AN: Sorry about no update yesterday and the late one today. Yesterday I started my new job, and then I went to a party afterwards. Today, I've been helping my mom with an art project. It's been hectic. So, I kinda left you guys hanging. I hope this chapter makes up for it. PJO and HOO belong to Rick Riordan, the cover art belongs to Viria.
Percy, Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill
The squads move as a single unit, flawlessly merging and separating according to their superior officers' commands. We run together up the hill, a solid mass of gray-hooded soldiers; some are in armor and some are not, but all of us are armed. I do what I've been trained to do. I lead.
We pass over the barrier and meet the first wave of monsters. The clashing of metal on metal rings through the air, followed by hisses as my soldiers' weapons make contact with monsters, which dissipate. There are probably twice the amount of monsters than soldiers, but that hardly matters. Ahead of me, a Cyclops raises a club. I duck and roll, out of reach of the tree-sized weapon. I come up at a crouch, raise up, then run at it. It tries to reach for me, but is too slow. I slice its knee as I run past it through its leg. The injury sends it stumbling forward, cursing me, and it falls to the other knee. I turn around, jump onto its back and slice through its neck, cutting off its head.
I fall as the Cyclops dissipates, but land easily and start running towards my next targets, a group of four dracaena all fighting a lone soldier. The first and second don't even realize I'm there. By the time the last dracaena has turned around, the third has been killed by the soldier from my squad. The last one is quickly taken care of and the two of us run off to help more soldiers.
All around me, the army is doing what it does best; sending monsters back to their master. The three squads under my command are spread over the left flank, left forward, and center forward, while the two squads under Miles' command take the right forward and flank. We cut through Cyclopes, hell-hounds, and dracaena, but the shadowy figures, there are six, remain at a distance.
"Sir!" One of the soldiers to my right calls out. "Those shadow things are headed towards us. What are they?"
Too late, I realize.
"Fuck- they're Arai!" Have to think fast, before they get here. "Lieutenant Damian, take charge of Delta and Echo, finish here, and then get the wounded back to camp. Squad Alpha, to me!" Damian nods, then shouts out his own orders. "Squad Alpha, forward. Those are Arai, children of Nyx. They're spirits of curses, found in the darkest parts of the Pit. When you kill one, the curse rebounds on you. I want you to pair up. If you can, one of you should kill one, and then both of you fall back to join the other squads. Taking multiple curses could kill you, and one could gravely injure you. Stay with your partner at all costs. Once one of you kills it, the other will have to help you escape. Go!"
AN: I am so sorry that this one is so short, but it's really late here and I'm exhausted. Just a warning: I'll be spending tomorrow with my family and I may not get the chance to update. I wrote this very short chapter as more of a sneak peek because I knew I may not get the chance to post tomorrow and I didn't want to leave you with nothing until Monday. Please don't hate me; I'm doing my best. Bye~
