![]() ![]() I thought of the last message he had given me: We cannot remain. I glanced at the spirit of Agamethus, hovering by the ladder to the loft. Getting your prophecy may be the only way to prevent the emperor’s prophecy from coming true.” I was the god of prophecies, and even I was starting to hate prophecies. We don’t have a lot of experience with scheduling. In my defense, gods can split their essence into many different manifestations at once. It may seem strange to you that I hadn’t already considered my conflicting obligation-to seek out the Cave of Trophonius at first light- and that this might prevent me from being at the Waystation. Thalia and the Hunters, Jimmy of the Lovely Loincloth, the proud griffin parents upstairs, the excellent elephant downstairs, even the dislikable Lityerses…I wanted to be here for them. But as Lester, I felt obliged to defend these people-my dear old Emmie, gruff Josephine,Īnd not-so-little Georgina, who might or might not be my child. I would have made popcorn and watched the bloodbath from a distance on Mount Olympus, or simply caught the highlight reel later. When I was a god, I would have been delighted to leave the mortal heroes to fend for themselves. First light, remember?” “Yes, but if the Waystation is attacked…shouldn’t we be here to help?” This was an odd question coming from me. We won’t be here.” My stomach started tossing its own little salad. Then she demonstrated her usual exquisite manners by belching and wiping her mouth with her forearm. Meg slurped down the last of her stir-fry. At the moment, the only conspiracy I’d be interested in would be a clever plan to smuggle me back to Mount Olympus and reinstate me to godhood before breakfast tomorrow. Leo and Emmie exchanged a conspiratorial glance. “Once we survive tomorrow.” I got the feeling that wasn’t what she’d intended to say. “This morning, I moved a coffee cup across the counter.” “Yeah,” Leo said, “but you did that awesomely.” Calypso swatted him. It was the same look I got whenever I thought of all the marvelous godly things I could no longer do. “Calypso,” I said, “what about your magic? Has it returned?” Her look of frustration was quite familiar. The bloodthirsty cries of the arena audience still rang in my ears. He’s still not at a hundred percent.” Normally, I would’ve found that giant bronze dragon quite reassuring, even at 75 percent, but I did not like twenty-to-one odds. “Also I should mention the giant bronze dragon in the corner-assuming I can finish his tune-up tonight. ![]() And thanks to Leo and Josephine, the Waystation’s defenses have never been stronger.” “You’re welcome!” Leo spat out his fangs. Emmie, how are you stocked for extra arrows? I’m going to need a full quiver just for shooting Leo.” Emmie smiled. He also jokes worse when he’s nervous.” “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Leo inserted carrot fangs in his mouth and snarled. ![]() “I’ll handle the first two hundred or so myself, then if I get tired-” “Leo, stop.” Calypso gave Emmie an apologetic frown. “So we’re outnumbered ten to one? Twenty to one?” “No sweat,” Leo said. “It’s almost always a gas leak.” Calypso picked the shredded carrots out of her salad, which I took as a personal insult. He’ll make it look to the mortals like an emergency evacuation.” “A gas leak,” Leo guessed. “At any rate,” Emmie continued, “Lityerses estimates a few dozen mortal mercenaries, about the same number of demigods from the Imperial Household, a few hundred assorted cynocephali and other monsters, plus the usual hordes of blemmyae disguised as local police, firefighters, and bulldozer operators.” “Oh, good,” said Thalia Grace. “We thought that might be in poor taste.” Meg was too busy shoveling tofu stir-fry into her mouth to respond. We were going to add frozen peaches, but…” She looked at Meg. “Later,” Emmie promised, though her tone told me I might not be getting any. I had a natural ability to focus on the most important details when someone was talking. He told me quite a bit about the armies we’ll be facing tomorrow.” “There’s ice cream?” I asked. “Our new friend, Lityerses…” She sounded remarkably earnest when she said the word friend. Emmie kept glancing across the room at Josephine and Lityerses. This left me at the dining table with Meg (what else is new?), Leo, Calypso, Emmie, and Thalia Grace. ![]() Jimmy ate with some of the other escapees on the sofas, which did not make me feel neglected at all. Sssssarah had taken a basket of eggs and slithered off to the sauna for the night. Carried away by a decapitated ghost to be raised by two women in Indianapolis! The two half-starved demigods, brothers named Deacon and Stan, who I learned had been residents of the Waystation for over a year, now rested in the infirmary with IV drips of nectar. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |