[Percy's POV]
After I caught Rachel, we fell like a rock, straight toward the pavement three hundred feet below. At the last moment Guido extended his wings. I saw the faces of centaurs gaping up at us. Then we pulled out of our dive, sailed fifty feet, and tumbled onto the pavement, pegasus over demigod.
'Ow!' Guido moaned. 'My legs. My head. My wings. My other legs.'
Chiron galloped over with his medical pouch and began working on the pegasus. I got to my feet. When I looked up, my heart crawled into my throat. The helicopter was only a few seconds away from slamming into the side of the building.
I saw Annabeth get tossed out of the helicopter before Cap caught her and skidded to a halt, his wing busted up and his feathers sprawled all over the place. 'I hate this job' he whined.
We turned to watch the helicopter keep spiraling. I thought Y/N would be able to pull it off. He always did. He always managed to pull off the impossible.
A cold chill ran up my spine as Annabeth screeched, "Y/N!" The helicopter slammed right through the glass and metal beams of the building, before a giant ball of fire erupted.
I had to fight to catch my breath as debris and chunks of burning wreckage slipped from the impact point. I'd remembered what Hestia told Annabeth. Y/N needed to stay alive for us to win. We were doomed.
That was when someone emerged from a dark alley nearby, coughing violently. Y/N was smoking like a chimney and his skin was charred badly in some places. His clothes and his hair were covered in soot, and the very second we saw him, he collapsed to the ground.
Annabeth ran towards him, Chiron right behind her. They started attending to him once Annabeth had rolled him over. His eyes were closed and she was tapping him on the face, calling his name.
There were chunks of his face ripped off, and a scar already forming from right below his left eye to just above his lip. Blood had already dried on his face. I could only wonder what had done this to him. Because there's no way the crash did.
Chiron began medical work as fast as I'd ever seen him do. He fed Y/N some nectar, and slowly but surely his burns started to cover up and be replaced with a new layer of skin.
Annabeth was kneeling over him, tears falling from her face. Y/N wasn't breathing, and he wasn't responding to her.
[Annabeth's POV]
Gods damn it, we just talked about this. He threw me out of a helicopter and then crashed into a building. But it wasn't just that. He was coated in his own blood and wounds that he couldn't have gotten from the wreck.
Physically there was no way. Something had clawed these wounds into him. He was fighting something, and if I had to bet on it, I'd say it has something to do with his prophecy.
"Come on, Y/N, talk to me. Hear my voice. Just wake up!" I cried. He wasn't moving. He wasn't even breathing. I leaned down, and pressed my ear against his chest. There was nothing for a moment, and my stomach dropped.
I had to stop myself from having a visceral reaction, because there was no way this could be real. He wasn't dead. He couldn't be.
Then his chest rose. I wasn't sure if I saw right at first, but then it happened again. And again, and again, and it kept going until his breathing was normal again. It wasn't in rhythm, but he was breathing either way.
"Come on, Y/N. Come on." I whispered, squeezing his hand tightly. I wasn't sure if it were my hands shaking or his, but he finally woke up, gasping deeply.
I felt tears forming in my eyes again, as Chiron sighed in relief. The first thing he said was, "I didn't know you could fly."
I laughed. Outside of that, I couldn't really think of something else to do with such a stupid moment. That had to be the worst thing he could have said to me after almost dying again.
But I went with it anyway, a weak chuckle following my words. "I didn't know either. You know my dad's crazy into flying. And Daedalus had some notes on flying machines. I just took my best guess in the controls." I said as I wiped the stinging sensation from my eyes.
"That explains a lot." he muttered, laying his head back against the concrete. He blinked some dirt out of his eyes, standing quickly, and as I went to reach out towards him, I was reminded of the wound hampering my shoulder.
"You saved my life," Rachel said to Y/N as he approached. I flexed my shoulder. "Yeah, well... let's not make a habit of it." I said, glaring at him. "What are you doing here, Dare? Don't you know better than to fly into a war zone?"
"I-" Rachel glanced at Percy. "I had to be here. I knew Percy was in trouble."
"Got that right," I grumbled. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some injured friends I've got to tend to. Glad you could stop by, Rachel."
"Annabeth-" Y/N called. I grabbed his hand and stormed off. I guess he knew there was no choice, so he turned to them with an apologetic shrug, and walked away with me.
[Percy's POV]
Rachel plopped down on the curb and put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry, Percy. I didn't mean to... I always mess things up."
