The petsuchos lumbered towards me, his jaws opening to snap me up. And I got angry. I was not going to back down from an overgrown gator. The air crackled with power as my combat avatar formed round me — a glowing blue exoskeleton in the shape of Horus. It lifted me off the ground until I was suspended in the middle of a twenty-foot-tall, hawk-headed warrior.
I stepped forward, bracing myself, and the avatar mimicked my stance. What the —? He nearly toppled me. I was at least hoping to cut through the necklace that was the source of his power. Unfortunately, my swing went wide. Instead of blood, he spilled sand, which is pretty typical for Egyptian monsters. I would have enjoyed seeing him disintegrate completely, but no such luck. As soon as I yanked my blade free, the wound started closing and the sand slowed to a trickle.
The crocodile whipped his head from side to side, pulling me off my feet and shaking me by the arm like a dog with a chew toy. My vision cleared, and I saw two things that irritated me. First, the crocodile was charging me again. Second, my new friend Percy was just standing in the middle of the street, staring at me in shock.
I decided that if I survived this day I would have to make sure this guy never met Sadie. As the monster closed in on me, I kicked him in the snout, which made him sneeze and shake his head long enough for me to extricate myself from the ruined house. The monster thrashed around, his hide shedding water all over the place, but somehow Percy managed to keep his footing. The guy must have practised gymnastics or something. Meanwhile, the mortal kids had found some better ammunition — rocks, scrap metal from the wrecked cars, even a few tyre irons — and were hurling the stuff at the monster.
Instead, he somehow snapped at the blade and caught it in his mouth. We ended up wrestling for the blue glowing sword as it sizzled in his mouth, making his teeth crumble to sand. Meanwhile, the croc was going crazy trying to yank away my sword. My combat avatar started to flicker. Summoning an avatar is a short-term thing, like sprinting at top speed.
Already I was sweating and breathing hard. My heart raced. My reservoirs of magic were being severely depleted. I dropped to the ground, exhausted and dizzy. When the sword disappeared, the monster lurched backwards and stumbled over a Honda.
The mortal kids scattered. Percy reached the bottom of the necklace and hung on for dear life. His sword was gone. Meanwhile, the monster regained his footing. The bad news: he definitely noticed me, and he looked mightily torqued off.
At this point, the mortal kids with their water balloons and rocks had more of a chance of stopping the croc than I did. In the distance, sirens wailed. It just meant more mortals were racing here as fast as they could to volunteer as crocodile snacks. I backed up to the kerb and tried — ridiculously — to stare down the monster. His hide shed water like the grossest fountain in the world, making my shoes slosh as I walked.
His lamp-yellow eyes filmed over, maybe from happiness. He knew I was done for. I thrust my hand into my backpack. The only thing I found was a lump of wax. I dropped my pack and started working the wax furiously with both hands, trying to soften it. The clasp was a hieroglyphic cartouche. It would take a magician to figure it out and open it. Whatever and whoever Percy was, he was no magician.
I was still shaping the lump of wax, trying to make it into a figurine, when the crocodile decided to stop savouring the moment and just eat me. As he lunged, I threw my shabti, only half formed, and barked a command word. Not exactly my finest tactical move, but having a hippo shoved up his nose must have been sufficiently distracting. He ran to join me at the kerb. The crocodile whipped round, and Percy grabbed me just in time, pulling me out of its trampling path.
We jogged to the opposite end of the cul-de-sac, where the mortal kids had gathered. Amazingly, none of them seemed to be hurt. The crocodile kept thrashing and wiping out homes as it tried to clear its nostril.
I gasped for air but nodded weakly. One of the kids offered me his Super Soaker. I waved him off. Stall them! Maybe they were just happy to have something to do, but, from the way Percy spoke, I got the feeling he was used to rallying outnumbered troops.
He sounded a bit like Horus — a natural commander. The crocodile was still distracted by its nasal intruder, but I doubted the shabti would last much longer. Under that much stress, the hippo would soon melt back to wax.
But if I can get to that clasp I think I can open it. The sirens were getting louder. The petsuchos turned towards us, roaring in anger, and Percy charged straight at him. Once it started, it was pretty obvious. He stopped in front of the crocodile and raised his arms. I figured he was planning some kind of magic, but he spoke no command words.
He had no staff or wand. He just stood there and looked up at the crocodile as if to say, Here I am! The crocodile seemed momentarily surprised. Croc sweat kept pouring off his body. The brackish stuff was up to the kerb now, up to our ankles. Then I saw what was happening. As Percy raised his arms, the water began swirling counterclockwise. One last trick, I thought. I feared the effort might literally burn me up, but I summoned my final bit of magical energy and transformed into a falcon — the sacred animal of Horus.
Instantly, my vision was a hundred times sharper. I soared upwards, above the rooftops, and the entire world switched to high-definition 3D. I saw the police cars only a few blocks away, the kids standing in the middle of the street, waving them down. I could see each hieroglyph on the clasp of the necklace.
The entire cul-de-sac was engulfed in a hurricane. Percy stood at the edge, unmoved, but the water was churning so fast now that even the giant crocodile lost his footing. Wrecked cars scraped along the pavement. Mailboxes were pulled out of lawns and swept away. The water increased in volume as well as speed, rising up and turning the entire neighbourhood into a liquid centrifuge. It was my turn to be stunned. The crocodile stumbled and struggled, shuffling in a circle with the current.
I remembered I had a job to do. No one, magician or otherwise, could control that kind of power for long. I folded my wings and dived for the crocodile. All around me, the hurricane roared. I could barely see through the swirl of mist. The current was so strong now it tugged at my legs, threatening to pull me into the flood. I was so tired. I ran my hand over the hieroglyphs on the clasp. There had to be a secret to unlocking it. The crocodile bellowed and stomped, fighting to stay on its feet.
Somewhere to my left, Percy yelled in rage and frustration, trying to keep up the storm, but the whirlpool was starting to slow. I had a few seconds at best until the crocodile broke free and attacked. Then Percy and I would both be dead. When in doubt, I thought, hit the god button. I pushed the fourth symbol, but nothing happened. The storm was failing. The crocodile started to turn against the current, facing Percy.
Out of the corner of my eye, through the haze and mist, I saw Percy drop to one knee. Then, for dessert, we'll die painful tragic deaths. Let's do this. Get BOOK. Percy Jackson s Greek Heroes. Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes. Told in the funny, irreverent. The Friday before winter break, my mom packed me an overnight bag and a few deadly weapons. And took me to a new boarding school. We picked up my friends Annabeth and Thalia on the. Downloading Ebooks and Textbooks. Other editions. Enlarge cover.
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