walked the earth. I am immortal, all-powerful! You are nothing!"
Nico darted under the powerful blow and lunged onto one knee. Koios slammed his sword aside and Nico's arm went numb. Nico darted in, a dagger flashing in his left hand, but Koios saw it coming easily and leaned out of the way. The dagger bounced off his breastplate. Nico swung with his sword and Koios blocked with his left forearm, then butted Nico in the face.
Nico's vision exploded into shuddering stars and streaks of lightning. He stumbled backward blindly, but still managed to force Koios back momentarily with a hard swipe that surprised the Titan, sparking off the immortal's helm and grazing his chin. Nico's ears were ringing, his pulse pounding, but even dazed and senseless he knew to to duck under the blow intended to take his head off. Koios batted the answering strike away, stepped in and kicked him massively in the crotch, lifting the son of Hades off his feet with the force of the blow.
Nico's heart stuttered as unspeakable pain exploded in his groin. He didn't see the strike that sent him staggering, then Koios backhanded him down the street and Nico crashed into a wall so hard that he remained lodged in it like a javelin through a target dummy.
"No more smartassed comments?" Koios advanced down the street, sword swinging. He swung his sword, demolishing all the buildings on one side of the street with another energy blast.
Nico struggled to pull himself out of the wall. Koios's piercing eyes gleamed as he towered over the son of Hades, watching him scrabble uselessly.
"I think I'll throw you back into Tartarus along with the rest of the demigods." Koios smiled as he saw the fear in Nico's eyes. "You can be the tour guide. After all, you've been there before."
He raised his sword, the point aimed between Nico's eyes.
A second explosion erupted from the breach in Camp Jupiter's wall, right in the centre of the attacking monsters. Their dying wail lingered in Larry's ears against the fading percussion of the explosion.
A violent gust of wind came howling from behind. Larry twisted around to see a strange, cigar-shaped aircraft materialise directly above him, a cannon mounted on its underbelly trained on the breach's lip.
The cannon fired again just as a new wave of monsters came charging through, vaporising them into sulfurous yellow dust. A platform lowered out of the aircraft's underbelly and a young girl wreathed in a flickering silvery aura leaped out, landing on the barracks roof with a bow in hand.
"Diana?" Larry gaped.
The goddess drew back the string of her powerful longbow and fired. Three silver arrows flew past Larry to strike the breach. Silver light burst out of each arrow like a directional charge, throwing monsters into the air like rag dolls.
Larry's eyes followed the arrows and the explosion snapped him back into focus.
"Seal the breach!" He pointed his sword at the smoking hole.
Legionnaires surged through Camp Jupiter's streets toward the broken wall. The monsters spilled into the fort and the two sides clashed in the middle of the Via Principia.
The Romans cut their way forward. Diana loosed one shot after another, destroying any monster that tried to advance through the breach. The aircraft fired again and again, adding to the weight of fire concentrated on the breach.
The remaining gryphons swarmed the aircraft. A volley of micro-missiles launched from the aircraft in response. The gryphons plunged into a maelstrom of explosions, vaporised in the dozens by the powerful blasts. More and more explosions lit up the sky; Jordan was emptying his entire arsenal into the crowd of monsters, hours and hours of painstaking, precision manufacturing paying its dividends at their hour of need. The gryphons were decimated by the missile strikes, destroyed to the last beast. The few remaining survivors fled, clearing the skies at last.
The desperate legionnaires fought through the last of the monsters to form a single-rank line across the breach. Diana advanced onto the wall, sending silver explosions at any monster that tried to assault the ragged group of defenders.
"Lady Diana!" Larry ran over to her. "Thank the gods!"
Lisa blinked at him. "I'm not Diana."
"You're not?" Larry was confused. "But…"
"I'm one of her hunters," Lisa clarified.
"He thinks you're a goddess." Jordan's voice crackled inside Lisa's earpiece. "You've put on too much makeup."
"Jordan, shut up." Lisa snapped. "You're so annoying."
"Heads up," Lanesra, seated behind Jordan, pointed to the northern edge of New Rome. "There are monsters entering the city."
Jordan zoomed in with his camera to see monsters charging through a hole in the barrier.
"Aww, shit." He shifted the camera view, following a trail of destruction through the city, and finally saw Nico and Koios battling it out in the middle of a street.
