Chapter seven ✴ Sorrow eyes

THEY WERE CROSSING the Potomac when the group spotted the helicopter. It was a sleek, black military model just like the one they'd seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight toward them.

"They know the van," Percy said.

"Good job, you're not blind." Giselle commented, making Percy roll his eyes.

Zoë swerved into the fast lane. The helicopter was gaining.

"Maybe the military will shoot it down," Grover said hopefully.

"The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," Percy said. "How can the General use mortals, anyway?"

"Mercenaries," Zoë said bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid."

"But don't these mortals see who they're working for?" Percy asked. "Don't they notice all the monsters around them?"

Giselle shook her head, "Mist is making things different in their heads. I don't know what they see, but I doubt it would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters."

The helicopter kept coming, making a lot better time than they were through D.C. traffic.

Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

But the sky stayed gray and snowy. No sign of a helpful thunderstorm.

"There!" Bianca said. "That parking lot!"

"We'll be trapped," Zoë said.

"Trust me," Bianca said.

Zoë shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. They left the van and followed Bianca down some steps.

"Subway entrance," Bianca said. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agreed.

The group bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind them for any signs of pursuit. A few minutes later, they were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C.As the train came above ground, Giselle could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after them.

Grover let out a sigh. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway."

Bianca looked pleased. "Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C."

Grover frowned. "New? But that station looked really old."

"I guess," Bianca said. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway."

Thalia sat forward. "Wait a minute. No subway at all?"

Giselle frowned slightly. Now, she knew nothing about D.C., but the girl didn't see how their whole subway system could be less than twelve years old. The brunette guessed everyone else was thinking the same thing, because they looked pretty confused.

"Bianca," Zoë said. "How long ago. . ." her voice faltered.

The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again.

"We need to change trains," Percy said. "Next station."

Over the next half hour, all the group thought about was getting away safely. They changed trains twice. Giselle had no idea where they were going, but after a while they finally lost the helicopter.

Unfortunately, when they finally got off the train, the group found themselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here. 

They wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years. A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. The group must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave them a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!"

They huddled around his fire, Thalia's teeth were chattering. She said, "Well this is g-g-ggreat."

"My hooves are frozen," Grover complained.

"Feet," Percy corrected, for the sake of the homeless guy.

"Maybe we should contact camp," Bianca said. "Chiron ─ "

"No," Zoë said. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

Giselle gazed miserably around the rail yard. Somewhere, far to the west, Annabeth was in danger. Artemis was in chains. A doomsday monster was on the loose. And they were stuck on the outskirts of D.C., sharing a homeless persons fire.

"You know," the homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends." his face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," Percy said. "You know of any?"

He pointed one greasy hand.

Suddenly Giselle noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

Sun West Line? That was oddly specific. The brunette turned her head back towards the homeless guy, her brows furrowed as his eyes locked with hers. He gave her a wink, a specific wink the girl had seen before before he disappeared in front of her eyes. She bit back a smile, thanking the god for his actions.

"That's. . . convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh. . ." her eyebrows furrowed at the empty spot.

The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him. 

An hour later they were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, because they all got their own luxury car. Zoë and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Grover was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini; Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C. and Giselle sat in a black BMW, doing similar to what Thalia had done but she had put on her headphones and played music from her phone as she laid in the backseat of the car.

There was a knock at the door of the shotgun seat. Giselle moved her head to see and saw Percy standing there, hair a mess from the wind and cheeks flushed from the cold. He pointed to himself before gesturing towards the seat, asking if he can come inside. The brunette nodded, so the boy climbed into the shotgun seat.

"How are you feeling?" the boy asked.

Giselle removed one of the earbuds from her ear, "Better. . ."

"But?"

The brunette pursed her lips, "It's just. . . y'know how I don't know how to control my powers without them getting out of hand. Not like how you do it."

"It will get better," Percy said, making himself comfortable in the seat as he turned his body to face the girl, "And least you didn't burn us down this time."

Giselle managed a laugh, "Don't remind me of that."

When Giselle found out she inherited powers from her mother, she was enthusiastic. She begged Chiron to teach her how to use them, how to control them but he told her there would be time for that. But the girl couldn't wait. When Percy invited her to the quest to return the lightning bolt it was the first time Giselle used her powers to save her friends. It didn't go how she planned. She almost burned Grover's and Percy's clothes as they tried to help her gain control of the blazing stars. Thank gods for Annabeth who calmed the girl down and helped her with the powers.

