The first combatant to open the battle was Lisa at the helm of the Javelin. Explosions shook the ground as she levelled the aircraft's cannon and pulled the trigger. A volley of Greek fire shells detonated all around the perimeter of the camp to create a circle of green fire that blazed six metres high.
The barrier of flames served a dual purpose, creating a killing ground inside the camp and preventing the patrolling forces from coming to aid them. They would come rushing in at the first sign of trouble and Jordan knew it would be impossible to pick them off. They were already facing cyclopes, storm spirits and gryphons. The battle would be as chaotic as a Black Friday sale and he had no wish to add Lycaon's wolves into the mix.
A second volley shook the ground as Lisa turned the Javelin's weapons on the enemy camp. The big cannon's calibre was too large to fire on the camp without risking hitting the hunters as well, so Lisa switched to a second, smaller group of weapons mounted on the Javelin's underbelly. White-hot tracer rounds and explosive shells rained down on the enemy camp, slaughtering unsuspecting monsters in scores as they gaped dumbly up at the sky. The impacts pounded the ground into a mess of upturned earth, monster dust and snow until the monster camp looked like a sandcastle ravaged by a toddler.
The force of the explosions blew the hunters' tent off the ground. The freezing air hit the girls instantly, making them gasp. Alabaster snapped his fingers, erecting a glowing green dome around them to shield them from the shrapnel and cold.
Jordan could see the hunters clearly now that they were in the light. The teenage girls were completely naked, shivering, their bodies covered in injuries and burns. The monsters had had their way with them, he thought grimly. He knew what the enemy would do to captured hunters and the sight of the girls made him wish that they were still in the tent.
Loud yelling reached his ears. He turned away from the hunters to see a mixed line of Earthborn and cyclopes closing in from all sides.
"You bastards," his mind was filled with fury over the horrors he knew they had inflicted on the hunters. He levelled his assault rifle and opened fire, blowing the giants into sulphurous yellow dust.
Most of the monsters in the camp had been destroyed by the Javelin's firepower, or else they were stumbling around in confusion, deafened and dazed by the explosions.
Gryphons and storm spirits dived toward him, shrieking and crackling. Jordan unfolded another attachment on his swiss army knife and a shotgun sprang out in his hands. He fired again and again, blowing gryphons to dust as they came into his range. Giants charged him and he shot them down. A blizzard of monster dust swirled around him, raining from above, bursting up around him, but he didn't notice. His mind was closed to everything apart from the enemy coming from all sides, locked in the soldier's rhythm of battle.
Three gryphons came in fast and low, three deadly shadows with claws and beaks. Jordan shot one and it burst into powder. He fired at the second, hitting its wing. The gryphon careened into the ground in an explosion of snow and black feathers.
The third one closed with impossible speed. Jordan levelled his gun at it and pulled the trigger just as it collided into him.
The impact sent him flying into a pile of collapsed tents. The shotgun went flying out of his hand. He sat up hard, wincing in expectation of pain to come.
There was none. He got to his feet, smiling.
Over his winter jacket he wore a jet black ultra-formfitting bodysuit, created chiefly from Celestial bronze among a mixture of other materials according to a secret, long-lost design that he'd learned from his father, a son of Hephaestus. The result was a lightweight, flexible armour, all but unbreakable, that could reduce any impact to nothing more than a pat on the back. It had taken him close to five years to complete, his most painstaking project apart from constructing the Javelin, but now the years of careful work paid its dividends as he rose from the debris completely unharmed. His swiss army knife reappeared in his pocket as the remaining monsters closed in.
In the brief lull they'd gotten to within several metres of him. There were too many of them to gun down at such close range; he unfolded his tomahawk and pulled out his knife.
Giants, while strong, were slow, and big targets. Their lumbering bulk hampered the gryphons' speed, who in turn got in the way of the circling storm spirits. A bad combination for chaotic, close-quarters fighting, and against Jordan, a recipe for defeat.
