Chapter 6: Demon Pigeons Attack
There was a round of laughter at this title.
"Ah Percy. You know how to break the tension, even without meaning to." Nico laughed. The Campers who had been there all glared at Dionysus.
The next few days were torture, just like Tantalus wanted. First there was Tyson moving into the Poseidon cabin, giggling to himself every fifteen seconds and saying, "Percy is my brother?" like he'd just won the lottery.
"Awww." Gwen smiled. He might be a Cyclops but he sounded like an adorable little kid.
"Aw, Tyson," I'd say. "It's not that simple." But there was no explaining it to him. He was in heaven. And me…as much as I liked the big guy, I couldn't help feeling embarrassed. Ashamed. There, I said it.
"What?" Nico frowned. "You love Tyson."
"Yeah." Percy sighed. "But Camp was hard enough that summer without getting mocked and shunned by people for having a Cyclops brother." He explained. "Plus, Tyson was kind of exhausting before he grew up a little." Poseidon frowned. "I'm not proud of it." Percy added.
My father, the all-powerful Poseidon, had gotten moony-eyed for some nature spirit, and Tyson had been the result.
Poseidon shuffled in his seat in embarrassment.
I mean, I'd read the myths about Cyclopes. I even remembered that they were often Poseidon's children. But I'd never really processed that this made them my… family. Until I had Tyson living with me in the next bunk.
"Tyson is far from the worst family on your dad's side." Thalia smirked.
"Don't I know it." Percy grimaced, thinking of Antaeus, who he had fought in the Labyrinth, and Polyphemus. Those were just the ones off the top of his head.
And then there were the comments from the other campers. Suddenly, I wasn't Percy Jackson, the cool guy who'd retrieved Zeus's lightning bolt last summer. Now I was Percy Jackson, the poor schmuck with the ugly monster for a brother.
Poseidon glared at the other campers who looked a little ashamed. Tyson had helped save their camp at least twice.
"He's not my real brother!" I protested whenever Tyson wasn't around. "He's more like a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family. Like…a half-brother twice removed, or
something."
"Percy." Poseidon frowned.
"I know. It was mean of me but I was thirteen and it was still kind of a shock to me too. I love Tyson, we just got off to a rocky start."
Nobody bought it. I admit—I was angry at my dad. I felt like being his son was now a joke.
Poseidon raised an eyebrow but Percy just cringed. The other campers all exchanged looks.
Annabeth tried to make me feel better. She suggested we team up for the chariot race to take our minds off our problems. Don't get me wrong—we both hated Tantalus and we were worried sick about camp—but we didn't know what to do about it. Until we could come up with some brilliant plan to save Thalia's tree, we figured we might as well go along with the races.
Chiron nodded. "If only that had lasted." He said.
"Honestly, it was for the best if Percy didn't stay given how horrible Tantalus was too him." Annabeth pointed out.
After all, Annabeth's mom, Athena, had invented the chariot, and my dad had created horses. Together we would own that track.
Clarisse scoffed. The other campers all glared at her and she frowned.
One morning Annabeth and I were sitting by the canoe lake sketching chariot designs when some jokers from Aphrodite's cabin walked by and asked me if I needed to borrow some eyeliner for my eye…"Oh sorry, eyes."
Aphrodite frowned at Silena.
"It wasn't me." Silena protested. "But I didn't stop them." She added guiltily. "Sorry Percy."
As they walked away laughing, Annabeth grumbled, "Just ignore them, Percy. It isn't your fault you have a monster for a brother." "He's not my brother!" I snapped. "And he's not a monster, either!"
"Technically he is both." Jason said.
"Yes. I know." Percy said shortly.
Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Hey, don't get mad at me! And technically, he is a monster." "Well you gave him permission to enter the camp." "Because it was the only way to save your life! I mean…I'm sorry, Percy, I didn't expect Poseidon to claim him. Cyclopes are the most deceitful, treacherous—"
"Excuse me?" Poseidon asked.
"Until I met Tyson, I'd only ever had bad experiences with Cyclopes." Annabeth explained.
