SANITY; heroes of olympus

01.12

"I wish I could say the same." Andromeda grumbled as she glared at her right knee. The last time she had checked, the entire thing was black and blue, and more swollen than ever. The pain, however, had started to go down with the adrenaline which meant it would hurt even more later. But that was for future Andromeda to worry about.

Thalia grinned. "She's tough for a child of Aphrodite. I like this one."

"Hey, I could run ten miles too," Leo volunteered. "Tough Hephaestus kid here. Let's hit it."

Naturally, Thalia ignored him.

It took Phoebe exactly six seconds to break camp, which Andromeda could totally believe. The tent self-collapsed into a square the size of a pack of chewing gum.

Thalia ran uphill through the snow, hugging a tiny little path on the side of the mountain. Coach Hedge leaped around like a happy mountain goat, coaxing them on like he used to do on track days at school. "Come on, Valdez! Pick up the pace! Let's chant. I've got a girl in Kalamazoo—"

"Let's not," Thalia snapped.

So they ran in silence, aside from Andromeda's occasional complaint about being out of shape—which was crazy because she was probably the most in shape out of all of them.

They continued running and running, and it caused Andromeda's knee to nearly buckle a few times. She hadn't even realised how far they had come until Leo slammed into Thalia and nearly sent them both down the side of the mountain the hard way. Fortunately, the Hunter was light on her feet. She steadied them both, then pointed up.

"That," Leo choked, "is a really large rock."

They stood near the summit of Pikes Peak. Below them the world was blanketed in clouds. The air was so thin, the daughter of Dionysus could hardly breathe. Night had set in, but a full moon shone and the stars were incredible. Stretching out to the north and south, peaks of other mountains rose from the clouds like islands—or teeth.

But the real show was above them. Hovering in the sky, about a quarter mile away, was a massive free-floating island of glowing purple stone. It was hard to judge its size, but Andromeda figured it was at least as wide as a football stadium and just as tall. The sides were rugged cliffs, riddled with caves, and every once in a while a gust of wind burst out with a sound like a pipe organ blast. At the top of the rock, brass walls ringed some kind of a fortress.

The only thing connecting Pikes Peak to the floating island was a narrow bridge of ice that glistened in the moonlight. Then she realised the bridge wasn't exactly ice, because it wasn't solid. As the winds changed direction, the bridge snaked around—blurring and thinning, in some places even breaking into a dotted line like the vapour trail of a plane.

"We're not seriously crossing that," Leo said.

Thalia shrugged. "I'm not a big fan of heights, I'll admit. But if you want to get to Aeolus's fortress, this is the only way."

"Is the fortress always hanging there?" Piper asked. "How can people not notice it sitting on top of Pikes Peak?"

"The Mist," Thalia said. "Still, mortals do notice it indirectly. Some days, Pikes Peak looks purple. People say it's a trick of the light, but actually it's the colour of Aeolus's palace, reflecting off the mountain face."

"It's enormous," Jason said. Thalia laughed."You should see Olympus, little brother."

"You're serious? You've been there?"

Thalia grimaced as if it wasn't a good memory, and her eyes darted towards Andromeda who forced a smile. "We should go across in two different groups. The bridge is fragile."