❦𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓮❦ - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷

𝒱𝐼𝐼𝐼. 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓉 𝑅𝒶𝒸𝑒𝓈

𝒯𝒽𝑒 morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam. Millions of birds were roosting in the trees—fat gray-and-white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that reminded Zoe of submarine radar.

The racetrack had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods. Hephaestus's cabin had used the bronze bulls, which were completely tame since they'd had their heads smashed in, to plow an oval track in a matter of minutes.

There were rows of stone steps for the spectators—Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren't participating. Mr. D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock, much like Zoe and her dad whenever they decided to actually get sleep.

"Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate éclair across the judge's table. "You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at them like they were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!"

Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. They had a sweet ride made of bronze and iron—even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. Zoe had no doubt that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than a fully loaded Maserati. Given Zoe had been in the forges a few times that they were working on it, she was excited to see what it could do.

The Ares chariot was blood-red, and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Clarisse climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys.

Apollo's chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Their fighter was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows at the opposing drivers.

Hermes's chariot was green and kind of old-looking, as if it hadn't been out of the garage in years. It didn't look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, and Zoe couldn't even begin to try and figure out what dirty tricks they'd schemed up.

That left two chariots: one driven by Annabeth, and the other by Percy.

Before the race began, he tried to approach Annabeth. She seemed hopeful at first then her expression settled on annoyed. Zoe didn't know what they were talking about but she figured it wasn't something Annabeth liked.

Zoe and her siblings sat in the front row of the stands, the Stark loudly cheering on the Athena chariot. She did send Percy a good luck as he pulled up with Tyson and their chariot.

"Charioteers!" Tantalus called. "To your mark!"

As everyone was getting lined up and ready to begin the race, Zoe noticed how many more pigeons were in the trees now—screeching like crazy, making the whole forest rustle. Nobody else seemed to be paying them much attention, but they made her nervous. Their beaks glinted strangely. Their eyes seemed shinier than regular birds.

If you've never seen a Greek chariot, it's built for speed, not safety or comfort. It's basically a wooden basket, open at the back, mounted on an axle between two wheels. The driver stands up the whole time, and you can feel every bump in the road. The carriage is made of such light wood that if you wipe out making the hairpin turns at either end of the track, you'll probably tip over and crush both the chariot and yourself.

As the chariots finished lining up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly the campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds. Tantalus didn't look concerned, but he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise.

"Charioteers!" he shouted. "Attend your mark!"

He waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life. Hooves thundered against the dirt. The crowd cheered.

Zoe didn't pay very close attention to the race. She barely took her eyes off the pigeons.

She heard a few cracks and the telltale noises of things breaking and hitting each other, but she didn't look. Suddenly, the pigeons rose from the trees. They began spiraling, like a huge tornado, heading toward the track.

Zoe stood up and already had her scallop shell clip in her hand when the pigeons started to swarm—thousands of them dive-bombing the other spectators in the stands, attacking the chariots. Zoe flipped her clip and caught her sword, beginning to assault the birds. Beckendorf was mobbed. His fighter tried to bat the birds away but he couldn't see anything. The chariot veered off course and plowed through the strawberry fields, the mechanical horses steaming.

In the Ares chariot, Clarisse barked an order to her fighter, who quickly threw a screen of camouflage netting over their basket. The birds swarmed around it, pecking and clawing at the fighter's hands as he tried to hold up the net, but Clarisse just gritted her teeth and kept driving. Her skeletal horses seemed immune to the distraction. The pigeons pecked uselessly at their empty eye sockets and flew through their rib cages, but the stallions kept right on running.

Zoe and the other non-competing campers weren't so lucky. The birds were slashing at any bit of exposed flesh, driving everyone into a panic. Now that the birds were closer, it was clear they weren't normal pigeons. Their eyes were beady and evil-looking. Their beaks were made of bronze, and judging from the sharp pecks Zoe was getting all over her body, they were razor-fucking-sharp.

Zoe knew what they were, Stymphalian birds. She also knew they would strip everyone to bones if someone didn't drive them away.

Zoe wasn't really aware of anything other than the constant state of pain she seemed to be in and making sure she didn't hit a fellow camper with her sword whilst trying to kill some birds.

All of a sudden, ​​the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning in Italian. Something about a lost love? It didn't matter because the demon pigeons went nuts. They started flying in circles, running into each other like they wanted to bash their own brains out. Then they abandoned the track altogether and flew skyward in a huge dark wave.

Zoe saw the opportunity and shouted, "Now! Archers!"

With clear targets, Apollo's archers had flawless aim. Most of them could nock five or six arrows at once. Within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze-beaked pigeons, and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon.

The camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn't pretty. Most of the chariots had been completely destroyed. Almost everyone was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks. Zoe included. Some of her siblings were screaming because their hairdos had been ruined and their clothes pooped on.

"Bravo!" Tantalus said, looking straight at Clarisse. "We have our first winner!" He walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned looking Clarisse.

Then he turned and smiled at Percy. "And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race."

A/N So, I'm going on a trip. I'm actually leaving today, that's why this is posted so early in the morning (for me, at least). It's gonna be a triple update to make up for today, this weekend, and next Wednesday. I'll go back to the regular schedule on the weekend of the 27th. Have a good day/night/rest of your week!