by Rick Riordan
The nearest guard set down her reading tablet. ‘Why can’t you walk another thirty paces, Kinzie?’
‘Um, because –’
‘Ooof!’ Hazel fell to her knees and tried to put on her best seasick face. ‘I’m feeling nauseous! Can’t … walk. Amazons … too … scary.’
‘There you go,’ Kinzie told the guards. ‘Now, are you going to come take the prisoner, or should I tell Queen Hylla you’re not doing your duty?’
The nearest guard rolled her eyes and trudged over. Hazel had hoped the other two guards would come, too, but she’d have to worry about that later.
The first guard grabbed Hazel’s arm. ‘Fine. I’ll take custody of the prisoner. But if I were you, Kinzie, I wouldn’t worry about Hylla. She won’t be queen much longer.’
‘We’ll see, Doris.’ Kinzie turned to leave. Hazel waited until her steps had receded down the catwalk.
The guard Doris pulled on Hazel’s arm. ‘Well? Come on.’
Hazel concentrated on the wall of jewellery next to her: forty large boxes of silver bracelets. ‘Not … feeling so good.’
‘You are not throwing up on me,’ Doris growled. She tried to yank Hazel to her feet, but Hazel went limp, like a kid throwing a fit in a store. Next to her, the boxes began to tremble.
‘Lulu!’ Doris yelled to one of her comrades. ‘Help me with this lame little girl.’
Amazons named Doris and Lulu? Hazel thought. Okay …
The second guard jogged over. Hazel figured this was her best chance. Before they could haul her to her feet, she yelled, ‘Ooooh!’ and flattened herself against the catwalk.
Doris started to say, ‘Oh, give me a –’
The entire pallet of jewellery exploded with a sound like a thousand slot machines hitting the jackpot. A tidal wave of silver friendship bracelets poured across the catwalk, washing Doris and Lulu right over the railing.
They would’ve fallen to their deaths, but Hazel wasn’t that mean. She summoned a few hundred bracelets, which leaped at the guards and lashed round their ankles, leaving them hanging upside down from the bottom of the catwalk, screaming like lame little girls.
Hazel turned towards the third guard. She broke her bonds, which were about as sturdy as toilet paper. She picked up one of the fallen guards’ spears. She was terrible with spears, but she hoped the third Amazon didn’t know that.
‘Should I kill you from here?’ Hazel snarled. ‘Or are you going to make me come over there?’
The guard turned and ran.
Hazel shouted over the side to Doris and Lulu. ‘Amazon cards! Pass them up, unless you want me to undo those friendship bracelets and let you drop!’
Four and a half seconds later, Hazel had two Amazon cards. She raced over to the cages and swiped a card. The doors popped open.
Frank stared at her in astonishment. ‘Hazel, that was … amazing.’
Percy nodded. ‘I will never wear jewellery again.’
‘Except this.’ Hazel tossed him his necklace. ‘Our weapons and supplies are at the end of the catwalk. We should hurry. Pretty soon –’
Alarms began wailing throughout the cavern.
‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘that’ll happen. Let’s go!’
The first part of the escape was easy. They retrieved their things with no problem, then started climbing down the ladder. Every time Amazons swarmed beneath them, demanding their surrender, Hazel made a crate of jewellery explode, burying their enemies in a Niagara Falls of gold and silver. When they got to the bottom of the ladder, they found a scene that looked like Mardi Gras Armageddon – Amazons trapped up to their necks in bead necklaces, several more upside down in a mountain of amethyst earrings and a battle forklift buried in silver charm bracelets.
‘You, Hazel Levesque,’ Frank said, ‘are entirely freaking incredible.’
She wanted to kiss him right there, but they had no time. They ran back to the throne room.
They stumbled across one Amazon who must’ve been loyal to Hylla. As soon as she saw the escapees, she turned away like they were invisible.
Percy started to ask, ‘What the –’
‘Some of them want us to escape,’ Hazel said. ‘I’ll explain later.’
The second Amazon they met wasn’t so friendly. She was dressed in full armour, blocking the throne-room entrance. She spun her spear with lightning speed, but this time Percy was ready. He drew Riptide and stepped into battle. As the Amazon jabbed at him, he sidestepped, cut her spear shaft in half and slammed the hilt of his sword against her helmet.