It was kind of hard to argue with her, though I was glad she was safe. "It's okay," I told Rachel, though my words sounded hollow. "So what's the message you wanted to deliver?"
She frowned. "How did you know about that?"
"A dream." Rachel didn't look surprised. She tugged at her beach shorts. They were covered in drawings, which wasn't unusual for her, but these symbols I recognized: Greek letters, pictures from camp beads, sketches of monsters and faces of gods. I didn't understand how Rachel could have known about some of that.
She'd never been to Olympus or Camp Half-Blood. "I've been seeing things too," she muttered. "I mean, not just through the Mist. This is different. I've been drawing pictures, writing lines-"
"In Ancient Greek," I said. "Do you know what they say?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I was hoping... well, if you had gone with us on vacation, I was hoping you could have helped me figure out what's happening to me." She looked at me pleadingly.
Her face was sunburned from the beach. Her nose was peeling. I couldn't get over the shock that she was here in person. She'd forced her family to cut short their vacation, agreed to go to a horrible school, and flown a helicopter into a monster battle just to see me.
In her own way, she was as brave as Annabeth.
But what was happening to her with these visions really freaked me out. Maybe it was something that happened to all mortals who could see through the Mist. But my mom had never talked about anything like that. And Hestia's words about Luke's mom kept coming back to me: May Castellan went too far. She tried to see too much.
"Rachel," I said, "I wish I knew. Maybe we should ask Chiron-" She flinched like she'd gotten an electric shock. "Percy, something is about to happen. A trick that ends in death."
"What do you mean? Whose death?"
"I don't know." She looked around nervously. "Don't you feel it?"
"Is that the message you wanted to tell me?"
"No." She hesitated. "I'm sorry. I'm not making sense, but that thought just came to me. The message I wrote on the beach was different. It had your name in it."
"Perseus," I remembered. "In Ancient Greek."
Rachel nodded. "I don't know its meaning. But I know it's important. You have to hear it. It said, Perseus, you are not the hero." I stared at her like she'd just slapped me. "You came thousands of miles to tell me I'm not the hero?"
"It's important," she insisted. "It will affect what you do."
"Not the hero of the prophecy?" I asked. "Not the hero who defeats Kronos? What do you mean?"
"I'm... I'm sorry, Percy. That's all I know. I had to tell you because-"
"Well!" Chiron cantered over. "This must be Miss Dare." I wanted to yell at him to go away, but of course I couldn't. I tried to get my emotions under control. I felt like I had another personal hurricane swirling around me. "Chiron, Rachel Dare," I said. "Rachel, this is my teacher Chiron."
"Hello," Rachel said glumly. She didn't look at all surprised that Chiron was a centaur. "You are not asleep, Miss Dare," he noticed. "And yet you are mortal?"
"I'm mortal," she agreed, like it was a depressing thought. "The pilot fell asleep as soon as we passed the river. I don't know why I didn't. I just knew I had to be here, to warn Percy."
"Warn Percy?"
"She's been seeing things," I said. "Writing lines and making drawings." Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? Tell me." She told him the same things she'd told me.
Chiron stroked his beard. "Miss Dare... perhaps we should talk."
"Chiron," I blurted. I had a sudden terrible image of Camp Half-Blood in the 1990s, and May Castellan's scream coming from that attic. "You... you'll help Rachel, right? I mean, you'll warn her that she's got to be careful with this stuff. Don't go too far."
His tail flicked like it does when he's anxious. "Yes, Percy. I will do my best to understand what is happening and advise Miss Dare, but this may take some time. Meanwhile, you should rest. We've moved your parents' car to safety. The enemy seems to be staying put for now. We've set up bunks in the Empire State Building. Get some sleep."
"Everybody keeps telling me to sleep," I grumbled. "I don't need sleep." Chiron managed a smile. "Have you looked at yourself recently, Percy?"
I glanced down at my clothes, which were scorched, burned, sliced, and tattered from my night of constant battles. "I look like death," I admitted. "But you think I can sleep after what just happened?"
"You may be invulnerable in combat," Chiron chided, "but that only makes your body tire faster. I remember Achilles. Whenever that lad wasn't fighting, he was sleeping. He must've taken twenty naps a day. You, Percy, need your rest. You may be our only hope."
I wanted to complain that I wasn't their only hope, According to Rachel, I wasn't even the hero. But the look in Chiron's eyes made it clear he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Sure," I grumbled. "Talk." I trudged toward the Empire State Building. When I glanced back, Rachel and Chiron were walking together in earnest conversation, like they were discussing funeral arrangements. Inside the lobby, I found an empty bunk and collapsed, sure that I would never be able to sleep.
