Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The characters I am using are the products of Roman (and Greek) mythology and Rick Riordan's imagination. Read, enjoy and don't forget to review.

II

Mordred's Dragon

I wonder what the mortals are seeing right now, Jason briefly thought as he ran at full sprint toward the oncoming dracaenae. He knew the Mist obscured the mythical world from the eyes of mortals, but would it hide a full scale battle? Would the mortals perhaps see a violent protest or a gang war? He did not have enough time to consider this as his unit reached the monstrous horde and the two forces clashed.

Jason jump kicked an oncoming dracaena in the chest fiercely, causing her to fall to the ground in shock and pain. He stood on top of her sprawled form and swung his sword at another monster. The blade cut through the monster's arm, which gave Jason enough time to stab the fallen dracaena in the chest and turn her into a pile of dust. Without any hesitation, he stepped forward towards the recovering dracaena and drove the point of his sword into the creature's torso before it could react. Jason felt his confidence rise as he twisted and slashed at yet another monster. Unfortunately for him, the creature saw it coming and easily avoided the strike. This one carried a wooden spear with an iron tip which it used to strike at Jason while he was unbalanced. He could only watch in horror as the dracaena brought the spear's tip towards his defenseless chest. Despite himself, Jason was not afraid of dying. He knew that as a demigod life was uncertain and could end at any moment. He knew that one day, and one day soon, he would face an enemy he cannot defeat. He couldn't help his eyes though as they closed involuntarily while he waited for his untimely end. It never came, at least not at that moment, and after a few tension-filled moments he opened his eyes testily. The monster that had threatened his life only moments before had dissolved into a messy pile of dust. Jason was stunned for a split-second, but he turned quickly to glance at his savior. It was Gus. The older kid had challenged another creature and was currently locked in a duel with the monster.

"Dude," the skinny officer shouted while at the same time blocking a vicious jab from a dracaena and her jagged sword. "Try to stay alive, all right?"

Jason nodded and immersed himself in battle once more. The dracaenae had no form, no ranks. They came from all directions and attacked without pattern. A green-scaled dracaena bore on Jason, her talons gripping a crude javelin that was aimed at his head. He ducked his head to the side and bashed the javelin out of its trajectory. He stabbed at the monster's torso, but she parried and attacked him once more. For several seconds they were locked in mortal combat, the metallic sounds of their weapons drowned by the rest of the battle. Beads of sweat gathered on Jason's forehead as he fought to break the deadly stalemate. He stepped forward, swinging Ivlivs in an upward arc. He was blocked by the downward swing of the monster's weapon. Capitalizing on the dracaena's imbalance, he twisted around and swung the sword downwards, leaving a gash on her leg and forcing her to go down on one knee. With little hesitation, he brought his blade down on her upper back, turning the monster into course dust.

He used a few moments to survey the raging battle around him. It was chaos. Armed legionnaires left and right were fighting to reform ranks, while at the same time trying to protect their unarmed friends. Jason had lost sight of the centurions, but he could see his other friends locked in skirmishes across the bridge. He saw Dakota charge in to save a disarmed hero with a fallen dracaena's javelin. The son of Bacchus was swinging the javelin horizontally in front of him in a futile attempt to ward off three snake women. Jason ran towards Dakota, hastily sidestepping a circular shield of an oncoming monster. There were too many dracaenae between him and Dakota, he noticed grimly. He knocked a spear from its path, stopping it from impaling him in the gut, and jumped onto the hood of a black Toyota sedan. He stepped on the windshield and launched himself off the roof of the car towards Dakota and his oppressors. Jason brought down his sword on an oblivious dracaena, and she gave a shriek of surprise before dissolving into dust.

Her comrade recovered surprisingly quickly and swung her sword in an attempt to lob Jason's head off. He blocked, but before he could strike back the second dracaena stabbed at him with her spear that had its shaft broken in half. He sidestepped and backed away, leading the monsters away from Dakota and the fallen demigod. Both monsters attacked him at the same time, and Jason was quickly overwhelmed. He blocked the sword and ducked under the spear, sweat now freely pouring down his face. He tried to attack the monster armed with the spear, but she blocked and he was forced to take another step back before he was overwhelmed once more. The dracaenae fanned out around him until he was stuck between them. Strategically, he was at a disadvantage. He swung Ivlivs in a narrow arc at one monster, and she blocked with her sword as he had anticipated. He twisted around backslashed at the other creature. She blocked and slashed at his shoulder, but he sidestepped and backed away, keeping both monsters in front of him. They stabbed at him at the same time, and he swung his sword in a wide arc, bashing both weapons from their intended trajectory. Capitalizing on their imbalance, he grabbed one monster's spear shaft and pulled her towards him while at the same time kicking the other monster in the stomach. He was now holding onto the spear with both hands, and he used his momentum to throw the creature off balance. As she frantically tried to prevent herself from toppling over, Jason acted quickly and jumped forward, sinking his blade into her chest and turning her into dust. He turned around, expecting the second dracaena to be upon him, but Dakota had recovered quickly and had run the monster through with his javelin.

