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Fortunately, Blackjack was on duty.
Percy did his best taxicab whistle, and within a few minutes two dark shapes circled out of the sky. They looked like hawks at first, but as they descended it was easy to make out the long galloping legs of pegasi.
Blackjack landed at a trot, his friend Porkpie right behind him.
"Thanks for coming," Percy told him. "Hey, why do pegasi gallop as they fly, anyway?"
Blackjack whinnied.
"We need to get to the Williamsburg Bridge," Percy said.
Blackjack lowered his neck and neighed. Rory didn't need to speak Horse to know that he was telling them to hop on. Although with Blackjack, there was always a possibility that he was asking for doughnuts.
Annabeth mounted Porkpie while Percy helped Rory up onto Blackjack before taking his place in front of her. Within thirty seconds, they were in the air.
Once they were steady, Rory rested her chin on Percy's shoulder. "What did Blackjack say about why pegasi gallop?"
"Uh, just because it feels right. On an unrelated note, why do humans swing their arms when they walk?"
"Your horse is as sarcastic as you," Rory laughed. "We actually swing our arms to balance out the momentum in our legs. Keeps us stable, basically."
Percy craned his neck back to look at her. "You spend way too much time in the Athena cabin."
"I heard that!" Annabeth yelled over the sound of the wind howling in their ears.
Rory saw the battle before they were close enough to make out individual fighters. It was well after midnight now, but the bridge blazed with light. Cars were burning. Arcs of fire streamed in both directions as flaming arrows and spears sailed through the air.
The three came in for a low pass, and Rory saw the Apollo campers retreating. They would hide behind cars and snipe at the approaching army, setting off explosive arrows and dropping caltrops in the road, building fiery barricades wherever they could, dragging sleeping drivers out of their cars to get them out of harm's way. But the enemy kept advancing. An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead, their shields locked together, spear tips bristling over the top. An occasional arrow would connect with their snaky trunks, or a neck, or a chink in their armour, and the unlucky snake woman would disintegrate, but most of the Apollo arrows glanced harmlessly off their shield wall. About a hundred more monsters marched behind them.
Hellhounds leaped ahead of the line from time to time. Most were destroyed with arrows, but one got hold of an Apollo camper and dragged him away.
"There!" Annabeth called from the back of her pegasus.
