The Demigod Files(10)

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 towards Beckendorf – ten, twenty. They grabbed him by the armour and dragged him towards the hill so fast he was swept into a tunnel and disappeared.

‘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 towards 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. Their bite is poison. They spray acid. They communicate with all the other ants and swarm over 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 metres 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 paralyse 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 keep out monsters – the counsellors tried all sorts of different ways to protect themselves. The most famous was the bronze dragon. The Hephaestus cabin made it with the blessing of their father. Supposedly it was so fierce and powerful that it kept the camp safe for over a decade. And then… about fifteen years ago, it disappeared into the woods.’

‘And you think this is its head?’

‘It has to be! The Myrmekes probably dug it up while they were looking for precious metal. They couldn’t move the whole thing, so they chewed off the head. The body can’t be far away.’

‘But they chewed it apart. It’s useless.’

‘Not necessarily.’ Annabeth’s eyes narrowed, and I could tell her brain was working overtime. ‘We could reassemble it. If we could activate it –’

‘It could help us rescue Charlie!’ Silena said.

‘Hold up,’ I said. ‘That’s a lot of ifs. If we find it, if we can reactivate it in time, if it will help us. You said this thing disappeared fifteen years ago?’

Annabeth nodded. ‘Some say its motor wore out so it went into the woods to deactivate itself. Or its programming went haywire. No one knows.’

‘You want to reassemble a haywire metal dragon?’

‘We have to try!’ Annabeth said. ‘It’s Beckendorf’s only hope! Besides, this could be a sign from Hephaestus. The dragon should want to help one of Hephaestus’s kids. Beckendorf would want us to try.’

I didn’t like the idea. On the other hand, I didn’t have any better suggestions. We were running out of time, and Silena looked like she was about to go into shock if we didn’t do something soon. Beckendorf had said something about a sign from Hephaestus. Maybe it was time to find out.