CHAPTER 10
"Join us Thalia. We both know you want power. We can give you the power to change your destiny. You don't have to be afraid of your father anymore. Olympus is going to fall whether we like it or not. Join us and save yourselves" said Luke. He was deathly pale. Jason scowled at him. He knew Thalia couldn't really restrain herself if it went any longer. Her fatal flaw was the greed for power just like his. He turned towards Zoe and Thalia. They gave a brief nod and charged.
Jason did many stupid things in his life. But what he did just now must top them all. He charged towards Atlas. Seeing him, Atlas gave a roar of laughter. "Just because you beat that wimp of a war god, you think you can stand up to me?" His silk suit morphed into a Greek battle armour and javelin appeared in his hands.
Jason fought many monsters in his quests. He even fought a war god. But Atlas was nothing like them. He realised, not for the first time, how utterly hopeless the quest was. Atlas had way more experience, skill and agility. He could see that he was a battle-hardened veteran while he was a snot-nosed puny demigod. As he fought on, the sword started to weigh him down and his arms began to feel like lead. He realised that the Curse of Ares was starting to take effect.
Thalia and Luke were in a vicious combat. While Luke was an excellent swordsman, Thalia was unbeatable in her spear and shield. Their fight was that of attrition. Luke was breathing heavily. He was pale and it seemed that he was running on fumes.
Zoe meanwhile was firing arrows after arrows at Atlas. However, they had little effect. He mostly swatted them away.
After a particularly vicious swipe of his javelin, Jason was thrown backwards and crashed into rocks. His sword was nowhere in sight and he could feel his ribs cracked. He realised that he cannot win the fight against Atlas. The general was slowly approaching Jason. As he raised his javelin to impale him, Zoe gave a desperate cry. "NO" she yelled and let loose a volley of arrows. They found their mark against the various chinks of Atlas's armour.
"ARGH!" He bellowed and turned towards his daughter.
Jason meanwhile stumbled towards Artemis. "The sky" he said "give it to me". "The burden will kill you. Its not for mortals. You will die" Artemis said. "I will die anyway. Give it to me" he said and took out his sword which returned back to him. He slashed the chains and crouched on one knee-held up his hands-and touched the sky. Artemis quickly slipped out from under the burden.
His entire body was on fire. His vision tinged red. He could hear his bones groaning. It was crushing him underneath. He could only catch glimpses of the battle.
Artemis was fast. She weaved in and out from Atlas. Jason was mesmerised. She fought elegantly. It was like a deadly dance. Her hunting knives were streaks of silver.
Thalia and Luke went spear on sword. However, he could see Thalia was pressing her advantage. "Give up Luke. You could never beat me". "We'll see about that Thalia" Luke snarled.
Despite Artemis being blindingly fast, she was being pushed back. Jason could see why Atlas was the general of the most fearsome army that ever walked upon earth. He was simply unstoppable. Even though he wasn't as fast as Artemis, his skill and experience overshadowed her. He could predict her strikes and parried them with ease. He feinted with the tip of his javelin. Artemis dodged but he swept around his javelin and knocked off of her feet. She fell on her back. Atlas raised his javelin for the kill.
"NO!" Zoe screamed. She leaped in between Artemis and her father and shot an arrow straight into his forehead. Atlas bellowed and backhanded his daughter, sending her crashing into the rocks. Jason winced involuntarily. Atlas raised his javelin once again to impale Artemis.
"First blood in a new war" he roared and he stabbed downward with all his might. Artemis closed her eyes, accepting her fate. Everything was in a standstill.
Only to find that Atlas no longer had his javelin.
Atlas turned to see that his javelin was pinned to a rock with a throwing knife. He understood that whoever managed to do that was formidable.
"Now now Atlas. Killing unarmed and helpless girls is unbecoming of a mighty general" said a silky voice. Jason was slack-jawed. He knew that voice very well. Artemis, for the first time, had a smile on her face despite noting the fact he called her helpless.
"You! You gave me the idea of using those skeletons. You gave me the location of those teeth. I know that voice. Show yourself" Atlas growled in anger. He couldn't believe he was being betrayed.
Jason would never forget how Atlas's face contorted in horror. Walking slowly towards him wearing a black trench coat and dirty brown combat boots was the emerald-eyed immortal with a raven black messy hair.
"Perseus" said Atlas in horror.
Hi guys, Deathstalker11 here. This is a short chapter. The next few chapters will be slowly updated. Its because of exams. But the story is still continuing. So hang on and keep reading and reviewing. Deathstalker11 out. Take care.