PERCY WENT WEIGHTLESS.
His vision blurred. Claws grabbed his arms and lifted
him into the air. Below, train wheels squealed and metal
crashed. Glass shattered. Passengers screamed.
When his eyesight cleared, he saw the beast that was
carrying him aloft. It had the body of a panther – sleek,
black and feline – with the wings and head of an eagle. Its
eyes glowed blood-red.
Percy squirmed. The monster’s front talons were
wrapped round his arms like steel bands. He couldn’t free
himself or reach his sword. He rose higher and higher in
the cold wind. Percy had no idea where the monster was
taking him, but he was pretty sure he wouldn’t like it when
he got there.
He yelled – mostly out of frustration. Then something
whistled by his ear. An arrow sprouted from the monster’s
neck. The creature shrieked and let go.
Percy fell, crashing through tree branches until he
slammed into a snowbank. He groaned, looking up at a
massive pine tree he’d just shredded.
He managed to stand. Nothing seemed broken. Frank
stood to his left, shooting down the creatures as fast as he
could. Hazel was at his back, swinging her sword at any
monster that came close, but there were too many
swarming around them – at least a dozen.
Percy drew Riptide. He sliced the wing off one monster
and sent it spiralling into a tree, then sliced through
another that burst into dust. But the defeated ones began
to re-form immediately.
‘What are these things?’ he yelled.
‘Gryphons!’ Hazel said. ‘We have to get them away from
the train!’
Percy saw what she meant. The train cars had fallen
over, and their roofs had shattered. Tourists were
stumbling around in shock. Percy didn’t see anybody
seriously injured, but the gryphons were swooping towards
anything that moved. The only thing keeping them away
from the mortals was a glowing grey warrior in camouflage
– Frank’s pet spartus.
Percy glanced over and noticed Frank’s spear was
gone. ‘Used your last charge?’
‘Yeah.’ Frank shot another gryphon out of the sky. ‘I had
to help the mortals. The spear just dissolved.’
Percy nodded. Part of him was relieved. He didn’t like
the skeleton warrior. Part of him was disappointed,
because that was one less weapon they had at their
disposal. But he didn’t fault Frank. Frank had done the
right thing.
‘Let’s move the fight!’ Percy said. ‘Away from the tracks!’
They stumbled through the snow, smacking and slicing
gryphons that re-formed from dust every time they were
killed.
Percy had had no experience with gryphons. He’d
always imagined them as huge noble animals, like lions
with wings, but these things reminded him more of vicious
pack hunters – flying hyenas.
About fifty yards from the tracks, the trees gave way to
an open marsh. The ground was so spongy and icy Percy
felt like he was racing across Bubble Wrap. Frank was
running out of arrows. Hazel was breathing hard. Percy’s
own sword swings were getting slower. He realized they
were alive only because the gryphons weren’t trying to kill
them. The gryphons wanted to pick them up and carry
them off somewhere.
Maybe to their nests, Percy thought.
Then he tripped over something in the tall grass – a
circle of scrap metal about the size of a tractor tyre. It was
a massive bird’s nest – a gryphon’s nest – the bottom
littered with old pieces of jewellery, an Imperial gold
dagger, a dented centurion’s badge and two pumpkinsized
eggs that looked like real gold.
Percy jumped into the nest. He pressed his sword tip
against one of the eggs. ‘Back off, or I break it!’
The gryphons squawked angrily. They buzzed around
the nest and snapped their beaks, but they didn’t attack.
Hazel and Frank stood back to back with Percy, their
weapons ready.
‘Gryphons collect gold,’ Hazel said. ‘They’re crazy for it.
Look – more nests over there.’
Frank nocked his last arrow. ‘So, if these are their nests,
where were they trying to take Percy? That thing was flying
away with him.’
Percy’s arms still throbbed where the gryphon had
grabbed him. ‘Alcyoneus,’ he guessed. ‘Maybe they’re
working for him. Are these things smart enough to take
orders?’
