orenda [leo valdez]

xiv. Mellie and Hedge Sittin' in a Tree

Kira had her backpack slung over her shoulder, containing the golden bag with the wind spirits, who didn't make it easier for her. But she didn't dare complain, because she knew that the rest of the group was struggling as well.

Leo kept swatting at his legs to make sure he wasn't on fire, Jason was in a bad mood, and Piper couldn't stop looking back for him. 

The only one who seemed in a good mood was Coach Hedge. He kept bounding up the slippery staircase and trotting back down. "Come on, cupcakes! Only a few thousand more steps!"

Her and Leo talked briefly, but it was only a few jokes he threw at her to make her feel better. She was cold and tired, so she let the conversation die. 

Finally they arrived at the top of the island. Bronze walls marched all the way around the fortress grounds. Twenty-foot-high gates opened for them, and a road of polished purple stone led up to the main citadel—a white-columned rotunda, Greek style—except for the cluster of satellite dishes and radio towers on the roof.

"That's bizarre," Piper said.

"Guess you can't get cable on a floating island," Leo said. "Dang, check this guy's front yard."

The rotunda sat in the center of a quarter-mile circle. The grounds were amazing in a scary way. They were divided into four sections, each one representing a season.

The section on their right was an icy waste, with bare trees and a frozen lake. Snowmen rolled across the landscape as the wind blew.

To their left was an autumn park with gold and red trees. Mounds of leaves blew into patterns—gods, people, animals that ran after each other before scattering back into leaves.

In the distance, Kira could see two more areas behind the rotunda. One looked like a green pasture with sheep made out of clouds. The last section was a desert where tumbleweeds scratched strange patterns in the sand like Greek letters and smiley faces. 

"It's so pretty," Kira said happily.

"One section for each of the four wind gods," Jason guessed. "Four cardinal directions."

"I'm loving that pasture." Coach Hedge licked his lips. "You guys mind—"

"Go ahead," Jason said. It would be hard enough getting on Aeolus's good side without Coach Hedge waving his club and screaming, "Die!"

While the satyr ran off to attack springtime, Jason, Kira, Leo, and Piper walked down the road to the steps of the palace. They passed through the front doors into a white marble foyer decorated with purple banners that read Olympian Weather Channel, and some that just read Ow!

"Hello!" A woman floated up to them. Literally floated. She was petite, had slightly pointy ears, and an ageless face that could've been sixteen or thirty. Her brown eyes twinkled cheerfully. Even though there was no wind, her dark hair blew in slow motion, shampoo-commercial style. Her white gown billowed around her like parachute material. She had a white tablet computer in her hand. "Are you from Lord Zeus?" she asked. "We've been expecting you."

"Hi!" Kira said excitedly, her tiredness flying away. "I'm Kira,"

"Are you a ghost?" Jason stuttered.

The smile turned into a pout. "I'm an aura, sir. A wind nymph, as you might expect, working for the lord of the winds. My name is Mellie. We don't have ghosts."

Piper came to the rescue. "No, of course you don't! My friend simply mistook you for Helen of Troy, the most beautiful mortal of all time. It's an easy mistake."