The last thing I wanted to do before summer break was spy out a monster camp. But it was a chilly Friday night, and I was nestled between two bushes overlooking a valley filled with monsters.

I looked around me. Everything looked the same: black. It was close to midnight, meaning the Moon was the only source of illumination that was not monster—related. A fog had rolled in a few hours earlier, which meant I could barely see few feet behind me. There could be a monster just behind my toes I wouldn't see it coming.

In front of me, the mist rapidly dissolved, so abruptly that it looked like it wasn't there in the first place, creating a wall of fog that the upper portion of my body looked out of.

I was lying down over a steep cliff edge that overlooked a narrow valley.

The Berkeley hills had a couple of passes in between them, but most of them led to retirement homes or old farms, which hardly got any traffic throughout the year. The more commonly routed ones had all been turned into highways, because not even mother nature could stop American industries from high speed transit.

This was one of the less used passes. Scratch that, it was never used.

Until now.

Being one of the more obscure passes, you didn't really find it on GPS sites. It didn't really have a name, but at Camp we called it the Bad Guy Pass. Because getting to Caldecott Tunnel without taking the highway meant you had to go through this pass. And 99% of the time, that meant only monsters used this pass. Or really lost hikers.

The grass around me waved in the breeze. Leaves rustled in the background, but the night was pretty quiet otherwise. I hoped my dark clothes helped me stay concealed, because I knew for a fact that there were harpy patrols in the skies, scanning for any sigh of movement. The mist had helped me get in undetected until now, but at the edge of it, I was a lot more open.

I know what you're thinking.

Me? Stealth Mission? For real?

At least, that was what my friends thought. I was one of the last people you wanted on a stealth mission. Not because I was a really clumsy person or anything, but because of the nature of my….powers. Being a son of Neptune (Poseidon, to be precise), my powers weren't really the stealthy kind. I wasn't able to fade into the shadows like Pluto's kids or carry out assassinations using potato launchers like the Mars kids.

My powers were more along the earthskaking and stormbringing categories. They were good for all out fights, pitched battle and theater musicals, but not the best for stealth.

Which was why I'd been confused when the praetors, Cassie and Marcus, called me to take part in this mission. They always decided beforehand which demigods got which missions. And I'd never ever been assigned a stealth mission before— until now. There was a lot more going on behind it, but I wasn't sure what.

You didn't generally ask too many questions to the praetors of Camp Jupiter.

At least, I didn't have to lead and observe. My job was just to help us get in and fight if things got ugly.

Next to me, Reyna stirred, her body rigid as she focused entirely on the camp in front of us. Her black hair and darker complexion made her almost blend in with the environment. She'd attached parts of plants to her clothes, which were all black, and had even smeared her face with stripes in black paint, making it even harder to see her. She was currently looking out of a pair of binoculars and staring at the monster camp below, while taking notes in a small notebook she'd placed next to her. I had no idea how she wrote in the darkness, but she told me it was a skill she'd learned in her past life. When she worked at a spa.

I'm pretty sure writing in the dark isn't one of the skill sets they require at spas. But then again, I've never actually been in one.

The Moon rose again from behind some clouds, and I caught the glint of another pair of lenses, on the other side of the valley.

Marcus Martinez, our praetor, and Michael Kahale, centurion of the first cohort, were on the other side. On the same job as ours. I couldn't tell if they were needed for actual reconnaissance or if they were just there to make sure Reyna and I didn't mess up. Specifically, me.

But the recon was going well, so far. We hadn't been discovered yet.

I shivered as something grazed my fingers.

I looked down. It was Reyna's hand.

She put a finger to her lips, then motioned with her head like she was saying : Get a load of this!

I slowly crept towards the edge, inch by inch. The closer I got, the higher my chances of being discovered were. A stray beam of light could show everyone in the camp my hiding spot, if they didn't smell or hear me first.

The sight in front of me made me break out in a cold sweat.

I swallowed nervously as I took in the army that was ahead of us. It was easily three times as large as the monster camp I'd faced last year, when I'd first headed out on a mission.

And that time, we had the support of four gods and a celestial weapon. Nothing close to that this time.

