❝In a fight, they're lethal. Around each other, they melt❞
"I'm fine." I said, trying to hide the frown and tears that threatened to spill.
Percy looked at me once.
"I'm not going anywhere, unless you tell me what's wrong," he declared and I would h...
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Fortunately, Blackjack was on duty.
Percy did his best taxicab whistle, and within a few minutes a dark shape circled out of the sky. They looked like a hawk at first, but as he descended I could make out the long galloping legs of pegasi.
Blackjack landed at a trot.
"Thanks for coming," Percy told him. "Hey, why do pegasi gallop as they fly, anyway?"
"Percy, we all want to know the answer. But can we not do this when people need help?" I asked in a stage whisper, waving at Blackjack.
"We need to get to the Williamsburg Bridge," He finally said after a minute.
Blackjack lowered his neck.
On the way to the bridge, a knot formed in the pit of my stomach. The Minotaur was one of the first monsters Percy ever defeated. Four years ago he'd nearly killed his mother on Half-Blood Hill. It scared me a little, knowing he would be fighting it all over again. What if he froze up? What if-
"You know I have the curse of Achilles right?" Percy said over my shoulder, cutting off my worrying thoughts. "You seem like you're gonna have a panic attack."
I took a deep breath and leaned into him a little bit and his hands tightened around my waist. "I know, it just.."
"Worries you?" He asked, placing his head on my shoulder with a sad smile. "It's gonna be alright Princess. I won't let anything happen to you."
He thought I was worried about myself?! "Oh no, Fish Face. I'm worried about you."
"Then there's no reason to be worried." He said, his smiling brightening at something it seemed like a ghost had said. But I knew better, it was Blackjack.
"What'd he say?" I asked Percy but he just shook his head, his smile bright and his eyes twinkling.
We saw the battle before we 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.
We came in for a low pass, and I 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 armor, 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. It was a absolute shit show down there.
