THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
went down. Apollo’s archers fired a volley, dozens of arrows sticking in the thick armor of the giants like
porcupine quills. Several found chinks in armor, and some of the giants vaporized at the touch of celestial
bronze.
But just when it looked like theLaistrygonians were about to get overwhelmed, the next wave surged out
of the maze: thirty, maybe fortydracaenae in full battle armor, wielding spears and nets. They dispersed
in all directions. Some hit the traps the Hephaestus cabin had laid. One got struck on the spikes and
became an easy target for archers. Another triggered a trip wire, and pots of Greek fire exploded into
green flames, engulfing several of the snake women. But many more kept coming. Argus and Athena’s
warriors rushed forward to meet them. I saw Annabeth draw a sword and engage one of them. Nearby,
Tyson was riding a giant. Somehow he’d managed to climb onto the giant’s back and was hitting him on
the head with a bronze shield—BONG! BONG! BONG!
Chiron calmly aimed arrow after arrow, taking down a monster with every shot. But more enemies just
kept climbing out of the maze. Finally a hellhound—not Mrs. O’Leary—leaped out of the tunnel and
barreled straight toward the satyrs.
“GO!” Chiron yelled at me.
I drew Riptide and charged.
As I raced across the battlefield, I saw horrible things. An enemy half-blood was fighting with a son of
Dionysus, but it wasn’t much of a contest. The enemy stabbed him in the arm then clubbed him over the
head with the butt of his sword, and Dionysus’s son went down. Another enemy warrior shot flaming
arrows into the trees, sending our archers and dryads into a panic.
A dozendracaenae suddenly broke away from the main fight and slithered down the path that led
toward camp, like they knew where they were going. If they got out, they could burn down the entire
place, completely unopposed.
The only person anywhere near was Nicodi Angelo. He stabbed atelekhine , and his black Stygian blade
absorbed the monster’s essence, drinking its energy until there was nothing left but dust.
“Nico!”I yelled.
He looked where I was pointing, saw the serpent women, and immediately understood.
He took a deep breath and held out his black sword. “Serve me,” he called.
The earth trembled. A fissure opened in front of thedracaenae , and a dozen undead warriors crawled
from the earth—horrible corpses in military uniforms from all different time periods—U.S.
Revolutionaries, Roman centurions, Napoleonic cavalry on skeletal horses. As one, they drew their
swords and engaged thedracaenae . Nico crumpled to his knees, but I didn’t have time to make sure he
was okay.
I closed on the hellhound, which was now pushing the satyrs back toward the woods. The beast
snapped at one satyr, who danced out of its way, but then it pounced on another who was too slow. The
satyr’s tree-bark shield cracked as he fell.
“Hey!” I yelled.