The guard crumpled.
‘Mars Almighty,’ Frank said. ‘How did you – that wasn’t any Roman technique!’
Percy grinned. ‘The graecus has some moves, my friend. After you.’
They ran into the throne room. As promised, Hylla and her guards had cleared out. Hazel dashed over to Arion’s cage and swiped an Amazon card across the lock. Instantly the stallion burst forth, rearing in triumph.
Percy and Frank stumbled backwards.
‘Um … is that thing tame?’ Frank said.
The horse whinnied angrily.
‘I don’t think so,’ Percy guessed. ‘He just said, “I will trample you to death, silly Chinese Canadian baby man.” ’
‘You speak horse?’ Hazel asked.
‘ “Baby man”?’ Frank spluttered.
‘Speaking to horses is a Poseidon thing,’ Percy said. ‘Uh, I mean a Neptune thing.’
‘Then you and Arion should get along fine,’ Hazel said. ‘He’s a son of Neptune, too.’
Percy turned pale. ‘Excuse me?’
If they hadn’t been in such a bad situation, Percy’s expression might have made her laugh. ‘The point is he’s fast. He can get us out of here.’
Frank did not look thrilled. ‘Three of us can’t fit on one horse, can we? We’ll fall off, or slow him down, or –’
Arion whinnied again.
‘Ouch,’ Percy said. ‘Frank, the horse says you’re a – you know, actually, I’m not going to translate that. Anyway, he says there’s a chariot in the warehouse, and he’s willing to pull it.’
‘There!’ someone yelled from the back of the throne room. A dozen Amazons charged in, followed by males in orange jumpsuits. When they saw Arion, they backed up quickly and headed for the battle forklifts.
Hazel vaulted onto Arion’s back.
She grinned down at her friends. ‘I remember seeing that chariot. Follow me, guys!’
She galloped into the larger cavern and scattered a crowd of males. Percy knocked out an Amazon. Frank swept two more off their feet with his spear. Hazel could feel Arion straining to run. He wanted to go full speed, but he needed more room. They had to make it outside.
Hazel bowled into a patrol of Amazons, who scattered in terror at the sight of the horse. For once, Hazel’s spatha felt exactly the right length. She swung it at everyone who came within reach. No Amazon dared challenge her.
Percy and Frank ran after her. Finally they reached the chariot. Arion stopped by the yoke, and Percy set to work with the reins and harness.
‘You’ve done this before?’ Frank asked.
Percy didn’t need to answer. His hands flew. In no time the chariot was ready. He jumped aboard and yelled, ‘Frank, come on! Hazel, go!’
A battle cry went up behind them. A full army of Amazons stormed into the warehouse. Otrera herself stood astride a battle forklift, her silver hair flowing as she swung her mounted crossbow towards the chariot. ‘Stop them!’ she yelled.
Hazel spurred Arion. They raced across the cavern, weaving around pallets and forklifts. An arrow whizzed past Hazel’s head. Something exploded behind her, but she didn’t look back.
‘The stairs!’ Frank yelled. ‘No way this horse can pull a chariot up that many flights of – OH MY GODS!’
Thankfully the stairs were wide enough for the chariot, because Ar
ion didn’t even slow down. He shot up the steps with the chariot rattling and groaning. Hazel glanced back a few times to make sure Frank and Percy hadn’t fallen off. Their knuckles were white on the sides of the chariot, their teeth chattering like wind-up Halloween skulls.
Finally they reached the lobby. Arion crashed through the main doors into the plaza and scattered a bunch of guys in business suits.
Hazel felt the tension in Arion’s rib cage. The fresh air was making him crazy to run, but Hazel pulled back on his reins.
‘Ella!’ Hazel shouted at the sky. ‘Where are you? We have to leave!’
For a horrible second, she was afraid the harpy might be too far away to hear. She might be lost, or captured by the Amazons.
Behind them a battle forklift clattered up the stairs and roared through the lobby, a mob of Amazons behind it.
‘Surrender!’ Otrera screamed.
The forklift raised its razor-sharp tines.
‘Ella!’ Hazel cried desperately.
