Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians
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57 pick fights for no good reason , and I ’ m getting tired of dying for you . You want to fight the kid , do it yourself .” It was the most un-Areslike thing I ’ d ever heard son of Ares say . Geryon threw down his spatula . “ You dare defy me ? I should fire you right now !” “ And who ’ d take care of your cattle ? Orthus , heel .” The dog immediately stopped growling at Grover and came to sit by the cowherd ’ s feet . “ Fine !” Geryon snarled . “ I ’ ll deal with you later , after the boy is dead !” He picked up two carving knives and threw them at me . I deflected one with my sword . The other impaled itself in the picnic table an inch from Eurytion ’ s hand .
I went on the attack . Geryon parried my first strike with a pair of red-hot tongs and lunged at my face with a barbecue fork . I got inside his next thrust and stabbed him right through the middle chest .
“ Aghhh !” He crumpled to his knees . I waited for him to disintegrate , the way monsters usually do . But instead he just grimaced and started to stand up . The wound in his chef ’ s apron started to heal . “ Nice try , sonny ,” he said . “ Thing is , I have three hearts . The perfect backup system .” He tipped over the barbecue , and coals spilled everywhere . One landed next to Annabeth ’ s face , and she let out a muffled scream . Tyson strained against his bonds , but even his strength wasn ’ t enough to break them . I had to end this fight before my friends got hurt .
I jabbed Geryon in the left chest , but he only laughed . I stuck him in the right stomach . No good . I might as well have been sticking a sword in a teddy bear for all the reaction he showed . Three hearts . The perfect backup system . Stabbing one at a time was no good …. I ran into the house . “ Coward !” he cried . “ Come back and die right !” The living room walls were decorated with a bunch of gruesome hunting trophies — stuffed deer and dragon heads , a gun case , a sword display , and a bow with a quiver .
Geryon threw his barbecue fork , and it thudded into the wall right next to my head . He drew two swords from the wall display . “ Your head ’ s gonna go right there , Jackson ! Next to the grizzly bear !” I had a crazy idea . I dropped Riptide and grabbed the bow off the wall . I was the worst archery shot in the world . I couldn ’ t hit the targets at camp , much less a bull ’ s eye . But I had no choice . I couldn ’ t win this fight with a sword . I prayed to Artemis and Apollo , the twin archers , hoping they might take pity on me for once . Please , guys . Just one shot . Please . I notched an arrow . Geryon laughed . “ You fool ! One arrow is no better than one sword .” He raised his swords and charged . I dove sideways . Before he could turn , I shot my arrow into the side of his right chest . I heard THUMP , THUMP , THUMP , as the arrow passed clean through each of his chests and flew out his left side , embedding itself in the forehead of the grizzly bear trophy .
Geryon dropped his swords . He turned and stared at me . “ You can ’ t shoot . They told me you couldn ’ t …”
His face turned a sickly shade of green . He collapsed to his knees and began crumbling into sand , until all that was left were three cooking aprons and an oversized pair of cowboy boots . *** I got my friends untied . Eurytion didn ’ t try to stop me . Then I stoked up the barbecue and threw the food into the flames as a burnt offering for Artemis and Apollo . “ Thanks , guys ,” I said . “ I owe you one .” The sky thundered in the distance , so I figured maybe the burgers smelled okay . “ Yay for Percy !” Tyson said . “ Can we tie up this cowherd now ?” Nico asked . “ Yeah !” Grover agreed . “ And that dog almost killed me !” I looked at Eurytion , who still was sitting relaxed at the picnic table . Orthus had both his heads on the cowherd ’ s knees . “ How long will it take Geryon to re-form ?” I asked him . Eurytion shrugged . “ Hundred years ? He ’ s not one of those fast re-formers , thank the gods .