A second later, my eyes closed.
[Y/N's POV]
Annabeth had told me to lay down on a bunk because I had been 'too injured' and 'worked too hard' over the last day, and in her words, I was under direct orders to relax. But with every second that passed, I couldn't.
Each flicker of the sky outside played a haunting melody as I succumbed to the tired vice of sleep.
I was hoping I would be able to have a normal dream for once, but guess what? I'm a demigod. There is not a second for normalcy in our lives.
The horrors of the waking world were only a blanket that plunged me back into a struggle. The tendrils of unconsciousness enshrouded me, and I know it's annoying to hear again, but I had to fight not to scream out.
A billion knives dragging against my skin, inside of my body, within my very soul, countless sharp pangs that Lou Ellen had caused. I didn't even pretend to understand that girl, but I knew whatever she did was important.
When my eyes snapped open, I wasn't greeted by the familiarity of the Empire State Building, or my dreamscape, but rather the familiar abyss of nothingness. The void. A cold chill gnawed on the edges of my subconscious.
"Do you feel it, child? The shadows beckon, they call your name once more, and soon they shall claim you as theirs forever."
Suddenly, the stillness was shattered by a force. I felt it. The splitting feeling again. The demon fought against me, its strongest efforts yet.
The demon tried again. It tried to assert dominance and sever the shared existence we had. It tried to advance Erebus' plan.
"Yield, boy. Your resistance only prolongs the inevitable. You know this. I shall help our creator tear the world asunder from the light! There is nothing you can do to stop it!" the demon taunted.
In this desolate space, I forced myself to call on every bit of willpower I had left to resist the force that sought to tear me apart.
I felt the depths of my soul buckle under the strain, and the internal struggle showed itself in a more physical form.
Shadows writhed around me, wrapping around my wrist and trying to separate me from the demon physically. The echoes of Erebus's sinister laughter reverberated, taunting me with the impending darkness.
I struggled against the tide of shadows, trying to keep my composure. This wasn't a normal fight I could win with my fists or my sword. This was a war of attrition, a struggle with which my own will would be the determining factor in the outcome.
It wasn't just a fight against the demon. It was a fight between myself and the exhaustion that had been taking hold over the years. It threatened now, more than ever to consume me whole and sweep me away.
My mind felt like an eerie battleground, where the stakes were not only my own life, but the fate of Olympus, and by extension, the entire world.
It almost felt like I was losing myself as my screams bounced off the endless confines of the void. I was being split in half, and in entirety I was starting to slip away.
But in the darkness, of all things, a light emerged. Memories. Flashes of battle, some small laughters, the warmth of the people I knew cared, friends made in the hell that was demigod life.
These were fragments of a life I clung to amidst the approaching darkness. The visions fueled my efforts, and they were a reminder that I was much more than just the vessel of a monster.
"You try and try, boy. But you can never escape me. I am part of you, entwined with your very essence."
But the shadows kept fighting me, and the onslaught continued. My muscles all tensed as I fought it still. Erebus' voice echoed in the emptiness, choosing not to show his form as he battled against my mother in the sky.
"Closer, Y/N. Closer to the end. Olympus teeters on the brink. Your resistance prolongs your suffering, and delays the cataclysm we have set in motion."
It was almost like the void started to warm, but the abyss only got darker. It felt like the reality of it all was unraveling. My attempts to resist were being met with steadily increasing fight.
Fleeting images flashed in my mind. Erebus looking over Olympus, tendrils of shadow consuming the divine realm, tearing it to fragments, and the horrors of everything that would follow after.
"The end approaches, young one. Olympus shall fall, and you will witness the birth of eternal night."
But that stupid spark flared within my body. Call it stupidity, or call it stubbornness, I couldn't bring myself to give up. I was so exhausted. The weariness threatened to sink me in the abyss, but the ties that I've formed in my life anchored me.
I somehow found the strength to push back against the shadows, to give enough effort to stay alive. Each movement, each pull, kick, scream, or yank, was a testament to that ember of determination in my soul that just didn't seem to want to flicker away.
I could almost taste the desperation in the demon's taunting. They wanted me to give up. But I'm spiteful. The shadows recoiled momentarily, like they were surprised by my refusal.
That was when I used everything in me to keep myself in tact. I thought as hard as I could about the memories and the fragments of my identity. I had to turn them into something that the demon still couldn't break.
The demon growled and huffed in exhaustion. "You cannot defy me forever, mortal. The darkness will consume you."
