Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
101
101
serpents. Most don't have wings. Most don't breathe fire (though some do). All are poisonous. All
are immensely strong, with scales harder than titanium. Their eyes can paralyze you; not the turn-
you~to-stone Medusa-type paralysis, but the oh~my~gods-that~big~snake~is~going~to~eat~me
type of paralysis, which is just as bad.
We have drakon-fighting classes at camp, but there is no way to prepare yourself for a two-
hundred-foot-long serpent as thick as a school bus slithering down the side of a building, its yellow
eyes like searchlights and its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth big enough to chew elephants.
It almost made me long for the flying pig.
Meanwhile, the enemy army advanced down Fifth Avenue. We'd done our best to push cars
out of the way to keep the mortals safe, but that just made it easier for our enemies to approach.
The Party Ponies swished their tails nervously. Chiron galloped up and down their ranks, shouting
encouragement to stand tough and think about victory and root beer, but I figured any second they
would panic and run.
"I'll take the drakon." My voice came out as a timid squeak. Then I yelled louder: "I'LL TAKE
THE DRAKON! Everyone else, hold the line against the army!"
Annabeth stood next to me. She had pulled her owl helmet low over her face, but I could tell
her eyes were red.
"Will you help me?" I asked.
"That's what I do," she said miserably. "I help my friends."
I felt like a complete jerk. I wanted to pull her aside and explain that I didn't mean for Rachel
to be here, that it wasn't my idea, but we had no time.
"Go invisible," I said. "Look for weak links in its armor while I keep it busy. Just be careful."
I whistled. "Mrs. O'Leary, heel!"
"ROOOF!" My hellhound leaped over a line of centaurs and gave me a kiss that smelled
suspiciously of pepperoni pizza.
I drew my sword and we charged the monster.
The drakon was three stories above us, slithering sideways along the building as it sized up
our forces. Wherever it looked, centaurs froze in fear.
From the north, the enemy army crashed into the Party Ponies, and our lines broke. The
drakon lashed out, swallowing three Californian centaurs in one gulp before I could even get close.
Mrs. O'Leary launched herself through the air—a deadly black shadow with teeth and claws.
Normally, a pouncing hellhound is a terrifying sight, but next to the drakon, Mrs. O'Leary looked like
a child's night-night doll.
Her claws raked harmlessly off the drakon's scales. She bit the monster's throat but couldn't
make a dent. Her weight, however, was enough to knock the drakon off the side of the building. It
flailed awkwardly and crashed to the sidewalk, hellhound and serpent twisting and thrashing. The
drakon tried to bite Mrs. O'Leary, but she was too close to the serpent's mouth. Poison spewed
everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but Mrs. O'Leary weaved
around
the
serpent's
head,
scratching and biting.
"YAAAH!" I plunged Riptide deep into the monster's left eye. The spotlight went dark. The
drakon hissed and reared back to strike, but I rolled aside.
It bit a swimming-pool-size chunk out of the pavement. It turned toward me with its good eye,
and I focused on its teeth so I wouldn't get paralyzed. Mrs. O'Leary did her best to cause a
distraction. She leaped onto the serpent's head and scratched and growled like a really angry black
wig.
The rest of the battle wasn't going well. The centaurs had panicked under the onslaught of
giants and demons. An occasional orange camp T-shirt appeared in the sea of fighting, but quickly
disappeared. Arrows screamed. Fire exploded in waves across both armies, but the action was
moving across the street to the entrance of the Empire State Building. We were losing ground.
Suddenly Annabeth materialized on the drakon's back. Her invisibility cap rolled off her head
as she drove her bronze knife between a chink in the serpent's scales.
The drakon roared. It coiled around, knocking Annabeth off its back.
I reached her just as she hit the ground. I dragged her out of the way as the serpent rolled,