Annabeth Chase and the Bronze Dragon

Part 5 - Percy wants to be swallowed alive

"Help!" we screamed as we ran from the angry gigantic bronze dragon. It made me realise that we definitely were not action movie stars. If we were, we would be screaming something defiant, like, "you'll never catch me alive!"

"How do you stop it?" I yelled, practically tripping over my own feet, I was running that hard.

"You shouldn't have turned it on!" Beckendorf yelled back, running as easily as he did before he was gooified by the Myrmekes. "It's unstable! After a few years, automatons go wild!"

"Good to know," Percy yelled. "But how do you turn it off?"

"There!" Beckendorf pointed ahead to an outcrop of rocks, visible through the screen of trees ahead. There were all sorts of rock clusters like these, but this one was shaped like a huge skateboard ramp, only without the smoothness, and with a deadly drop-off at the high end.

"You guys, run around to the base of the cliff," Beckendorf ordered. "Distract the dragon. Keep it occupied."

"What are you going to do?" Silena asked.

"You'll see. Go!"

Beckendorf ducked round a tree while Percy turned around, nearly causing Silena and I to bump into him. "Hey, lizard-lips! Your breath smells like gasoline!"

The dragon roared, although I doubted it understood what Percy was saying.

I grabbed his hand and dragged him away. "Come on!"

We pressed ourselves against the steep slope, staring back as the dragon thundered towards us.

"We have to hold it here," I said, drawing my sword. Percy and Silena followed suit.

The dragon lurched to a stop, towering over us with a confused tilt to its head. It looked disappointed, as if it couldn't believe we'd made the chase so easy. Then it seemed to shrug and prepare itself to deep-fry us.

We dived different ways as flames bathed the spot we'd been standing. I bumped my head on a rock and felt a spot flare of pain pop into my forehead. Shaking my head to clear it, I saw Percy charge forward, screaming at the top of his lungs with Riptide raised.

He sliced down with his sword and cut off one of the talons of the dragon. It didn't even looked angry, more curious as to why a puny human like Percy would bother do that. Then it decided not to bother about it, and opened its mouth to eat him whole.

I thought that Percy would jump out of the way, but he stood firm, grounding his feet and bending slightly into his familiar fighting stance. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Percy!" I yelled, desperate to get him away.

He didn't move, staring up at the dragon. I would have thought that he was paralyzed hadn't his face had the familiar look of concentration he usually wore when he was controlling water. That, and the way his lips were moving as if he was talking to himself.

"Percy!" I yelled again, preparing myself to throw myself at him.

But Beckendorf beat me to it, leaping off the cliff behind me and onto the dragon's head as it started to lower its head to swallow Percy. The dragon started to shake itself, like a dog covered in water, but Beckendorf somehow managed to hold on. He yanked open the panel behind the dragon's head, the one I'd so painstakingly organized, and completely mussed it up.

Immediately, the dragon froze, it's eyes went dim and it looked no more than a gold statue. It was like all my hard work went down the drain.

Beckendorf slid off the dragon, practically collapsing to the ground in a sweaty, panting heap.