"You're not Orion," Ajax blurted.
A stupid comment, but it was the first thing that came to his mind.
The man before him clearly was not a hunter giant. He wasn't tall enough. He didn't have dragon legs. He didn't carry a bow or quiver, and he didn't have the headlamp eyes Reyna had described from her dream.
The grey man laughed. "Indeed not. Orion has merely employed me to assist him in his hunt. I am –"
"Lycaon," Reyna interrupted. "The first werewolf."
The man gave her a mock bow. "Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, praetor of Rome. One of Lupa's whelps! I'm pleased you recognize me. No doubt, I am the stuff of your nightmares."
"The stuff of my indigestion, perhaps." From her belt pouch, Reyna produced a foldable camping knife. She flicked it open and the wolves snarled, backing away. "I never travel without a silver weapon."
Lycaon bared his teeth. "Would you keep a dozen wolves and their king at bay with a pocketknife? I heard you were brave, filia Romana. I did not realize you were foolhardy."
Reyna's dogs crouched, ready to spring. The coach gripped his baseball bat, though for once he didn't look anxious to swing.
Nico reached for the hilt of his sword.
"Don't bother," muttered Coach Hedge. "These guys are only hurt by silver or fire. I remember them from Pikes Peak. They're annoying."
"And I remember you, Gleeson Hedge." The werewolf's eyes glowed lava red. 'My pack will be delighted to have goat meat for dinner.'
Hedge snorted. "Bring it on, mangy boy. The Hunters of Artemis are on their way right now, just like last time! That's a temple of Diana over there, you idiot. You're on their home turf!"
Once, just once Ajax wished Hedge would back down from a fight.
Again the wolves snarled and widened their circle. Some glanced nervously towards the rooftops.
Lycaon only glared at the coach. "A nice try, but I'm afraid that temple has been misnamed. I passed through here during Roman times. It was actually dedicated to the Emperor Augustus. Typical demigod vanity. Regardless, I've been much more careful since our last encounter. If the Hunters were anywhere close by, I would know."
Ajax tried to think of an escape plan. They were surrounded and outnumbered. Their only effective weapon was a pocketknife. The sceptre of Diocletian was gone. The Athena Parthenos was thirty feet above them at the top of the temple, and even if they could reach it they couldn't shadow-travel until they actually had shadows. The sun wouldn't set for hours.
He hardly felt brave, but he stepped forward. "So you've got us. What are you waiting for?"
Lycaon studied him like a new type of meat in a butcher's display case. "Ajax Avery... son of Hecate I've heard of you. I'm sorry I can't kill you promptly, but I promised my employer Orion that I would detain you until he arrives. No worries. He should be here in a few moments. Once he's done with you, I shall spill your blood and mark this place as my territory for ages to come!"
Despite the gravity of the situation, Ajax couldn't help but feel giddy at being called son of Hecate.
Nico gritted his teeth. They'd come too far, fought too many monsters for him to let this dog man kill his... gods they hadn't really put a name on it had they? "Demigod blood. The blood of Olympus."
"Of course!" Lycaon said. "Spilled upon the ground, especially sacred ground, demigod blood has many uses. With the proper incantations, it can awaken monsters or even gods. It can cause new life to spring up or make a place barren for generations. Alas, your blood will not wake Gaia herself. That honour is reserved for your friends aboard the Argo II. But fear not. Your death will be almost as painful as theirs."
The grass started dying around Nico's feet. The marigold beds withered. Barren ground, he thought. Sacred ground.
He remembered the thousands of skeletons in the Chapel of Bones. He recalled what Hades had said about this public square, where the Inquisition had burned hundreds of people alive.
This was an ancient city. How many dead lay in the ground beneath his feet?
"Coach," Nico said, "you can climb?"
Hedge scoffed. "I'm half goat. Of course I can climb!"
"Get up to the statue and secure the rigging. Make a rope ladder and drop it down for us."
"Uh, but the pack of wolves –"
"Reyna, Ajax," Nico said, "you and the dogs will have to cover our retreat."
The praetor nodded grimly. "Understood."
Lycaon howled with laughter. "Retreat to where, son of Hades? There is no escape. You cannot kill us!"
"Maybe not," Nico said. "But I can slow you down."
He glanced at Ajax, a necessary casualty. But how could he disregard him?
"Ajax" he called. His voice broke a little, "I'm sorry"
"What? What for? gods Nico I swear you're the most confusing-"
He spread his hands and the ground erupted.
Ajax froze, time seemed to slow.
Nico hadn't expected it to work so well. He had pulled bone fragments from the earth before. He'd animated rat skeletons and unearthed the odd human skull. Nothing prepared him for the wall of bones that burst skyward – hundreds of femurs, ribs and fibulas entangling the wolves, forming a spiky briar patch of human remains.
Most of the wolves were hopelessly trapped. Some writhed and gnashed their teeth, trying to free themselves from their haphazard cages. Lycaon himself was immobilized in a cocoon of rib bones, but that didn't stop him from screaming curses.
"You worthless child!" he roared. "I will rip the flesh from your limbs!"
"Coach, go!" Nico said.
The satyr sprinted towards the temple. He made the top of the podium in a single leap and scrambled up the left pillar.
Three wolves broke free from the thicket of bones. Reyna threw her knife and impaled one in the neck. Her dogs pounced on the other. Aurum's fangs and claws slipped harmlessly off the wolf's hide, but Argentum brought the beast down.
Ajax was frozen in place. A million thoughts raced through him. This time seemed easier. For one, they weren't skeletons, just bones weaved into cages. And for another, he had to remember they were on his side, Nico would never hurt him. Right?
