① Percy Jackson: Age of Eternity

Chapter 15

I printed to the front of boat. Arrows were being shot right past my head and I heard people yelling at me. I got to the front of the boat and looked to where I could go. I wouldn't be able to make it unless I swam.

"Get on!" I looked to my side and saw Grover and Annabeth waiting on a pony, the one in the message.

"SHES HERE!" I heard a kid yell from behind me.

"Why not.." I ran and hopped on behind Annabeth.

The rest of Luke's warriors were organizing themselves into a phalanx. But by the time they were ready to advance, the centaurs had galloped to the edge of the deck and fearlessly jumped the guardrail, as if it were a steeplechase and not ten stories above the ground. I was sure we were going to die.

We plummeted toward the docks, but the centaurs hit the asphalt with hardly a jolt and galloped off, whooping and yelling taunts at the Princess Andromeda as we raced into the streets of downtown Miami.

Streets and buildings began to blur as the centaurs picked up speed. It felt as if space were compacting—as if each centaur step took us miles and miles. In no time, we'd left the city behind.

We raced through marshy fields of high grass and ponds and stunted trees.

Finally, we found ourselves in a trailer park at the edge of a lake. The trailers were all horse trailers, tricked out with televisions and mini-refrigerators and mosquito netting.
"Dude!" said a party pony as he unloaded his gear. "Did you see that bear guy? He was all like: 'Whoa, I have an arrow in my mouth!'"

The centaur with the googly-eye glasses laughed. "That was awesome! Head slam!"

The two centaurs charged at each other full-force and knocked heads, then went staggering off in different directions with crazy grins on their faces.

Chiron sighed. "I really wish my cousins wouldn't slam their heads together. They don't have the brain cells to spare. "

"Chiron! Y/N-" I heard Percy yell. He spotted me as I got of who I know is now Chiron. We were set right next to a picnic blanket where Percy was.

"Hey," I said nervously waving my hand. I really hope he wasn't going to be mad after what I pulled back there.

I looked and realized Percy and Annabeth were glaring at me.

"Don't do that again. Understand?" Annabeth said as she punched me in the arm.

"Yeah, I don't care if you are now wanting to be heroic. Don't." Percy agreed sternly.

"Ok, ok. No promises though. Just don't get yourself into-" I was interrupted as both Percy and Annabeth gave me a hug.

"Chiron," Percy said, still stunned by the fact that he was here. "You saved us. "

He gave us a dry smile. "Well now, I couldn't very well let you die, especially since you've cleared my name."

"But how did you know where we were?" Annabeth asked.

"Advanced planning, my dear. I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami. "

"Gee, thanks," Grover mumbled.

"No, no," Chiron said. "I didn't mean ... Oh, never mind. I am glad to see you, my young satyr. The point is, I was able to eavesdrop on Percy's Iris-message and trace the signal. Iris and I have been friends for centuries. I asked her to alert me to any important communications in this area. It then took no effort to convince my cousins to ride to your aid. As you see, centaurs can travel quite fast when we wish to. Distance for us is not the same as distance for humans. "

I looked over to the campfire and noticed that two centaurs were teaching Tyson how to use a paint ball gun. I decided to go join them as it was something at least a bit normal. I needed some normal after the adventure I just had.