lacuna [connor stoll]

VI. Loss

CHAPTER SIX: LOSS

Drakons are several millennia older than dragons, and much larger. They look like giant serpents. They are immensely strong, with scales harder than titanium. Their eyes can paralyze you.

Ellie had taken drakon-fighting classes at camp, but there is no way to prepare yourself for a two-hundred-foot-long serpent as thick as a school bus slithering down the side of a building, its yellow eyes like searchlights and its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth big enough to chew elephants.

Meanwhile, the enemy army advanced down Fifth Avenue. They'd done their best to push cars out of the way to keep the mortals safe, but that just made it easier for their enemies to approach. The Party Ponies swished their tails nervously. Chiron galloped up and down their ranks, shouting encouragement to stand tough and think about victory and root beer.

"I'll take the drakon." Percy voice came out as a timid squeak. The only reason Ellie heard him is because she stood right beside him. She nudged him. Then he yelled louder: "I'LL TAKE THE DRAKON! Everyone else, hold the line against the army!"

The drakon was three stories above them, slithering sideways along the building as it sized up their forces. Wherever it looked, centaurs froze in fear.

From the north, the enemy army crashed into the Party Ponies, and their lines broke. The drakon lashed out, swallowing three Californian centaurs in one gulp before Ellie could get to them.

Mrs. O'Leary launched herself through the air—a deadly black shadow with teeth and claws. Normally, a pouncing hellhound is a terrifying sight, but next to the drakon, Mrs. O'Leary looked like a child's night-night doll.

Her claws raked harmlessly off the drakon's scales. She bit the monster's throat but couldn't make a dent. Her weight, however, was enough to knock the drakon off the side of the building. It flailed awkwardly and crashed to the sidewalk, hellhound and serpent twisting and thrashing. The drakon tried to bite Mrs. O'Leary, but she was too close to the serpent's mouth. Poison spewed everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but Mrs. O'Leary weaved around the serpent's head, scratching and biting.

Ellie shook her head, pushing the dragon out of her head. Her job was the hold the lines. She sliced at lone monsters, watching them to dust easily, but it didn't seem to make a dent against the army they seemed infinite. They just kept coming.

That didn't stop Ellie. She continued to slice through ranks, getting closer and closer to the front lines. She felt adrenaline pump into her veins yet again, her mind blurring as she took out more and more monsters.

No matter how travel she fought, it was not any match for the army. They began to fall back, retreating slowly towards the Empire State Building. The entire army surrounded them. Ellie didn't risk looking up at the dragon.

No more help was coming.

Suddenly, Ellie heard a rumbling in the south. It wasn't a sound you hear much in New York, but she recognized it immediately: chariot wheels.