He plunged into the melee, hacking with his tomahawk, lashing out with his knife. Giants ran into each other trying to grab him. Gryphons were knocked off their feet in the crowd. Storm spirits, creatures of infamously poor discipline, fired lightning into the mass and only succeeded in electrocuting the tallest hyperborean giants. Some of the giants swung their clubs, hitting their comrades instead of the lone demigod.
The monster Lamia appeared at the edge of the battle, growling in frustration at the chaotic mass. She was all-too-familiar with her compatriots' idiocy. They bellowed and snapped at each other while stumbling around, swinging weapons and claws uselessly while Jordan ducked and weaved among them, cutting them down with axe and knife. She raised her hand, pointed a clawed finger at Jordan.
"Stulti carcer."
"No!" Alabaster, spotting her at last, landed between them. "Aufero sarcina!"
With a flash of green Lamia's spell was deactivated.
Lamia snarled and extended her claws. "This time I'll make sure I kill you properly." She dived towards him.
Alabaster pulled a card from his pocket. "Let's dance."
Glowing green energy encased him like a holographic Iron Man suit, panels of green light forming around him. Alabaster cracked his neck and raised his arms into a fighting stance.
The first exchange was a test of strength, hard and fast. The two combatants slammed into each other. Alabaster held his ground.
"How-" Lamia looked dumbfounded.
"Surprise." Alabaster heaved her back, threw a punch. Lamia leaned out of the way and caught his arm. The green energy encasing it began to steam at her touch.
Alabaster slammed his other fist into her gut. Green energy blasted from his closed hand, throwing her backwards. Lamia flew thirty metres and crashed into an igloo, collapsing it completely.
A howl of fury left Alabaster's lips as he launched himself after her, covering the thirty metres in a single leap. He brought down his fist with all his strength just as Lamia got to her feet, raising her hands to shield herself.
The two of them clashed in a blinding flash of light that was immediately enveloped by a cloud of superheated steam. Alabaster was thrown into the air like a rag doll. Twenty metres up, he righted himself, unharmed apart from a long gash across the chest of his energy armour that wasn't closing. A few dozen gryphons and storm spirits came towards him and he shot them down with beams of green energy from his fists.
The steam dissipated to reveal Lamia standing in the centre of a ten-metre-wide crater, tottering slightly. Alabaster raised his arms toward her, blasting her with his energy beams.
Lamia stumbled as the twin beams hit her and almost fell. She was clearly losing and Alabaster knew it. The energy around his right arm extended to form a glowing green blade. He dived toward her.
Blinded by the torrent of green energy, Lamia didn't see him coming until it was too late.
The green blade sliced her in half like butter. Lamia crumbled into black sand.
"Finally." Alabaster muttered.
Across the ruins of the enemy camp the hunters were huddled in their green dome, staring wide-eyed at the carnage all around them, while a distance away Jordan was still surrounded by the enemy monsters. Alabaster scythed down a dozen of them with a blast of green energy, then swept the energy beam over the entire group, decapitating every giant three metres tall and above. Twenty large bodies fell into the snow with a sound like sacks of flour being dropped. In the brief lull that followed, Jordan pulled a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin.
"What in the world-"
Alabaster didn't get the chance to finish his sentence. Greek fire erupted from the grenade, charring the crowd of monsters to ash. Alabaster gaped in horror at the swirling green conflagration.
"No! What did he-"
A single figure appeared in the centre of the flames, a tall man in black marching out of the fire. Flames clung to Jordan's black suit briefly, then flickered out, leaving him steaming in the cold air but evidently unharmed. Alabaster sighed in relief.
"Let's get the hunters out of here before anybody else shows up." Typically there was an edge of impatience to Jordan's voice, as if he was annoyed that it had taken him so long to take down fifty monsters single-handedly.
The battlefield had fallen silent apart from the crackling of flames. Smoke hung in the air like a curtain. Jordan activated his plipper, summoning the Javelin to land at his location.
A particularly cold draft drifted across the battlefield, making Alabaster shiver despite the energy wrapped around him. The atmosphere shifted subtly.