‘I don’t know,’ Hazel said. ‘I never fought them when I
lived here. I just read about them at camp.’
‘Weaknesses?’ Frank asked. ‘Please tell me they have
weaknesses.’
Hazel scowled. ‘Horses. They hate horses – natural
enemies, or something. I wish Arion was here!’
The gryphons shrieked. They swirled around the nest
with their red eyes glowing.
‘Guys,’ Frank said nervously, ‘I see legion relics in this
nest.’
‘I know,’ Percy said.
‘That means other demigods died here, or –’
‘Frank, it’ll be okay,’ Percy promised.
One of the gryphons dived in. Percy raised his sword,
ready to stab the egg. The monster veered off, but the
other gryphons were losing their patience. Percy couldn’t
keep this stand-off going much longer.
He glanced around the fields, desperately trying to
formulate a plan. About a quarter mile away, a
Hyperborean giant was sitting in the bog, peacefully
picking mud from between his toes with a broken tree
trunk.
‘I’ve got an idea,’ Percy said. ‘Hazel – all the gold in
these nests. Do you think you can use it to cause a
distraction?’
‘I – I guess.’
‘Just give us enough time for a head start. When I say
go, run for that giant.’
Frank gaped at him. ‘You want us to run towards a
giant?’
‘Trust me,’ Percy said. ‘Ready? Go!’
Hazel thrust her hand upward. From a dozen nests
across the marsh, golden objects shot into the air –
jewellery, weapons, coins, gold nuggets and, most
importantly, gryphon eggs. The monsters shrieked and
flew after their eggs, frantic to save them.
Percy and his friends ran. Their feet splashed and
crunched through the frozen marsh. Percy poured on
speed, but he could hear the gryphons closing behind
them, and now the monsters were really angry.
The giant hadn’t noticed the commotion yet. He was
inspecting his toes for mud, his face sleepy and peaceful,
his white whiskers glistening with ice crystals. Around his
neck was a necklace of found objects – garbage cans, car
doors, moose antlers, camping equipment, even a toilet.
Apparently he’d been cleaning up the wilderness.
Percy hated to disturb him, especially since it meant
taking shelter under the giant’s thighs, but they didn’t have
much choice.
‘Under!’ he told his friends. ‘Crawl under!’
They scrambled between the massive blue legs and
flattened themselves in the mud, crawling as close as
they could to his loincloth. Percy tried to breathe through
his mouth, but it wasn’t the most pleasant hiding spot.
‘What’s the plan?’ Frank hissed. ‘Get flattened by a blue
rump?’
‘Lay low,’ Percy said. ‘Only move if you have to.’
The gryphons arrived in a wave of angry beaks, talons
and wings, swarming around the giant, trying to get under
his legs.
The giant rumbled in surprise. He shifted. Percy had to
roll to avoid getting crushed by his large hairy rear. The
Hyperborean grunted, a little more irritated. He swatted at
the gryphons, but they squawked in outrage and began
pecking at his legs and hands.
‘Ruh?’ the giant bellowed. ‘Ruh!’
He took a deep breath and blew out a wave of cold air.
Even under the protection of the giant’s legs, Percy could
feel the temperature drop. The gryphons’ shrieking
stopped abruptly, replaced by the thunk, thunk, thunk of
heavy objects hitting the mud.
‘Come on,’ Percy told his friends. ‘Carefully.’
They squirmed out from under the giant. All around the
marsh, trees were glazed with frost. A huge swathe of the
bog was covered in fresh snow. Frozen gryphons stuck out
of the ground like feathery Popsicle sticks, their wings still
spread, beaks open, eyes wide with surprise.
Percy and his friends scrambled away, trying to keep
out of the giant’s vision, but the big guy was too busy to
notice them. He was trying to figure out how to string a
frozen gryphon onto his necklace.
‘Percy …’ Hazel wiped the ice and mud from her face.
‘How did you know the giant could do that?’
‘I almost got hit by Hyperborean breath once,’ he said.
‘We’d better move. The gryphons won’t stay frozen forever.’
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