First Dragonborn
Luke attacked the nearby swordsman, easily slipping past the strike aimed straight at his chest. In response, he struck the man's wrist, forcing him to drop his sword, then cut across his chest himself, sending him to the ground in pain.
His companions rushed in from different directions, trying to stop Luke from finishing him off too quickly. But Luke moved with control and grace, deflecting a spear thrust with his blade and redirecting it into the camper behind him, who barely managed to raise his shield in time. Luke drove an elbow into the lancer's face, then kicked the other's shield, knocking both of them backward. Then he raised his sword, catching an attack from behind that aimed to crush his head with a hammer.
The impact sent a slight tremor through his hand. Luke turned his head just enough to meet Tyson's gaze.
"Don't hurt the camp's kids," Tyson said, looking straight at him.
Luke gave him a mocking look before sliding his sword forward in a quick strike toward Tyson's stomach. But before it could land, the cyclops' tower shield came between them, sparks bursting as steel met its surface.
Then Tyson drove his shield forward with his whole body, charging.
Luke jumped back, avoiding the blow, then switched his sword to his other hand and swung toward Tyson's head, his expression filled with raw violence.
Tyson reacted instantly, ducking slightly behind his shield before rising again, bringing his hammer down toward Luke. Luke sidestepped as the hammer slammed into the ground, kicking up dirt and making clear just how much strength the cyclops carried.
But Luke didn't seem afraid. He looked at him almost casually.
"If you were your brother, I'd be a bit more concerned," he said simply. "But a cyclops like you…"
"Yeah, Percy's stronger than me… but we both follow the same teacher," Tyson replied, his expression tightening with anger, before pushing forward again with his shield, trying to run Luke over like an out-of-control truck.
Luke quickly leapt aside and rolled across the ground.
But Tyson, as if he had anticipated it, opened his shield and struck exactly where Luke was rolling. It caught Luke off guard. He raised his arms to block, but the cyclops' strength overwhelmed him, driving him back nearly two meters, his arms aching from the impact.
Luke looked up at Tyson, a cold smile forming as he tightened his grip on his sword and charged again.
…
Alison moved through the battlefield, slipping past attacks with ease while throwing her daggers without missing a single strike. She dashed toward a lancer who tried to stab her, stepped off his leg for balance, and drove a kick straight into his face.
As she spun through the air, her daggers flew in multiple directions from both hands, striking the attackers around her. Then, dropping to one knee, she raised her hands, and the daggers returned to her grasp, their blades now stained with blood.
Her gaze swept across the battlefield, as if scanning everything at once.
"I found you…" she said with a wicked smile, her eyes locking directly onto Annabeth. Then Alison ran toward her, weaving through attacks with effortless speed.
…
Meanwhile, Clarisse entered the camp and paused, looking around. There was no one nearby.
"Where is everyone?" she asked, still holding the Fleece.
"Fighting," a voice answered.
She looked up and found Miraak standing atop Poseidon's cabin, watching a distant point with sharp focus.
"S-sir…" she said as soon as she saw him. She couldn't help the faint unease she felt toward that man, especially after what had happened earlier, when she had used Percy's plan to lure him.
"That way," Miraak said, pointing toward the same direction he had been observing.
Where Thalia's tree stood.
Clarisse turned and saw smoke rising beyond the trees, along with the unmistakable sounds of battle. Suddenly, a massive wall of fire surged upward for a moment, making her eyes widen.
Miraak gave a slight nod, as if acknowledging something, watching as the war unfolded and how the brats used what he had taught them… perfectly.
Clarisse was about to run toward it, but quickly remembered why she had come in such a hurry.
"Sir… your student, Percy Jackson, is in danger. A hydra—"
"I know," Miraak interrupted calmly.
"He needs help," she added.
"He doesn't," Miraak replied, confusing her for a moment.
"Because he's already defeated it," he added, with a trace of pride and a smile no one had likely ever seen on him.
Clarisse blinked, stunned, and looked back toward the direction where she had left Percy.
Then suddenly, she felt a gust of wind shaking the trees in that direction… along with a roar.
Like a dragon.
A sound that seemed to make her very soul tremble.
"I don't know what you found on your journey, boy… but this is the birth of the first Dragonborn in this plane," Miraak said, his gaze filled with something close to excitement as he watched his disciple.
Meanwhile, on Percy's side, he stood amid surroundings that seemed scorched, a cone of fire stretching out before him. He touched his throat lightly, feeling a dull ache after using a shout, his eyes drifting to the charred wound ahead of him, a faint look of annoyance crossing his face at having been forced to use it. Especially when he still hadn't fully recovered from the strain of using two back on Polyphemus' island.
Even so, something far more surprising unfolded before him.
What looked like the hydra's soul began to leave its body.
And then… it moved toward him.
Fast.
Percy felt that energy merge with his own soul as the trees around him trembled.
For a moment, he saw his tattoos, long gone, flare back to life across his body, visible even through his clothes, before seeming to sink into his very existence… just like the hydra's soul.
He felt something change.
Not just in his body.
But deeper.
In his very being.
A transcendent emotion filled him as his green eyes flashed for an instant, taking on the shape of a dragon's. At the same time, he felt his throat, still raw from the shout, begin to recover rapidly.
He brought a hand to his neck, testing it.
And realized that, even if he couldn't release another shout yet… he hadn't lost his voice.
"What the hell just happened…?"