warfare |SELENA MADISON|

iii

The ghost scowled at her and walked around her, inspecting the girl like a used car. "I don't know," he grumbled. "We need only the best for the cohort. Does she have all her teeth? Can she fight? Does she clean stables?"

"I believe so, yes, and heck no," She said. "Who are you?"

"This is Vitellius." Jason's expression said: Just humor him. "He's one of our Lares; takes an interest in new recruits."

On a nearby porch, other ghosts snickered as Vitellius paced back and forth, tripping over his toga and hiking up his sword belt.

"Yes," Vitellius said, "back in Caesar's day—that's Julius Caesar, mind you—the Fifth Cohort was something! Twelfth Legion Fulminata, pride of Rome! But these days? Disgraceful what we've come to."

"Vitellius," Jason interrupted, "we've got to get her augury before she can join. Why don't you check on Frank? He's in the armory doing inventory. You know how much he values your help."

The ghost's furry purple eyebrows shot up. "Mars Almighty! They let the probatio check the armor? We'll be ruined!" He stumbled off down the street, stopping every few feet to pick up his sword or rearrange his toga.

"Um... that was interesting." She commented,

"Sorry," Jason smiled sheepishly. "He's eccentric, but he's one of the oldest Lares. Been around since the legion was founded."

"He called the legion...Fulminata?" She asked,

"'Armed with Lightning,'" Jason translated. "That's our motto. The Twelfth Legion was around for the entire Roman Empire. When Rome fell, a lot of legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from my father himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. We've been doing that ever since, moving around to wherever Roman influence was strongest. The last few centuries, we've been in America."

As bizarre as that sounded, the daughter of Trivia had no trouble believing it. In fact, it sounded familiar, like something she'd always known.

"How long have you been here?" She asked, looking up at the blonde boy,

"Since I was very young. I've grown up here, it's all I've ever known." He answered.

"That's why you're so high up then?" The brunette asked,

"Well," He smirked down at her, "It helps that I'm the son of Jupiter." Jason nudged her, "Come on, I'll show you the best view here."

They stopped outside the main gates. The fort was situated on the highest point in the valley, so they could see pretty much everything.

The road led down to the river and divided. One path led south across a bridge, up to the hill with all the temples. The other road led north into the city, a miniature version of Ancient Rome.

Unlike the military camp, the city looked chaotic and colorful, with buildings crowded together at haphazard angles. Even from this far away, she could see people gathered in the plaza, shoppers milling around an open-air market, parents with kids playing in the parks.

"You've got families here?" She asked.

"In the city, absolutely," Jason answered, "When you're accepted into the legion, you do ten years of service. After that, you can muster out whenever you want. Most demigods go into the mortal world. But for some—well, it's pretty dangerous out there. That's why I've always stayed. Because of my father, I attract lots of monsters. For others, this valley is a sanctuary. You can go to college in the city, get married, have kids, retire when you get old. It's the only safe place on earth for people like us. So yeah, a lot of veterans make their homes there, under the protection of the legion."

Adult demigods. Demigods who could live without fear, get married, raise a family. She couldn't quite wrap her mind around that. It seemed too good to be true. "But if this valley is attacked?"

"We have defenses. The borders are magical, keeps all the uglies out. We've had a few incidents lately, but it's been taken care of."

"Like what?"

"Titans." Jason stated, but he was holding back, "It's over now, hopefully we'll have some peace for a while."

Someone behind them shouted, "Make way!"

Jason dragged her out of the road as a demigod rode past on a full-grown pachyderm covered in black Kevlar armor. The word elephant was printed on the side of his armor, which seemed a little obvious to the brunette.

The elephant thundered down the road and turned north, heading toward a big open field where some fortifications were under construction.

"What the heck?" She brushed the dust from her shorts,

"Elephant," Jason stated,

"Yeah, I read the sign. Why do you have an elephant in a bulletproof vest?"

"War games tonight," He answered, "That's Hannibal. If we didn't include him, he'd get upset."

"Well, we can't have that."

Jason pointed south across the river. Dark clouds were gathering over Temple Hill. Red flashes of lightning washed the monuments in blood-colored light, "Octavian is busy," He stated. "We'd better get over there."