JAWBREAKER

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣

Midtown was a war zone. Warren and Blackjack flew over little skirmishes everywhere. A giant was ripping up trees in Bryant Park while dryads pelted him with nuts. Outside the Waldorf Astoria, a bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin was whacking a hellhound with a rolled-up newspaper. A trio of Hephaestus campers fought a squad of dracaenae in the middle of Rockefeller Center.

Warren was tempted to stop and help, but she could tell from the smoke and noise that the real action had moved farther south. Their defenses were collapsing. The enemy was closing in on the Empire State Building.

She did a quick sweep of the surrounding area. The Hunters had set up a defensive line on 37th, just three blocks north of Olympus. To the east on Park Avenue, Jake Mason and some other Hephaestus campers were leading an army of statues against the enemy. To the west, the Demeter cabin and Grover's nature spirits had turned Sixth Avenue into a jungle that was hampering a squadron of Kronos's demigods. The south was clear for now, but the flanks of the enemy army were swinging around. A few more minutes and they'd be totally surrounded.

"We have to land where they need us most," Warren muttered. Then she spotted a familiar silver owl banner in the southeast corner of the fight, 33rd at the Park Avenue tunnel. Percy, Annabeth, and two of her siblings were holding back a Hyperborean giant.

"There!" Warren told Blackjack.

He plunged toward the battle. She leaped off his back and landed on the giant's head. When the giant looked up, she slid off his face, shield-bashing his nose on the way down.

"RAWWWR!' The giant staggered backward, blue blood trickling from his nostrils.

Warren hit the pavement running. The Hyperborean breathed a cloud of white mist, and the temperature dropped. The spot where she'd landed was now coated with ice, and she was covered in frost like a sugar donut.

"Hey, ugly!" Percy yelled.

Warren hoped he was talking to the giant, not her. Blue Boy bellowed and turned toward him, exposing the unprotected back of his legs. Warren charged and slashed him behind the knee with Ravager.

"WAAAAH!" The Hyperborean buckled.

Warren waited for him to turn, but he froze. Like he literally turned to solid ice. From the point where she'd cut him, cracks appeared in his body. They got larger and wider until the giant crumbled in a mountain of blue shards.

"Thanks." Percy said, dragging a hand through his hair and trying to catch his breath. "The pig?"

"Pork chops," Warren said.

"Good."

"Come on, guys," Annabeth said. "We've got plenty of enemies left."

She was right. The next hour was a blur. Warren fought like she'd never fought before- wading into legions of dracaenae, taking out dozens of telkhines with every strike, destroying empousai and knocking out enemy demigods. No matter how many she defeated, more took their place.