The Lost Hero

The dragon circled over a wide avenue next to a lake-side park. Storm spirits were converging—at least a
dozen of them, whirling around a big public art installation.
―Which one do you think is Dylan?‖ Leo asked. ―I wanna throw something at him.‖
But Jason focused on the art installation. The closer they got to it, the faster his heart beat. It was just a
public fountain, but it was unpleasantly familiar. Two five-story monoliths rose from either end of a long granite
reflecting pool. The monoliths seemed to be built of video screens, flashing the combined image of a giant face
that spewed water into the pool.
Maybe it was just a coincidence, but it looked like a high-tech, super-size version of that ruined reflecting
pool he‘d seen in his dreams, with those two dark masses jutting from either end. As Jason watched, the image
on the screens changed to a woman‘s face with her eyes closed.
―Leo …‖ he said nervously.
―I see her,‖ Leo said. ―I don‘t like her, but I see her.‖
Then the screens went dark. The venti swirled together into a single funnel cloud and skittered across the
fountain, kicking up a waterspout almost as high as the monoliths. They got to its center, popped off a drain
cover, and disappeared underground.
―Did they just go down a drain?‖ Piper asked. ―How are we supposed to follow them?‖
―Maybe we shouldn‘t,‖ Leo said. ―That fountain thing is giving me seriously bad vibes. And aren‘t we
supposed to, like, beware the earth?‖
Jason felt the same way, but they had to follow. It was their only way forward. They had to find Hera, and
they now had only two days until the solstice.
―Put us down in that park,‖ he suggested. ―We‘ll check it out on foot.‖
Festus landed in an open area between the lake and the skyline. The signs said Grant Park, and Jason
imagined it would‘ve been a nice place in the summer; but now it was a field of ice, snow, and salted walkways.
The dragon‘s hot metal feet hissed as they touched down. Festus flapped his wings unhappily and shot fire into
the sky, but there was no one around to notice. The wind coming off the lake was bitter cold. Anyone with sense
would be inside. Jason‘s eyes stung so badly, he could barely see.
They dismounted, and Festus the dragon stomped his feet. One of his ruby eyes flickered, so it looked like
he was blinking.
―Is that normal?‖ Jason asked.
Leo pulled a rubber mallet from his tool bag. He whacked the dragon‘s bad eye, and the light went back to
normal. ―Yes,‖ Leo said. ―Festus can‘t hang around here, though, in the middle of the park. They‘ll arrest him for
loitering. Maybe if I had a dog whistle …‖
He rummaged in his tool belt, but came up with nothing.
―Too specialized?‖ he guessed. ―Okay, give me a safety whistle. They got that in lots of machine shops.‖
This time, Leo pulled out a big plastic orange whistle. ―Coach Hedge would be jealous! Okay, Festus,
listen.‖ Leo blew the whistle. The shrill sound probably rolled all the way across Lake Michigan. ―You hear that,
come find me, okay? Until then, you fly wherever you want. Just try not to barbecue any pedestrians.‖
The dragon snorted—hopefully in agreement. Then he spread his wings and launched into the air.
Piper took one step and winced. ―Ah!‖
―Your ankle?‖ Jason felt bad he‘d forgotten about her injury back in the Cyclops factory. ―That nectar we
gave you might be wearing off.‖
―It‘s fine.‖ She shivered, and Jason remembered his promise to get her a new snowboarding coat. He
hoped he lived long enough to find her one. She took a few more steps with only a slight limp, but Jason could
tell she was trying not to grimace.
―Let‘s get out of the wind,‖ he suggested.
―Down a drain?‖ Piper shuddered. ―Sounds cozy.‖
They wrapped themselves up as best they could and headed toward the fountain.
* * *
According to the plaque, it was called Crown Fountain. All the water had emptied out except for a few patches
that were starting to freeze. It didn‘t seem right to Jason that the fountain would have water in it in the winter
anyway. Then again, those big monitors had flashed the face of their mysterious enemy Dirt Woman. Nothing
about this place was right.
They stepped to the center of the pool. No spirits tried to stop them. The giant monitor walls stayed dark.
The drain hole was easily big enough for a person, and a maintenance ladder led down into the gloom.
Jason went first. As he climbed, he braced himself for horrible sewer smells, but it wasn‘t that bad. The
ladder dropped into a brickwork tunnel running north to south. The air was warm and dry, with only a trickle of
water on the floor.
Piper and Leo climbed down after him.