In a flash of red feathers, Ella landed in the chariot. ‘Ella is here. Amazons are pointy. Go now.’
‘Hold on!’ Hazel warned. She leaned forward and said, ‘Arion, run!’
The world seemed to elongate. Sunlight bent around them. Arion shot away from the Amazons and sped through downtown Seattle. Hazel glanced back and saw a line of smoking pavement where Arion’s hooves had touched the ground. He thundered towards the docks, leaping over cars, barrelling through intersections.
Hazel screamed at the top of her lungs, but it was a scream of delight. For the first time in her life – in her two lives – she felt absolutely unstoppable. Arion reached the water and leaped straight off the docks.
Hazel’s ears popped. She heard a roar that she later realized was a sonic boom, and Arion tore over Puget Sound, seawater turning to steam in his wake as the skyline of Seattle receded behind them.
XXXIII
Frank
Frank was relieved when the wheels fell off.
He’d already thrown up twice from the back of the chariot, which was not fun at the speed of sound. The horse seemed to bend time and space as he ran, blurring the landscape and making Frank feel like he’d just drunk a gallon of whole milk without his lactose-intolerance medicine. Ella didn’t help matters. She kept muttering: ‘Seven hundred and fifty miles per hour. Eight hundred. Eight hundred and three. Fast. Very fast.’
The horse sped north across Puget Sound, zooming past islands and fishing boats and very surprised pods of whales. The landscape ahead began to look familiar – Crescent Beach, Boundary Bay. Frank had gone sailing here once on a school trip. They’d crossed into Canada.
The horse rocketed onto dry land. He followed Highway 99 north, running so fast that the cars seemed to be standing still. Finally, just as they were getting into Vancouver, the chariot wheels began to smoke.
‘Hazel!’ Frank yelled. ‘We’re breaking up!’
She got the message and pulled the reins. The horse didn’t seem happy about it, but he slowed to subsonic as they zipped through the city streets. They crossed the Ironworkers bridge into North Vancouver, and the chariot started to rattle dangerously. At last Arion stopped at the top of a wooded hill. He snorted with satisfaction, as if to say, That’s how we run, fools. The smoking chariot collapsed, spilling Percy, Frank and Ella onto the wet, mossy ground.
Frank stumbled to his feet. He tried to blink the yellow spots out of his eyes. Percy groaned and started unhitching Arion from the ruined chariot. Ella fluttered around in dizzy circles, bonking into the trees and muttering, ‘Tree. Tree. Tree.’
Only Hazel seemed unaffected by the ride. Grinning with pleasure, she slid off the horse’s back. ‘That was fun!’
‘Yeah.’ Frank swallowed back his nausea. ‘So much fun.’
Arion whinnied.
‘He says he needs to eat,’ Percy translated. ‘No wonder. He probably burned about six million calories.’
Hazel studied the ground at her feet and frowned. ‘I’m not sensing any gold around here … Don’t worry, Arion. I’ll find you some. In the meantime, why don’t you go graze? We’ll meet you –’
The horse zipped off, leaving a trail of steam in his wake.
Hazel knitted her eyebrows. ‘Do you think he’ll come back?’
‘I don’t know,’ Percy said. ‘He seems kind of … spirited.’
Frank almost hoped the horse would stay away. He didn’t say that, of course. He could tell Hazel was distressed by the idea of losing her new friend. But Arion scared him, and Frank was pretty sure the horse knew it.
Hazel and Percy started salvaging supplies from the chariot wreckage. There had been a few boxes of random Amazon merchandise in the front, and Ella shrieked with delight when she found a shipment of books. She snatched up a copy of The Birds of North America, fluttered to the nearest branch, and began scratching through the pages so fast, Frank wasn’t sure if she was reading or shredding.
Frank leaned against a tree, trying to control his vertigo. He still hadn’t recovered from his Amazon imprisonment – getting kicked across the lobby, disarmed, caged and insulted as a baby man by an egomaniacal horse. That hadn’t exactly helped his self-esteem.
Even before that, the vision he had shared with Hazel had left him rattled. He felt closer to her now. He knew he’d done the right thing in giving her the piece of firewood. A huge weight had been taken off his shoulders.
