CHAPTER 7
They were on the road again, and the danger seemed to have passed. They were still on edge, hyped up on adrenaline after their scuffs with the monsters. Noah was waiting for another telkhine to destroy the car they were in. After half an hour of waiting, Noah decided to rest. They were in San Francisco, and for some reason it filled him with dread. When they left, Connor had explained how San Francisco was supposed to be the worst place for Greek demigods to go - the Titans once had their palace atop Mount Tamalpais, and it's also where Atlas was holding up the sky, trapped under his burden. Or so they thought. The closer they got to Mount Tam, the worse the weather. They could see the big funnel cloud above Mount Tam, whirling and thundering, a dark grey against the light grey of the stormy San Francisco sky.
They grimaced when they saw it. They had a better grasp on what was happening here, even though the mortals here didn't. They drove past several news crews, reporters straddling microphones and trying to keep their hoods up against the wind and rain. They were talking about the 'unexpected meteorological event' currently taking place, but they knew better. Something was happening on Mount Tam - something bad.
They drove past restaurants and hotels, large houses and public buildings, down streets devoid of life. Everyone was inside, sheltering from the extreme weather.
Eventually, after days of driving, the sedan stopped at the bottom of Mount Tam. He sighed, grabbed his bow, and got out. Connor and Fay looked resolute, probably steeling themselves against the task ahead. Connor had told them about the Garden of the Hespirades, and Ladon, the dragon who guarded Hera's tree.
It was a little late to back down now, so they started up the trail, heading towards the Titan. Noah readied his bow, Connor unsheathed his sword, and Fay readied her celestial bronze staff.
There were monsters in their path, climbing towards the peak. Noah got a bad feeling, but they quickly dispatched the various climbing monsters. He thought about how many might already be at the top. As they continued, the monster numbers thickened, until they were fighting a dozen a hundred feet in the air. Noah stayed at the back, picking them off one by one with his bow, and Connor took the offensive, battling sword-on-sword against some dracanae. Fay was holding her own against a Cyclops, twirling her staff and using her water manipulation abilities to affect the water inside the Cyclops, and she managed to smash it against the side of the mountain a few times just by concentrating hard enough. Her staff appeared to glow as she did this, like it was amplifying her powers. The tip appeared to change too, becoming a trident, a spear, a staff. It was impressive to watch. When the last monster was slain, they continued on their way.
When they reached what Noah thought was the peak of the mountain, he gasped. They were in the Garden of the Hespirades. The mountain continued upwards ahead of them, but in their path was a large dragon coiled around a tree laden with glowing golden fruit. The dragon had dozens of heads, all interwined around the tree. Noah considered what to do, but before he could do anything, the dragon woke up, snarled, and lunged.
But not for them. They ducked and it flew over their heads, grappling with a large Cyclops that was standing behind them. It pulled the Cyclops into the air, its poisoned teeth biting the Cyclops several dozen times before it exploded into gold dust, and the dragon turned its attention on the demigods.
"RUN!" Connor yelled, and sprinted for the far side of the garden. Noah and Fay followed without hesitation. When they reached the tree, Ladon landed just behind them. Noah instinctively rolled, and felt the air behind him compress, and when he turned around he saw that Ladon had snapped at him, head retracting from where he was a moment before. Without thinking, he readied and released an arrow straight at the head. The impact staggered Ladon, who had to flap its wings to regain its balance. He fired another, but it was aware of his tricks now, and the heads moved to avoid the arrow. But, the bow never misses its target. The arrow did a loop in the air and hit it on the back of one of its heads, knocking it forwards. That angered it.
Before he could move another muscle, Ladon attacked. It flew straight for Noah, mouths open and ready. He managed to duck enough so that it didn't bite him - instead its chin smacked him a dozen feet back, into the side of the mountain, the Epirus bow flying away from him.
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