XXX LEO

Plummeting in darkness on Festus’s back, Leo fights to revive the failing dragon. He orders Jason to fly Piper clear to lighten the load, then hot-wires Festus midair, coaxing a weak glide toward a brightly lit riverside mansion surrounded by a high brick fence.

As they approach, spotlights fix on them and concealed turrets fire searing beams that slice Festus apart. Leo blacks out and awakens in the snowy lawn amid wreckage. The transport cages survive, but Festus lies dismembered, his head and neck barely intact.

Leo comforts the dying dragon, recognizing a Morse code pattern—Festus repeating a simple request. Remembering Hephaestus’s warning that nothing lasts forever, Leo promises to honor the message and reuse what he can. Festus’s eyes go dark.

Leo detaches the head, prays to Hephaestus to safeguard it until he can rebuild, and a wind carries the head skyward. Shaken but resolute, Leo acknowledges his loss yet commits to finishing the quest.

Surveying the grounds, the team identifies the city as Omaha, Nebraska. Leo tests the wall and confirms an automated laser defense that destroyed Festus and would shoot Jason from the sky. With the gates locked and escape impossible, they decide their only option is to go into the mansion.