Chapter 4
Fortío Távrou
Skylah P.O.V
At the top of things I hate, killer bulls are up there. Don't get me wrong, I love all animals. Naturally, besides the ones that want to kill us.
Last summer, Percy and Jaden fought the Minotaur on top of Half-Blood Hill while I was once again, left useless.
What I saw up there was even worse: two bulls. And they had to be bronze ones the size of elephants. And even that wasn't bad enough. Naturally, they had to breathe fire, too.
As soon as we exited the taxi, the Gray Sisters peeled out, heading back to New York, where life was safer. They didn't even wait for their extra three-drachma payment.
They just left us on the side of the road, Annabeth with nothing but her backpack and knife, Tyson, Jaden, and Percy in their burned-up tie-dyed gym clothes, and me in my yoga clothes. Yay!
"Oh, man," said Annabeth, looking at the battle raging on the hill. What worried me most weren't the bulls themselves. Or the ten heroes in full battle armor who were getting their bronze-plated booties whooped.
What worried me was that the bulls were ranging all over the hill, even around the backside of the pine tree. That shouldn't have been possible. The camp's magic boundaries didn't allow monsters to cross past Thalia's tree. But the metal bulls were doing it anyway like it was a game at that.
One of the heroes shouted, "Border patrol, to me!"
A girl's voice—gruff and familiar. Border patrol? I thought. The camp didn't have a border patrol. But If I had paid more attention, I would have noticed my brother charging with his silver sword growing in his hand.
"It's Clarisse," Annabeth said. "Come on, we have to help her."
Normally, rushing to Clarisse's aid would not have been high on my "to do" list. She was one of the biggest bullies at camp.
She was also a daughter of Ares, and Percy had a very serious disagreement with her father last summer, so now the god of war and all his children hated his guts. Still, she was in trouble. Her fellow warriors were scattered, running in panic as the bulls charged.
The grass was burning in huge swathes around the pine tree. One hero screamed and waved his arms as he ran in circles, the horsehair plume on his helmet blazing like a fiery Mohawk. Clarisse's armor was charred. She was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull's shoulder.
Percy uncapped his ballpoint pen. It shimmered, growing longer and heavier until he held the bronze sword Anaklusmos in his hands.
"Tyson, stay here. I don't want you taking any more chances."
"No!" Annabeth said. "We need him."
Percy stared at her. "He's mortal. He got lucky with the dodge balls but he can't—"
Lucky?
"Percy, do you know what those are up there? The Colchis bulls were made by Hephaestus himself. We can't fight them without Medea's Sunscreen SPF 50,000. We'll get burned to a crisp."
"Medea's what?"
Annabeth rummaged through her backpack and cursed. "I had a jar of tropical coconut scent sitting on my night-stand at home. Why didn't I bring it?"
I'd learned a long time ago not to question Annabeth too much.
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to let Tyson get fried," Percy said.
"I'm with Percy!"
"Percy—"
"Tyson, stay back." Percy raised his sword. "I'm going in."
Tyson tried to protest but Percy was already running up the hill toward Clarisse, who was yelling at her patrol, trying to get them into phalanx formation. It was a good idea.
The few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide–and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills. Unfortunately, Clarisse could only muster six campers. The other four were still running around with their helmets on fire.
Annabeth ran toward them, trying to help. Which Jaden was trying to knock some sense into them while fighting off the bull.
She taunted one of the bulls into chasing her, then turned invisible, completely confusing the monster. Then Jaden would go in for the attack.
The other bull charged Clarisse's line.
Percy was halfway up the hill—not close enough to help. Clarisse hadn't even seen Percy yet. The bull moved deadly fast for something so big. Its metal hide gleamed in the sun. It had fist-sized rubies for eyes, and horns of polished silver. When it opened its hinged mouth, a column of white-hot flame blasted out.
"Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered her warriors. Whatever else you could say about Clarisse, she was brave. She was a big girl with cruel eyes like her father's. She looked like she was born to wear Greek battle armor, but I didn't see how even she could stand against that bull's charge.
Unfortunately, at that percent, the other bull lost interest in finding Annabeth and got bored with fighting off Jaden every second, so it hit him one good time in the torso, sending him flying into camp. It turned, wheeling around behind Clarisse on her unprotected side.
"Behind you!" Percy yelled. "Look out!"
Percy shouldn't have said anything because all he did was startled her. Bull Number One crashed into her shield, and the phalanx broke. Clarisse went flying backward and landed in a smoldering patch of grass. The bull charged past her, but not before blasting the other heroes with its fiery breath. Their shields melted right off their arms.
They dropped their weapons and ran as Bull Number Two closed in on Clarisse for the kill.
Percy lunged forward and grabbed Clarisse by the straps of her armor. He dragged her out of the way just as Bull Number Two freight-trained passed.
Percy gave it a good swipe with Riptide and cut a huge gash in its flank, but the monster just creaked and groaned and kept ongoing.
"Let me go!" Clarisse pummled his hand. "Percy, curse you!"
Percy dropped her in a heap next to the pine tree and turned to face the bulls. They were on the inside slope of the hill now, the valley of Camp Half-Blood directly below us—the cabins, the training facilities, the Big House—all of it at risk if these bulls got past them.
Annabeth shouted orders to the other heroes, telling them to spread out and keep the bulls distracted. Bull Number One ran a wide arc, making its way back toward Percy.
As it passed the middle of the hill, where the invisible boundary line should've kept it out, it slowed down a little, as if it were struggling against a strong wind; but then it broke through and kept coming.
Bull Number Two turned to face Percy, fire sputtering from the gash he'd cut in its side.
