The Last Olympian pjato-5

by Rick Riordan

  Drakons are several millennia older than dragons, and much larger. They look like giant 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, crushing a lamppost right where she'd been.

  "Thanks," she said.

  "I told you to be careful!"

  "Yeah, well, DUCK!"

  It was her turn to save me. She tackled me as the monster's teeth snapped above my head. Mrs. O'Leary body-slammed the drakon's face to get its attention, and we rolled out of the way.

  Meanwhile our allies had retreated to the doors of the Empire State Building. The entire enemy army was surrounding them.

  We were out of options. No more help was coming. Annabeth and I would have to retreat before we were cut off from Mount Olympus.

  Then I heard a rumbling in the south. It wasn't a sound you hear much in New York, but I recognized it immediately: chariot wheels.

  A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!"

  And a dozen war chariots charged into battle. Each flew a red banner with the symbol of the wild boar's head. Each was pulled by a team of skeletal horses with manes of fire. A total of thirty fresh warriors, armor gleaming and eyes full of hate, lowered their lances as one—making a bristling wall of death.

  "The children of Ares!" Annabeth said in amazement. "How did Rachel know?"

  I didn't have an answer. But leading the charge was a girl in familiar red armor, her face covered by a boar's-head helm. She held aloft a spear that crackled with electricity. Clarisse herself had come to the rescue. While half her chariots charged the monster army, Clarisse led the other six straight for the drakon.

  The serpent reared back and managed to throw off Mrs. O'Leary. My poor pet hit the side of the building with a yelp. I ran to help her, but the serpent had already zeroed in on the new threat. Even with only one eye, its glare was enough to paralyze two chariot drivers. They veered into a line of cars. The other four chariots kept charging. The monster bared its fangs to strike and got a mouthful of Celestial bronze javelins.

  "EEESSSSS!!!!!" it screamed, which is probably drakon for OWWWW!

  "Ares, to me!" Clarisse screamed. Her voice sounded shriller than usual, but I guess that wasn't surprising given what she was fighting.

  Across the street, the arrival of six chariots gave the Party Ponies new hope. They rallied at the doors of the Empire State Building, and the enemy army was momentarily thrown into confusion.

  Meanwhile, Clarisse's chariots circled the drakon. Lances broke against the monster's skin. Skeletal horses breathed fire and whinnied. Two more chariots overturned, but the warriors simply leaped to their feet, drew their swords, and went to work. They hacked at chinks in the creature's scales. They dodged poison spray like they'd been training for this all their lives, which of course they had.

  No one could say the Ares campers weren't brave. Clarisse was right there in front, stabbing her spear at the drakon's face, trying to put out its other eye. But as I watched, things started to go wrong. The drakon snapped up one Ares camper in a gulp. It knocked aside another and sprayed poison on a third, who retreated in a panic, his armor melting.

  "We have to help," Annabeth said.

  She was right. I'd just been standing there frozen in amazement. Mrs. O'Leary tried to get up but yelped again. One of her paws was bleeding.

  "Stay back, girl," I told her. "You've done enough already."

  Annabeth and I jumped onto the monster's back and ran toward its head, trying to draw its attention away from Clarisse.

  Her cabinmates threw javelins, most of which broke, but some lodged in the monster's teeth. It snapped its jaws together until its mouth was a mess of green blood, yellow foamy poison, and splintered weapons.

  "You can do it!" I screamed at Clarisse. "A child of Ares is destined to kill it!"

  Through her war helmet, I could only see her eyes—but I could tell something was wrong. Her blue eyes shone with fear. Clarisse never looked like that. And she didn't have blue eyes.

  "ARES!" she shouted, in that strangely shrill voice. S
he leveled her spear and charged the drakon.

  "No," I muttered. "WAIT!"

  But the monster looked down at her—almost in contempt—and spit poison directly in her face.

  She screamed and fell.

  "Clarisse!" Annabeth jumped off the monster's back and ran to help, while the other Ares campers tried to defend their fallen counselor. I drove Riptide between two of the creature's scales and managed to turn its attention on me.

  I got thrown but I landed on my feet. "C'MON, you stupid worm! Look at me!"

  For the next several minutes, all I saw were teeth. I retreated and dodged poison, but I couldn't hurt the thing.

  At the edge of my vision, I saw a flying chariot land on Fifth Avenue.

  Then someone ran toward us. A girl's voice, shaken with grief, cried, "NO! Curse you, WHY?"

  I dared to glance over, but what I saw made no sense. Clarisse was lying on the ground where she'd fallen. Her armor smoked with poison. Annabeth and the Ares campers were trying to unfasten her helmet. And kneeling next to them, her face blotchy with tears, was a girl in camp clothes. It was . . . Clarisse.

  My head spun. Why hadn't I noticed before? The girl in Clarisse's armor was much thinner, not as tall. But why would someone pretend to be Clarisse?

  I was so stunned, the drakon almost snapped me in half. I dodged and the beast buried its head in a brick wall.

  "WHY?" The real Clarisse demanded, holding the other girl in her arms while the campers struggled to remove the poison-corroded helmet.

