The Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan Page B

think that would be enough, right? But no.
    Cacus bellowed in pain. He turned with surprising speed, smacking me with the back of his hand. I went flying and crashed into a pile of broken stone cows. My vision blurred. Annabeth yelled, “Percy!” but her voice sounded as though it were underwater.
    Move! Martha’s voice spoke in my mind. He’s about to strike!
    Roll left! George said, which was one of the more helpful suggestions he’d ever made. I rolled to the left as the caduceus smashed into the pile of stone where I’d been lying.
    I heard a CLANG! And the giant screamed, “Gah!”
    I staggered to my feet. Annabeth had just smacked her shield across the giant’s backside. Being an expert at school expulsion, I’d gotten kicked out of several military academies where they still believed paddling was good for the soul. I had a fair idea how it felt to get spanked with a large flat surface, and my rump clenched in sympathy.
    Cacus staggered, but before Annabeth could discipline him again, he turned and snatched the shield from her. He crumpled the Celestial bronze like paper and tossed it over his shoulder.
    So much for that magic item.
    “Enough!” Cacus leveled the staff at Annabeth.
    I was still dizzy. My spine felt like it had been treated to a night at Crusty’s Water Bed Palace, but I stumbled forward, determined to help Annabeth. Before I could get there, the caduceus changed form. It became a cell phone and rang to the tune of “Macarena.” George and Martha, now the size of earthworms, curled around the screen.
    Good one, George said.
    We danced to this at our wedding, Martha said. Remember, dear?
    “Stupid snakes!” Cacus shook the cell phone violently.
    Eek! Martha said.
    Help—me! George’s voice quivered. Must—obey—red—bathrobe!
    The phone grew back into a staff.
    “Now, behave!” Cacus warned the snakes. “Or I’ll turn you two into a fake Gucci handbag!”
    Annabeth ran to my side. Together we backed up until we were next to the ladder.
    “Our tag game strategy isn’t working so well,” she noticed. She was breathing heavily. The left sleeve of her T-shirt was smoldering, but otherwise she looked okay. “Any suggestions?”
    My ears were ringing. Her voice still sounded like she was underwater.
    Wait… under water .
    I looked up the tunnel—all those broken pipes embedded in the rock: waterlines, sewer ducts. Being the son of the sea god, I could sometimes control water. I wondered…
    “I don’t like you!” Cacus yelled. He stalked toward us, smoke pouring from his nostrils. “It’s time to end this.”
    “Hold on,” I told Annabeth. I wrapped my free hand around her waist.
    I concentrated on finding water above us. It wasn’t hard. I felt a dangerous amount of pressure in the city’s waterlines, and I summoned it all into the broken pipes.
    Cacus towered over us, his mouth glowing like a furnace. “Any last words, demigod?”
    “Look up,” I told him.
    He did.
    Note to self: When causing the sewer system of Manhattan to explode, do not stand underneath it.
    The whole cavern rumbled as a thousand water pipes burst overhead. A not-so-clean waterfall slammed Cacus in the face. I yanked Annabeth out the way, then leaped back into the edge of the torrent, carrying Annabeth with me.
    “What are you—?” She made a strangling sound. “Ahhh!”
    I’d never attempted this before, but I willed myself to travel upstream like a salmon, jumping from current to current as the water gushed into the cavern. If you’ve ever tried running up a wet slide, it was kind of like that, except at a ninety-degree angle and with no slide—just water.
    Far below I heard Cacus bellowing as millions, maybe even thousands of filthy gallons of water slammed into him. Meanwhile Annabeth alternately shouted, gagged, hit me, called me endearing pet names like “Idiot! Stupid—dirty—moron—” and topped it all off with “Kill you!”
    Finally we shot out of the ground atop a