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I 011. I
𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔
❝ party ponies ❞
MIDTOWN WAS A WAR ZONE. Percy and Blackjack flew over little skirmishes everywhere. A giant was ripping up trees in Bryant Park while dryads pelted him with nuts. Outside the Waldorf Astoria, a bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin was whacking a hellhound with a rolled up newspaper. A trio of Hephaestus campers fought a squad of dracaenae in the middle of Rockefeller Center.
Percy was tempted to stop and help, but he could tell from the smoke and noise that the real action had moved farther south. Their defenses were collapsing. The enemy was closing in on the Empire State Building.
Percy and Blackjack did a quick sweep of the surrounding area. The Hunters had set up a defensive line on 37th, just three blocks north of Olympus. To the east on Park Avenue, Jake Mason and some other Hephaestus campers were leading an army of statues against the enemy. To the west, the Demeter cabin and Grover's nature spirits has turned Sixth Avenue into a jungle that was hampering a squadron of Kronos's minions. Pollux was growing vines left and right, Sydney shooting arrows around, and Hailee was stabbing monsters with her dagger.
The south was clear for now, but flanks of the enemy army were swinging around. A few more minutes and they'd be totally surrounded.
"We have to land where they need us most," Percy muttered.
That's everywhere, boss.
He spotted a familiar silver owl banner in the southeast corner of the fight, 33rd at the Park Avenue tunnel. Annabeth and two of her siblings were holding back a Hyperborean giant.
"There!" Percy told Blackjack. He plunged toward the battle.
Percy leaped off his back and landed on the giant's head. When the giant looked up, Percy slid off his face, shield bashing his nose on the way down.
"RAWWWR!" The giant staggered backward, blue blood trucking from his nostrils.
Percy hit the pavement running. The Hyperborean breathed a cloud of white mist, and the temperature dropped. The spot where he'd landed was now chaired with ice, and Percy was covered in frost like a sugar donut.
"Hey, ugly!" Annabeth yelled.
Blue Boy yelled and turned toward her, exposing the unprotected back of his legs. Percy charged and stabbed him behind the knee.
"WAAAAH!" The Hyperborean buckled. Percy waited for him to turn, but he froze. He meant he literally turned to solid ice. From the point where Percy had stabbed him, cracks appeared in his body. They got larger and wider until the giant crumbled in a mountain of blue shards.
