Annabeth

I closed my eyes and bit my tongue, trying not to scream as I felt like I was free falling through the sky. I held my breath as I waited to be flattened against the ground.

A second later, I saw a faint light through my eyelids, and I cracked them open. Met with the sight of sunlight and grass, I opened them fully. Percy, Jason, Nico, Blackjack, and I were all standing in the meadow that we saw from the glass balcony earlier.

I let out my breath in a huff, and gazed at the flower clumps strewn about and listened to the birds chirping. The light warm breeze in the air swept my curls across my shoulder. Farther down the meadow, you could barely see the edge of the forest. It felt calm and friendly here, like the dream picnic spot.

Well this definitely feels like a monster hunt. Not.

I glanced over my shoulder, and saw the fortress. The drawbridge was up, omitting us from entering the stronghold. But if I looked up, I could barely see the glass balcony.

Actually, I couldn't see the glass balcony, cause it was glass, (duh) but I could see the people on it. Faintly, though.

I could tell that they all were clustered on the side closest to us, and I'm sure they were talking, but there was no way that I could hear them. I did see a few arms go up and wave at us. I returned the gesture, then looked back at the three boys and black pegasus.

I took a deep breath. "So, who's taking which monster?"

Percy briefly looked at the two other boys, then his gaze settled on me. "I'll take the drakon with one of you. It's probably better, cause I have Blackjack, so we can fly up to the beast."

I frowned, thinking, "But Kampê has wings too, right?"

Percy nodded, "Yes, but she doesn't fly as high as the drakon, so she's easier to reach."

Jason spoke up, "I'll take Kampê, cause I can fly. Not for long before I get too tired, but I might be able to hit her wings with my sword in the span of my flying strength so she is forced to stay on the ground."

Percy bobbed his head again, "Ok. Annabeth? Nico? Which ones are you fighting?"

I waited for Nico to decide. The son of Hades frowned, thinking for a moment, then said, "I'll go with Jason, because if he can get Kampê on the ground, I could probably get a few skeletons to help us."

"Alright. Annabeth, you're with me and Blackjack," Percy said. I felt a little flutter in my stomach, but I quieted the butterflies before they got too rustled up.

We are going on a death quest to fight a drakon, one of the most dangerous monsters, about one hundred feet in the sky, where you could easily fall, and I'm excited because you get to go with Percy? I asked myself. I'm nuts.

I pushed away my thoughts, then asked, "Before we split, can I know what your two weapons that you picked do, boys? And Jason, why did he let you pick a shield? Isn't a shield technically not a weapon, but a form of protection?"

Jason frowned, "True. Oh well, I got it."

I raised my eyebrows, "So… it's just a shield? Couldn't you, I don't know, have picked something a tiny bit better?"

He smirked. "Well, this isn't just a shield. It's actually shield-s."

I brought down one eyebrow, but the other one stayed up. "Can you please explain?"

"Well, this is a gift from my dad. It's disguised as one shield, but it can split so I can have five other shields total. Obviously the Twins didn't know that, so now we all have a shield!" He grinned and pressed a button on the side of the celestial bronze plate.

I heard a click, and five shields bolted out in different directions. One hit Nico's stomach, causing him to grunt and double over. Another sped towards Blackjack, whipping the air right above the pegasus' head, making the horse shy away and whinny.

One went flying towards Percy, but he had fast reflexes, and smoothly dodged it. The last two went off into the field.

"Really, man? That hurt!" Nico whined, rubbing his stomach where the impact had been.

Jason smiled sheepishly, "Sorry. I kinda forgot they went everywhere when I activate them."

I rolled my eyes, going to retrieve the two in the field. Percy calmed Blackjack down, and grabbed the one that had scared the horse.

"There's five. We only need three, because I'm guessing you are going to use the main one?" I queried.

Jason nodded, "Yep. And I'm pretty sure I can put two back… But don't know how. I just got this thing from my dad, so I'm not exactly familiar with it."

Shaking my head, I put the pair of shields I was holding against my leg and gestured for him to give the keeper shield to me. Maybe I would be able to figure out. He handed it to me, and I studied the bronze inside of the shield. Right away, I noticed some words written there.