With a roar of effort, I pushed back against the malevolence that lay within me. I'd been able to resist the pull of the darkness for now, and the abyss reverted. I was right on the edge of dreaming and being awake. Erebus' laughter though, lingered, a haunting echo in the back of my mind.
I awoke with a start and a deep gasp. My heart pounded and cold sweat coated my skin. I tried to sit up, but realized Annabeth was weighing me down. She had her head nestled against my chest, her blonde hair cascading over her as she rested.
My mouth was dry, and I was drained from the struggle. I knew there was no chance I was going to get back to sleep before something else happened.
I laid there, contemplating everything. The challenges that laid ahead. The decisions that weighed on my shoulders, and the looming threat of Erebus and Typhon approaching Olympus.
I was away from the mental battle for now, but the echoes of Erebus' taunts stuck with me. It was a chilling reminder that the shadows wouldn't rest until they gained their prize.
[Percy's POV]
In my dreams, I was back in Hades's garden. The lord of the dead paced up and down, holding his ears while Nico followed him, waving his arms.
"You have to!" Nico insisted. Demeter and Persephone sat behind them at the breakfast table. Both of the goddesses looked bored. Demeter poured shredded wheat into four huge bowls. Persephone was magically changing the flower arrangement on the table, turning the blossoms from red to yellow to polka-dotted.
"I don't have to do anything!" Hades' eyes blazed. "I'm a god!"
"Father," Nico said, "if Olympus falls, your own palace's safety doesn't matter. You'll fade too."
"I am not an Olympian!" he growled. "My family has made that quite clear."
"You are,'' Nico said. "Whether you like it or not."
"You saw what they did to your mother," Hades said. "Zeus killed her. And you would have me help them? They deserve what they get!" Persephone sighed. She walked her fingers across the table, absently turning the silverware into roses. "Could we please not talk about that woman?"
"You know what would help this boy?" Demeter mused. "Farming." Persephone rolled her eyes. "Mother-"
"Six months behind a plow. Excellent character building." Nico stepped in front of his father, forcing Hades to face him. "My mother understood about family. That's why she didn't want to leave us. You can't just abandon your family because they did something horrible. You've done horrible things to them too."
"Maria died!" Hades reminded him. "You can't just cut yourself off from the other gods!"
"I've done very well at it for thousands of years."
"And has that made you feel any better?" Nico demanded. "Has that curse on the Oracle helped you at all? Holding grudges is a fatal flaw. Bianca warned me about that, and she was right."
"For demigods! I am immortal, all-powerful! I would not help the other gods if they begged me, if Percy Jackson himself pleaded-"
"You're just as much of an outcast as I am!" Nico yelled. "Stop being angry about it and do something helpful for once. That's the only way they'll respect you!" Hades's palm filled with black fire.
"Go ahead," Nico said. "Blast me. That's just what the other gods would expect from you. Prove them right."
"Yes, please," Demeter complained. "Shut him up." Persephone sighed. "Oh, I don't know. I would rather fight in the war than eat another bowl of cereal. This is boring." Hades roared in anger. His fireball hit a silver tree right next to Nico, melting it into a pool of liquid metal.
And my dream changed.
I was standing outside the United Nations, about a mile northeast of the Empire State Building. The Titan army had set up camp all around the UN complex. The flagpoles were hung with horrible trophies, helmets and armor pieces from defeated campers. All along First Avenue, giants sharpened their axes. Telkhines repaired armor at makeshift forges.
Kronos himself paced at the top of the plaza, swinging his scythe so his dracaenae bodyguards stayed way back. Ethan Nakamura and Prometheus stood nearby, out of slicing range. Ethan was fidgeting with his shield straps, but Prometheus looked as calm and collected as ever in his tuxedo. Orion was nowhere to be found.
Sooner than later, I'd need to ask Zoe and Y/N what happened to him.
"I hate this place," Kronos growled. "United Nations. As if mankind could ever unite. Remind me to tear down this building after we destroy Olympus."
"Yes, lord." Prometheus smiled as if his master's anger amused him. "Shall we tear down the stables in Central Park too? I know how much horses can annoy you."
"Don't mock me, Prometheus! Those cursed centaurs will be sorry they interfered. I will feed them to the hellhounds, starting with that son of mine, that weakling Chiron. That child, L/N, is far more of a pain in the neck than I had ever envisioned." Prometheus shrugged.
