THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES [J. GRACE]

NINE

they kept walking, looking for dragon-type clues; giant footprints, trampled trees, swaths of burning forest, some type of clue. festus was a whole celestial bronze dragon — something that big couldn't exactly sneak around, right? but they saw nothing, not even a single footprint. chandler sighed out of irritation after the first half hour, she didn't think it be hard to find the dragon, taming it was a different story. once, the pair caught a glimpse of a large, furry shape like a wolf or a bear, but it stayed away from the fire, which was fine by chandler. she didn't feel like drawing a weapon anyways.

then, at the bottom of a clearing, the teens saw the first trap — a hundred-foot-wide crater ringed with boulders. chandler studied the elaborate trap her siblings managed to put together, and was honestly impressed. in the center of the depression, a metal vat the size of a hot tub had been filled with bubbly dark liquid — tabasco sauce and motor oil. on a pedestal suspended over the vat, an electric fan rotated in a circle, spreading the fumes across the forest. the vat seemed to be unguarded. but chandler peered closely, and in the dim light of the stars and the fire the siblings had summoned, they could see the glint of metal beneath the dirt and leaves—a bronze net lining the entire crater.

or maybe see wasn't the right word, chandler could sense it there, as if the mechanism was emitting heat, revealing itself to her. six large strips of bronze stretched out from the vat like the spokes of a wheel. they would be pressure sensitive, she guessed. as soon as the dragon stepped on one, the net would spring closed, and voilà — one gift-wrapped monster. leo edged closer. he put his foot on the nearest trigger strip. chandler watched from afar, her ax in position to cut leo down in case the trap triggered.

as expected, nothing happened. they had to have set the net for something really heavy. otherwise they could catch an animal, human, smaller monster, whatever. chandler knew there wasn't anything else as heavy as a metal dragon in these woods. she joined leo, and the pair picked their way down the crater, and approached the vat.

the head smacked her across the face, reminding her of when the engine room of clarisse's ship in the sea of monsters had been on fire, and tyson, and herself had went down there to try and minimize the damage. the ship itself exploded while they were still down there. chandler had been blasted into the ocean with percy, and been found by annabeth, while tyson had washed up somewhere else.

nyssa mentioned that there were several traps similar in the woods, and they were planning more. what if chandler's dragon had already stepped into another one? how could they possibly find them all? the pair continued to search, but neither found any release mechanism. no large button labeled off. it occurred to chandler that there might not be one. leo started to despair, and then the pair heard the sound. it was more of a tremor, the deep sort of rumbling felt in the gut rather than heard in the ears. it gave her the jitters, but she didn't look around for the source.

chandler just kept examining the trap, thinking, must be a long way off. it's pounding its way through the woods. then, they heard a grinding snort, like steam forced out of a metal barrel. she swiftly turned in time to meet the dragon's familiar ruby red eyes. he was at the edge of the pit, fifty feet away. the creature gleamed in the moonlight, and chandler was impressed with how quietly, and swiftly the dragon moved through the night.

the pair could still see the dragon just fine. it was about sixty feet long, snout to tail, its body made of interlocking bronze plates. its claws were the size of butcher knives, and its mouth was lined with hundreds of dagger-sharp metal teeth. steam came out of its nostrils. it snarled like a chainsaw cutting through a tree. it could've bitten the demigods in half, easy, or stomped them flat.

it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, except for one problem — it completely ruined leo's plan. "you don't have wings," leo said exasperatedly.