"What?" Lisa asked. Her earpiece was only connected to Jordan's headset and she hadn't heard what Lanesra had just said. "What's happening?"
"I'm gonna be right back." Jordan got up from his chair. "You take over," he told Lanesra.
"Jordan!" Lisa's faint voice came through the now empty headset. "Hey! What's going on up there? Stop ignoring me!"
The Javelin turned in place and angled downward, opening a line of fire toward the city for the cannon mounted on its roof. Jordan lined up the target and pulled the trigger. A salvo of explosive rounds fired out of the barrel, flickering across the night sky like tracer rounds. A heartbeat later they crashed into the breach in a series of green explosions. A wave of Greek fire washed into the breach and up the purple barrier, incinerating monsters to ashes as flames roared down the street. Outside the barrier a great gap opened up as a hundred monsters disintegrated to ashes. Others backed away from the flames, waving swords and spears angrily at the barrier of Greek fire now separating them from the tasty Roman citizens inside. Jordan dared not fire at the monsters in the city for fear of hitting civilians, so he would attempt to cover the breach with Greek fire and hope there were soldiers inside New Rome to take care of the monsters already inside.
"There's a Titan inside the city," Jordan told Lanesra, as if she hadn't just seen the big warrior on the screen. "I'm heading over."
"Any last words?" Koios loomed over Nico, sword raised.
"Go to Hades." Nico told him.
A throwing star flickered out of Nico's hand just as Koios brought his sword down, burying itself in the Titan's left eye. Koios's sword missed his head by two inches, plunging into the wall like it was made of butter.
Koios jerked backwards, howling in agony. He yanked the little blade out of his eye, threw it aside. Ichor poured from the wound like a waterfall.
"I'll strip the skin off your anaemic flesh, boy!" He roared.
Nico pulled himself out of the wall and got to his feet, tottering slightly. "I'll cut you down and send you back to Tartarus." He levelled the Sword of Hades.
Koios gave him a sneer that half-turned into a grimace. "You can barely stand as it is. You look about as dangerous as a halloween prop."
A shout came from behind him. Koios turned to see a single figure advancing down the street, a tall man in sleek black armour and a round motorbike helmet. He carried a long bronze sword in one hand and a large round shield in the other.
"Who are you?" Koios demanded.
"Jordan van Staal," Jordan answered. "Athena's Sword." He levelled the shield at Koios and the Titan recoiled at the image of Medusa imprinted in the centre of the shield.
"Never heard of you." Koios growled.
"You have now," Nico told him.
"I'm done playing games." Koios stabbed his sword into the ground. A wave of force blasted out from the Titan, collapsing all the buildings around him to rubble. Nico and Jordan cleaved the energy blast apart with their swords and charged.
Koios backed into an alley, letting the two demigods come to him. Nico attacked and Koios parried with his left forearm. Jordan stepped in and Koios caught Jordan's blade with his own, wrenched it aside and hacked down. Jordan deflected the attack off the edge of his shield and lunged onto one knee, forcing Koios back.
"Where did you get that?" Nico indicated the shield. "It belongs to Thalia Grace."
"Borrowed it." Jordan replied.
"Yeah right," Nico would have rolled his eyeballs if they weren't still aching from Koios's headbutt. "You just love stealing the Hunters' weapons, don't you. You're obsessed with them."
Jordan's angry reply was cut short by Koios swinging a whole dumpster full of trash at them. Jordan sliced the dumpster apart as it came at him, only to get smacked by a big bag of trash. Nico was slower and went down under an avalanche of black bags. Jordan swatted trash bags aside to see Koios bearing down on them like a freight train. Koios's sword came down, a powerful blow that would have sliced him in two, but Jordan slammed the Titan's blade aside with his shield and caught him in the side of the head with his own sword. He stepped in and slammed the edge of his shield into Koios's face, making him recoil, then slashed at the Titan, striking him on the forehead of his helm. Koios grabbed the son of Athena and flung him down the alley. Jordan crashed into another dumpster against the alley wall, rolled onto the cobbles and got to his feet, wiping slimy garbage off his visor. Koios advanced toward him, sword swinging.
Jordan eyed his opponent carefully. Koios was clearly weakened, seeing how the two of them seemed evenly matched despite the Titan's obvious advantage in size and reach. Blood still poured from Koios's left eye and Jordan guessed that his earlier fight with Nico had taken a toll on him.
