The Bronze Dragon

Leo

Leo just laid there in his bed, trying to do something on this fine day. He was supposed to be working on the Argo II, but Annabeth insisted all the Hephaestus campers have the day off while the Athena campers work on it. But instead of working and sweating and the hard work, Leo loved working on the Argo II, it was better than laying in bed all day and doing nothing. So he thought of stuff that was in his mind, until a question formed.

"Jake?" He called.

"Yeah?" Since Jake's bed was only beside Leo's, he didn't need to walk there.

"How did Beckendorf get Festus any way? As in how did he find it?"

"I don't know, I wasn't there, but it was an awesome night."

Leo just sighed in thought of something else. He was about to go outside to go to Jason but something stopped him. He found a pile of papers in his bedside table and read the first page, it had a note.

Read this to find answers.

He had no idea what that meant, so he continued to the second page, the title read:

Percy Jackson and The Bronze Dragon. His eyes suddenly widened. Could it be Festus? He thought then dashed towards Bunker 9. When he arrived, he found Annabeth, frowning.

"Leo, you're supposed to be on your day off, what's the matter?"

"I found something." He gave the papers to Annabeth and her eyes were wider than ever.

"It's about Festus, you wanna read it?"

"Um, sure, you can even call the others."

She didn't even finish the sentence and Leo was already running to call the others. After dinner, Jason, Piper, Leo, Annabeth, Nico, Thalia (who came to help with the Argo II), Jake and the other counselors were all together in the conference room (the ping-pong table).

"This is so not a conference room." Nico commented.

"Well we're here because Leo received some mysterious papers out of nowhere about the some stories." Annabeth announced.

"That sounds believable." Nico said.

"Shut it, Nico." Annbeth said. "Who wants to read?"

"I'll do it" Jason volunteered. "Might as well read than listen."

Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon

One dragon can ruin your whole day.

"True." Jake said.

Trust me, as a demigod I've had my share of bad experiences. I've been snapped at,

clawed at, blowtorched, and poisoned. I've fought single-headed dragons, doubleheaded,

"And he's still alive." Nico said

"Didn't I tell you to shut it?" Annabeth warned.

eight-headed, nine-headed, and the kinAd with so many heads that if you

stopped to count them you'd be pretty much dead.

A lot of people smiled at this.

But that time with the bronze dragon? I thought for sure my friends and I were going to

end up as Kibbles 'n' Dragon Bits.

And this.

The evening started simply enough.

It was the end of June. I'd come back from my most recent quest about two weeks

before, and life at Camp Half-Blood was returning to normal. Satyrs were chasing the

dryads. Monsters howled in the woods. The campers were playing pranks on one

another, and our camp director, Dionysus, was turning anyone who misbehaved into a

shrub. Typical summer camp stuff.

After dinner, all the campers were hanging out at the dining pavilion. We were all

excited because tonight's capture-the-flag was going to be totally vicious.

"Yeah!" Clarisse roared.

The night before, Hephaestus's cabin had pulled off a huge upset. They'd captured the

flag from Ares—with my help, thank you very much—which meant that tonight the Ares

cabin would be out for blood. Well... they're always out for blood, but tonight especially.

"Out for blood?" Leo asked, worried.

On the blue team were Hephaestus's cabin, Apollo, Hermes, and me—the only demigod

in Poseidon's cabin. The bad news was that for once, Athena and Ares—both war god

cabins—were against us on the red team, along with Aphrodite, Dionysus, and Demeter.

Athena's cabin held the other flag, and my friend Annabeth was their captain.

Annabeth is not somebody you want as an enemy.

Right before the game, she strolled up to me. "Hey, seaweed brain."

"Will you stop calling me that?"

She knows I hate that name, mostly because I never have a good comeback. She's the

daughter of Athena, which doesn't give me a lot of ammunition. I mean, Owl-head and

Wise Girl are kind of lame insults.

"Good one." Thalia said sarcastically.

"You know you love it." She bumped me with her shoulder, which I guess was supposed

to be friendly, but she was wearing full Greek armor, so it kind of hurt. Her gray eyes

sparkled under the helmet. Her blond ponytail curled around one shoulder. It was hard

for anyone to look cute in combat armor, but Annabeth pulled it off.

Annabeth smiled.

"Tell you what." She lowered her voice. "We're going to crush you tonight, but if you

pick a safe position—like right flank, for instance—I'll make sure you don't get pulverized

too much."

"That sounds so generous." Jason said.

"Gee, thanks," I said, "but I'm playing to win."

She smiled. "See you on the battlefield."

She jogged back to her teammates, who all laughed and gave her high fives. I'd never

seen her so happy, like the chance to beat me up was the best thing that had ever

happened to her.

