Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Kane Chronicles.

Chapter Four: Annabeth Makes A Mistake

Two and a half hours before Percy sent Nico an Iris-Message, Annabeth and Percy were having dinner in Phoenix Arizona when they saw a large griffin coming towards them with a look of evil in its eyes. It had golden brown fur and huge Eagle's wings. It's head was also that of an eagle with a sharp, bloodstained beak. It's lion's paws had claws the size of daggers.

"What do we do?" said Percy "We can't fight it in a public place."

"I know," said Annabeth "Come on."

She grabbed Percy's hand and they began to run as fast as they could through the crowds of mortals to get to a quiet place where they could fight the griffin without worrying about the mortals panicking or getting hurt. Annabeth's mind was working frantically but she couldn't think of many places in Phoenix that were less crowded.

Then again she had only been in the city for a short time back when she was on the run with Thalia and Luke. Thinking about those days was hard for her but she remembered that they had camped near the top of a mountain.

"This way!" she yelled in Percy's ear as she dragged him towards a large mountain which if she was remembering correctly was called Camelback Mountain.

When they reached the base of the mountain they turned to face the griffin.

"SQUAWK!" screeched the griffin and flew at them with its claws ready. Annabeth pulled out her Celestial bronze knife and Percy uncapped Riptide and they began to fight.

It was over in a matter of minutes. The griffin was fast but the two heroes were faster. They slashed at the monster until it disintigrated into golden dust.

"Well," said Percy "That didn't take long."

"No," Annabeth agreed "It didn't."

"So what do we do now?" Percy asked. Annabeth thought about it and then she smiled as an idea struck her.

"We could have a picnic on the mountain." she suggested. Percy smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

They began to climb up the mountain and stopped at a slightly less rocky part near the top. They laid out a blanket and Annabeth pulled some crisps and some chocolate from her pack.

"How come you're always prepared for anything?" Percy asked Annabeth in awe. She just smiled at him mysteriously and handed him a packet of cheese and onion crisps and a bar of chocolate.

"Thanks." he said and they began to eat.

Ten minutes later they had finished their snacks and were just sitting in companionable silence. After about a minute of this Percy broke the silence.

"So," he said "Should we get back to Camp now?"

Before Annabeth could answer a deep voice bellowed above them

"How dare you enter my terretory, filthy demigods!"

Percy turned and saw a horrible figure glaring down at them. Its head kept shifting between a handsome human head with red hair and cruel eyes to a snarling canine head which Percy thought looked a bit like a demonic greyhound with rabbit's ears.

One thing was clear though, this thing was definitely not friendly.

"I will strip the flesh from your bones!" roared the creature. Then he seemed to change his mind when he saw Annabeth. He waved his hand and a miniature sandstorm whirled around Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" Percy screamed but Annabeth didn't seem to hear him.

"On second thought," said the man-demonic greyhound as if nothing had happened "I'll trap you and use your godly blood to increase my power."

He snapped his fingers and the sandstorm along with Annabeth disappeared in a flash of red light. Percy drew of sword but the creature simply disappeared too.

Percy sat down and his brain began to think furiously about what he should do next. He was sure not that the creature was some sort of monster or god but he was also sure that it wasn't anything from Greek mythology. It had looked more like something from Egyptian mythology but he decided that the first move was to send an Iris-Message to Nico di Angelo because he was sure that Nico who was better at mythology than he was would have an idea.

He pulled out a crystal and the faint sunlight hitting it made a rainbow in the air. As he made the Iris-Message he thought miserably that if Annabeth hadn't thought of coming up here she wouldn't have gotten herself trapped.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading everyone. Reviews would be really apreciated.