craving |PERCY JACKSON| [book 1] UNDER EDITING

XXXIX

PERCY KEPT HIS FEET IN THE SURF, backing into the water before Ares cleaved downward at his head, but Percy wasn't there.

The water seemed to push Percy into the air and he catapulted over him, slashing as he came down. But Ares was just as quick. He twisted, and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt.

He grinned, "Not bad, not bad. "

He slashed again and Percy was forced to jump onto dry land. He tried to sidestep, to get back to the water, but Ares seemed to know what Percy wanted. He outmaneuvered him, pressing so hard that Percy had to put all his concentration on not getting sliced into pieces. He kept backing away from the surf and he couldn't find any openings to attack. His sword had a reach several feet longer than Anaklusmos.

Percy stepped inside with a thrust, but Ares was waiting for that. He knocked Percy's blade out of his hands and kicked him in the chest. Percy went airborne-twenty, maybe thirty feet. He would've broken Percy's back if he hadn't crashed into the soft sand of a dune.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "Cops!"

"There, officer!" somebody yelled. "See?"

A gruff cop voiced, "Looks like that kid on TV ... What the heck ..." Selena concentrated on the cops to manipulate the mist

"That guy's armed," another cop said. "Call for backup."

Percy stood and rolled to one side as Ares's blade slashed the sand. He ran for his sword, scooped it up, and launched a swipe at Ares's face, only to find his blade deflected again.

Ares seemed to know exactly what he was going to do the moment before he did it.

He stepped back toward the surf, forcing Ares to follow, "Admit it, kid," Ares grinned, "You got no hope. I'm just toying with you."

Percy used his ADHD to his advantage. He could see every detail of the battle. He could see where Ares was tensing. He could tell which way he would strike. At the same time, he was aware of Annabeth, Selena, and Grover, thirty feet to his left. He saw a second cop car pulling up, siren wailing. Spectators, people who had been wandering the streets because of the earthquake, were starting to gather. Among the crowd, Percy thought he saw a few who were walking with the strange, trotting gait of disguised satyrs. There were shimmering forms of spirits, too, as if the dead had risen from Hades to watch the battle. He heard the flap of leathery wings circling somewhere above.

More sirens.

Percy stepped farther into the water, but Ares was fast. The tip of his blade ripped his sleeve and grazed his forearm.

"Percy!" Selena yelled and Annabeth held her back,

"This is his fight." She hissed in the brunette's ear,

"He's going to die!" Selena responded,

A police voice on a megaphone said, "Drop the guns. ' Set them on the ground. Now!"

Selena continued to manipulate the swords to look like guns through the mist. Ares turned to glare at the spectators, which gave Percy a moment to breathe. There were five police cars now, and a line of officers crouching behind them, pistols trained on us.

"This is a private matter!" Ares bellowed. "Be gone."

He swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the patrol cars. The police barely had time to dive for cover before their vehicles exploded. The crowd behind them scattered, screaming.

Ares roared with laughter. "Now, little hero. Let's add you to the barbecue."

He slashed and Percy deflected his blade. He got close enough to strike, tried to fake him out,  but his blow was knocked aside. The waves were hitting Percy in the back now while Ares was up to his thighs, wading in after the boy.

Ares came forwards, grinning confidently. Percy lowered his blade as if he were too exhausted to go on. Ares raised his sword and Selena screamed for Percy to fight back.

Percy released the tide and jumped, rocketing straight over Ares on a wave.

A six-foot wall of water smashed him full in the face, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth full of sea-weed. Percy landed behind him with a splash and feinted toward his head, as he had done before. Ares turned in time to raise his sword, but this time he was disoriented, he didn't anticipate the trick. Percy changed direction, lunged to the side, and stabbed Riptide straight down into the water, sending the point through the god's heel.

The roar that followed made Hades's earthquake look like a minor event. The very sea was blasted back from Ares, leaving a wet circle of sand fifty feet wide.

Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flowed from a gash in the war god's boot. The expression on his face was beyond hatred. It was pain, shock, complete disbelief that he'd been wounded.

He limped toward Percy, muttering ancient Greek curses. Something stopped him.

It was as if a cloud covered the sun, but worse. Light faded. Sound and color drained away. A cold, heavy presence passed over the beach, slowing time, dropping the temperature to freezing, and making Percy feel like life was hopeless, fighting was useless.

The darkness lifted and Ares looked stunned.

Police cars were burning behind them. The crowd of spectators had fled. Annabeth, Selena, and Grover stood on the beach, in shock, watching the water flood back around Ares's feet, his glowing golden ichor dissipating in the tide.

Ares lowered his sword. "You have made an enemy, godling," he told Percy. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware."

His body began to glow, ''Percy!" Selena shouted. "Don't watch!"

Percy turned away as the god Ares revealed his true immortal form. When the light had died, Ares was gone. The tide rolled out to reveal Hades's bronze helm of darkness. Percy picked it up and walked toward his friends.

But before he got there, there was the sound of flapping of leathery wings. Three evil-looking grandmothers with lace hats and fiery whips drifted down from the sky and landed in front of Percy.

The middle Fury, the one who had been Mrs. Dodds, stepped forward. Her fangs were bared, but for once she didn't look threatening. She looked more disappointed as if she'd been planning to have Percy for supper, but had decided that he might give her indigestion.

"We saw the whole thing," she hissed. "So ... It truly was not you?"

Percy tossed her the helmet, which she caught in surprise, "Return that to Lord Hades," He told her, "Tell him the truth. Tell him to call off the war."

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AHH! Only two chapters left! Don't worry, I'm already working on the Sea of Monsters sequel. I have so many ideas for Selena and some other original characters I'm going to put in. So excited!!!