Year 73 of the Titans

Sunday, April 16

Bianca's POV

Present Day

"We shouldn't be here," said Tammi nervously. "It's after curfew. If we're caught, we'll be brought to Hyperion himself for the judgment."

"Your point?" asked Clarisse, lazily flicking a polishing cloth along her revolver.

Tammi pointed at the gun with a rigid finger. "And that is not going to make anything better. Guns are illegal!"

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "So is being out after curfew. So quit shouting, will you? You'll bring the whole city down on our heads."

It had been about midnight when we had entered Las Vegas. Normally, we wouldn't have been let in, but Clarisse used her newly acquired spear to shatter the main gate. Apparently, the thing was electric. Then she impaled the two guards with her other spear. Since the blade was celestial bronze, it didn't pierce him, but it was coated in a tranquilizer that instantly put them to sleep. Of course, no one would let us into a hotel or anything since the curfew was in effect, so we were still wandering around the streets.

"Just great," grumbled Tammi. "First you bust the gate, then put the guards to sleep despite my advice to stop. Then–"

"You call this advice?" Clarisse demanded, pointing to two deep sets of gashes on her armor. "You grabbed me and tried to hold me back after I had already destroyed the gate and the guards jumped me!"

Tammi ignored her protests and continued. "Then we run into a patrol at a gas station for official Titan vehicles, and you blow the whole place up with your new spear! To you, that thing is one big toy! It was only thanks to me that we were able to get away!"

"Yeah," I said. "You threw a slot machine at them."

Clarisse snorted in amusement, and Tammi glared at me. I noticed that the empousa's hair was starting to smoke, and decided to stop making comments.

The two of them had been having some versions of this argument since we broke in. I was a little bored with it by now, but I was hardly likely to say anything about it. Clarisse would probably shish-kabob me, and Tammi would claw me remains to pieces before continuing their endless debate.

Clarisse started to say something else, but Tammi slapped a clawed hand over her mouth. The daughter of Ares ripped it off and was about to say something when Tammi grabbed her and dragged her into an alley to our left.

"Patrol," she hissed. Clarisse nodded, all traces of anger suddenly gone, and crept further down the narrow passage. I followed. I could now hear the heavy tread of boots behind us now. And not only boots. There was a loud whoosh as an unseen but undoubtedly large pair of wings beat the air, and the clicking of many claws across cement and concrete. Then there came a sound far worse: the snuffle of a wolf, and the faint growl that indicated a scent detected. I turned and ran as a triumphant howl split the air.

Clarisse put in a surprising turn of speed for a girl so heavily burdened with pack and weapons, with Tammi right on her heels. I followed as best I could, but my muscles still weren't back to normal. I would never admit it, but since my imprisonment inside Talos, I was feeling less at ease with the world, more of an outcast from society. I felt like my body was a vehicle, and I was riding it, much like I had once rode around in Talos. After a few minutes of running, my knees were all ready to crumble.

Then the helm on my head suddenly gave a burst of heat, and I was filled with new energy. I felt powerful and at home. My muscles no longer ached as much, and I was able to pick up my speed.

It felt like Clarisse led us through the entire city; down streets, up alleys, through yards, over fences, under barbed wire. For over twenty minutes we ran, with the sound of the patrol growing ever fainter.

Finally, she slowed, and motioned for us to be quiet. We listened, but all I could hear was the chirp of crickets and a gust of wind against my face. But then there was a soft sound, another gust of wind from above. I cocked my head, trying to hear…

And there was a roar, and the night was suddenly lit up by a pillar of blazing flames that cascaded from the skies. It struck directly in front of us, blocking our way out. I glanced up, and beheld, in all its glory, a dragon.

It was a full thirty feet long, and bright red. Heat radiated from its every scale, and I was sent reeling from the sheer magnitude of its power. Then its eyes became visible: two glowing green slits in a narrow, angular face. The flames abruptly ceased to flow, and it landed directly in our path. We were trapped.

Then, with a roar, the patrol of Tartarian wolves burst out from behind us. Their eyes glinted with red light to match the claws of Krios that gleamed at their feet.

"Tammi, hold back the wolves," Clarisse hissed. "Bianca, I'll distract it; you try to climb to its neck. There's a slight indentation in the back of its skull that leads directly to its brain; stab it there."

Tammi nodded and sprinted to the back of the alley, hair transforming into flames again. She met the spawn head-on, deadly claws scything the air around her. Somehow, she managed to hold them back.

"All right, then," said Clarisse, drawing her spear. The red crystal shone in the light of the fires raging in the dragon's eyes. "Just you and me, then. Come on; let's see what we can do. Go!" The former rancher lunged, spear lead

Slowly, I snuck to the side, then managed to slip under the dragon's foreleg out into the open road on the other side. For a moment, I was sure the dragon had seen, or heard me, but it didn't seem to react. I breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately wished I hadn't. The dragon's huge head swung to the side at the sound. But its eyes swept right over me, then back again. For whatever reason, it couldn't see me. Then Clarisse seized the moment to jab her spear into the creature's stomach, and it instantly lost all interest in me. It turned its head back towards her – right into her next swing. The combined force of her blow and its movement drove the spear through its ear.

