𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔－ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏

A growl sounded behind them.

Annabeth's two siblings were knocked to the side by a pure black paw. A Hellhound ran toward the duo. Percy swiped at it, but it only moved.

Soon, another found its way in front of them. Annabeth narrowed her eyes as she tried to figure something out. Percy kept making advances but had to dodge a dracaena's spear aimed at his head, pushing Annabeth out of harms way.

Another growl from the creatures. But something smashed straight into it. The body scrambled on top of one of the hellhounds, pulling something from the ground and acting as if they were reigns.

Percy recognized Ariadne from her wild curls and her untamable eyes. She yelled and sent the hellhound forward, stabbing It's brethren and sent it into the ground. Her hellhound ran through and crushed snake women as it passed before she leapt off and crushed it with the vines it was being controlled by.

Ariadne ran up to her two friends. She took breathes, twisted Lunacy in her hand. "Hey," she breathed out. Her face had scratches and dirt covering her cheeks. Her curls were somehow still holding in her ponytail, and her grey shirt was even dirtier, her leggings now slashed and almost turned to shorts.

"Thanks." Annabeth winced, trying to catch her breath. "The pig?"

"Pork chops," Percy said.

"Good." Annabeth flexed her shoulder. Obviously, the wound was still bothering her, but she saw Ariadne's expression and rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Ari. Come on! We've got plenty of enemies left."

She was right. The next hour was a blur. Ariadne fought like a demon—destroying groups of dracaenae, slashing through hellhounds, and crushing Hyperborean giants. Thanks to her skills, the girl was taking down the bigger monsters as her friends were attempting to hold their defenses.

But no matter how many she defeated, more took their place.

Ariadne, Annabeth, and Percy raced from block to block, trying to shore up their defenses. Too many of their friends lay wounded in the streets. Too many were missing.

As the night wore on and the moon got higher, they were backed up foot by foot until they were only a block from the Empire State Building in any direction. At one point Grover was next to Ariadne, bonking snake women over the head with his cudgel. The he disappeared in the crowd, and it was Thalia at her side, driving the monsters back with the power of her magic shield. Mrs. O'Leary bounded out of nowhere, picked up a Laistrygonian giant in her mouth, and flung him into the air like a Frisbee.

Annabeth used her invisibly cap to sneak behind the enemy lines. Whenever a monster disintegrated for no apparent reason with a surprised look on his face, Ariadne knew Annabeth had been there.

Percy and Ariadne ended up side to side. Percy deflected weapons aimed at his chest, and Ariadne smashed through their lines with her vines, breaking minds like it was nothing.

But it still wasn't enough.

"Hold your lines!" Katie Gardner shouted, somewhere off to Ariadne's left.

The problem was there were too few of them to hold anything. The entrance to Olympus was twenty feet behind them. A ring of brace demigods, Hunters, and nature spirits guarded the doors. Ariadne slashed and jacked, destroying everything in her path, but even she was getting tired, and she couldn't be everywhere at once.

Behind the enemy troops, a few blocks east, a bright light began to shine. Ariadne thought it was the sunrise. Then she realized Kronos was riding toward them on a golden chariot. A dozen Laistrygonian giants bore torched before him. Two Hyperboreans carried his black and purple banners. The Titan lord looked fresh and rested, his powers at full strength. He was taking his time advancing, letting them wear themselves down.