Table Of Content

Copyright © 2016 by Rick Riordan Cover illustration © 2016 by John Rocco Cover design by SJI Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Hyperion, an im- print of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be re- produced or transmitted in any form or by any means, elec- tronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information ad- dress Disney • Hyperion, 125 West End Avenue, New York, New York 10023. Rune and symbol art by Michelle Gengaro-Kokmen ISBN 978-1-4847-5859-5 Visit www.DisneyBooks.com www.ReadRiordan.com To J. R. R. Tolkien, who opened up the world of Norse mytho- logy for me Title Page Copyright Dedication 1. Could You Please Stop Killing My Goat? 2. Your Standard Rooftop Chase Scene with Talking Swords and Ninjas 3. My Friends Protect Me by Telling Me Ab- solutely Nothing. Thanks, Friends 4. A Cheetah Runs Me Over 5. My Sword Has a Better Social Life Than I Do 6. Love Me Some Weasel Soup 7. Have You or Someone You Love Ever Suffered from Lindworms? 8. I Am Saved from Certain Death by Being Killed 9. Never Take a Bubble Bath with a Decap- itated God 10. The Most Awkward Viking Luau Ever 11. What’s a Guy Gotta Do to Get a Standing Ovation? 12. Samirah and Magnus Sitting in a Tree, T- A-L-K-I-N-G 13. Relax, It’s Just a Little Death Prophecy 14. Cry Me a Blood River. Wait. Actually, Don’t 15. All in Favor of Slaughtering Magnus, Please Say Aye 16. Hearthstone Unleashes His Inner Bovine 6/876 17. Uncle Randolph Gets on My Naughty List BIG-TIME 18. I Need to Learn Many, Many More Cuss- words in Sign Language 19. Should I Be Nervous that the Pilot Is Praying? 20. In Case of Demonic Possession, Please Follow Illuminated Signs to the Nearest Exit 21. Loiterers Will Be Shot, Then Arrested and Shot Again 22. Pretty Sure Hearthstone’s Dad Is a Cow- Abducting Alien 23. Yep, His Other Car Is Definitely a UFO 24. Oh, You Wanted to Breathe? That’ll Be an Extra Three Gold 25. Hearthstone? More Like Hearthrob. Am I Right? 7/876 26. We Nuke All the Fish 27. Let Me Go Immediately, or I Will Make You a Billionaire 28. And If You Order Now, You Also Get This Cursed Ring! 29. Nøkk, Nøkk 30. Somewhere Over the Rainbow, There’s Some Messed-Up Stuff Going On 31. Heimdall Takes a Selfie with Literally Everyone 32. Godzilla Sends Me an Important Message 33. Falafel Break? Yes, Thank You 34. We Visit My Favorite Mausoleum 35. We Have a Tiny Problem 36. Solving Problems with Extreme Fashion 37. Meat S’mores Roasting on an Open Fire 8/876 38. You Will Never, Ever Guess Blitzen’s Password 39. Elvis Has Left the Bowling Bag 40. Little Billy Totally Deserved It 41. When in Doubt, Turn Into a Biting Insect 42. Or You Could Just Glow a Lot. That Works, Too 43. You Keep Using the Word Help. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means 44. We Are Honored with Runes and Coupons 45. Pigtails Have Never Looked So Frightening 46. Here Comes the Bride and/or the Assassin 47. I Prepare for Funkytown Combat 48. All Aboard the Cheesy Gordita Express 49. Thrym! 9/876 50. A Little Refreshing Poison in Your Face, Sir? 51. Hello, Paranoia, My Old Friend 52. My Uncle Gets Some Backup Singers 53. It’s Hammer Time! (Someone Had to Say It) 54. Squirrels in the Window May Be Larger Than They Appear 55. Daisies in the Shape of an Elf 56. Let’s Try This Whole “Meeting for Cof- fee” Thing Again 57. I Call In Some Favors Glossary Pronunciation Guide The Nine Worlds Runes (In Order of Mention) Also by Rick Riordan 10/876 Preview of The Trials of Apollo, Book One: The Hidden Oracle About the Author 11/876 Could You Please Stop Killing My Goat? LESSON LEARNED: If you take a Valkyrie out for coffee, you’ll get stuck with the check and a dead body. I hadn’t seen Samirah al-Abbas in almost six weeks, so when she called out of the blue and said we needed to talk about a matter of life and death, I agreed right away. (Technically I’m already dead, which means the whole life-and-death thing didn’t apply, but still…Sam sounded anxious.) She hadn’t yet arrived when I got to the Thinking Cup on Newbury Street. The place was packed as usual, so I queued up for coffee. A few seconds later, Sam flew in—literally—right over the heads of the café patrons. Nobody batted an eye. Regular mortals aren’t good at processing magical stuff, which is fortunate, because otherwise Bosto- nians would spend most of their time running around in a panic from giants, trolls, ogres, and einherjar with battle-axes and lattes. Sam landed next to me in her school uni- form—white sneakers, khaki slacks, and a long-sleeve navy shirt with the King Academy logo. A green hijab covered her hair. An ax hung from her belt. I was pretty sure the ax wasn’t standard dress code. 13/876 As glad as I was to see her, I noted that the skin under her eyes was darker than usual. She was swaying on her feet. “Hey,” I said. “You look terrible.” “Nice to see you, too, Magnus.” “No, I mean…not terrible like different than normal terrible. Just terrible like exhausted.” “Should I get you a shovel so you can dig that hole a little deeper?” I raised my hands in surrender. “Where have you been the last month and a half?” Her shoulders tightened. “My workload this semester has been killing me. I’m tutor- ing kids after school. Then, as you might re- member, there’s my part-time job reaping souls of the dead and running top secret mis- sions for Odin.” “You kids today and your busy schedules.” “On top of all that…there’s flight school.” 14/876 “Flight school?” We shuffled forward with the line. “Like airplanes?” I knew Sam’s goal was to become a pro- fessional pilot someday, but I hadn’t realized she was already taking lessons. “You can do that at sixteen?” Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “My grandparents could never have afforded it, but the Fadlans have this friend who runs a flight school. They finally convinced Jid and Bibi—” “Ah.” I grinned. “So the lessons were a gift from Amir.” Sam blushed. She’s the only teenager I know who has a betrothed, and it’s cute how flustered she gets when she talks about Amir Fadlan. “Those lessons were the most thoughtful, the most considerate…” She sighed wistfully. “But enough of that. I didn’t bring you here to talk about my schedule. We have an in- formant to meet.” 15/876