Flowergirl, Percy Jackson

014. The Lovely Give-and-Take of War

Hector: Live or die - that is the lovely give-and-take of war. / Homer, The Iliad*

Lila wakes up to a huge roar that shakes the earth and rattles buildings. The windows beside her shatter slightly, cracks forming like webs jutting out. With horror, she forces herself to her feet. The sun is still in the sky, so night hasn't begun yet - which is worrying, for if Kronos feels strong enough to launch another attack so soon, there's no hope. 

She scrambles to her feet, grabbing her spear, and two knives - the closest she can find. Her leg is still aching, but she doesn't dare ingest any more ambrosia or nectar, for fear of combusting. Quickly, she ties her hair into a messy ponytail, and steals a spare, clean t-shirt from the stack the Aphrodite cabin are guarding, looking for the others. 

They congregate outside the Empire State Building - well, what's left of them, anyway. There are seventeen campers, excluding Percy, fifteen Hunters, and six satyrs able to fight, while everyone else is hiding on Olympus. The Part Ponies are all wasted, staggering and giggling, head-butting each other, arguing. Lila can't help but worry that they'll begin to fight each other.

"What was that noise?" Lila asks Percy and Grover. The former winces. 

Chiron trots toward them, Rachel on his back ."Your friend here has some useful insights, Percy," 

Percy frowns. "Like what you said earlier? 'Something is about to happen, a trick that ends in death'?"

Chiron frowns. "I hadn't heard that one. We have some newer advancements."

Rachel blushes. "Just some things I saw in my head."

"A drakon," Chiron explains. "A Lydian drakon, to be exact. The oldest and most dangerous kind."

"How did you know that?" Percy asks. 

"Why is it always the most dangerous kind?" Lila asks the sky. Grover hums in agreement.

"I'm not sure," Rachel admits, answering Percy's question. "But this drakon has a particular fate. It will be killed by a child of Ares."

Annabeth crosses her arms. "How can you possibly know that?"

"I just saw it. I can't explain."

"Well, let's hope you're wrong," Percy mutters. "Because we're a little short on children of Ares. . . ." Then he suddenly curses in Ancient Greek.

"What?" Annabeth asks.

"The spy," He explains. "Kronos said, We know they cannot beat this drakon. The spy has been keeping him updated. Kronos knows the Ares cabin isn't with us. He intentionally picked a monster we can't kill."

Lila brushes hair out of her face. "So, what do we do?"

Thalia scowls. "If I ever catch your spy, he's going to be very sorry. Maybe we could send another messenger to camp—"

"I've already done it," Chiron says. "Blackjack is on his way. But if Silena wasn't able to convince Clarisse, I doubt Blackjack will be able—"

The roar repeats again, this time louder, closer, echoing through the streets. 

"Rachel," Percy says, "get inside the building."

"I want to stay."

The sky is filled with darkness as the sun is blocked by a ginormous shadow. The drakon slithers down a skyscraper - when it roars, all the windows shatter. 

"On second thought," Rachel says in a small voice, "I'll be inside."

Lila's been going to drakon-fighting classes at camp for the better part of six years. Even with that training, the sight of the drakon is enough to turn her bones to jelly and leave her trembling, fixed in place. The giant serpent's eyes glitter with the magic that must have created it, but wherever it looks, people freeze in fear, paralysed. The yellow irises are bigger than Lila, and as it opens it's mouth to roar, Lila notices it's filled with razor sharp teeth, each one like a full length sword of Celestial Bronze, sharp enough to cut a person in half.