The Return of Leo Valdez (After Blood of Olympus)

29- Leo

Festus slowly descended on to the cliff. Below him, the cyclops were still busy cheering.

Festus landed on the ledge with a large thump! The cyclops cheered more.

One cyclops then stepped forward. "Quiet!" He yelled. The sounds of anxious cyclops receded.

"The dragon brings two humans," one cyclops said. "Why dragon?"

"You idiot!" Another cyclops yelled. "One is just a scrawny boy. The other is Calypso! We must alert Hephaestus at once!"

"Why would this runt of a boy have a girl like Calypso?" A cyclops added snickering.

"Leo..." Calypso whispered. "What do we do?"

Leo thought for a moment. "I don't know."

"Calypso and plus one!" A cyclops, much larger than the others yelled. "Get off this dragon at once!"

"No!" Leo yelled. "I'm a son of Hephaestus, I have a right to be here!"

"Get off you puny boy! Before we pry your hands off that dragon and rip your bones and flesh apart!"

The other cyclops cheered.

"And Calypso," the big cyclops said. "Follow us, we will take you to Hephaestus."

"We need to get off this dragon," Calypso said.

"No duh, sunshine," Leo added.

"What do we do?" Calypso asked. "Do we just let them take us alive?"

"Just improvise," Leo answered. "That's probably the only reason why I'm alive today."

"Time to get off that dragon now!" The cyclops yelled, taking one step closer to Festus. "Or we will rip apart your flesh!"

Leo and Calypso slowly slid off Festus' back and landed on the dry ground with a soft thump.

The head cyclops walked closer to Leo and Calypso. "Now Calypso, come with us, we will take you to Hephaestus. He will send you back to your homeland, and get you away from this...kidnapper."

That last word seemed to slap Leo in the face. Since when was he a kidnapper?

"Listen buddy," Leo said, taking a step closer to the cyclops. "Why in the world would I be a kidnapper? I'm a son of Hephaestus and the only reason I'm here is so my dad can fix Festus."

The cyclops cocked his head. "Who's Festus?"

Leo felt his face heat up, he must have been blushing in embarrassment.

"It's the name of the dragon," Leo replied slowly.

The cyclops' let out a howl. The leader was bawling his eyes out. "You named this ferocious, strong beast Happy? Happy the dragon? Of course, only a silly human would name a mighty dragon a silly name."

Leo balled his fists so tight his knuckles were white.

"Listen, we're not trying to pick a fight. We just need to get to Hephaestus," Leo said.

The cyclops shook his head. "Your not going anywhere near Hephaestus-"

"But he's my dad!" Leo complained.

The cyclops hesitated for a moment. "Fine. Prove it."

"Good. And Calypso isn't-"

"Just prove it, or we'll rip your flesh from your bones," the cyclops complained, getting impatient.

"You kind of established that..." Leo whispered to himself.

Leo took a deep breath in. He could feel the fire rushing through his veins, heating his body. Leo focused on his palm, and suddenly, white little flames flickered along his fingers before they disappeared in a puff of smoke.