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If not for the horses and Piper, Rory would have died.
Jason and Percy charged each other, but Tempest and Blackjack balked long enough for Piper to leap out of the way.
Rory tried to follow, but her legs were stuck in place. She looked down and noticed wheat growing around her feet and ankles, creeping their way up her calves. She reached down and tried to tug at them, but they didn't budge.
"Piper!" she called. "Help!"
Piper wasted no time. She tackled Rory to the ground. Rory hoped that the momentum would break the crops and they would roll to the edge of the road. Well, Piper rolled away. But the wheat stayed tight. Rory's back hit the ground but her feet stayed planted on the ground (no pun intended). She screamed out in pain as she heard a sickening crack.
She looked up, dazed and horrified, as the boys crossed swords right above her, gold against bronze. Sparks flew. Their blades blurred — strike and parry — and the pavement trembled. The first exchange took only a second, but Rory couldn't believe the speed of their sword fighting. The horses pulled away from each other— Tempest thundering in protest, Blackjack flapping his wings. Luckily, they carefully avoided trampling Rory.
"Stop it!" Piper yelled.
For a moment, Jason heeded her voice. His golden eyes turned toward her, and Percy charged, slamming his blade into Jason. Thank the gods, Percy turned his sword — maybe on purpose, maybe accidentally — so the flat of it hit Jason's chest, but the impact was still enough to knock Jason off his mount.
Blackjack cantered away as Tempest reared in confusion. The spirit horse charged into the sunflowers and dissipated into vapor.
Rory tried to sit up to grab Spectre, which had been knocked just out of reach, but the wheat had started wrapping around her wrists. She also felt a thick sunflower stem growing around her waist.
Percy struggled to turn his pegasus around.
"Percy!" Piper yelled. "Jason's your friend. Drop your weapon!"
Percy's sword arm dipped. Piper might have been able to bring him under control, but unfortunately Jason got to his feet.
He roared. A bolt of lightning arced out of the clear blue sky. It ricocheted off his gladius and blasted Percy off his horse.
Blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. Jason charged at Percy, who was now on his back, his clothes smoking from the lightning blast.
The flower around Rory's waist was tightening, making it hard to breathe. "Piper!" she called again.
Piper looked between Rory and Jason desperately. She carefully began walking over to Rory as she continued to shout, "No! Jason, stop!"
