The Blood of Olympus - Take the Burden

“Yeah,” Coach said. “Unless you let me whale on them first. Besides, it’s not all bad news.”

Reyna nodded. “We’ve seen no sign of other Romans, so it appears Bryce didn’t notify anyone else where he was. Also, no sign of Orion. Hopefully that means he was taken down by the Hunters.”

“And Hylla?” Nico asked. “Thalia?”

The lines tightened around Reyna’s mouth. “No word. But I have to believe they’re still alive.”

“You didn’t tell him the best news,” the coach prompted.

Reyna frowned. “Maybe because it’s so hard to believe. Coach Hedge thinks he’s found another way to transport the statue. It’s all he’s talked about for the past three days. But so far we’ve seen no sign of—”

“Hey, it’ll happen!” Coach grinned at Nico. “You remember that paper airplane I got right before Creepmeister Lawrence showed up? It was a message from one of Mellie’s contacts in the palace of Aeolus. This harpy, Nuggets—she and Mellie go way back. Anyway...she knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a horse who knows a goat who knows another horse—”

“Coach,” Reyna chided, “you’ll make him sorry he came out of his coma.”

“Fine,” the satyr huffed. “Long story short, I pulled in a lot of favors. I got word to the right wind-type spirits that we needed help. The letter I ate? Confirmation that the cavalry is coming. They said it would take a while to organize, but he should be here soon—any minute, in fact.”

“Who’s he?” Nico asked. “What cavalry?”

Reyna stood abruptly. She stared toward the north, her face slack with awe. “That cavalry....”

Nico followed her gaze. A flock of birds was approaching—large birds.

They got closer, and Nico realized they were horses with wings—at least half a dozen in V formation, without riders.

Flying on point was a massive stallion with a golden coat and multicolored plumage like an eagle’s, his wingspan twice as wide as the other horses’.

“Pegasi,” Nico said. “You summoned enough to carry the statue.”

Coach laughed with delight. “Not just any pegasi, kid. You’re in for a real treat.”

“The stallion in front...” Reyna shook her head in disbelief. “That’s the Pegasus, the immortal lord of horses.”


- The Blood of Olympus, Chapter 32