"That weakling destroyed an entire legion of telekhines with his arrows. And that child you mentioned, killed Orion. And did you or did you not see what occurred on the bridge. The child may be a nuisance, but he has power lying inside of him. Power you once intended to harvest."
Kronos swung his scythe and cut a flagpole in half. The national colors of Brazil toppled into the army, squashing a dracaena. "We will destroy them! Power and all, they will fall!" Kronos roared. "It is time to unleash the drakon. Nakamura, you will do this."
"Y-yes, lord. At sunset?"
"No," Kronos said. "Immediately. The defenders of Olympus are badly wounded. They will not expect a quick attack. Besides, we know this drakon they cannot beat." Ethan looked confused. "My lord?"
"Never you mind, Nakamura. Just do my bidding. I want Olympus in ruins by the time Typhon reaches New York. We will break the gods utterly! I want to be fully capable of defeating that fool Erebus when needed."
"But, my lord," Ethan said. "Your regeneration." Kronos pointed at Ethan, and the demigod froze. "Does it seem," Kronos hissed, "that I need to regenerate?"
Ethan didn't respond. Kind of hard to do when you're immobilized in time. Kronos snapped his fingers and Ethan collapsed. "Soon," the Titan growled, "this form will be unnecessary. I will not rest with victory so close. Now, go!" Ethan scrambled away.
"This is dangerous, my lord," Prometheus warned. "Do not be hasty."
"Hasty? After festering for three thousand years in the depths of Tartarus, you call me hasty? I will slice Percy Jackson into a thousand pieces."
"Thrice you've fought him," Prometheus pointed out. "And yet you've always said it is beneath the dignity of a Titan to fight a mere mortal. I wonder if your mortal host is influencing you, weakening your judgment."
Kronos turned his golden eyes on the other Titan. "You call me weak?"
"No, my lord. I only meant-"
"Are your loyalties divided?" Kronos asked. "Perhaps you miss your old friends, the gods. Would you like to join them?" Prometheus paled. "I misspoke, my lord. Your orders will be carried out." He turned to the armies and shouted, "PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"
The troops began to stir.
From somewhere behind the UN compound, an angry roar shook the city, the sound of a drakon waking. The noise was so horrible it woke me, and I realized I could still hear it from a mile away. Grover stood next to me, looking nervous. "What was that?"
"They're coming," I told him. "And we're in trouble."
[Y/N's POV]
Hephaestus was out of Greek Fire. Apollo and the hunters were struggling to find arrows anymore. I mean, we had ingested so much nectar and ambrosia, that the ones of us that could still move didn't even consider taking any more.
We had seventeen campers, fifteen Hunters, and half a dozen satyrs left in fighting shape. The rest had taken refuge on Olympus. The Party Ponies tried to form ranks, but they staggered and giggled and they all smelled like root beer.
The Texans were head-butting the Coloradoans. The Missouri branch was arguing with Illinois. The chances were pretty good the whole army would end up fighting each other rather than the enemy.
"Your friend here has some useful insights, Percy," he said, looking at the aforementioned son of Poseidon. Rachel blushed. "Just some things I saw in my head."
"A drakon," Chiron said. "A Lydian drakon, to be exact. The oldest and most dangerous kind." I stared at her. "How did you know that?"
"I'm not sure," Rachel admitted. "But this drakon has a particular fate. It will be killed by a child of Ares." Annabeth crossed her arms. "How can you possibly know that?"
"I just saw it. I can't explain."
"Well, let's hope you're wrong," I said. "Because we're a bit short on Ares' kids, if you haven't noticed." Percy suddenly swore in ancient Greek. "What?" Annabeth asked.
"The spy," he told her. "Kronos said, We know they cannot beat this drakon. The spy has been keeping him updated. Kronos knows the Ares cabin isn't with us. He intentionally picked a monster we can't kill."
Thalia scowled. "If I ever catch your spy, he's going to be very sorry. Maybe we could send another messenger to camp-"
"I've already done it," Chiron said. "Blackjack is on his way. But if Silena wasn't able to convince Clarisse, I doubt Blackjack will be able-" A roar shook the ground. It sounded very close.
"Rachel," I said, "get inside the building."
"I want to stay."
A shadow blotted out the sun. Across the street, the drakon slithered down the side of a skyscraper. It roared, and a thousand windows shattered.
"On second thought," Rachel said in a small voice, "I'll be inside."
* * *
So, before we get into this portion of the story. Let me do some explaining so no one gets too confused.
On one hand, you have dragons. On another, you've got drakons. Don't forget that. It's a very important distinction.
