Chapter 28 #2
Jayden tenses and scans the murky water in front of us before steering me away from it. “That is the smell of death. There’s something living in that bog that we don’t want to encounter.”
“I don’t even want to know how you know what death smells like,” I groan.
“I’m the son of Hades, remember? Death comes with the territory. We’ve all killed things. Even if they just turn to ash in a second.”
The water ripples with movement and I take a step back, calling my sword to me. “What the fuck was that?”
Metal grinds against metal and an ominous clicking of gears snatches my attention from the water.
That is a sound I have dreaded since our first mission.
My stomach twists as I glare at the top of the spindly trees.
A glint of the sun overhead catches on something metal as something launches itself out of the water.
“Run,” I scream, calling my magic to pool in my palm. “Demon pigeons.”
“Shit.” Draven ducks as one aims a razor-sharp beak at his head. “Why would Hephaestus create these damn things? They’re a menace.”
“We need to move. I need open air to kill them the way I did last time.” I scan the marshes but there are spindly trees as far as the eye can see.
A roar sounds and the marsh rumbles below our feet. Water with the consistency of sludge sprays from the bog. A creature that appears to be a cross between an alligator and a hippo with spikes along its back vaults out of the sludge right for us.
“What the fuck is that thing?” Thad ducks the talons of one of the birds as he reaches for his trident on his back.
“Will that work?” I ask. “It’s not a sea creature.”
Thad whips the trident at a bird that dives too close and feathers shoot from its wing with the speed of a torpedo.
Dax shoves Kira to the side just in time so the feathers miss her head.
The hippo thing climbs from the swamp onto dry ground.
It’s even bigger than I originally thought.
On all fours, it’s slightly taller than me and the spikes all along its back are longer than my arm.
“That is one ugly beast,” Draven mutters. “How do we kill it?”
“I don’t know. This is your father’s domain. Any ideas?” Blue lightning crackles along my palm but with how wet the marshlands are and the trees blocking the sky, I’m hesitant to use it.
“I’m not sure that’s the greatest idea.” Jayden grabs my wrist.
“I know. I just don’t know what else to do here.” I cry out as talons rip through the flesh of my shoulder and electricity hums through my body.
A metallic squeak sounds by my ear as ash falls around my head and shoulders. One down but they are distracting us from the beast slowly stalking forward, shaking its horned head in a way that is meant to impale things on those spikes.
“Dax, move,” I shout and Dax’s battle ax swings in a wide arc at the creature taking its spike off in a fluid motion.
“Nice shot.” Raven fist-pumps the air.
The creature screeches as black viscous liquid sprays from the severed spike.
“We need to move.” I throw a small bit of lightning at a demon pigeon and it explodes into ash. “Kira, do you have any ideas on how to take these feathered bastards out?”
“Other than what you’re doing? Not in the slightest. I create inventions. I don’t destroy them.”
“There are too many for me to take out one at a time like this. We need less tree cover.” I don’t particularly want to start a fire in the marshland or electrocute my friends.
“Keep targeting them one by one. Keep them off me while I figure this thing out.” Kira reaches in her bag for something, and I turn my attention to the branches of trees the bird swoop down from.
The ugly hippo roars again as Raven and Dax keep hacking at it. It’s following us instead of staying in its swamp home. But it’s slowing considerably as they continue to chip away at its spikes and more black liquid spews from it.
“Beth, watch out,” Kira screams.
Three demon pigeons dive for us, beaks pointed down in a coordinated attack.
At the end of their dive, they steady themselves, wings extended and razor-sharp feathers shoot toward us with a speed almost too fast for the normal eye.
I grip the shield charm from Ares, calling on his help, and my shield materializes.
The rapid staccato of metal screeching into metal and the force of the impact make me grind my teeth together as I stumble back, steadying the shield. Glancing around, I shoot three concentrated blasts of lightning at the birds, turning them to ash on impact.
“That was close,” Kira pants heavily. “Maybe we should keep our eyes on our own fights.”
Shadows caress my skin as Jayden materializes next to me with a stern glare. “Keep moving. I think we’re getting closer to a clearing. We should be able to kill them all then.”
Thad jogs over. “There is an expanse of flat, dry land about two hundred feet to the east. We should be able to attack the birds there.”
“Good,” I say as Raven’s battle cry blasts through the swamp.
I glance over my shoulder in time to see her flip to the beast’s back and swing her ax through the creature’s neck in one smooth motion before it collapses to the ground and explodes into ash.
Metallic screeches drown out all other sounds in the swamp as we race toward safety. It’s not exactly safe but if I can get a clear unobstructed view of the sky and dry land, we might stand a chance against these things.
Thad leads the charge, spraying water randomly into the sky at the birds, but there are hundreds of them now. Acid flings past my face and I narrowly miss another set of talons raking down my arm as I blast the creature with white lightning.
“The clearing is just up ahead,” Thad shouts.
“You’ve got this, baby. Take them out,” Jayden says as we rush into the clearing.
It’s barely a clearing but the ground is solid and not muddy beneath my feet.
I unleash my magic, allowing it to build until clouds roll over the sun and thunder rumbles in the sky.
Lightning arcs between the clouds as the birds descend but my magic strikes faster, each bolt splintering through the air and hitting them with coordinated strikes.
As the sky clears, my hands shake and knees wobble. Arms wrap around me as my knees give out and everything fades to black.