I had a nightmare that night. I was standing in what looked to be a little beach town. The street was lined with boarded-up tourist shops and surfboard rental places. Wind ripped at the palm trees lining the center of the street, and rain pummeled the sidewalks. About a block away, past a row of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned. A couple of surfers were out with their boards, trying to catch the perfect wave.
Palm trees. Hurricanes. People surfing in storms. We had to be in Florida. Though it didn't make much sense. We had just sailed past Florida, and there'd been no signs on the radar of a huge storm like this.
Over the howling wind, I could hear hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw Grover running for his life. His fur and hair were wet and caked with sand like he'd just come from the beach. He panted heavily as he clopped past me. I called out to him, but he didn't seem to hear me. He was muttering to himself, "Have to get away. Have to warn them."
The wind bent the palm trees nearly to the ground. Back towards the beach, I could hear a bone-rattling growl. The surfers wiped out and made a beeline for the shore. A dark shadow emerged from the ocean and began lumbering up the sand. Whatever it was, it was huge. It cursed as it swatted away a streetlamp, sending a shower of sparks into the air.
Grover ran past a bunch of pink and yellow stucco buildings, terrified of whatever was chasing him. He turned a corner and stopped abruptly. He'd hit a dead-end courtyard full of boarded-up shops. There was no time to turn back. The massive shadow loomed just around the corner. The wind blew the door to one of the shops open, and Grover dived in. I couldn't read the sign, but judging from the wares inside, it looked to be a bridal boutique. Grover hid behind a rack of wedding dresses.
The thing that had been chasing Grover stepped in front of the store, lightning outlining its figure through the windows. I gagged on the stench the monster gave off — a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotting meat and that sour body odor that only monsters have. The thing stopped and smelled the air, its snorts just as loud as the whistling wind. Then it moved on.
Silence except for the pounding rain. A minute passed, and Grover's trembling lessened. He began to move out from behind the rack when the front of the store exploded and a monstrous voice bellowed, "MIIIINE!"
I sat bolt upright in my bed, certain I could still hear the monster's roar. I ran to my porthole window expecting to see lightning illuminating the stormy grey sky, but all I could see were vast expanses of blue. Seagulls circled overhead, eager to snatch up some easy grub from the ship's cafeteria. I could see a stretch of land in the distance narrowing in on the sea until it met a river delta. My bearings told me we were pulling into Delaware Bay, nowhere near Florida.
Tyson's hard work on the engines had paid off a little too well. Grover was too far away for us to help.
My head spinning with worry, I got dressed as quickly as I could and went looking for Luke. He was out on the main deck when I found him, giving a few sword-fighting pointers to Chris, who looked like he was struggling to keep up. A couple other demigods and a handful of monsters were standing around them in a circle, watching.
I still wasn't used to that, just casually hanging out around monsters. The ones on the ship weren't hostile, and it turns out some of them can actually be pretty friendly when you are on the same side. The hellhounds loved belly rubs and human-sized squeaky toys, and the empousai were all terrible flirts. Still though, sometimes out of the corner of my eye I could see some of them staring at me hungrily, like I was just another morsel in the buffet line.
I shouldered my way past several monsters, trying to ignore their acrid stench. Luke parried Chris's swing and sidestepped him, slapping the flat of his blade against Chris's back. I winced as he stumbled forward. Luke may have had a brutal teaching style, but it was certainly effective.
"You're projecting your attacks," he scolded him. "Keep your eyes on your opponent's face."
Chris growled in frustration and swung again, but Luke beat him back. And so it went, Luke giving Chris a sound thrashing while I waited patiently, not wanting to interrupt Luke's lesson for fear of being dragged in. A moment later, Chris was on the floor, Luke eyeing the crowd to make sure they had all paid attention. Having finally taken notice of me, Luke dispersed everyone except for Chris, leaving just the three of us on the deck.
"So, you're finally awake, huh?" Luke asked.
Chris shot me a questioning look. "What's wrong, Perce? You look like you've just seen a ghost."
I told them my story about Grover.
