JASON

Jason was alone. Again.

This seemed to be becoming a trend.

Whatever that seaweed faced god had done, it had separated he, Piper, and Frank from the other three and something told him it wasn't exactly in accordance with their marginally constructed plan.

His impression could have been the effect of many things, but he had a feeling the giant chasm and natural smoke-screen effect from the rock was a pretty good indicator that Triton had not appeared for a family reunion with Percy.

But he had the trident, so that was good at least, right? And it was Percy, Annabeth, and Leo he was talking about, so they'd be fine. They were all tough fighters, even if a bit of a mismatched team. For now, Jason had to figure out where he was and where the others had gotten to. He didn't like the idea of being separated out here, especially when everything obviously now knew they were here and wanted to kill them.

Jason edged around to what he thought was inland, no use going back towards the ocean, and hadn't yet taken ten steps when he stumbled over something half-buried in rubble and very man-made.

Stooping down to investigate, he tentatively placed his hand on the odd piece of wood only to recognize it as a bow. That meant -

"Frank?"

"Jason?" a voice strained through the dark, too far away to see but definitely Frank.

"Here!" Jason called, yanking the bow free and hastening towards the sound.

The only problem was that the bow didn't follow him.

It was wedged too far down in the ground and no matter how hard Jason pulled it refused to budge.

"Come on, come on," he muttered impatiently, starting to become a little more wary, if that was possible, of the shadows that seemed to loom a little too intently around him.

Slowly, it started to give and Jason gave a small, internal cheer for joy.

It became very evident right away why the bow was stuck and it had nothing to do with the rock.

There was a hand attached to the other end, and not just a hand, but a fin, webs, claws, and all.

And the body it was attached to was none too happy.

EEAARRKKK! it screamed as Jason kicked away some of the stone that covered the things head. It had apparently been quite comfortable in its rock covering and didn't appreciate being woken up. Jason half-considered replacing the rock, leaving the bow, and saying "Have a nice day," but something told him that wouldn't cut it.

The dog-ish face that glowered up at him was murderous and Jason realized within about two seconds that the Telkhine would be all too willing to come out and fight if it meant an opportunity to tear him to shreds.

The monster lunged and Jason barely had time to dodge as the black claws reached for his face. Falling backwards, the bow still tight in his grip, he lost what little traction he'd had with his feet and slammed into something large and bulky that had appeared behind him. It stumbled backwards and grunted under Jason's weight but pushed him back upright and steadied them both.

"So, I guess they know we're here then," Frank said nonchalantly, eyeing the Telkhine warily and catching sight of what Jason was holding. "Hey!"

"Here," Jason said, passing off the bow and drawing his gladius.

The Telkhine hissed as it paced menacingly around them, trying to find an open spot to attack.

Instead, it threw back its head and let out a scream that Jason thought might even have rivaled Triton's conch. The monster returned his gaze with what could have been seen as a scornful smile, and took a step forward.

It stopped again.

It was waiting for reinforcements, Jason realized, and he looked around warily into the pitch black.

"Hey, Frank," he whispered.

"Yeah."

"You know that whole thing about us technically having two dragons?"

"Mhm."

"I think we might really want a second dragon in a minute."

"I think you might be right," Frank said with a anxious smile.

It was more like thirty seconds than a minute before they were in need of that second dragon.

Thankfully, they heard the hoard coming before they could see it. Unfortunately, they couldn't see until it was there.

Jason was mildly aware of Frank's creased brow and pained expression as the son of Mars willed up the image of a dragon.

Please remember the fire, Jason prayed, confident in Frank's ability but dreading the consequences should such a fundamental piece be missing.

Suddenly, the screeching got closer and the first spear tip was visible through the murk as the mass flooded over them.

Jason bat away the first monster easily enough, but there were so many he knew he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. As the others began to crowd in around him, more audible through the dark, charging full speed ahead towards the intruders, Jason realized he'd lost sight of Frank.

He yelled, but over the chaos there was no way anyone could hear him, let alone answer should anyone reply.

The tail came out of nowhere - at least, Jason thought it was a tail. Huge and red and sharp tipped like a spear, it was like looking at the rear-end of imminent defeat. Only then it turned on him and smacked away some oncoming Telkhines and Jason realized what was happening.

Frank had made a dragon-sized delivery, flames and all.