Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Chapter 14: The Forge
Somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean
Nico's POV
It seems like we've been out to sea for ever. I forgot how seasick I get out here. Put it this way I think my Hippocampus hates my guts. We followed the tracking device and I believe we found our target unfortunately the sight before us was incredible. With our binoculars we could easily see the training ship it had a dark gray hull and a white upper superstructure, but the surprise were the ships that surrounded it. There was one very large ship it was roughly twice as big as the research vessel with a dark red hull and the upper superstructure was a dull gray. The remaining ships weren't really ships I believe in the navy they're called boats, you see the other ships were submarines. There were at least fifty of them. They were all different sizes, some looked like electric/diesel submarines others were larger and were most likely nuclear powered submarines. How did Atlas get these subs? Now I knew how they were going to attack Atlantis. There was one submarine that stood out from the others it was about fifty feet longer than the next biggest boat. It was also at least twice as wide. As I looked through my binoculars I could see that a portion of its hull was flat and there were large round indentations in the hull, then it hit me. This had to be a ballistic missile submarine, so that's how they plan to attack Olympus and camp. I guess Scott saw this as well, he signaled for us to move out of sight. We moved away and found a small island that was roughly a mile from the research ship. We left our Hippocampi in the shallow water near the island. I was so relieved to be on land, my stomach could finally stop doing flip flops.
"Gareth, how much celestial bronze ammo do we have?" Scott asked. I knew we had plenty of our normal ammunition, but we might need the special stuff.
"Six thousand rounds." Gareth said.
"That should be plenty. Give everyone a thousand rounds, including the kid here." Scott said as he pointed at me. I have a name he couldn't have forgotten it already.
"Yes, sir." Gareth said. He gave each of us the special ammunition.
"What are we going to do now sir?" I asked. Scott looked at me skeptically and then shook his head.
"Isn't it obvious kid, we're waiting until dark." Scott said incredulously.
"That sounds like a good plan." I said. Scott just shook his head and walked over to talk to Gareth. I don't know why he doesn't like me, I know I can be a little dark and gloomy, but hey that's just normal for a son of Hades. I guess Scott noticed that I was upset because he walked over to me.
"Hey, kid sorry for making you feel out of place, but you need to understand, we didn't ask for you to tag along and we've been doing this kind of thing since before you were born." Scott said.
"My name is Nico, you don't have to call me kid." I stated. Scott just smiled at me.
"Struck a nerve, o.k., Nico, go get some rest we're going to sneak aboard the research ship in about two hours. By the way here take these pills they should help with the sea sickness. Apollo gave these to me years ago it helped some of my teammates we're not all immune to sea sickness." Scott said.
"You mean that some of your men get sea sick?" I asked in disbelief.
"Sometimes when the seas are very rough, but this is a secret so keep it to yourself, got it?" Scott said threateningly.
I nodded in agreement. "Yes sir." I said nervously. Scott smiled then walked back over to his fellow seals. I sat down on the sandy beach of the small island and looked up at the stars. I wonder how Thalia and the others are doing.
Denali National Park, Alaska
Thalia's POV
We left the hotel early in the morning. We reached the lodge at the bottom of the slopes of Mount McKinley. After two hours of trying on gear we rented our equipment and supplies and began our ascent of the largest mountain in North America. We were at the base of the mountain when suddenly a tall man and woman stepped out from behind a group of large pine trees. The man was nearly seven feet tall and the woman was over six feet in height. Their skin was as white as the snow on the peak of the mountain. Their eyes were a bright blue color that reminded me of glacial ice and their hair was silvery blond. They were both extremely attractive and they looked like they could have been giant runway models. They both wore white robes that stretched down to their ankles. The robes looked were made out of a light cloth; these two people must be immune to the cold of the upper elevations. We all grabbed our weapons ready for an attack. The man held up his hands when he saw our defensive actions.
"Please, we come in peace great demigods." The man said.
"Who are you?" Annabeth asked defensively. The man and woman looked at her and then I could tell they realized that Annabeth was in charge.
"You are the one known as Annabeth, daughter of the great Lady Athena." The woman said.
"Yes, I am. Who are you?" Annabeth asked.
"We are all that's left of the guardians of the forge our people were known as the Kithaironians. My name is Amyntas (translation Defender) and this is my wife Elpis (translation Hope). Kithairon was a mountain range in central Greece, the original location of Oranos's forge. We have moved over the centuries as Olympus moved. Now as you know the forge is inside Mount McKinley. The rest of our people were killed by the evil Titan's forces when they attacked the forge. The evil one is now in control of our sacred forge. His minions are stationed within and they have that horrible monster guarding the outside." Amyntas said. These people guarded the forge for several millennia incredible.
"Can you tell us anything about the forces inside the forge?" Annabeth asked. Good old brain always seeking the right information.
"Yes, there are at least ten humans and five demigods. They have at least four Cyclops and five telekhines running the forge." Amyntas said.