"Grover…" Chris mused. "You mean the satyr that went with you on your quest last summer?"
I nodded. Luke seemed wholly unconcerned, which kind of ticked me off. "I wouldn't worry too much," he said. "Grover's got a knack for getting out of trouble by the skin of his teeth. There's really nothing we can do for him here. Besides, we've got bigger fish to fry."
"You mean poisoning Thalia's tree and exposing the camp?" I asked, raising a brow. I still wasn't entirely happy with the plan. I wished there was a way for us to find the Fleece ourselves.
Luke met my challenging tone with one of his own. "Yes, those are our orders. But first, we need to actually get the poison. Elder Python venom. Straight from the depths of Tartarus. It's pretty hard to come by, but luckily, Kronos is sending us a little gift our way to help us extract it."
Chris fidgeted nervously. "And by 'gift', do you mean 'a big scary snake that could probably swallow us whole'?"
"Well, more like a dragon, but yes, that's the idea."
"Oh… great."
"I thought pythons weren't venomous," I said.
Luke stared at me. "Pythons aren't venomous. But Python is. Look, the point is that the creature we're looking for is very dangerous. Only Apollo was ever able to kill it."
"Apollo is a god," Chris pointed out. "You really think we'll stand a chance against it?"
Luke shrugged. "We really only need a few drops of its venom. If we can sneak up on it while it sleeps and extract some of it, we might not have to fight it at all."
I hoped that by 'we', Luke meant 'himself', because I wasn't too confident that I could sneak up on a corpse, much less a dragon.
"And where exactly are we going to find this big scary monster?"
"New Jersey," he stated, as if that should have been obvious. "Where else would you find the most toxic creature in the world?"
Luke snapped his fingers, and a moment later, three Scythian dracanae ascended from a lower deck leading three beautiful pegasi by their reins. Or at least, they would've been beautiful if I hadn't been able to hear their thoughts. The one in the middle, a pure black stallion and the largest of the three, had a few choice words for the lizard woman leading him. When he saw Luke, he snorted and tugged at his reins.
Oh ho, you must be the bozo who thought it'd be fun to lock us up on this stupid ship. Yo, Guido, Porkpie, get a load of these clowns.
The other two pegasi, one stunningly white and the other a dark grey, whinnied in response, which I assumed to be the pegasi's way of laughing.
Luke strode forward, an arm outstretched to pet the black pegasus's muzzle. "Excellent. Our rides are here," he said to us.
The pegasus flapped its lips, sending spittle flying onto Luke's hand and face. He pulled back angrily.
"Eugh, gross! Stupid animal," he growled.
He tugged forward on the reins and tried to mount the pegasus from the side, but the pegasus began stomping around like a riled-up bull, flinging Luke back to the deck.
Lying flat on his back, Luke let out a string of curses as he began pulling himself to his feet. He grabbed hold of the reins once more and dragged the pegasus over to me, pulling with all his strength as it fought back against him.
"Here," he said, handing me the reins. "This one is yours."
Luke trudged back over to the white one and had a much easier time saddling up. I shot Chris a pleading look, but he just shrugged and mounted the grey one. I turned toward the pegasus whose reins I was now holding and realized I'd never really seen a horse glare before.
What are you looking at, punk? Do I look like a taxi to you? If you think I'm going to let you on my back, you got another thing coming. The second we're high enough to kill you, I'm doing a barrel roll.
"Um, I'd rather you didn't."
Yeah, and I'd rather you — wait a minute, did you just understand me?
The pegasus leaned forward and nudged its muzzle into the side of my head. It snorted.
No way! You're a son of Poseidon! What are you doing with these losers?
"We're on an important mission," I told him, though it looked like he wasn't buying it. I figured I was going to have to strike a deal with this pegasus before he'd be willing to take me anywhere. "Look, um, there really isn't any time to explain. I'm sorry you were locked up, but I promise if you let me ride you, I won't let you get confined to the stables anymore. You'll have free reign over the ship."
The pegasus stared at me.
"...that includes the hot tub."