Olympus had been silent. If it wasn't for our spies that routinely scanned the passes towards camp, I was pretty sure we'd have been caught unawares.

The monster line stretched all the way, as far as I could see. We'd gotten reports of a huge monster army moving towards New Rome. The earliest reports that returned said it had began at Mount Tamalpais.

If you're wondering, how does a mountain spawn monsters?, let me tell you, it doesn't.

A fact I'd found out when I'd visited Olympus last summer was that just like the gods had an dwelling place, the Titan Army had one too. Mount Tamalpais— or how they called it, Mount Othyrys. The base of Titan operations. Every army in Greek mythology had a mountain, apparently. The bigger the mountain, the cooler. Which explained why the Olympians had their mountain split in two and had the upper half levitating over Manhattan. It was their way of saying : Hey! We have the coolest mountain so we're the best!

Reyna hit my side, gently, forcing me to snap back to reality.

I squinted and focused on the monster camp ahead. She knew when I got lost thinking about random things (my ADHD kicking in) and usually brought me back to focus on what was going on around me. Yeah, she's cool like that.

The Camp was fairly well organized. There were several sleeping bags spread around campfires where a few demigods snoozed. I spotted one of them moving towards a small tent. He looked familiar, with white hair and tanned skin, but I wasn't able to get any more clues was from where I was.

The monster lay around camp, scattered into small groups based on their species. A couple of the braver ones tried mingling with other species but they usually ended up fighting with each other.

I looked around for the biggest tent. That usually housed the leaders of the Camp.

Near the center was a fairly large tent, colored a bright yellow, with several symbols embroidered over it. In front of it, as a guard, stood a huge cyclops. He was easily fifteen feet tall, made up of boulders for muscle and looked so huge I though he was a giant at first. His body was lined with scars, some old and fading, but several new where the red angry flesh was still peeking out from beneath his skin. He was large and hairy and wore nothing but a dirty brown loincloth held together by a black thread around his waist. A few strands of brown hair peeked over his bald head, above huge ears that stuck out like satellite dishes. Cyclopes were excellent listeners, better than nearly any other was blind, and wore an eye patch over his only eye.

"Psst," I whispered softly. "Check out Captain Obvious."

"Who?" Reyna turned.

I gestured towards the cyclops.

"That guy. He's got only one eye and that's in a patch."

"How does that make him Captain Obvious?"

"Well, Captains usually have eye patches, right?" I asked. "And he's so big, it's obvious he's there."

Reyna rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Percy. You need to focus."

Right.

I looked around the camp, trying to make a note of the different types of monsters and how many they were. Those were the things they'd find more useful back in Camp, so that we could prepare counter measures based on the monsters. Reyna had been jotting them down, but I tried to make a mental note anyway.

(I didn't have a notebook because it was my first time. I didn't know you're supposed to take notes in recon missions)

Suddenly though, the central tent opened, and the cyclops moved to let its occupants out. I stiffened, senses on high alert.

Reyna already had her binoculars out and was looking at what was going on.

I spotted three figures leaving the tent, and my blood turned to ice.

The first one was clearly a Titan. He radiated power that rivaled that of the elder gods. He was muscular, tall and bearded, with fiercely glowing skin like the color of polished pennies. His eyes glowed in the night like miniature suns with a blinding light. He reminded me of Apollo, except his light was harsher. Cruel. Like the deadly summer heat. He was wearing golden armor that shone so bright, it basically lit up the entire camp.

Next to him walked another being, seven-feet tall. His black hair was tied back in a ponytail, and he wore a tuxedo. His face looked like it was marred, but I wasn't able to tell by what. He seemed to be deep in conversation with Mister Walking Solar Flare.

Behind them stood a creature even taller.

My heart threatened to leap out of my chest, just looking at the size of it.

It was easily close to thirty feet tall and was so large he made Captain Obvious look like a pre-schooler. The tent he'd emerged from only came up to his thigh, so I was pretty sure there was some heavy magic involved.

From the waist up, he wore bronze armor decorated with a flame design. He had dreadlocks with bones woven through them and his skin was bronze with marble white eyes. From the waist down though, he had dragon legs with thick, leathery skin and claws. He wielded a spear as long as a flagpole.