The Son of Hades appeared to have been on the losing end of that fight. Nico struggled to stand amidst a sea of trash, leaning against the alley wall for balance. His posture was hunched with pain. He was clearly suffering and Jordan guessed it would take him a few minutes to regain his strength.
Koios came into reach and the two fighters clashed in the middle of the alley. The blows came thick and fast, difficult to defend against, then Koios struck Jordan so hard that the Son of Athena collapsed to his knees. Koios raised his sword to deliver the killing blow. Jordan threw up his shield, grimacing in anticipation.
The impact reverberated through the alley like an explosion, blowing bags of trash into the street. Another battered dumpster collapsed, spilling yet more trash onto the cobbles. Jordan howled in pain as his shoulder dislocated with a jerk. Koios's deflected sword sank into the ground next to him. Koios himself reeled away from the impact, stumbling a step back and blinking his eyes disorientedly.
Nico ran in from the left, sword out. Koios saw him coming. Still half-dazed, he tried to tug his massive sword free, but it was too deeply embedded in the cobbles so he swung a giant fist instead. Nico dropped to his knees, slid under Koios's outstretched arm and raked his sword against the back of Koios's exposed thigh. Koios fell to one knee, then the pain turned to agony as the Sword of Athena rammed into the gap between his legs.
Koios screamed and collapsed. Jordan threw himself aside, barely avoid the Titan's armoured figure as he came crashing down. Koios swatted Jordan away, put one hand on his sword hilt and yanked it free, then the sword clattered to the ground in an eruption of ichor as Nico brought the Sword of Hades down on Koios's outstretched arm.
Koios stared in horror at the stump that used to be his right arm. Nico swung again and the Titan's helmeted head dropped to the alley floor, still wearing its horrified expression. Nico Sparta-kicked the Titan's massive body and it fell flat with a metallic crash.
"Good riddance." He spat onto the decapitated body.
The adrenaline rush from the fight began to wear off, leaving him drained and exhausted. All the aches and pains came into focus. Nico groaned and managed to totter to the wall. His armour made a scraping sound against the bricks he sagged to his knees.
Jordan levered himself upright with his good arm. He gripped his injured shoulder, trying to pop it back into place. A shudder went through him and he gasped.
"Damn it." He swore. "The joint is broken."
Nico eyed the blood dripping from the armpit of Jordan's armour. "The whole shoulder is mangled," he concluded. "Sit down. You're fortunate it didn't go through your blood vessel."
"I can still fight." Jordan took a step forward, wincing.
"You're more a liability right now," Nico retorted. "You're staying here until the battle's over."
"You need me." Jordan argued.
The faint sound of Roman horns reached their ears over the cacophony of battle. Jordan perked up. "Is that-"
Nico's face lit up. He ran out into the street, wounds suddenly forgotten. "The Legion is here!" He whooped with elation. "They're so screwed now."
The Twelfth Legion had returned to save its city. At long last, the tide was beginning to turn.
The returning cohorts of the Legion emerged from a tunnel onto the western edge of the valley, forming ranks at the foot of the hills. The glow of fires reflected off tarnished, dirty armour and shields, illuminating their tired, bloodstained faces as they stared with wide eyes at the nightmare spread before them. They had been battered at Othrys, then marched desperately through the night to reach their beloved camp. They had been slowed by casualties and were bone-tired, but finally emerged from the tunnel's winding darkness of the just as dawn was beginning to break.
Reyna, broken and wounded, was laid down on a stretcher a few paces behind the legionnaires' ranks, for lack of a better place to put her. A few injured legionnaires kept watch over her and the other casualties. Every man who could still stand was ordered into the battle line. There would be no reserves.
Frank Zhang stepped forward to take command of the Legion, scanning the battlefield with a professional eye. Monsters poured across the valley in the thousands. The enemy had breached both Camp Jupiter and the city of New Rome, but the flickering purple dome around and the fighting raging around the ramparts was proof that the battle had not been lost.
The battle seemed fiercest around Camp Jupiter and Temple Hill. Temple Hill, he saw, was ringed by a blazing circle of Greek fire that seemed to be keeping most of the monsters out. As he watched, a volley of cannonballs launched from the hill, exploding on the burning slopes and throwing a line of monsters back. The bulk of the Greek demigods were evidently making their stand on Temple Hill, while the Roman legionnaires were holding out in Camp Jupiter.
