The Tyrant's Tomb
Such a deal for youTwo-for-one single combatKill us both for free!THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING? As I wheezed and huffed up thehill, I found myself humming “Ride of the Valkyries.” Curse you, RichardWagner. Curse you, Apocalypse Now.By the time I reached the summit, I was dizzy and drenched in sweat. Itook in the scene below and decided my presence would mean nothing. I wastoo late.The hills were a scarred wasteland of trenches, shattered armor, andbroken war machines. A hundred yards down Highway 24, the emperors’troops had formed up in columns. Instead of thousands, there were now afew hundred: a combination of Germanus bodyguards, Khromandae, pandai,and other humanoid tribes. One small mercy: no myrmekes remained.Frank’s strategy of targeting the giant ants had apparently worked.At the entrance to the Caldecott Tunnel, directly beneath me, waited theremnants of the Twelfth Legion. A dozen ragged demigods formed a shieldwall across the inbound lanes. A young woman I didn’t recognize held thelegion standard, which could only mean that Jacob had either been killed orgravely wounded. The overheated gold eagle smoked so badly I couldn’tmake out its form. It wouldn’t be zapping any more enemies today.Hannibal the elephant stood with the troops in his Kevlar armor, histrunk and legs bleeding from dozens of cuts. In front of the line towered an
eight-foot-tall Kodiak bear—Frank Zhang, I assumed. Three arrows bristledin his shoulder, but his claws were out and ready for more battle.My heart twisted. Perhaps, as a large bear, Frank could survive with afew arrows stuck in him. But what would happen when he tried to turnhuman again?As for the other survivors…I simply couldn’t believe they were all thatremained of three cohorts. Maybe the missing ones were wounded ratherthan dead. Perhaps I should’ve taken comfort in the possibility that, forevery legionnaire who had fallen, hundreds of enemies had been destroyed.But they looked so tragic, so hopelessly outnumbered guarding the entranceto Camp Jupiter….I lifted my gaze beyond the highway, out to the bay, and lost all hope.The emperors’ fleet was still in position—a string of floating white palacesready to rain destruction upon us, then host a massive victory celebration.Even if we somehow managed to destroy all the enemies remaining onHighway 24, those yachts were beyond our reach. Whatever Lavinia hadbeen planning, she had apparently failed. With a single order, the emperorscould lay waste to the entire camp.The clop of hooves and rattle of wheels drew my attention back to theenemy lines. Their columns parted. The emperors themselves came out toparley, standing side-by-side in a golden chariot.Commodus and Caligula looked like they’d had a competition to pick thegaudiest armor, and both of them had lost. They were clad head to toe inImperial gold: greaves, kilts, breastplates, gloves, helmets, all with elaborategorgon and Fury designs, encrusted with precious gems. Their faceplateswere fashioned like grimacing demons. I could only tell the two emperorsapart because Commodus was taller and broader in the shoulders.Pulling the chariot were two white horses…No. Not horses. Their backscarried long, ugly scars on either side of their spines. Their withers werescored with lash marks. Their handlers/torturers walked beside them,gripping their reins and keeping cattle prods ready in case the beasts got anyideas.Oh, gods…I fell to my knees and retched. Of all the horrors I had seen, this struckme as the worst of all. Those once-beautiful steeds were pegasi. What kindof monster would cut off the wings of a pegasus?
- Page 204 and 205: “What do you call climbing Sutro
- Page 206 and 207: We all need a handOn our shoulder s
- Page 208 and 209: “Never underestimate the power of
- Page 210 and 211: Reyna shrugged. “Prophecies never
- Page 212 and 213: He could not do otherwise. I recall
- Page 214 and 215: the fasces, he would have already b
- Page 216 and 217: knew I would feel obligated to help
- Page 218 and 219: The god plucked the glass jar from
- Page 220 and 221: As faint and muffled as her voice w
- Page 222 and 223: Then he exhaled deeply. We watched,
- Page 224 and 225: O, blood moon risingTake a rain che
- Page 226 and 227: From one of her gardening-belt pouc
- Page 228 and 229: were trying to protect me…”The
- Page 230 and 231: The scroll burst into flames, which
- Page 232 and 233: Reyna shouted, “Apollo, take the
- Page 234 and 235: at bay. A young woman in maroon and
- Page 236 and 237: Lotoya—who must have been a redwo
- Page 238 and 239: “Stop right there,” she warned,
- Page 240 and 241: hands. Fire trucks were parked alon
- Page 242 and 243: Somewhere overhead, an explosion sh
- Page 244 and 245: surrounded, but our advance had dis
- Page 246 and 247: “What?” Hazel looked personally
- Page 248 and 249: O insert name herePlease hear us an
- Page 250 and 251: The most powerful of the Olympians.
- Page 252 and 253: Jupiter were holding its breath, wa
- Page 256 and 257: The emperors obviously wanted to se
- Page 258 and 259: “Wait,” Caligula snapped. He re
- Page 260 and 261: He clapped me on my back and let me
- Page 262 and 263: leaving a trail of bloody footprint
- Page 264 and 265: A reckless, terrible anger possesse
- Page 266 and 267: My line of vision was reduced to a
- Page 268 and 269: I didn’t do it.Explosion? I don
- Page 270 and 271: a flare gun going off nearby. A ten
- Page 272 and 273: Now Coast Guard vessels joined the
- Page 274 and 275: Got two words for you:Swiss Army un
- Page 276 and 277: Just hearing his name made my gut c
- Page 278 and 279: zombie mob. They never had a chance
- Page 280 and 281: die for collapsing my throne room o
- Page 282 and 283: Captain UnderpantsDoes not appear i
- Page 284 and 285: “BAHM! BAHM! BAHM!” I continued
- Page 286 and 287: “It worked, then!” I grinned at
- Page 288 and 289: Lavinia looked offended. “Well, y
- Page 290 and 291: completely burned away except for h
- Page 292 and 293: “I don’t think so,” I said.
- Page 294 and 295: told me some prophecy lines, just f
- Page 296 and 297: My eyes were too blurry to see prop
- Page 298 and 299: seemed to recognize that Reyna was
- Page 300 and 301: reduced that the entire legion and
- Page 302 and 303: Life is uncertainAccept presents, a
Such a deal for you
Two-for-one single combat
Kill us both for free!
THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING? As I wheezed and huffed up the
hill, I found myself humming “Ride of the Valkyries.” Curse you, Richard
Wagner. Curse you, Apocalypse Now.
By the time I reached the summit, I was dizzy and drenched in sweat. I
took in the scene below and decided my presence would mean nothing. I was
too late.
The hills were a scarred wasteland of trenches, shattered armor, and
broken war machines. A hundred yards down Highway 24, the emperors’
troops had formed up in columns. Instead of thousands, there were now a
few hundred: a combination of Germanus bodyguards, Khromandae, pandai,
and other humanoid tribes. One small mercy: no myrmekes remained.
Frank’s strategy of targeting the giant ants had apparently worked.
At the entrance to the Caldecott Tunnel, directly beneath me, waited the
remnants of the Twelfth Legion. A dozen ragged demigods formed a shield
wall across the inbound lanes. A young woman I didn’t recognize held the
legion standard, which could only mean that Jacob had either been killed or
gravely wounded. The overheated gold eagle smoked so badly I couldn’t
make out its form. It wouldn’t be zapping any more enemies today.
Hannibal the elephant stood with the troops in his Kevlar armor, his
trunk and legs bleeding from dozens of cuts. In front of the line towered an
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