Death in battle is honorable, said Lupa’s voice.
That’s real comforting, Jason thought.
One last try: Jason took a deep breath and charged.
Enceladus let him approach, grinning with anticipation. At the last second, Jason faked a strike and rolled between the giant’s legs. He came up quickly, thrusting with all his might, ready to stab the giant in the small of his back, but Enceladus anticipated the trick. He stepped aside with too much speed and agility for a giant, as if the earth were helping him move.
He swept his spear sideways, met Jason’s javelin—and with a snap like a shotgun blast, the golden weapon shattered.
The explosion was hotter than the giant’s breath, blinding Jason with golden light. The force knocked him off his feet and squeezed the breath out of him.
When he regained his focus, he was sitting at the rim of a crater. Enceladus stood at the other side, staggering and confused. The javelin’s destruction had released so much energy, it had blasted a perfect cone-shaped pit thirty feet deep, fusing the dirt and rock into a slick glassy substance. Jason wasn’t sure how he’d survived, but his clothes were steaming. He was out of energy. He had no weapon. And Enceladus was still very much alive.
Jason tried to get up, but his legs were like lead. Enceladus blinked at the destruction, then laughed. “Impressive! Unfortunately, that was your last trick, demigod. ”
Enceladus leaped the crater in a single bound, planting his feet on either side of Jason. The giant raised his spear, its tip hovering six feet over Jason’s chest.
“And now,” Enceladus said, “my first sacrifice to Gaea!”
TIME SEEMED TO SLOW DOWN, WHICH WAS really frustrating, since Jason still couldn’t move. He felt himself sinking into the earth like the ground was a waterbed—comfortable, urging him to relax and give up. He wondered if the stories of the Underworld were true. Would he end up in the Fields of Punishment or Elysium? If he couldn’t remember any of his deeds, would they still count? He wondered if the judges would take that into consideration, or if his dad, Zeus, would write him a note: “Please excuse Jason from eternal damnation. He has had amnesia. ”
Jason couldn’t feel his arms. He could see the tip of the spear coming toward his chest in slow motion. He knew he should move, but he couldn’t seem to do it. Funny, he thought. All that effort to stay alive, and then, boom. You just lie there helplessly while a fire-breathing giant impales you.
Leo’s voice yelled, “Heads up!”
A large black metal wedge slammed into Enceladus with a massive thunk! The giant toppled over and slid into the pit.
“Jason, get up!” Piper called. Her voice energized him, shook him out of his stupor. He sat up, his head groggy, while Piper grabbed him under his arms and hauled him to his feet.
“Don’t die on me,” she ordered. “You are not dying on me. ”
“Yes, ma’am. ” He felt light-headed, but she was about the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Her hair was smoldering. Her face was smudged with soot. She had a cut on her arm, her dress was torn, and she was missing a boot. Beautiful.
About a hundred feet behind her, Leo was standing over a piece of construction equipment—a long cannonlike thing with a single massive piston, the edge broken clean off.
Then Jason looked down in the crater and saw where the other end of the hydraulic ax had gone. Enceladus was struggling to rise, an ax blade the size of a washing machine stuck in his breastplate.
Amazingly, the giant managed to pull the ax blade free. He yelled in pain and the mountain trembled. Golden ichor soaked the front of his armor, but Enceladus stood.
Shakily, he bent down and retrieved his spear.
“Good try. ” The giant winced. “But I cannot be beaten. ”
As they watched, the giant’s armor mended itself, and the ichor stopped flowing. Even the cuts on his dragon-scale legs, which Jason had worked so hard to make, were now just pale scars.
Leo ran up to them, saw the giant, and cursed. “What is it with this guy? Die, already!”
“My fate is preordained,” Enceladus said. “Giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes. ”
“Only by both,” Jason said. The giant’s smile faltered, and Jason saw in his eyes something like fear. “It’s true, isn’t it? Gods and demigods have to work together to kill you. ”
“You will not live long enough to try!” The giant started stumbling up the crater’s slope, slipping on the glassy sides.
“Anyone have a god handy?” Leo asked.
Jason’s heart filled with dread. He looked at the giant below them, struggling to get out of the pit, and he knew what had to happen.
“Leo,” he said, “if you’ve got a rope in that tool belt, get it ready. ”
He leaped at the giant with no weapon but his bare hands.
“Enceladus!” Piper yelled. “Look behind you!”
It was an obvious trick, but her voice was so compelling, even Jason bought it. The giant said, “What?” and turned like there was an enormous spider on his back.
Jason tackled his legs at just the right moment. The giant lost his balance. Enceladus slammed into the crater and slid to the bottom. While he tried to rise, Jason put his arms around the giant’s neck. When Enceladus struggled to his feet, Jason was riding his shoulders.
“Get off!” Enceladus screamed. He tried to grab Jason’s legs, but Jason scrabbled around, squirming and climbing over the giant’s hair.
Father, Jason thought. If I’ve ever done anything good, anything you approved of, help me now. I offer my own life—just save my friends.
Suddenly he could smell the metallic scent of a storm. Darkness swallowed the sun. The giant froze, sensing it too.
Jason yelled to his friends, “Hit the deck!”