"Tyson could never be deceitful." Beckendorf said.
"He is not! What have you got against Cyclopes, anyway?" Annabeth's ears turned pink. I got the feeling there was something she wasn't telling me— something bad. "Just forget it," she said. "Now, the axle for this chariot—" "You're treating him like he's this horrible thing," I said. "He saved my life."
"You're not exactly being nice to him either." Piper pointed out.
"I was saying it to other campers because I was frustrated. Which does make me a bit two faced but I wasn't mean directly to Tyson." Percy sighed. "I still cared about him as my friend."
Annabeth threw down her pencil and stood. "Then maybe you should design a chariot with him." "Maybe I should."
A few of the campers groaned playfully.
"So it was your fault Annabeth." Beckendorf muttered.
"Yeah, you gave them the idea to work together." Will complained. Percy smirked.
"Fine!" "Fine!" She stormed off and left me feeling even worse than before. The next couple of days, I tried to keep my mind off my problems. Silena Beauregard, one of the nicer girls from Aphrodite's cabin, gave me my first riding lesson on a pegasus.
Percy and Silena grinned at each other while the Romans looked very jealous.
She explained that there was only one immortal winged horse named Pegasus, who still wandered free somewhere in the skies, but over the eons he'd sired a lot of children, none quite so fast or heroic, but all named after the first and greatest. Being the son of the sea god, I never liked going into the air. My dad had this rivalry with Zeus, so I tried to stay out of the lord of the sky's domain as much as possible. But riding a winged horse felt different. It didn't make me nearly as nervous as being in an airplane. Maybe that was because my dad had created horses out of sea foam, so the pegasi were sort of…neutral territory.
"Pretty much." Poseidon nodded. Zeus grunted in annoyance but couldn't argue.
I could understand their thoughts. I wasn't surprised when my pegasus went galloping over the treetops or chased a flock of seagulls into a cloud. The problem was that Tyson wanted to ride the "chicken ponies," too,
Everybody snickered.
"Chicken ponies." Leo smirked. "Tyson is hilarious. It must be a son of Poseidon thing to have the most hilarious descriptions."
but the pegasi got skittish whenever he approached. I told them telepathically that Tyson wouldn't hurt them, but they didn't seem to believe me. That made Tyson cry.
"Poor Tyson." Silena frowned.
The only person at camp who had no problem with Tyson was Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin.
Leo smiled at his half-brother and Hephaestus nodded to his son proudly.
"Tyson's a good guy." Beckendorf shrugged. "And as he had been claimed by a God he deserved the respect of one of us."
"Thank you." Poseidon said happily.
The blacksmith god had always worked with Cyclopes in his forges, so Beckendorf took Tyson down to the armory to teach him metalworking. He said he'd have Tyson crafting magic items like a master in no time.
"You did great. That shield he made me was awesome." Percy grinned.
After lunch, I worked out in the arena with Apollo's cabin. Swordplay had always been my strength. People said I was better at it than any camper in the last hundred years, except maybe Luke. People always compared me to Luke.
The campers all winced.
I thrashed the Apollo guys easily.
Will sighed and Apollo frowned.
"Sword fighting just isn't really our thing." Will admitted.
"I know. Just as you'd thrash me at archery if I bothered anymore." Percy smiled.
I should've been testing myself against the Ares and Athena cabins, since they had the best sword fighters, but I didn't get along with Clarisse and her siblings,
"You don't need to get along to practise with them." Ares commented.
"We would have happily pulverised him if he'd asked." Clarisse shrugged.
and after my argument with Annabeth, I just didn't want to see her.
Annabeth frowned slightly.
I went to archery class, even though I was terrible at it, and it wasn't the same without Chiron teaching.
"Why did you even bother?" Hermes asked with a small smile.
"I figured Tantalus or Mr D would have been quite happy to punish me if I skipped lessons." Percy shrugged.