Frank wasted no time in forming his assault. The First and Second Cohorts, down to half strength after the debacle at Othrys, formed a single cohort on the right of the line. In the centre were the Fifth, Second and Fourth Cohorts, experienced units that had withdrawn unscathed. The veterans from the city took up position on the far left, supported by the fifty Greek demigods under Annabeth Chase.
"The monsters might launch a counterattack from the north," Frank warned her. "If that happens you're the only thing between them and our exposed flank."
"Consider that taken care of," Annabeth glared at the enemy onagers raining destruction across the valley. "I'll send someone to take down those things too."
"I'll leave them to you," Frank nodded, then lifted his sword into the air and brought it down towards the valley in a sharp gesture. "Forward!"
Horns sounded, shields were lifted, and the newly-formed Roman line started down the slope into the valley. The legionnaires marched in two ranks, a double wall of shields and armour bristling with Imperial gold spears. It was a perilously thin formation against a valley thick with monsters. A more cautious commander might have ordered a deeper line, but Frank knew that against such numbers the Legion would be outflanked and surrounded unless they could match the enemy's broad front. Tired and under-strength as they were, he would have to rely on the quality of his troops to hold the line against the enemy horde.
The legionnaires marched into the thick fog of smoke obscuring the valley floor. Flashes of light on the right flank showed where the monsters still struggled against Camp Jupiter's walls. The rest of the battlefield was hidden in smog, but the snarls and growls coming from everywhere showed that there were monsters all along their front.
"Double time!" Frank called.
The cornicens blew a quick double note and the legionnaires broke into a run as one, screaming their war cries like they were possessed. The sight of their beloved city on fire burned into their minds, and they swore that this day they would avenge their fallen comrades at Othrys no matter the cost.
The closest monsters' jaws dropped as they saw the line of Romans burst through the fog. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that an enemy would come charging straight into the middle of their ranks. They froze like deer caught in headlights and in their indecision the legion cut them down.
Other monsters saw the Legion coming and screamed a warning, pointing with clawed fingers. A hundred assorted creatures ran toward the Roman line with claws outstretched, gnashing their fangs and screaming hate.
"Pila!" Frank shouted.
The Roman lines bristled with spears.
"Fire!"
A wave of spears slammed into the enemy charge, cutting through their ranks. Sulfurous powder rained onto the Field of Mars, then the legionnaires fell on the remaining monsters with drawn swords, smashing the enemy before they could reform.
The dense fog obscured the growing battle, working to the legionnaires' advantage. Hidden from sight, most of the monsters in the valley remained unaware of the legionnaires' presence, rendering their superior numbers useless against the outnumbered Romans. Had their vision been clear every monster in the valley would have immediately rushed toward their position, overwhelming them within minutes.
To the west, the survivors of the First and Second Cohorts swept past Camp Jupiter, swarming over the monsters beseiging the fort before they could realise what had hit them. Senior Centurion Larry saw what was happening and bellowed orders to his troops. The battered gates were flung open and the Third Cohort burst out, hitting the surprised monsters like a battering ram. The rest of the legionnaires poured out behind them, cutting their way toward their comrades of the First and Second. The two forces chewed the enemy to pieces between them and a roar of triumph went up as the two groups merged into a single line, sweeping all before them with newfound strength.
Lisa van Staal and the Legion archers continued to fire from the ramparts, targeting any monsters that tried to regroup. The powerful longbow's energy bolts left silvery streaks in their wake before detonating with the force of RPG grenades, vapourising any monster within a five-metre radius.
In the centre the Fifth, Fourth and Second Cohorts ground on, leaving piles of dust and broken weapons littered on the ground behind them. The monsters had at last realised they were being attacked in the flank, but with Koios no longer providing leadership they lacked organisation. Some monsters attacked the enemy. Others, seeing death in the wall of swords and shields, retreated toward the Berkeley Hills in the north. The mixed reaction combined with the threat of the Legion took the weight out of the siege at last. The pressure on Temple Hill eased as the stream of monsters diverted to attack the Twelfth Legion. Vengeful Greek demigods advanced down the burning slopes, hunting down the remaining monsters with swords and spears.
