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chapter forty-four ( the last olympian ) ❝ family, luke! ❞
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We were too late.
The ground was littered with wounded Campers and Hunters. Clarisse lost a fight with a Hyperborean giant because she and her chariot were stuck in a frozen block of ice. The centaurs were nowhere to be seen━either having panicked and ran, or killed and fallen to nothing but dust. The Titan army ringed the whole building, standing perhaps ten metres at the very least from the doors. The Time Lord's vanguard was in the lead, Ethan Nakamura amongst them, and Kronos himself stood right in front of them all, his scythe in his hand.
There was only one person in his way.
I felt my knees buckle. "Chiron..."
If he had heard us, he didn't answer. He stood his ground, an arrow notched right straight at Kronos's face━the face of Luke. As soon as the titan saw Percy, his gold eyes flared.
"Step aside, little son," he snarled at Chiron, and it was strange to see Luke talk to Chiron in such a way━with such contempt in his voice, like son was the worst insult there ever was.
"I'm afriad not," Chiron's voice was calm, not even wavering━he was really angry.
I tried to move, but it was like my blood froze━my feet wouldn't budge, nor would my hands. I was stuck. Glancing at Annabeth, Thalia, Grover and Percy, they seemed to be straining too, like they were just as stuck as I was.
"Chiron!" Annabeth cried. "Look out!"
The dracaena queen━who was amongst the vanguard━had grown impatient. She charged, but Chiron's arrow flew straight between her eyes, vaporising her before she could even get a step further. He reached for another arrow, but found his quiver empty. With a grit of his teeth, he dropped his bow and drew his sword. He hated fighting with a sword.
Kronos chuckled. He advanced a step and Chiron's horse half skittered nervously━his tail flickered back and forth. I tried to move again, and wanted to scream when my legs wouldn't budge at all.
"You're a teacher," sneered the Titan Lord. "Not a hero."
"Luke was a hero," said Chiron. "He was a good one, until you corrupted him."
"FOOL!" his voice shook the entire city. "You filled his head with empty promises. You said the gods cared about me!"
My breath hitched. I glanced at the others, wondering whether they heard the same thing as I did.
