Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Lost Trident
Now don't get me wrong. I knew practicing was essential to my hero- in- training and all, and Chiron was a great teacher. But there were times when I seriously questioned his judgement in what he perceived to be 'a simple exercise.' Sword fighting, war strategic and chariot racing I could do. Battling an eight-feet tall monster with multiple heads breathing fire…not so much.
The beast had charged faster than I would've thought possible. It thundered after us, shaking the ground as we made our ways through the woods. Its heads - it had two of them - were flat, triangular and, like its whole body, covered in grayish scales. Yellow eyes with vertical pupils glowed with hate, and there was a foul stench of brimstone coming from its razor-sharp teeth filled mouth. Across the backbone of its muscular body ran a line of spines all the way up to his lizard-like tail.
We ran as fast as we could, she with the athletic pace of someone used to running, me stumbling and barely dodging trees as I came along. With black burn holes on my jeans and bits of leaves and twigs in my hair from falling down, I probably looked like a maniac. I glanced over and saw Annabeth who was sent to help me with my training, her golden hair cascading down her back. Somehow, due doubtless to the endless mystery of girls I didn't have a hope of understanding, she looked completely at ease with herself, like being chased by giant lizards was as perfectly normal to her as brushing her teeth. Then again, it probably was.
"Don't you think Chiron is taking the "fight or die" – thing a little bit too serious!" I yelled. The tree I had just passed exploded in flames. The heat was so intense, it nearly seared off my eyebrows. Annabeth's eyes swiftly shifted to me.
"Quite honestly, Seaweed Brain, if you can't handle this creature I doubt you'll ever leave this camp. Try being chased by a twelve-feet tall monster, then complain. So what's the plan, you want to keep on running or what?"
I looked around wildly, gasping for breath. Up ahead was an open space, almost a circle surrounded by trees. The woods were full of open spaces, but they were usually full of small pools or weird rock formations. This one, however, was completely empty.
"We need to get to the open space right there!" I gestured ahead. Annabeth followed my gaze and nodded firmly.
We split up when we reached the area. My heart pounded in my chest. I knew that the beast had picked me as its target, I could almost feel its hot breath on my neck. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. Without warning, the monster lowered its heads and charged, sharply pointed fangs clearly visible in its wide-opened mouth. The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but I held my ground. I couldn't outrun it while he was this close, so all I could do was wait as it came closer. At the last possible moment, I jumped to the side, using Riptide to cut a horizontal wound in its side. Holding my sword more tightly, I whirled and kept my eyes on him.
The beast roared in pain, then came at me again filled with rage. I was so busy fighting off the heads that continuously attacked me, that I nearly didn't see the blue forming in its mouths. Without a second thought, I dove to the side, arms and legs outstretched, just in time before a blast of fire turned the ground where I'd been standing into a smoking pit of ashes. If the monster had attacked me right then, I wouldn't have been able to stand up fast enough, but it was momentarily distracted by Annabeth, who shot arrows at it like a wolf capturing prey. The arrows bounced off the invulnerable skin of its main body, but the beast got extremely irritated. It turned and growled, pawing the ground. Suddenly, I got an idea.
"Keep on distracting him,!" I shouted and immediately winced, afraid that it had gotten the attention of the creature, but it kept eyeing Annabeth, who was now retreating slowly toward the tree borderline, trying to lead the beast away from me.
While she was distracting it, I ran towards the tree near the back of the monster, picking up my speed. When I reached it, I leaped straight up, kicking off from the tree's stem, using it as a springboard. In one fluid motion, I brought Riptide down and sliced through both heads. Joy surged through me. The now headless body staggered from right to left, causing dust waves to float up wherever it placed its paws. I landed on both feet with the beast behind me and quickly stood straight up, feeling pretty badass.
"Hey Percy, you dropped something!" Annabeth shouted from the other side of the creature, hands cupped around her mouth. She bent down and pretended like she was picking something up.
"Oh never mind, it's just your brain. You don't use it anyway."
I glared at her. She glared back, hands in her side.
"You do know that thing's descendant of a Hydra, don't you? Can't cut off their heads, rings a bell?"
I gasped as realization set in. From the necks on up, multiple bulbs were growing bigger with a frightening speed.
"Oh…shit."
"Yeah…."
Within seconds, I wasn't looking at four, but six heads staring down at me. Before I could swing my sword, they all opened their mouths simultaneously, and shot an enormous column of flame straight at me. I dove through the explosion and rolled through. Sweat dripped off my forehead. I tried to regain my balance, but I was so worried about defending myself against the multiple heads, I completely forgot about the serpent tail until it whipped around and sank its fangs into my calf.
Pain shot through my leg like it was on fire. I tried to stab Riptide into the serpent tail, but it wrapped around my ankles and pulled me off balance, and I fell to the ground. That's where Annabeth came in.
She ran in front of me and warded of the attacks until I got to my feet. Immediately, I started defending myself against three of the heads while she was working on the other half. They came at us mercilessly, driving us further and further back toward the tree line.
"I can't believe you've actually managed to make it worse!" Annabeth shouted, sounding more irritated than scared.
"You should've figured out how to kill it by now, it's not even a life-size Hydra!"
"I can't believe you're working on three heads at once and still find time to talk!"
"Oh please." She rolled down and pinned her sword in the paw of the monster, causing a loud roar. "The creature is selected for your level, not mine. It's not my fault you've got the mental ability of a sea cucumber. Besides…" She dodged a head. "You love me talking, comforts you to know that at least one of us can think."
"What? Oh, I'm sorry, I was too busy visualizing duct tape over your mouth."
I was breathing heavily. It was getting harder and harder to lift up my arms, and my leg thumped painfully. I knew that I was running out of time. Annabeth might have been used to this but I certainly wasn't. I couldn't fight this thing forever, but I had no idea how to kill it. I couldn't cut off its heads because…well, that was pretty obvious, and I couldn't reach its heart because its skin was invulnerable at his main body. We scattered as a blast of fire shot at us. The flames immediately vaporized when they had turned the ground to ashes, like the area was magically protected from the flames spreading and burning down the entire forest. The beast roared in frustration. I quickly looked at Annabeth from the corner of my eye.
"Just tell me how to kill the damn thing!"
"It's your training."
Once again, I had caught the Hydra's eye and it thundered towards me.
"Now!" I evaded the creature just in time, but it wouldn't take long until it would attack me again.
"Fine, FINE. According to myth, Heracles killed the Hydra by cutting off the heads one by one and cauterized them with fire!"
I looked around wildly. Since I didn't have a lighter with me, the only other way to get any flames was by rapidly rubbing two rocks against each other, but I didn't have the time, nor the rocks.
"How in hell am I supposed to get fire!"
Annabeth, who was running back and forth with a pile of wood in her hands, stopped.
"Oh my god, did you just say that? How many times do I have to tell you to think before you talk! Do you even hear You're fighting a Hydra, for crying out loud. It's practically a walking barbeque!"
I was quiet for a moment.
"I hadn't thought of that."
"Obviously. Catch!" She threw a thick stick at me, with I caught with ease and used to slam one of the heads away.
"You lit it on fire. I will cut off its heads, you cauterize them!" Her eyes had gotten sharp and determined, her mouth a grim line. I nodded as a sign of understanding.
"Go!"
Without hesitation, I feinted to the right, then rolled down to the left side of the creature, stabbing Riptide in its paw just like Annabeth had done. The howl of the creature was so loud they must've heard it at the camp. At the same time, Annabeth leaped up and managed to crawl up the back of it. The skin of its main body was so hard that the Hydra didn't even notice her. Its giant teeth gnashing, a head shot at me like a torpedo, but I sprang aside and jammed my sword in its eye. It reared up roaring, and I saw Annabeth folding her arms around the neck of one of the heads as fast as she could. Then the Hydra dropped its paws again with a loud bang, and opened its mouth. This time, I was prepared. Dropping my sword, I jumped up and swung myself around the neck of the outer head, and held out the stick just in time as another fire blast came down. Within seconds, Annabeth had cut off the head and I cauterized it immediately. Annabeth wasted no time and slashed through the heads like butter, me following in her footsteps with the fire. It didn't take long before the best let out its final roar and crashed with an enormous boom. The dust wave was so big it came up to our waists. Finally, everything was silent. We both looked at the beast, breathing heavily. Then I grinned.
"So…high five?"