The Silver Archer 2️⃣ (Percy Jackson)

17. I'm Officially An Idiot

Adira

Once he paved the beginning of the way, I began fighting with my duo.

I sliced through armor like it was made of paper. Snake women exploded. Hellhounds melted to
shadows. I slashed and stabbed and whirled, and I might have even laughed once or twice—a crazy laugh that scared me as much as it did my enemies.

I was aware of the Apollo campers beside me shooting arrows, disrupting every attempt by the enemy to rally. Finally, the monsters turned and fled—about twenty left alive out of two hundred.

I followed with the Apollo campers at my heels as I led the way.

"Yes!" yelled Michael Yew. "That's what I'm talking about!"

We drove them back toward the Brooklyn side of the bridge. The sky was growing pale in the east. I could see the toll stations ahead.

"Wait, Percy!" I yelled. "You've already routed them. Pull back! We're overextended!"

Then I saw the crowd at the base of the bridge. The retreating monsters were running straight toward their reinforcements. It was a small group, maybe thirty or forty demigods in battle armor, mounted on skeletal horses. One of them held a purple banner with the black scythe design. And walking slowly towards us, was my father himself. He was staring me down, his sword pointing at my heart.

The lead horseman trotted forward. He took off his helm, and I recognized Kronos himself, his eyes
like molten gold.

Myself and the Apollo campers faltered. The monsters we'd been pursuing reached the Titan's line and were absorbed into the new force. Kronos gazed in our direction. He was a quarter mile away, but I swear I could see him smile.

"Now," I called, "we have to pull back."

The Titan lord's men drew their swords and charged. The hooves of their skeletal horses thundered against the pavement. Our archers shot a volley, bringing down several of the enemy, but they just kept riding.

"Retreat!" Percy told us. "I'll hold them.'"

In a matter of seconds they were on us.

Michael and his archers tried to retreat, but I stayed right beside Percy, fighting with my bow, sword and dagger combined as we slowly backed up the bridge.

Kronos's cavalry swirled around us, slashing and yelling insults. The Titan himself advanced leisurely, like he had all the time in the world. Being the lord of time, I guess he did.

I tried to wound his men, not kill. That slowed me down, but these weren't monsters. They were
demigods who'd fallen under Kronos's spell. I couldn't see faces under their battle helmets, but some of them had probably been my friends. I slashed the legs off their horses and made the skeletal mounts disintegrate. After the first few demigods took a spill, the rest figured out they'd better dismount and fight us on foot.

My father stood right in front of me, and I could swear he was laughing. Percy and I stayed shoulder to shoulder. A dark shape passed over me, and I dared to glance up. Blackjack and Freedom were swooping in, kicking our enemies in the helmets and flying away like very large kamikaze pigeons.

"You really want to fight me, my little princess?" Phillip called. "Kill me?"

"I almost did, didn't I?" I threatened, rising the earth, sending many shards at him, and he sliced through every one. As he sliced through one, I sent a large boulder at him, and as he tried to slice through one, which was too much for his weight. It slowed him down a bit.

I turned around, then I saw a demigod racing towards Percy, with a sharp metallic weapon in his hand.

It seemed slow at that moment, but I did something I knew I couldn't resist. I stood in front of the blade.