HAZEL HAD NEVER FELT SO HAPPY. Well, except for maybe on the night of the victory feast at Camp Jupiter, when she’d kissed Frank for the first time…but this was a close second.
As soon as she reached the ground, she ran to Arion and threw her arms around him. “I missed you!” She pressed her face into the horse’s warm neck, which smelled of sea salt and apples. “Where have you been?”
Arion nickered. Hazel wished she could speak Horse like Percy could, but she got the general idea. Arion sounded impatient, as if saying, No time for sentiment, girl! Come on!
“You want me to go with you?” she guessed.
Arion bobbed his head, trotting in place. His dark brown eyes gleamed with urgency.
Hazel still couldn’t believe he was actually here. He could run across any surface, even the sea; but she’d been afraid he wouldn’t follow them into the ancient lands. The Mediterranean was too dangerous for demigods and their allies.
He wouldn’t have come unless Hazel was in dire need. And he seemed so agitated.… Anything that could make a fearless horse skittish should have terrified Hazel.
Instead, she felt elated. She was so tired of being seasick and airsick. Aboard the Argo II, she felt about as useful as a box of ballast. She was glad to be back on solid ground, even if it was Gaea’s territory. She was ready to ride.
“Hazel!” Nico called down from the ship. “What’s going on?”
“It’s fine!” She crouched down and summoned a gold nugget from the earth. She was getting better at controlling her power. Precious stones hardly ever popped up around her by accident anymore, and pulling gold from the ground was easy.
She fed Arion the nugget…his favorite snack. Then she smiled up at Leo and Nico, who were watching her from the top of the ladder a hundred feet above. “Arion wants to take me somewhere.”
The boys exchanged nervous looks.
“Uh…” Leo pointed north. “Please tell me he’s not taking you into that?”
Hazel had been so focused on Arion, she hadn’t noticed the disturbance. A mile away, on the crest of the next hill, a storm had gathered over some old stone ruins—maybe the remains of a Roman temple or a fortress. A funnel cloud snaked its way down toward the hill like an inky black finger.
Hazel’s mouth tasted like blood. She looked at Arion. “You want to go there?”
Arion whinnied, as if to say, Uh, duh!
Well…Hazel had asked for help. Was this her dad’s answer?
She hoped so, but she sensed something besides Pluto at work in that storm…something dark, powerful, and not necessarily friendly.
Still, this was her chance to help her friends—to lead instead of follow.
She tightened the straps of her Imperial gold cavalry sword and climbed onto Arion’s back.
“I’ll be okay!” she called up to Nico and Leo. “Stay put and wait for me.”
“Wait for how long?” Nico asked. “What if you don’t come back?”
“Don’t worry, I will,” she promised, hoping it was true.
She spurred Arion, and they shot across the countryside, heading straight for the growing tornado.
