Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 5

Two days.

It took Cressida two days - well a day and a half to find them, technically. Once they were in San Francisco, careful to stay away from Mount Tam, Cressida used her magic to help Blackjack focus on the scents around him, a son of Jupiter travelling with two other demigods and a satyr that reeked of nature magic tended to smell quite a bit, especially with the help of Cressida's magic.

They were on a mountain that was about an hour away from San Francisco, Mount Diablo.

And what she deduced from the single flyover they did, was that the monster was a giant that was at least thirty feet tall and he had a human hostage. There were ogres too, each one with six arms and ragged loin cloths, Earthborn. They fought the original Jason in the stories.

The others weren't doing too well. She couldn't see Gleeson, and Piper and Leo were in pretty rough shape as they tried to untangle the hostage. Jason was lying on the ground, the giant with its feet on either side of him as it raised its spear over Jason's chest.

"And now," the giant bellowed. "My first sacrifice to Gaia!"

And despite the fact that she had no clue how they were supposed to fight the Earth Mother, and if she was awake, it meant that Cressida would be lucky to even have any control over her vines. But, she wasn't about to let that stop her as she jumped off Blackjack, giving him orders to stay close but within earshot and she promised to call him again if she needed him.

And the ground erupted in purple fire as she landed, rising slowly, her eyes aflame as she got the Giant's attention.

"Daughter of Dionysus," the giant growled. "They said you weren't coming. But no matter, you can be the second sacrifice to the Earth Mother."

"My boyfriend is missing," she said simply, the hair that framed her face falling across her eyes and making her look even more deadly. "And the demigod you're standing on knows where he is. So if anyone is going to be sacrificed," she said as the fire on the ground seemed to be called to her hands. "It's you."

And her fire shot for him and Jason found it strange that he felt no heat as the giant, Enceladus, tried to shield himself as he was forced off Jason, Cressida simply using her fire to scare him and not control him as she drew her spear and charged.

"Jason, get up!" Piper called. Her voice energized him, shook him out of his stupor. He sat up, his head groggy, while Piper grabbed him under his arms and hauled him to his feet. "Don't die on me," she ordered. "You are not dying on me."

"Yes, ma'am." He felt light-headed, but she was about the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Her hair was smouldering. Her face was smudged with soot. She had a cut on her arm, her dress was torn, and she was missing a boot. Beautiful.

About a hundred feet behind her, Leo was standing over a piece of construction equipment—a long cannonlike thing with a single massive piston, the edge broken clean off. Then Jason looked down in the crater and saw where the other end of the hydraulic axe had gone. Enceladus was struggling to rise, an axe blade the size of a washing machine stuck in his breastplate.

And Cressida went charging into the pit as her spear turned into a thyrsus and she slammed it into the axe blade, forcing it deeper into his breastplate.

The girl appeared to have no fear even though that's all she felt inside as the giant cried out before trying to swipe at Cressida.

She ducked, his hand missing her but the giant managed to pull the axe blade free. He yelled in pain and the mountain trembled. Golden ichor soaked the front of his armour as Cressida jumped clear and the giant stood.