THE HEALER| Heroes of Olympus

Prologue (The Last Olympian PT2)

We retreated to the main doors of the Empire State building. We were out of options. No more help was coming.

Then I heard a rumbling in the south. It wasn't a sound you hear much in New York, but I recognized it immediately: chariot wheels. A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!"

And a dozen war chariots charged into battle. Each flew a red banner with the symbol of thewild boar's head. Each was pulled by a team of skeletal horses with manes of fire. A total of thirtyfresh warriors, armor gleaming and eyes full of hate, lowered their lances as one—making a bristlingwall of death.

"The children of Ares!" Austin said in amazement. Leading the charge was a girl in familiar red armor, her facecovered by a boar's-head helm. She held aloft a spear that crackled with electricity. Clarisse herselfhad come to the rescue. While half her chariots charged the monster army, Clarisse led the other sixstraight for the drakon.

"Ares, to me!" Clarisse screamed. Her voice sounded shriller than usual, but I guess thatwasn't surprising given what she was fighting.Across the street, the arrival of six chariots gave the Party Ponies new hope. They rallied atthe doors of the Empire State Building, and the enemy army was momentarily thrown into confusion.Meanwhile, Clarisse's chariots circled the drakon. Lances broke against the monster's skin.Skeletal horses breathed fire and whinnied. Two more chariots overturned, but the warriors simplyleaped to their feet, drew their swords, and went to work.

They hacked at chinks in the creature'sscales. They dodged poison spray like they'd been training for this all their lives, which of coursethey had.No one could say the Ares campers weren't brave. Clarisse was right there in front, stabbingher spear at the drakon's face, trying to put out its other eye. But as I watched, things started to gowrong. The drakon snapped up one Ares camper in a gulp. It knocked aside another and sprayedpoison on a third, who retreated in a panic, his armor melting.

"We have to help," Annabeth said. Annabeth and Percy jumped onto the monster's back and ran toward its head, trying to draw itsattention away from Clarisse.Her cabinmates threw javelins, most of which broke, but some lodged in the monster's teeth.It snapped its jaws together until its mouth was a mess of green blood, yellow foamy poison, andsplintered weapons.

"You can do it!" Percy screamed at Clarisse. "A child of Ares is destined to kill it!"Through her war helmet, I could only see her eyes—but I could tell something was wrong.Her blue eyes shone with fear. Clarisse never looked like that. And she didn't have blue eyes.

"ARES!" she shouted, in that strangely shrill voice. She leveled her spear and charged thedrakon.

"No, that's not Clarisse." I muttered. "WAIT!"

But the monster looked down at her—almost in contempt—and spit poison directly in herface.She screamed and fell.

"Clarisse!" Annabeth jumped off the monster's back and ran to help, while the other Arescampers tried to defend their fallen counselor. Percy drove Riptide between two of the creature's scalesand managed to turn its attention to himself.

I saw a flying chariot land on Fifth Avenue.Then someone ran toward us. A girl's voice, shaken with grief, cried, "NO! Curse you,WHY?"I dared to glance over, the fake Clarisse was lying on the groundwhere she'd fallen. Her armor smoked with poison. Annabeth and the Ares campers were trying tounfasten her helmet. And kneeling next to them, her face blotchy with tears, was a girl in campclothes. It was . . . the real Clarisse.

I bolted out towards them. Whoever the fake Clarisse was maybe I could still save them.

"YOU WANT DEATH?" The real Clarisse screamed at the drakon. "WELL, COME ON!" She began to attack the drakon with Percy and managed to kill it.