On the other hand, he’d seen the Underworld firsthand. He had felt what it was like to sit forever doing nothing, just regretting your mistakes. He’d looked up at those creepy gold masks on the judges of the dead and realized that he would stand before them some day, maybe very soon.
Frank had always dreamed of seeing his mother again when he died. But maybe that wasn’t possible for demigods. Hazel had been in Asphodel for something like seventy years and never found her mom. Frank hoped he and his mom would both end up in Elysium. But if Hazel hadn’t got there – sacrificing her life to stop Gaia, taking responsibility for her actions so that her mother wouldn’t end up in Punishment – what chance did Frank have? He’d never done anything that heroic.
He straightened and looked around, trying to get his bearings.
To the south, across Vancouver Harbor, the downtown skyline gleamed red in the sunset. To the north, the hills and rainforests of Lynn Canyon Park snaked between the subdivisions of North Vancouver until they gave way to the wilderness.
Frank had explored this park for years. He spotted a bend in the river that looked familiar. He recognized a dead pine tree that had been split by lightning in a nearby clearing. Frank knew this hill.
‘I’m practically home,’ he said. ‘My grandmother’s house is right over there.’
Hazel squinted. ‘How far?’
‘Just over the river and through the woods.’
Percy raised an eyebrow. ‘Seriously? To Grandmother’s house we go?’
Frank cleared his throat. ‘Yeah, anyway.’
Hazel clasped her hands in prayer. ‘Frank, please tell me she’ll let us spend the night. I know we’re on a deadline, but we’ve got to rest, right? And Arion saved us some time. Maybe we could get an actual cooked meal?’
‘And a hot shower?’ Percy pleaded. ‘And a bed with, like, sheets and a pillow?’
Frank tried to imagine Grandmother’s face if he showed up with two heavily armed friends and a harpy. Everything had changed since his mother’s funeral, since the morning the wolves had taken him south. He’d been so angry about leaving. Now, he couldn’t imagine going back.
Still, he and his friends were exhausted. They’d been travelling for more than two days without decent food or sleep. Grandmother could give them supplies. And maybe she could answer some questions that were brewing in the back of Frank’s mind – a growing suspicion about his family gift.
‘It’s worth a try,’ Frank decided. ‘To Grandmother’s
house we go.’
Frank was so distracted, he would have walked right into the ogres’ camp. Fortunately Percy pulled him back.
They crouched next to Hazel and Ella behind a fallen log and peered into the clearing.
‘Bad,’ Ella murmured. ‘This is bad for harpies.’
It was fully dark now. Around a blazing campfire sat half a dozen shaggy-haired humanoids. Standing up, they probably would’ve been eight feet tall – tiny compared to the giant Polybotes or even the Cyclopes they’d seen in California, but that didn’t make them any less scary. They wore only knee-length surfer shorts. Their skin was sunstroke red – covered with tattoos of dragons, hearts and bikini-clad women. Hanging from a spit over the fire was a skinned animal, maybe a boar, and the ogres were tearing off chunks of meat with their clawlike fingernails, laughing and talking as they ate, baring pointy teeth. Next to the ogres sat several mesh bags filled with bronze spheres like cannonballs. The spheres must have been hot, because they steamed in the cool evening air.
Two hundred yards beyond the clearing, the lights of the Zhang mansion glowed through the trees. So close, Frank thought. He wondered if they could sneak around the monsters, but when he looked left and right, he saw more campfires in either direction, as if the ogres had surrounded the property. Frank’s fingers dug into the tree bark. His grandmother might be alone inside the house, trapped.
‘What are these guys?’ he whispered.
‘Canadians,’ Percy said.
Frank leaned away from him. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Uh, no offence,’ Percy said. ‘That’s what Annabeth called them when I fought them before. She said they live in the north, in Canada.’
‘Yeah, well,’ Frank grumbled, ‘we’re in Canada. I’m Canadian. But I’ve never seen those things before.’
Ella plucked a feather from her wings and turned it in her fingers. ‘Laistrygonians,’ she said. ‘Cannibals. Northern giants. Sasquatch legend. Yep, yep. They’re not birds. Not birds of North America.’
‘That’s what they’re called,’ Percy agreed. ‘Laistry – uh, whatever Ella said.’