Furious, the dragon reared back and unleashed a blast of fire into the alley. Its wing swung back, knocking me into the air. I somehow managed to twist and grab onto one of the spikes on its back, and then hung on for dear life as the dragon raged below me. It could obviously feel me on its back, and did not like it. But when it tried to turn its head to see me, it couldn't. Then there was a thud from below, and the dragon decided to focus on the human stinging it from the front instead of the suicidal one trying to climb its head.

I slowly managed to make my way up its back, despite the continuous motion and heat. The scales burned my hands wherever it touched me, so I tried to grip the spikes, which were slightly cooler. My armor protected me from the heat everywhere else.

Then Clarisse yelled, and electricity sizzled through my body, nearly shaking me. The dragon reared back again, and it was only because my shoulder armor caught on a spike that I didn't fall off. There was another thud, and more electricity sizzled through me. I dimly realized that it was through the dragon that I was feeling the impacts. Evidently, Clarisse was good with her spear.

The dragon hissed, then stepped back. Evidently it had had enough. But before I could jump down, the huge wings flapped, and we were ten, twenty, thirty feet in the air. My stomach seemed to stay behind as the behemoth lunged skywards. But as we gained height, the dragon abruptly roared and lost altitude, nearly crashing into a building as it went. Glancing down, I saw Clarisse's spear embedded in its wing, electricity cracking into the dragon as the wing flapped. Far below ran Clarisse, trying to keep up. Trying to get me.

No way, I thought groggily. She's still trying to help me.

Clarisse yelled something up to me, but I was no longer able to hear quite right.

But no demigod, no matter how fast and in shape, could keep up with a flying dragon. The injured dragon flew, on and on, until it reached an immense wall. Atop it gleamed several towers, made of bright metal. But the dragon did not fly over the wall. Instead, it darted into a cave about halfway up. I heard footsteps, saw people reaching towards me from the back of the cave. I suddenly was aware of pain, horrible pain in my shoulder, and when I managed to turn my head to look at it, it was covered in blood. Blackness began to obscure my vision. And before they reached me, I could see no longer. I gave in to the blackness and followed it into oblivion.

I was on a barge, being poled across a river by a dark ghoul in a black robe… Only the ghoul was Nico, a five-year-old Nico, and there was a sword sticking through his back… He brought up his hand and showed me the figure of Hades, then smiled, showing two baby teeth missing in front. I reached for him, but my hand passed through him, and he dissolved into mist. I couldn't see anything…

Then I felt a hand grasp mine, and I was pulled through the mist, up onto a ledge. It was Clarisse, and she seemed to be crying. She pointed towards the mist, and I saw the Oracle in there, looking at me. It breathed out, and in its breath, I saw a boy and a girl watching TV in a hotel room. They were familiar, but their names wouldn't come to me.

Then I slipped off the ledge, and fell through the mist to the river below. It was like fire, searing through me, but then another hand caught me by the wrist and brought me from the waters. It was the girl from the desert, the girl that brought me to Hekate and the quest.

"Hold on," she whispered to me. She looked worried, but I trusted her. She then pulled me up, and caught me in a tight hug. I could feel the pain of the river's water going away.

"It's all right," she whispered. "You're safe with me."

I nodded before slowly sinking back into the darkness.

Far away, a slender young woman removed her hand from an unconscious hero's forehead. The hero's name was Bianca di Angelo. She was being carried into the great fortress of Hyperion himself, where the girl doubted she would be treated medically. But the gift she had given her would sustain her for months, and gradually heal the wound. She would have liked to do more, but the Titan Lord approached, and she dared not risk discovery.

With one last glance at the fallen hero, the girl slipped away from the dark fortress, to help yet another victim of the Titan's powers. She was not in need of the help at that moment, but she would be shortly. If her premonition was accurate, Clarisse would need her help to survive.

It was said that no mortal could ever destroy a Titan. While she doubted this, she had to admit that the chances were low for Clarisse to defeat the Titan single-handedly. So she would ensure that Clarisse would not have to fight alone. She was going to give her the greatest possible chance of victory.

After all, who better to fight a Titan of death than a goddess of life?

I apologize profusely for the long delay – I hope none of you thought I discontinued it. Thanks to all of you for waiting so long.

Also, I would like to say a thank you to ZoeNightshade2214, Pinconeface711, Swimstar, and MyPenIsSharperThanYourSword for your reviews. You gave me inspiration at a time when I needed it the most.

Until next time!

~Sa Rart~