Chapter 49 failure

Annabeth's POV

I stood watching Sarah while I tried to catch my breath, we'd been fighting hard for several minutes. I trend back to the battle taking stock of the situation. There were twelve of us left, one was badly injured and two more were down. A son of Aries had disappeared under the body of the Meoneon Drakon and the daughter of Apollo hadn't been able to dodge the Ethiopian Drakon's teeth. There would be time to grieve for them later, right now we have to focus on survival, and keeping the monsters out of the camp or more of us would be joining them in Elysium. I bit my lip, our odds weren't good to say the least, twelve demigods versus two fully grown angry Drakons. There is only one way the Meoneon could be defeated, and we'd seen it done in Tartarus. But the heroes with me aren't capable of pulling off something like that which is why I need Grover or a child of Demeter. Turning my attention to the Ethiopian. I remembered that years ago one of these had stalled the camp's borders. The Apollo cabin had put two dozen arrows in its hide. They only managed to run it off. The original plan had been to distract the Meoneon until we could kill the other one, then send someone back for reinforcements. But it wasn't working, we simply couldn't keep one from attacking the border while we killed the other. I watched as Jason blasted the Meoneon with lightning which did nothing but annoy it, the monster snapped at him but Jason flew out of the way as Piper delivered several lightning fast attacks to the Drakon's side which glanced off with no damage done to the monster. Piper had already tried charm speaking it off course, but the noise of the storm and the roars of the beasts had drowned out her voice. A few feet away Clarice, Leo and the other nine heroes were trying to take down the other Drakon, but their efforts weren't much more successful. Coming to a discussion I joined Clarice, without taking her eyes off the monsters, she yelled.

"This isn't working. What's the new plan!?"

"I'm going to draw the Menoneon's attention for as long as I can while you and the others take out the eyes of the Ethiopian."

She grunted as we both rolled under a spray of acid.

"This one's tough, I don't think just taking out the eyes will bring it down like the Lydian Drakon in Manhattan."

"You're probably right, which is why when I can't hold off the Meoneon any longer I'll switch targets. You and the others will have this guys full attention, and I'll be able to find a chink in the armor. With any luck that's all it will take."

Clarisse snorted,

"Is that how you and Jackson always managed to survive? With luck?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that but in a pinch, yes."

I didn't wait for a reply, instead opting to single-handedly distract a Drakon that was as long as a subway train.

"Jason!"

He glanced at me, grabbed Piper and flew over the three of us stepping inside the border to talk.

"Annabeth, my charm-speak isn't loud enough and nothing we can throw at it is working."

"I know, I have a new plan, but I need you both to trust me."

Jason nodded so I continued.

"Leo and the others need help, and we can't continue like this so I need both of you to go help them."

Jason frowned,

"You plan on keeping that thing's attention by yourself?"

"I'll be fine. Just trust me."

Jason pressed his lips into a thin line as he exchanged a glance with Piper.

"Look, they need backup and the border isn't going to hold for much longer. We have to get rid of these things fast then stop Luke's men."

"Ok fine, just be careful. If something goes wrong Percy would kill us if he found out we knew about your plan."

Jason grabbed Piper and they flew to help the others. Closing my eyes I took a deep breath, and tried to clear my mind of any thoughts that might distract me. Knowing that in a few seconds I'd be fully relying on instincts more than training to keep me alive. Squaring my shoulders, I lifted my chin, and strode to the edge of the border, stopping just before I'd leave the safety of Camp and waited. The Drakon saw me, it reared back and threw itself at me. It's Maw open wide displaying rows of teeth ready to devour me. I stood unmoving as it slammed into the border which flickered and bowed inward under the impact. I brought my sword up and drove it two handed into it's mouth, then just as quickly yanked it back and rolled through the border. The twenty minutes were a blur of teeth, hide and acid. All the while knowing that if I made one mistake it would be the last one I'd make. Yet I had to keep the monster distracted as long as I could, I'd seen how close the border was to braking. I stabbed my sword into an armor chink, then through myself flat as teeth snapped inches above me. No sooner than my full body hit the muddy ground I rolled desperately through a puddle narrowly avoiding a spray of acid. I shoved myself to my feet lungeing forward as I did, thrusting my sword into the monster's nostril. It retracted it's head, roaring in anger more than pain, as it thrashed it's body wildly, hoping to crush me flat. Lungs burning and muscles aching in protest, I desperately tried to stay ahead of the writhing coils. The slippery mud clung to my feet and legs slowing me down as the rain impeded my vision. Part of the monster's body slammed into my back, knocking the air from my lungs with the force of the blow and sending me flying face first to muddy, saturated ground. Gasping for air and coughing up bits of mud and grass, I staggered to my feet trying to get clear of the Drakon. If I tried to continue any longer I was only going to get myself killed. Glancing over my shoulder I saw the monster studding me, then without any warning it struck. I flinched so hard my foot slipped on the mangled ground. Luckily it hadn't attacked me inside it readable it's efforts on the border. Too exhausted to keep up the speed which had kept me alive the past minutes I abandoned the monster to its efforts. Instead, retreating to re-join the raging battle against its companion. Once I was within fifteen feet I could see that the others had managed to put out the lamp like eyes. Though true to Clarice's prediction the injury hadn't brought down the monster. It roared in pain and defiance at the heroes assembled around it. Jason had grabbed Leo and was flying around the monster while Valdez torched it's head with flames. The Drakon reared and snapped at the pair, as it did it revealed a large gap in it's armored belly. As the beast crashed back to earth one of the figures rushed forward and drove her sword hilt deep into the monster's chin. It roared in pain and outrage at the sudden attack, then before the girl could get clear it spat acid in her face. The girl screamed and fell back. A memory from the past seemed to reply itself as the others dragged her clear and struggled to save her. Glancing around I grabbed a broken sword and a couple of spears from a fallen hero. Working quickly I bound them together with a leather strap from an abandoned shield. Rushing forward as Jason and Leo made another pass to get the monster's attention away from the fallen girl. The Drakon rows off the ground, snapping and spraying acid at Leo, and Jason momentarily, revealing its weak spot. Running as fast as I could I darted under the body of the monster, setting my makeshift weapon against the ground. Despite the yells and cries for me to get clear, I held my weapon steady until the monster was nearly on top of me. Then at the last possible moment I threw myself clear rolling for all I was worth. I heard the monster's cry of pained surprise as it crashed onto my makeshift weapon. The weight and force the monster, driving it deep within its body. Sitting up, I looked behind me and saw the Drakon shudder once, and begin to disintegrate. Cheers rose into the night then died abruptly as the weekend border finally broke and fell under the relentless attack of both the Menoneon Drakon and Magic. The monster roared its victory barreling into the camp.

"Jason! We need to catch up with it!