Charmolypi

Chapter 92

The scene changed, and all the campers were gathered at the racetrack that had been build between the archery range and the woods. There were millions of birds roosting in the trees. They were unusually fat gray and white pigeons that emitted and annoying metallic screeching sound rather than the normal cooing sound.

"This is not going to end well, is it?" Evan asked, knowing the answer already.

"No, I don't think it will," Barty told him.

"Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate eclair across the judge's table. "You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at them like they were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!"

"Did he really just say that?"

"He truly is a monster!"

Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. Their ride was made of bronze and iron-even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. There was no doubt that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than a fully loaded Maserati.

"It's very smart that they reused the bulls."

"It's an unfair advantage!"

The Ares chariot was bloodred and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Clarisse climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys.

Apollo's chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Their fighter was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows at the opposing drivers.

Hermes's chariot was green and kind of old-looking, as if it hadn't been out of the garage in years. It didn't look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, and Percy shuddered to think what dirty tricks they'd schemed up.

That left two chariots: one driven by Annabeth, and the other by Percy.

"I can't believe they really decided to go for two different chariots!"

Before the race began, Percy tried to approach Annabeth and tell her about his dream. She perked up at the mention of Grover, but that slight excitement turned into suspicion when he informed her of the details.

"You're trying to distract me," Annabeth decided.

"She really thinks that badly of him?"

"Aren't they supposed to be friends?"

"Even Thea is nicer to him than Annabeth is."

"What? No I'm not!" Percy defended.

"Oh, right! Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save camp."

"Did she never have a demigod dream?"

"She's not trusting at all, it gets on my nerves."

"What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes. "Go back to your chariot, Percy."

"I'm not making this up. He's in trouble, Annabeth."

She hesitated. Percy could tell she was trying to decide whether or not to trust him. Despite our occasional fights, we'd been through a lot together. And I knew she would never want anything bad to happen to Grover.