The Titan's Curse

army got to the top of the hill, we would be overwhelmed. I met Annabeth’s eyes again. She nodded.
    I looked at Thalia and Zoë, and I decided it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to die fighting with friends like this.
    “Now,” I said.
    Together, we charged.
    Thalia went straight for Luke. The power of her shield was so great that his dragon-women bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone. But despite his sickly appearance, Luke was still quick with his sword. He snarled like a wild animal and counterattacked. When his sword, Backbiter, met Thalia’s shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power.
    As for me, I did the stupidest thing in my life, which is saying a lot. I attacked the Titan Lord Atlas.
    He laughed as I approached. A huge javelin appeared in his hands. His silk suit melted into full Greek battle armor. “Go on, then!”
    “Percy!” Zoë said. “Beware!”
    I knew what she was warning me about. Chiron had told me long ago: Immortals are constrained by ancient rules. But a hero can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerve. Once I attacked, however, Atlas was free to attack back directly, with all his might.
    I swung my sword, and Atlas knocked me aside with the shaft of his javelin. I flew through the air and slammed into a black wall. It wasn’t Mist anymore. The palace was rising, brick by brick. It was becoming real.
    “Fool!” Atlas screamed gleefully, swatting aside one of Zoë’s arrows. “Did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to me ?”
    The mention of Ares sent a jolt through me. I shook off my daze and charged again. If I could get to that pool of water, I could double my strength.
    The javelin’s point slashed toward me like a scythe. I raised Riptide, planning to cut off his weapon at the shaft, but my arm felt like lead. My sword suddenly weighed a ton.
    And I remembered Ares’s warning, spoken on the beach in Los Angeles so long ago: When you need it most, your sword will fail you.
    Not now! I pleaded. But it was no good. I tried to dodge, but the javelin caught me in the chest and sent me flying like a rag doll. I slammed into the ground, my head spinning. I looked up and found I was at the feet of Artemis, still straining under the weight of the sky.
    “Run, boy,” she told me. “You must run!”
    Atlas was taking his time coming toward me. My sword was gone. It had skittered away over the edge of the cliff. It might reappear in my pocket—maybe in a few seconds— but it didn’t matter. I’d be dead by then. Luke and Thalia were fighting like demons, lightning crackling around them. Annabeth was on the ground, desperately struggling to free her hands.
    “Die, little hero,” Atlas said.
    He raised his javelin to impale me.
    “No!” Zoë yelled, and a volley of silver arrows sprouted from the armpit chink in Atlas’s armor.
    “ARGH!” He bellowed and turned toward his daughter.
    I reached down and felt Riptide back in my pocket. I couldn’t fight Atlas, even with a sword. And then a chill went down my back. I remembered the words of the prophecy: The Titan’s curse must one withstand. I couldn’t hope to beat Atlas. But there was someone else who might stand a chance.
    “The sky,” I told the goddess. “Give it to me.”
    “No, boy,” Artemis said. Her forehead was beaded with metallic sweat, like quicksilver. “You don’t know what you’re asking. It will crush you!”
    “Annabeth took it!”
    “She barely survived. She had the spirit of a true huntress. You will not last so long.”
    “I’ll die anyway,” I said. “Give me the weight of the sky!”
    I didn’t wait for her answer. I took out Riptide and slashed through her chains. Then I stepped next to her and braced myself on one knee—holding up my hands—and touched the cold, heavy clouds. For a moment, Artemis and I bore the weight together. It was the heaviest thing I’d ever felt, as if I were being crushed under a thousand trucks. I wanted to black out from the pain, but I breathed deeply. I can do this.
    Then Artemis slipped out from under the burden, and I held it alone.
    Afterward, I tried many times to explain what it felt like. I couldn’t.
    Every muscle in my body turned to fire. My bones felt like they were melting. I wanted to scream, but I didn’t have the strength to open my mouth. I began to sink, lower