"Now," I said, "we pull back."

 

The Titan lord's men drew their swords and charged. The hooves of their skeletal

horses thundered against the pavement. Our archers shot a volley, bringing down

several of the enemy, but they just kept riding.

 

"Retreat!" I told my friends. "I'll hold them.'"

 

In a matter of seconds they were on me.

 

Michael and his archers tried to retreat, but Annabeth stayed right beside me,

fighting with her knife and mirrored shield as we slowly backed up the bridge.

 

Kronos's cavalry swirled around us, slashing and yelling insults. The Titan

himself advanced leisurely, like he had all the time in the world. Being the

lord of time, I guess he did.

 

I tried to wound his men, not kill. That slowed me down, but these weren't

monsters. They were demigods who'd fallen under Kronos's spell. I couldn't see

faces under 1 heir battle helmets, but some of them had probably been my

friends. I slashed the legs off their horses and made the skeletal mounts

disintegrate. After the first few demigods took a spill, the rest figured out

they'd better dismount and fight me on foot.