by Rick Riordan
When Arion saw the horses, he stamped the ground in outrage.
Frank gripped his bow. ‘Yep, here’s the trap.’
XLIV
Hazel
The ghosts formed ranks and encircled the crossroads. There were about a hundred in all – not an entire legion, but more than a cohort. Some carried the tattered lightning-bolt banners of the Twelfth Legion, Fifth Cohort – Michael Varus’s doomed expedition from the 1980s. Others carried standards and insignia Hazel didn’t recognize, as if they’d died at different times, on different quests – maybe not even from Camp Jupiter.
Most were armed with Imperial gold weapons – more Imperial gold than the entire Twelfth Legion possessed. Hazel could feel the combined power of all that gold humming around her, even scarier than the crackling of the glacier. She wondered if she could use her power to control the weapons, maybe disarm the ghosts, but she was afraid to try. Imperial gold wasn’t just a precious metal. It was deadly to demigods and monsters. Trying to control that much at once would be like trying to control plutonium in a reactor. If she failed, she might wipe Hubbard Glacier off the map and kill her friends.
‘Thanatos!’ Hazel turned to the robed figure. ‘We’re here to rescue you. If you control these shades, tell them –’
Her voice faltered. The god’s hood fell away and his robes dropped off as he spread his wings, leaving him in only a sleeveless black tunic belted at the waist. He was the most beautiful man Hazel had ever seen.
His skin was the colour of teakwood, dark and glistening like Queen Marie’s old séance table. His eyes were as honey gold as Hazel’s. He was lean and muscular, with a regal face and black hair flowing down his shoulders. His wings glimmered in shades of blue, black and purple.
Hazel reminded herself to breathe.
Beautiful was the right word for Thanatos – not handsome, or hot, or anything like that. He was beautiful the way an angel is beautiful – timeless, perfect, remote.
‘Oh,’ she said in a small voice.
The god’s wrists were shackled in icy manacles, with chains that ran straight into the glacier floor. His feet were bare, shackled round the ankles and also chained.
‘It’s Cupid,’ Frank said.
‘A really buff Cupid,’ Percy agreed.
‘You compliment me,’ Thanatos said. His voice was as gorgeous as he was – deep and melodious. ‘I am frequently mistaken for the god of love. Death has more in common with Love than you might imagine. But I am Death. I assure you.’
Hazel didn’t doubt it. She felt as if she were made of ashes. Any second, she might crumble and be sucked into the vacuum. She doubted Thanatos even needed to touch her to kill her. He could simply tell her to die. She would keel over on the spot, her soul obeying that beautiful voice and those kind eyes.
‘We’re – we’re here to save you,’ she managed. ‘Where’s Alcyoneus?’
‘Save me …?’ Thanatos narrowed his eyes. ‘Do you understand what you are saying, Hazel Levesque? Do you understand what that will mean?’
Percy stepped forward. ‘We’re wasting time.’
He swung his sword at the god’s chains. Celestial bronze rang against the ice, but Riptide stuck to the chain like glue. Frost began creeping up the blade. Percy pulled frantically. Frank ran to help. Together, they just managed to yank Riptide free before the frost reached their hands.
‘That won’t work,’ Thanatos said simply. ‘As for the giant, he is close. These shades are not mine. They are his.’
Thanatos’s eyes scanned the ghost soldiers. They shifted uncomfortably, as if an Arctic wind were rattling through their ranks.
‘So how do we get you out?’ Hazel demanded.
Thanatos turned his attention back to her. ‘Daughter of Pluto, child of my master, you of all people should not wish me released.’
‘Don’t you think I know that?’ Hazel’s eyes stung, but she was done being afraid. She’d been a scared little girl seventy years ago. She’d lost her mother because she acted too late. Now she was a soldier of Rome. She wasn’t going to fail again. She wasn’t going to let down her friends.
‘Listen, Death.’ She drew her cavalry sword, and Arion reared in defiance. ‘I didn’t come back from the Underworld and travel thousands of miles to be told that I’m stupid for setting you free. If I die, I die. I’ll fight this whole army if I have to. Just tell us how to break your chains.’
