❦𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓮❦ - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷

𝒳𝒳𝐼𝐼. 𝒞𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓊𝓇𝓈 𝒜𝓉𝓉𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇𝑜𝓂𝑒𝒹𝒶

"𝒪𝓃𝑒 on one," Percy challenged Luke. "What are you afraid of ?"

Luke curled his lip. The soldiers who were about to kill the five hesitated, waiting for his order. Before he could say anything, Agrius burst onto the deck leading a flying horse. It was the first pure-black pegasus Zoe had ever seen, with wings like a giant raven. The pegasus mare bucked and whinnied.

"Sir!" Agrius called, dodging a pegasus hoof. "Your steed is ready!"

Luke kept his eyes on Percy.

"I told you last summer, Percy," he said. "You can't bait me into a fight."

"And you keep avoiding one," Percy pointed out. "Scared your warriors will see you get your ass whipped?"

Luke glanced at his men, and he saw Percy had trapped him. If he backed down now, he would look weak. If he fought the son of Poseidon, he'd lose valuable time chasing after Clarisse.

"I'll kill you quickly," he decided, and raised his weapon. Backbiter was a foot longer than Riptide. Its blade glinted with an evil gray-and-gold light where the human steel had been melded with celestial bronze. Zoe could almost feel the blade fighting against itself, like two opposing magnets bound together. She didn't know how the blade had been made, but she sensed a tragedy. Someone had died in the process. Luke whistled to one of his men, who threw him a round leather-and-bronze shield.

He grinned at Percy wickedly.

"Luke," Annabeth said, "at least give him a shield."

"Sorry, Annabeth," he said. "You bring your own equipment to this party."

The shield was a problem. Fighting two-handed with just a sword gives you more power, but fighting one-handed with a shield gives you better defense and versatility. There are more moves, more options, more ways to kill.

Luke lunged and almost killed Percy on the first try. His sword went under the raven haired boy's arm, slashing through his shirt and grazing his ribs.

Percy jumped back, then counterattacked with Riptide, but Luke slammed the blade away with his shield.

"My, Percy," Luke chided. "You're out of practice."

The blond boy came at him again with a swipe to the head. Percy parried and returned with a thrust. Luke sidestepped easily.

Luke lunged again and Percy jumped backward into the swimming pool. He spun underwater, creating a funnel cloud, and blasted out of the deep end, straight at Luke's face.

The force of the water knocked him down, spluttering and blinded. But before Percy could strike, he rolled aside and was on his feet again.

The son of Poseidon attacked and sliced off the edge of Luke's shield, but that didn't even faze him. He dropped to a crouch and jabbed at Percy's legs and he immediately collapsed. His jeans were ripped above the knee. Luke hacked downward and Percy rolled behind a deck chair. He tried to stand, but his leg wouldn't take the weight.

"Perrrrrcy!" Grover bleated.

He rolled again as Luke's sword slashed the deck chair in half, metal pipes and all.

Percy clawed toward the swimming pool but he'd never make it. Luke knew it, too. He advanced slowly, smiling. The edge of his sword was tinged with red.

"One thing I want you to watch before you die, Percy." He looked at the bear-man Oreius, who was still holding Zoe and Grover by the necks. "You can eat your dinner now, Oreius. Bon appetit."

"He-he! He-he!" The bear-man lifted Zoe and Grover, and bared his teeth. The daughter of Aphrodite could see his cracked yellow teeth, and smell his rotten breath, when all Hades broke loose.