( ✓ ) Evermore, Piper McLean¹

22. jason is no longer blond

Tristan McLean looked much clearer now. He wore a ragged dress shirt and torn slacks. His bare feet were caked with mud. He wasn't completely unconscious, because he lifted his head and groaned. This was Tristan McLean all right. Iana had seen his face in a couple of magazines and films, but his new thin and sickly look paired with the gash at the side of his face made him look like anything but heroic.

"Dad!" Piper yelled.

Mr. McLean blinked, trying to focus. "Pipes... ? Where..."

Piper drew her dagger and faced Enceladus. "Let him go!"

"Of course, dear," the giant rumbled. "Swear your loyalty to me, and we have no problem. Only these others must die and the other girl... Well, you know what happens to her."

Piper looked back and forth between Iana and her dad.

"Piper, don't." Iana warned, her voice desperate. "He won't keep his word."

"Oh, come now," Enceladus bellowed. "You know I was born to fight Athena herself? Mother Gaea made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athena's nemesis, the anti-Athena, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren— I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Piper McLean. It's part of my plan!"

Iana's gaze flickered around her surroundings and saw Jason was on his feet, lance ready; but before he could act, Enceladus roared— a call so loud it echoed down the valley and was probably heard all the way to San Francisco.

At the edge the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rose up. She realized with nauseating certainty that they hadn't simply been hiding there. They'd risen straight out of the earth.

The ogres shuffled forward. They were small compared to Enceladus, about seven feet tall. Each one of them had six arms— one pair in the regular spot, then an extra pair sprouting out the top of their shoulders, and another set shooting from the sides of their rib cages. They wore only ragged leather loincloths, and even across the clearing, Even from her distance, Iana could smell them.

Leo stepped toward Piper. "What— what are those?"

Her blade reflected the purple light of the bonfire. "Gegenees."

"In English?" Leo asked.

"The Earthborn," Piper elaborated. "Six-armed giants who fought Jason— the first Jason."

"Very good, my dear!" Enceladus sounded delighted. "They used to live on a miserable place in Greece called Bear Mountain. Mount Diablo is much nicer! They are lesser children of Mother Earth, but they serve their purpose. They're good with construction equipment—"

"Vroom, vroom!" one of the Earthborn bellowed, and the others took up the chant, each moving his six hands as though driving a car, as if it were some kind of weird religious ritual. "Vroom, vroom!"

"Yes, thank you, boys," Encedalus said. "They also have a score to settle with heroes. Especially anyone named Jason."

"Yay-son!" the Earthborn screamed. They all picked up clumps of earth, which solidified in their hands, turning to nasty pointed stones. "Where Yay-son? Kill Yay-son!"

Enceladus smiled. "You see, Piper, you have a choice. Save your father, or ah, try to save your friends and face certain death."

Piper stepped forward. Her eyes blazed with such rage, even the Earthborn backed away. She radiated power and beauty, but it had nothing to do with her clothes or her makeup. "You will not take the people I love," her voice was certain. "None of them."