Traitors
"They're children of Ares," Annabeth said, recognizing several of them as she stared them down.
Right now, they were surrounded by campers; and of course, they were all from Ares' cabin. If Ares himself had told Clarisse to sabotage the mission just to kill Percy, then he had probably given the same order to every one of his children.
"Seriously, guys… do we really have to do this right now?" Percy said, looking at them with mild disbelief. This really wasn't the moment to be fighting fellow campers, especially when Luke and his army were probably already on their way. "The camp is in danger," he added, trying to reach out through his connection to it.
Unfortunately, the children of Ares seemed to have more connection to a potato than to their own family back at camp.
"We don't care about the camp. If we kill you, we'll be named champions of Olympus. Do you even know what that means?" one of them said, raising his sword.
"That you're idiots," Percy replied, already done wasting breath on the group of fools in front of him as he drew his own sword, his expression turning serious.
"You guys go ahead. Warn everyone about Luke," Percy said to his friends before turning back toward the children of Ares.
Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson didn't hesitate. They knew exactly what Percy was capable of, and there was no time to waste.
"No one's going anyw—"
Before one of the Ares kids could even finish—
Tyson charged straight through them.
He slammed into them without slowing down, and the one who tried to stop him only had time to feel something like a car crashing into him before he was sent flying.
The others hesitated for a split second, unsure whether to stop them or not. But by then, Tyson was already pushing forward, with Grover and Annabeth right behind him. They broke through easily and kept going, leaving Percy standing alone, calm… but serious.
"It doesn't matter. Let them go. We only care about Jackson," the leader said, staring at Percy as if he could already see his future improving the moment he defeated him. Maybe he was already imagining himself as one of the gods' champions, just like Ares had promised.
"You're being played and you don't even realize it. As much as I hate to admit it, Clarisse is way better than you. At least she has eyes," Percy said, looking at them like they were brainless idiots.
The words didn't seem to land.
"I've always wanted to beat you. To restore honor and pride to the Ares cabin. We finally get that chance, Jackson," the leader said, a grin creeping across his face.
"Yeah. Let's just get this over with. I've got better things to do," Percy said flatly.
One of the campers rushed him immediately, shouting as he swung a heavy blade without hesitation.
Percy stepped to the side.
The sword passed right by him… and slammed into the ground.
Percy answered with a punch straight to the attacker's face. The boy dropped his weapon on instinct and fell backward.
As the sword hit the ground, Percy flicked it with a quick kick. The hilt slammed into a spear user coming from the side, striking his chest and knocking the air out of him.
Percy took a step back.
Another attack was already coming for his ribs. From his other side, a thrust shot toward him; it missed. Percy grabbed the attacker by the wrist, yanked him forward, and drove a knee into his stomach, forcing all the air out of him before he collapsed.
In just a few movements, three of Ares' kids were already on the ground.
The rest froze for a moment, eyes widening with a trace of panic as they saw how easily Percy moved, how effortlessly he took down fighters who trained and fought every single day at camp.
They had always believed they were the strongest.
Although ever since Miraak arrived… that probably changed fast.
Because the children of Ares were the only ones who didn't even want to get close to him or learn anything from him; after all, he was the man who had defeated their father. And to them, no one could be stronger than Ares.
So in these past two… almost three weeks, while everyone else trained under Miraak's harsh but complete guidance, the Ares cabin was the only one that hadn't improved at all.
Even Luke's followers were stronger than these idiots.
"Let's finish this," Percy said, his gaze sweeping across the ones still standing.
They held their weapons tightly now, a hint of fear creeping in as they felt Percy's eyes on them.
It felt like being stared down by a dragon… just before it decided to devour them.
…
Clarisse, who had been held back by Chris' group, was fighting fiercely against the traitors from camp.
She dodged an arrow that brushed past her cheek, then ducked low and swept her spear sideways along the ground, striking the legs of the swordsman charging at her and knocking him down.
Before he could recover, she brought the shaft of her spear down on him, knocking him unconscious.
She rose again, spinning the spear in her hands to deflect another arrow flying toward her. Then she rested it over her shoulder and hurled it straight at the archer.
The girl's eyes widened in panic as the spear cut through the air toward her, its tip crackling with electricity.
But it struck the tree right beside her head instead.
The wood immediately began to smoke, the sharp scent of something burned filling the air.
The archer dropped to her knees, her face pale, staring at the spear almost blankly; as if realizing that if it had been her head… she would already be dead.
Meanwhile, Clarisse cracked her neck slightly and looked around.
Everyone who had attacked her was now either unconscious or groaning on the ground.
Among them was Chris Rodríguez, clutching his stomach as he vomited, after taking a hit to the ribs that had likely broken more than one of them.
Clarisse looked at him for a moment.
A flicker of emotion crossed her eyes; betrayal… disappointment.
Then her gaze shifted to the spear embedded in the tree. She walked over, pulled it free, and continued forward, each cut on her arms and face already closing thanks to the Fleece still draped over her.
"You don't understand," Chris suddenly shouted, stopping her.
"They're already doomed. All of them. Your return will only make more campers die," he said, staring straight at her.
"You think you can save everyone by restoring Thalia's tree? You're completely wrong. Even if they survive this battle… they're still doomed."
Clarisse frowned, not fully understanding his words.
Then she heard it.
A roar.
Something approaching.
The nearby trees began to fall.
Her eyes widened; and maybe, just maybe, she understood what Chris meant.
He turned, laughing with pride as he looked at the same thing she did.
"I told you. The only thing left for them… is to surrender."
The treetops trembled.
Then—
It appeared.
One head.
Then another.
And another.
Rising above the forest, moving slowly, watching.
Serpentine tongues tasting the air.
Cold eyes… locking onto everything.
And when one of them opened its mouth, a deep hiss filled the entire area.
And Clarisse…
had nothing big enough to stop something like that.