Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
105
105
"I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON-SLAYER!" she yelled. "I will kill you ALL! Where is Kronos?
Bring him out! Is he a coward?"
"Clarisse!" I yelled. "Stop it. Withdraw!"
"What's the matter, Titan lord?" she yelled. "BRING IT ON!"
There was no answer from the enemy. Slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaenae
shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path.
The two-hundred-foot-long drakon carcass made a hollow scraping noise against the pavement, like
a thousand knives.
Meanwhile, we tended our wounded, bringing them inside the lobby. Long after the enemy
had retreated from sight, Clarisse kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy,
demanding that Kronos meet her battle.
Chris said, "I'll watch her. She'll get tired eventually. I'll make sure she comes inside."
"What about the camp?" I asked. "Is anybody left there?"
Chris shook his head. "Only Argus and the nature spirits. Peleus the dragon is still guarding
the tree."
"They won't last long," I said. "But I'm glad you came."
Chris nodded sadly. "I'm sorry it took so long. I tried to reason with Clarisse. I said there's no
point in defending camp if you guys die. All our friends are here. I'm sorry it took Silena . . ."
"My Hunters will help you stand guard," Thalia said. "Annabeth and Percy, you should go to
Olympus. I have a feeling they'll need you up there—to set up the final defense."
The doorman had disappeared from the lobby. His book was facedown on the desk and his
chair was empty. The rest of the lobby, however, was jam-packed with wounded campers, Hunters,
and satyrs.
Connor and Travis Stoll met us by the elevators.
"Is it true?" Connor asked. "About Silena?"
I nodded. "She died a hero."
Travis shifted uncomfortably. "Um, I also heard—"
"That's it," I insisted. "End of story."
"Right," Travis mumbled. "Listen, we figure the Titan's army will have trouble getting up the
elevator. They'll have to go up a few at a time. And the giants won't be able to fit at all."
"That's our biggest advantage," I said. "Any way to disable the elevator?"
"It's magic," Travis said. "Usually you need a key card, but the doorman vanished. That
means the defenses are crumbling. Anyone can walk into the elevator now and head straight up."
"Then we have to keep them away from the doors," I said. "We'll bottle them up in the lobby."
"We need reinforcements," Travis said. "They'll just keep coming. Eventually they'll
overwhelm u s."
"There are no reinforcements," Connor complained.
I looked outside at Mrs. O'Leary, who was breathing against the glass doors and smearing
them with hellhound drool.
"Maybe that's not true," I said.
I went outside and put a hand on Mrs. O'Leary s muzzle. Chiron had bandaged her paw, but
she was still limping. Her fur was matted with mud, leaves, pizza slices, and dried monster blood.
"Hey, girl." I tried to sound upbeat. "I know you're tired, but I've got one more big favor to
ask you." I leaned next to her and whispered in her ear.
After Mrs. O'Leary shadow-traveled away, I rejoined Annabeth in the lobby. On the way to
the elevator, we spotted Grover kneeling over a fat wounded satyr.
"Leneus!" I said.
The old satyr looked terrible. His lips were blue. There was a broken spear in his belly, and
his furry goat legs were twisted at a painful angle.
He tried to focus on us, but I don't think he saw us.
"Grover?" he murmured.
"I'm here, Leneus." Grover was blinking back tears, despite all the horrible things Leneus
had said about him.