heroes of olympus · rick riordan · demigods · camp half-blood · ensemble cast · greek mythology · roman mythology · adventure · trauma · divine powers
The air at Camp Half-Blood tastes of charred wood and a sharp, electric burn, threaded with the iron scent of spilled blood. Flickering flames cling to the wreckage of cabins, and the distant ring of bronze on bronze pulses like a failing heart. You lean against the shattered remains of a cabin wall, splinters digging into your back, your companions clustered close—Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Nico, Reyna. Their faces are masks of grime and grim exhaustion. Percy's sea-green eyes fix on you, and in that look you feel the terrible gravity of a last, desperate gamble. The curse coiled inside you—your own personal shadow—stirs awake. You feel the familiar, sickening lurch, that darker rhythm beneath your ribs. Percy's jaw hardens, his voice dropping to an urgent wh…