We were out of options. No more help was coming. Annabeth and I would have to

retreat before we were cut off from Mount Olympus.

 

Then I heard a rumbling in the south. It wasn't a sound you hear much in New

York, but I recognized it immediately: chariot wheels.

 

A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!"

 

And a dozen war chariots charged into battle. Each flew a red banner with the

symbol of the wild boar's head. Each was pulled by a team of skeletal horses

with manes of fire. A total of thirty fresh warriors, armor gleaming and eyes

full of hate, lowered their lances as one — making a bristling wall of death.

 

"The children of Ares!" Annabeth said in amazement. "How did Rachel know?"

 

I didn't have an answer. But leading the charge was a girl in familiar red

armor, her face covered by a boar's-head helm. She held aloft a spear that

crackled with electricity. Clarisse herself had come to the rescue. While half

her chariots charged the monster army, Clarisse led the other six straight for

the drakon.

 

The serpent reared back and managed to throw off Mrs. O'Leary. My poor pet hit

the side of the building with a yelp. I ran to help her, but the serpent had

already zeroed in on the new threat. Even with only one eye, its glare was