In arts and crafts, I started a marble bust of Poseidon, but it started looking like Sylvester Stallone, so I ditched it. I scaled the climbing wall in full lava-and-earthquake mode. And in the evenings, I did border patrol. Even though Tantalus had insisted we forget trying to protect the camp, some of the campers had quietly kept it up, working out a schedule during our free times.
The Gods glared at Dionysus before nodding in approval. The Romans were also impressed.
"You shouldn't have to protect your camp in secret." Reyna frowned.
"True but better than not defending it at all." Connor pointed out.
I sat at the top of Half-Blood Hill and watched the dryads come and go, singing to the dying pine tree. Satyrs brought their reed pipes and played nature magic songs, and for a while the pine needles seemed to get fuller. The flowers on the hill smelled a little sweeter and the grass looked greener. But as soon as the music stopped, the sickness crept back into the air. The whole hill seemed to be infected, dying from the poison that had sunk into the tree's roots.
Zeus scowled and Thalia grimaced.
The longer I sat there, the angrier I got. Luke had done this. I remembered his sly smile, the dragon-claw scar across his face. He'd pretended to be my friend, and the whole time he'd been Kronos's number-one servant.
Hermes and his kids all winced.
I opened the palm of my hand. The scar Luke had given me last summer was fading, but I could still see it—a white asterisk-shaped wound where his pit scorpion had stung me. I thought about what Luke had told me right before he'd tried to kill me: Goodbye, Percy. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it.
"I don't want to be part of your idea of a golden age." Percy muttered angrily.
"Thank goodness for that." Nico muttered. They all knew that if Percy had joined Kronos they wouldn't stand a chance.
At night, I had more dreams of Grover. Sometimes, I just heard snatches of his voice. Once, I heard him say: It's here. Another time: He likes sheep.
"'It's here'?" Jason frowned. "Didn't Chiron mention that something could help?"
"He did. You think Grover accidentally found the one thing they need to save camp?" Piper asked. "That's pretty convenient."
"Convenient is not the word I would use." Grover stated.
I thought about telling Annabeth about my dreams, but I would've felt stupid. I mean, He likes sheep? She would've thought I was crazy.
Annabeth grimaced knowing that was very true. She hadn't believed Percy when he told her about Grover despite knowing he wouldn't lie about his best friend being in danger.
The night before the race, Tyson and I finished our chariot. It was wicked cool. Tyson had made the metal parts in the armory's forges. I'd sanded the wood and put the carriage together. It was blue and white, with wave designs on the sides and a trident painted on the front.
Poseidon smiled proudly.
After all that work, it seemed only fair that Tyson would ride shotgun with me, though I knew the horses wouldn't like it, and Tyson's extra weight would slow us down. As we were turning in for bed, Tyson said, "You are mad?" I realized I'd been scowling. "Nah. I'm not mad."
"You're a terrible liar." Thalia snorted.
"Well, I wasn't mad at him." Percy shrugged.
He lay down in his bunk and was quiet in the dark. His body was way too long for his bed. When he pulled up the covers, his feet stuck out the bottom. "I am a monster." "Don't say that." "It is okay. I will be a good monster. Then you will not have to be mad."
"Awww." Silena cooed.
"Poor Tyson." Beckendorf frowned.
I didn't know what to say. I stared at the ceiling and felt like I was dying slowly, right along with Thalia's tree. "It's just…I never had a half-brother before." I tried to keep my voice from cracking. "It's really different for me. And I'm worried about the camp. And another friend of mine, Grover… he might be in trouble. I keep feeling like I should be doing something to help, but I don't know what." Tyson said nothing. "I'm sorry," I told him. "It's not your fault. I'm mad at Poseidon. I feel like he's trying to embarrass me, like he's trying to compare us or something, and I don't understand why."
"Or I knew you both needed each other." Poseidon said gently.
"We did. It just took me awhile to realise that." Percy admitted.
I heard a deep rumbling sound. Tyson was snoring.
Everybody chuckled.
I sighed. "Good night, big guy." And I closed my eyes, too. In my dream, Grover was wearing a wedding dress.
There were a few snickers around the room and Grover buried his face in his hands.
