Thalia whipped out her bow and took aim at Echidna. Tommy pushed me backwards and followed in my stumbling footsteps.

I noticed two weapons in the monster's hand. Our swords, gleaming as if they were beckoning us, asking us to save them from this monster's gristly hand.

Echidna chuckled softly. "Silly girl, thinking she could beat me. I am the mother of all monsters. No demigod can do worse the bestow a small scratch upon me."

"Well, fancy mouth," Tommy began with a sneer, "why don't you figure out that the only time we use the word 'bestow' nowadays is during a wedding. Modern up."

Echidna bared her teeth, warning Tommy to be quiet. But Tommy didn't shut up. Of course he didn't! He never shuts up!

I had half a mind to stomp on his foot, but I was still a bit weak-kneed after my vision of Asha, and I figured a good stomp was exactly what would bring me down.

"Why don't you just give us our weapons, nice and quick, so we can get out butts out of your ugly hair." Tommy continued.

Echidna's eyes seemed to spark. She gave off an air of fiery anger.

Then, as if she had just gotten a bucket of freezing cold water dumped on her head, she calmed down.

"Very well, little demigods. You may leave. With your weapons, even." She tossed them over to us, and they landed with a clang at our feet. The only thing that stopped me from picking it up was the way Echidna spoke. She said everything in a dangerously quiet voice.

Thalia narrowed her eyes. "What's the catch?"

Echidna grinned, showing off ugly yellow teeth. Her serpent tail thrashed threateningly. "Glad you asked."

The monster shifted over an inch, revealing...

Oh no way.

No freaking way.

A chihuahua.

It was rather small, with white foam spilling out of its jaws and sharp little teeth bared as threateningly as it could manage. The eyes were small and squinty, and it was wearing a spiked collar. I noticed it was a boy...you know...becau-never mind.

"Hello, sonny." Echidna cooed, bending over and giving her dog a little pat on the head. The dog shot her one adoring look before returning back to his threatening stance.

Tommy allowed himself a very audible snort. "A chihuahua?" He scoffed.

Almost like she had been waiting for someone to say this, Echidna snapped her fingers. I cringed, waiting for the dog to fly at us, but instead it stood there.

And then, right before my eyes, the previously small chihuahua turned into a large...erm...I'm not exactly sure what the Hades this thing was.

It has a lions body, its mane matted with blood. The body was that of a goats, which was actually kind of disturbing. The tail was a serpent with a diamond pattern along its back. The head was the tip of the tail.

The monster before us spewed fire. Tommy and I jumped back. For once, I will give Tommy some credit or actually having a brain. He made a quick little movement and picked up our weapons right before they could be melted by the plume of flames.

"OH SH-" Thalia's voice was drowned out by a deafening roar from the monster. I clapped my hands to my ears and Tommy shoved his head inside his shirt collar.

"WE HAVE TO FIGHT IT!" Thalia yelled. I was sure she was talking loud because she, unlike Tommy and I, hadn't gotten the chance to cover her ears. They were probably ringing.

Echidna cackled. "No demigod has defeated my beautiful son!" She announced. "You will all die before you see the other wonderful surprises I have planned for you!"

"I wouldn't call your son 'beautiful'." Tommy taunted. "But I suppose, when he's compared to you..."

"KILL THEM!" Echidna ordered.

"Thalia what is that thing called?" I asked as the horrible thing charged toward us.

Thalia's brain seemed to be working furiously. "It's a Chimera. Well, more like the Chimera. I think Percy fought it once..."

"And Percy's alive!" Tommy said gleefully. Thalia scrunched up her face. "Yeah, only because he got the poison driven out of his body when he fell out of the Gateway Arch into the river below."

Tommy seemed to deflate before my eyes. To be honest, I probably let out a little air too.

No, not the way you're thinking. I'm well aware that what I just said can be taken in one of two ways, AND MAY I INFORM YOU THAT I DID NOT FART. I ONLY FART WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT. I will do it in front of people though, because you know, I'm a pig.

Just kidding, I'm not that disgusting.

I bet you fell for that though.

Anyway, back to the story...

Tommy thrust my weapon at me. I held it in shaky hands, hoping that I wouldn't drop it.

The Chimera lunged at us. Thalia began shooting it with arrows, Tommy and I darted around its goaty legs and shoved our swords into its stomach.

Eventually, the monster limped quickly over to Echidna and hid behind her, viper tail between its legs.

I stared at Tommy, who stared back, his eyes amused. We walked back over to Thalia, who was also grinning, and high-fived each other. Three-way.

I'm not sure why we were celebrating like we had just won. We hadn't won anything. We still had the mother of monsters standing right in front of us.

We were all spattered with Chimera blood, and some of our own, of course. Yes, even Thalia was bloody, despite the fact that she had been some distance away.

I turned back to Echidna. I hadn't heard her scold her son.

Surprisingly, she didn't scold him. She gave his blood-matted head a pat and cooed at him. Then she turned back to face us, her eyes now smoldering with anger.

"How dare you hurt my son!" She screamed. "I didn't want to do this, but you have forced me to bring out my worst weapon!"

The women seemed to reach inside of her snake tail. She pulled out a limp form. I couldn't see him clearly in the setting sun, but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.

As I watched, Echidna swung the boy around so we could see him clearly. Tommy and I gasped. Horror ate away at my insides.

I recognized that black hair. I recognized every feature on that face.

It was Jay.