He began to turn away.
"...and the buffet line."
That got his attention.
Well, now we're talking! Let my pals Guido and Porkpie in on this too and you've got yourself a deal. Oh, and make sure you groom me three times a week. I don't like monsters brushing my mane. They mess it up every time.
I sighed, trying to accept the fact that I was negotiating with a winged horse. Yep, this was my life now.
"Fine," I agreed. The pegasus whinnied in celebration. Luke and Chris were staring at me like I'd grown a second head.
You hear that fellas? We're going to eat like Pegasus tonight!
I saddled up on the back of my new friend, trying to swallow the fact that I didn't actually know how to ride a horse, much less a flying horse. I looked over to Luke and took note of where his feet were placed. I tried to copy him.
Nervously, I glanced toward the sky. Zeus had warned me that he'd blast me out of the air if he ever caught me in his domain again, and that was before I'd sworn to overthrow him. But then again, Poseidon was the lord of horses, so I guessed riding on a pegasus was sort of a middle ground.
My attempts to reassure myself fizzled out when the pegasus whinnied and jerked forward suddenly, nearly throwing me onto the deck right then and there.
"Whoa… h-hey!" I cried. Two massive black wings rose on both sides of me and then thrust downwards with a THUD, and the next thing I knew, we were airborne.
I leaned forward, holding onto the creature's muscled neck for dear life. The ground was falling away from us now, and I tried to ignore the queasy feeling in my stomach as we ascended higher and higher. My stupid mind chose that time to remind me of his threat to do a barrel roll, and I silently prayed he remembered our deal.
"Can you slow down?!" I yelled into the pegasus's ear over the turbulence of the wind.
No can do! I haven't used my wings in days. I gotta open up!
The pegasus swooped downwards like a falcon on the hunt, and I nearly lost my breakfast. The ship was coming closer and closer. I could see Luke and Chris's pegasi far below, just now starting to take off. Just when I thought we would go splat on the deck, my steed extended to his full wingspan. The wind buffeted the black feathers on his wings as we caught an updraft and abruptly leveled out.
Trembling, I tried to find a grip to push myself into a seated position again. "Alright, never do that again!" I shouted.
Aw, come on, boss. Live a little! This is fun!
I wanted to snap at him and tell him that was easy for him to say. He was the one with wings. Instead I tightened my grip and closed my eyes. Inhale, exhale. I focused on my breathing for a moment, a trick I found helpful whenever I caught myself stressing over the Prophecy. Thirty seconds passed, and the trembling in my body faded away. I could feel the wind whipping through my hair.
I opened my eyes and only one word came to my mind.
"Whoa…"
We were about a thousand feet in the air. To our left was Delaware, and our right, New Jersey. Far ahead, where the river narrowed and green countryside made way for urban sprawl, was Philadelphia. I marveled at just how breathtakingly small the skyline looked from so far away. The day was so clear that I must've been able to see for 50 miles at the very least.
See? This ain't half bad, yeah?
I nodded slowly, realizing he was right. I was completely relaxed. I was a thousand feet in the air with no parachute, sitting on a hyperactive pegasus, and I was actually enjoying myself.
Yo, the name's Blackjack by the way.
I ran my hand through his midnight-black mane, finding the name fitting.
"Percy," I said.
Blackjack's head turned until he was looking back at me. Well Percy, I think you might wanna hold on tighter.
The blood in my veins turned to ice. "What?" I demanded. "Wait, what are you going to d—"
BARREL ROLL!
My eyes bugged out and my arms clutched Blackjack's neck so hard I wasn't sure if he could breathe. My world turned upside down as I emptied the contents of my stomach somewhere in the Delaware Bay.
At some point, Luke, Chris, Guido, and Porkpie caught up to us. Luke took the lead and guided us closer to Philly, though to my disappointment, the city wasn't actually our destination.
We touched down somewhere in Camden, just across the river. I was so relieved to be back on the ground that I would've kissed it right then and there if it hadn't been so filthy.