It didn't fit him very well. The gown was too long and the hem was caked with dried mud. The neckline kept falling off his shoulders. A tattered veil covered his face. He was standing in a dank cave, lit only by torches. There was a cot in one corner and an oldfashioned loom in the other, a length of white cloth half woven on the frame. And he was staring right at me, like I was a TV program he'd been waiting for. "Thank the gods!" he yelped. "Can you hear me?"
"He can see you in your dream?" Gwen asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Grover created a link with me that allowed that to happen." Percy told her.
My dream-self was slow to respond. I was still looking around, taking in the stalactite ceiling, the stench of sheep and goats, the growling and grumbling and bleating sounds that seemed to echo from behind a refrigerator-sized boulder, which was blocking the room's only exit, as if there were a much larger cavern beyond it. "Percy?" Grover said. "Please, I don't have the strength to project any better. You have to hear me!" "I hear you," I said. "Grover, what's going on?" From behind the boulder, a monstrous voice yelled, "Honeypie! Are you done yet?" Grover flinched. He called out in falsetto, "Not quite, dearest! A few more days!"
"A monster actually wants to marry you?" Reyna raised an eyebrow. Grover shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.
"Pretty much." He admitted.
"Bah! Hasn't it been two weeks yet?" "N-no, dearest. Just five days. That leaves twelve more to go." The monster was silent, maybe trying to do the math. He must've been worse at arithmetic than I was, because he said, "All right, but hurry!
"It bought that?" Travis asked with a laugh.
"Maths wasn't his strongest area." Grover smirked.
"Thank goodness." Annabeth said.
I want to SEEEEE under that veil, heh-hehheh." Grover turned back to me. "You have to help me! No time! I'm stuck in this cave. On an island in the sea." "Where?" "I don't know exactly! I went to Florida and turned left."
"Oh well, it should be easy to find you." Chris said.
"What? How did you—" "It's a trap!" Grover said. "It's the reason no satyr has ever returned from this quest. He's a shepherd, Percy! And he has it. Its nature magic is so powerful it smells just like the great god Pan!
Dionysus and Hermes both glared at the book. Whatever this was, was stopping Satyr's finding their friend and son.
The satyrs come here thinking they've found Pan, and they get trapped and eaten by Polyphemus!"
Poseidon sighed sadly while the other two Gods turned their glare onto him.
"Poly-who?" "The Cyclops!" Grover said, exasperated. "I almost got away. I made it all the way to St. Augustine." "But he followed you," I said, remembering my first dream. "And trapped you in a bridal boutique." "That's right," Grover said. "My first empathy link must've worked then. Look, this bridal dress is the only thing keeping me alive. He thinks I smell good, but I told him it was just goatscented perfume.
"Goat scented perfume?" Leo asked through his laughter.
"Cyclopes eat Satyrs. If he knew what I was he would be dead." Grover snapped, his face going a little red out of embarrassment.
Thank goodness he can't see very well. His eye is still half blind from the last time somebody poked it out. But soon he'll realize what I am. He's only giving me two weeks to finish the bridal train, and he's getting impatient!" "Wait a minute. This Cyclops thinks you're—" "Yes!" Grover wailed. "He thinks I'm a lady Cyclops and he wants to marry me!"
Everyone except Grover burst out laughing. Percy hadn't dared last time because Grover had been in danger but knowing he survived meant he could now see the funny side.
Under different circumstances, I might've bursted out laughing, but Grover's voice was deadly serious. He was shaking with fear.
That dampened most of the laughter but there were a few chuckles throughout the room.
"I'll come rescue you," I promised. "Where are you?" "The Sea of Monsters, of course!"
"Of course." Leo said sarcastically.
"It is where he lived in the stories." Annabeth shrugged.
"The sea of what?" "I told you! I don't know exactly where! And look, Percy…um, I'm really sorry about this, but this empathy link…well, I had no choice. Our emotions are connected now. If I die…" "Don't tell me, I'll die too."
"What?" Poseidon shouted. "You connected your life to my son when your life was in such danger?"
