Rick Riordan The Last Olympian - 05
The mist shimmered . I saw the familiar image of a smoldering volcano — Mount St . Helens . As I watched , the side of the mountain exploded . Fire , ash , and lava rolled out . A newscaster ' s voice was saying "— even larger than last year ' s eruption , and geologists warn that the mountain may not be done ."
I knew all about last year ' s eruption . I ' d caused it . But this explosion was much worse . The mountain tore itself apart , collapsing inward , and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole . I hoped the Mist would keep the humans from seeing it clearly , because what I saw would ' ve caused panic and riots across the entire United States .
The giant was bigger than anything I ' d ever encountered . Even my demigod eyes couldn ' t make out its exact form through the ash and fire , but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could ' ve used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat . The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling , as if the monster were laughing .
" It ' s him ," I said . " Typhon ."
I was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good , like No , that ' s our huge friend Leroy ! He ' s going to help us ! But no such luck . He simply nodded . " The most horrible monster of all , the biggest single threat the gods ever faced . He has been freed from under the mountain at last . But this scene is from two days ago . Here is what is happening today ."
Chiron waved his hand and the image changed . I saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains . Lightning flickered . Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path — ripping up houses and trailers , tossing cars around like Matchbox toys .
" Monumental floods ," an announcer was saying . " Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east , continuing its path of destruction ." The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest city . I couldn ' t tell which one . Inside the storm I could see the giant — just small glimpses of his true form : a smoky arm , a dark clawed hand the size of a city block . His angry roar rolled across the plains like a nuclear blast . Other smaller forms darted through the clouds , circling the monster . I saw flashes of light , and I realized the giant was trying to swat them . I squinted and thought I saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness . Then some kind of huge bird — a monstrous owl — dived in to attack the giant .
" Are those . . . the gods ?" I said . " Yes , Percy ," Chiron said . " They have been fighting him for days now , trying to slow him down . But Typhon is marching forward — toward New York . Toward Olympus ." I let that sink in . " How long until he gets here ?"
" Unless the gods can stop him ? Perhaps five days . Most of the Olympians are there . . . except your father , who has a war of his own to fight ."
" But then who ' s guarding Olympus ?" Connor Stoll shook his head . " If Typhon gets to New York , it won ' t matter who ' s guarding
Olympus ." I thought about Kronos ' s words on the ship : I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus .
Was this what he was talking about : an attack by Typhon ? It was sure terrifying enough . But Kronos was always fooling us , misdirecting our attention . This seemed too obvious for him . And in my dream , the golden Titan had talked about several more challenges to come , as if Typhon were only the first . " It ' s a trick ," I said . " We have to warn the gods . Something else is going to happen ." Chiron looked at me gravely . " Something worse than Typhon ? I hope not ." " We have to defend Olympus ," I insisted . " Kronos has another attack planned ." " He did ," Travis Stoll reminded me . " But you sunk his ship ." Everyone was looking at me . They wanted some good news . They wanted to believe that at least I ' d given them a little bit of hope . I glanced at Annabeth . I could tell we were thinking the same thing : What if the Princess
Andromeda was a ploy ? What if Kronos let us blow up that ship so we ' d lower our guard ? But I wasn ' t going to say that in front of Silena . Her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for that mission . " Maybe you ' re right ," I said , though I didn ' t believe it .
I tried to imagine how things could get much worse . The gods were m the Midwest fighting a
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