Betrayed But Never Forgotten

Took ya long enough

Annabeth's Pov

     

The sun bled crimson across the sky as Luke and I surged forward, our path to Hyperion suddenly clear. The monsters parted like a dark sea, their yellow eyes following our movement with a mixture of fear and malice. The Titan Lord of Light stood waiting, his golden armor turning the dying sunlight into a conflagration that made the air shimmer around him. Every step we took sent vibrations through the earth—whether from Hyperion's power or the battle raging around us, I couldn't tell.

My dagger felt alive in my hand, the celestial bronze humming with anticipation as we closed the distance. Beside me, Luke moved with the fluid grace of a predator, his own blade catching the fiery light of the setting sun. Our cloaks billowed behind us like wings of shadow, a stark contrast to the Titan's blazing aura.

"We haven't met yet," Hyperion called out, his voice reverberating across the battlefield like a brass gong. He rested his massive axe against his shoulder, the edge gleaming with immortal hunger. "Who are you? I want to know your names before I kill you and the demigod population." His laughter boomed across the field, a sound like mountains crumbling.

Luke's face hardened, the scar across his cheek standing out stark white against his flushed skin. 

"We're the Chaos warriors," he replied, his voice carrying despite the cacophony of battle surrounding us. "And you and your army will be the ones dying today."

The Titan threw his head back and roared with laughter, the sound sending nearby hellhounds cowering. "Bold words for such small creatures," he mocked, his eyes burning like twin suns as he hefted his axe. The weapon whistled through the air as he flung it toward us with god-like strength.

We ducked in perfect synchronization, the axe passing so close over our heads that I felt the heat of its blade singe my hair. Without breaking stride, we split apart—Luke veering right while I took the left—flanking the Titan with practiced precision.

Our daggers struck simultaneously, mine finding a gap in the armor at his left side while Luke's blade slipped between the golden plates on his right. Ichor—the golden blood of immortals—spurted from the wounds, sizzling where it hit the ground and turning the grass to ash.

Hyperion barely flinched. "Is that all you got, puny demigods?" he roared, spinning with unexpected speed and bringing his axe down where I had been standing a heartbeat before. The ground split open from the impact, a fissure racing outward like a jagged lightning bolt across the earth.

I rolled away, feeling the heat of the strike against my back, and scrambled toward Luke who had taken cover behind a boulder that had been unearthed by the Titan's blow.

"We need to get on top of him," Luke panted, his eyes darting around as he assessed the situation. "Make his whole body bleed out at once." With a gesture of his hand, a veil of invisibility descended over us—one of the perks of being the king of stealth. The air shimmered momentarily, and then we were ghosts on the battlefield.

We circled around to the Titan's back, using the chaos of battle as cover. All around us, demigods clashed with monsters—bronze against claw, strategy against savagery. Through the melee, I caught glimpses of our fellow warriors: Zoe and Bianca on a nearby hill, their arrows finding monstrous throats with unerring accuracy; Charles and Silena fighting back-to-back, their movements so perfectly coordinated they seemed to share a single mind; Annabeth outmaneuvering a group of empousai, her knife flashing like quicksilver in the fading light.

"Where did you go, mortals?" Hyperion bellowed, spinning in place, his axe carving arcs of destruction through the air. His confusion gave us the opening we needed.