"It was the only way for me to get a message to him." Grover said quietly.
"It was a great risk." The Sea God growled angrily.
"Dad. It's ok. Clearly, I didn't die and it's proven very useful." Percy said. The God looked at his son and subsided a little.
"Oh, well, perhaps not. You might live for years in a vegetative state. But, uh, it would be a lot better if you got me out of here." "Honeypie!" the monster bellowed. "Dinnertime! Yummy yummy sheep meat!" Grover whimpered. "I have to go. Hurry!" "Wait! You said 'it' was here. What?" But Grover's voice was already growing fainter. "Sweet dreams. Don't let me die!"
"Good job you took that taxi." Thalia noted.
The dream faded and I woke with a start. It was early morning. Tyson was staring down at me, his one big brown eye full of concern. "Are you okay?" he asked. His voice sent a chill down my back, because he sounded almost exactly like the monster I'd heard in my dream. The morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam. Millions of birds were roosting in the trees—fat gray-and-white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that reminded me of submarine radar.
The Greek campers who had been there all winced.
The racetrack had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods. Hephaestus's cabin had used the bronze bulls, which were completely tame since they'd had their heads smashed in, to plow an oval track in a matter of minutes. There were rows of stone steps for the spectators—Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren't participating. Mr. D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock. "Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate éclair across the judge's table. "You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at us like we were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week!
"I'm surprised he didn't outright say people would be rewarded for killing others." Connor muttered.
"I'm more surprised Mr D didn't show just to watch all the injuries that were likely to take place." Travis shrugged.
Now ready your chariots!" Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. They had a sweet ride made of bronze and iron—even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. I had no doubt that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than a fully loaded Maserati.
Beckendorf smirked while Leo whistled.
The Ares chariot was bloodred, and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Clarisse climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys.
Ares nodded approvingly while Clarisse looked smug.
"Obviously my children will win." The God boasted.
"Na. They can't compete with some good old fashioned trickery." Hermes stated confidently.
"I have full confidence in Percy and Tyson." Poseidon put in.
"I believe Athena's daughter will triumph." Artemis stated and Athena nodded proudly.
"Of course." She agreed. The campers all exchanged looks but nobody corrected their parents.
Apollo's chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Their fighter was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows at the opposing drivers.
"I'd prefer the regular arrows." Chris muttered.
"I know." Will smirked.
Hermes's chariot was green and kind of old-looking, as if it hadn't been out of the garage in years. It didn't look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, and I shuddered to think what dirty tricks they'd schemed up.
The Stolls smirked and Hermes ruffled their hair.
"I can imagine." Chris laughed.
"We had some pretty fun ideas." Connor nodded.
That left two chariots: one driven by Annabeth, and the other by me. Before the race began, I tried to approach Annabeth and tell her about my dream. She perked up when I mentioned Grover, but when I told her what he'd said, she seemed to get distant again, suspicious.
"You don't believe him?" Thalia asked in astonishment.
"I thought he wanted to distract me from the race." Annabeth said.
"By pretending his friend is in danger? Percy would never." Nico rolled his eyes.
"I know." Annabeth sighed.
"You're trying to distract me," she decided. "What? No I'm not!" "Oh, right! Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp."
"I mean, she's got a point about that being suspicious." Silena nodded.
"But Percy would never make that up." Rachel stated.
"And I'm guessing he doesn't even know what it is that could save camp." Thalia pointed out.
"What do you mean?" She rolled her eyes. "Go back to your chariot, Percy." "I'm not making this up. He's in trouble, Annabeth." She hesitated. I could tell she was trying to decide whether or not to trust me. Despite our occasional fights, we'd been through a lot together. And I knew she would never want anything bad to happen to Grover. "Percy, an empathy link is so hard to do. I mean, it's more likely you really were dreaming."
"Oh thanks." Grover muttered sarcastically. "Glad you have faith in my abilities."
"And why would Percy even know what an empathy link is? He wouldn't just dream about something like that." Will added.
"The Oracle," I said. "We could consult the Oracle."