Beckendorf walked up with his helmet under his arm. "She likes you, man."

"Sure," I muttered. "She likes me for target practice

A lot of people laughed at this, Annabeth was grinning.

"Oh the love." Piper said

"Nah, they always do that. A girl starts trying to kill you, you know she's into you."

"Makes a lot of sense."

Beckendorf shrugged. "I know about these things. You ought to ask her to the

fireworks."

"Fireworks?" Leo asked.

"I think he'll explain it." Annabeth replied

I couldn't tell if he was serious. Beckendorf was lead counselor for Hephaestus. He was

this huge African American dude with a permanent scowl, muscles like a pro ballplayer,

and hands calloused from working in the forges his whole life. He'd just turned eighteen

and was on his way to NYU in the fall.

So that's how he looks like, Leo thought.

Since he was older, I usually listened to him

about stuff, but the idea of asking Annabeth to the Fourth of July fireworks down at the

beach—like, the biggest dating event of the summer—made my stomach do

somersaults.

"Nobody told me about this!" Piper exclaimed.

"That's because it's not July yet." Nico breathed.

Then Silena Beauregard, the head counserlor for Aphrodite, passed by.

Piper suddenly pulled her head down.

Beckendorf had

had a not-so-secret crush on her for three years. She had long black hair and big brown

eyes, and when she walked, the guys tended to watch. She said, "Good luck, Charlie."

(Nobody ever calls Beckendorf by his first name.) She flashed him a brilliant smile and

went to join Annabeth on the red team.

"Uh..." Beckendorf swallowed like he'd forgotten how to breathe.

"Good ol' Beckendorf." Jake grinned, hiding his sadness.

I patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks for the advice, dude. Glad you're so wise about

girls and all. Come on. Let's get to the woods."

Naturally, Beckendorf and I took the most dangerous job.

While the Apollo cabin played defense with their bows, the Hermes cabin would charge

up the middle of the woods to distract the enemy. Meanwhile, Beckendorf and I would

scout around the left flank, locate the enemy's flag, knock out the defenders, and get

the flag back to our side. Simple.

Why the left flank?

"Because Annabeth wanted me to go right," I told Beckendorf, "which means she

doesn't want us to go left."

Beckendorf nodded. "Let's suit up."

He'd been working on a secret weapon for the two of us: bronze chameleon armor,

enchanted to blend into the background.

"That's so awesome!" Leo said.

If we stood in front of rocks, our breastplates,

helms, and shields turned gray. If we stood in front of bushes, the metal changed to a

leafy green. It wasn't true invisibility, but we'd have pretty good cover, at least from a

distance.

"This stuff took forever to forge," Beckendorf warned me. "Don't mess it up!"

"You got it, Captain."

Beckendorf grunted. I could tell he liked being called captain. The rest of the

Hephaestus campers wished us well, and we sneaked off into the woods, immediately

turning brown and green to match the trees.

We crossed the creek that served as the boundary between the teams. We heard

fighting in the distance: swords clashing against shields. I glimpsed a flash of light from

some magical weapon, but we saw no one.

"No border guards?" Beckendorf whispered. "Weird."

"Overconfident," I guessed. But I felt uneasy. Annabeth was a great strategist. It wasn't

like her to get sloppy on defense, even if her team did outnumber us.

Annabeth did a big evil smirk.

"You scare me sometimes, Annabeth." Leo said but she didn't say anything.

We moved into enemy territory. I knew we had to hurry, because our team was playing

a defensive game, and that couldn't last forever. The Apollo kids would get overrun

sooner or later. The Ares cabin wouldn't be slowed down by a little thing like arrows.

We crept along the base of an oak tree. Suddenly, a girl's face emerged from the trunk.

"Shoo!" she said, then faded back into the bark.

"Dryads," Beckendorf grumbled. "So touchy."

"Am not!" a muffled voice said from the tree.

"Touchy." Nico said.

"You're very lucky that a dryad can only stay in the forest." Thalia said.

We kept moving. It was hard to tell exactly where we were. Some landmarks stood out,

like the creek and certain cliffs and some really old trees, but the woods tended to shift

around. I guess the nature spirits got restless. Paths changed. Trees moved.

Then, suddenly, we were at the edge of a clearing. I knew we were in trouble when I

saw the mountain of dirt.

"Holy Hephaestus," Beckendorf whispered. "The Ant Hill."

I wanted to back up and run. I'd never seen the Ant Hill before, but I'd heard stories

from the older campers. The mound rose almost to the treetops—four stories at least.

"That's pretty tall." Connor said.

Its sides were riddled with tunnels, and crawling in and out were thousands of...