Annabeth.

How she missed her. She will do anything, and she means anything, to have her back by her side.

"The Nemean Lion wasn't the monster we're looking for." Percy said.

"Not even close." Giselle said, changing the song that was playing to something else, "We've got a long way to go. . . oh, I love this song."

"Which one?"

"Achilles Come Down, I told you to listen that one."

"Oh, the one by Gang of Youths?" the boy asked. Giselle nodded, "I like that one. It's good."

"See, I know my stuff."

Percy smiled, shaking his head, "Do you have any idea what the monster might be?"

Giselle shook her head morosely. "But you know where we're going, don't you? San Francisco. That's where Artemis was heading."

"Why?" Percy asked. "What's so bad about San Francisco?"

"The Mist is really thick there because the Mountain of Despair is so near. Titan magic ─ what's left of it ─ still lingers. Monsters are attracted to that area like you wouldn't believe."

"What's the Mountain of Despair?"

Giselle raised an eyebrow. "You really don't know? Ask Thalia or Zoë. They know better than me."

Percy thought about how different she was from Zoë ─ Zoë all formal and aloof like a princess, Thalia with her ratty clothes and her rebel attitude. But there was something similar about them, too. The same kind of toughness. Right now, sitting in the shadows with a gloomy expression, Thalia looked a lot like one of the Hunters.

Then suddenly, it hit him: "That's why she doesn't get along with Zoë."

Giselle laughed, placing her hands over her toned stomach.

"The Hunters tried to recruit her," Percy guessed, then looked at his best friend, "You knew? All this time? And you haven't told me?"

"Not my story to tell," the brunette said, "But yeah, they tried to recruit her ─ much like they did with me ─ and Thalia almost joined them. Luke, Annabeth, and Thalia ran into them once, and Zoë tried to convince her. She almost did, but. . ."

"But?"

Giselle sighed, "She would've had to leave Luke."

"Oh."

"Zoë and Thalia got into a fight. Zoë said Thalia was being stupid. She said she'd regret her choice. She said Luke would let her down someday."

"That's harsh," Percy said. "Hard to admit Zoë was right."

Giselle stayed quiet for a moment. Luke would let her down someday. He let her down. He did what he promised he wouldn't. 

"Can't say I haven't thought of it."

Ever since knowing Giselle, Percy never thought she wanted to leave Camp Half-Blood. He knew how much she loved it there, how much she loved her cousins that were like family, how much she loved her friends, yet Percy could see her being a Huntress.

"Really?"

Giselle let out a deep breath, "Yeah. . . Can't say being immortal is not tempting. And serving Artemis, be surrounded by the group of badass girls who have your back no matter what or who you are and are always there for each other. Travel the world, hunting for the most evil monsters and helping those in need. . . it just sounds perfect."

Percy swallowed, "I guess. . ." he said, "But, what about the camp? Your cousins, Grover, Annabeth, me? Would you leave all that behind?"

Annabeth. He said her name as if the rest didn't matter that much, but she did.

"And why do you think I stayed?"

THEY'D ARRIVED on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

Even with the lion-skin coat that Percy and Giselle shared, she was freezing by the time they got to Main Street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As they walked, the girl took one earbud out of her ear and listened about Percy's conversation with Apollo the night before ─ how he'd told the boy to seek out Nereus in San Francisco.

Grover looked uneasy. "That's good, I guess. But we've got to get there first."

The group stopped in the middle of town. You could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.

"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.

Giselle hummed in approval. She would do anything for some white chocolate latte.

"Yes," Zoë agreed. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."

"Just coffee."

Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you two go get us some food. Percy, Gigi, Bianca, and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."

They agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with them, but she did.  

Inside the store, they found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car.

"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars."

The clerk looked so lonely, Percy bought a rubber rat. Then they headed back outside and stood on the porch.

"Wonderful," Thalia grumped. "I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."

"But the clerk said ─ " Percy started.

"I know," she told the boy. "I'm checking anyway." 