"You'd need permission from Dionysus." Poseidon glared at the Wine God.
Annabeth frowned. Last summer, before my quest, I'd visited the strange spirit that lived in the Big House attic and it had given me a prophecy that came true in ways I'd never expected. The experience had freaked me out for months. Annabeth knew I'd never suggest going back there if I wasn't completely serious. Before she could answer, the conch horn sounded. "Charioteers!" Tantalus called. "To your mark!" "We'll talk later," Annabeth told me, "after I win." As I was walking back to my own chariot, I noticed how many more pigeons were in the trees now—screeching like crazy, making the whole forest rustle. Nobody else seemed to be paying them much attention, but they made me nervous. Their beaks glinted strangely. Their eyes seemed shinier than regular birds.
"Them?" Apollo scowled.
"That's a lot to have made it to camp." Hermes pointed out.
"The boundary is obviously getting worse." Artemis said in concern.
Tyson was having trouble getting our horses under control. I had to talk to them a long time before they would settle down. He's a monster, lord! they complained to me. He's a son of Poseidon, I told them. Just like…well, just like me. No! they insisted. Monster! Horse-eater! Not trusted!
"I can't even imagine Tyson eating a horse." Beckendorf frowned.
"He wouldn't." Percy agreed.
I'll give you sugar cubes at the end of the race, I said. Sugar cubes? Very big sugar cubes. And apples. Did I mention the apples?
"Nice." Hermes smiled.
"Horses and Pegasi are easily bribable." Percy grinned.
Finally they agreed to let me harness them. Now, if you've never seen a Greek chariot, it's built for speed, not safety or comfort. It's basically a wooden basket, open at the back, mounted on an axle between two wheels. The driver stands up the whole time, and you can feel every bump in the road. The carriage is made of such light wood that if you wipe out making the hairpin turns at either end of the track, you'll probably tip over and crush both the chariot and yourself. It's an even better rush than skateboarding.
"Boys." Rachel muttered.
"It is great fun." Annabeth grinned.
"The best." Clarisse agreed.
I took the reins and maneuvered the chariot to the starting line. I gave Tyson a ten-foot pole and told him that his job was to push the other chariots away if they got too close, and to deflect anything they might try to throw at us. "No hitting ponies with the stick," he insisted. "No," I agreed. "Or people, either, if you can help it. We're going to run a clean race. Just keep the distractions away and let me concentrate on driving."
"You're planning a clean game?" Hermes raised an eyebrow.
"Against Hermes' kids not to mention Ares' lot and Hephaestus'." Apollo looked at him in surprise.
"I didn't need to give Tantalus any excuses to pick on me." Percy shrugged. "Not that it mattered." He added bitterly.
"We will win!" He beamed. We are so going to lose, I thought to myself, but I had to try. I wanted to show the others… well, I wasn't sure what, exactly. That Tyson wasn't such a bad guy? That I wasn't ashamed of being seen with him in public? Maybe that they hadn't hurt me with all their jokes and namecalling?
The Greek campers shot him apologetic looks.
As the chariots lined up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly the campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds. Tantalus didn't look concerned,
"That concerns me more." Reyna murmured to Gwen who nodded.
but he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise. "Charioteers!" he shouted. "Attend your mark!" He waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life. Hooves thundered against the dirt. The crowd cheered. Almost immediately there was a loud nasty crack! I looked back in time to see the Apollo chariot flip over. The Hermes chariot had rammed into it—maybe by mistake,
"Oi!" Apollo complained.
"Definitely no mistake." Hermes smirked. "Good lads."
"Sorry dad." Will sighed.
"No worries. Just do better next time." The God clapped his son on the shoulder.
maybe not. The riders were thrown free, but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track. The Hermes team, Travis and Connor Stoll, were laughing at their good luck, but not for long. The Apollo horses crashed into theirs, and the Hermes chariot flipped too, leaving a pile of broken wood and four rearing horses in the dust.
"Ha!" Apollo cheered. "If they take you out, take them with you. Nice work." Will grinned.