"Myrmekes," I muttered.

That's Ancient Greek for ants, but these things were way more than that. They would've

given any exterminator a heart attack.

The Myrmekes were the size of German shepherds.

A lot of people put on disgusted faces.

Their armored shells glistened blood

red. Their eyes were beady black, and their razor-sharp mandibles sliced and snapped.

Some carried tree branches. Some carried chunks of raw meat that I really didn't want

to know about. Most carried bits of metal—old armor, swords, food platters that had

somehow found their way out here from the dining pavilion. One ant was dragging the

glossy black hood of a sports car.

"Where did that come from." Travis said.

"They love shiny metal," Beckendorf whispered. "Especially gold. I've heard they have

more gold in their nest than Fort Knox."

He sounded envious.

"Don't even think about it," I said.

"Dude, I won't," he promised. "Let's get out of here while we..."

His eyes widened.

Fifty feet away, two ants were struggling to drag a big hunk of metal toward their nest.

The thing was the size of a refrigerator. It was all glittery gold and bronze, with weird

bumps and ridges down the side and a bunch of wires sticking out the bottom. Then the

ants rolled the thing over, and I saw its face.

I just about jumped out of my skin. "That's a—"

"Shhh!" Beckendorf pulled me back into the bushes.

"But that's a—"

"Dragon's head," he said in awe. "Yes. I see it."

"Festus."

The snout was as long as my body. The mouth hung open, showing metal teeth, like a

shark's. Its skin was a combination of gold and bronze scales, and its eyes were rubies

as big as my fists. The head looked like it had been hacked from its body—chewed by

ant mandibles. The wires were frayed and tangled.

The head must've been heavy, too, because the ants were struggling, moving it only a

few inches with every tug.

"If they get it to the hill," Beckendorf said, "the other ants will help them. We've got to

stop them."

"What?" I asked. "Why?"

"It's a sign from Hephaestus. Come on!"

I didn't know what he was talking about, but I'd never seen Beckendorf look so

determined. He sprinted along the edge of the clearing, his armor blending into the

trees.

I was about to follow when something sharp and cold pressed against my neck.

"Surprise," Annabeth said, right next me. She must've had her magic Yankees cap on,

because she was totally invisible.

"Busted." Travis said.

I tried to move, but she dug her knife under my chin. Silena appeared out of the woods,

her sword drawn. Her Aphrodite armor was pink and red, color-coordinated to match

her clothes and makeup. She looked like Guerilla Warfare Barbie.

Piper smiled.

"Nice work," she told Annabeth.

An invisible hand confiscated my sword. Annabeth took off her cap and appeared before

me, smiling smugly. "Boys are easy to follow. They make more noise than a lovesick

Minotaur."

My face felt hot. I tried to think back, hoping I hadn't said anything embarrassing. No

telling how long Annabeth and Silena had been eavesdropping.

"You're our prisoner," Annabeth announced. "Let's get Beckendorf and—"

"Beckendorf!" For a split second I'd forgotten about him, but he was still forging ahead,

straight toward the dragon's head. He was already forty feet away. He hadn't noticed

the girls, or the fact that I wasn't behind him.

"Come on!" I told Annabeth.

She pulled me back. "Where do you think you're going, prisoner?"

"Look!"

She peered into the clearing and for the first time seemed to realize where we were.

"Oh, Zeus..."

Beckendorf leaped into the open and struck one of the ants. His sword clanged off the

thing's carapace. The ant turned, snapping its pincers. Before I could even call out, the

ant bit Beckendorf's leg, and he crumpled to the ground. The second ant sprayed goo in

his face, and Beckendorf screamed. He dropped his sword and slapped wildly at his own

eyes.

"No." Leo snapped.

I surged forward, but Annabeth pulled me back. "No."

"Wow that's a little creepy, Leo." Jason said.

"Charlie!" Silena yelled.

"Don't!" Annabeth hissed. "It's already too late!"

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. "We have to—"

Then I noticed more ants swarming toward Beckendorf—ten, twenty. They grabbed him

by the armor and dragged him toward the hill so fast he was swept into a tunnel and

gone.

"No!" Silena pushed Annabeth. "You let them take Charlie!"

"There's no time to argue," Annabeth said. "Come on!"

I thought she was going to lead us on a charge to save Beckendorf, but instead she

raced to the dragon's head, which the ants had momentarily forgotten. She grabbed it

by the wires and started dragging it toward the woods.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. "Beckendorf—"

"Help me," Annabeth grunted. "Quick, before they get back."

"Oh, my gods!" Silena said. "You're more worried about this hunk of metal than

Charlie?"

