𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 18

Eighteen
ꕤ

Going Commando

By the time we 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. I 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 us, he didn't answer. He had an arrow notched, aimed straight at Kronos's face.

  As soon as Kronos saw me, 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.

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

  I tried to move, but my feet felt like concrete. Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia were straining too, like they were just as stuck.

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

  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. I 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. I couldn't have done better myself, 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!"

  A blinding white light exploded between the Titan and the centaur. Chiron flew into the side of the building with such force the wall crumbled and collapsed on top of him.

  "No!" Annabeth wailed. The freezing spell broke. We ran toward our teacher, but there was no sign of him. Thalia and I pulled helplessly at the bricks while a ripple of ugly laughter ran through the Titan's army.

  "YOU!" Annabeth turned on Luke. "To think that I ... that I thought—"

  She drew her knife.

  "Annabeth, don't." I tried to take her arm, but she shook me off.

  She attacked Kronos, and his smug smile faded. Perhaps some part of Luke remembered that he used to like this girl, used to take care of her when she was little. She plunged her knife between the straps of his armor, right at his collar bone. The blade should've sunk into his chest. Instead it bounced off.