All across the western half of the valley the monsters were in full retreat. The Legion rolled over the Field of Mars like a lawnmower, leaving death and destruction in their wake.
The enemy artillery tried to stem the tide. Flaming boulders bombarded the Legion center, sending up eruptions of dirt and flensing shrapnel all around the line. Legionnaires were ploughed into the earth in bloody smears and mangled armour. Others were struck by shrapnel and collapsed. The survivors closed ranks and fought on. Nothing could stop them now.
A new wave of monsters poured into the valley from the north, trying to rally their fleeing comrades. The veteran Cohort met the charge head-on and the two sides clashed at the foot of the Berkeley Hills. The sheer weight of the monsters' attack forced the veterans to a halt, fighting in a frenzy of swords and shields. Annabeth and the Greek warriors piled in on their flank, hacking into the press with axes, swords and spears.
The Legion artillery and the Javelin's cannons blazed back from Camp Jupiter, raking ballistae bolts and glowing rocks across the monsters' front. Lisa van Staal switched her aim, targeting the enemy onagers with deadly precision. The siege weapons that had caused so much grief blew up one by one as her arrows found their mark. The bombardment stopped at last and the silence that followed signified the beginning of the battle's end.
The Legion's line reached the city limits and began to sweep along its perimeter, compressing the monsters against the flickering purple dome. In desperation, hundreds of them poured into the city through the hole in the force field, seeking any escape they could find from the Legion's relentless advance.
Nico stared aghast at the tidal wave of monsters flooding through the streets toward him. In their eagerness to destroy the enemy, the Legion had unwittingly funnelled them into the city instead. He and the remaining skeletons charged the monsters with levelled bayonets. The First, Second and Third cohorts piled in to defend their city. Chaos broke out in the streets of New Rome as skeletons, legionnaires and monsters fought hand-to-hand in the confined spaces. Sulfurous yellow dust splashed onto the whitewalled Roman buildings like spray paint. M16 rifles flared and spat at point-blank range. Skeletons were torn apart and trampled as the monsters forced their way through Nico's disintegrating cordon. Nico hacked and slashed his way through everything in his sight, then swore as he was knocked back into the alley by a rush of giants. Shotgun blasts rang through the alley as Jordan opened fire with his good arm, killing monsters and skeletons indiscriminately as they ran past.
"This is a bloody mess!" Nico gasped, spitting blood onto the cobbles.
"Maybe you should stay here." Jordan replied over the deafening noise of his gun.
The panicked, fleeing monsters didn't realise that they were effectively trapped inside the purple dome. They might have run all the way across the city until they hit Terminus's barrier on the other side, but as they spilled into the empty plaza with the gurgling fountain in the centre they were greeted by the sight of Percy Jackson standing in the splashing water. They skidded to a stop.
"Sup, fellas." The son of Poseidon lifted his arms and the water surged up from its pool.
"It's a hundred against one," one giant pointed out. "Kill him!"
The monsters ran forward, claws outstretched. Percy swept his arms at them and the water responded, splashing into their eyes, then the Greeks from Temple Hill came charging out of the streets on the plaza's far side, swords bright in the light of the plaza's flickering torches. Percy drew Riptide and leaped out of the fountain, sprinting ahead of his fellow Greeks to leap heroically into battle. The two sides clashed in a frenzy of swords and spears, claws and fangs. Skeletons and Roman legionnaires piled in from the side streets and all three groups fought their way through the press until they were finally left in the middle amidst an epic sea of monster dust and broken weapons.
"I'm glad that's over," Nico panted, hands on his knees.
"You can say that again," Percy gasped, leaning on his sword like a walking stick.
The victorious demigods sat down in the battle-ravaged plaza, bandaging their wounds and eating nectar and ambrosia. The citizens of New Rome emerged from battered houses, bringing water and stretchers for the wounded. Bombilo the muffin merchant walked through the crowd like a messiah, his hands stacked high with muffin boxes.
Across the valley Romans and Greeks swarmed up the Berkeley Hills, hunting monsters through the broken remains of their siege machines. The sun had risen high in the sky to shine its light across the battle-ravaged valley. Nico scowled at the bright yellow orb.
"I want a nap."
This took so long to finish. It's finally here. Leave a review if you survived till the end of the battle. Cheers!