A Matter of Trust
Chapter 2: The Daughters of War
Annabeth POV:
Clarisse stood by the dead tree with her sword drawn. Battered armor covered her frame. On her head rested the object of their troubles; the Helm of Ares. Somehow the helm had come into Clarisse's possession and she was foolish enough to put it on. Of course the helm had driven her into an unbridled rage. After she had torn up the camp and escaped, Chiron had summoned her to put together a team and bring Clarisse and the helm back to camp. Annabeth had felt up to the challenge and drew up her team. Percy was a must. As a child of one of the big three, he had enough raw power to match Clarisse in battle. Her second choice had been a child of Apollo to fill a medic and archer role. Unfortunately, the only person Will Solace could spare was Mikela. Annabeth didn't dislike her, but she did think that she was too young and inexperienced for this type of mission. Then there was Ren. Since they couldn't contact the Hunters of Artemis soon enough, Chiron had insisted that Ren fill the role of their tracker. While he was a superb tracker, he was undisciplined and didn't play as a member of the team. Ren always did his own thing and that caused problems for the people who had to work with him. Annabeth couldn't worry about that now, Clarisse was right in front of them. Ren was already circling to the left to get behind her. Mikela edged to the right to line up the right shot. Percy had his sword ready and was waiting for Annabeth's signal. She stepped forward and tried to talk to her friend.
"Clarisse, please listen to me." Annabeth tried to keep her voice soft and calm. "We're your friends and we just want to help you. Let us help you." Annabeth extended her hand. Clarisse looked at them with eyes filled with rage. She let out a yell and charged toward Annabeth. "Take her down!" Annabeth yelled.
Percy stepped forward to intercept Clarisse. Their swords met in a clash of sparks over their heads. Clarisse brought her sword down to hack a Percy's shoulder. Percy parried the blow and followed up with a slash to Clarisse's forearm. He couldn't move quite fast enough and was blocked. Annabeth heard a twang and saw an arrow shoot towards Clarisse's thigh, but it too was blocked at the last second before another of Percy's attacks failed to connect. Annabeth charged forward and attacked Clarisse while she was locked with Percy. Clarisse twisted out of the way and brought her knee up to Annabeth's abdomen. Annabeth rolled on the ground while Percy tried to reengage Clarisse. Mikela loosed another arrow but it was blocked by Clarisse's bracer. By this time Ren had moved in and brought his glaive cutting horizontally at Clarisse's midsection. Clarisse blocked the blade with her sword and Ren, not missing a beat, swung the pole around and connected the spike into her side. He then backpedaled before Clarisse could counter.
"Mikela keep up the arrows!" Annabeth yelled. She looked over at Mikela and saw the young girl on her knees rooted to the spot. She was shaking uncontrollably. Annabeth swore and looked back over at Clarisse. Percy and Ren were keeping her busy, but only just. Percy slashed low and Ren slashed high. Clarisse was able to block Percy's sword with hers and grabbed the pole of Ren's glaive. Percy unleashed a series of blows on Clarisse who blocks strike after strike. Ren twists his glaive and pushed the blade towards Clarisse before pulling the weapon free and slashing at her shin. The blow slides off her shinguard and Ren retreats before Clarisse is able to respond with a counterattack. Percy stabs toward Clarisse's shoulder while she is turned. Clarisse turns quickly and deflects the sword but not enough. Riptide sinks into Clarisse's upper arm instead. She screams and strikes back at Percy in a rage. Annabeth runs over to Mikela and shakes her into sense. "Mikela get it together! We need your head in the game or everyone is going to get hurt."
The girl turns her head toward Annabeth and just stares at her. Fear is keeping her from reacting to what Annabeth is saying. She stands up angrily and makes her way toward Clarisse, bringing her daggers to bear. Ren attacks again with a low cut to the calf while Percy fends off an impressive flurry of blows. Annabeth stabs at the shoulder and is blocked. Percy swings his sword around but his wrist is caught by Clarisse. She yanks and a sickening crack can be heard. She grunts as Ren cuts the back of her leg and spins around to slash at him. Ren backs away and swings the spike into Clarisse's forearm. Clarisse turns back to Percy as he picks his sword up but it is too little too late as she stabs her sword clean through his torso.
"NOOO!" Annabeth screamed. She rushed to Percy as he fell and cradled him in her arms. "Mikela bring the first aid kit." Mikela remained rooted to the spot as Clarisse advanced on Annabeth and Percy. "Mikela I need you to help me." Ren darted in between Annabeth, Percy, and Clarisse.
"Over here," he yelled. "Come get me." Clarisse hacked at Ren but he blocked in time and responded with a cut down on her shoulder and was blocked himself. Ren edged away from Annabeth and Percy while still keeping Clarisse distracted. He constantly attacked with a lightning fast strike and then immediately pulled back out of reach, using the glaive's superior reach to keep Clarisse off balance.
"Percy stay with me," Annabeth said. "Stay with me. Stay with me. Stay with me." She kept repeating the phrase; even as Percy continued to bleed, even as Mikela remained rooted in place, even as Ren desperately tried to fight off Clarisse, even as Percy's eyes gradually closed.