Annabeth Chase and the Bronze Dragon

Part 4 - Beckendorf looks like garbage

The weirdest part? A child of Aphrodite led the charge.

Silena raced straight into the Ant Hill, moving so fast that Percy and I were struggling to keep up with her. The Myrmekes didn't even look at us as we ran past, even though we were all carrying swords and running straight at their home. All their attention was on the dragon, who was stomping all over them, roaring as it breathed fire. Honestly, if I was one of the Myrmekes, I'd be running for my ant life.

I nearly fainted from the stench as we raced through the tunnels. It smelt worse than the stink bomb the Stolls had once tossed into the Athena cabin. Oh gods, did we have sweet revenge after that.

There was rotting food all over the floor as well as mould and goo everywhere. It was also dark, our only light coming from occasional gaps in the the ceiling and Percy's sword, Riptide. Some ants scurried past us, but they didn't even seem to notice us. It was like we weren't even counted as a threat. I felt offended by that.

There were heaps of side tunnels branching off from the tunnel we were following, and when I poked my head in one, I found it full of treasure. And I mean full. The floor was covered in gold from all the plates, coins, helmets, jewelry and other priceless gems. The room seems to glow, and I realised that it was because of the sheer amount of magical items there. If we could manage to get all of those . . .

I was jarred out of those thoughts when I happened to look up at the ceiling of the room. Huge, gooey sacks hung down, dripping all over the magical items. Ant larvae, and some were moving. It reminded me where we were, but still, I couldn't resist showing the others.

"Look!" I said, standing aside so Percy and Silena could poke their heads in for a look. "That's just one room. There are probably hundreds of nurseries down here, decorated with treasure."

"It's not important," Silena hissed, looking frantic. "We have to find Charlie!"

I looked at her in shock, amazed that her, a child of Aphrodite, was uninterested in jewelry. Then again, Aphrodite was more about love, and that was what was driving Silena now.

We raced on, coming out into a massive cavern not far away. It stunk worse than the rest of the inside of the hill, probably because of all the garbage and compost stored there. All of the junk was piled in massive stacks, nearly reaching the ceiling and spilling everywhere. And there, his camouflage armour matching his surroundings, was Beckendorf, looking stunned and weak as he struggled to move.

"Charlie!" Silena shrieked, racing over to him and fussing over him.

His eyes locked on her as she tucked herself under one of his shoulders and helped him up. She was tall, but he was taller and solidly build, so she looked like a child beside him.

"Thank the gods," he said, relieved. "My - my legs are paralysed!"

"It'll wear off," I told him. "But we have to get you out of here. Percy, take his other side."

He handed me Riptide so he wouldn't accidentally stab Beckendorf with it, and tucked himself under the son of Hephaestus's other shoulder. Together, him and Silena practically dragged Beckendorf along, while I led the way, holding Riptide out front for light.

We didn't get far as we found ourselves at an intersection and I had to stop and concentrate, trying to remember which way to go.

It didn't help that all I could hear was the roaring of the dragon, it's stamping feet making the whole hill shake.

"What's going on out there?" Beckendorf asked. Suddenly, he looked anxious. "The dragon! You didn't - reactivated it?"

"Afraid so," Percy said. "Seemed like the only way."

"But you can't just turn on an automaton! You have to calibrate the motor, run a diagnostic . . . There's no telling what it'll do! We've got to get out of here!"

I was about to pick at tunnel at random when the ceiling collapsed, showering us with dirt. When I looked up, the dragon was above us, roaring as it tried to shake the dozens of Myrmekes on its back off. It was thrashing so bad, it was about to destroy the whole hill, and us in it.

"Come on!" Percy yelled, heaving Beckendorf up. I handed him back Riptide as some Myrmekes started charging at us, seemingly not pleased that we were taking their dinner.

We climbed out of the crater the dragon had made and started for the forest. I loped a path through the Myrmekes coming at us, hacking off their heads and legs. It's turns out celestial bronze worked quite well on them.

The dragon was having a harder time than we were. The Myrmekes were spraying acid over it, gradually melting its bronze body and destroying the wires that stuck out from its body. It kept fighting though, stomping and shaking and roaring and blowing fire, yet I couldn't see it lasting much longer.

"I - I think I can walk now," Beckendorf said. He took one step and fell on his face straight away.

"Charlie!" Silena grabbed him, lifted him up by herself and practically carrying him away.

Percy and I ran around her, clearing a path through the Myrmekes with our swords. We hacked and swiped at them, loping off heads and slashing through their shells. We made it all the way to the edge of the clearing unscathed, except for Percy's shoe, who was smoking from being sprayed on by acid.

Turning back, we watched as the dragon began losing the battle, stumbling as more and more Myrmekes crawled over it, biting through its armour and causing smoke to rise from its body. It broke my heart to see some a majestic creature being brought down in such a way. But I could see no way of saving it without dying myself. There were just too many Myrmekes.

"We can't let it die!" Silena cried.

"It's too dangerous," Beckendorf said sadly. "It's wiring -"

"Charlie," Silena sobbed, turning her bright and teary blue eyes on him, "it saved your life! Please, for me."

He hesitated, but for only a second. Weakly, he got to his feet and faced the dragon.

"Get ready to run," he told us. "DRAGON! Emergency defence, beta-ACTIVATE!"

The dragon turned to look at him. It stopped and its eyes started to glow. I felt the hair stead up on the back of my neck and the air suddenly felt charged with lightning.

ZZZZZAAAAAPPPP!

Blue electricity rippled all over the dragon's body, causing the Myrmekes in contact with it to explode immediately. They connected with other Myrmekes until a chained reaction of burnt ants was happening all over the clearing. The Myrmekes who managed to avoid being struck were fleeing for the the safety of their destroyed hill.

The dragon roared triumphantly, then turned to fix us with its glowing ruby eyes.

"Now," said Beckendorf in a quiet voice, "we run."