Thanatos studied her for a heartbeat. ‘Interesting. You do understand that these shades were once demigods like you. They fought for Rome. They died without completing their heroic quests. Like you, they were sent to Asphodel. Now Gaia has promised them a second life if they fight for her today. Of course, if you release me and defeat them, they will have to return to the Underworld where they belong. For treason against the gods, they will face eternal punishment. They are not so different from you, Hazel Levesque. Are you sure you want to release me and damn these souls forever?’
Frank clenched his fists. ‘That’s not fair! Do you want to be freed or not?’
‘Fair …’ Death mused. ‘You’d be amazed how often I hear that word, Frank Zhang, and how meaningless it is. Is it fair that your life will burn so short and bright? Was it fair when I guided your mother to the Underworld?’
Frank staggered like he’d been punched.
‘No,’ Death said sadly. ‘Not fair. And yet it was her time. There is no fairness in Death. If you free me, I will do my duty. But of course these shades will try to stop you.’
‘So if we let you go,’ Percy summed up, ‘we get mobbed by a bunch of black vapour dudes with gold swords. Fine. How do we break those chains?’
Thanatos smiled. ‘Only the fire of life can melt the chains of death.’
‘Without the riddles, please?’ Percy asked.
Frank drew a shaky breath. ‘It isn’t a riddle.’
‘Frank, no,’ Hazel said weakly. ‘There’s got to be another way.’
Laughter boomed across the glacier. A rumbling voice said: ‘My friends. I’ve waited so long!’
Standing at the gates of the camp was Alcyoneus. He was even larger than the giant Polybotes they’d seen in California. He had metallic golden skin, armour made from platinum links and an iron staff the size of a totem pole. His rust-red dragon legs pounded against the ice as he entered the camp. Precious stones glinted in his red braided hair.
Hazel had never seen him fully formed, but she knew him better than she knew her own parents. She had made him. For months, she had raised gold and gems from the earth to create this monster. She knew the diamonds he used for a heart. She knew the oil that ran in his veins instead of blood. More than anything, she wanted to destroy him.
The giant approached, grinning at her with his solid silver teeth.
‘Ah, Hazel Levesque,’ he said, ‘you cost me dearly! If not for you, I would have risen decades ago, and this world would already be Gaia’s. But no matter!’
He spread his hands, showing off the ranks of ghostly soldiers. ‘Welcome, Percy Jackson! Welcome, Frank Zhang! I am Alcyoneus, the bane of Pluto, the new master of Death. And this is your new legion.’
XLV
Frank
No fairness in Death. Those words kept ringing in Frank’s head.
The golden giant didn’t scare him. The army of shades didn’t scare him. But the thought of freeing Thanatos made Frank want to curl into the foetal position. This god had taken his mother.
Frank understood what he had to do to break those chains. Mars had warned him. He’d explained why he loved Emily Zhang so much: She always put her duty first, ahead of everything. Even her life.
Now it was Frank’s turn.
His mother’s sacrifice medal felt warm in his pocket. He finally understood his mother’s choice, saving her comrades at the cost of her own life. He got what Mars had been trying to tell him – Duty. Sacrifice. They mean something.
&
nbsp; In Frank’s chest, a hard knot of anger and resentment – a lump of grief he’d been carrying since the funeral – finally began to dissolve. He understood why his mother never came home. Some things were worth dying for.
‘Hazel.’ He tried to keep his voice steady. ‘That package you’re keeping for me? I need it.’
Hazel glanced at him in dismay. Sitting on Arion, she looked like a queen, powerful and beautiful, her brown hair swept over her shoulders and a wreath of icy mist around her head. ‘Frank, no. There has to be another way.’
‘Please. I – I know what I’m doing.’
Thanatos smiled and lifted his manacled wrists. ‘You’re right, Frank Zhang. Sacrifices must be made.’
Great. If Death approved of his plan, Frank was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like the results.
The giant Alcyoneus stepped forward, his reptilian feet shaking the ground. ‘What package do you speak of, Frank Zhang? Have you brought me a present?’
