It was night when they arrived at the temple. Percy woke up just an hour ago and continued riding his own horse after being carried by Thalos.

He unfortunately slept most of the journey, while Thalos, Hugo, and George pushed forward dauntlessly. Their horses weren't doing so good, and he expected most of the mounts would unfortunately die when they got there.

They found a hill overlooking the dense forest and tied their horses to some trees and left enough food and water for them to try and recover. The hill and valley below were dotted with tall greens and multi-colored flowers scattered about.

Percy and the others were clad in leather armor with metal breastplates, armguards, and so on. Simple armor without much weight. They needed to move quickly in the temple, but first…

As quickly as possible, he plucked four flowers that he found hidden in the shadows of tall trees. The flower had black petals and a purple anther. These only bloomed once a month for a week from what he read. So the temple could only be accessed for a short time every month.

"Cut yourselves and let your blood drop on the flower," he told them.

Thalos raised an eyebrow but didn't voice his question, simply running a fingernail over his calloused hands and cutting himself. George reached towards the axe fastened to his back and cut himself with it. Hugo pulled out a dagger and did the same.

Percy made the cut with Cloudeater, then let his blood drop on the flower, which began glowing with a purple hue. The light lasted a short moment before growing dull; the flower withered in his hand, rapidly dying.

He turned to look down the hill to see if it worked, and his breath caught in his throat. Nestled between the trees was a full stone structure built into the valley.

The temple of Gaia was shaped like a flat-topped pyramif, a massive ziggurat of sorts. The grey stone was tiered into five levels with a small room at the top. He could see the window of the room glowing with light.

"I guess that's the temple," Hugo whistled. "I've never heard of a god called Gaia, but they really went all out building this place."

"Let's go, no time to chat," Percy murmured, descending the hill quickly. He kept his eyes open and lowered his body, but he doubted it would do much.

The Whitemoon would have surrounded the entire temple with scouts. The only way to get in through the hidden eastern entrance was to kill any scouts they found before they knew what was happening.

Hugo got in front and was leading them through the forest tangle, then he stopped, pointing left and looking at Thalos, who moved instantly with deadly silence.

When Thalos returned, he gave Hugo a short nod, and they continued moving, following this routine. George and Percy stayed back, allowing Hugo and Thalos to kill the scouts since their senses were sharp.

Percy was busy prepping the Guiding Eyes; he had an idea of how to open the secret entrance. It wasn't long before they arrived at the east end of the temple.

"Open the door," Hugo said, patting his back. "We'll check for any scouts still lurking around."

But suddenly, a horn sounded through the air. They all glanced westward, towards the main entrance of the temple, where the Whitemoon's forces would be camped.

"Or not, because they already know we're here," Hugo muttered.

Percy got to work studying the patterns of the walls and trying to figure out how the hidden entrance was opened.

Nyx told him the entrance would open when the sun rose in the south and set in the east, which was impossible for many reasons. One of which was the fact that the sun wouldn't last for a few more hours.

He looked down at the Guiding Eye in his hands. It could create light, but would that count as real sunlight?

"Lights," he murmured, releasing the Eye, letting it float from the south, illuminating the grey stone wall of the temple; then he moved it towards the east, controlling it with a hand gesture. Finally, he mimicked the sun setting by turning off the light.

He waited in silence for a moment, turning from the wall towards the forest behind him, where he could hear voices.

"We might have to fight our way towards the western entrance," Thalos admitted when the doors didn't open. "Let's—"

The wall parted with a grating roar as the stone slid open to reveal a dark, wide room. Percy and the others immediately jumped in.

"How long before it closes?" Hugo asked, a bit worried.

"No idea," Percy answered, glaring at the forest of trees.

He readied his Spellbolt, pointing it at the forest. Hugo loaded a small crossbow attached to his arm.

"I could destroy the entrance if we need to," George reassured them, slamming his axe into the earth. He began a chant, a thrumming voice that shook stone, a characteristic of earth chants. Fours stone blocks rose from the earth, but George continued chanting.

Sirelia used a similar spell a long time ago, and for some reason, his mind was brought back to her. He smiled and narrowed his eyes as the first figure came into sight, firing without hesitation.

CRACK! A flash of blue light streaked from the Spellbolt, but the figure managed to block the attack with a shield. Then he released a fireball at them.

One of George's stone blocks surged forward and met the fireball halfway, causing an explosion that shook the earth and sent a red plume of flames into the air.

If the Whitemoon didn't know they were here before they did now.

"The door needs us to close it in some specific way," Percy cursed. "George, collapse the entrance. Let's get into the corridor."

They all ran through the open stone doorway behind them and into the main hallway of the temple. It was a dark, long square tunnel that seemed endless, but he didn't stop moving despite the sight. They were murals drawn over the walls.

Humans were drawn sinking into the earth with a peaceful expression with the words "All children must return to the earth, accept it with open hands and you will find the mother's womb."

On another wall a giant scorpion was painted in gold as it fought a raging fire. The scale to the beast was terrifying and the fire had an eerie life even when cast in stone. But Percy turned upward, finding the most interesting mural of all.

Gaia Makaira Telesforos

There was a sunken relief carved into the roof, depicting a chaotic story of gods and monstrous creatures that resembled humans. Gais was at the center of it pleading with the gods, wrapped in loose robes.

His knowledge of the Greek language was limited, but he knew the word "Telesforos" was something akin to "Bringer of perfection." Before he could think more, George finished his spell.

There was a thunderous crash, and smoke billowed from the room they had just come out of, with George escaping a second later.

"So where to now?" Hugo asked immediately.

"There are staircases at either the corner or the center of a floor in the ziggurat," Percy said, then he turned to their feet, which were constantly moving. "That's good; keep your legs moving, or you'll get sucked into the earth."

A sudden rumble caught his attention. Stone golems were falling from the walls—malformed blocks of stone shaped like a human being. Each held a stone cudgel in their hands and slowly walked forward.

"Can't be too easy, can it?" Thalos muttered, drawing Marrowbiter and covering it in his crimson fighting spirit.

"They can't be killed if they are connected to the earth!" Percy shouted, aiming at the golems. "Get them off the ground and destroy them midair."

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