Disclaimer: I am not Rick, I do not own PJO. I do own original characters I create. But if you want to use any of my Original Characters, just ask

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In The Shade Of The Yew Tree

Chapter One: The Day the Music Almost Died

Manhattan, Williamsburg Bridge, Battle of New York

A loud bellowing of a bull echoed across the bridge.

I fired one of my sonic arrows at the minotaur as it slowly came into view from behind the dozens of dracenae. No such luck. It simply bounced off of its armor.

"Damn." I said.

Arrows flew all around me. Some hit their targets and disentagrated the monsters, but it was almost as bad as a hydra. For every enemy destroyed, it was like two more took its place.

"Retreat!" I yelled.

I fired another arrow at a dracenae. It hit directly at the throat, and the monster disentagrated into golden dust. The army still marched forward.

I ran behind one a parked school bus.

A limo crashed a few feet in front of me, and I decided to reatreat just a little bit further. I looked into the sky.

"Thank the gods," I said. It was a pegasus, and it was carrying PErcy and Anabeth.

They landed a dozen feet behind, and I ran over to greet them. I probably didn't look all that nice. My face was smeared with soot, my quiver was almost empty. But Hey, at least I was having a good time. NOT.

"Glad you could join us," I said. I looked up at the sky, hoping Clarisse might be following behind them or something. "Where are the other reinforcements?"

Percy looked down at the pavement. "For now, we're it."

"Then we're dead." Seriously, we were dead. I was lucky that I still had some drachmas in my pocket that I could pay Charon with. Just in case.

"You still have your flying chariot?" Annabeth asked.

I shook my head. "Nah. Left it at camp. I told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever you know? Not worth fighting about anymore."
Damned Clarisse, I thought, one day, your pride's gonna get someone killed. Probably today. "But she said it was too lat. We'd insulted her honor for the last time or some stupid thing."

Probably wasn't a good thing what I did after that though.

"Least you tried." Percy said.

"Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped."

The minotaur bellowed again. Damn. "Here come the uglies!"

I notched an arrow and fired it into the crowd of monsters.

When it landed, it unleashed a blast like a power chord on an electric guitar magnified through the world's largest speakers. The nearest cars exploded. Monsters dropped their weapons and clasped their ears in pain. Some ran. Others disintegrated on the spot.

I reached back for another and found my quiver empty. Damn. "That was my last sonic arrow."

"A gift from your dad?" Percy asked. "God of music?"

Duh. I wanted to slap my palm to my face. I could see why Annabeth called him seaweed brain.

Instead I grinned. "Loud music can be bad for you. Unfortunately, it doesn't always kill."

I looked to the group of monster that my last arrow had hit. They were starting to regroup, shaking off their confusion.

"We have to fall back. I've got Kayla and Austin setting traps further down the bridge."

Percy looked serious. His face took on the guise of a true leader. "No." He ordered. "Bring your campers forward to this position and wait or my signal. We're going to drive the enemy back to Brooklyn."

Seriously, Brooklyn was that bad.

I laughed at my own thought. "How do you plan to do that?"

Percy drew his sword.

Annabeth hugged Percy. "Percy," she said,"let me come with you."

"Too dangerous," Percy said. "Besides, I need you to help Michael coordinate the defensive line. I'll distract the monsters. You group up here. Move the sleeping mortals out of the way. Then you can start picking off monsters while I keep them focused on me. If anybody can do all that, you can."

I snorted. He was going to get himself killed. "Thanks a lot."

Percy then just walked out from behind the bus and headed toward the enemy. Yes, he was crazy.

The minotaur bellowed and crushed the front end of a Lexus.

Then crazy happened.

The dracenae threw dozens of javelins at Percy, and he dodged them all. All of them seemed only inches away from killing him.

A hellhound leapt at Percy, but he calmly brushed it aside, and finished it off. Every single monster just stood there.

Not so tough now, are they, I thought.

I didn't know what happened next. One minute the minotaur was charging at Percy. He was a goner. Then the next, the minotaur was dissolving into a million bits of dust.

I don't know what had gotten into Percy, because right after that he ran headon to the entire monster army. Not a single blow struck him. It was amazing! But all the monster had to do was stay away from Percy.

"Hey Guys!" I yelled. "Help Percy out. Fire everything you've got!"

Hundreds of arrows flew toward the monsters. A few moments later, the turned tail and ran.

I climbed on top of the bus. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

The cheer was spreading. I leapt down from the bus and ran toward the retreating monsters. "Charge!" I screamed. Dozens of campers echoed the yell behind me.

We drove them back toward the Brooklyn side of the bridge. The sky was growing pale in the east. I could see the toll stations ahead. "Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "You've already routed them. Pull back! We're overextended!"

It was too late. He had arrived. Kronos.