I squinted, trying to read the small print. They read "For activating, press big button." I moved onto the next words. "To deactivate, press small button as many times as as many shields you want to deactivate."

I smiled at the bluntly put words. Zeus must know boys and their way of not understanding only slightly complicated instructions.

That is, if they even read them.

I pressed the small celestial bronze button twice.

Two of the shields, the one Percy was holding and one that was leaning against my leg, contracted into small cubes of bronze, then flew back into their keeper.

I gave Jason his shield back, saying, "Really. There are instructions written very clearly."

Jason shrugged and grabbed his shield. "I'm a guy. I don't do instructions."

I snorted and muttered, "That's for sure. And your coin?"

The son of Zeus took out his coin and threw it in the air. I watched as he caught it, and it expanded into a celestial bronze sword. He then flipped it again, turning it back into a coin, then once more, and this time it became a javelin.

I raised my eyebrows. "Nice. Two weapons for the price of one."

Turning to Nico, I continued my questions. "How about your ring?"

Nico smirked, took the ring off of his finger, then offered it to me. "How about you figure it out by yourself, oh wise daughter of Athena?" His smile was a smile that said "you'll never figure out."

So of course, I was even more determined to figure it out- thanks to the competitive personality that I hold.

I narrowed my eyes at Nico, took the ring, and started to study it. As I expected, there were words written on the inside of the band. Unfortunately, there were extremely small, and hard to read, but I got enough to know what the piece of accessory did.

I made a few assumptions with what I had read, and then looked at Nico. "It summons fifteen skeletons without using your energy, and they are yours to command. Oh, and they basically can't be defeated."

Nico stared at me, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "How in Olympus did you figure that out?" He asked incredible.

I smirked, "Well, the writing here says 'Fifteen Skeletons To Your Command.' And you could do that normally, but it would get you tired, so I'm assuming that they don't cost you any energy to summon. Also, they can't just be normal skeletons, cause I don't think that'd be enough to make a magic item do. So therefore, they must be invincible."

Nico just sat there. My smirk grew deeper, "You better close your mouth Nico, or else you are gonna be eating some bugs. I just read the statement here and made a few guesses that happened to be correct."

Nico snapped his mouth shut with an audible "pop," then turned to Percy and slowly said, clearly impressed, "This girl is good!"

The son of Poseidon smiled, his sea green eyes sparking. "Nice job, Annabeth. Anyways, I'm assuming you don't need to be introduced to Blackjack, and as for the pen. Well, this is my sword."

Percy uncapped the pen. A glowing three foot long celestial bronze blade now lay in his hands. He spun it casually, then smoothly capped it. It resumed a pen form.

"Nice weapon. So that's Riptide?" I asked. Percy nodded in affirmation, then whistled for Blackjack, who was grazing about twenty feet away.

"Well, lets get started, guys!" Jason said.

Nico frowned. "Where's the monsters?"

I drew my eyebrows together, and scanned our surroundings for a glimpse of the drakon or Kampê. "I don't know. I guess we should probably go and find them. We need to get to Mount Olympus by tonight, my mom told me, so we better hurry. Maybe the monsters are in the-"

I was cut off by a fierce roar from above us. My head shot up, and I saw one of the two monsters we had to fight. This drakon was huge. As tall as my room, with leathery wings and claws as long as my bed. Suddenly I wished that I hadn't spoken up to volunteer for this quest.

I swallowed my fears and forced myself not to whimper and climb on Blackjack to fly away as fast as I could. I watched as blood red drakon roared once more, then shot a blazing column of fire into the air. It's wings were a darker shade of red, almost maroon. The crimson fire shot swirls of flames into the air at least twenty feet far.

Then I heard another cry, but this one was more human. It resembled a battle cry. I looked around, and spotted the source.

Kampê stood close to us. I had no idea how she had gotten that close without us knowing. From her waist up, she was human, with stringy and greasy brown hair. Her eyes held madness that came with the desire to kill, like most monsters. In her hands she held two scimitars, each smoking with deadly green poison.

Her lower body was that of a scaly black dragon, glinting in the sun. The tail was coated with more poison, leaving trails of smoke as it lashed through the air. Snakes wound around her ankles, hissing in and wiggling around. Around her waist, where a belt would go, were multiple animal heads. I saw a wolf, a snake, bear, and a lion in one glance.

