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‘Legion, cuneum formate!’ Reyna yelled. ‘Advance!’<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r cheer on Jason’s right as Percy and Annabeth reunited with <strong>the</strong> forces <strong>of</strong> Camp Half-<br />
Blood.<br />
‘Greeks!’ Percy yelled. ‘Let’s, um, fight stuff!’<br />
They yelled like banshees and charged.<br />
Jason grinned. He loved <strong>the</strong> Greeks. They had no organization whatsoever, but <strong>the</strong>y made up for it<br />
with enthusiasm.<br />
Jason was feeling good about <strong>the</strong> battle, except for two big questions: Where was Leo? And where<br />
was Gaia?<br />
Unfortunately, he got <strong>the</strong> second answer first.<br />
Under his feet, <strong>the</strong> earth rippled as if Half-Blood Hill had become a giant water mattress.<br />
Demigods fell. Ogres slipped. Centaurs charged face-first into <strong>the</strong> grass.<br />
AWAKE, a voice boomed all around <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
A hundred yards away, at <strong>the</strong> crest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> next hill, <strong>the</strong> grass and soil swirled upward like <strong>the</strong> point<br />
<strong>of</strong> a massive drill. The column <strong>of</strong> earth thickened into <strong>the</strong> twenty-foot-tall figure <strong>of</strong> a woman – her<br />
dress woven from blades <strong>of</strong> grass, her skin as white as quartz, her hair brown and tangled like tree<br />
roots.<br />
‘Little fools.’ Gaia <strong>the</strong> Earth Mo<strong>the</strong>r opened her pure green eyes. ‘The paltry magic <strong>of</strong> your statue<br />
cannot contain me.’<br />
As she said it, Jason realized why Gaia hadn’t appeared until now. The A<strong>the</strong>na Par<strong>the</strong>nos had been<br />
protecting <strong>the</strong> demigods, holding back <strong>the</strong> wrath <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> earth, but even A<strong>the</strong>na’s might could only last<br />
so long against a primordial goddess.<br />
Fear as palpable as a cold front washed over <strong>the</strong> demigod army.<br />
‘Stand fast!’ Piper shouted, her charmspeak clear and loud. ‘Greeks and Romans, we can fight her<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r!’<br />
Gaia laughed. She spread her arms and <strong>the</strong> earth bent towards her – trees tilting, bedrock groaning,<br />
soil rippling in waves. Jason rose on <strong>the</strong> wind, but all around him monsters and demigods alike<br />
started to sink into <strong>the</strong> ground. One <strong>of</strong> Octavian’s onagers capsized and disappeared into <strong>the</strong> side <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> hill.<br />
‘The whole earth is my body,’ Gaia boomed. ‘How would you fight <strong>the</strong> goddess <strong>of</strong> –’<br />
FOOOOMP!<br />
In a flash <strong>of</strong> bronze, Gaia was swept <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> hillside, snarled in <strong>the</strong> claws <strong>of</strong> a fifty-ton metal<br />
dragon.<br />
Festus, reborn, rose into <strong>the</strong> sky on gleaming wings, spewing fire from his maw triumphantly. As he<br />
ascended, <strong>the</strong> rider on his back got smaller and more difficult to discern, but Leo’s grin was<br />
unmistakable.<br />
‘Pipes! Jason!’ he shouted down. ‘You coming? The fight is up here!’