Judging from our surroundings, I guessed we were in some kind of metal processing plant that hadn't been used in ages. Heaps of rusted scrap lay haphazardly around the property, making me wonder if I were due for a tetanus booster. In addition to the piles of scrap metal, there were some busted-open truck containers, dusty old construction equipment, and collapsed conveyor belts scattered around the yard.
Luke scanned the area, a hesitant look on his face. If the dragon was here, then it was doing a good job blending in. Blackjack grunted nervously.
I don't like this, boss. It smells weird here, and I ain't talking about the chemicals. It's making my muzzle all tingly.
"Lord Kronos said the Python would be here," Luke said, his voice hushed. "Let's look around. And remember, we're trying to sneak up on it, so don't make a lot of noise."
We began searching the yard, trying our best not to knock anything over that might alert the monster, wherever it was. There was a decrepit old warehouse on the edge of the property with smashed windows and a couple missing doors, but all we found inside were some rotting wooden pallets and more construction equipment.
Blackjack eyed the area distastefully as we explored.
Yuck, he said. You sure this is the place you wanted to go?
'Yuck' was right. Under our feet, the soil had turned red from the rusty iron shavings spread about. Small ditches leading down to the river indicated the different paths that water would take when it rained, no doubt depositing heavy metals and other byproducts of the refining process into the river. Even from where we were standing, I could sense the pollution contaminating the water.
My thoughts momentarily drifted back to my goat-friend who I'd dreamed of the previous night. If Grover had been here and saw what we were seeing, he probably would've had a heart attack. My chest tightened with worry. I hoped that wherever he was, he was okay.
I forced myself to refocus on my surroundings. ADHD was great at honing your battle reflexes, but it was a double edged sword. Demigods could easily get distracted and end up as monster chow if they weren't paying attention.
I took a look at the scrap pile in front of us. The sunlight reflecting off the metal nearly blinded me. I did a once-over of the rest of the yard, double checking each of the collapsed conveyor belts and dull, rusty scrap piles.
Wait a minute.
Something about the way the pile in front of us gleamed in the sunlight caught my attention. None of the other scrap heaps glistened like this one. I brought a hand up to shield my eyes and squinted at it.
That's when I realized the pile was breathing. And the pieces of metal weren't actually metal at all.
In front of me, coiled in on itself, was a twenty foot tall mountain of blood-red scales. It had a body as large as a semi-truck with four legs thick as tree trunks and claws that you might find on a Tyrannosaurs Rex. It had wings, too, coppery and veiny, but they looked too small to be able to give the creature the advantage of flight, which I was thankful for. But it's most terrifying feature by far was its head. I could see why they named one of the biggest snakes in the world after this creature. It's neck was disproportionately long and coiled in circles on top of its body, its head resting on top. Fangs as long as my forearms protruded from its mouth.
It was dozing off in the yard, soaking up some sun-rays and probably dreaming of eating demigods and pegasi.
As silently as possible, I lunged forward and grabbed Luke and Chris's shoulders, yanking them back. Luke shot me an annoyed glance until I pointed at the sleeping creature. The color drained from his face.
Slowly, we backed away until we were far enough that we could whisper without waking it up.
Chris ran a hand through his hair, swearing in Ancient Greek. "Did you guys see how big it's claws were?" he hissed. I wondered what the Python had to eat to get that big. Elephants?
I was trying to put together a plan for how we would go about extracting the venom when Luke produced a small glass vial from his pocket. My eyes widened.
"Are you seriously thinking of climbing that thing?" I asked.
Luke shook his head. "No, but I'm seriously thinking you are."
My mouth hung open for a moment. I almost laughed. He had to be joking, right?
"You're only, what, 12 years old?" Luke asked. "You're the smallest out of all of us. It'll be less likely to notice you climbing on it."
I shook my head vigorously. "No way. I suck at sneaking around. You're dad is the god of thieves, and you stole the master bolt. You're way more qualified for this than I am. And I'm 13, thank you very much."