Annabeth spun around and shook her by the shoulders. "Listen, Silena! Those are

Myrmekes. They're like fire ants, only a hundred times worse. They bite poison. They

spray acid. They communicate with all the other ants and swarm anything that

threatens them. If we'd rushed in there to help Beckendorf, we would have been

dragged inside, too. We're going to need help—a lot of help—to get him back. Now,

grab some wires and pull!"

I didn't know what Annabeth was up to, but I'd adventured with her long enough to

figure she had a good reason. The three of us tugged the metal dragon's head into the

woods. Annabeth didn't let us stop until we were fifty yards from the clearing. Then we

collapsed, sweating and breathing hard.

Silena started to cry. "He's probably dead already."

"No," Annabeth said. "They won't kill him right away. We've got about half an hour."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"I've read about the Myrmekes. They paralyze their prey so they can soften them up

before—"

Silena sobbed. "We have to save him!"

"Silena," Annabeth said. "We're going to save him, but I need you to get a grip.

There is a way."

"Call the other campers," I said, "or Chiron. Chiron will know what to do."

Annabeth shook her head. "They're scattered all over the woods. By the time we got

everyone back here, it would be too late. Besides, the entire camp wouldn't be strong

enough to invade the Ant Hill."

"Then what?"

She pointed at the dragon's head.

"Okay," I said. "You're going to scare the ants with a big metal puppet?"

"It's an automaton," she said.

That didn't make me feel any better. Automatons were magical bronze robots made by

Hephaestus. Most of them were crazed killing machines, and those were the nice ones.

"So what?" I said. "It's just a head. It's broken."

"Percy, this isn't just any automaton," Annabeth said. "It's the bronze dragon. Haven't

you heard the stories?"

I stared at her blankly. Annabeth had been at camp a lot longer than I had. She

probably knew tons of stories I didn't.

Silena's eyes widened. "You mean the old guardian? But that's just a legend!"

"Whoa," I said. "What old guardian?"

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Percy, in the days before Thalia's tree—back before the

camp had magical boundaries to keep out monsters—the counselors tried all sorts of

different ways to protect themselves. The most famous was the bronze dragon. The

Hephaestus cabin made it with the blessing of their father.

"Ooh."

Supposedly, it was so fierce

and powerful that it kept the camp safe for over a decade. And then... about fifteen

years ago, it disappeared into the woods."

"And you think this is its head?"

"It has to be! The Myrmekes probably dug it up while they were looking for precious

metal. They couldn't move the whole thing, so they chewed off the head. The body can't

be far away."

"But they chewed it apart. It's useless."

"Not necessarily." Annabeth's eyes narrowed, and I could tell her brain was working

overtime. "We could reassemble it. If we could activate it—"

"It could help us rescue Charlie!" Silena said.

"Hold up," I said. "That's a lot of ifs. If we find it, if we can reactivate it in time, if it will

help us. You said this thing disappeared fifteen years ago?"

Annabeth nodded. "Some say its motor wore out so it went into the woods to deactivate

itself. Or its programming went haywire. No one knows."

"You want to reassemble a haywire metal dragon?"

"We have to try!" Annabeth said. "It's Beckendorf's only hope! Besides, this could be a

sign from Hephaestus. The dragon should want to help one of Hephaestus's kids.

Beckendorf would want us to try."

I didn't like the idea. On the other hand, I didn't have any better suggestions. We were

running out of time, and Silena looked like she was about to go into shock if we didn't

do something soon. Beckendorf had said something about a sign from Hephaestus.

Maybe it was time to find out.

"All right," I said. "Let's go find a headless dragon."

"That sounds wrong." Nico and Connor said.

"I hate the freakiness!" Nico groaned.

We searched forever, or maybe it just seemed that way, because the whole time, I was

imagining Beckendorf in the Ant Hill, scared and paralyzed while a bunch of armored

critters scuttled around him, waiting for him to be tenderized.

"Percy always thinks of the negative part." Annabeth shook.

It wasn't hard to follow the ants' trail. They'd dragged the dragon's head through the

forest, making a deep rut in the mud, and we dragged the head right back the way

they'd come.

We must've gone a quarter of a mile—and I was getting worried about our time—when

Annabeth said, "Di immortalis."

We'd come to the rim of a crater—like something had blasted a house-size hole in the

forest floor. The sides were slippery and dotted with tree roots. Ant tracks led to the

bottom, where a large metal mound glinted through the dirt. Wires stuck up from a

bronze stump on one end.

"The dragon's neck," I said. "You think the ants made this crater?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Looks more like a meteor blast..."

"Hephaestus," Silena said. "The god must've unearthed this. He wanted us to find the

dragon. He wanted Charlie to..." She choked up.

