the_blood_of_olympus_-_rick_riordan

Piper yanked out her 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
Piper’s 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 Piper, 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. Piper ran to her side. She stood over her
friend, sweeping her blade back and forth to keep the giants at bay. Cold blue steam now wreathed
her blade.
‘Who wants to be the next Popsicle?’ she 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 Piper 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 Piper was
her daughter.
More than that, she was a McLean. Her 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 Piper’s 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.
Piper’s only choice was to keep the giants focused on her.
‘Come on, then!’ she yelled. ‘I’ll destroy you all myself if I have to!’
A metallic smell of storm filled the air. All the hairs on Piper’s arms stood up.
‘The thing is,’ said a voice from above, ‘you don’t have to.’
Piper’s heart could’ve floated out of her body. 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.