He let her go. Giselle knew how it felt to be restless. All half-bloods had attention deficit problems because of their inborn battlefield reflexes. They couldn't stand just waiting around. Giselle looked around as one song finished and another started, leaving Bianca and Percy to stand together awkwardly. The boy was never very comfortable talking one-on-one with girls anyway, and he'd never been alone with Bianca before. He wasn't sure what to say, especially now that she was a Hunter and everything.

"Nice rat," she said at last.

Percy set it on the porch railing. Maybe it would attract more business for the store. "So. . . how do you like being a Hunter so far?"

She pursed her lips. "You're not still mad at me for joining, are you?"

"Nah. Long as, you know. . . you're happy."

"I'm not sure 'happy' is the right word, with Lady Artemis gone. But being a Hunter is definitely cool. I feel calmer somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality."

Percy stared at her, trying to see the difference. She did seem more confident than before, more at peace. She didn't hide her face under a green cap anymore. She kept her hair tied back, and she looked him right in the eyes when she spoke. With a shiver, the boy realized that five hundred or a thousand years from now, Bianca di Angelo would look exactly the same as she did today. She might be having a conversation like this with some other half-blood long after Percy was dead, but Bianca would still look twelve years old.

"Nico didn't understand my decision," Bianca murmured. She looked at Percy like she wanted assurance it was okay.

"He'll be all right," he said. "Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of young kids. They did that for Giselle and Annabeth." 

Hearing her name, the brunette turned around to face the pair and lower the volume of music that played from the earbuds. She raised an eyebrow at the boy, silently asking what he was talking about. Percy waved her off, saying it's nothing. The brunette rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm.

Bianca nodded. "I hope we find her. Annabeth, I mean. She's lucky to have a friends like you two."

"Lot of good it did her."

Giselle clenched her jaw at that.

"Don't blame yourself Percy. You all risked your lives to save my brother and me. I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were people like you there, Nico would be fine. You're a good guy."

"Meh," Giselle said.

Percy's mouth fell open in offence. "Excuse you?"

A couple hundred yards away, Grover and Zoë came out of the coffee shop loaded down with pastry bags and drinks. Percy kind of didn't want them to come back yet. It was weird, but he realized he liked talking to Bianca. She wasn't so bad. A lot easier to hang out with than Zoë Nightshade, anyway.

"So what's the story with you and Nico?" Percy asked her. "Where did you go to school before Westover?"

She frowned. "I think it was a boarding school in D.C. It seems like so long ago."

"You never lived with your parents? I mean, your mortal parent?"

"We were told our parents were dead. There was a bank trust for us. A lot of money, I think. A lawyer would come by once in a while to check on us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school." 

"Why?"

She knit her eyebrows. "We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We traveled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks. And then. . . I don't know. One day a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through D.C. Then up into Maine. And we started going to Westover."

It was a strange story. Then again, Bianca and Nico were half-bloods. Nothing would be normal for them.

"So you've been raising Nico pretty much all your life?" Percy asked. "Just the two of you?"

She nodded. "That's why I wanted to join the Hunters so bad. I mean, I know it's selfish, but I wanted my own life and friends. I love Nico ─ don't get me wrong ─ I just needed to find out what it would be like not to be a big sister twenty-four hours a day."

Percy thought about last summer, the way he'd felt when he found out he had a Cyclops for a baby brother. The boy could relate to what Bianca was saying. 

"Zoë seems to trust you," Percy said. "What were you guys talking about, anyway ─ something dangerous about the quest?"

"When?"

"Yesterday morning on the pavilion," the boy said, before he could stop myself. "Something about the General."

Her face darkened. "How did you. . . The invisibility hat. Were you eavesdropping?"

Giselle slapped his arm, "Percy!"

"No! I mean, not really. I just ─ "

He was saved from trying to explain when Zoë and Grover arrived with the drinks and pastries. Hot chocolate for Bianca and Percy, white chocolate latte for Giselle and coffee for the rest. Percy got a blueberry muffin, and it was so good he could almost ignore the outraged look Bianca was giving him.

"We should do the tracking spell," Zoë said. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to ─ " he froze.

Percy was about to ask what was wrong, when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had gotten lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else ─ almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.

Zoë gasped. "Grover, thy cup."

Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away ─ a flock of tiny doves. Percy's rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees ─ real fur, real whiskers. Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. They gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering.

