The End of the Fifth Age Ch. 7

The stars seemed to smile down on us as we set up camp.

We were crashing out in a picnic spot somewhere in a park. I wasn't that miserable. I mean, I'd had loads of 'camping' trips while hanging out with Artemis overnight, so I knew what to do. James didn't seem so lost either, which I thought strange for a city-boy. When I finally got up courage to ask him about it, he seemed to ignore me. Maybe it brought up something in his past he didn't want to remember. I wondered what could be so horrible about a camping trip. I thought they were fun.

We sat down opposite each other, and I pulled out my bow and quiver, inspecting them carefully. It's important to check your weapons whenever you have the time, Athena had drilled me, you might never have another chance anytime soon.

Testing the point of each arrow was painstaking, in more ways than one. I even lost a flick of blood or two when I pressed too hard on one arrow point. James watched lazily as I started polishing my twin blades.

"Aren't you gonna do something other than watch me, Sandman?" He didn't answer, just flicked his knives out, grabbed a rag, and started polishing. He'd been really quiet after dark, as if reminded of something.

After a tense silence, broken only by the crackle of flame (yes, we did build a fire and no, we're not going to burn the park down), he asked, "So how exactly are we going to get to Frisco?"

Breathing on a stubborn spot on my hunting knife, I reply, "We run. Or walk, or jog. Take your pick." He gave me a sideways look.

"You aren't exactly the best at running anywhere." I ignored him. The truth was I sucked at running. I mean, I could run as fast as mortals, but when you're a demigod that's not enough. Not even close. Artemis had always teased me about it.

"You couldn't beat a nymph in its tree form," she'd said.

Apparently deciding his blades were perfectly clean now, he slid then into his arm-straps, then rolled over and stretched like a cat. He even acted like one sometimes. I mean, he always watched people, he kept silent most of the time (unless he wanted to annoy me), and he always seemed to know what I was thinking even before I did it.

"Goodnight, Princess. Keep watch, won't you?" I gave him a look.

"I wouldn't trust you to look out anyway." He grunted in response, turned over, and within moments was snoring lightly. I shook my head.

Boys.

I continued to polish my blades, concentrating on a particularly obstinate spot of dirt. All of a sudden, I stopped. The back of my neck was tingling like crazy, which could mean only one thing: monster.

Gripping my knives, I stood up, careful not to wake James. With one expert kick, I doused the weakening flames. Creeping out of the picnic area, I took to the trees, searching for the intruder.

Sniff, sniff.

I froze. Looking down, I saw a cat. A lion the size of a freaking tank. The Nemean Lion. Stifling a gasp, I remembered the myth about Hercules strangling it to death. Well, no help there, I didn't have inhumanely strong hands. I quickly turned to go back to camp, but before I could, the branch I was holding snapped, and I fell into the undergrowth.

I managed to land on my feet, rolling to take the weight of the fall off my legs, but then the Nemean Lion came after me. I barely managed to spring out of the way before it made me into mincemeat. Narrowing its eyes, it looked at me like I was a willful piece of meat that refused to land in its mouth obediently.

I only noticed its back legs tensing when it was too late. I watched in horror as I leaped towards me, growling, then gave a confused mew as a knife scraped along its side and knocked it off course. Almost as suddenly, hands grabbed me and dragged me into the surrounding undergrowth.

"Idiot." James' voice was full of disdain.

As he set me down, I noticed one of his hands came away with liquid. The Lion had gotten me after all. One of my arms was nicked from the shoulder to the elbow, spewing blood. James wiped his hand on his shorts and grabbed one of my hunting knives.

"I'll take that."

Before I could argue, he was gone. I heard a yell, followed by a ferocious growl so deep it shook the ground.

"Hey Kitty!" I heard James taunt.

As the Lion growled again, I hoped James remembered that its skin was impenetrable. I don't remember how but I managed to struggle out into the open. I saw James dodging a mouthful of teeth, and then that mouthful looked straight at me.

With a pounce he closed the gap, stalking towards me slowly. I managed to throw the hunting knife, and it hit his nose, making it narrow its eyes like I just made things personal. I prepared myself as it charged and as I did, James threw his other knife. It managed to imbed itself in the Lion's ear, and the Lion turned.

I wanted to help, but I could hardly think from the loss of blood. I could only watch as the Lion charged. James, however, was prepared. He held my hunting knife out in front of him as he ran forward, intercepting the Lion's charge. He let go of the knife and slid, water-slide style, under the monster as it ate the blade and gagged uncontrollably.

I looked on as the Lion melted away like monsters always do. James finally reappeared under all that muck, eyes closed and lips pressed together tightly. When he opened his, he sat up and shuddered.

Brushing off the muck, he glared at me and yelled, "I told you to stay!"

"No you didn't!"

"Well you're supposed to have common sense! Wasn't the insult a subtle clue that you were in no condition to fight?"

"If I hadn't come, you would have been Meow Mix Special, with minerals for additional goodness!" I yelled back.

For a moment, we just stared at each other in helpless rage, me clutching my arm and James half-covered in monster muck. Then he stood, and walked away without a word. I half-hoped he was coming back. My shoulder hurt badly, and I was slowly losing consciousness.

He did, stomping in with our backpacks and my bow and quiver. Still shaking in anger, he pulled out a pack of ambrosia cubes and tossed it to me, along with some gauze. I had no idea where he got them from, but I figured now wasn't the time to ask.

Fortunately, nothing had gotten in that might have infected it, since the blood was still flowing like the Niagara Falls. I patched myself up as James collected his knives and tried to rid himself of the monster muck which was still clinging stubbornly to his clothes.

He finally gave up when he couldn't get the stuff off his back.

"Let's go."

Shouldering his backpack, his stalked out of the clearing. I followed a little shakily, walking on still quivering knees.

Thankfully, he wasn't walking that fast.

We stopped at the same time, when Apollo rose to wake the world in his Maserati. It was when we saw an abandoned store named 'Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium.'

I vaguely remembered Percy and Annabeth relating the story of their first quest together, and how this place was home to Medusa the Gorgon, but we crept in anyway. I was tired, and James wasn't much better although I had to admit he had more stamina than me.

James pulled back his arms, and I knew he was sliding his hidden blades into his hands, ready to use. But as we wandered around the Emporium, it became clear there wasn't anybody home.

"Do you think she's hiding somewhere?" James finally asked.

I shrugged. "I don't think so. I mean, she would want to greet us before killing us, right?"

James' eyes flicked around before he finally let his guard down. "I don't think she's here. She should have at least pounced on us by now. Maybe she's still dead."

Then a thought struck me. "Do you think she went to join Krios' army?"

James glanced back at me. "Maybe. In that case, we can stop here for now." I was so tired I didn't argue. I just picked the coziest looking spot in the Emporium and crashed.

James made no move to lie down. Instead, he leaned against a stone girl carrying flowers like Little Red Riding Hood and started polishing his knives. When he noticed me looking, he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"What? The last time you kept watch, things didn't go so smoothly. This time, I'm keeping lookout, whether you trust me or not."

I didn't feel like arguing so I nodded sleepily and drifted into Slumberland.