by Rick Riordan
‘You never had any courage, sister,’ Zoë said. ‘That is thy problem.’
The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoë took a step forward, her arms raised.
‘Zoë, don’t,’ Thalia said. ‘You’re not a Hesperid any more. He’ll kill you.’
‘Ladon is trained to protect the tree,’ Zoë said. ‘Skirt round the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee.’
‘Should,’ I said. ‘Not exactly reassuring.’
‘It is the only way,’ she said. ‘Even the three of us together cannot fight him.’
Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down my spine, and that was before his breath hit me. The smell was like acid. It made my eyes burn, my skin crawl and my hair stand on end. I remembered the time a rat had died inside our apartment wall in New York in the middle of the summer. This stench was like that, except a hundred times stronger, and mixed with the smell of chewed eucalyptus. I promised myself right then that I would never ask a school nurse for another cough drop.
I wanted to draw my sword. But then I remembered my dream of Zoë and Hercules, and how Hercules had failed in a head-on assault. I decided to trust Zoë’s judgement.
Thalia went left. I went right. Zoë walked straight towards the monster.
‘It’s me, my little dragon,’ Zoë said. ‘Zoë has come back.’
Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion. Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, ‘Fool.’
‘I used to feed thee by hand,’ Zoë continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped towards the golden tree. ‘Do you still like lamb’s meat?’
The dragon’s eyes glinted.
Thalia and I were about halfway round the garden. Ahead, I could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.
We’d almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. I felt the dragon’s mood shift. Maybe Zoë got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoë.
Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon’s heads as she ran in our direction, gagging from the monster’s horrible breath.
I drew Riptide to help.
‘No!’ Zoë panted. ‘Run!’
The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoë cried out. Thalia uncovered Aegis and the dragon hissed in pain. In his moment of indecision, Zoë sprinted past us up the mountain, and we followed.
The dragon didn’t try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but I guess he was well trained to guard that tree. He wasn’t going to be lured off, even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.
We ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind us. The music didn’t sound so beautiful to me now – more like the soundtrack for a funeral.
At the top of the mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they’d been half melted.
‘The ruins of Mount Othrys,’ Thalia whispered in awe.
‘Yes,’ Zoë said. ‘It was not here before. This is bad.’
‘What’s Mount Othrys?’ I asked, feeling like a fool as usual.
‘The mountain fortress of the Titans,’ Zoë said. ‘In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was –’ She winced and held her side.
‘You’re hurt,’ I said. ‘Let me see.’
‘No! It is nothing. I was saying… in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces.’
‘But… how is it here?’
Thalia looked around cautiously as we picked our way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. ‘It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good.’
‘Why?’
‘This is Atlas’s mountain,’ Zoë said. ‘Where he holds –’ She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. ‘Where he used to hold up the sky.’
We had reached the summit. A few metres ahead of us, grey clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. This is what I had seen in my dream. It hadn’t been a cavern roof that Artemis was forced to hold. It was the roof of the world.
‘My lady!’ Zoë rushed forward, but Artemis said, ‘Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now.’
Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. I had never seen a goddess in pain before, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis.
Zoë was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis’s protests, and tugged at the chains.
A booming voice spoke behind us: ‘Ah, how touching.’
We turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at Luke’s side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth and Luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat.
I met her eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions. There was just one message she was sending me, though: RUN!
‘Luke,’ Thalia snarled. ‘Let her go.’
Luke’s smile was weak and pale. He looked even worse than he had three days ago in D.C. ‘That is the General’s decision, Thalia. But it’s good to see you again.’
Thalia spat at him.
The General chuckled. ‘So much for old friends. And you, Zoë. It’s been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you.’
‘Do not respond,’ Artemis groaned. ‘Do not challenge him.’
‘Wait a second,’ I said. ‘You’re Atlas?’
The General glanced at me. ‘So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl.’
‘You’re not going to hurt Zoë,’ I said. ‘I won’t let you.’
The General sneered. ‘You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter.’
I frowned. ‘A family matter?’
‘Yes,’ Zoë said bleakly. ‘Atlas is my father.’
17 I Put On A Few Million Extra Kilograms
The horrible thing was: I could see the family resemblance. Atlas had the same regal expression as Zoë, the same cold, proud look in his eyes that Zoë sometimes got when she was mad, though on him it just looked evil. He was all the things I’d originally disliked about Zoë, with none of the good I’d come to appreciate.