"Hey!" Thalia said, running up from the street. "I just. . . What's wrong with Grover?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "He collapsed."

"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.

"Well, get him up!" Thalia said. She had her spear in her hand. She looked behind her as if she were being followed. "We have to get out of here."

They made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of gray camouflage, they were wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had transparent gray skin and yellow eyes. They drew their handguns.

Thalia tapped her bracelet. Aegis spiraled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch. Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into Percy. He drew Riptide, while Giselle, Zoë and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her.

"Back up," Thalia said.

They started to ─ but then the girl heard a rustling of branches. Two more skeletons appeared on the road behind them. They were surrounded. Then one of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it. Except he wasn't speaking. He made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone. Suddenly the girl understood what was going on. The skeletons had split up to look for them. These skeletons were now calling their brethren. Soon they'd have a full party on our hands.

"It's near," Grover moaned.

"It's here," Percy said.

"No," he insisted. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."

Giselle didn't know what he was talking about, but she was worried about his condition. He was in no shape to walk, much less fight.

"We'll have to go one-on-one," Thalia said. "Five of them. Five of us. Maybe they'll ignore Grover that way."

"Agreed," said Zoë.

"The Wild!" Grover moaned.

A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but Giselle kept her eyes on the skeletons. 

And Percy charged.

The first skeleton fired. Time slowed down. Percy won't say he could see the bullet, but he could feel its path, the same way he felt water currents in the ocean. The boy deflected it off the edge of his blade and kept charging. The skeleton drew a baton and Percy sliced off his arms at the elbows. Then he swung Riptide through his waist and cut him in half. His bones unknit and clattered to the asphalt in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves.

The second skeleton clattered his teeth at Percy and tried to fire, but the boy knocked his gun into the snow. Percy thought he was doing pretty well, until the other two skeletons shot him in the back.

"Percy!" Giselle screamed.

Son of Poseidon landed facedown in the street. Then he realized something. . . he wasn't dead. The impact of the bullets had been dull, like a push from behind, but they hadn't hurt him. 

The Nemean Lion's fur! His coat was bulletproof.

Thalia charged the second skeleton. Giselle, Zoë and Bianca started firing arrows at the third, fourth and fourth. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them. There was a crashing sound in the forest to their left, like a bulldozer. Maybe the skeletons' reinforcements were arriving.

Percy got to his feet and ducked a police baton. The skeleton he'd cut in half was already fully re-formed, coming after him. There was no way to stop them. The girls fired at their heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca, and Percy thought she was a goner, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest. The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge.

"How did you do that?" Zoë asked.

"I don't know," Bianca said nervously. "Lucky stab?"

"Well, do it again!"

Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed the group back, keeping them at baton's length.

"Plan?" Percy said as they retreated.

Nobody answered. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.

"A gift," Grover muttered.

And then, with a mighty roar, the largest pig Percy'd ever seen came crashing into the road. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry.

"REEEEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere. Then the pig turned on the group.

Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it!"

The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoë said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."

"It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusk

Zoë and Bianca dived out of the way. Percy had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk Express.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" Percy said. "Scatter!"

They ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said.

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!"

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

It seemed a fair question to Percy, but the pig was offended and charged her. She was faster than the boy'd realized. She rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

Giselle racked her brain, trying to remember the myth of the boar. Come on, Annabeth must have taught you this. She was pretty sure Hercules had fought this thing once, but she couldn't remember how he'd beaten it. The girl had a vague memory of the boar plowing down several Greek cities before Hercules managed to subdue it. She hoped Cloudcroft was insured against giant wild boar attacks.

"Keep moving!" Zoë yelled.

She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. But Giselle, Thalia and Percy won the prize for bad luck. When the boar turned on them, Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis in defense. The sight of the Medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage. Maybe it looked too much like one of his relatives. The boar charged them.

GISELLE RAN like her life depended on it. Well, it actually did.

The three of them only managed to keep ahead of it because they ran uphill, and they could dodge in and out of trees while the boar had to plow through them. On the other side of the hill, Percy found an old stretch of train tracks, half buried in the snow.

"This way.'"

Percy grabbed Giselle's and Thalia's arms and they ran along the rails while the boar roared behind them, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. Its hooves just were not made for this, thank the gods. Ahead of them, the brunette saw a covered tunnel. Past that, an old trestle bridge spanning a gorge.