"That was close," the curly haired boy said as he wiped sweat off his brow. "Thanks, man."

"Don't mention it," Jason responded.

He watched as Dakota helped the fallen hero up. The hero removed a battered helmet, revealing a brown haired girl whose name Jason vaguely remembered as being Gwen. She had taken off her jersey, the sleeve of her purple camp shirt was torn and her left arm was bleeding, but she had a cheery smile on her face.

Somewhere behind them an explosion went off, shaking the entire bridge. Jason looked back and saw a dozen dracaenae get vaporized by an intense fireball. A few monsters were left now, but the remaining ones were still fighting with a savage and ferocious passion. Dakota tried to drag Gwen to a safer place, but she shrugged him off.

"Its ok," she said. "I'll be fine."

Jason never really hung out with the girl, but he noticed that she was often optimistic. She always looked for the bright side in everything. Jason assumed it was because she was the daughter of Fortuna, that luck and optimism were somehow tied together.

Jason was about to insist that she found a safe place while he and Dakota returned to battle, when a huge roar shook the very foundations of the bridge. Legionnaires were suddenly alert and started searching for the source of the sound. Even the dracaenae looked taken aback by this new development. The railing at the edge of the bridge crumpled and Jason twisted around with his sword held high to see a nightmare emerge from under the bridge. A scaly head the size of a truck rose, its rough skin gray and its eyes yellow with narrow slits for pupils. Its long sharp teeth were gleaming and exposed since it had no lip covering. It was a horrific sight, and Jason's monster training class informed him that it was a dragon. By the smoke that was curling out of its snake like nostrils, it was a fire breathing dragon. By the looks of it, it had just woken up and it was furious. It emitted another roar, and further down the bridge a spiked tail wrapped around the bridge.

"This was supposed to be a relaxing trip to the city," Dakota whined next to Jason.

The dragon pulled itself up from under the bridge, one foreleg grabbing hold of the suspension cables and the other sinking into the tarmac.

"We have to retreat," Jason noted grimly. "We can't deal with a dragon that big. Not now."

By now the battle on the bridge had stopped and all focus was on the ferocious creature. The officers were shepherding the mortals as far away from the dragon as possible.

"I know, but someone has to defeat it..."

"Yeah, but who ca-wait, why are you looking at me, I can't do it."

Dakota had a crazy look in his eyes.

"Of course you can, dude," he said excitedly. "Your dad is one of the Big Three. You have awesome elemental powers. You guys destroy half the world over a minor disagreement. Besides, didn't you face a dragon on your last quest?"

Jason forced the surfacing thoughts to the back of his mind. He would not allow them to overcome him. He knew he shouldn't have told Dakota about that quest.

"That was two years ago. And that was different."

That was all he was going to say on the matter.

Two brave legionnaires were charging the monster, but it knocked them away with its front claws. They landed painfully on the roofs of some cars. They had to hastily scramble for cover behind the cars as the dragon opened its wide jaws and fire came rushing out, melting the asphalt into a puddle of gooey tar. Jason frantically fought to push the fear and the horrible memories of his last quest aside. There was no one else. He had to defeat the monster. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the dragon as calmly as he could manage. The monster opened its mouth and breathed fire on a lane of cars, and seconds later a huge explosion rocked the bridge. A heat wave surged across, and Jason was forced to cover his eyes with his arm as a hot air billowed on the surface of the bridge. Against all instinct, he broke into a run toward the gushing flames and the monster beyond, the wind forcibly pushing him back. The heat was unbearable, and Jason's arm felt like it was on fire. He felt a tug at the pit of his stomach, and suddenly the scalding wind subsided. He was now running at full sprint, but he noticed that the hot air was still blowing things away next to him. Somehow, it was not affecting him anymore. He approached the wall of burning cars and as he got closer, a tunnel was formed within the wall of fire, creating a safe passage for him to go through. He stepped on a blackened car hood and jumped, landing on the molten tar with a squelch. The tug in his stomach ceased.