‘Nothing for you, Golden Boy,’ Frank said. ‘Except a whole lot of pain.’
The giant roared with laughter. ‘Spoken like a child of Mars! Too bad I have to kill you. And this one … my, my, I’ve been waiting to meet the famous Percy Jackson.’
The giant grinned. His silver teeth made his mouth look like a car grille.
‘I’ve followed your progress, son of Neptune,’ said Alcyoneus. ‘Your fight with Kronos? Well done. Gaia hates you above all others … except perhaps for that upstart Jason Grace. I’m sorry I can’t kill you right away, but my brother Polybotes wishes to keep you as a pet. He thinks it will be amusing when he destroys Neptune to have the god’s favourite son on a leash. After that, of course, Gaia has plans for you.’
‘Yeah, flattering.’ Percy raised Riptide. ‘But actually I’m the son of Poseidon. I’m from Camp Half-Blood.’
The ghosts stirred. Some drew swords and lifted shields. Alcyoneus raised his hand, gesturing for them to wait.
‘Greek, Roman, it doesn’t matter,’ the giant said easily. ‘We will crush both camps underfoot. You see, the Titans didn’t think big enough. They planned to destroy the gods in their new home of America. We giants know better! To kill a weed, you must pull up its roots. Even now, while my forces destroy your little Roman camp, my brother Porphyrion is preparing for the real battle in the ancient lands! We will destroy the gods at their source.’
The ghosts pounded their swords against their shields. The sound echoed across the mountains.
‘The source?’ Frank asked. ‘You mean Greece?’
Alcyoneus chuckled. ‘No need to worry about that, son of Mars. You won’t live long enough to see our ultimate victory. I will replace Pluto as Lord of the Underworld. I already have Death in my custody. With Hazel Levesque in my service, I will have all the riches under the earth as well!’
Hazel gripped her spatha. ‘I don’t do service.’
‘Oh, but you gave me life!’ Alcyoneus said. ‘True, we hoped to awaken Gaia during World War II. That would’ve been glorious. But, really, the world is in almost as bad a shape now. Soon, your civilization will be wiped out. The Doors of Death will stand open. Those who serve us will never perish. Alive or dead, you three will join my army.’
Percy shook his head. ‘Fat chance, Golden Boy. You’re going down.’
‘Wait.’ Hazel spurred her horse towards the giant. ‘I raised this monster from the earth. I’m the daughter of Pluto. It’s my place to kill him.’
‘Ah, little Hazel.’ Alcyoneus planted his staff on the ice. His hair glittered with millions of dollars’ worth of gems. ‘Are you sure you will not join us of your own free will? You could be quite … precious to us. Why die again?’
Hazel’s eyes flashed with anger. She looked down at Frank and pulled the wrapped-up piece of firewood from her coat. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yeah,’ he said.
She pursed her lips. ‘You’re my best friend, too, Frank. I should have told you that.’ She tossed him the stick. ‘Do what you have to. And, Percy … can you protect him?’
Percy gazed at the ranks of ghostly Romans. ‘Against a small army? Sure, no problem.’
‘Then I’ve got Golden Boy,’ Hazel said.
She charged the giant.
XLVI
Frank
Frank unwrapped the firewood and knelt at the feet of Thanatos.
He was aware of Percy standing over him, swinging his sword and yelling in defiance as the ghosts closed in. He heard the giant bellow and Arion whinny angrily, but he didn’t dare look.
His hands trembling, he held his piece of tinder next to the chains on Death’s right leg. He thought about flames, and instantly the wood blazed.
Horrible warmth spread through Frank’s body. The icy metal began to melt, the flame so bright it was more blinding than the ice.
‘Good,’ Thanatos said. ‘Very good, Frank Zhang.’
Frank had heard about people’s lives flashing before their eyes, but now he experienced it literally. He saw his mother the day she left for Afghanistan. She smiled and hugged him. He tried to breath in her jasmine scent so he’d never forget it.