Luke's eyes narrowed at me and he held my gaze, but I refused to back down. I didn't even like the stupid poison-the-tree plan to begin with. I'd have rather gone off and began searching for the Fleece on my own. Like Hades I'd risk my life for a few drops of poison.
But as I glared at Luke, I took note of the scar running down his face, remembering the story of how he got it. He'd tried to sneak past a dragon on his quest for a Golden Apple, but the dragon guarding the tree noticed him and clawed his face, giving him a permanent reminder of his failure.
Now, we were doing the same thing with a different dragon, and I could see the fear hidden behind his stubborn expression.
Chris glanced back and forth between the two of us. Then he scoffed and grabbed the vial out of Luke's hand. "Fine, I'll do it, ya bunch of wussies."
Luke's eyes widened and he reached out to stop Chris, but it was too late. He was already making his way towards the Elder Python. He looked back at us with a thumbs-up and a smirk that said, 'I got this', but there was a certain trepidation in the way he walked.
We watched with bated breath as Chris approached the slumbering serpent. He gave it an experimental nudge with his foot and, when nothing happened, took a hesitant step onto the creature's back. The monster shifted slightly, but otherwise made no indication of waking up. I thought for sure it would've awoken the moment Chris touched it, but I supposed we were so small compared to him that it would've been like a spider crawling across a human's leg.
Slowly, cautiously, Chris ascended the mountain of scales. I could feel my heart threaten to stop every time the dragon twitched or made a noise, but it never woke up. Finally, Chris reached the top and began crawling towards the creature's head. The T-shirt he wore flapped around wildly as the monster snored, and I saw Chris turn and gag on its foul breath.
Now face-to-face with the serpent's head, Chris extracted the vial from the pocket of his pants. Holding it tightly, he reached towards the bottom of the fang.
He was just about there when the plan fell apart like a badly-wrapped burrito.
ACHOO!
The noise came from behind me, and it startled me so badly that I pulled Riptide from my pocket and whirled around to face it. Blackjack stood behind me, and when he saw my sword, he reared and backed away from me.
Whoa, sorry, boss! I told you, the air was messing with my muzzle.
Next to me, Luke cursed. I turned back to the beast, and to my horror, its eyes had opened. Chris was standing inches away from its head, petrified. A long, forked tongue shot out of the serpent's mouth and collided with his chest, knocking him off his feet and sending him tumbling down the side of its body. He landed on the ground with a yelp, rolled, and scrambled back to his feet.
"RUN!" he shouted.
We didn't need to be told twice. The pegasi had already scattered into the sky as the serpent uncoiled itself. Its head ascended multiple stories into the air, its tongue flicking as it tried to locate us, and it wasn't until then that I saw the full extent of how large this creature was. It had to be at least half a football field from head to tail, maybe even more than that.
It's eyes narrowed at us, and we took off sprinting in the opposite direction. We ducked behind another scrap pile (thankfully this one wasn't a giant, man-eating dragon) as the monster spat a glob of venom at us. The toxic substance splashed against the mound and sizzled, eating away at the metal.
The three of us exchanged looks.
"Our pegasi left us," Luke growled angrily. "Stupid, good-for-nothing animals!"
"Move!" Chris shouted as another spurt of venom rained down on us.
We dashed away from the scrap heap and dived behind another, hoping the serpent wouldn't be able to keep track of us small creatures such as ourselves very well.
"We're toast!" Chris hissed.
"Luke, can't you whip up some portals to get us out of here?" I asked frantically.
Luke shook his head, peeking over the scrap mound. "No, I can only create portals to and from the ship, but I made the crew sail towards Camp Half-Blood to pick us up there. They'll be halfway to New York by now, too far away to open up a portal."
I tried desperately to think of a way to escape. There was just no fighting this thing. I could try calling Blackjack and his friends back, but then I'd be giving away our position, and what were the odds that they'd actually listen? Then, I heard it behind me. About a hundred and fifty feet away, behind a concrete wall that I could easily jump, the Delaware River flowed past. I didn't know if the Python could swim or not, but if we could get to the river, I'd be able to direct the currents to take the three of us to Philly.