  Chris Rodriguez ran over from the flying chariot. He and Clarisse must've ridden it here from camp, chasing the Ares campers, who'd mistakenly been following the other girl, thinking she was Clarisse. But it still made no sense.

  The drakon tugged its head from the brick wall and screamed in rage.

  "Look out!" Chris warned.

  Instead of turning toward me, the drakon whirled toward the sound of Chris's voice. It bared its fangs at the group of demigods.

  The real Clarisse looked up at the drakon, her face filled with absolute hate. I'd seen a look that intense only once before. Her father, Ares, had worn the same expression when I'd fought him in single combat.

  "YOU WANT DEATH?" Clarisse screamed at the drakon. "WELL, COME ON!"

  She grabbed her spear from the fallen girl. With no armor or shield, she charged the drakon.

  I tried to close the distance to help, but Clarisse was faster. She leaped aside as the monster struck, pulverizing the ground in front of her. Then she jumped onto the creature's head. As it reared up, she drove her electric spear into its good eye with so much force it shattered the shaft, releasing all of the magic weapon's power.

  Electricity arced across the creature's head, causing its whole body to shudder. Clarisse jumped free, rolling safely to the sidewalk as smoke boiled from the drakon's mouth. The drakon's flesh dissolved, and it collapsed into a hollow scaly tunnel of armor.

  The rest of us stared at Clarisse in awe. I had never seen anyone take down such a huge monster single-handedly. But Clarisse didn't seem to care. She ran back to the wounded girl who'd stolen her armor.

  Finally Annabeth managed to remove the girl's helmet. We all gathered around: the Ares campers, Chris, Clarisse, Annabeth, and me. The battle still raged along Fifth Avenue, but for that moment nothing existed except our small circle and the fallen girl.

  Her features, once beautiful, were badly burned from poison. I could tell that no amount of nectar or ambrosia would save her.

  Something is about to happen. Rachel's words rang in my ears. A trick that ends in death.

  Now I knew what she meant, and I knew who had led the Ares cabin into battle.

  I looked down at the dying face of Silena Beauregard.

  SEVENTEEN

  I SIT ON THE HOT SEAT

  "What were you thinking?" Clarisse cradled Silena's head in her lap.

  Silena tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked. "Wouldn't . . . listen. Cabin would . . . only follow you."

  "So you stole my armor," Clarisse said in disbelief. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol; you stole my armor and pretended to be me." She glared at her siblings. "And NONE of you noticed?"

  The Ares campers developed a sudden interest in their combat boots.

  "Don't blame them," Silena said. "They wanted to . . . to believe I was you."

  "You stupid Aphrodite girl," Clarisse sobbed. "You charged a drakon? Why?"

  "All my fault," Silena said, a tear streaking the side of her face. "The drakon, Charlie's death . . . camp endangered—"

  "Stop it!" Clarisse said. "That's not true."

  Silena opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of Kronos.

  A cold fist closed around my heart. "You were the spy."

  Silena tried to nod. "Before . . . before I liked Charlie, Luke was nice to me. He was so . . . charming. Handsome. Later, I wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. He promised . . . he promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt. He told me he wouldn't hurt . . . Charlie. He lied to me."

  I met Annabeth's eyes. Her face was chalky. She looked like somebody had just yanked the world out from under her feet.

  Behind us, the battle raged.

  Clarisse scowled at her cabinmates. "Go, help the centaurs. Protect the doors. GO!"

  They scrambled off to join the fight.

  Silena took a heavy, painful breath. "Forgive me."

  "You're not dying," Clarisse insisted.

  "Charlie . . ." Silena's eyes were a million miles away. "See Charlie . . ."

  She didn't speak again.

  Clarisse held her and wept. Chris put a hand on her shoulder.

  Finally Annabeth closed Silena's eyes.

  "We have to fight." Annabeth's voice was brittle. "She gave her life to help us. We have to honor her."

  Clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. "She was a hero, understand? A hero."

  I nodded. "Come on, Clarisse."

  She picked up a sword from one of her fallen siblings. "Kronos is going to pay."

  * * *

  I'd like to say I drove the enemy away from the Empire State Building. The truth was Clarisse did all the work. Even without her armor or spear, she was a demon. She rode her chariot straight into the Titan's army and crushed everything in her path.

  She was so inspiring, even the panicked centaurs started to rally. The Hunters scrounged arrows from the fallen and launched volley after volley into the enemy. The Ares cabin slashed and hacked, which was their favorite thing. The monsters retreated toward 35th Street.

  Clarisse drove to the drakon's carcass and looped a grappling line through its eye sockets. She lashed her horses and took off, dragging the drakon behind the chariot like a Chinese New Year dragon. She charged after the enemy, yelling insults and daring them to cross her. As she rode, I realized she was literally glowing. An aura of red fire flickered around her.

  "The blessing of Ares," Thalia said. "I've never seen it in person before."

  For the moment, Clarisse was as invincible as I was. The enemy threw spears and arrows, but nothing hit her.

  "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 us."

  "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.