I wasn't an expert in battle strategy, but I doubted even Hannibal, our giant elephant back at Camp, could take him on one—on—one.

Reyna cursed as the three beings walked through the Camp, slowly walking towards the spot where we'd been hiding out. I felt like I was in a horror movie, as I watched them move closer, slowly. Our only hope was the hide and pray our cover was good enough.

I faintly spotted Marcus and Michael discussing something rapidly on the other side of the valley.

"Who are they?" I whispered to Reyna.

"Think, Percy" she told me.

"Okay, well the golden hour dude must be a Titan. Since Koios was Titan of the North, and he was all ice, I'm guessing he's titan of the…South?"

Reyna smiled.

"Close. But not quite. He's—well, I'd rather not say his name, considering he's this close— but he's the Titan of the east."

"The Hyper dude right?"

Hyperion. Titan god of heat, heavenly light and power, lord of the eastern corner of the world, and the world's biggest flashlight.

Reyna nodded. "And I'm guessing the guy next to him is Prometheus."

My eyebrows shot up.

"Prometheus? Like the dude who gave mankind fire and all that?"

She nodded.

"But wasn't he—"

I frowned, trying to remember what type of punishment he'd had. Our last exam before school closed in camp had been on immortal punishments and why it was a bad idea to infuriate the gods. So although my algebra was still a work in progress, I did know fifty ways to punish Titans if I was a god. Some of them were really creative. I was sure Prometheus was one of those punished Titans I'd learned about.

"Chained to rocks? Fed to eagles?" Reyna asked, and I nodded.

She sighed, and rubbed the back of her neck in frustration. "They must have freed him, Percy."

"Who has the guts to free someone Jupiter specifically chained down?" I asked, incredulous.

She gave me a look.

I sighed. "Fine, the Titans. But what about that other dude— he makes even Prometheus look like a child!"

I heard a harpy screech, far above in the night sky, and froze.

Reyna and I lay still, scared to even breathe.

She shook her head.

In the light that was slowly coming towards us, I could see her mouth the words: I don't know.

Well, it sure sucked that there was a thirty—foot tall giant in this camp and we didn't even recognize him. I was pretty sure he was big news.

The Titans stepped closer. The giant was so huge his ears grazed the sides of the cliffs, dislodging rocks, pebbles and a small mountain goat, which Captain Obvious quickly ate.

I overheard snatches of conversation between Hyperion and Prometheus as they got closer.

"I must see to the progress on the other camp. Kronos counts on your success, even if I am not there to oversee you. I trust you will succeed?"

Prometheus smiled, all slick and business like.

"But of course, uncle. We will obliterate Camp Jupiter. For with the Titans and the giants united, who can stand in our way?"

Hyperion nodded.

"Do not end up like my fool of a brother Koios. He spent so long plotting only to be sent back without even killing a god."

Prometheus smiled.

"His mistake was underestimating the power of the demigods. Something, I assure you, I will not be repeating. Do you not think this force is excessive?"

Hyperion raised a brow.

"What do you mean?"

"There are enough monsters here to run their stupid camp flat, although I doubt Enceladus will encounter any resistance. The Olympians are too blind to notice trouble until it is too late for them.

"And yet, so many monsters?"

Prometheus smiled.

"I told you, uncle. I will not make the same mistakes as Koios. If he brought a large enough army to overrun the camp of the demigods, my army is twice that. I will ensure that the camp is not only overrun, but destroyed in such a way that it can never be rebuilt. I will crush it, brick by brick, until it is nothing more than a desolation of fire and stone."

I shivered as I heard his words, and Reyna was quickly jotting points down in her notepad like she was listening to a teacher in class. In the light, I saw words like 'Enceladus', 'Minerva' and 'fire'.

"Good," Hyperion nodded. "I shall leave then. Enceladus," he nodded..

The giant blinked, and Hyperion suddenly burst into a huge ball of fire that char—grilled several monsters around him and lit up the countryside for miles. I closed my eyes, but the bright flash was still seared into my mind.

"I hate it when he does that," Enceladus grumbled, after the Titan had disappeared.

Prometheus gave a non—committal grunt, his eyes scanning the edges of the valley. It was like he was looking for something. More specifically— for us.

