The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 63 - Piper - Hell Breaks Loose

But I couldn't do anything about that. I had to help Annabeth.

I lunged at the giantess. Her jagged blade suddenly felt ice cold in her hands. The surprised giantess glanced down as the sword of the Boread pierced her gut. Frost spread across her bronze breastplate.

I yanked out the sword. The giantess toppled backwards – steaming white and frozen solid. Periboia hit the ground with a thud.

"My daughter!" King Porphyrion levelled his spear and charged.

But Percy had other ideas.

Enceladus had dropped him... probably because the giant was busy staggering around with my knife embedded in his forehead, ichor streaming into his eyes.

Percy had no weapon – perhaps his sword had been confiscated or lost in the fighting – but he didn't let that stop him. 

As the giant king ran towards me, Percy grabbed the tip of Porphyrion's spear and forced it down into the ground. The giant's own momentum lifted him off his feet in an unintentional pole-vault manoeuvre and he flipped over onto his back.

Meanwhile Annabeth dragged herself across the ground. I ran to her side and stood over her friend, sweeping my blade back and forth to keep the giants at bay. Cold blue steam now wreathed the blade.

"Who wants to be the next Popsicle?" I yelled, channelling anger into her charmspeak. "Who wants to go back to Tartarus?"

That seemed to hit a nerve. The giants shuffled uneasily, glancing at the frozen body of Periboia.

And why shouldn't I intimidate them? Aphrodite was the most ancient Olympian, born of the sea and the blood of Ouranos. She was older than Poseidon or Athena or even Zeus. And I was her daughter.

More than that, I am a McLean. My father had come from nothing. Now he was known all over the world. The McLeans didn't retreat. Like all Cherokee, they knew how to endure suffering, keep their pride and, when necessary, fight back. This was the time to fight back.

Forty feet away, Percy bent over the giant king, trying to yank a sword from the braids of his hair. But Porphyrion wasn't as stunned as he let on.

"Fools!" Porphyrion backhanded Percy like a pesky fly. The son of Poseidon flew into a column with a sickening crunch.

Porphyrion rose. "These demigods cannot kill us! They do not have the help of the gods. Remember who you are!"

The giants closed in. A dozen spears were pointed at my chest.

Annabeth struggled to her feet. She retrieved Periboia's hunting knife, but she could barely stand upright, much less fight. Each time a drop of her blood hit the ground it bubbled, turning from red to gold.

Percy tried to stand, but he was obviously dazed. He wouldn't be able to defend himself.

My only choice was to keep the giants focused on her.

"Come on, then!" I yelled. "I'll destroy you all myself if I have to!"

A metallic smell of storm filled the air. All the hairs on my arms stood up.

"The thing is," said a voice from above, "you don't have to." 

At the top of the nearest colonnade stood Jason, his sword gleaming gold in the sun. Frank stood at his side, his bow ready. Hazel sat astride Arion, who reared and whinnied in challenge.

With a deafening blast, a white-hot bolt arced from the sky, straight through Jason's body as he leaped, wreathed in lightning, at the giant king.

For the next three minutes, life was GREAT.