"Is there an easier way to the forge?" I asked. Annabeth looked at me and smiled, I guess she was getting ready to ask the same question.
"Yes, we have a secret way into the forge, one that will avoid the drakon." Elpis said. That's why Percy wasn't worried about the drakon. Then a thought came to me.
"How did you know we were on our way and how did you know that Annabeth was leading us?" I asked curiously. I noticed the inquisitive look on Annabeth's face, she was intrigued as well.
"The son of the earth shaker told us." Elpis said. They're talking about Percy.
"Was this son of the earth shaker named Percy?" Annabeth asked suspiciously.
"Yes, that's his name." Amyntas said. Percy was helping us again.
"How exactly did he talk to you?" I asked. Amyntas and Elpis looked at each other I could tell that they were unsure how to proceed.
"Well, he appeared to both of us like a ghost. We could see through him, but we could hear him clearly. At first we thought he was a ghost come to plague us for our failure in safeguarding Oranos's forge, but he reassured us that he was a friend. He told us all about Atlas and his plans. We agreed to help so we could restore the honor to our people." Amyntas said.
"Are you willing to lead us into the forge?" I asked.
"Yes, we will help." Elpis said.
"Good, please lead on and thank you for the assistance." Annabeth said. I wasn't sure if this was a trap, but Annabeth clearly trusted them so I followed praying for the best. We followed Elpis and Amyntas I noticed that there were lights in the sky that seemed to follow our path or were we following the lights. Then I realized that Elpis and Amyntas were following the lights. The lights were guiding them to the secret entrance. We continued to follow our new friends until we reached a rock wall that was about twenty feet tall. Elpis walked to the wall and chanted some type of spell. Suddenly a large crack in the wall appeared and then it began to widen until it was at least ten feet in width. Elpis and Amyntas walked into the opening and we followed close behind them. Once everyone was in the tunnel the opening closed behind us. It was completely dark inside the tunnel until I heard Amyntas say, "light" in ancient Greek and suddenly torches illuminated the tunnel. We followed our new friends for at least an hour until we reach the end of the tunnel. We all stopped, Amyntas turned and faced all of us.
"Behind this wall is the forge, this entrance is unknown to all except my people. The entrance here is behind a large waterfall that provides water to the forge." Amyntas said. Elpis waved her hand in front of the rock wall and chanted something that I couldn't understand. The rock wall opened and I could see cold water rushing in front of the cave entrance and I could barely make out a faint light on the other side of the water. The noise of the waterfall was very loud and I could barely hear Annabeth when she ordered us forward. I followed Annabeth around the waterfall and when we finally appeared out from behind the falling water I saw a dim light in the distance.
"That is the way to the forge." Elpis whispered. We followed Elpis and Amyntas through a passageway carved out of granite. The passageway suddenly opened up and we all stopped and hid behind a group of rocks near the end of the passageway. The opening was huge it was at least one thousand feet in width and two thousand feet in length. On the far wall from where we hid there was a huge cascading flow of molten metal that seemed to pour down the wall. It looked like the metal was continuously being recycled up and then down into a large basin of molten metal. The metal glowed with a strange energy and I could tell that it was giving off the radiation that had injured Percy so horribly. Hanging from the ceiling were two large cauldrons made from adamantine; the only substance strong enough to be dipped into the molten metal of the large pool. The Cyclops and the telekhines were working the metal and making weapons and bullets. The guards were near the main entrance to the forge, they were completely ignoring the rear of the forge where we were located.
Annabeth grabbed my arm and pointed to an area above the waterfall of molten metal. Above the cascading metal were several very large boulders that were attached to the side of the upper wall and ceiling. They were huge and would be perfect for burying the metal and destroying the molten metal water fall. Suddenly it hit me, the cauldrons, I pointed to them and I saw a look of understanding in Annabeth's eyes. She put on her invisibility cap and climbed a rope that led to the controls of the cauldrons. I saw the controls start to move and then suddenly the cauldrons jerked forward both at the same time. Annabeth had locked them into a full speed collision with the upper portions of the far wall. The cauldrons picked up speed as they moved toward the far wall. They hit the wall and upper portions of the ceiling with such force that the cauldrons dislodged from their chains and fell to the molten pool below. When they hit the pool of molten and radioactive metal a huge wave rose into the air and landed on the Cyclops and telekhines. The monsters were instantly vaporized. Several of the guards were also killed. The large boulders attached to the upper wall and ceiling began to crumble and fall against the waterfall of molten metal and the pool below. More and more rocks fell until the molten water fall and pool were completely covered and trapped under tons of rock. The few remaining guards screamed in fury and suddenly the cave entrance exploded open and standing in the middle of the forge and roaring horribly was the largest drakon I had ever seen.
"Ah crap!" I said.
AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Well, it looks like Annabeth and the gang didn't avoid the Ice Drakon after all. Many thanks to PercabethisSupreme for the idea for Amyntas and Elpis, happy birthday to your sister.