"Follow me!" Percy said.

Thalia slowed down, but Percy pulled her along and she reluctantly followed. Behind them, a ten-ton pig tank was knocking down pine trees and crushing boulders under its hooves as it chased them. The three demigods ran into the tunnel and came out on the other side.

"No!" Thalia screamed. She'd turned as white as ice. They were at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about seventy feet below. The boar was right behind them.

"Come on!" Percy said. "It'll hold our weight, probably."

"I can't!" Thalia yelled. Her eyes were wild with fear.

The boar smashed into the covered tunnel, tearing through at full speed.

"Thals," Giselle spoke and Thalia's wild eyes stared at her, "I know, but we have to. Please."

"Now!" Percy yelled at Thalia. She looked down and swallowed.

And that's when Percy tackled Giselle and Thalia and sent them sideways off the edge of the bridge, into the side of the mountain.

"Percy!"

They slid on Aegis like a snow-board, over rocks and mud and snow, racing downhill. The boar was less fortunate; it couldn't turn that fast, so all ten tons of the monster charged out onto the tiny trestle, which buckled under its weight. The boar free-fell into the gorge with a mighty squeal and landed in a snowdrift with a huge POOOOOF!

The trio skidded to a stop. They were all breathing hard. Percy was cut up and bleeding. Thalia had pine needles in her hair, and Giselle had cuts on her arms as she shielded her face. Next to them, the wild boar was squealing and struggling. All the brunette could see was the bristly tip of its back. It was wedged completely in the snow like Styrofoam packing. It didn't seem to be hurt, but it wasn't going anywhere, either.

Percy looked at Thalia. "You're afraid of heights."

Now that they were safely down the mountain, her eyes had their usual angry look. "Don't be stupid."

"That explains why you freaked out on Apollo's bus. Why you didn't want to talk about it."

She took a deep breath. Then she brushed the pine needles out of her hair. "If you tell anyone, I swear ─ "

"No, no," Percy said. "That's cool. It's just. . . the daughter of Zeus, the Lord of the Sky, afraid of heights?"

Giselle rolled her eyes. He never knew when to shut up.

Above them, Grover's voice called, "Helloooooo?"

"Down here!" Percy shouted.

A few minutes later, Zoë, Bianca, and Grover joined them. They stood watching the wild boar struggle in the snow.

"A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, though he now looked agitated.

"I agree," Zoë said. "We must use it."

"Hold up," Thalia said irritably. She still looked like she'd just lost a fight with a Christmas tree. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing."

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"

"Fun," Percy said. "Like. . . pig cowboys."

Grover nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish. . . I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now."

"What's gone?" the brunette asked.

Grover didn't seem to hear her. He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it.

"Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Great." she trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of them.

Zoë and Bianca walked toward the boar. Giselle followed them, letting Zoë help her up.

"Wait a second," Percy said. "Do you two know what Grover is talking about ─ this wild blessing?"

"Of course," Zoë said. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong. . . I never thought I would sense that presence again."

"What presence?"

She stared at the boy like he was an idiot. "The Lord of the Wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan.

FROM THE TOP of the mountain a pair of eyes watched the group below, curious as to what they were doing. The boy with the horns walked over to the struggling boar and jumped onto its back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. He took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it.

The wind that blew around made it hard to hear what they were saying, only lips moving an indication that there was speaking. Eyes narrowed as they watched the rest of climb the creatures back, one by one until the last boy sat.

And then they were gone.

A rustling sound came from behind. Like second nature, the person stood up, coming face to face with one that they were looking for. The cluttering noise filled the air around and as the glare settled upon the undead being, the creature froze, not being able to move. There was fear in places where eyes were once, fear of the person that it stood before.

The person's voice was soft, but it carried confidence and authority within the sweet melody, "I send you back to where you belong."

The earth cracked under its feet and the skeleton could do nothing against the higher force, its body falling apart, bone by bone, falling within the layers of earth until it came back to where it belonged.

The soft eyes looked away from the scene, used to everything that was happening, strained towards the group that was getting out of their sight. With last glance behind, making sure no one was there, they walked back a bit, tying the hair that flew across the face before finally running. . . and jumping off the mountain.