"Incoming!" Artemis warned.
Everyone raised their shields or took cover under something. A rain of arrows landed everywhere. Some bounced off the street or stuck in the roof of some of the nearby buildings. "Stay in position!" Percy ordered.
They waited with bated breath as another rain of arrows rained down on them. Annabeth looked at Percy, whose shield was partially covering hers. He was scanning the courtyard at all the soldiers who were taking cover from the arrows. He was worried about them, Annabeth realized. Another rain of arrows came down. She was feeling rather confident that no one had gotten injured yet.
"Perhaps we should scream, so it sounds like we are getting hurt." She smirked.
Percy gave her a questioning look until he saw her smirk and then gave her a light smile. "Don't think it would matter. I don't think they can hear us from here."
"Flames!" Artemis shouted from on top of the wall. Everyone became more jittery then.
"Hold your ground. We prepared for this." Percy yelled encouragingly.
The next rain of arrows were lit on fire. The ones that landed in the middle of the street were harmless. It was the ones that landed in the roofs, that were the most threatening. They had removed as much flammable material from the roofs of the buildings closest to the wall as they could, but the majority of the building was made of wood, which made it vulnerable. Soldiers addressed the buildings as best they could to prevent them from catching.
"Incoming!" Artemis warned again. Everyone was just able to get to cover before the flaming arrows rained down on them again.
Soldiers ran around, addressing the different fires threatening to start. "Behind you!" Percy yelled at a soldier. He left Annabeth's side and ran to address a fire starting to take hold of a building further into the city than the rest. Annabeth took the opportunity to make her way back up to the top of the wall. To her surprise, Connor, or was it Travis, was there.
"My lady." He nodded his head respectfully, but he had a gleeful manic look about him, as if he were loving every minute of this.
"What are you doing here? I thought you would be getting the side traps ready." She asked.
"I will. I just had to see the show." There was that manic glint again.
She shook her head and peeked over the wall. There were thousands of archers lined up. "That's a lot of archers." Annabeth said.
"That's a lot of arrows." Thalia nodded toward the littered streets.
"Hope they are all in good condition." Annabeth worried. "Are they almost into position?"
"Not quite." Connor replied as he studied the oncoming army.
"The sooner we take out the archers the better. Are you sure this will work?"
"Would I be here if I wasn't?" He looked at her disbelievingly.
"Incoming!" Artemis yelled. Annabeth raised her shield and huddled under it. She watched as soldiers scrambled to cover. One soldier tripped and fell. She watched in horror as the arrows began to fall. The soldier was spared last minute when Percy ran to him and shielded them both with his his shield. He helped the soldier up and guided him to the nearest cover. Annabeth was acutely aware of her heart pounding, and she didn't think it had anything to do with the arrows.
She looked back out over the wall. "Their foot soldiers are moving." She announced. They all looked out over the wall.
"That's . . . thirty thousand." Thalia counted.
"Only thirty?" Artemis looked confused.
"He'll want to save as much of his army as he can for when he faces Zeus." Annabeth deduced.
"That makes sense." Thalia replied.
"The archers are following behind." Artemis noted.
"How close are they?" Percy asked. She hadn't noticed him climbing the stairs, and when he spoke, he startled her.
"The archers just started moving with thirty thousand men leading them."
"You were right." Percy looked at Annabeth.
Annabeth fought another blush. "Luke probably didn't realize he learned his tactics from the Athenian army."
"Oh, this is going to make him think twice about attacking." Connor said with glee.
"They're approaching the marker. Get ready Thalia." Artemis looked to her lieutenant.
Thalia's hands shook as she went to light her arrow.
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Annabeth put a calming hand on her's.
Thalia clenched her hand and glared at Annabeth. "I've got this."
"Thalia is the best shot with the bow." Artemis defended Thalia.
Percy nodded encouragingly toward Thalia.
"They're on the marker." Connor breathed excitedly.
Thalia lit her arrow and aimed it up in the air over the wall. Everyone watched with bated breath. She let out a long breath and released the arrow.