Ajax looked at him.
Nico, his face screwed with concentration, the grass around his feet turning yellow and brown. He focused on his memories, Nico laughing at his jokes, cuddled up under the blanket on the Argo II. He thought of Nico as a corn plant, Nico inside the temple, Nico saying the word Love. Nico, Nico, Nico.
"Not gonna lie, that was kinda hot"
"Ajax" Reyna scolded, "focus"
"On it" he forced a grin. He shut his eyes and tried to focus on the latin incantations he remembered. Conjuring a weapon from nothingness was easy for him now. If he could stand against Pasiphae, he could do anything.
Within no time, he held a sword of pure silver, it seemed to glow by itself. It was sharp, deadly even. Just a single touch and-
The wolves sensed him. They kept their distance, but growled and circled him.
Ajax jumped into action. He stabbed outwards, missing the wolf by an inch. The animals teeth almost grazed his upper arm, but he was faster. He dropped to the ground and swung his new weapon. A few months ago he had performed the exact same move only to get blasted in the face by cow gas that almost killed him.
This time, it worked like a charm.
The wolf dissolved into a puddle of shadow.
Reyna drew her sword. She scooped a handful of silver coins from Hedge's baseball cap, grabbed duct tape from the coach's supply bag and began taping coins around her blade. The girl was nothing if not inventive.
Ajax tore his attention from her.
"Go!" He told Nico. "I'll cover you!"
The wolves struggled, causing the bone thicket to crack and crumble. Lycaon freed his right arm and began smashing through his prison of ribcages. Ajax muttered a few more incantations. Fire or silver Coach had said.
"I will flay you alive!" Lycaon promised. "I will add your pelt to my cloak!"
Fire curved in an arc around Ajax, he willed the tendrils of flame to travel towards the wolves. Some wolves howled in pain as they touched the fire, but some stayed out of its path.
Nico ran, pausing just long enough to grab Reyna's silver pocketknife from the ground.
More wolves broke free of their bone restraints and made it past the fire. Reyna swatted them aside with her modified duct-tape-coin-sword, but a handful of change wasn't going to hold back a pack of werewolves for long. Aurum snarled and snapped in frustration, unable to hurt the enemy. Argentum did his best, sinking his claws into the throat of another wolf, but the silver dog was already damaged. Soon he'd be hopelessly outnumbered.
Ajax, to his credit, tried his best. But it wouldn't be enough. That was becoming more and more evident.
He slashed through a few more wolves. But they just kept coming.
Lycaon freed both his arms. He started pulling his legs from their ribcage restraints. There were only a few seconds until he would be loose.
Nico was out of tricks. Summoning that wall of bones had drained him. It would take all his remaining energy to shadow-travel – assuming he could even find a shadow to travel into.
A shadow.
He looked at the silver pocketknife in his hand. An idea came to him – possibly the stupidest, craziest idea he'd had since he thought, Hey, I'll get Percy to swim in the River Styx! He'll love me for that!
"Reyna!" A voice yelled from above. "Ajax, get your ass up here"
"Ugh I get you're obsessed with my ass, but modesty Nico!" Ajax mock scolded. He could feel his muscles tiring.
"Shut up" Nico yelled.
Reyna slammed another wolf in the head and ran. In mid-stride, she flicked her sword, which elongated into a javelin, then used it to launch herself up like a pole-vaulter. She landed next to Nico.
"How the fuck-" Ajax stared at her. Unfortunately, he didn't have a javelin, neither could he fly. So he followed the path Nico had taken and scurried up the stairs to join them.
"What's the plan?" she asked, not even out of breath.
"Show-off," Ajax grumbled. His silver sword was flickering from existence. It vanished in front of him, leaving him empty handed.
A knotted rope fell from above.
"Climb, ya silly non-goats!" Hedge yelled.
"Go," Nico told them. "Once you're up there, hang on tight to the rope."
"Nico –"
"Do it!"
Her javelin shrank back into a sword. Reyna sheathed it and began to climb, scaling the column despite her armour and her supplies.
Down in the plaza, Aurum and Argentum were nowhere to be seen. Either they'd retreated or they'd been destroyed.
Lycaon broke free of his bone cage with a triumphant howl. "You will suffer, son of Hades!"
Ajax saw his expression grow sunken, accepting his fate. "Nico-"
"Trust me" he looked at him with those big brown eyes.
Ajax grabbed the rope and Nico with another arm. Nico palmed the pocketknife. "Come get me, you mutt! Or do you have to stay like a good dog until your master shows up?"
Lycaon sprang through the air, his claws extended, his fangs bared. Ajax felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face, or maybe it was blood. He held on tight to Nico. He had no idea what the son of Hades was planning, but he trusted him completely.
As the wolf king fell on him, Nico thrust the silver knife into Lycaon's chest. All around the temple, wolves howled as one. It was impossible to tell what was going on. They were a mess of tangled limbs and bodies, nothing else could be seen.
The wolf king sank his claws into Nico's arms. His fangs stopped less than an inch from Nico's face. Nico ignored his own pain and jabbed the pocketknife to the hilt between Lycaon's ribs.
"Be useful, dog," he snarled sending a chill down Ajax's spine. "Back to the shadows."
Lycaon's eyes rolled up in his head. He dissolved into a pool of inky darkness.
Then several things happened at once. The outraged pack of wolves surged forward. From a nearby rooftop, a booming voice yelled, "STOP THEM!"
Ajax heard the unmistakable sound of a large bow being drawn taut.
Then he melted into the pool of Lycaon's shadow, taking their friends and the Athena Parthenos with him – slipping into cold ether with no idea where he would emerge.