Well this is bad
The rain was coming in hard over New York City, laying down a thick blanket of water over the city that never slept. In an alley wedged between two abandoned buildings that reached for the sky like over grown grass, the impossible was happening. But, when you're a demi-god, the impossible becomes your everyday. Both a blessing and a curse. For Xavier De Frei at this moment, it was a curse. Being backed into a wet, dirty alleyway with no escape and being bared down on by three… things were definitely not blessings. They towered over him, huge humanoid birds: like adult men covered in ebony feathers, with wicked beaks and pitch black wings. Tightly gripped in the talons where their hands should have been where ancient weapons, rusted from thousands of years of use. Stymphalian Birds, the ancient pets of Ares, once loyal only to the God of war, but now loyal only to their hunger. He'd been running all day and night through the winding streets of New York, but now he was trapped. In short: He was tired. Standing there in his soaked, black cloth trench coat with his long mop top hair matted against his head, he certainly looked it. Leaning on his long, bronze spear, he breathed heavily. The things didn't slow, taking careful and purposeful steps. He had already vanquished two of their kind today, and they were not taking any chances.
I can't fight them. This is it. This is the end. Xavier thought, even though his mind was sluggish from exhaustion. I just can't do this anymore. He studied the approaching figures, his relentless pursuers over the last two days. His eyes wandered over the wickedly curved beaks, shining in the moonlight in the badly lit alley way. They did not look pleasant. He could just imagine them ripping into his shoulder. Suddenly, a sharp tug at his pants leg snapped him out of his morbid thoughts. Xavier looked down into the big-as-saucers eyes of Jenny McCall, the whole reason for this little encounter. Nine years old and with strawberry blonde hair, she was just about the cutest little kid he'd ever seen. "Xavier" she said, her voice coming out in a scared whisper "Don't let them get me, Xavier. Please" her voice was pleading now, and her eyes conveyed that message perfectly. Tears welled at the edges of her apple green eyes.
All thoughts of quitting were gone in that instant. In the reflection from her green eyes, Xavier saw everything he had done wrong in his life: all the people he had left, those who he hadn't been able to save. There was not going to be one more person on that list, not one more body to bury. He couldn't do that again. With a sudden vigour, Xavier drew his spear from the ground and dropped into a defensive pose. Jenny backed away, almost frightened by this sudden ferocity. The approaching assailants leapt back suddenly and then regained their composure – after the loss of their comrades, they were jumpy and anxious. However, not all were so composed. One of the man-birds lunged forward, cawing madly, leading with his cruelly curved bronze swords, rusted from thousands of years of use. Wild, ungainly swings would not be enough, however. Deftly, Xavier lunged forwards, and swung with his spear horizontally. He knocked the creatures hand off to this side, opening his guard completely. Acting swiftly, he quickly disarmed the attacker with a quick flick of his wrist, and the sword clattered to the ground. The bird-man had only a second to feel shocked before the tip of the spear drove through his abdomen, and a second more before he turned to dust and washed away in the rain. As if at his call, the lightning in the sky above, illuminating the alley way and shining a brief light on Xavier's face, twisted with rage. A quick glance was shared between the remaining two, before the simultaneously charged, bringing up identical axes of tarnished bronze. Dipping under the wide arc of the first strike, Xavier swept his spear in a wide arc at the monsters feet, knocking them onto their backs. Standing quickly, Xavier drove all his weight through the spear and into one of the prone monsters, which let out a pained squawk before disappearing into nothingness. He stood slowly, the raining trickling over the curves of his back and from the tips of his hair, now hanging wildly in his eyes. Anger, pure unadulterated rage, poured from those dark brown, almost black, eyes. The last bird-man tried to crawl away, soaked in the puddles forming in the alley way. It had to get away, get away from this mad man, this unstoppable force. It wasn't nearly quick enough. Xavier drove his boot into the back of the creature, and it landed face first in a muddy puddle. Without mercy, Xavier drove the tip of spear through the back of its skull. No parting words, no cynical wit, just quiet violence. It died suddenly and quietly.
He turned, and saw the frightened face of his young consort. Xavier almost couldn't understand, the rage was clouding his mind. All of the monsters were dead, how could she still be scared. Then he realised the truth: No there were still monsters. He was still here. Letting his shoulders sag, he sank to his knees. The spear cluttered to his side, shifting back into a rosary bead, topped off with a black wooden cross. He ran his hand through his hair, felt the rain and the wet matting the black locks. He had done it again, lost control. This was his curse, this was his fatal flaw. Suddenly, the exhaustion set back in and he felt like lying down right there in that alley and never waking up again. He stared at the pavement. How could he let himself lose control like that? Hadn't he been taught better? To kill without mercy, in the name of the Gods: that was the mantra of the true soldiers of Olympus. But he knew better. He knew there was always a choice.
He was drawn from his inner thoughts by the familiar touch of a small hand on his shoulder. Drawing his head up, he came eye-to-eye with the deep understanding eyes of Jenny, the innocent. An angel amongst devils. "You're scary" her quiet voice said "But I like you". She flashed a cheeky smile that Xavier couldn't help but return. He stood, picking up the rosary as he went. Quickly, he wrapped it around his right hand and picked up Jenny, lifting her onto his shoulders. "Let's get out of here" he said to her, and they walked out of the Alley. He'd get her to the Camp tomorrow. She could be innocent for one more night.