"Really boys?" Hermes groaned good naturedly. The Stolls looked sheepish.
Two chariots down in the first twenty feet. I loved this sport. I turned my attention back to the front. We were making good time, pulling ahead of Ares, but Annabeth's chariot was way ahead of us. She was already making her turn around the first post, her javelin man grinning and waving at us, shouting: "See ya!" The Hephaestus chariot was starting to gain on us, too. Beckendorf pressed a button, and a panel slid open on the side of his chariot. "Sorry, Percy!" he yelled. Three sets of balls and chains shot straight toward our wheels.
"Yeah. I'm sure you were sorry." Percy laughed. Beckendorf shrugged but his smirk indicated he wasn't.
They would've wrecked us completely if Tyson hadn't whacked them aside with a quick swipe of his pole. He gave the Hephaestus chariot a good shove and sent them skittering sideways while we pulled ahead.
Hephaestus grunted his disapproval while Poseidon grinned.
"Nice work, Tyson!" I yelled. "Birds!" he cried. "What?" We were whipping along so fast it was hard to hear or see anything, but Tyson pointed toward the woods and I saw what he was worried about. The pigeons had risen from the trees. They were spiraling like a huge tornado, heading toward the track. No big deal, I told myself. They're just pigeons.
"I wish." Percy sighed.
"Please tell me you have your weapon with you?" Poseidon asked.
"Of course." Percy nodded.
I tried to concentrate on the race. We made our first turn, the wheels creaking under us, the chariot threatening to tip, but we were now only ten feet behind Annabeth. If I could just get a little closer, Tyson could use his pole.… Annabeth's fighter wasn't smiling now. He pulled a javelin from his collection and took aim at me. He was about to throw when we heard the screaming. The pigeons were swarming—thousands of them dive-bombing the spectators in the stands, attacking the other chariots. Beckendorf was mobbed.
Hephaestus grimaced.
His fighter tried to bat the birds away but he couldn't see anything. The chariot veered off course and plowed through the strawberry fields, the mechanical horses steaming. In the Ares chariot, Clarisse barked an order to her fighter, who quickly threw a screen of camouflage netting over their basket. The birds swarmed around it, pecking and clawing at the fighter's hands as he tried to hold up the net, but Clarisse just gritted her teeth and kept driving. Her skeletal horses seemed immune to the distraction.
"They are undead." Hades pointed out.
"That's my girl." Ares nodded.
The pigeons pecked uselessly at their empty eye sockets and flew through their rib cages, but the stallions kept right on running. The spectators weren't so lucky. The birds were slashing at any bit of exposed flesh, driving everyone into a panic. Now that the birds were closer, it was clear they weren't normal pigeons. Their eyes were beady and evil-looking. Their beaks were made of bronze, and judging from the yelps of the campers, they must've been razor sharp. "Stymphalian birds!" Annabeth yelled. She slowed down and pulled her chariot alongside mine. "They'll strip everyone to bones if we don't drive them away!"
"Loud music?" Thalia suggested.
"Tyson," I said, "we're turning around!" "Going the wrong way?" he asked. "Always," I grumbled, but I steered the chariot toward the stands. Annabeth rode right next to me. She shouted, "Heroes, to arms!" But I wasn't sure anyone could hear her over the screeching of the birds and the general chaos.
"Nope. Couldn't hear a thing." Will confirmed.
"Still, it was the obvious thing to do." Connor said.
"Unless you're Clarisse." Travis scowled.
I held my reins in one hand and managed to draw Riptide as a wave of birds dived at my face, their metal beaks snapping. I slashed them out of the air and they exploded into dust and feathers, but there were still millions of them left. One nailed me in the back end and I almost jumped straight out of the chariot. Annabeth wasn't having much better luck. The closer we got to the stands, the thicker the cloud of birds became. Some of the spectators were trying to fight back. The Athena campers were calling for shields. The archers from Apollo's cabin brought out their bows and arrows, ready to slay the menace, but with so many campers mixed in with the birds, it wasn't safe to shoot.
