𝕮𝖗𝖚𝖊𝖑 - 𝕱𝖊𝖒𝕺𝕮𝖝𝕷𝖊𝖔 𝖁𝖆𝖑𝖉𝖊𝖟

11. Oopsies. . .

I could feel the anger radiating off of Percy. He was by the Apollo cabin, stationed at Williamsburg Bridge. He and Annabeth must've gotten rid of the boats already, because they were nowhere to be seen.

"Get back!" He shouted. "No one touches her!"

I came down in a spiral, pulling off the same move as last time. I stood over Annabeth's body. My stomach almost dropped, I thought she was dead until I heard her whimper in pain.

My eyes scoured around the circle of monsters around us. Percy was glaring at Kronos, who was on a skeletal mount. Annabeth had intercepted some knife between an enemy demigod and my brother. She was clutching at her arm, which was bleeding more than it should've. Which, the enemy demigod was unconscious, with a terribly dented helm.

"Interesting," Kronos said. 

He towered above us on his skeletal horse, his scythe in one hand. He studied the scene with narrowed eyes as if he could sense Percy close to death, the way a wolf can smell fear—though I didn't know why, because we were almost invincible.

"Bravely fought, Percy Jackson," he said. "But it's time to surrender. . .or the girl dies."

"Percy, don't," Annabeth groaned. Her shirt was now entirely soaked with blood. We had to get her out of there.

"Blackjack!" Percy yelled.

As fast as light, the pegasus swooped down and clamped his teeth on the straps of Annabeth's armor. They soared away over the River before the enemy could even react.

Kronos snarled. "Some day soon, I am going to make pegasus soup. But in the meantime. . ." He dismounted, his scythe glistening in the dawn light. "I'll settle for more dead demigods."

He struck at Percy, but I met it with Nightfall. The impact shook the entire bridge, but my abilities kept me still. Kronos's smile wavered. 

With a yell, I kicked his legs out from under him. His scythe skittered across the pavement. I stabbed downward, but he rolled aside and regained his footing. His scythe flew back into his hands.

"So. . ." He studied me, looking mildly annoyed. "You had the courage to visit the Styx. I hat to pressure Luke in many ways to convince him. If only you  had supplied my host body instead. We wouldn't even have to deal with invading. . .but no matter. I am still more powerful. I am a TITAN."

He struck the bridge with the butt of his scythe, and a wave of pure force pushed me back to Percy. Cars went careening. Demigods—even Luke's own men—were blown off the edge of the bridge. Suspension cords whipped around, and we skidded halfway back to Manhattan.

I got unsteadily to my feet. I put a hand on Percy's shoulder. I wasn't going to let him fight Kronos at all. The remaining Apollo campers had almost made it to the end of the bridge, except for Michael Yew, who was perched on one of the suspension cables a few yards away from me. His last arrow was notched in his bow.

"Michael, go!" Percy screamed.

"Guys, the bridge!" He called. "It's already weak!"

I already knew that. Patches of the road were half melted from Greek fire. The bridge had taken a beating from Kronos's blast and the exploding arrows.

"Break it!" Michael yelled. "Use your powers!"

It was a desperate thought—no way it would work—but we stabbed our swords into the bridge. The magic blades sank to their hilts in asphalt. Salt water shot from the cracks like we'd hit a geyser. I pulled my blade out, Percy following, and the fissure grew. The bridge shook and began to crumble. Chunks the size of houses fell into the East River. Kronos's demigods cried out in alarm and scrambled backward. Some were knocked off their feet. Within a few seconds, a fifty-foot chasm opened in the Williamsburg Bridge between Kronos and us.