A girl materialised beside the green dome, pale-skinned with glossy black hair, dressed in a white silk suit.
"Bon soir, mes amis." she said. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."
The hunters cried out as they spotted her, scrambling to the other side of the dome to get away from her. Their fear was so great that they pressed against the opposite side of the dome, squeezing against each other.
The girl gave them a disdainful glance. An icicle formed in her hand. She popped the dome like a balloon.
"Hey!" Alabaster took a step forward, but it was too late. The girl waved a hand at the hunters. A flurry of snow obscured them from sight. When it settled, they had been frozen solid, turned into ice sculptures. Alabaster was stunned.
"Who are you?" Jordan yelled.
"Can't you guess?" The girl turned to him. "I expected better from you, son of Athena."
"Khione." The name popped into Alabaster's head, one of the thousands he'd memorised from the Greek pantheons. "Goddess of snow."
"I don't care who you are." Jordan growled. He unfolded his assault rifle and fired at her.
The gunfire echoed across the battlefield. Khione held up her hand and a freezing draft stopped all the bullets in midair.
"A poor effort, Jordan van Staal. But then, you were never outstanding in battle." She waved her hand at him, encasing him in ice.
Alabaster lifted off the ground, glowing blinding green like an overcharged traffic light.
"Templum incendare."
Khione laughed. "I'm a goddess. Your little spell won't work on me."
"That was just a ranging shot." The green energy on his arms extended into blades. He shot towards her with the speed of a bullet.
A second icicle formed in Khione's other hand, a deadly-sharp dagger glistening in the weak sun. With a flick of her wrists she threw both at him.
Alabaster parried one away with his blades. The second grazed his shoulder as he dodged out of the way, scoring a line in his energy armour.
Khione fired a blast of wintry sleet at him. The attack deflected off his armour, dimming it slightly. Alabaster slashed at her with his left blade as he came into reach. Khione parried with two icicle daggers. Alabaster reversed direction in an instant, pivoted and hacked down with his second blade. The blow shattered Khione's icicles. Alabaster stabbed at her just as she hit him with another blast of sleet, throwing him off his feet.
Khione stumbled backwards, pressing a hand to her chest where Alabaster's blade had entered.
"You dare wound me?" Golden ichor flowed like water from between her fingers, staining her white silk suit. Her face was filled with fury.
"I marched against the Olympians with Kronos." Alabaster sneered. "You don't scare me."
"You'll suffer for your arrogance." Khione spread her hands. Storm spirits appeared out of the air, surrounding Alabaster from all sides. As one, they raised their arms towards him and blasted him with lightning.
Alabaster clenched his fists. Blinding green light exploded from him, a powerful blast that disintegrated all the spirits instantly. Khione stumbled backwards, her white suit charred to tatters.
Alabaster fired beams of green energy at her. Khione retaliated with a blast of wintry sleet. The two attacks met in the middle with an explosion of steam that instantly turned to snow in the freezing air. Alabaster threw himself through the cloud of snow, slamming into Khione and sending her flying. He took a step forward, intending to pound her into snow dust, then stopped.
An icy sensation started in his stomach. He looked down to see two jagged icicles pierced through his energy armour, sticking out of his shirt. He swallowed.
"Did you really think it would be that easy to fight me?" Khione asked.
Alabaster grabbed the icicles and pulled them out, wincing at the ripping sensation. The energy covering his hands dimmed, becoming opaque and brittle upon contact with the icicles, then fizzled out completely.
Khione blasted him with sleet. Alabaster stumbled backwards, holding up his arms to shield himself. The fight with Lamia had been more draining than he realised. His defences were weakened from repeated attacks. He tried to channel more energy into his protective insignia, but his magic was depleted from constant exertion.
The sharp crack of gunfire reached his ears. The torrent of sleet stopped.
Alabaster lowered his arms to see Khione standing with a surprised look on her face, her back arched unnaturally into the air.
