Sticking to the trend, the plan went wrong almost at the start. I saw Leo and Alexa sneak off, heading towards the barrier, and Nico, hand on Jack's shoulder, blinking out of existence, leaving behind a wisp of shadow as they traveled towards the amphitheatre. Amy, Idris and I were off to the bunker, feet crunching against the sandy tunnel floor. But the moment we peeked up through the roots, I knew our plan was a bust. A crowd of shadowy figures, three-deep and armed, stood guarding the bunker. They were humanoid, two arms and legs and a head, but they had no edges or features, seeming to just blur into the background at their edges. Swallowing, I glanced back at Idris and Amy, whose eyes reflected the same terror. Sneaking them out was out of the question, but there was no other way, other than pure force, and considering the backup I had... Well, force wasn't exactly the best option, but it was the only one I had right now. Riptide hissed quietly as it slithered from its scabbard and glinted dully. Nodding in what I hoped was a reassuring manner to them, I waited a few seconds for them to ready themselves and reached out towards the river, allowing its pull to wash over me, gently but firmly drawing me out. Manipulating it, I twisted it somehow, and a wave of water rose from the river, suspended perfectly in the trees. If I could just find a distraction-

"Help! We need backup at the amphitheatre!" A vaguely familiar voice urged them, panicked tone obvious as a camper stepped into view, beckoning at the shadowy figures. To my great relief, at least a third detached and glided silently towards the centre of the camp, where blows of steel on steel and ghastly howls rang out. Still, the less enemies I had, the more Nico would gain, and I couldn't afford to wait a moment longer. A plan, desperate and half-formed, drifted into view, and I beckoned to Idris and Amy, whispering my idea to them. To my relief, they understood quickly, and Idris stood, accompanying me as we climbed out of the tunnel and into the trees. Pulling up the hood of my jacket, I gestured at Idris to leave, and followed close behind, allowing the cowl of the hood to throw a shadow across my face, effectively hiding it.

"Who are you?"

"Eris sent us. We're to move the prisoners away from this bunker to the secret one on the east side." Idris' voice didn't waver, assuming an arrogant tone as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot. I just hid my face and tried my best not to look like one of the most wanted people in the demigod world. For a moment, I thought the deception would fail, but then a camper stepped forward, one of the two guarding the cabin. Flipping her honey brown fringe out of her eyes, she adjusted the straps of her shield, trying not to look frightened. By my estimate, she was only thirteen, not nearly old enough to be involved in this. "Do you know what's happening back at camp? What's going on? Who are you?" The other camper leaned casually against the wall of the bunker, seeming to doze off. It was as if they'd been there the entire night.

This, at least, I knew how to do. "It's Percy Jackson and the others." I growled, trying to make my voice sound as low as possible. "They're headed this way to bust their friends out. We're here to take them away. Then a couple of you are supposed to get in there and be their welcoming wagon when they come looking. Orders from the top, we're straight from Eris. He's Adam, I'm James."

"Oh. Then I guess you should hurry." Stepping aside, the girl adjusted her bow and quiver, nervously worrying at her lip. Nodding curtly, I strode in, followed by Idris, who closed the door behind us. As we turned, I made eye contact with him, and the thrill of succeeding where we could have, should have failed ran a shiver up my spine.

However, the sight before us wiped the smile off my face and made me sick to my stomach. I turned away for a moment, listening to Idris cough and the demigods rouse. The pungent stench of dried blood and infection filled the air, thick and choking. At least half the demigods in the room were lying on beds, hands gripping the bloodstained sheets. Annabeth occupied one, her head a bloody mess through the bandages. Will Solace was in another, arm set sloppily in a sling and head bound, the imprint of a large bloody gash obvious through it. Frank lay in a third, muttering softly to himself. To my horror, his limbs were constantly shifting in spasms, unable to control themselves. One moment he was half-winged, his toes elongated and webbed, the next his teeth had grown past his lips and grazed his chin, opening a dozen small cuts before they changed again. Piper leaned on another next to Reyna, gagged and bound. The former praetor was glaring weakly at me, arms and chest a mess of bandages.

The ones still conscious stirred, jumping to their feet in a weak parody of defence. Reyna tried to get up from her prone position on the bed, Will reached for his dagger and Jason growled, his coin glinting in his palm. I held up my hands, one hand flipping my cowl back and the other flying to my lips, shushing their exclamations.

"Percy! What are you doing here? You're going to get killed!"

"I'm here to get you guys out, but we don't have much time. Who can walk?" I gestured at the occupants of the beds, who were watching us with faint, pained smiles through puffy eyes. Reyna pushed herself up immediately, grunting with the effort. Piper stood quickly, supporting her, and I nodded, looking to where Will had gotten to his feet, hobbling towards Annabeth. He slung her over his good shoulder and nodded at me as Idris and Jason carried Frank.

"Everyone good? We'll need to move fast-" A shout stopped me, and I opened the door a crack to see the shadow soldiers all gone. Instead, the ground was littered with dry bones and a sharp sulfuric smell filled the air. In the middle of the grass, Amy knelt, tears streaming down her face, a knife pressed to her neck. Behind her stood the girl camper, trembling and furious, her eyes filled with tears. Laurel, I remembered her name was, and stepped forward, forgetting my hood. Her eyes widened and she choked a sob back, glaring at us. "You killed him! You killed, you killed him. He was just taking a nap, he was just, you killed him! She killed him!"

