¹Royal Cries, p. jackson

012.

ROYAL CRIES
━━ chapter twelve

━━ BY THE TIME they got to the street, it was too late.

Campers and Hunters lay wounded on the ground. Clarisse must've lost a fight with a Hyperborean giant, because she and her chariot were frozen in a block of ice. The centaurs were nowhere to be seen. Either they'd panicked and ran or they'd been disintegrated.

The Titan army ringed the building, standing maybe twenty feet from the doors. Kronos's vanguard was in the lead—Ethan Nakamura, the dracaena queen in her green armor, and two Hyperboreans. Elisa didn't see Prometheus. The slimy weasel was probably hiding back at their headquarters. But Kronos himself stood right in front with his scythe in hand.

The only thing standing in his way was ...

"Chiron," Annabeth said, her voice trembling.

If Chiron heard them, he didn't answer. He had an arrow notched and aimed straight at Kronos's face.

As soon as Kronos saw the son of Poseidon, his gold eyes flared. Even though she wasn't the one being glared at, every muscle in Elisa's body froze. Then the Titan lord turned his attention back to Chiron.

"Step aside, little son," the Titan snarled.

Hearing Luke call Chiron his son was weird enough, but Kronos put contempt in his voice, like son was the worst word he could think of.

"I'm afraid not." The centaur's tone was steely calm, the way he gets when he's really angry.

Elisa tried to move, but her feet felt like concrete. Annabeth, Grover, Percy, and Thalia were straining, too, like they were just as stuck.

"Chiron!" Annabeth said. "Look out!"

The dracaena queen became impatient and charged. Chiron's arrow flew straight between her eyes and she vaporized on the spot, her empty armor clattering to the tarmac.

Chiron reached for another arrow, but his quiver was empty. He dropped the bow and drew his sword. Elisa knew he hated fighting with a sword. It was never his favorite weapon.

Kronos chuckled. He advanced a step and Chiron's horse half skittered nervously. His tail flicked back and forth.

"You're a teacher," Kronos sneered. "Not a hero."

"Luke was a hero," Chiron said. "He was a good one, until you corrupted him."

"Fool!" Kronos's voice shook the city. "You filled his head with empty promises. You said the gods cared about me!"

"Me," Chiron noticed. "You said me."

Kronos looked confused, and at that moment, Chiron struck. It was a good maneuver—a feint followed by a strike to the face. Elisa couldn't have done better herself, but Kronos was quick. He had all of Luke's fighting skill, which was a lot. He knocked aside Chiron's blade and yelled, "Back!"

A blinding white light exploded between the Titan and the centaur. Chiron flew into the side of the building with such force the wall crumbled and collapsed on top of him.

"No!" Annabeth wailed. The freezing spell broke. They ran towards their teacher, but there was no sign of him. Thalia, Elisa, and Percy pulled helplessly at the bricks while a ripple of ugly laughter ran through the Titans' army.