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Reyna ran ten feet before her knee gave out. She tumbled hard to the ground cursing in pain. Candice stopped running and turned towards her.
"Go," Reyna hissed feeling her kneecap. She wanted to scream in anger. Out of everything, she was beaten by a broken kneecap. Candice suddenly grabbed Reyna's hand.
"We need to go," Candice said. She had a look in her eyes that said she would not leave Reyna behind. Reyna briefly wondered who was more stubborn.
"You are going to leave" Reyna ordered. Candice grabbed her dagger and grabbed Reyna's bound hands. She cut the rope.
"We need to leave," Candice corrected. Reyna sighed and nodded once. Moving her head anymore caused tremendous pain to shoot through her skull. Reyna slowly scooted towards a tree and pulled herself up.
Reyna groaned in pain. She leaned on the tree trying to take all the weight off her injured knee. Candice watched her before looking around.
"Let's go," Reyna finally muttered. She pushed herself off the tree and limped away. Candice followed closely trying to look brave.
"Are you really Queen Hylla's sister?" Candice asked after awhile. Reyna lost count of how many steps she had taken. She focused on blocking out the pain.
"Yes," Reyna answered trying to judge how long they had been walking. She wanted to guess ten minutes. Everything was starting to slow down, and she felt dizzy.
"I can see the family resemblance. Well, before you had blood all over your face," Candice commented. Reyna nodded absently focusing on the path ahead. She slowly looked at her hands which had blood all over them. Was that blood from her side? Or, was the blood from her face?
"Are you okay?" Candice questioned Reyna looking at her. Reyna slowly looked around her head pounding. Her head ached horribly. Reyna tried to focus on Candice's face but everything became blurry.
"I'm f…fine," Reyna slurred, and she closed her eyes tightly. Her headache was getting worse by the second. Reyna opened her eyes and slowly tried to look around, but the world started spinning. She suddenly collapsed to her knees barely aware of the sharp pain that shot through her body.
Reyna slowly tried to stand, but she collapsed to the ground completely. She could feel someone shaking her shoulder trying to get her attention. Reyna tried to raise her head, but everything turned blurry. Reyna laid her head back on the ground as she passed out.
"What in Hades happened here?" Nico muttered to himself as Arion stopped. Nico jumped off the horse stumbling slightly. He straightened himself and walked towards the van trying to take everything in.
There were various boulders everywhere. Nico guessed it was safe to assume a boulder had slammed into the van. The only question was if Reyna had been in the van at the time.
"There was death here not long ago," Hazel said walking towards Nico. She looked around and quietly walked towards a dead girl. Nico forced himself to focus on the rest of the battlefield.
There was monster dust everywhere. Two iron clubs were lying on different sides of the vans. A crumpled shield was near one of the clubs.
"Nico, I found something," Hazel called. Nico hurried over to Hazel who was standing over the dead girl. The girl was wearing a jumpsuit and had a javelin buried in her chest. The son of Hades frowned and slowly pulled the weapon out.
"Is that Reyna's javelin?" Nico asked examining the weapon.
"Yes," Hazel confirmed. Nico looked around, and a glint caught his eye.
"I found her dagger," Nico said walking towards a dagger that near monster dust. He picked it up. Hazel walked towards the van scooping up the arrows she could see.
"Should we head back?" Hazel asked examining the arrows.
"I'm not sure. I can see a few bloodstains but not a trail," Nico answered with a frown. Hazel walked towards him.
"We have a starting point. We should tell the others," Hazel suggested. Nico nodded walking towards Arion. The horse gave him a look that said no. Hazel walked towards Arion and gave him a golden nugget.
"We can use a tree's shadow to get back," Nico said. Hazel nodded and looked around one more time. Nico led her away, but they heard a scream in the distance.
Arion seemed to appear at Hazel's side. She slipped on her cavalry helmet and pulled herself onto Arion. Nico looked at Hazel as she held out a hand. She swung him up as Arion sped off.
Nico held on tightly to Hazel until Arion sped into a clearing. Nico grabbed his sword looking around. He could see a girl lying on her back. She was wearing the same jumpsuit as the dead girl near the van.
"I recognize her," Hazel gasped sliding off Arion. She knelt next to the girl. "You were one of the Amazons that I ran into when I was with Percy and Frank. I hung you over the railing"
The girl slowly looked up at her. Hazel looked up at Nico, and it was clear she was trying to avoid looking at the girl's ripped open chest. Nico could sense that the girl was near death.
"Where is Reyna?" Nico questioned trying to hide his anger. The girl slowly looked at him. She laid her head back staring at the sky.
"Doris told me that the praetor would be the key to revenge. We would kill her and restore the Amazons to their former glory. Doris stabbed me in the back and left me for dead. I hope Vera made it," the girl muttered.
"Does this Doris have Reyna?" Nico demanded. The girl looked at him as if he was not there.
"Tell Queen Hylla I am sorry," the girl whispered.
"What is your name?" Hazel asked softly.
"Lulu," the girl whispered. She looked at Hazel. "Please protect Candice. She does not understand what we did. She is too young to suffer for our mistakes."
"I will do my best," Hazel promised. Lulu smiled and was no more. Hazel quietly closed Lulu's eyes.
"We need to go. I am sure there are plenty of monsters around," Nico said. Hazel nodded and stood. Nico grabbed her hand, and they stepped into the shadows.