Frank always thought his grandmother’s superstitions were silly. Now he changed his mind. He had no doubt…the voice that spoke to him was one of his ancestors.
“Frank, don’t move. ” Hazel sounded alarmed.
He looked down and realized he’d been about to step out of line.
To survive, you must lead, the voice said. At the break, you must take charge.
“Lead where?” he asked aloud.
Then the voice was gone. Frank could feel its absence, as if the humidity had suddenly dropped.
“Uh, big guy?” Leo said. “Could you not freak out on us? Please and thank you. ”
Frank’s friends were all looking at him with concern.
“I’m okay,” he managed. “Just…a voice. ”
Nico nodded. “I did warn you. It’ll only get worse. We should—”
Hazel held up her hand for silence. “Wait here, everybody. ”
Frank didn’t like it, but she forged ahead alone. He counted to twenty-three before she came back, her face drawn and pensive.
“Scary room ahead,” she warned. “Don’t panic. ”
“Those two things don’t go together,” Leo murmured. But they followed Hazel into the cavern.
The place was like a circular cathedral, with a ceiling so high it was lost in the gloom. Dozens of other tunnels led off in different directions, each echoing with ghostly voices. The thing that made Frank nervous was the floor. It was a gruesome mosaic of bones and gems—human femurs, hip bones, and ribs twisted and fused together into a smooth surface, dotted with diamonds and rubies. The bones formed patterns, like skeletal contortionists tumbling together, curling to protect the precious stones—a dance of death and riches.
“Touch nothing,” Hazel said.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Leo muttered.
Jason scanned the exits. “Which way now?”
For once, Nico looked uncertain. “This should be the room where the priests invoked the most powerful spirits. One of these passages leads deeper into the temple, to the third level and the altar of Hades himself. But which—?”
“That one. ” Frank pointed. In a doorway at the opposite end of the room, a ghostly Roman legionnaire beckoned to them. His face was misty and indistinct, but Frank got the feeling the ghost was looking directly
at him.
Hazel frowned. “Why that one?”
“You don’t see the ghost?” Frank asked.
“Ghost?” Nico asked.
Okay…if Frank was seeing a ghost that the Underworld kids couldn’t see, something was definitely wrong. He felt like the floor was vibrating underneath him. Then he realized it was vibrating.
“We need to get to that exit,” he said. “Now!”
Hazel almost had to tackle him to restrain him. “Wait, Frank! This floor is not stable, and underneath…well, I’m not sure what’s underneath. I need to scout a safe path. ”
“Hurry, then,” he urged.
He drew his bow and herded Hazel along as fast as he dared. Leo scrambled behind him to provide light. The others guarded the rear. Frank could tell he was scaring his friends, but he couldn’t help it. He knew in his gut they had only seconds before…
In front of them, the legionnaire ghost vaporized. The cavern reverberated with monstrous roars—dozens, maybe hundreds of enemies coming from every direction. Frank recognized the throaty bellow of the Earthborn, the screech of gryphons, the guttural war cries of Cyclopes—all sounds he remembered from the Battle of New Rome, amplified underground, echoing in his head even louder than the war god’s voices.
“Hazel, don’t stop!” Nico ordered. He pulled the scepter of Diocletian from his belt. Piper and Jason drew their swords as the monsters spilled into the cavern.
A vanguard of six-armed Earthborn threw a volley of stones that shattered the bone-and-jewel floor like ice. A fissure spread across the center of the room, coming straight toward Leo and Hazel.
No time for caution. Frank tackled his friends, and the three of them skidded across the cavern, landing at the edge of the ghost’s tunnel as rocks and spears flew overhead.
“Go!” Frank yelled. “Go, go!”
Hazel and Leo scrambled into the tunnel, which seemed to be the only one free of monsters. Frank wasn’t sure that was a good sign.
Two meters in, Leo turned. “The others!”
The entire cavern shuddered. Frank looked back and his courage crumbled to dust. Dividing the cavern was a new fifteen-meter-wide chasm, spanned only by two rickety stretches of bone flooring. The bulk of the monster army was on the opposite side, howling in frustration and throwing whatever they could find, including each other. Some attempted to cross the bridges, which creaked and crackled under their weight.
Jason, Piper, and Nico stood on the near side of the chasm, which was good, but they were surrounded by a ring of Cyclopes and hellhounds. More monsters kept pouring in from the side corridors, while gryphons wheeled overhead, undeterred by the crumbling floor.
The three demigods would never make it to the tunnel. Even if Jason tried to fly them, they’d be shot out of the air.
Frank remembered the voice of his ancestor: At the break, you must take charge.
“We have to help them,” Hazel said.
Frank’s mind raced, doing battle calculations. He saw exactly what would happen—where and when his friends would be overwhelmed, how all six of them would die here in this cavern…unless Frank changed the equation.