The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5)(52)

‘This temple,’ she said. ‘The Spartans didn’t chain Ares because they wanted his spirit to stay in their city.’

‘You think not?’ The giant’s eyes glittered with amusement. He wrapped his hands around his sledgehammer and pulled it from the floor.

‘This is the temple of my brothers, Deimos and Phobos.’ Piper’s voice shook, but she didn’t try to hide it. ‘The Spartans came here to prepare for battle, to face their fears. Ares was chained to remind them that war has consequences. His power – the spirits of battle, the makhai – should never be unleashed unless you understand how terrible they are, unless you’ve felt fear.’

Mimas laughed. ‘A child of the love goddess lectures me about war. What do you know of the makhai?’

‘We’ll see.’ Piper ran straight at the giant, unbalancing his stance. At the sight of her jagged blade coming at him, his eyes widened and he stumbled backwards, cracking his head against the wall. A jagged fissure snaked upward in the stones. Dust rained from the ceiling.

‘Piper, this place is unstable!’ Annabeth warned. ‘If we don’t leave –’

‘Don’t think about escape!’ Piper ran towards their rope, which dangled from the ceiling. She leaped as high as she could and cut it.

‘Piper, have you lost your mind?’

Probably, she thought. But Piper knew this was the only way to survive. She had to go against reason, follow emotion instead, keep the giant off balance.

‘That hurt!’ Mimas rubbed his head. ‘You realize you cannot kill me without the help of a god and Ares is not here! The next time I face that blustering idiot, I will smash him to bits. I wouldn’t have had to fight him in the first place if that cowardly fool Damasen had done his job –’

Annabeth let loose a guttural cry. ‘Do not insult Damasen!’

She ran at Mimas, who barely managed to parry her drakon-blade with the handle of his hammer. He tried to grab Annabeth, and Piper lunged, slashing her blade across the side of the giant’s face.

‘GAHHH!’ Mimas staggered.

A severed pile of dreadlocks fell to the floor along with something else – a large fleshy thing lying in a pool of golden ichor.

‘My ear!’ Mimas wailed. Before he could recover his wits, Piper grabbed Annabeth’s arm and together they plunged through the second doorway.

‘I will bring down this chamber!’ the giant thundered. ‘The Earth Mother shall deliver me, but you shall be crushed!’

The floor shook. The sound of breaking stone echoed all around them.

‘Piper, stop,’ Annabeth begged. ‘How – how are you dealing with this? The fear, the anger –’

‘Don’t try to control it. That’s what the temple is about. You have to accept the fear, adapt to it, ride it like the rapids on a river.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘I don’t know it. I just feel it.’

Somewhere nearby, a wall crumbled with a sound like an artillery blast.

‘You cut the rope,’ Annabeth said. ‘We’re going to die down here!’

Piper cupped her friend’s face. She pulled Annabeth forward until their foreheads touched. Through her fingertips, she could feel Annabeth’s rapid pulse. ‘Fear can’t be reasoned with. Neither can hate. They’re like love. They’re almost identical emotions. That’s why Ares and Aphrodite like each other. Their twin sons – Fear and Panic – were spawned from both war and love.’

‘But I don’t … this doesn’t make sense.’

‘No,’ Piper agreed. ‘Stop thinking about it. Just feel.’

‘I hate that.’

‘I know. You can’t plan for feelings. Like with Percy, and your future – you can’t control every contingency. You have to accept that. Let it scare you. Trust that it’ll be okay anyway.’

Annabeth shook her head. ‘I don’t know if I can.’

‘Then for right now concentrate on revenge for Damasen. Revenge for Bob.’

A moment of silence. ‘I’m good now.’

‘Great, because I need your help. We’re going to run out there together.’

‘Then what?’

‘I have no idea.’

‘Gods, I hate it when you lead.’

Piper laughed, which surprised even her. Fear and love really were related. At that moment she clung to the love she had for her friend. ‘Come on!’

They ran in no particular direction and found themselves back in the shrine room, right behind the giant Mimas. They each slashed one of his legs and brought him to his knees.

The giant howled. More chunks of stone tumbled from the ceiling.

‘Weak mortals!’ Mimas struggled to stand. ‘No plan of yours can defeat me!’

‘That’s good,’ Piper said. ‘Because I don’t have a plan.’

She ran towards the statue of Ares. ‘Annabeth, keep our friend occupied!’

‘Oh, he’s occupied!’

‘GAHHHHH!’

Piper stared at the cruel bronze face of the war god. The statue thrummed with a low metallic pulse.

The spirits of battle, she thought. They’re inside, waiting to be freed.

But they weren’t hers to unleash – not until she’d proven herself.