![]() One statue of some Ancient Roman dude seemed to be pointing to a nearby McDonald’s. They passed big churches, freestanding arches, clothing stores, and fast-food restaurants. Leo could only manage it because he’d seen New Rome in California. It took a lot of imagination to see it as the bustling center of Ancient Rome. The Forum was okay, but it was mostly ruins overgrown with bushes and trees. His feet were sore, the day was sunny and hot, and the streets were choked with tourists. ![]() Frank seemed happy to plod along like a big sheepdog (hmm, Leo wondered if he could turn into one of those, or even better: a horse that Leo could ride). I’m going deaf.”Īs a result, they got a tour of Rome. Like standing in the middle of an orchestra and trying to concentrate on a single instrument. “It’s just…there’s so much underground here, so many layers, it’s overwhelming. She kept leading them around and around the city, getting dizzy, and doubling back. For a girl with super underground senses, she wasn’t much good in Rome. If he hadn’t had such an eye for mechanical stuff, they might never have found the secret chute, gotten lost in the underground, and been attacked by metal dudes. Really, sometimes it was just embarrassing. I will make a beautiful tapestry depicting your death.” “Now I will feast on you, my sweet,” Arachne said. The creature made a violent rip-rip-rip sound that might have been laughter. Her eyes were large, lidless, and pure black, with two smaller eyes sticking out of her temples. Her other teeth had grown into thin white needles. Now black mandibles protruded from her mouth like tusks. She might once have been a beautiful woman. But the most horrible part was her misshapen face. If the spider came any closer, her sweet stench alone would have been enough to make Annabeth faint. Her eight spindly legs were lined with curved barbs as big as Annabeth’s dagger. She was about to die.Īrachne had the body of a giant black widow, with a hairy red hourglass mark on the underside of her abdomen and a pair of oozing spinnerets. The creature appeared from the curtains of webbing, and Annabeth realized that her quest was hopeless. “I’m afraid you would have to defeat me first, my sweet,” Arachne said. How could one girl in a Bubble Wrap ankle cast remove this huge statue from its underground chamber? I’m taking it back.”Įven Annabeth had to admit her threat sounded ridiculous. “You’ve been guarding this statue since the ancient times,” Annabeth guessed. She wondered if her mother truly had lost-if she’d hidden Arachne away and rewritten the truth. The tapestries were the best she’d ever seen-better than the witch Circe’s work, and, yes, even better than some weavings she’d seen on Mount Olympus. “Look on my work! See for yourself!”Īnnabeth didn’t have to. “That’s the story written by the winner!” cried Arachne. “But you lost the contest,” Annabeth said. “Scorned by all and made into a hideous thing…because I was the better weaver.” The figure descended, becoming clearer and more horrible. “The weaver who was turned into a spider.” The pain in Annabeth’s ankle was nothing compared to the icy acid now filling her veins. This will make your death so much more painful to my old enemy when you fail utterly.” “I had to make sure you were worthy, the only child of Athena clever enough to pass my tests and reach this place alive. “I have seen you in my dreams,” the voice said, sickly sweet and evil, like the smell in the corridors. In the webs above the statue, something moved-something dark and large. The voice sounded just as Percy had described: an angry buzz in multiple tones, female but not human. Suddenly she was seven years old again, hiding under her covers, waiting for the spiders to attack her in the night. “For ages I have known that you would come, my sweet.”Īnnabeth shuddered. The accessible and dramatic cover art by graphic novelist Nilah Magruder will attract a new generation of fans.Above her in the gloom, a voice spoke. With old friends and new friends joining forces, a marvelous ship, fearsome foes, and an exotic setting, The Mark of Athena is another unforgettable adventure by master storyteller Rick Riordan. What exactly are the Doors of Death? Much of the prophecy remains a mystery. Then they will have to sail together to the ancient land to find the Doors of Death. But they number only six-who will complete the Prophecy of Seven? The Greek and Roman demigods will have to cooperate in order to defeat the giants released by the Earth Mother, Gaea. The third book in the Heroes of Olympus series will unite them with Jason, Piper, and Leo. In The Son of Neptune, Percy, Hazel, and Frank met in Camp Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of Camp Halfblood, and traveled to the land beyond the gods to complete a dangerous quest. The third book in the mega-bestselling Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, now with fresh and exciting new cover art by graphic novelist Nilah Magruder.
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