Maelstrom

Twenty-Eight

Tessa took a measured breath, surveying her surroundings. Her tracker had to have ignited by now, her friends had to have been on their way.

But what if Typhon arrived before her forces did? What if she couldn't—

Tessa forced the thought away. It didn't matter if she thought she couldn't. She had to.

"—The petulant half-bloods of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter have been defeated with the compliance of their leader, the daughter of Poseidon herself, Tessa Brennan!" Menoetius gestured towards her, and Tessa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. What, was he introducing the headliner at a music festival or something?

But as Tessa cast her gaze over the dark army spread out before her, she felt something resonate within her. They knew of her power. They knew what she could do. And here she was, standing before them, just another pawn on their chessboard of destruction.

Fury welled up within her soul, white-hot through her veins. Maybe it was Tessa's imagination, but the harbor surrounding them seemed to grow louder in its crashing against the shore.

Menoetius was still speaking, but his voice had faded to a meaningless drone in the back of Tessa's mind. She kept searching the darkening horizon for a glimpse of orange and violet, but to no avail. A shiver ran down Tessa's spine, but she froze when she realized she wasn't the only one shuddering.

Even Menoetius was silenced as the chill spread through the harbor, crackling like ice, reeking of ozone. The army milled about, ripples of uneasy murmuring floating up from where they stood.

That's when Tessa looked up, and the world seemed to halt in its revolution.

Looming above them was a giant of thunder with eyes like pools of acid. Each movement he made ruptured the sky, sending the storm clouds into a frenzy around him. The wind picked up, waves the size of houses crested and fell at the sea monster's command.

And then Typhon met Tessa's gaze, and for the first time in a very long time, Tessa felt genuinely afraid. There was no describing the sheer terror that looking into Typhon's ancient eyes seemed to create. There was only hoping it would all be over soon.

One way or another.

Tessa tore her gaze from the monster, looking to Menoetius wildly. The Titan merely grinned demonically, laughing as he looked up at Typhon.

"Welcome, old friend!" Menoetius bellowed. "How does it feel, being restored to your former glory?"

A rumble of thunder probably heard around the world was Menoetius' response.

"Once we are through, you shall never be imprisoned again!" Menoetius' eyes were practically glowing with bloodlust, and through the illusion of Rainier, Tessa could see the Titan beneath. Wiry, decked out in obsidian armor, covered in blood.

Then Menoetius looked at Tessa, and she resisted the urge to shake her head in protest. She thought she heard voices, exclamations of protest, but they were all silenced by the storm monster above them.

"Now," Menoetius said, "the moment of destruction begins with the daughter of the earth-shaker." He stormed over to Tessa and seized her hands.

"No!"

A streak of violet light shot towards Menoetius, blasting him away from Tessa. Tessa fought against the wind, searching the horizon, and nearly sobbed with relief when she saw the soldiers of bronze and gold, orange and violet, infiltrating the loading dock. Amelie stood with a trio of her siblings, their hands outstretched as violet magic shimmered around them. Behind her stood all of her friends: Reese, Dale, Kaden, Mark, Alex, Kaya, Imogen, everyone. They'd all come.