‘Let Artemis go,’ Zoë demanded.
Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. ‘Perhaps you’d like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest.’
Zoë opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis said, ‘No! Do not offer, Zoë! I forbid you.’
Atlas smirked. He knelt next to Artemis and tried to touch her face, but the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers.
‘Hoo-hoo,’ Atlas chuckled. ‘You see, daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the centre of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility.’
I looked at Annabeth. She was desperately trying to tell me something. She motioned her head towards Luke. But all I could do was stare at her. I hadn’t noticed before, but something about her had changed. Her blonde hair was now streaked with grey.
> ‘From holding the sky,’ Thalia muttered, as if she’d read my mind. ‘The weight should’ve killed her.’
‘I don’t understand,’ I said. ‘Why can’t Artemis just let go of the sky?’
Atlas laughed. ‘How little you understand, young one. This is the point where the sky and the earth first met, where Ouranos and Gaia first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans. The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred leagues. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape.’ Atlas smiled. ‘Unless someone else takes it from you.’
He approached us, studying Thalia and me. ‘So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge.’
‘Fight us,’ I said. ‘And let’s see.’
‘Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead.’
‘So you’re another coward,’ I said.
Atlas’s eyes glowed with hatred. With difficulty, he turned his attention to Thalia.
‘As for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you.’
‘I wasn’t wrong,’ Luke managed. He looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. If I didn’t hate his guts so much, I almost would’ve felt sorry for him. ‘Thalia, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!’
He waved his hand, and next to us a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus. I could imagine Bessie in that pool. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I was sure I could hear Bessie mooing.
Don’t think about him! Suddenly Grover’s voice was inside my mind – the empathy link. I could feel his emotions. He was on the verge of panic. I’m losing Bessie. Block the thoughts!
I tried to make my mind go blank. I tried to think about basketball players, skateboards, the different kinds of candy in my mom’s shop. Anything but Bessie.
‘Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus,’ Luke persisted. ‘And you will be more powerful than the gods.’
‘Luke…’ Her voice was full of pain. ‘What happened to you?’
‘Don’t you remember all those times we talked? All those times we cursed the gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us. They have no right to rule the world!’
Thalia shook her head. ‘Free Annabeth. Let her go.’
‘If you join me,’ Luke promised, ‘it can be like old times. The three of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please, Thalia, if you don’t agree…’
His voice faltered. ‘It’s my last chance. He will use the other way if you don’t agree. Please.’
I didn’t know what he meant, but the fear in his voice sounded real enough. I believed that Luke was in danger. His life depended on Thalia’s joining his cause. And I was afraid Thalia might believe it, too.
‘Do not, Thalia,’ Zoë warned. ‘We must fight them.’
Luke waved his hand again, and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at camp. A sacrificial flame.
‘Thalia,’ I said. ‘No.’
Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, I saw images in the mist all around us: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around us, made of fear and shadow.
‘We will raise Mount Othrys right here,’ Luke promised, in a voice so strained it was hardly his. ‘Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak.’
He pointed towards the ocean, and my heart fell. Marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where the Princess Andromeda was docked, was a great army. Dracaenae and Laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hell hounds, harpies and other things I couldn’t even name. The whole ship must’ve been emptied, because there were hundreds, many more than I’d seen on board last summer. And they were marching towards us. In a few minutes, they would be here.
‘This is only a taste of what is to come,’ Luke said. ‘Soon we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help.’
For a terrible moment, Thalia hesitated. She gazed at Luke, her eyes full of pain, as if the only thing she wanted in the world was to believe him. Then she levelled her spear. ‘You aren’t Luke. I don’t know you any more.’
‘Yes, you do, Thalia,’ he pleaded. ‘Please. Don’t make me… Don’t make him destroy you.’
There was no time. If that army got to the top of the hill, we would be overwhelmed. I met Annabeth’s eyes again. She nodded.
I looked at Thalia and Zoë, and I decided it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to die fighting with friends like this.
‘Now,’ I said.
Together, we charged.
Thalia went straight for Luke. The power of her shield was so great that his dragon-women bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone. But despite his sickly appearance, Luke was still quick with his sword. He snarled like a wild animal and counter-attacked. When his sword Backbiter met Thalia’s shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power.
As for me, I did the stupidest thing of my life, which is saying a lot. I attacked the Titan Lord Atlas.