I took a glance over the scrap heap. The Python's head had returned to the ground, and it was snaking its way around the construction equipment and piles of debris, searching for us.
"Come on," I hissed. "Follow me."
Quickly, quietly, we made a beeline for the wall. I didn't dare look behind us as we ran. The wall was about six feet high, so we were easily able to climb up and throw ourselves over. I was the last one to make it to the top, and just as I did, I heard a horrible screech behind me. I turned and my eyes widened. The serpent had discovered its prey was escaping and was now barreling down the yard toward us at Mach 1, its snakelike head slithering along the ground.
Luke and Chris had stopped to wait for me on the other side of the wall, but I waved them on. "Go!" I told them.
I leapt off the crest of the wall and made to follow them. There was a rocky outcropping leading down to the river that slowed us down a bit, and unfortunately, that was all the Python needed to catch up with us. Its head smashed through the concrete like it was made of building blocks. Luke and Chris dived head first into the water, avoiding the debris.
I was about to follow suit when a huge shadow passed over me. Suddenly, my escape route was cut off by a section of scales as thick as a truck tire. I glanced up to see the Python's reptilian eyes leering down at me. I heard its body move behind me, and I threw myself to the ground just in time to avoid a set of wickedly sharp claws passing over my head. Staring up at the beast, I was distinctly reminded of that feeling of helplessness as I faced the Chimera on the Gateway Arch, only this time, there was nowhere to jump. I scrambled to my feet again and drew Riptide, though how much good it would do against the monster, I had no idea. Maybe if it swallowed me whole, I could cut my way out from the inside.
"Percy!" Luke called from the other side of the beast, though if it heard him, it paid him no attention.
Just as the monster was rearing its head back to strike, I heard a shrill screeching sound, like someone was rubbing two knives together. The monster screamed and began to thrash, writhing this way and that, dislodging loose boulders and smashing up pieces of the wall. I realized that Luke had lodged Backbiter between two of the scales on the creature's back.
Luke was thrown back into the shallows of the river, and I was forced to dive into a ditch between the rocks to avoid getting crushed by the monster's body. The Python's head turned to its wound and plucked the sword from its body, swallowing it up in one gulp.
The monster's attention was now fully on Luke and Chris. Slowly, I rose from the ditch. Luke was weaponless, and all Chris had was a standard bronze long-sword. They were sitting ducks in the water.
I watched in horror as the Python flicked its head forward, spraying venom from its mouth. I screamed for them to run, but there was no way they'd be fast enough. I felt a tug in my gut, and I realized something.
I could sense the venom in the air the same way I could sense the pollution in the water. They were both diluted by other elements and chemicals, but they were still water based.
I reached out mentally and grasped the venom, and to my surprise, it froze mid-air, hovering just in front of Chris. I must've not been able to stop all of it, because Chris collapsed in the water, clutching his leg and crying out in pain. Luke ran to him, glancing at the floating glob of venom with a stunned expression.
The monster itself just looked perplexed. It cocked its head to the side and flicked its tongue out, tasting the air. The tug in my gut started to become painful. Willing the venom to do as I commanded, I flung it back into the head of the Python. It seemed to take a while for it to register what happened, because after a moment of dazed silence, it let loose an ear-shattering screech of pain.
The scales on its head sizzled as it began to thrash about blindly. Clutching my sword, I sprinted to its body and climbed onto its back. This time, its writhing was slow enough to allow me to run up its neck, and when I reached the narrowest part, I brought Riptide down in an arc.
A clean slice. The writhing stopped. The tug in my gut lessened, and I felt a wave of fatigue wash over me. The Python's head fell to the ground and began disintegrating. And, unfortunately, the bit that I was standing on did the same. I found myself in free-fall, the ground rushing up several stories to meet me. I tried to command the water to catch me, but it wasn't fast enough.
I thought for sure I was about to break every bone in my body, but then a blur of black shot underneath me. I found myself slowly being lowered the remaining few feet to the ground by a soft cushion.
