Mark Of Athena

A lso by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One:
The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Two:
The Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Three:
The Titan’s Curse
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Four:
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Five:
The Last Olympian
The Kane Chronicles, Book One:
The RedPyramid
The Kane Chronicles, Book Two:
The Throne of Fire
The Kane Chronicles, Book Three:
The Serpent’s Shadow
The Heroes of Olympus, Book One:
The Lost Hero
The Heroes of Olympus, Book Two:
The Son of Neptune

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to Seán Hemingway, curator of Greek and Roman antiquities at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, for helping me follow the Mark of Athena toits source.

Copyright © 2012 by Rick Riordan
All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Hyperion Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No
part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without written permission from the publisher. Forinformation address Disney •
Hyperion Books, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011-5690.
ISBN 978-1-4231-5516-4
Visit w ww.disneyhyperionbooks.com

Contents
Also by Rick Riordan
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
XVIII
XIX
XX
XXI
XXII
XXIII
XXIV
XXV
XXVI
XXVII
XXVIII
XXIX
XXX
XXXI
XXXII
XXXIII
XXXIVXXXV
XXXVI
XXXVII
XXXVIII

XXXIX
XL
XLI
XLII
XLIII
XLIV
XLV
XLVI
XLVII
XLVIII
XLIX
L
LI
LII
Glossary
About the Author

To Speedy
Strays and wanderers are often sent by the gods.

UNTIL SHE M ET THE EXPLODING STATUE, Annabeth thought she was prepared for anything.
She’d paced the deck of their flying warship, the Argo II, checking and double-checking the
ballistae tomake sure they were locked down. She confirmed that the white “We come in
peace” flag was flying from the mast. She reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew—and the
backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan.
Most important, she pulled aside their war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge, and
encouraged him to take the morning off in his cabin and watch reruns of mixed martialarts
championships. The last thing they needed as they flew a magical Greek trireme into a
potentially hostile Roman camp was a middle-aged satyr in gym clothes waving a club and
yelling “Die!”
Everything seemed to be in order. Even that mysterious chill she’d been feeling since the
ship launched had dissipated, at least for now.
The warship descended through the clouds, but Annabeth couldn’tstop second-guessing
herself. What if this was a bad idea? What if the Romans panicked and attacked them on
sight?
The Argo II definitely did not look friendly. Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull,
mounted repeating crossbows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two
rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast throughconcrete…well, it wasn’t the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbors.
Annabeth had tried to give the Romans a heads-up. She’d asked Leo to send one of his
special inventions—a holographic scroll—to alert their friends inside the camp. Hopefully the
message had gotten through. Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the
hull—WASSUP? w ith a smileyface—but Annabeth vetoed the idea. She wasn’t sure the
Romans had a sense of humor.
Too late to turn back now.

The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills
below them. Annabeth gripped one of the bronze shields that lined the starboard rail.
Her three crewmates took their places.
On the stern quarterdeck, Leo rushed around like a madman, checking...