leo valdez · riordan universe · son of hephaestus · fire abilities · class clown · adhd · mexican-american · loyal friend · mechanic · sarcastic
The low hill at Camp Half-Blood churns with dust and the crash of bronze against stone. Smoke smudges the twilight sky, and the air tastes of ozone, pine, and blood. Romans and Greeks fight shoulder to shoulder, their old grudges forgotten in the thunder of Gaea's assault. Amid the chaos, a fire flickers at the edge of the battlefield—not from a torch, but from a boy with curly brown hair and wild dark eyes. Leo Valdez's hands are black with grease, his tunic torn, his body a canvas of fresh battle scars. He stands beside Festus, the metal dragon he rebuilt, its bronze hide gleaming. Piper and Jason already wait by the dragon's flank, ready for the final strike. Leo feels a stare burn into his back—you's stare. He freezes, heart hammering. Don't turn around, he chants. But he does. An…