ᥴꪮ𝘴ꪑꪮ𝘴 ➪ 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚢 𝙹𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙾𝚕𝚢𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜 [𝟷]

6

𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚝,
𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜
𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕, 𝚝𝚘𝚘.

𝚟.𝚠.

𝗕𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲. Campers and Hunters lay wounded on the ground. Clarisse must've lost a fight with a Hyperborean giant, because she and her chariot were frozen in a block of ice. The centaurs were nowhere to be seen. Either they'd panicked and ran or they'd been disintegrated.

The Titan army ringed the building, standing maybe twenty feet from the doors. Kronos's vanguard was in the lead: Ethan Nakamura, the dracaena queen in her green armor, and two Hyperboreans. Polaris didn't see Prometheus. The slimy weasel was probably hiding back at their headquarters. But Kronos himself stood right in front with his scythe in hand.

The only thing standing in his way was . . .

"Chiron," Annabeth said, her voice trembling.
If Chiron heard them, he didn't answer. He had an arrow notched, aimed straight at Kronos's face.

"I'm afraid not." Chiron's tone was steely calm, the way he gets when he's really angry.

"Chiron!" Annabeth said. "Look out!"

As soon as Kronos saw Percy, his gold eyes flared. Every muscle in my body froze. Then the Titan lord turned his attention back to Chiron. "Step aside, little son."

Hearing Luke call Chiron his son was weird enough, but Kronos put contempt in his voice, like son was the worst word he could think of.

Polaris tried to move, but her feet felt like concrete. It was like the labyrinth, after days inside. Annabeth, Grover, Percy, and Thalia were straining too, like they were just as stuck.

The dracaena queen became impatient and charged. Chiron's arrow flew straight between her eyes and she vaporized on the spot, her empty armor clattering to the asphalt.

Chiron reached for another arrow, but his quiver was empty. He dropped the bow and drew his sword. Polaris knew he hated fighting with a sword. It was never his favorite weapon.

Kronos chuckled. He advanced a step, and Chiron's horse-half skittered nervously. His tail flicked back and forth.

"You're a teacher," Kronos sneered. "Not a hero."

"Luke was a hero," Chiron said. "He was a good one, until you corrupted him."

"FOOL!" Kronos's voice shook the city. "You filled his head with empty promises. You said the gods cared about me!"

"Me," Chiron noticed. "You said me."

Kronos looked confused, and in that moment, Chiron struck. It was a good maneuver—a feint followed by a strike to the face. Percy probably couldn't have done better himself, but Kronos was quick. He had all of Luke's fighting skill, which was a lot. He knocked aside Chiron's blade and yelled, "BACK!"