Kampê screamed again. A unearthly scream that showed off her grimy teeth and drooling mouth. It was disgusting and scary at the same time.

Nico wolf-whistled, "Ain't she a beauty?"

I managed a small smile, thankful towards Nico for trying to lighten up the frightening atmosphere.

"Lets go kick some monster butt, people," Percy said. He grabbed my hand, pulling me towards Blackjack as Jason and Nico drew their weapons and started to advance Kampê.

I followed Percy, trying to ignore our entwined hands. We mounted Blackjack, who immediately took off towards the sky.

"So what's the plan?" I yelled over the wind, which was screaming in my ears.

"Uh. I thought that was your job," Percy said, glancing back at me.

"You don't have a plan?" I asked. "Really, Percy? You were just gonna charge into a dangerous battle without a plan?"

"Hey.- you're the daughter of Athena, who's like the plan-making goddess. You make the plan, I follow through, okay? Planning is your job, not mine," he said defensively.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Okay. Here's the plan, you jump off when we get high enough for you to be flattened, and I'll ride away. Ready to follow through?" I asked sarcastically.

"Ha ha, very funny."

I smirked, then plunged into the thoughts in my mind, trying to devise a plan.

"Well, for now, why don't we just fly around and get close, hit the drakon, then fly away before he can strike back. Is Blackjack fast enough to dodge the monster's strikes?" I inquired.

"Are you kidding me? Lets go, Blackjack!" Percy yelled. The pegasus whinnied.

Blackjack paused, seeming to gather his strength, then started to beat his wings again, but this time way faster. I could practically feel the strength in Blackjack's wings as he pounded against the wind. We shot forward, and I was not expecting the sudden change of acceleration. I almost fell off, but I grabbed Percy's waist.

I felt Percy's sides shake with laughter as he whooped. "Yeah! Faster!"

Boys' continuous desire to be in a death instance and want to make it more perilous never ceased to amaze.

We were rising higher and higher, and I glanced down to see if I could see the other fight going on. I saw Kampê and Jason fighting, Nico joined in right after he summoned a couple skeletons to help with the fight. Soon, though, they were just specks on the ground, Blackjack was ascending quickly.

I looked up and forward a bit to see the scarlet drakon flapping his monstrous wings, staying in one place and shooting fire onto the Teleporting Twins' fortress, which was below us. He was scorching the taller buildings, the ones he could reach. I searched the fortress for the glass balcony, and finally found the railings. Nobody was on it, and I was glad, cause things could get ugly here.

"Ready?" Percy shouted.

I loosened one of my arm's grip, reaching around to grab the hilt of my knife. Pulling it free of the scabbard, I yelled back, "Ready!"

We had reached the drakon. My grip on my dagger tightened with apprehension. But for the moment, I wasn't scared. I was excited. I was ready to battle this deadly monster.

We got closer and closer. The drakon was still torching the buildings, it's back to us.

When I deemed we had gotten close enough for us to strike, but not too close, so Blackjack could get away in time, I yelled, "Now!"

I slashed as far as I dare without losing my balance and falling off our steed. My dagger cut a rip in the drakon's tail, and Riptide made a gash in it's reddish purple wings.

The drakon ceased his fire, roaring in rage. It spun around quickly, swiping at us, but Blackjack had already carried us out of the monster's reach.

I held on tight as our pegasus swooped, dived, and dodged swiftly and rapidly. I was amazed at Blackjack's skill and speed. But I was torn out of my admiring thoughts for the horse when Blackjack sped down again, giving me and Percy another chance to hit the drakon.

I missed this time, the drakon's tail swinging out of the way before I could land a hit. Percy succeeded, though, and ruddy blood ran down the foreleg of the beast.

When we were out the drakon's range, I thought quickly. We need to end this soon. The most fatal wound would probably be to the head or the chest, the heart. But we can't get there with Blackjack, that's too close to the drakon's claws and fire. The only way we can reach it is to… I frowned, thinking of a plan, and seeing if my plan would work. Well, for now, this is the only way.