Drakons are much older, and much larger than dragons. They're honestly a lot more terrifying. While dragons are more legged reptilians, with wings, and tails, and fire and stuff, you've got drakons with bodies like snakes, except a million times bigger, and a lot harder to kill.
Most don't have wings. Most don't breathe fire (though some do. I'm not even gonna get into that). All of them are poisonous. Every one is ridiculously strong, with scales harder than titanium.
Their eyes can paralyze you, not the medusa type of 'turn you into stone' stuff. No, this is the 'crap your pants and pray to whatever god you worship' kind of paralysis. Which is so much worse.
Yeah, sure. We've got drakon fighting classes at Camp Half-blood, but no amount of classes and lessons can properly prepare you for the real deal.
A two hundred foot serpent about the width of a metro subway train, sliding down the side of a building. Its yellow eyes were more like spotlights for a movie premiere than they were eyes. Picture that and tell you're not having a nightmare.
Oh, yeah, not to mention its mouth was full of razor sharp teeth cut strong enough to chew through an elephant's hide like it was a grape. I almost wanted to fight another horde of dracaenae instead.
And at the same time, the titan army marched down fifth avenue. We'd done everything in our power to push cars to the side to keep the mortals safe, but not only did it tire us out, it just made everything easier for the enemy to advance.
The party ponies wagged their tails nervously, brushing them side to side. Chiron galloped up and down their ranks, shouting words of encouragement, to stand tall, to think about what would be their victory and root beer. But you could see it in their faces. None of them wanted to be here anymore than we did.
"I'll take the drakon." someone squeaked. I looked at Percy who was visibly mustering his courage. I nodded and turned to face the beast. "WE'LL TAKE THE DRAKON!!" I shouted, my voice bouncing off the towers around us.
Percy shouted, "Everyone else, hold the line against the army!"
Annabeth stood next to me. She had pulled her owl helmet low over her face, but I could tell her eyes were red. "You gonna help us?" I asked. It was rhetorical of course. "That's what I do," she said miserably. "I help my friends."
I sighed and bounced on the balls of my feet, shaking loose the tension in my shoulders. This was gonna suck. And I wanted her to have no part in it, but it wasn't like Annabeth was the easiest person in the world to influence. I looked at Percy, and for a guy who was mostly invincible, he looked mortified. "We got this." I muttered to myself, drawing moonlight.
"Go invisible," I instructed Annabeth. "Look for weak links in its armor while we keep it busy. Just be careful." I planted a soft kiss on her cheek as she nodded and reached into her back pocket. I whistled. "Mrs. O'Leary, heel!"
"ROOOF!" The hellhound leaped over a line of centaurs and gave me a kiss that smelled suspiciously of pepperoni pizza.
Percy and I drew our sword and we charged the monster. The drakon was three stories above us, slithering sideways along the building as it sized up our forces.
[Percy's POV]
Wherever it looked, centaurs froze in fear. From the north, the enemy army crashed into the Party Ponies, and our lines broke. The drakon lashed out, swallowing three Californian centaurs in one gulp before we could even get close.
Mrs. O'Leary launched herself through the air, a deadly black shadow with teeth and claws. Normally, a pouncing hellhound is a terrifying sight, but next to the drakon, Mrs. O'Leary looked like a child's night-night doll.
Her claws raked harmlessly off the drakon's scales. She bit the monster's throat but couldn't make a dent. Her weight, however, was enough to knock the drakon off the side of the building. It flailed awkwardly and crashed to the sidewalk, hellhound and serpent twisting and thrashing.
The drakon tried to bite Mrs. O'Leary, but she was too close to the serpent's mouth. Poison spewed everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but Mrs. O'Leary weaved around the serpent's head, scratching and biting.
"YAAAH!" I plunged Riptide deep into the monster's left eye. The spotlight went dark. The drakon hissed and reared back to strike, but I rolled aside.
It bit a swimming-pool-size chunk out of the pavement. It turned toward me with its good eye, and I focused on its teeth so I wouldn't get paralyzed. Mrs. O'Leary did her best to cause a distraction. She leaped onto the serpent's head and scratched and growled like a really angry black wig.
I could see Y/N staggering all across the beast's back, chipping away at its scales with his sword. The drakon hissed, but it didn't seem like he was doing much damage. He struggled to keep his footing on the monster as it slithered wildly.
The rest of the battle wasn't going well. The centaurs had panicked under the onslaught of giants and demons. An occasional orange camp T-shirt appeared in the sea of fighting, but quickly disappeared.