Then he did the stupidest thing he could imagine.

"Hey ugly!" he taunted.

The dragon turned its head sharply and regarded Jason with a yellow eye. I must be going crazy, he thought gingerly.

"You want to eat something, eat this!"

He ran forward and jabbed at the monster's head with his blade. The sword made contact with its chin, but that only irritated the creature. It lunged forward, snapping at Jason with its teeth, but he rolled sideways before it gobbled him whole. He waved his sword above his head, trying to land a clean shot. The more he did it however, the angrier the dragon got. It swung its head like a club, and Jason was sent flying and rolling on the sticky road. With some difficulty he got up and prepared to charge again, but the dragon turned its head towards him and shot scorching flames toward him. He barely had time to jump out of the way, and the flames burned the spot on which he was standing. He survived, but his jacket did not. The back was singed off and the left sleeve was smoking. Coughing slightly, he got to his feet and hastily pulled off the ruined jacket. The acrid smoke of burning tar hung lazily in the air. Seeing that he was not flame grilled, the dragon roared and breathed another wave of orange flames at Jason. This time he couldn't get out of the way. He held out his left hand feebly, but felt the tug in his gut once more. The flames fanned out around him as if he was in a protective but invisible cocoon. No, more like as if a strong wind was blowing against the flames. It must have been his demigod powers. Jason had never really given much consideration to them. He had heard legends from the other campers about the incredible powers that Big Three demigods had, but to him these powers only meant that he was different from them. Like a freak. He only wanted to fit in, to be accepted. Now it looked as if these powers were going to save his life. The fiery wave ceased, and if dragons ever looked surprised this one most certainly did. But Jason didn't waste any time.

He ran at full speed toward the monster, ready to resume his attack. He jumped onto the railing at the edge of the bridge and used it to launch himself onto the dragon. He landed on its neck and used the spikes on the back of its neck as handholds. By the time the monster realized the was a demigod on it, he had already clambered onto its head. He hacked and stabbed the dragon's head, but that barely made a scratch. The head scales were too hard and its skull was too thick. The creature shook its ugly head to throw him off, and Jason had to grab hold of a spike to stop himself from falling off. His grip loosened and he was thrown into the air. Beneath him the dragon opened its jaws, ready to swallow him when he fell back down. He fell on a suspension cable with an audible oof, and the monster pulled itself upward, determined to eat the annoying hero. With a grimace, Jason shakily got to his feet. His limbs were aching and his lungs felt constricted. He realized with a sense of dread that he wouldn't be able to mount another physical assault. He had to use his powers.

Alright, demigod powers, he thought. Don't fail me now.

His father, Jupiter, was god of the sky. Jason looked up at the sky and concentrated hard. He felt another tug at his gut, but this one was more intense. Immediately the sky darkened. The storm clouds that had been gathering all morning thickened and boiled. The air pressure dropped until Jason's ears popped. A dark cloud that was lower than the rest funneled...

...and a loud thunderclap resonated across the sky. It shook the bridge and temporarily distracted the dragon, but somehow Jason was disappointed. He was expecting something else.

He was expecting lightning.

Jupiter was well known for his lightning bolts. The legion was under the orders of Lord Jupiter himself, and it was called the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Armed with lightning. Jason didn't understand why he hadn't summoned lightning himself. He didn't have enough time to ponder this further. The thunderclap had only annoyed the creature further, but it was still distracted. And its throat and underbelly were exposed. He jumped off the suspension cable, Ivlivs gripped tightly in his right hand. He landed at the base of its throat and sank the blade there. With a shout, he dragged the blade with him down the dragon's neck. He landed on his feet on the bridge and pulled the sword out of the monster's hide. With a final horrific shriek, the dragon turned into dust that fell into the sea.

Jason stumbled backwards, suddenly feeling very woozy. This was the first time he had used his powers, and the effort drained him. He fell backwards, but passed out before his body hit the ground.

A/N: I hope it doesn't seem strange that Jason is using his powers for the first time, but Riordan does say that demigod powers manifest around puberty. Also, I'm primarily using the book universe, but I like the movie universe idea that there was no longer any lightning in the skies since the master bolt was missing. This idea plays a vital role in the development of Jason's powers in this story.