The Veiled Legacy | PJO - Book Two

sixteen

Ariana kept looking back, expecting to see those nasty sun dragons toting a flying chariot with a screaming magical saleswoman throwing potions, but nothing followed them.

Leo steered the dragon toward the southwest. Eventually, the smoke from the burning department store faded in the distance, but none of them relaxed until the suburbs of Chicago gave way to snowy fields, and the sun began to set.

"Good job, Festus." Leo patted the dragon's metal hide. "You did awesome."

The dragon shuddered. Gears popped and clicked in his neck. Leo frowned.

"'Il give you a tune-up next time we land," Leo promised. "You've earned some motor oil and Tabasco sauce."

Festus whirled his teeth, but even that sounded weak.

"Is the dragon all good?" Ariana asked, the last thing they needed was the dragon to break down once more.

The dragon flew at a steady pace, his great wings angling to catch the wind, but he was carrying a heavy load.

"Yeah he should be all good."

His comment didn't exactly reinforce Ariana but she didn't say much.

"Leo." Piper patted his shoulder. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah... not bad for a brainwashed zombie." He hoped he didn't look as embarrassed as he felt. "Thanks for saving us back there, beauty queen, Death Girl. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell-"

"Don't worry about it," Piper said.

"We're going to have to put down soon," Leo warned his friends. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."

"Yeah," Ariana agreed. "Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is- where are we going?"

"The Bay Area," Leo guessed. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"

Piper didn't respond for so long, Ariana wondered if Leo had said something wrong.

"Piper's dad," Jason put in. "Something's happened to your dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap."

Piper let out a shaky breath. "Look, Medea said you would both die in the Bay Area. And besides ... even if we went there, the Bay Area is huge! First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."

Leo grunted. "So how do we find Aeolus?"

Jason leaned forward. "You mean vou don't see it?"

He pointed ahead of them, but Ariana didn't see anything except clouds and the lights of a few towns glowing in the dusk.

"What?" She asked.

"That ... Whatever it is," Jason said. "In the air."

She glanced back. Piper looked just as confused as she and Leo was.

"Right," Leo said. "Could you be more specific on the 'whatever-it-is' part?"

"Like a vapor trail," Jason said. "Except it's glowing. Really faint, but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it."

Leo shook his head. "Maybe Festus can sense it. You think Aeolus made it?"

"Well, it's a magic trail in the wind," Jason said. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly."

"Or it's another trap," Piper said. Her tone worried. She didn't just sound nervous. She sounded broken with despair, like they'd already sealed their fate, and like it was her fault.

"Pipes, you all right?" Leo asked.

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, fine. You don't like any of the names I make up for you. But if your dad's in trouble and we can help-"

"You can't," she said, her voice getting shakier. "Look, I'm tired. If you don't mind ...l

She leaned back against Jason and closed her eyes.

Ariana looked at Jason, confused but all the boy did was shrug.

They flew in silence for a while. Festus seemed to know where he was going. He kept his course, gently curving toward the southwest and hopefully Aeolus's fortress.

Ariana had way too much on her mind to sleep, but now that she was out danger, her body had different ideas.

Her energy level was crashing. The monotonous beat of the dragon's wings made her eyes feel heavy. Her head started to nod.

"Catch a few Z's, guys." Jason said. "It's cool. Hand me the reins Leo."

"Nah, I'm okay-"

"Leo," Jason said, "you're not a machine. Besides, l'm the only one who can see the vapor trail. I'll make sure we stay on course."

Leo's eyes started to close on their own. "All right. Maybe just .."

He didn't finish the sentence before slumping forward against the dragon's warm neck.

Ariana soon followed his actions.

In her dream her stood before Ariana, appearing just as she did the last time she saw her. She wore a thin white dress, its sleeves billowing in the sea breeze.

In the moonlight, it appeared as though she might be underwater, surrounded by waves and currents that were invisible in the light of day.

Her gray eyes twinkled like stars as she looked at her daughter with love and hope.

"Ariana," she said in a soft, gentle voice.