The Queen's Champion

Wisdom's Daughter Stands Alone

Ch. 36

Nico and Jason stood at the foot of the Empire State Building, a map New York City laid out in front of them with a big circle around the island of Manhattan.

"We need to cover all the bridges and tunnels that lead anywhere close to the Empire State Building. This means we will have to spread our forces out somewhat thinly." Jason muttered to Nico as he circled the bridges and tunnels they needed to defend.

Nico nodded along as he studied the map, "What about Percy, where is he?"

Jason half grimaced and half smirked, "He's doing what he does best; being reckless but most likely coming out victorious in the end."

Nico paused and looked at Jason questioningly.

Jason sighed, "He has one hundred of our best warriors along with a few hunters on the George Washington Bridge. The enemy is trying to march more than a quarter of their army into Manhattan over the bridge to spread us out so we are too thin to defend the other entrances."

"What? We need to back him up!" Nico exclaimed.

Jason shook his head, "No, Percy knows what he's doing. Those are the absolute best fighters we have in our army. Percy's plan is brilliant if he can pull it off and it might be just what we need to hold the island."

"What do you mean? They'll be massacred." Nico said incredulously.

"Has Percy ever let you down Nico?" Jason asked seriously.

Nico shook his head, making Jason smile.

"Then trust his judgment. He'll hold the bridge as long as he needs to." Jason said before turning back to the map.

"So we've got three hundred demigods from both camps, five hundred of our soldiers and twenty hunters." Jason said as he thought about how to set up the defenses.

"That sounds right but we can send fewer fighters with whatever group I go with. I can summon an army of undead to bolster our numbers." Nico added.

Jason nodded and smiled, "Good; that will help but we have eight entrances and eight hundred fighters. Each entrance gets one hundred fighters plus a commander. Alright, so we'll send a group of one hundred fighters with Luke to defend the Lincoln Tunnel; another one hundred with Clarisse to hold the Manhattan Bridge." He explained as he checked off the two bridges.

"Reyna will take one hundred to the 59th Street Bridge. Nico you take your fighters to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. I'll take mine with me over to the Williamsburg Bridge. Gabriel will take his soldiers to the Queens Midtown Tunnel. Phoebe can take ten hunters and one hundred fighters to defend the Brooklyn Bridge while Thalia takes the other ten hunters and one hundred fighters to the Holland Tunnel" Jason finished breathlessly.

"Well this certainly brings me back." Thalia muttered to herself as she remembered defending the same tunnel with the hunters during the second Titan War.

Jason looked around at the people who he called out to lead the groups, "Grab the people you need and get to your posts, we don't have any time to waste, Percy is already holding back their forces on the George Washington Bridge, it won't be long until they reach the other bridges."

Everyone nodded and quickly gathered up one hundred fighters and went off to defend their assignments.

Line Break

Percy and Zoe waited another hour until the sun had set and the only light illuminating the bridge were from the bridge lights that hovered overhead. Percy put the other hunters in the middle of phalanx where they could shoot from cover. The rumbles of footsteps alerted the army of the next assault. As the army neared, a second group of monsters appeared out of a shadow fifty yards behind the phalanx and charged, trapping Percy and his soldiers in the middle.