“This place is amazing.” Raven scans the workbenches full of weapons, some of which I have never seen before.
“This is my main workshop. I have gifts for you girls.” Hephaestus holds out charms with the symbol of his hammer for each of us. “This will allow you to call my automatons anytime you are in need of them.”
“Are you not coming to assist us in this battle, then?” Kira asks.
“Yes, but I want the two of you to be safe in what’s coming even in the coming shifter war, my little star bound wolf. They won’t understand the army you have at your back, but they won’t need to understand.”
“I don’t even understand,” she huffs.
“Then let me show you.” He waves his hand, and we are transported to a cavernous room with thousands of automatons in all shapes and sizes.
“You built monsters that are automatons? Why?” I ask.
“In case the real monsters ever came back, they could be defeated.” Hephaestus shrugs.
“Those would have helped a hundred times over.” I shake my head.
“That is the army you both now have access to and the army that will help you save your academy.” Hephaestus waves a hand and my head spins as we’re hurled through space and time.
My feet land in the courtyard of the academy but it’s no longer the happy place with students hanging around the quad talking and studying. Chaos reigns as monsters, shifters, and demigods fight one another.
I glance back at the others with a grimace. I need to find Jayden and the others in this. Smoke billows from the academicbuilding as flames lick the walls. The academy really is burning. Just as Adrian saw in his visions.
Are we too late to win this war?
20
“We have to find the others,” I shout over the crashing of blades and screaming.
A few demigods spot us and cheers ring out through our allies.
“You’re back.” Sara jogs over to us. “Just in time too; our forces are lagging. They don’t know how to do this like you guys.”
“That’s okay, we brought reinforcements.” I crack my whip at a lizard demon attempting to claw Sara’s back.
“Shit. Thanks for that. I got distracted.” Sara whirls around just as the demon crumbles to ash. “We’ve just been hoping for a miracle. The queen threw everything at us at once.”
“It hasn’t been a picnic for us either. I’ll have to tell you about it another time.” I scan the battlefield but there’s no sign of Jayden or the others. “Where’s Jayden?”
“Would you believe that this isn’t the front lines? This is what spilled through the line.” Sara waves her sword around.
“Is Jayden on the front?” I ask. “Of course he is; he will always do what needs to be done.”
“Yeah, we tried to convince him to stay back but he refused. He’s stubborn.” Sara swings her blade as we move through monsters and demigods to get to the front lines.
“Yeah, like me. I always lead from the front.” I flick my whip at a demon who is ganging up with another demon on an Apollo kid I don’t know.
“That’s the sign of a great leader.” Sara slashes at another demon sneaking up behind Brody.
“You’re back.” Brody spins toward us. “With Hephaestus.”
I grip the charm to call the automatons to me. “Help the demigods who are under attack by monsters only. Leave all humans alone.”
The automatons spread out through the courtyard, attacking demons and monsters as they come across them. Brody glances at me, impressed we managed to come back with an army, but the monsters back away from the new threat.
“How many demigods came to fight for the queen?” I ask.
“Not many. The shifters and the first group of automatons you sent have steered clear of them for the most part and a few of us have taken to just knocking them out and putting them in the dungeon.” Sara raises her shield as a demon attempts to claw her face and I flick my whip, disintegrating it.