"Come on," I said. "Let's reconnect this bad boy."

"Bad boy?" Connor said. "That sounds like Travis when he broke his arm."

His brother glared at him.

Getting the dragon's head to the bottom was easy. It tumbled right down the slope and

hit the neck with a loud, metallic bonk! Reconnecting it was harder.

We had no tools and no experience.

Annabeth fiddled with the wires and cursed in Ancient Greek. "We need Beckendorf. He

could do this in seconds."

"Isn't your mom the goddess of inventors?" I asked.

Annabeth glared at me. "Yes, but I'm good with ideas. Not mechanics."

"If I was going to pick one person in the world to reattach my head," I said, "I'd pick

you."

"It sounds wrong, but it's so sweet." Piper said.

I just blurted it out—to give her confidence, I guess—but immediately I realized it

sounded pretty stupid.

"Awww..." Silena sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Percy, that is so sweet!"

Annabeth blushed. "Shut up, Silena. Hand me your dagger."

"You know you liked it, Annabeth." Connor said.

I was afraid Annabeth was going to stab me with it. Instead she used it as a

screwdriver, to open a panel in the dragon's neck. "Here goes nothing," she said.

And she started to splice together the celestial bronze wires.

It took a long time. Too long.

I figured capture-the-flag had to be over by now. I wondered how soon the other

campers would realize we were missing and come looking for us. Beckendorf probably

had five or ten minutes left before the ants got him, if Annabeth's calculations were

correct (and they always were).

Finally Annabeth stood up and exhaled. Her hands were scraped and muddy. Her

fingernails were wrecked. She had a brown streak across her forehead where the

dragon had decided to spit grease at her.

"All right," she said. "It's done, I think..."

"You think?" Silena asked.

"It has to be done," I said. "We're out of time. How do you, uh, start it? Is there an

ignition switch or something?"

Annabeth pointed to its ruby eyes. "Those turn clockwise. I'm guessing we rotate them."

"If somebody twisted my eyeballs, I'd wake up," I agreed.

"Does he always think like that?" Jason asked.

"No" Annabeth replied.

"What if it goes crazy on us?"

"Then... we're dead," Annabeth said.

"Great," I said. "I'm psyched."

Together we turned the ruby eyes of the dragon. Immediately, they began to glow.

Annabeth and I backed up so fast we fell over each other. The dragon's mouth opened,

as if it were testing its jaw. The head turned and looked at us. Steam poured from its

ears, and it tried to rise.

When it found it couldn't move, the dragon seemed confused. It cocked its head and

regarded the dirt. Finally, it realized it was buried. The neck strained once, twice... and

the center of the crater erupted.

The dragon pulled itself awkwardly out of the ground, shaking clumps of mud from its

body the way a dog might, splattering us from head to toe. The automaton was so

awesome none of us could speak. I mean, sure, it needed a trip through the car wash,

and there were a few loose wires sticking out here and there, but the dragon's body was

amazing—like a high-tech tank with legs. Its sides were plated with bronze and gold

scales, encrusted with gemstones. Its legs were the size of tree trunks, and its feet had

steel talons. It had no wings—most Greek dragons don't—but its tail was at least as long

as its main body, which was the size of a school bus. The neck creaked and popped as it

turned its head to the sky and blew a column of triumphant fire.

"Well..." I said in a small voice. "It still works."

Unfortunately, it heard me. Those ruby eyes zeroed in on me,

"Nice work again, Percy." Clarisse said sarcastically.

and it stuck its snout two

inches from my face. Instinctively, I reached for my sword.

"Dragon, stop!" Silena yelled. I was amazed her voice still worked. She spoke with such

command that the automaton turned its attention to her.

Silena swallowed nervously. "We've woken you to defend the camp. You remember?

That is your job!"

The dragon tilted its head like it was thinking. I figured Silena had about a fifty-fifty

chance of getting blasted with fire. I was considering jumping on the thing's neck to

distract it when Silena said, "Charles Beckendorf, a son of Hephaestus, is in trouble. The

Myrmekes have taken him. He needs your help."

At the word Hephaestus, the dragon's neck straightened. A shiver rippled through its

metal body, throwing a new shower of mud clods all over us.

The dragon looked around, as if trying to find an enemy.

"We have to show it," Annabeth said. "Come on, dragon! This way to the son of

Hephaestus! Follow us!"

Just like that, she drew her sword, and the three of us climbed out of the pit.

"For Hephaestus!" Annabeth yelled, which was a nice touch. We charged through the

woods. When I looked behind us, the bronze dragon was right on our tail, its red eyes

glowing and steam coming out its nostrils.