In the course of battle she'd wound up standing right in front of Jordan's frozen form, in point blank range of his outstretched assault rifle, which wouldn't have mattered, except that the son of Athena was no longer frozen. Alabaster realised that he must've found a way to defrost himself, playing dead while he waited for the right opportunity. Now he stepped forward, pouring a volley of gunfire into the snow goddess from point-blank range. He changed to his shotgun and the heavy blast threw Khione forward to her knees. Jordan sprang at her like a panther, tomahawk and knife poised in his hands.
Khione dissolved into snow just as Jordan plunged his blades down. Jordan wound up flopping into a pile of snow. He jumped up, blades ready.
"Coward!" he yelled. "Show yourself!"
Khione's laughter filled the battlefield, seeming to come from everywhere at once.
"I'm a goddess. I don't fight by your rules."
The temperature plummeted. Snow started to fall as a powerful blizzard blew in out of nowhere. Jordan swore into the wind as he suddenly found himself knee-deep in snow.
"We have to get out of here!" Alabaster yelled through the comlink.
"If the Javelin tries to land it'll be blown away too," Jordan shook his head. "Teleport us."
"No!" Lisa's voice came through their earpieces. "We need to save the hunters!"
"We can't save anybody if we're frozen to death." Alabaster started to summon his magic. "Get over here so I can take you with me."
Jordan struggled to make headway against the wind. It pushed him back with hurricane force. He started to slide backwards even though he was chest-deep in snow.
"You go," he said. "Come back for me."
"No way," Alabaster argued. "She'll kill you the moment she has the chance."
The blizzard seemed to falter a little, as if the storm was dying down. Alabaster and Jordan shared a glance.
"I've decided it'll be more fun to have my wolves tear you to pieces." Khione said.
A cacophony of howls cut through the wind. Lycaon's wolves appeared from all directions, surrounding them. Jordan realised that the magical blizzard must have extinguished the circle of Greek fire separating the wolves from the camp.
"Save yourself," he told Alabaster.
"Never. I'm not letting you die." Alabaster insisted.
"You barely have enough magic left to prevent yourself from freezing." Jordan pointed out. "Get back to the Javelin and fly out of here. You need to protect Lisa."
"That's your job." Alabaster told him. "You're her brother."
"I've never been able to do that."
"Then you'll learn. I'll teleport you out."
"Don't be stupid!" Jordan yelled at him. "Get out of here while you still can!"
Alabaster shook his head. "Better you than me. You're the one who's actually lived a half-decent life."
Green mist started to swirl around Jordan.
"No!" Jordan roared.
He vanished, whisked away by the last of Alabaster's magic.
Alone and surrounded by wolves, Alabaster cracked his neck. From his pocket he pulled out a small knife, his last resort for absolute emergencies. "Come on, then. Don't keep me waiting."
In the midst of everything nobody paid any heed to the frozen collection of hunters, not even when a luminous green spartus marched up to it and started hacking away with a pickaxe and shovel. So everyone was surprised when Thalia Grace's frozen form was detached from the others with a crack, falling into the snow.
Everyone turned towards the sound. The spartus, suddenly the focus of attention, brandished a rolled-up newspaper at them.
"What in the world?" Alabaster muttered.
The zombie warrior grabbed frozen Thalia and started to run away.
"Stop that thing!" Khione ordered.
A half-dozen wolves raced after the spartus, but as they galloped past the rest of the frozen hunters a shower of throwing knives flickered out from behind the block of girls, sending all of them crashing into the snow. The wolves melted into shadow.
Nico di Angelo pulled himself to the top of the pile of frozen hunters, standing on them as if they were a pile of rocks. "Did you really think you could escape my reach?"
The rest of the pack howled in outrage and rushed towards the son of Hades, forgetting all about Alabaster. Nico took a big leap off the frozen hunters, landing in the snow right next to the son of Hecate.
"Haven't seen you in a long time." Nico said to him. "Let's catch up over lunch." He grabbed onto him and shadow-travelled them both away.