Memories of a Hero

22

"Jasper!" Annabeth called one of her siblings. "Send demigods to strengthen that right flank. Push those giants away." Annabeth said as Jasper nodded and rushed off.

"Hazel!" Annabeth called through the crowd.

On cue, Hazel popped up next to her, riding on her foul-mouthed, super fast horse, Arion. "You need something?"

"How long until the Romans get here?" Annabeth asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Hazel said. "They should be on their way now."

"What about Reyna and Piper?" Annabeth asked.

"I have no idea." Hazel admitted.

Annabeth cursed under her breath. Where could Reyna have gone right now? She knew that she's supposed to be on standby and yet she went missing.

With Gaia now here, they needed the Praetor more than ever.

"Well, nothing we can do about that." Annabeth said. "Secure the left flank."

"Got it." Hazel said as she whizzed away at light speed.

"Incoming!" Someone shouted. Annabeth looked up just in time to see a volley of boulders being hurled at them by giants.

"Take cover!" Annabeth shouted as everyone scrammed for protection. Annabeth ducked just behind the summit of Half-Blood Hill, so it was unlikely the boulders would land on her. The boulders hit the back lines like a shower of meteors. Explosions erupted all around Annabeth, but it was more concentrated behind her where they were tending the wounded.

After it had ended, Annabeth examined the damage. Their makeshift infirmary was still intact, but several demigods had taken a hit. Some had died, some were stuck under boulders the size of a wrecking ball.

Annabeth didn't have any time to breathe as Jason landed next to her. "Annabeth. Percy's getting overwhelmed." Jason said. "He's outnumbered and we're getting overrun."

"Don't worry about Percy." Annabeth steeled her nerves. "We'll focus on the monster army."

"But-" Jason was interrupted by an ungodly roar.

Not now. Annabeth pleaded mentally. Anytime but now.

"A dragon?!" Jason was in disbelief. Annabeth was on the same boat with Jason. How Gaia had managed to get her hands on a dragon, Annabeth had no idea. But for now, she was more concerned on how to beat it rather than where it came from.

"Pull back to the pine tree!" Annabeth shouted. "Retreat behind the tree!"

The demigods started to slowly back away without turning their back to the monsters. Another roar pierced the skies and the most ungodly creature landed in front of them.

Annabeth was surprised that mortal imaginations of how dragons looked like was fairly accurate. The dragon stood on four legs and each of its two wings were as long as a school bus.

The dragon easily stood taller than the Big House. Its brownish scales see outlined with silver. Its head almost reminded Annabeth of an eagle's head, if an eagle didn't have horns, paralyzing eyes, and a snout that looked like it could bite a horse in half.

As it landed, it trampled on some of the monsters. The good news was that it seems the creature didn't know which of them were its allies.

The bad news was that it started attacking everything on sight. It breathed out a torrent of flames that torched everyone, monsters and demigods alike.

Whether or not the dragon is on Gaia's side didn't matter. It was killing everything and will eventually deplete the demigod numbers.

"We can't fight a dragon!" Jason said.