"Percy! Have Blackjack get as close to the drakon's neck as possible!" I yelled, hoping Percy heard me over the wind and the drakon's furious bellows.

Percy didn't ask any questions, he just nodded. Blackjack soon was gliding through the air, eluding claws and bursts of the blistering flames.

When we were only an adult's length away from the neck of the red dragon, I got ready to jump.

When I judged it was the right time, I swung my foot over, crouched on Blackjack's back, and jumped as high and far as I could. I heard Percy cry my name behind me, but I ignored him.

I focused on the glittering red neck hurtling towards me. Just now I registered all the foot long spikes, resembling blades, placed in a row on the drakon's neck. Uh oh.

I frowned in concentration, then reached out, and right before I impaled myself on a spike, I closed my hand around one of them. I swung my body down, missing the spikes, but slamming my body into the drakon's hard neck.

I grunted from the force of the impact. I was hanging onto the spike by my left hand, for my right one still held my dagger, and was hanging at my side. Trying to pull myself up would be useless, cause the drakon kept thrashing around, making it impossible to be able to climb up with just one hand. I needed to get my other hand up there to be able to get up.

I gritted my teeth, and threw my right arm out, then slammed it as hard as I could into the red neck above me. After making sure my dagger was deep enough into the flesh that I could pull myself up with it, I started to haul my body up onto the drakon's neck.

My progress was slow, cause the drakon did not like a dagger being stabbed into his neck. He twisted and turned, trying to throw me off, but I steeled my hands, telling them not to let go.

Once I was high enough, I swung my leg over it's neck, evading the spikes. There was just enough room for me to sit in between two barbs. Once I was on, though, I couldn't lean back or forward, lest I wanted to say goodbye to my life and hello to incredibly pointy spikes.

I threw the hair out of my face, then ripped my knife free of the drakon's neck, only to plunge it back into a different spot.

The roar of the drakon was almost unbearable at this close range. I pursed my lips and shook my head, trying to clear the ringing. The monster was vehemently trying to throw me off, but I hung on. He flipped upside down, twirling in the air. I locked my legs, straddling his thick neck, holding on for my life. The drakon soon turned right side up.

If I looked down, I could see the forest beneath me. We had traveled a little ways to the side. I couldn't see the fight with Jason and Nico and Kampê, but I hoped it wasn't going badly.

My eyes scanned the sky, looking for Blackjack and Percy. But before I could look for too long, the drakon jerked it's neck, unbalancing me. I almost slid off his neck, but I grabbed a spike for support, tightening the grip of my legs around the nape of the drakon.

The monster was changing course. He tilted down into a steep dive. The wind blew at my hair, making it whip around me. I kept my hold tight as the drakon accelerated, heading straight towards the ground. We were above the forest.

He lifted his wings before we got too close to the earth, though, and glided over the trees. The trees were tremendous, reaching about a hundred feet into the sky. The drakon went just below the tips of most of the wood columns, expertly dodging the trunks. I got terribly close to a few branches, but I ducked before they could slap me.

I decided that it was now or never to get off this death ride. I waited for a tree to come close again. When the drakon flew really close to a tree branch, I lifted up my hands, bracing myself for the collision that I knew was going to come.

My hand closed around the tree branch. I was thrown off the back of the drakon, narrowly missing a slash from a spike. My body felt like it was going to tear from the force of the sudden stop.

I hung from the branch, breathing deeply, watching the drakon whip around a few more trees. He then strongly beat his wings, climbing back up into the sky.

Gulping, I swung myself onto the branch. My arms flew out, balancing me.

I noticed something to my left. Perfect timing.

Springing along the branch towards the ends, the tree arm dipping as I went farther, I jumped off. I was free falling for about a second before I grabbed Percy's outstretched hand, almost losing the grip on my dagger.

Percy strained, lifting me up and swinging me around so I was once again sitting behind him. Blackjack whinnied and picked up speed, working to catch up to the red drakon that was now hundreds of feet away.

When I was seated, I took the time to catch my breath, my forehead leaning on Percy's shoulder.

Percy looked at me, his green eyes wide, and yelled frantically, "Why did you do that? You nearly gave me a heart attack! You could've warned me about what you were gonna do."