Arrows screamed. Fire exploded in waves across both armies, but the action was moving across the street to the entrance of the Empire State Building. We were losing ground.
Suddenly Annabeth materialized on the drakon's back. Her invisibility cap rolled off her head as she drove her bronze knife between a chink in the serpent's scales. The drakon roared. It coiled around, knocking Annabeth off its back. Y/N made a desperate reach for her, but she was on the ground before his hand was out. He jammed his sword into the drakon again, sparks flying with each strike.
The beast coiled and tried to reach back and bite him, but he was staying close to its head, where the beast just couldn't contort enough to reach him. I reached Annabeth just as she hit the ground and dragged her out of the way as the serpent rolled, crushing a lamppost right where she'd been.
"Thanks," she said. "I told you to be careful!" Y/N shouted flying by on the drakon. She shook her head at him before looking at me and shouting, "DUCK!"
It was her turn to save me. She tackled me as the monster's teeth snapped above my head. Mrs. O'Leary body-slammed the drakon's face to get its attention, and we rolled out of the way. Meanwhile our allies had retreated to the doors of the Empire State Building. The entire enemy army was surrounding them.
We were out of options. No more help was coming. We would have to retreat before we were cut off from Mount Olympus. Y/N flailed emphatically, screaming back at the monster, stabbing at it over and over, never staying in one spot for too long, working his way up to the drakon's head.
As he reached the neck, he leapt off the side and hooked his hand on the lowest scale he could grab onto. He plunged his sword into the drakon's underbelly and rode the blade all the way down to the other end until the drakon finally shook him off. He went crashing into the concrete, rolling out of the way as it breathed a poisonous cloud of fog his way. He scrambled off the side, taking cover behind a pack of empty cars.
Then I heard a rumbling in the south. It wasn't a sound you hear much in New York, but I recognized it immediately: chariot wheels.
A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!"
And a dozen war chariots charged into battle. Each flew a red banner with the symbol of the wild boar's head. Each was pulled by a team of skeletal horses with manes of fire. A total of thirty fresh warriors, armor gleaming and eyes full of hate, lowered their lances as one, making a bristling wall of death.
"The children of Ares!" Annabeth said in amazement. "How did Rachel know?"
I didn't have an answer. But leading the charge was a girl in familiar red armor, her face covered by a boar's-head helm. She held aloft a spear that crackled with electricity. Clarisse herself had come to the rescue. While half her chariots charged the monster army, Clarisse led the other six straight for the drakon.
The serpent reared back and managed to throw off Mrs. O'Leary. My poor pet hit the side of the building with a yelp. I ran to help her, but the serpent had already zeroed in on the new threat.
Even with only one eye, its glare was enough to paralyze two chariot drivers. They veered into a line of cars. The other four chariots kept charging. The monster bared its fangs to strike and got a mouthful of Celestial bronze javelins.
"EEESSSSS!!!!!" it screamed, which is probably drakon for OWWWW!
"Ares, to me!" Clarisse screamed. Her voice sounded shriller than usual, but I guess that wasn't surprising given what she was fighting. Across the street, the arrival of six chariots gave the Party Ponies new hope. They rallied at the doors of the Empire State Building, and the enemy army was momentarily thrown into confusion.
Meanwhile, Clarisse's chariots circled the drakon. Lances broke against the monster's skin. Skeletal horses breathed fire and whinnied. Two more chariots overturned, but the warriors simply leaped to their feet, drew their swords, and went to work. They hacked at chinks in the creature's scales.
They dodged poison spray like they'd been training for this all their lives, which of course they had. No one could say the Ares campers weren't brave. Clarisse was right there in front, stabbing her spear at the drakon's face, trying to put out its other eye. But as I watched, things started to go wrong.
The drakon snapped up one Ares camper in a gulp. It knocked aside another and sprayed poison on a third, who retreated in a panic, his armor melting.
"We have to help," Annabeth said. She was right. I'd just been standing there frozen in amazement. Mrs. O'Leary tried to get up but yelped again. One of her paws was bleeding. "Stay back, girl," I told her. "You've done enough already."
Annabeth and I jumped onto the monster's back and ran toward its head, trying to draw its attention away from Clarisse. At that point, I heard another battle cry. Y/N had started running straight toward the drakon. He leapt clean over its head, flying down to the monster's back.
He used the momentum of his descent and his strength to plunge his sword straight through a scale, shattering the armor, and opening a point of attack. He kept hacking and slashing at the wound as Annabeth and I joined him. The drakon was distracted alright.
