𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 •| ⊱ Jason Grace¹

•| ⊱ FIFTEEN

[ chapter fifteen: hermia ]

° • ° • °

Hermia thumbled through the sky. Far below she saw city lights glimmering in the early dawn, and several hundred yards away the body of the bronze dragon spinning out of control, its wings limp, fire flickering in its mouth like a badly wired lightbulb.

Two bodies shot past her-Leo, and Piper. But unlike Piper who tried calling out to him. Leo was screaming and frantically grabbing at the clouds. "Not coooooool!"

Mia tried to call to them, but they were already too far below. Somewhere above her, Jason yelled, "Hermia, level out! Extend your arms and legs!"

It was hard to control her fear, but she did what he said and regained some balance. She fell spread-eagle, the wind underneath her like a solid block of ice. Then Jason was there, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Thank god, Mia thought. She's never been so happy to feel his warm arms around her.

"We have to get Leo and Piper!" she shouted. Their fall slowed as Jason controlled the winds, but they still lurched up and down like the winds didn't want to cooperate.

"Gonna get rough," Jason warned. "Hold on!"

Mia locked her arms around him, and Jason shot toward the ground. Mia was desperately trying to keep herself from screaming, but the sound was ripped from her mouth. Her vision blurred because of how fast they were falling.

And then, thump! They slammed into another warm body-Piper. Mia held on to the frighten girl as Jason made his way towards Leo.

Suddenly they hit Leo, who was still wriggling and cursing. "Stop fighting!" Jason said. "It's me!" Mia could tell by the sound of this voice that Jason was having trouble keeping all four of them afloat.

And because Mia didn't want to die this way in another boys arms, she decided to help him out. Just like at the Grand Canyon Mia started chatting a spell. It was the same one she used last time to help Coach Hedge get to Leo.

This time is still wasn't much help because Jason was also trying to control the winds. But the wight on his shoulders didn't seem so heavy anymore. In that moment he was very thankful to have Mia on this quest.

"My dragon!" Leo yelled. "You gotta save Festus!"

"Leo!" Mia yelled out in hopes that the boy could hear. Her spell was stopped for a moment and Jason could suddenly feel the weight coming back. "Jason's already got to much weight to carry! He can't get your dragon!" Then she was back to chatting her spell.

Before Leo could even reply, Mia heard an explosion below them. A fireball rolled into the sky from behind a warehouse complex, and Leo sobbed, "Festus!"

Mia could tell Jason was only capable of slowing there fall because of how much weight he was carrying. Even with Mia's help the group wasn't free-falling, it felt like they were bouncing down a giant staircase, a hundred feet at a time.