It was good incentive to keep running fast as we headed for the Ant Hill.

When we got to the clearing, the dragon seemed to catch Beckendorf's scent. It

barreled ahead of us, and we had to jump out of its way to avoid getting flattened. It

crashed through the trees, joints creaking, feet pounding craters into the ground.

It charged straight for the Ant Hill. At first, the Myrmekes didn't know what was

happening. The dragon stepped on a few of them, smashing them to bug juice.

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.

Then

their telepathic network seemed to light up, like: Big dragon. Bad!

All the ants in the clearing turned simultaneously and swarmed the dragon. More ants

poured out of the hill—hundreds of them. The dragon blew fire and sent a whole column

of them into a panicked retreat. Who knew ants were flammable? But more kept

coming.

"Inside, now!" Annabeth told us. "While they're focused on the dragon!"

Silena led the charge; it was the first time I'd ever followed a child of Aphrodite into

battle. We ran past the ants, but they ignored us. For some reason, they seemed to

consider the dragon a bigger threat. Go figure.

We plunged into the nearest tunnel, and I almost gagged from the stench. Nothing, I

mean nothing, stinks worse than a giant ant lair. I could tell they let their food rot

before eating it. Somebody seriously needed to teach them about refrigerators.

Our journey inside was a blur of dark tunnels and moldy rooms carpeted with old ant

shells and pools of goo. Ants kept surging past us on their way to battle, but we just

stepped aside and let them pass. The faint bronze glow of my sword gave us light as we

made our way deeper into the nest.

"Look!" Annabeth said.

I glanced into a side room, and my heart skipped a beat. Hanging from the ceiling were

huge, gooey sacks—ant larvae, I guess—but that's not what got my attention. The cave

floor was heaped with gold coins, gems, and other treasures: helmets, swords, musical

instruments, jewelry. They glowed the way magic items do.

"Dude," Travis said to his brother. "We gotta find that nest someday."

"That's just one room," Annabeth said. "There are probably hundreds of nurseries down

here, decorated with treasure."

"It's not important," Silena insisted. "We have to find Charlie!"

Another first: a child of Aphrodite uninterested in jewelry.

We forged on. After twenty more feet, we entered a cavern that smelled so bad my

nose shut down completely. The remains of old meals were piled as high as sand

dunes—bones, chunks of rancid meat, even old camp meals. I guess the ants had been

raiding the camp's compost heap and stealing our leftovers. At the base of one of the

heaps, struggling to pull himself upright, was Beckendorf. He looked awful, partly

because his camouflage armor was now the color of garbage.

"Charlie!" Silena ran to him and tried to help him up.

"Thank the gods," he said. "My—my legs are paralyzed!"

"It'll wear off," Annabeth said, "but we have to get you out of here. Percy, take his other

side."

Silena and I hoisted Beckendorf up, and the four of us started back through the tunnels.

I could hear distant sounds of battle—metal creaking, fire roaring, hundreds of ants

snapping and spitting.

"What's going on out there?" Beckendorf asked. His body tensed. "The dragon! You

didn't—reactivate it?"

"Afraid so," I said. "Seemed like the only way."

"But you can't just turn on an automaton! You have to calibrate the motor, run a

diagnostic... there's no telling what it'll do! We've got to get out there!"

As it turned out, we didn't need to go anywhere, because the dragon came to us. We

were trying to remember which tunnel was the exit when the entire hill exploded,

showering us in dirt. Suddenly we were staring at open sky. The dragon was right above

us, thrashing back and forth, smashing the Ant Hill to bits as it tried to shake off the

Myrmekes crawling all over its body.

"Come on!" I yelled. We dug ourselves out of the dirt and stumbled down the side of the

hill, dragging Beckendorf with us.

Our friend the dragon was in trouble. The Myrmekes were biting at the joints of his

armor, spitting acid all over him. The dragon stomped and snapped and blew flames,

but it couldn't last much longer. Steam was rising from its bronze skin.

Even worse, a few of the ants turned toward us. I guess they didn't like us stealing their

dinner. I slashed at one and lopped off its head. Annabeth stabbed another right

between the feelers. As the celestial bronze blade pierced its shell, the whole ant

disintegrated.

"I—I think I can walk now," Beckendorf said, and immediately fell on his face when we

let him go.

"Charlie!" Silena helped him up and pulled him along while Annabeth and I cleared a

path through the ants. Somehow, we managed to reach the edge of the clearing without

getting bitten or splashed, though one of my sneakers was smoking from acid.

Back in the clearing, the dragon stumbled. A great cloud of acid mist was roiling off its

hide.

"We can't let it die!" Silena said.

