The Tyrant's Tomb

demigods. Iris-messages failed. Letters sent by wind spirits never arrived.
Even mortal technology—which demigods tried to avoid anyway because it
attracted monsters—now wouldn’t work for them at all. How the emperors
had managed this, I had no idea.
“I wish we could wait for Thalia,” I said, watching as the last of the Fifth
Cohort pallbearers climbed down from the pyre.
“Me too,” Reyna agreed. “But—”
“I know,” I said.
Roman funeral rites were meant to be performed as soon as possible.
Cremation was necessary to send Jason’s spirit along. It would allow the
community to grieve and heal…or at least turn our attention to the next
threat.
“Let’s begin,” I said.
Reyna and Frank rejoined the front line.
I began to speak, the Latin ritual verses pouring out of me. I chanted
from instinct, barely aware of the words’ meanings. I had already praised
Jason with my song. That had been deeply personal. This was just a
necessary formality.
In some corner of my mind, I wondered if this was how mortals felt
when they used to pray to me. Perhaps their devotions had been nothing but
muscle memory, reciting by rote while their minds drifted elsewhere,
uninterested in my glory. I found the idea strangely…understandable. Now
that I was a mortal, why should I not practice nonviolent resistance against
the gods, too?
I finished my benediction.
I gestured for the aurae to distribute the feast, to place the first serving on
Jason’s coffin so he could symbolically share a last meal with his brethren in
the mortal world. Once that happened, and the pyre was lit, Jason’s soul
would cross the Styx—so Roman tradition said.
Before the torches could be set to the wood, a plaintive howl echoed in
the distance. Then another, much closer. An uneasy ripple passed through the
assembled demigods. Their expressions weren’t alarmed, exactly, but
definitely surprised, as if they hadn’t planned on extra guests. Hannibal
grunted and stamped.
At the edges of our gathering, gray wolves emerged from the gloom—
dozens of huge beasts, keening for the death of Jason, a member of their
pack.