𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

96

When Nico opened his eyes, they were at the crest of Half blood hill.

Ajax fell to his knees, hugging Thalia's pine tree for support. The Golden Fleece was no longer in its branches. The guardian dragon was gone. Perhaps they'd been moved to a safer spot with the battle so close. Nico wasn't sure. But, looking down at the Roman forces arrayed outside the valley, his spirits wavered.

"Hey, you good?" He asked Ajax, helping him to his feet.

"Aw you care about me?"

Nico snorted and supported him as he stood up.

The nearest onager was a hundred yards downhill, encircled in spiked trenches and guarded by a dozen demigods. The machine was primed, ready to fire. Its huge sling cupped a projectile the size of a Honda Civic, glowing with flecks of gold.

With icy certainty, Nico realized what Octavian was up to. The projectile was a mixture of incendiaries and Imperial gold. Even a small amount of Imperial gold could be incredibly volatile. Exposed to too much heat or pressure, the stuff would explode with devastating impact, and of course it was deadly to demigods as well as monsters. If that onager scored a hit on Camp Half-Blood, anything in the blast zone would be annihilated – vaporized by the heat, or disintegrated by the shrapnel. And the Romans had six onagers, all stocked with piles of ammunition.

"Evil," Nico said. "This is evil."

He tried to think. Dawn was breaking. They couldn't possibly take down all six weapons before the attack began, even if Ajax found the strength to shadow-travel that many times.

He spotted the Roman command tent – behind and to the left of the legion. Octavian would probably be there, enjoying breakfast at a safe distance from the fighting. He wouldn't lead his troops into battle. The little scumbag would hope to destroy the Greek camp from a distance, wait for the flames to die down, then march in unopposed.

Nico's throat constricted with hate. He grabbed Ajax's hand and concentrated on that tent, envisioning his next jump. If he could assassinate Octavian, that might solve the problem. The order to attack might never be given. Nico was about to attempt it when a voice behind him said, "Nico?"

He spun, his sword instantly in his hand, and almost decapitated Will Solace.

"Put that down!" Will hissed. "What are you doing here?"

Will and two other campers were crouched in the grass, binoculars around their necks and daggers at their side. They wore black jeans and T-shirts, with black grease paint on their faces like commandos.

"Us?" Nico asked. "What are you doing? Getting yourselves killed?"

Will scowled. "Hey, we're scouting the enemy. We took precautions."

"You dressed in black," Nico noted, "with the sun coming up. You painted your face but didn't cover that mop of blond hair. You might as well be waving a yellow flag."

"Play nice" Ajax scolded. "Hi, big fan of the mist-"

He pointed to the white fog surrounding them.

"You can see it?" The girl perked up. They both realized it at the same time. Oh.

"Half sister" Ajax nodded, "Cool. you're pretty good with this stuff"

Her ears reddened. "I'm Lou Ellen"

"Ajax" He grinned. He remembered her from his past life, but this was not the time to bring that up.

Lou Ellen looked at Nico next, "You're Nico, right? I've heard a lot about you. And this is Cecil from Hermes cabin."

Nico knelt next to them, Ajax copied. "Did Coach Hedge make it to camp?"

Lou Ellen giggled nervously. "Did he ever."

Will elbowed her. "Yeah. Hedge is fine. He made it just in time for the baby's birth."

"The baby!" Ajax laughed. "Mellie and the kid are all right?"

"Fine. A very cute little satyr boy." Will shuddered. "But I delivered it. Have you ever delivered a baby?"

"Um, no."

"I had to get some fresh air. That's why I volunteered for this mission. Gods of Olympus, my hands are still shaking. See?"

He took Ajax's hands in his own. Yikes, they were shaking bad. Ajax had seen a newborn baby once- his young cousin. And the sight of all the blood and ugly gremlin baby face was enough to make him retch.

"Gross"

Nico frowned at Will's and Ajax's hands. Nonchalantly, he bumped his shoulder into Ajax's, making him lose balance and fall on his butt. "Ow"

"We don't have time for chitchat. The Romans are attacking at dawn and we've got to–"

"We know," Will said. "But, if you're planning to shadow-travel to that command tent, forget it."

"Why?"

"Coach Hedge told me all about your shadow-travel. You can't try that again."

"Actually, I'm the one that shadow travelled" Ajax held up a hand, "Nico's banned from doing that forever and ever"

"You shouldn't either" The boy said. "I'm a healer. I could feel the darkness in your hand as soon as I touched it. Even if you made it to that tent, you'd be in no shape to fight. But you wouldn't make it. Children of Hecate can shadow travel, but it takes more energy than children of Hades do. One more slip, and you won't come back. You are not shadow-travelling. And you really shouldn't be wearing a binder in the middle of battle"

How could Will know all that from holding Ajax's hands once? Nico's frown deepened. He was aware Ajax was good looking, and he didn't like the way Will was eyeing him.

"It's a magic binder" Ajax smiled, unaware that Nico was frowning, "All the binding and none of the pain, you can thank mom for that"

Lou Ellen and Ajax grinned.

"And anyways, shadow travel doesn't matter" Ajax turned back to Will. "Can we at least blow stuff up?"

Nico snorted, "Obviously"

"Then I'm in"

"We'll sneak in, Lou Ellen and Ajax can use the mist to help us."

Nico looked deep in thought. Ajax put a hand on his shoulder. "We can do this"

"Okay, but all of you need to follow my lead"

Ajax tried not to flush bright red when Nico said that. He looked unbelievably good looking in the light of the dawn. He was very aware he was staring. But he just looked so good, so much taller, more surer of himself.

Ajax suppressed his sad thoughts. He didn't want to think about his own death so close to the final battle. If he died here, he died. But at least he'd die doing something good. Maybe he'd like this Will guy after Ajax was gone.

Ajax stopped smiling at Will.