Glancing where she pointed, I saw a boy, barely sixteen, keeled over in the grass, and moved to him quickly, putting my hand to his mouth. His chest rose and fell, exhaling warm puffs of air at my fingers, and I breathed a sigh of relief, standing to look at Laurel as I scooped up Amy's dagger from the grass. She'd probably used the pommel to knock him out. "He's not dead. Just unconscious. You should get him to safety."

Her lip trembled, and she shook, releasing Amy and stepping back. "I didn't, I would never have actually, I'm sorry, I..." Voice trailing off, she stumbled towards the boy and knelt beside him, shaking him and murmuring quietly. "Ge, wake up. Ge?" Yet Amy just knelt there, tears streaming down her face as she shivered. Even when I stepped forward, helping her up gently, she didn't resist, just shook and cried and shook some more.

"Hey, Amy. What happened? Amy? Are you okay?"

"Dark. It was, it was empty, confused, I couldn't see the light, there wasn't any, I-"

Slowly rubbing her back, I limped forward, hurrying towards the forest and the rendezvous point. They'd have the portal open by now, and each second we wasted was time Nico had to spend fighting the main bulk of Eris' army. While I trusted his ability, I didn't want to make it any harder for him than I had to. The others followed me, all of us hyper aware that at any moment a platoon could charge us and it would all be over.

As it turned out, it was just sentry duty, which we dispatched with moderate ease before proceeding to the portal. When we caught sight of it however, my heart sank, and I quickly but gently lay Amy on the ground, drawing Riptide silently. The rest did the same, apart from Idris, who unsheathed his own short sword and assumed guard over the unconscious, while Jason, Piper, Will, Reyna and I moved quickly towards the shadow soldiers, cutting them down where they stood. It turned out that while blades passed through them like a knife through syrup, eventually it made contact with bone, and even shadows couldn't stand without structure, melting away like so many droplets of water. It was slow going, but the soldiers themselves were clumsy, movements rarely precise, allowing most of us to dispatch three soldiers for every cut or graze they scored.

Still, there were too many of them and they threatened to overwhelm us. Seconds before reinforcements arrived, I slung Amy over my shoulder and charged out of the portal, running through the mass of monsters that lay between us and the sea, Riptide slashing out at them like a deadly scythe. Several long cuts that stung like hell opened along my arms and legs, but I ignored them, stumbling the last few feet to where the boat rocked gently against shore. Heaving Amy aboard, I turned, returning to the fight and helping to clear the beach of the motley monsters, cyclopes and double-headed snake-men with axes mingling with huge basilisks and giant moose with murderous racks of antlers, black-furred and red-eyed. Wave after wave of salty water rose to consume monsters, dragging down like the inexorable riptide. My own Riptide was just as deadly, dissolving monster after monster to dust. Some tried to charge past me towards the boat, intent on destroying it, but they passed through it like it was a shadow, and plunged into the water, drowning within seconds.

One after another, the Seven and assorted company straggled down the beach as I climbed towards Leo and Alexa, who were struggling to defend the machine, which already looked to be in poor condition.

"Percy! Good of you to join us, but are you sure you're up to it?" Leo glanced meaningfully at me, and I looked down, vaguely surprised to see a dozen wounds all leaking blood at an almost alarming rate. "I'm fine. We need to hold the fort till Nico and Jack get back."

"You're the boss."

The monsters and shadow soldiers didn't seem to stop coming. I acquired a dozen more gashes and twice as many bruises under my armour, but there was no other option than to ignore them. We couldn't leave them for Eris to capture, so I fought on, mentally urging Nico to hurry and counting monsters as their dust mixed with the sand

one.

two.

three.

four.

five.

...

...

...

one hundred and thirty eight.

one hundred and thirty nine.

...

...

three hundred and fifty seven.

...

My mind had begun clouding, brain struggling to draw in oxygen from blood that wasn't there, instead dripping out on the sand beneath me. The rest weren't in much better shape. Piper had already been overwhelmed, saved in the nick of time by Jason, who had carried her to the ship before struggling back. It'd only been twenty or so minutes, but still I knew it'd been too long. By now, Nico and Jack should've been back. If not...

I looked back at the group, each struggling against two or three times the monsters than they were equipped to. We'd fall soon, if we didn't get to the ship, but Nico and Jack hadn't come yet, and we needed them.

I needed him.

"Percy! Percy!" The voice calling my name grew louder, slowly piercing my haze, and I looked around to see Leo, bloody and bruised, clutching at my arm. "We need to fall back. We can't keep on like this!" Shaking my head determinedly, I gestured at the portal, my point clear enough. "You knew this was going to happen! They won't kill them, not if they want us to come back and try another crazy rescue mission. They'll be fine! We're not, not with odds like this."

I opened my mouth to protest, but suddenly the world shook, and drew away from me. The last thing I saw was bloodstained sand, rushing up to meet me.