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brought Riptide down on the dragon’s foot and sliced off a talon.
    Its head creaked as it looked down at me. It seemed more confused than angry, like, Why did you cut off my toe?
    Then it opened its mouth, baring a hundred razor-sharp teeth.
    “Percy!” Annabeth warned.
    I stood my ground. “Just another second . . .”
    “Percy!”
    And just before the dragon struck, Beckendorf launched himself off the rocks and landed on the dragon’s neck.
    The dragon reared back and shot flames, trying to shake Beckendorf, but he held on like a cowboy as the monster bucked around. I watched in fascination as he ripped open a panel at the base of the dragon’s head and yanked a wire.
    Instantly, the dragon froze. Its eyes went dim. Suddenly it was only the statue of a dragon, baring its teeth at the sky.
    Beckendorf slid down the dragon’s neck. He collapsed at its tail, exhausted and breathing heavily.
    “Charlie!” Silena ran to him and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “You did it!”
    Annabeth came up to me and squeezed my shoulder. “Hey, Seaweed Brain, you okay?”
    “Fine . . . I guess.” I was thinking how close I’d come to being chopped into demigod hash in the dragon’s mouth.
    “You did great.” Annabeth’s smile was a lot nicer than that stupid dragon’s.
    “You, too,” I said shakily. “So . . . what do we do with the automaton?”
    Beckendorf wiped his forehead. Silena was still fussing over his cuts and bruises, and Beckendorf looked pretty distracted by the attention.
    “We—uh—I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe we can fix it, get it to guard the camp, but that could take months.”
    “Worth trying,” I said. I imagined having that bronze dragon in our fight against the Titan lord Kronos. His monsters would think twice about attacking camp if they had to face that thing. On the other hand, if the dragon decided to go berserk again and attack the campers—that would pretty much stink.
    “Did you see all the treasure in the Ant Hill?” Beckendorf asked. “The magic weapons? The armor? That stuff could really help us.”
    “And the bracelets,” Silena said. “And the necklaces.”
    I shuddered, remembering the smell of those tunnels. “I think that’s an adventure for later. It would take an army of demigods even to get close to that treasure.”
    “Maybe,” Beckendorf said. “But what a treasure . . .”
    Silena studied the frozen dragon. “Charlie, that was the bravest thing I ever saw—you jumping on that dragon.”
    Beckendorf swallowed. “Um . . . yeah. So . . . will you go to the fireworks with me?”
    Silena’s face lit up. “Of course, you big dummy! I thought you’d never ask!”
    Beckendorf suddenly looked a whole lot better. “Well let’s get back, then! I bet Capture the Flag is over.”
    I had to go barefoot, because the acid had eaten completely through my shoe. When I kicked it off I realized the goo had soaked into my sock and turned my foot red and raw. I leaned against Annabeth, and she helped me limp through the woods.
    Beckendorf and Silena walked ahead of us, holding hands, and we gave them some space.
    Watching them, with my arm around Annabeth for support, I felt pretty uncomfortable. I silently cursed Beckendorf for being so brave, and I don’t mean for facing the dragon. After three years, he’d finally gotten the courage to ask Silena Beauregard out. It wasn’t fair.
    “You know,” Annabeth said as we struggled along, “it wasn’t the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.”
    I blinked. Had she been reading my thoughts?
    “Um . . . what do you mean?”
    Annabeth gripped my wrist as we stumbled through a shallow creek. “You stood up to the dragon so Beckendorf would have his chance to jump—now that was brave.”
    “Or pretty stupid.”
    “Percy, you’re a brave guy,” she said. “Just take the compliment. I swear, is it so hard?”
    We locked eyes. Our faces were, like, two inches apart. My chest felt a little funny, like my heart was