"It's too dangerous," Beckendorf said sadly. "Its wiring—"

"Charlie," Silena pleaded, "it saved your life! Please? For me."

Beckendorf hesitated. His face was still bright red from the ant spit, and he looked as if

he were going to faint any minute, but he struggled to his feet. "Get ready to run," he

told us. Then he gazed across the clearing and shouted, "Dragon! Emergency defense,

beta-activate!"

Everyone's faces was covered in awe.

The dragon turned toward the sound of his voice. It stopped struggling against the ants,

and its eyes glowed. The air smelled of ozone, like a thunderstorm.

ZZZZZAAAAAPPP!

Arcs of blue electricity shot from the dragon's skin, rippling up and down its body and

connecting with the ants. Some blew up. Others smoked and blackened and fell off,

their legs twitching. In a few seconds, there were no more ants on the dragon. The

ones that were still alive were in full retreat, scuttling back toward their ruined hill as

fingers of electricity zapped them in the butts to prod them along.

The dragon bellowed in triumph. Then it turned its glowing eyes toward us.

"Now," Beckendorf said, "we run."

This time we did not yell, "For Hephaestus!" We yelled, "Heeeeelp!"

Many people laughed here.

The dragon pounded after us, spewing fire and zapping lighting bolts over our heads like

it was having a great time.

"It probably was." Nico said

"How do you stop it?" Annabeth yelled.

Beckendorf, whose legs were now working fine (nothing like being chased by a huge

monster to get your body back in order) shook his head and gasped for breath. "You

shouldn't have turned it on! It's unstable! After a few years, automatons go wild!"

"Good to know," I yelled. "But how do you turn it off?"

Beckendorf looked around wildly. "There!"

Up ahead was an outcropping of rock, almost as tall as the trees. The woods were full of

weird rock formations like that, but I'd never seen this one before. It was shaped like a

giant skateboard ramp, slanted on one side, with a sheer drop-off on the other.

"You guys, run around to the base of the cliff," Beckendorf said. "Distract the dragon.

Keep it occupied!"

"What are you going to do?" Silena said.

"You'll see. Go!"

"GO BECKENDORF!" Everyone cheered.

Beckendorf ducked behind a tree while I turned and yelled at the dragon, "Hey, lizardlips!

"Lizardlips?" Leo asked.

Your breath smells like gasoline!"

"You know for a dragon, that could be a complement." Katie said.

The dragon spewed black smoke out of its nostrils. It thundered toward me, shaking the

ground.

"Come on!" Annabeth grabbed my hand. We ran for the backside of the cliff. The

dragon followed.

"We have to hold it here," Annabeth said. The three of us readied our swords.

The dragon reached us and lurched to a stop. It tilted its head like it couldn't believe

we'd be so foolish as to fight. Now that it had caught us, there were so many different

ways it could kill us it probably couldn't decide.

"That really makes us feel so much better." Nico said.

We scattered as its first blast of fire turned the ground where we'd been standing into a

smoking pit of ashes.

Then I saw Beckendorf above us—at the top of the cliff—and I understood what he was

trying to do. He needed a clear shot. I had to keep the dragon's attention.

"Yaaaah!" I charged. I brought Riptide down on the dragon's foot and sliced off a talon.

Its head creaked as it looked down at me. It seemed more confused than angry,

like, Why did you cut off my toe?

"That part was kinda stupid." Annabeth laughed.

Then it opened its mouth, baring a hundred razor-sharp teeth.

"Percy!" Annabeth warned.

I stood my ground. "Just another second..."

"Percy!"

And just before the dragon struck, Beckendorf launched himself off the rocks and landed

on the dragon's neck.

Everyone cheered once again.

The dragon reared back and shot flames, trying to shake Beckendorf, but Beckendorf

held on like a cowboy as the monster bucked around. I watched in fascination as he

ripped open a panel at the base of the dragon's head and yanked a wire.

Instantly, the dragon froze. Its eyes went dim. Suddenly it was only the statue of a

dragon, baring its teeth at the sky.

"Way to go Beckendorf!" A lot of people said.

Beckendorf slid down the dragon's neck. He collapsed at its tail, breathing heavily.

"Charlie!" Silena ran to him and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "You did it!"

Annabeth came up to me and squeezed my shoulder. "Hey, seaweed brain, you okay?"

"Fine... I guess." I was thinking how close I'd come to being chopped into demigod hash

in the dragon's mouth.

"You did great." Annabeth's smile was a lot nicer than that stupid dragon's.

"You, too," I said shakily. "So... what do we do with the automaton?"

Beckendorf wiped his forehead. Silena was still fussing over his cuts and bruises, and

Beckendorf looked pretty distracted by the attention.

