The Last Olympian Read Online Free PDF Page B

down at the courtyards below and saw hundreds of wounded mermen lying on makeshift cots. I saw rows of coral mounds that must’ve been hastily made graves. I realized Beckendorf wasn’t the first death. He was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands. I’d never felt so angry and helpless.
    Poseidon stroked his beard. “Percy, Beckendorf chose a heroic death. You bear no blame for that. Kronos’s army will be in disarray. Many were destroyed.”
    “But we didn’t kill him, did we?”
    As I said it, I knew it was a naive hope. We might blow up his ship and disintegrate his monsters, but a Titan lord wouldn’t be so easy to kill.
    “No,” Poseidon admitted. “But you’ve bought our side some time.”
    “There were demigods on that ship,” I said, thinking of the kid I’d seen in the stairwell. Somehow I’d allowed myself to concentrate on the monsters and Kronos. I’d convinced myself that destroying their ship was all right because they were evil, they were sailing to attack my city, and besides they couldn’t really be permanently killed. Monsters just vaporized and re-formed eventually. But demigods . . .
    Poseidon put his hand on my shoulder. “Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not . . . they chose their path.”
    “They were brainwashed!” I said. “Now they’re dead and Kronos is still alive. That’s supposed to make me feel better?”
    I glared at the mosaic—little tile explosions destroying tile monsters. It seemed so easy when it was just a picture.
    Tyson put his arm around me. If anybody else had tried that, I would’ve pushed him away, but Tyson was too big and stubborn. He hugged me whether I wanted it or not. “Not your fault, brother. Kronos does not explode good. Next time we will use a big stick.”
    “Percy,” my father said. “Beckendorf’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain. You have scattered the invasion force. New York will be safe for a time, which frees the other Olympians to deal with the bigger threat.”
    “The bigger threat?” I thought about what the golden Titan had said in my dream: The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed.
    A shadow passed over my father’s face. “You’ve had enough sorrow for one day. Ask Chiron when you return to camp.”
    “Return to camp? But you’re in trouble here. I want to help!”
    “You can’t, Percy. Your job is elsewhere.”
    I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. I looked at Tyson for backup.
    My brother chewed his lip. “Daddy . . . Percy can fight with a sword. He is good.”
    “I know that,” Poseidon said gently.
    “Dad, I can help,” I said. “I know I can. You’re not going to hold out here much longer.”
    A fireball launched into the sky from behind the enemy lines. I thought Poseidon would deflect it or something, but it landed on the outer corner of the yard and exploded, sending mermen tumbling through the water. Poseidon winced as if he’d just been stabbed.
    “Return to camp,” he insisted. “And tell Chiron it is time.”
    “For what?”
    “You must hear the prophecy. The entire prophecy.”
    I didn’t need to ask him which prophecy. I’d been hearing about the “Great Prophecy” for years, but nobody would ever tell me the whole thing. All I knew was that I was supposed to make a decision that would decide the fate of the world—but no pressure.
    “What if this is the decision?” I said. “Staying here to fight, or leaving? What if I leave and you . . .”
    I couldn’t say die . Gods weren’t supposed to die, but I’d seen it happen. Even if they didn’t die, they could be reduced to nearly nothing, exiled, imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus like Kronos had been.
    “Percy, you must go,” Poseidon insisted. “I don’t know what your final decision will be, but your fight lies in the world above. If nothing else, you must warn your friends