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𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪
WHEN PERCY CAME OUT OF THE RIVER, the horrified look on Annabeth's face was enough to make his stomach drop. Her words were worse.
Army. The Minotaur. Williamsburg. Apollo Cabin. Elia.
He called for Blackjack and Porkpie and they were in the sky in moments.
Percy saw the battle way before he could make out any individuals. It was well after midnight by then, but the bridge blazed with light— cars burning, arcs of fire flying in both directions as flaming arrows and spears sailed through the air. And there, at the very front line, a whirling blur of yellow cotton and golden light flying through the enemy troops, leaving them to drop like flies.
The pegasi came in for a low pass, and Percy could see the rest of the Apollo campers retreating. Sunkissed heads would duck behind cars and snipe at the approaching army, set off explosive arrows and drop caltrops in the road, and build fiery barricades wherever they could, dragging sleeping drivers out of their cars to get them out of harm's way.
All kids he knew, kids Elia talked about more than herself— Kayla, Austin, and Michael holding the archer's line, Ravi and Kayla setting traps along the bridge, Hector and Lucia dragging a sleeping woman out of her car and toward the edge of the bridge, carefully tucking her out of danger.
But the enemy kept advancing. An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead, their shields locked together, spear tips bristling over the top. That golden blur held them off as well as it could, the edge of a blade and a blonde ponytail darting through the ranks and keeping them at bay, but nearly a hundred more monsters marched behind the front lines.
Hellhounds stalked the line, and one darted forward, managing to catch a dark-haired boy that Percy recognized as Ravi by the pant leg, but the golden blur halted on the spot and turned to glare at the dog with eyes the same midnight blue as the sky above, sending it cowering away until one of the archers could catch it with a flaming arrow.
Faintly, something warm and bright flickered in Percy's chest, akin to pride.
"There!" Annabeth shouted from the back of her pegasus, pointing.
Sure enough, in the middle of the invading legion stood the Minotaur.
He seemed larger than the last time Percy had seen him— ten feet tall at least. A double-bladed axe was strapped to his back, but he seemed too impatient to use it.
As soon as the beast spotted Percy circling overhead, it let out a bellow and picked up an abandoned white limousine.
Shit. "Blackjack, dive!" Percy ordered, flattening himself to the pegasus' neck as Blackjack tucked his wings and plummeted. The limo sailed over their heads, missing by maybe five centimetres.
