Finally Arion zoomed between two mountains into a valley of ice and rocks, like a massive bowl of frozen milk with bits of Cocoa Puffs. The giant’s golden skin paled as if it were turning to brass. Frank felt a subtle vibration in his own body, like a tuning fork pressed against his sternum. He knew he’d crossed into friendly territory—home territory.
“Here!” Frank shouted.
Arion veered to one side. Hazel cut the rope, and Alcyoneus went skidding past. Frank leaped off just before the giant slammed into a boulder.
Immediately Alcyoneus jumped to his feet. “What? Where? Who?”
His nose was bent in an odd direction. His wounds had healed, though his golden skin had lost some of its luster. He looked around for his iron staff, which was still back at Hubbard Glacier. Then he gave up and pounded the nearest boulder to pieces with his fist.
“You dare take me for a sleigh ride?” He tensed and sniffed the air. “That smell…like snuffed-out souls. Thanatos is free, eh? Bah! It doesn’t matter. Gaea still controls the Doors of Death. Now, why have you brought me here, son of Mars?”
“To kill you,” Frank said. “Next question?”
The giant’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve never known a child of Mars who can change his form, but that doesn’t mean you can defeat me. Do you think your stupid soldier of a father gave you the strength to face me in one-on-one combat?”
Hazel drew her sword. “How about two on one?”
The giant growled and charged at Hazel, but Arion nimbly darted out of the way. Hazel slashed her sword across the back of the giant’s calf. Black oil spouted from the wound.
Alcyoneus stumbled. “You can’t kill me, Thanatos or no!”
Hazel made a grabbing gesture with her free hand. An invisible force yanked the giant’s jewel-encrusted hair back ward. Hazel rushed in, slashed his other leg, and raced away before he could regain his balance.
“Stop that!” Alcyoneus shouted. “This is Alaska. I am immortal in my homeland!”
“Actually,” Frank said, “I have some bad news about that. See, I got more from my dad than strength. ”
The giant snarled. “What are you talking about, war brat?”
“Tactics,” Frank said. “That’s my gift from Mars. A battle can be won before it’s ever fought by choosing the right ground. ” He pointed over his shoulder. “We crossed the border a few hundred yards back. You’re not in Alaska anymore. Ca
n’t you feel it, Al? You want to get to Alaska, you have to go through me. ”
Slowly, understanding dawned in the giant’s eyes. He looked down incredulously at his wounded legs. Oil still poured from his calves, turning the ice black.
“Impossible!” the giant bellowed. “I’ll—I’ll—Gah!”
He charged at Frank, determined to reach the international boundary. For a split second, Frank doubted his plan. If he couldn’t use his gift again, if he froze, he was dead. Then he remembered his grandmother’s instructions:
It helps if you know the creature well. Check.
It also helps if you are in a life-and-death situation, such as combat. Double check.
The giant kept coming. Twenty yards. Ten yards.
“Frank?” Hazel called nervously.
Frank stood his ground. “I got this. ”
Just before Alcyoneus smashed into him, Frank changed. He’d always felt too big and clumsy. Now he used that feeling. His body swelled to massive size. His skin thickened. His arms changed to stout front legs. His mouth grew tusks and his nose elongated. He became the animal he knew best—the one he’d cared for, fed, bathed, and even given indigestion to at Camp Jupiter.
Alcyoneus slammed into a full-grown ten-ton elephant.
The giant staggered sideways. He screamed in frustration and slammed into Frank again, but Alcyoneus was completely out of his weight division. Frank head-butted him so hard Alcyoneus flew backward and landed spread-eagled on the ice.
“You—can’t—kill me,” Alcyoneus growled. “You can’t—”
Frank turned back to his normal form. He walked up to the giant, whose oily wounds were steaming. The gems fell out of his hair and sizzled in the snow. His golden skin began to corrode, breaking into chunks.
Hazel dismounted and stood next to Frank, her sword ready. “May I?”
Frank nodded. He looked into the giant’s seething eyes. “Here’s a tip, Alcyoneus. Next time you choose the biggest state for your home, don’t set up base in the part that’s only ten miles wide. Welcome to Canada, idiot. ”
Hazel’s sword came down on the giant’s neck. Alcyoneus dissolved into a pile of very expensive rocks.
For a while Hazel and Frank stood together, watching the remains of the giant melt into the ice. Frank picked up his rope.
“An elephant?” Hazel asked.
Frank scratched his neck. “Yeah. It seemed like a good idea. ”
He couldn’t read her expression. He was afraid he’d finally done something so weird that she’d never want to be around him again. Frank Zhang: lumbering klutz, child of Mars, part-time pachyderm.
Then she kissed him—a real kiss on the lips, much better than the kind of kiss she’d given Percy on the airplane.
“You are amazing,” she said. “And you make a very hand some elephant. ”
Frank felt so flustered that he thought his boots might melt through the ice. Before he could say anything, a voice echoed across the valley:
You haven’t won.