Every single person stopped dead in their tracks. His head slowly trotted toward Percy. Kronos's eyes gleamed like molten gold. Even from half-a-mile away he looked like he could kill. I wouldn't hesitate to assume that the guy who said "If looks could kill" was thinking of Kronos when he said it.

"Now," Percy said calmly. "Its time to pull back."

The Titan lord's men drew their swords and charged. The hooves of their skeletal horses thundered against the pavement. Our archers shot a volley, bringing down several of the enemy, but they just kept riding.

"Retreat!" Percy yelled."I'll hold them."

"Retreat!" I echoed. I hung back, taking up a position next to one of the suspension cables.

In a matter of seconds they were on us.

Annabeth stayed right beside Percy, fighting with her knife and mirrored shield as Percy and her slowly backed up the bridge.

Kronos's cavalry swirled around us, slashing and yelling insults. The Titan himself advanced leisurely, like he had all the time in the world. Being the lord of time, I guess he did.

I notched a few arrows I had gotten from Will Solace. That slowed me down, but these weren't monsters. They were demigods who'd fallen under Kronos's spell. I couldn't see faces under their battle helmets, but some of them had probably been my friends. Not anymore though. Percy slashed the legs off their horses and made the skeletal mounts disintegrate. After the first few demigods took a spill, the rest figured out they'd better dismount and fight on foot.

Annabeth and him stayed shoulder to shoulder, facing opposite directions. A dark shape passed over me, and I dared to glance up. Blackjack and Porkpie were swooping in, kicking our enemies in the helmets and flying away like very large kamikaze pigeons.

Thank Zeus, I thought.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled. He turned just in time to see her fall, clutching her arm. A demigod with a bloody knife stood over her. I had missed what happened. I was too busy looking at the pegasi.

I locked eyes with the enemy demigod. He wore an eye patch under his war helm: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. Somehow he'd survived the explosion on the Princess Andromeda. I fired an arrow, but Percy slammed him in the face with his sword hilt so hard that he dented his helm. It missed.

"Get back!" Percy yelled, slashing the air in a wide arc, driving the rest of the demigods away from Annabeth. "No one touches her!"

"Interesting," Kronos said.

He towered above me on his skeletal horse, his scythe in one hand. He studied the scene with narrowed eyes as if he could sense that Percy had just come close to death, the way a wolf can smell fear.

"Bravely fought, Percy Jackson," he said. "But it's time to surrender . . . or the girl dies."

"Percy, don't," Annabeth groaned. Her shirt was soaked with blood.

"Blackjack!" Percy yelled.

As fast as light, the pegasus swooped down and clamped his teeth on the straps of Annabeth's armor.

They soared away over the river before the enemy could even react.

Kronos snarled. "Some day soon, I am going to make pegasus soup. But in the meantime . . ." He dismounted, his scythe glistening in the dawn light. "I'll settle for another dead demigod."

Percy met his first strike with Riptide. The impact shook the entire bridge, but luckily I held my ground. Kronos's smile wavered.

With a yell, Percy kicked his legs out from under him. Kronos's scythe skittered across the pavement. PErcy stabbed downward, but he rolled aside and regained his footing. His scythe flew back to his hands.

"So . . ." he said, looking mildly annoyed. "You had the courage to visit the Styx. I had to pressure Luke in many ways to convince him. If only you had supplied my host body instead . . . But no matter. I am still more powerful. I am a TITAN."

Wait. Percy visited the styx. I guess that's what made him so invunerable.

He struck the bridge with the butt of his scythe, and a wave of pure force sent a shockwave through the air. I hung tightly to the cable. Cars went careening. Demigods—even Luke's own men—were blown off the edge of the bridge. Suspension cords whipped around, and Percy skidded halfway back to Manhattan.

Percy got unsteadily to his feet. I looked toward the end of the bridge. The remaining Apollo campers had almost made it to the end of the bridge, all except for me, perched on one of the suspension cables a few yards away from Percy. I notched the last arrow I had on my bow. I aimed dead center on Kronos.

"Michael, go!" Percy screamed.

Like Hades, I would. I fired my arrow, but Kronos simply swatted it away like a fly.

"Percy, the bridge!" I called. "It's already weak!"

It was. At first I didn't understand. Then I looked down and saw fissures in the pavement. Patches of the road were half melted from Greek fire. The bridge had taken a beating from Kronos's blast and the exploding arrows.

"Break it!" I yelled. "Use your powers!"

It was a desperate thought—no way it would work-but still. Percy stabbed Riptide into the bridge. The magic blade sank to its hilt in asphalt. Salt water shot from the crack like he'd hit a geyser. He pulled out my blade and the fissure grew. The bridge shook and began to crumble. Chunks the size of houses fell into the East River. Kronos's demigods cried out in alarm and scrambled backward. Some were knocked off their feet. The bridge was shaking too much. I dropped my bow, and tumbled into the river below.

A/N: So, what do you think? Please Read and Review.