I shrank back, hiding against a bush, peering out between its branches. A cold breeze moved over the valley, but I was too scared to even more away to a more sheltered area. One wrong more, one slight twitch, and I was dead meat.

"We are not alone," I heard him say, and I immediately stiffened.

"Lights out!"

All of a sudden, the entire monster camp was submerged in total darkness. I blinked, straining my eyes and trying to get see what was around me.

I waited for a few seconds, not daring to move. The night was deathly quiet, and not even the wind blew.

The moon hid behind a cloud, and suddenly I was covered in darkness. But before I could even sigh in relief, I heard a rustle behind me.

The Moon came back out, turning the entire countryside a harsh shade of white.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here…two demigodsss?"

I whirled around, riptide in my hand.

Behind us stood a dracenae, her shadow casting eerie trails in the moonlit fog. She must have snuck up behind us while we were scouting, and the mist covered her path like it had covered ours.

She lunged, and I immediately slashed riptide reflexively, while side stepping to avoid her claws.

She screeched, turning into golden dust, but the damage was done.

The entire camp knew where we were. And they were coming for us.

"We've got to get back!" I shouted, running towards the mist. Reyna was already ahead of me, having hung the binoculars around her neck and tucked the book into her pocket.

I whistled, a loud taxicab whistle any New Yorker would be proud of, and in a few seconds, two pairs of wings shook the air around us as two Pegasi landed a few yards in front of us.

Blackjack was the closest thing I had to a pet. I'd met him last year, when I'd saved him from a pirate ship where he'd been trapped. Ever since then, we'd hung out on and off. He wasn't a part of Camp Jupiter, but everyone knew him there as my personal Pegasus, and he used that to get a lot of free donuts from the happy campers, acting like I never fed him.

To his right was Scipio, but everyone at Camp called him Skippy because he liked Peanut Butter. He was one of the Camp's Pegasi, but rarely let anyone mount him other than Reyna, so everyone basically considered him her Pegasus.

Hey Boss! Got any donuts?

If I wasn't running for my life, I would've rolled my eyes. We'd literally landed in the middle of nowhere a few minutes ago and Blackjack knew that.

"We'll get some back at Camp. Which is where we're going. Hurry!"

I heard screeches and roars behind me as the monsters tried to climb up the steep slope and chase us. A few yards away, I heard the deep thump of Captain Obvious' feet, treading the earth. Rocks slid down the cliffs as the monsters raced up it, using their talons to dig deep into the earth and run up.

"Percy! Duck!"

I tucked and rolled, and felt a WHOOSH as the air above me fluttered in the mist. I heard the clucking of a beak and the annoyed screech of a harpy.

She'd be back. With company.

"Quick! Get on!"

"What about Marcus and Michael?"

I hopped on to Blackjack, feeling his muscles tense under me as his wings launched himself upwards in the sky. Scipio soon followed.

"They'll come from the other side! We can't expect them to get over the monster camp!" I shouted, as Blackjack and Scipio quickly used the mist to their advantage.

Reyna nodded, and our Pegasi began quickly flying up, using the altitude to get away from the nasties below on the ground.

I saw several rocks, arrows and other projectiles in the air.

Blackjack narrowly evaded most of them, but I felt a spearhead graze my thigh.

Blood splattered across my leg, turning my pants a shade darker than they already were, but I didn't have time to complain. I grit my teeth and urged him on.

Sorry boss!

I bit down on my tongue to steel my nerves.

"Keep flying," I muttered. "We've got to lose them."

Several of the cyclopes threw rocks at us.

I know what you're thinking. So what?

The thing is, a cyclopes throwing rocks is pretty much like an advanced anti—aircraft defense system. They can throw huge rocks, several at a time, depending on their size. The larger ones can take down a Pegasus with a single hit. But what's worse is that they have a really long range and deadly accuracy while you're in it.

Reyna and I spurred Scipio and Blackjack forwards, towards the night sky. I could dimly see the outline of the city nearby, but I wondered if we would ever make it in time.

A/N: Book 2, here we go

Percy and Reyna could say Promtheus' name because he isn't as powerful as Hyperion. That's my reasoning for it. Also Hyperion has superb hearing.

Let me know what you guys think!