chapter 13

Suddenly the dog transforms into a chimera and the woman reveals herself to be the Mother of Monsters, Echidna. The chimera breathes fire and blows a hole in the side of the arch, and Percy tries to attack him with Riptide and fails. The sword falls out the hole in the arch and into the river and does not immediately return to him, and Echidna dares him to jump and prove his lineage, because if he is truly Poseidon's son he will survive. He jumps. This is when Percy discovers that he can breath under water.