𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑫 • 𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐶𝑌 𝐽𝐴𝐶𝐾𝑆𝑂𝑁 [2]

XV

It was any demigod's worst nightmare. They were marched down the tunnel, flanked by dracaenae, with Kelli and the giant in back, just in case anyone tried to run for it.

Nobody seemed to worry about them running forward. That was the direction they wanted them to go.

Up ahead Elaine could see bronze doors. They were about ten feet tall, emblazoned with a pair of crossed swords. From behind them came a muffled roar, like from a crowd.

"Oh, yessssss," said the snake woman on the left. "You'll be very popular with our hossssst."

Elaine had never gotten to look at a dracaena up close before, and she wasn't very happy to have the opportunity. She would've had a beautiful face, except her tongue was forked and her eyes were yellow with black slits for pupils. She wore bronze armor that stopped at her waist. Below that, where her legs should've been, were two massive snake trunks, mottled bronze and green. She moved by a combination of slithering and walking, as if she were walking on skis.

"Who's your host?" Percy asked.

She hissed, which might have been a laugh. "Oh, you'll sssssee. You'll get along furiousssly. He'ssss your brother, after all."

"My what?" He asked.

Elaine imagined Tyson, but that was impossible. Who was she talking about? She wondered.

The giant pushed past them and opened the doors. He picked up Annabeth by her shirt with one hand and lifted up Elaine with the other. "You stay here."

"Hey!" Annabeth protested, but the guy was twice her size and he'd already confiscated her knife. Elaine wriggled against the hand that was holding her to no avail. It seemed the harder she struggled, the tighter his grip became.

Kelli laughed. She still had her claws at Rachel's neck. "Go on, Percy. Entertain us. We'll wait here with your friends to make sure you behave."

Percy looked at his friends. "I'm sorry. I'll get you out of this."

"You'd better, Barnacle Boy!" Elaine said through clenched teeth. Dangling by the collar of her shirt was getting old.

The dracaenae prodded him toward the doorway at javelin-point, and he walked out onto the floor of an arena.

***

It wasn't the largest arena Elaine'd seen (though she was dangling partially upside down by her shirt so her perception probably wasn't the most reliable), but it was pretty spacious considering the whole place was underground.

In the center of the arena, a fight was going on between a giant and a centaur. The centaur looked panicked. He was galloping around his enemy, using sword and shield, while the giant swing a javelin the size of a telephone pole and the crowd cheered.