Shattered

Teeth

"You.'" The General pointed to another guard. "Get me the right teeth. NOW!"

The new guard ran off to carry out his orders.

"Imbeciles,' muttered the General.

"This is why I don't use mortals," Luke said. "They are unreliable, and pathetic."

"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," the General said. "I love them."

A minute later, the guard hustled into the room with his hands full of large pointy teeth.

"Excellent," the General said. He climbed onto the balcony railing and jumped down, twenty feet.

Where he landed, the marble floor cracked under his leather shoes. He stood, wincing, and rubbed his shoulders. "Curse my stiff neck."

"Another hot pad, sir?" a guard asked. "More Tylenol?"

"No! It will pass." The General brushed off his silk suit, then snatched up the teeth. "I shall do this myself."

He held up one of the teeth and smiled. "Dinosaur teeth—ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely."

He planted them in the dirt, twelve in all. Then he scooped up the watering can. He sprinkled the soil with red liquid, tossed the can away, and held his arms out wide. Rise! The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping at the air.

The General looked up at the balcony. "Quickly, do you have the scent?" He turned to Luke, "Do you have anything of Jackson's, we must eradicate him, remove him from the Olympians arsenal."

"Yesssss, lord," one of the snake ladies said. She took out a sash of silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore. And simultaneously Luke took out one of Percy's old camp t-shirts. Percy dumbly wondered how the demigod had managed to steal one. It took him approximately three seconds when he realized what he had just said. Luke was a son of Hermes, God of Thieves...

"Excellent," the General said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!"

As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. There were twelve of them, one for each tooth the General had planted. They were nothing like Halloween skeletons, or the kind you might see in cheesy movies. These were growing flesh as Percy watched, turning into men, but men with dull gray skin, yellow eyes, and modern clothes—gray muscle shirts, camo pants, and combat boots. If you didn't look too closely, you could almost believe they were human, but their flesh was transparent and their bones shimmered underneath, like X-ray images.

One of them looked straight at a wall near Percy, almost catching him in its line of sight.

The snake lady released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General's hand. As the general looked at his Sparti with a grin, Luke threw the t-shirt at the sparti. Percy made a mad dash. The general threw the scarf but it was caught by by the son of Poseidon. He sprinted straight to the other exit as the general roared. Just as Percy was about the exit, a loud crash alerted him.

"SEAL THE DOORS, THERES ANOTHER INTRUDER. ONE CLOAKED IN INVISIBILITY." The general roared.

"Annabeth!" Percy cursed under his breath. How hadn't he noticed her following him? Well, it was a given that she was invisible but still... The situation was very dangerous. Annabeth didn't have his experience. He knew where to hide. She didn't. And he knw for a fact that Annabeth's cap wouldn't fool the Sparti.