Connor watched through the spyglass. "Two inches short." Connor announced.
Thalia cursed under her breath as she lit another arrow.
"Better hurry. They are lighting their arrows." Connor warned.
Thalia raised her bow over the wall and let out another breath before letting her arrow fly.
"Incoming!" Artemis yelled, warning everyone in the vacinity of the incoming of arrows.
"Take cover!" Percy added.
Everyone scrambled to safety. Percy and Annabeth raised their shields over their heads as they looked at one another. Percy's eyes were filled with fear, but also courage. The fiery arrows rained down on them. The moment there was a break, Connor was first to look out over the wall through his spyglass.
"Well?" Thalia asked with impatience.
"Wait for it." Connor teased as he watched through the glass.
All at once there was the loudest explosion that literally shook the wall they stood upon. Everyone stood to see a cloud of fire and earth envelope the row of archers and a portion of the men marching toward them.
"Woooooo, yeah!" Connor cheered with his arms raised up over his head. All the soldiers cheered and celebrated as well. "Didn't I tell you?" Connor wrapped an arm around Percy.
"You did it!" Annabeth hugged Thalia.
"Remind me to never make you angry." Percy clapped Connor on the shoulder. "Great shot, Thalia. You truly are the best archer in Olympus."
Thalia smirked back as she stared at the destruction she created. "There goes their archers."
"Which gives us a fighting chance." Percy smirked back. "Mount up!" Percy shouted as he raced down the steps. Everyone scrambled to get their horses and mount up. Blackjack was already at the front by the gate. Annabeth located her horse and quickly got on. She made her way to the front, next to Percy.
He looked over at her and said hopefully, "I thought you would sit this one out?"
Annabeth smirked back, "Not a chance."
Percy didn't look exactly pleased, but he didn't push it either. "Open the gates!" Percy ordered. "Put down the planks!" While they were putting the planks down, Percy drew his sword and pointed at the arrows. "Get these arrows picked up and salvaged." He then pointed at Thalia and Artemis. "The best archers in Olympus could use them."
A cheer went up from everyone in the vicinity. Annabeth could see the pride beaming from every hunter.
"Let's take out the rest of the men before the fires die down. Let us show them what happens when they challenge the army of Athens!" Blackjack reared up and neighed loudly, while the men cheered. "Why do you do that?" Percy muttered under his breath when the horse finally returned to all fours. Annabeth smiled as she tried not to laugh.
Percy was the first one across the planks charging toward what was left of the thirty thousand men that were now trapped between the raging fire behind them and the army of Athens charging towards them. Annabeth was right behind him, as she knew all of the Athenian army was.
Annabeth saw the fear in their enemy's eyes as they tried to prepare for Percy atop Blackjack running straight through them as if they were nothing. The rest of the army clashed with the army of Kronos with confidence. Annabeth knew the feeling. She felt as long as she was by Percy's side, she could face any foe and come out one top. She slashed through enemy after enemy. Percy and Blackjack fought in perfect sync. When Blackjack would kick with his hind legs, it would give Percy the perfect opportunity to attack at a lower angle, catching his enemy unaware. They protected each other. To Annabeth's surprise, the battle didn't last long. She made her way to Percy, who looked around with an undecernable look on his face.
"I believe this victory is ours." Otic said, flushed with victory.
Annabeth felt a prickling on the back of her neck, and turned to look around. That was when she noticed Luke atop a white stallion on the other side of the fire, glaring at them. "It's not over yet." Annabeth said as she continued to stare Luke down.
Percy noticed what she was looking at, and returned Luke's glare. "It's just the first battle. They won't underestimate us again. Get everyone back inside."
Otic immediately began giving orders to retreat. "The white stallion is a bit of a slap in the face." Annabeth said.
"Let's get back." Percy looked at Annabeth. "We still have much to prepare for."
Annabeth nodded and urged her horse into a run. Blackjack, however, had one more thing to say to Luke as he reared up and neighed angrily before turning and running back to the city.