The Titan's Curse Read Online Free Page A

sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, she managed to roll backward and land on her feet.
    The sound of the helicopter was getting louder behind me, but I didn’t dare look.
    Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia, and this time I could see how he did it. He had a tail—a leathery, scorpionlike tail that bristled with spikes at the tip. The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down.
    Grover sprang forward. He put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play—a frantic jig that sounded like something pirates would dance to. Grass broke through the snow. Within seconds, rope-thick weeds were wrapping around Dr. Thorn’s legs, entangling him.
    Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form—his face still human, but his body that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.
    â€œA manticore!” Annabeth said, now visible. Her magical New York Yankees cap had come off when she’d plowed into us.
    â€œWho are you people?” Bianca di Angelo demanded. “And what is that ?”
    â€œA manticore?” Nico gasped. “He’s got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!”
    I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I didn’t have time to worry about it. The manticore clawed Grover’s magic weeds to shreds then turned toward us with a snarl.
    â€œGet down!” Annabeth pushed the di Angelos flat into the snow. At the last second, I remembered my own shield. I hit my wristwatch, and metal plating spiraled out into a thick bronze shield. Not a moment too soon. The thorns impacted against it with such force they dented the metal. The beautiful shield, a gift from my brother, was badly damaged. I wasn’t sure it would even stop a second volley.
    I heard a thwack and a yelp, and Grover landed next to me with a thud.
    â€œYield!” the monster roared.
    â€œNever!” Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster, and for a second, I thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind us. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here? How could mortals be working with a monster? The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.
    â€œNo!” I ran out to help her. I parried away a spike just before it would’ve hit her chest. I raised my shield over us, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough.
    Dr. Thorn laughed. “Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes.”
    We were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. We had no chance.
    Then I heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods.
    The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades.
    â€œNo,” Dr. Thorn said. “It cannot be—”
    His sentence was cut short when something shot past me like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn’s shoulder.
    He staggered backward, wailing in agony.
    â€œCurse you!” Thorn cried. He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in midair and sliced them in two, but my eyes must’ve been playing tricks on me. No one, not even Apollo’s kids at camp, could shoot with that much accuracy.
    The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy.