Annabeth Chase and Things Are Getting Intense

Prologue

Annabeth's back hit the ground and she rolled, pushing herself back to her feet and adjusting her grip on her dagger. She took a breath, rolled her shoulders, and rushed back into the battle.

Ahead of her, Percy glanced her way to make sure she was back up before charging the manticore. Annabeth used the monster's distraction to dart to the side and hide herself behind a tree before it could shoot another venomous tail bullet at her.

The sounds of Percy running and dodging was muffled by the leaves and the wood as Annabeth edged around the tree and darted to another. If her plan was going to work, she needed to be absolutely silent as she approached. Percy was doing a good job of keeping the manticore occupied, but he couldn't hold it forever, and he wasn't going to be able to get close with that rocket launcher of a tail.

Annabeth had used this technique a few times before; she'd learned it from wrangling wild pegasi at camp and incorporated it into battle what seemed like forever ago. The thing was, the manticore was a lot bigger than the monsters she'd used it on before, so she needed higher ground and a very strong grip.

"So what's your deal, anyway?" Percy asked the manticore, deflecting a strike on his shield. "You hungry, or do you just like ruining dates?"

"I will eat your demigod flesh," the manticore snarled.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Percy said. "You really killed the mood, man."

Rolling her eyes fondly, Annabeth grabbed hold of a low hanging branch and hoisted herself up. They'd been taking a walk through central park when the manticore found them, claws out and ready for dinner. It really had put a damper on the mood.

The manticore wasn't nearly as sophisticated as Dr. Thorn had been, with a wild beard and overgrown hair on his human face. His lion body was shaggy, and his mane was matted. His scorpion tail was a deep mottled blue, thrashing in the air as it prepared another spike.

"Where is your little friend?" the manticore growled. "I will make you watch as I kill her."

Percy grinned. "That's cute."

He lashed out with his sword, striking a spike out of the air, keeping the manticore engaged while Annabeth got into position. Unfortunately, that was when the manticore spotted her, and another spike hit the tree where she had been just a second ago. Annabeth pushed herself away from the trunk and dropped into a crouch on the ground before shooting up and flanking the monster on its other side.

Now the manticore had three choices: face Percy, turning its back to Annabeth; or face Annabeth, turning its back to Percy. Both deadly options. Its third choice was to turn tail and run, but Annabeth wasn't about to let this thing live to terrorize other demigods.

The manticore backed up. It finally seemed to realize it had two of the most powerful demigods of the generation on either side. It was smart enough not to let either of them out of its sights as its back hit a tree and it growled.

Annabeth smiled. "Your move."

The monster blew out air from its nose. Without any further warning, it shot a spike at Percy and charged for Annabeth. She dove to the side, rolled, and came up on one knee. Thrusting her dagger to the side, Annabeth felt it connect with flesh as the manticore roared and dissolved into gold powder.

"Nice," Percy said. He turned and wrapped his hands around the spike, which had embedded itself into a tree trunk. Bracing a foot against the wood, Percy pulled. The force of it sent him and the spike crashing to the ground.

Annabeth laughed, helping him up. "The Apollo kids will want a look at that."

The children of Apollo had recently been experimenting with manticore venom, trying to develop a quick antidote to use in battle. They'd been trying to get a hold of the stinger-spikes for weeks, but Chiron didn't want them nearby when capture the flag came around. Annabeth could think of no reason why. It would really spice (spike, if you would. Ugh. Vera was rubbing off on her) up the game.