Clarisse's cabinmates threw javelins, most of which broke, but some lodged in the monster's teeth. It snapped its jaws together until its mouth was a mess of green blood, yellow foamy poison, and splintered weapons.
"You can do it!" I screamed at Clarisse. "A child of Ares is destined to kill it!" Through her war helmet, I could only see her eyes, but I could tell something was wrong.
Her blue eyes shone with fear. Clarisse never looked like that. And she didn't have blue eyes. "ARES!" she shouted, in that strangely shrill voice. She leveled her spear and charged the drakon. "No," I muttered. "WAIT!"
But the monster looked down at her, almost in contempt, and spit poison directly in her face. She screamed and fell. "Clarisse!" Annabeth jumped off the monster's back and ran to help, while the other Ares campers tried to defend their fallen counselor. I drove Riptide in another scaleless spot Y/N had opened, and managed to turn its attention on me.
I got thrown but I landed on my feet. "C'MON, you stupid worm! Look at me!" For the next several minutes, all I saw were teeth. I retreated and dodged poison, but I couldn't hurt the thing. Y/N battled away too, fighting to hold on, making the creature pause from killing me multiple times.
I didn't know how he hadn't gone flying again, but he looked deranged. In his other hand, blackout materialized. He was working like a man possessed. Up until a stray arrow lodged right into his hip. He went flying and hit a lamp post, crumbling to the ground. He managed to move just as the drakon lunged in his direction.
I could see his teeth gritted against each other as he struggled to fight through the arrow. He couldn't walk right until he ripped it out of his side. Surprisingly enough, he chose to retreat back to us, limping hastily.
At the edge of my vision, I saw a flying chariot land on Fifth Avenue. Then someone ran toward us. A girl's voice, shaken with grief, cried, "NO! Curse you, WHY?"
I dared to glance over, but what I saw made no sense. Clarisse was lying on the ground where she'd fallen. Her armor smoked with poison. Annabeth and the Ares campers were trying to unfasten her helmet. And kneeling next to them, her face blotchy with tears, was a girl in camp clothes. It was...
Clarisse.
My head spun. Why hadn't I noticed before? The girl in Clarisse's armor was much thinner, not as tall. But why would someone pretend to be Clarisse? I was so stunned, the drakon almost snapped me in half. I dodged and the beast buried its head in a brick wall.
"WHY?" The real Clarisse demanded, holding the other girl in her arms while the campers struggled to remove the poison-corroded helmet.
Chris Rodriguez ran over from the flying chariot. He and Clarisse must've ridden it here from camp, chasing the Ares campers, who'd mistakenly been following the other girl, thinking she was Clarisse. But it still made no sense.
The drakon tugged its head from the brick wall and screamed in rage.
"Look out!" Chris warned.
Instead of turning toward me, the drakon whirled toward the sound of Chris's voice. It bared its fangs at the group of demigods.
The real Clarisse looked up at the drakon, her face filled with absolute hate. I'd seen a look that intense only once before. Her father, Ares, had worn the same expression when I'd fought him in single combat.
"YOU WANT DEATH?" Clarisse screamed at the drakon. "WELL, COME ON!"
She grabbed her spear from the fallen girl. With no armor or shield, she charged the drakon. I tried to close the distance to help, but Clarisse was faster.
She leaped aside as the monster struck, pulverizing the ground in front of her. Then she jumped onto the creature's head. As it reared up, she drove her electric spear into its good eye with so much force it shattered the shaft, releasing all of the magic weapon's power.
Electricity arced across the creature's head, causing its whole body to shudder. Clarisse jumped free, rolling safely to the sidewalk as smoke boiled from the drakon's mouth. The drakon's flesh dissolved, and it collapsed into a hollow scaly tunnel of armor.
The rest of us stared at Clarisse in awe. I had never seen anyone take down such a huge monster single-handedly. But Clarisse didn't seem to care. She ran back to the wounded girl who'd stolen her armor.
Finally Annabeth managed to remove the girl's helmet. We all gathered around: the Ares campers, Chris, Clarisse, Y/N, Annabeth, and me. The battle still raged along Fifth Avenue, but for that moment nothing existed except our small circle and the fallen girl.
Her features, once beautiful, were badly burned from poison. I could tell that no amount of nectar or ambrosia would save her.
Something is about to happen. Rachel's words rang in my ears. A trick that ends in death. Now I knew what she meant, and I knew who had led the Ares cabin into battle.
I looked down at the dying face of Silena Beauregard.