"We—uh—I don't know," he said. "Maybe we can fix it, get it to guard the camp, but

that could take months."

"Worth trying," I said. I imagined having that bronze dragon in our fight against the

titan lord Kronos. His monsters would think twice about attacking camp if they had to

face that thing. On the other hand, if the dragon decided to go berserk again and attack

the campers, that would pretty much stink.

"Did you see all the treasure in the Ant Hill?" Beckendorf asked. "The magic weapons?

The armor? That stuff could really help us."

"And the bracelets," Silena said. "And the necklaces."

I shuddered, remembering the smell of those tunnels. "I think that's an adventure for

later. It would take an army of demigods even to get close to that treasure."

"Maybe," Beckendorf said. "But what a treasure..."

Silena studied the frozen dragon. "Charlie, that was the bravest thing I ever saw—you

jumping on that dragon."

Beckendorf swallowed. "Um... yeah. So... will you go to the fireworks with me?"

Silena's face lit up. "Of course, you big dummy! I thought you'd never ask!"

Beckendorf suddenly looked a whole lot better. "Well let's get back, then! I bet the

capture-the-flag is over."

I had to go barefoot, because the acid had eaten completely through my shoe. When I

kicked it off I realized the goo had soaked into my sock and turned my foot red and raw.

I leaned against Annabeth, and she helped me limp through the woods.

Beckendorf and Silena walked ahead of us, holding hands, and we gave them some

space.

Watching them, with my arm around Annabeth for support, I felt pretty uncomfortable. I

silently cursed Beckendorf for being so brave, and I don't mean for facing the dragon.

After three years, he'd finally gotten the courage to ask Silena Beauregard out. It wasn't

fair.

"You know," Annabeth said as we struggled along, "it wasn't the bravest thing I've ever

seen."

I blinked. Had she been reading my thoughts?

"Um... what do you mean?"

Annabeth gripped my wrist as we stumbled through a shallow creek. "You stood up to

the dragon so Beckendorf would have his chance to jump—now that was brave."

"Or pretty stupid."

"Percy, you're a brave guy," she said. "Just take the compliment. I swear, it is so hard?"

"It was so hard." Annabeth said.

We locked eyes. Our faces were, like, two inches apart.

Annabeth blushed.

My chest felt a little funny, like

my heart was trying to do jumping jacks.

"So..." I said. "I guess Silena and Charlie are going to the fireworks together."

"I guess so," Annabeth agreed.

"Yeah," I said. "Um, about that—"

"Somebody had to break the moment!" Thalia said.

I don't know what I would've said, but just then, three of Annabeth's siblings from the

Athena cabin burst out of the bushes with their swords drawn. When they saw us, they

broke into grins.

"Annabeth!" one of them said. "Good job! Let's get these two to jail."

I stared at him. "The game's not over?"

The Athena camper laughed. "Not yet... but soon. Now that we've captured you."

"Dude, come on," Beckendorf protested. "We got sidetracked. There was a dragon, and

the whole Ant Hill was attacking us."

"Uh-huh," said another Athena guy, clearly unimpressed. "Annabeth, great job

distracting them. Worked out perfectly. You want us to take them from here?"

Annabeth pulled away from me. I thought for sure she was going to give us a free walk

back to the border, but she drew her dagger and pointed it at me with a smile.

"Nah," she said. "Silena and I can get this. Come on, prisoners. Move it."

I stared at her, stunned. "You planned this? You planned this whole thing just to keep

us out of the game?"

"Percy, seriously, how could I have planned it? The dragon, the ants—you think I

could've figured all that out ahead of time?"

It didn't seem likely, but this was Annabeth. There was no telling with her. Then she

exchanged glances with Silena, and I could tell they were trying not to laugh.

"You—you little—" I started to say, but I couldn't think of a name strong enough to call

her.

Annabeth smirked.

I protested all the way to the jail, and so did Beckendorf.

"That must've been annoying." Jason said.

"It was." Annabeth said.

It was totally unfair to be

treated like prisoners after all we'd been through.

But Annabeth just smiled and put us in jail. As she was heading back to the front line,

she turned and winked. "See you at the fireworks?"

She didn't even wait for my answer before darting off into the woods.

I looked at Beckendorf. "Did she just... ask me out?"

"You just got asked out." Connor said.

"Nice way to ask."

He shrugged, completely disgusted. "Who knows with girls? Give me a haywire dragon,

any day."

Leo laughed at this.

So we sat together and waited while the girls won the game.

"That's it" Jason said. "Anything else?"

"Well not really" Leo said. "Wait! There's another one!"

"What?" Nico asked.

"Percy Jackson and the Golden chariot."

Stay tuned…