Close one, boss! Good thing you've got old Blackjack around to save the day, huh?.
He whinnied nervously, as if he hadn't been the cause of the entire encounter.
We set down on the rocky outcropping, and Luke was by my side in an instant, helping to lower me from the pegasus. He must've found Backbiter somewhere in the monster's carcass, because it was slung across his back again.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
I nodded. "Help Chris."
The Hispanic teen had pulled himself up onto the outcropping, and he didn't look good. He had his leg in the water and was vigorously trying to scrub away at the some hidden wound, maybe trying to wash the poison off. Luke told him to sit back and gingerly lifted his leg out of the water. He hissed when he saw the wound.
"It was only a couple drops," Chris said through gritted teeth.
The skin along his shin was a grotesque mixture of white, black, and red. I'd seen deadly snake bites cause discoloration on nature documentaries before, but this was different. This looked more like a chemical burn, and a pretty bad one at that. This is what we're putting in Thalia's tree? I wondered.
Blackjack sidled up next to me, and his black eyes fixed on Chris's leg. I hadn't realized it was possible for a horse to look guilty until I saw him lower his head and stare at the floor.
Oh man, that don't look too good, he spoke in my mind. Can you… can you tell him I'm sorry? I didn't mean to wake up that over-sized lizard. Honest.
"It wasn't your fault," I told him, rummaging through his saddlebags on autopilot. I fished out the ziploc bag of ambrosia we packed and rushed it over to Chris. Handing him a piece, he popped it into his mouth, and the relief on his face was instantaneous. Some of the color returned to the flesh on his leg, but I knew he wouldn't be walking on it any time soon.
Luke stood and glanced around, his eyes narrowing on Blackjack. The pegasus took a nervous step backwards. "Looks like you're the only one that came back," he said, clearly disappointed. "Percy, tell your pegasus to take Chris back to the ship."
"No, it's okay. I can keep going," Chris said. "Really, it doesn't even hurt that bad anymore. Look."
He tried to stand and immediately fell backwards, a grimace wracking his features.
"Don't move," Luke chided. "You need to visit the ship's med bay. Percy and I will take care of the rest."
Chris looked like he wanted to argue, but he really didn't have a leg to stand on. After a short, painful-looking process, we had Chris all strapped into Blackjack's saddles.
Take care, boss. If you need anything, you know where to find me.
"Uh… where's that?"
Wherever the enchiladas are, of course. Or you could just whistle for me. That works, too.
In a blur of black feathers, Blackjack took off into the sky and headed east back towards the ship. Luke and I watched him disappear over the trees.
"Well, great," Luke said. "The Python woke up before we were able to get anything out of it. Kronos isn't going to be happy to hear we murdered his gift."
Something on the ground where the Python's head had fallen gleamed brightly in the sunlight. Taking a closer look, I said, "I wouldn't be too sure about that." I stooped down and picked up a curved, white object the size of my forearm.
"I suppose this is my spoil of war," I said, holding up the Python's fang. I brought it over to Luke and held it out for him to see.
As we examined it, a drop of green venom fell from the tip of the fang and nearly landed on his shoe. He danced out of the way just in time to hear the acidic substance sizzle against the rock.
"Sorry!" I said, yanking it away.
"Oh, yeah. That'll do," Luke marveled, staring at the fang. "A few drops of that injected into the tree's roots will weaken it in no time. Then the campers will have no choice but to go after the Golden Fleece."
We shared a look, and I understood. It was time to go back to camp. Soon, there'd be no turning back.
"How are we going to get there?" I asked. "The other pegasi took off, and we don't have a car."
Luke's hand disappeared into his pocket, and he pulled out a large, golden coin. A drachma. "Leave that to me."
I always wondered how Luke managed to get a hold of Elder Python venom in the books. I figured having them actually fight for it would be more interesting then just getting an Amazon delivery from Tartarus. And yes, I'm aware that Python is a character in the Trials of Apollo books, but I haven't read them, so in this story he's a bit more like Ladon. Extremely powerful, but not as intelligent.