"I have faith in you guys." Apollo told Will.
"Too many!" I yelled to Annabeth. "How do you get rid of them?" She stabbed at a pigeon with her knife. "Hercules used noise! Brass bells! He scared them away with the most horrible sound he could—" Her eyes got wide. "Percy…Chiron's collection!"
"Excuse me?" The Centaur looked mildly offended.
"Your music was the closest." Percy grinned innocently.
I understood instantly. "You think it'll work?" She handed her fighter the reins and leaped from her chariot into mine like it was the easiest thing in the world. "To the Big House! It's our only chance!" Clarisse has just pulled across the finish line, completely unopposed, and seemed to notice for the first time how serious the bird problem was.
"Really? You didn't even notice?" Reyna looked at Clarisse with disapproval. She shrugged but made no response.
When she saw us driving away, she yelled, "You're running? The fight is here, cowards!" She drew her sword and charged for the stands. I urged our horses into a gallop. The chariot rumbled through the strawberry fields, across the volleyball pit, and lurched to a halt in front of the Big House. Annabeth and I ran inside, tearing down the hallway to Chiron's apartment. His boom box was still on his nightstand. So were his favorite CDs. I grabbed the most repulsive one I could find,
Chiron raised an eyebrow.
Annabeth snatched the boom box, and together we ran back outside. Down at the track, the chariots were in flames. Wounded campers ran in every direction, with birds shredding their clothes and pulling out their hair, while Tantalus chased breakfast pastries around the stands, every once in a while yelling, "Everything's under control! Not to worry!"
"What?" The Gods all looked horrified except Dionysus who was growing more concerned.
"Why are you guys surprised?" Thalia asked.
"He already expressed that he doesn't care if camp is attacked." Chris pointed out.
We pulled up to the finish line. Annabeth got the boom box ready. I prayed the batteries weren't dead. I pressed PLAY and started up Chiron's favorite—the All-Time Greatest Hits of Dean Martin. Suddenly the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning in Italian
"Young people have no taste." Chiron sighed.
The demon pigeons went nuts. They started flying in circles, running into each other like they wanted to bash their own brains out. Then they abandoned the track altogether and flew skyward in a huge dark wave. "Now!" shouted Annabeth. "Archers!" With clear targets, Apollo's archers had flawless aim. Most of them could nock five or six arrows at once.
Apollo smiled.
Within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze-beaked pigeons, and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon. The camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn't pretty. Most of the chariots had been completely destroyed. Almost everyone was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks. The kids from Aphrodite's cabin were screaming because their hairdos had been ruined and their clothes pooped on.
"Oh. How awful." Aphrodite wrinkled her nose. Piper rolled her eyes.
"If that's the worst they got they can be happy." She snorted. Aphrodite looked horrified that her daughter did not consider ruined hair and bird poop on clothes a disaster.
"Bravo!" Tantalus said, but he wasn't looking at me or Annabeth. "We have our first winner!" He walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned looking Clarisse.
"Told you my daughter would win." Ares said proudly.
"Only because everyone else was actually defending their camp." Hephaestus scoffed.
Then he turned and smiled at me. "And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race."
"The monsters disrupted the race you…" Poseidon scowled furiously.
"Chapter's done." Dionysus said quietly.
"And you! Where were you when all of this was going on?" Apollo asked.
"In bed." Silena stated in annoyance.
"Not that he would have been any help if he'd be awake." Connor scoffed.
"I think we should take a break." Chiron said quickly.
"Agreed." Poseidon stated. "I need a word with my nephew." The room then dispersed.
"Hey, you up for some archery training?" Apollo asked Percy. Percy looked into the earnest face of the God and bit back a groan.
"Yeah ok." The blinding grin he received made his answer worth it.
A/N: I'm sorry for not up updating but I have been busy and more chapters will come around next week. All credit go to Lorixjake on Ao3 you all can read the original work on Ao3. It's finish up to Blood of Olympus. And also pls ignore the updates from the first book I'm just fixing mistakes.