I will always be proud of you, Frank, she said. Some day, you’ll travel even further than I. You’ll bring our family full circle. Years from now, our descendants will be telling stories about the hero Frank Zhang, their great-great-great- – She poked him in the belly for old times’ sake. It would be the last time Frank smiled for months.
He saw himself at the picnic bench in Moose Pass, watching the stars and the northern lights as Hazel snored softly beside him, Percy saying, Frank, you are a leader. We need you.
He saw Percy disappearing into the muskeg, then Hazel diving after him. Frank remembered how alone he had felt holding on to the bow, how utterly powerless. He had pleaded with the Olympian gods – even Mars – to help his friends, but he knew they were beyond the gods’ reach.
With a clank, the first chain broke. Quickly, Frank stabbed the firewood at the chain on Death’s other leg.
He risked a glance over his shoulder.
Percy was fighting like a whirlwind. In fact … he was a whirlwind. A miniature hurricane of water and ice vapour churned around him as he waded through the enemy, knocking Roman ghosts away, deflecting arrows and spears. Since when did he have that power?
He moved through the enemy lines, and even though he seemed to be leaving Frank undefended, the enemy was completely focused on Percy. Frank wasn’t sure why – then he saw Percy’s goal. One of the black vapoury ghosts was wearing the lion-skin cape of a standard bearer and holding a pole with a golden eagle, icicles frozen to its wings.
The legion’s standard.
Frank watched as Percy ploughed through a line of legionnaires, scattering their shields with his personal cyclone. He knocked down the standard bearer and grabbed the eagle.
‘You want it back?’ he shouted at the ghosts. ‘Come and get it!’
He drew them away, and Frank couldn’t help being awed by his bold strategy. As much as those shades wanted to keep Thanatos chained, they were Roman spirits. Their minds were fuzzy at best, like the ghosts Frank had seen in Asphodel, but they remembered one thing clearly: they were supposed to protect their eagle.
Still, Percy couldn’t fight off that many enemies forever. Maintaining a storm like that had to be difficult. Despite the cold, his face was already beaded with sweat.
Frank looked for Hazel. He couldn’t see her or the giant.
‘Watch your fire, boy,’ Death warned. ‘You don’t have any to waste.’
Frank cursed. He’d got so distracted, he hadn’t noticed the second chain had melted.
He moved his fire to the shackles on the god’s right hand. The piece of tinder was almost half gone now. Frank started to shiver. More images flashed through his mind. He saw Mars sitting at his grandmother’s bedside, looking at Frank with those nuclear-explosion eyes: You�
��re Juno’s secret weapon. Have you figured out your gift yet?
He heard his mother say: You can be anything.
Then he saw Grandmother’s stern face, her skin as thin as rice paper, her white hair spread across her pillow. Yes, Fai Zhang. Your mother was not simply boosting your self-esteem. She was telling you the literal truth.
He thought of the grizzly bear his mother had intercepted at the edge of the woods. He thought of the large black bird circling over the flames of their family mansion.
The third chain snapped. Frank thrust the tinder at the last shackle. His body was racked with pain. Yellow splotches danced in his eyes.
He saw Percy at the end of the Via Principalis, holding off the army of ghosts. He’d overturned the chariot and destroyed several buildings, but every time he threw off a wave of attackers in his hurricane, the ghosts simply got up and charged again. Every time Percy slashed one of them down with his sword, the ghost re-formed immediately. Percy had backed up almost as far as he could go. Behind him was the side gate of the camp and, about twenty feet beyond that, the edge of the glacier.
As for Hazel, she and Alcyoneus had managed to destroy most of the barracks in their battle. Now they were fighting in the wreckage at the main gate. Arion was playing a dangerous game of tag, charging around the giant while Alyconeus swiped at them with his staff, knocking over walls and cleaving massive chasms in the ice. Only Arion’s speed kept them alive.
Finally, Death’s last chain snapped. With a desperate yelp, Frank jabbed his firewood into a pile of snow and extinguished the flame. His pain faded. He was still alive. But when he took out the piece of tinder it was no more than a stub, smaller than a candy bar.
Thanatos raised his arms.
‘Free,’ he said with satisfaction.