Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Demigod Files Read Online Free PDF Page A

on!” I told Annabeth.
    She pulled me back. “Where do you think you’re going, prisoner?”
    “Look!”
    She peered into the clearing and for the first time seemed to realize where we were. “Oh, Zeus . . .”
    Beckendorf leaped into the open and struck one of the ants. His sword clanged off the thing’s carapace. The ant turned, snapping its pincers. Before I could even call out, the ant bit Beckendorf’s leg, and he crumpled to the ground. The second ant sprayed goo in his face, and Beckendorf screamed. He dropped his sword and slapped wildly at his own eyes.
    I surged forward, but Annabeth pulled me back. “No.”
    “Charlie!” Silena yelled.
    “Don’t!” Annabeth hissed. “It’s already too late!”
    “What are you talking about?” I demanded. “We have to—”
    Then I noticed more ants swarming toward Beckendorf—ten, twenty. They grabbed him by the armor and dragged him toward the hill so fast he was swept into a tunnel and gone.
    “No!” Silena pushed Annabeth. “You let them take Charlie!”
    “There’s no time to argue,” Annabeth said. “Come on!”
    I thought she was going to lead us on a charge to save Beckendorf, but instead she raced to the dragon’s head, which the ants had momentarily forgotten. She grabbed it by the wires and started dragging it toward the woods.
    “What are you doing ?” I demanded. “Beckendorf—” “Help me,” Annabeth grunted. “Quick, before they get back.” “Oh, my gods!” Silena said. “You’re more worried about this hunk of metal than Charlie?”
    Annabeth spun around and shook her by the shoulders. “Listen, Silena! Those are Myrmekes. They’re like fire ants, only a hundred times worse. They bite poison. They spray acid. They communicate with all the other ants and swarm anything that threatens them. If we’d rushed in there to help Beckendorf, we would have been dragged inside, too. We’re going to need help— a lot of help—to get him back. Now, grab some wires and pull !”
    I didn’t know what Annabeth was up to, but I’d adventured with her long enough to figure she had a good reason for what she was doing. The three of us tugged the metal dragon’s head into the woods. Annabeth didn’t let us stop until we were fifty yards from the clearing. Then we collapsed, sweating and breathing hard.
    Silena started to cry. “He’s probably dead already.” “No,” Annabeth said. “They won’t kill him right away. We’ve got about half an hour.”
    “How do you know that?” I asked.
    “I’ve read about the Myrmekes. They paralyze their prey so they can soften them up before—”
    Silena sobbed. “We have to save him!”
    “Silena,” Annabeth said. “We’re going to save him, but I need you to get a grip. There is a way.”
    “Call the other campers,” I said, “or Chiron. Chiron will know what to do.”
    Annabeth shook her head. “They’re scattered all over the woods. By the time we got everyone back here, it would be too late. Besides, the entire camp wouldn’t be strong enough to invade the Ant Hill.”
    “Then what?”
    Annabeth pointed at the dragon’s head.
    “Okay,” I said. “You’re going to scare the ants with a big metal puppet?”
    “It’s an automaton,” she said.
    That didn’t make me feel any better. Automatons were magical bronze robots made by Hephaestus. Most of them were crazed killing machines, and those were the nice ones.
    “So what?” I said. “It’s just a head. It’s broken.”
    “Percy, this isn’t just any automaton,” Annabeth said. “It’s the bronze dragon. Haven’t you heard the stories?”
    I stared at her blankly. Annabeth had been at camp a lot longer than I had. She probably knew tons of stories I didn’t.
    Silena’s eyes widened. “You mean the old guardian? But that’s just a legend!”
    “Whoa,” I said. “What old guardian?”
    Annabeth took a deep breath. “Percy, in the days before Thalia’s tree—back before the camp had magical boundaries to