He laughed as I approached. A huge javelin appeared in his hands. His silk suit melted into full Greek battle armour. ‘Go on, then!’
‘Percy!’ Zoë said. ‘Beware!’
I knew what she was warning me about. Chiron had told me long ago: Immortals are constrained by ancient rules. But a hero can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerve. Once I attacked, Atlas was free to retaliate directly, with all his might.
I swung my sword, and Atlas knocked me aside with the shaft of his javelin. I flew through the air and slammed into a black wall. It wasn’t Mist any more. The palace was rising, brick by brick. It was becoming real.
‘Fool!’ Atlas screamed gleefully, swatting aside one of Zoë’s arrows. ‘Did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to me?’
The mention of Ares sent a jolt through me. I shook off my daze and charged again. If I could get to that pool of water I could double my strength.
The javelin’s point slashed towards me like a scythe. I raised Riptide, planning to cut off his weapon at the shaft, but my arm felt like lead. My sword suddenly weighed a ton.
And I remembered Ares’s warning, spoken on the beach in Los Angeles so long ago: When you need it most, your sword will fail you.
Not now! I pleaded. But it was no good. I tried to dodge, but the javelin caught me in the chest and sent me flying like a rag doll. I slammed into the ground, my head spinning. I looked up and found I was at the feet of Artemis, still straining under the weight of the sky.
‘Run, boy,’ she told me. ‘You must run!’
Atlas was taking his time coming towards me. My sword was gone. It had skittered away over the edge of the cliff. It might reappear in my pocket – maybe in a few seconds – but it didn’t matter. I’d be dead by then. Luke and Thalia were fighting like demons, lightning crackling around them. Annabeth was on the ground, desperately struggling to free her hands.
‘Die, little hero,’ Atlas said.
He raised his javelin to impale me.
‘No!’ Zoë yelled, and a volley of silver arrows sprouted from the armpit chink in Atlas’s armour.
‘ARGH!’ He bellowed and turned towards his daughter.
I reached down and felt Riptide back in my pocket. I couldn’t fight Atlas, even with a sword. And then a chill went down my spine. I remembered the words of the prophecy: The Titan’s curse must one withstand. I couldn’t hope to beat Atlas. But there was someone else who might stand a chance.
‘The sky,’ I told the goddess. ‘Give it to me.’
‘No, boy,’ Artemis said.
Her forehead was beaded with metallic sweat, like quicksilver. ‘You don’t know what you’re asking. It will crush you!’
‘Annabeth took it!’
‘She barely survived. She had the spirit of a true huntress. You will not last so long.’
‘I’ll die anyway,’ I said. ‘Give me the weight of the sky!’
I didn’t wait for her answer. I took out Riptide and slashed through her chains. Then I stepped next to her and braced myself on one knee – holding up my hands – and touched the cold, heavy clouds. For a moment, Artemis and I bore the weight together. It was the heaviest thing I’d ever felt, as if I were being crushed under a thousand trucks. I wanted to black out from the pain, but I breathed deeply. I can do this.
Then Artemis slipped out from under the burden, and I held it alone.
Afterwards, I tried many times to explain what it felt like. I couldn’t.
Every muscle in my body turned to fire. My bones felt like they were melting. I wanted to scream, but I didn’t have the strength to open my mouth. I began to sink, lower and lower to the ground, the sky’s weight crushing me.
Fight back! Grover’s voice said inside my head. Don’t give up.
I concentrated on breathing. If I could just keep the sky aloft a few more seconds. I thought about Bianca, who had given her life so we could get here. If she could do that, I could hold the sky.
My vision turned fuzzy. Everything was tinged with red. I caught glimpses of the battle, but I wasn’t sure if I was seeing clearly. There was Atlas in full battle armour, jabbing with his javelin, laughing insanely as he fought. And Artemis, a blur of silver. She had two wicked hunting knives, each as long as her arm, and she slashed wildly at the Titan, dodging and leaping with unbelievable grace. She seemed to change form as she manoeuvred. She was a tiger, a gazelle, a bear, a falcon. Or perhaps that was just my fevered brain. Zoë shot arrows at her father, aiming for the chinks in his armour. He roared in pain each time one found its mark, but they affected him like bee stings. He just got madder and kept fighting.
Thalia and Luke went spear on sword, lightning still flashing around them. Thalia pressed Luke back with the aura of her shield. Even he was not immune to it. He retreated, wincing and growling in frustration.