Percy couldn't fight both bulls at the same time.
Percy lunged but Bull Number Two blew flames at Percy. Percy rolled aside his foot caught on something, a tree root maybe.
Still, he managed to slash with his sword and lop off part of the monster's snout. It galloped away, wild and disoriented.
But before Percy could feel too good about that, Percy tried to stand, and Bull Number One charged straight toward Percy. No way could Percy crawl out of its path.
Annabeth shouted: "Tyson, help him!"
Somewhere near, toward the crest of the hill, Tyson wailed, "Can't—get—through!"
When did he get away from me? I thought to myself as I frantically looked around for whatever teleport device he used.
"I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"
Thunder shook the hillside. Suddenly Tyson was there, barreling toward Percy, yelling: "Percy needs help!"
Before anyone could tell him no, he dove between Percy and the bull just as it unleashed a nuclear firestorm.
"Tyson!" Percy and I yelled. The blast swirled around him like a red tornado. I could only see the black silhouette of his body.
I knew with horrible certainty that my friend had just been turned into a column of ashes. But when the fire died, Tyson was still standing there, completely unharmed.
Not even his rag-like clothes were scorched.
The bull must've been as surprised as I was, because before it could unleash a second blast, Tyson balled his fists and slammed them into the bull's face. "BAD COW!"
His fists made a crater where the bronze bull's snout used to be. Two small columns of flame shot out of its ears.
Tyson hit it again, and the bronze crumpled under his hands like aluminum foil. The bull's face now looked like a sock puppet pulled inside out.
"Down!" Tyson yelled. The bull staggered and fell on its back.
Its legs moved feebly in the air, steam coming out of its ruined head in odd places. Annabeth ran over to check on Percy. And I ran over too.
Annabeth gave Percy some nectar(A drink version of ambrosia) for his seemingly broken ankle. Damn, that's sad bro. Broke your ankle on a tree root. Can't wait to get my hands on a weapon.
There was a burning smell that I later learned was Percy. The hair on his arms had been completely singed off.
"The other bull?" Percy asked. Annabeth pointed down the hill. Clarisse had taken care of Bad Cow Number Two. She'd impaled it through the back leg with a celestial bronze spear.
Now, with its snout half gone and a huge gash on its side, it was trying to run in slow motion, going in circles like some kind of merry-go-round animal. Clarisse pulled off her helmet and marched toward us. A strand of her stringy brown hair was smoldering, but she didn't seem to notice.
"You—ruin—everything!" she yelled at Percy. "I had it under control!"
I was too stunned to answer. Annabeth grumbled, "Good to see you too, Clarisse."
"Argh!" Clarisse screamed. "Don't ever, EVER try saving me again!"
"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "you've got wounded campers."
That sobered her up. Clarisse cared about the soldiers under her command. "I'll be back," she growled, then trudged off to assess the damage.
I stared at Tyson. "You didn't die," Percy and I said in synch.
Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed. "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."
"My fault," Annabeth said. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would've died."
"Let him cross the boundary line?'" Percy asked. "But—"
"Percy," she said, "have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean…in the face. Ignore the Mist, and really look at him."
The Mist makes humans see only what their brains can process…I knew it could fool demigods too(I should know, sometimes I can't see Jaden's real eye colors), but I looked Tyson in the face. It wasn't easy.
I forced myself to focus on his eyes. Er..not eyes. One eye. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.
"Tyson," Percy stammered. "You're a…"
"Cyclops," Annabeth offered. "A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."
"One of the what?"
"They're in almost all the big cities," Annabeth said distastefully. "They're…mistakes, Percy. Children of nature spirits and gods…Well, one god in particular, usually…and they don't always come outright. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."
"But the fire. How—"
"He's a Cyclops." Annabeth paused as if she were remembering something unpleasant. "They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That's what I was trying to tell you."
I was completely shocked. How had I never realized what Tyson was? But I didn't have much time to think about it just then. The whole side of the hill was burning.
OH, MY GODS! JADEN KNEW THE WHOLE TIME! That's why he was so tense. Does that mean he was going to kill Tyson if he tried anything? HOW DARE HE?! I SHOULD SOCK HIM IN THE RIBS ONE GOOD TIME FOR BOTH OFFENCES! Anyway.
Wounded heroes needed attention. And there were still two banged-up bronze bulls to dispose of, which I didn't figure would fit in our normal recycling bins.
Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. "Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."
"Tantalus?" I asked.
"The activities director," Clarisse said impatiently.
"Chiron is the activities director. And where's Argus? He's head of security. He should be here." Percy said
Clarisse made a sour face. "Argus got fired. You two have been gone too long. Things are changing."
"But Chiron…He's trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years. He can't just be gone. What happened?"
"That happened," Clarisse snapped. She pointed to Thalia's tree. Every camper knew the story behind the tree.
Six years ago, Grover, Annabeth, and two other demigods named Thalia and Luke had come to Camp Half-Blood chased by an army of monsters. When they got cornered on top of this hill, Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, had made her last stand here to give her friends time to reach safety. As she was dying, her father, Zeus, took pity on her and changed her into a pine tree. Her spirit had reinforced the magic borders of the camp, protecting it from monsters. The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy.
But now, its needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.
A sliver of ice ran through my chest. Now I understood why the camp was in danger. The magical borders were failing because Thalia's tree was dying. Someone had poisoned it.
Ok so to say one thing. I just got to say it sucks Skylah can't fight too well without a weapon. It really sucks. And It sucks Jaden was so rusty and wounded he can't make much of a difference.
Can't wait to stick a weapon and an offensive power in Skylahs hands. PS. The title of this chapter roughly translates to bull load.