Really sorry for the delay. I've been working on a book. Please review.
Chapter 10–
The ground was rumbling beneath my feet, and my heart was pounding. My sword felt heavy in my hand. I looked up at the stone mound in hundreds of yards in front of me. We were at the threshold of the Mist. Any closer, and we'd see our enemy.
This place had haunted my dreams for the past week. And now we were here.
Behind me stood the forces of Camp Half-Blood, Tut, and Romulus, as well as the Hunters and some of Poseidon's Cyclops army (Percy had begged his dad for help). At my side were the leaders of the three camps: Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, and Enrique along with two other Egyptians. I was granted an honorary position beside them. Together, our army was a little less than five hundred strong.
We looked at each other. Slowly, we nodded.
"CHARGE!" Roared Jason, sword in the air. From the hundreds of our forces rose a collective yell as we rushed towards Ayer's Rock.
The scene changed vividly. Waiting in front of us was the Giant's own army of demons and monsters. Our army ground to a halt.
"My god," I heard Jason breath.
Imagine every nightmare you've ever had–the countless monstrosities you've seen in your dreams. Demons with bloodlust in their eyes, misshapen hulking behemoths that could crush you with a fist, screeching winged creatures whose cry alone made you want to curl up into the fetal position, and countless more. All were armed with bows and swords and axes. That was the giants' army, which nearly doubled ours.
Then the Giant's themselves–eleven of them. The word huge didn't do them justice. Take the biggest building you've ever seen, square it, throw in a couple more buildings for good measure, and then maybe you'll have something close to what we were facing. Yeah. That big.
For the moment, neither side was doing anything. The giants just stood there, small grins on their faces like they had already won.
I don't know why, but those smiles made me angry. I closed my eyes. Dad, I prayed. If you're out there, somewhere–help us. I pictured my father standing before me, my father who was the sky and heavens. It wasn't just my imagination–I felt as if he was actually there. He put a hand on my shoulder and nodded.
I opened my eyes, and this time I was grinning. My hands began glowing with a dark fire, and I extended my arms. Slowly, I rose into the air–ten feet, fifty feet, a hundred feet. I rose until I was eye to eye with the nearest giant. I concentrated, focusing my power. The skies darkened and rumbled.
A hundred arrows were shot in my direction, but I casually sent them back to their owners with fatal accuracy.
With a noise like thunder amplified a thousand times, the sky twisted into an black hole and began picking up enemy monsters. When a monster was lifted up into the sky, it began disintegrating and the ashes were absorbed into the sky. In less than two minutes, two thirds of the enemy soldiers were gone. At that point, I was having trouble holding on the power and had to let it go, or risk losing control of it.
With my hands still engulfed in black flame, I alighted onto the ground to a massive cheer from my side. With a collective yell, the battle began.
I drew my sword and charged the first giant I saw, yelling at Jason and Percy to come to my side. Our army would hopefully make short work of the monsters so we could focus on the bigger threat.
The giant squinted down at us and drew his weapon, a club the size of the Empire State Building. He roared and smashed it onto the ground, and the shockwave sent the three of us flying.
He picked it up again, and hefted it over his head. He looked down at the ground to try and aim.
"Hey ugly!" Yelled Percy. He jumped out of the way as the giant slammed his weapon onto the ground.
Here's the thing about clubs and other bashing weapons–they may be good at smashing stuff, but they have none of the agility of a sword, and are a lot more unwieldy. I jumped onto the club and from there, teleported to his shoulder. I placed my hand on the back of his neck. The dark energy completely engulfed his body, and he screamed in agony.
"Now!" I yelled, looking at Jason. I saw Jason furrow his eyebrows, and a moment later an enormous bolt of lightning struck the giant in the chest. The giant gave a final cry of pain, and collapsed, still on fire, crushing another few dozen of his own army.
One down, ten to go.
The next few hours passed in a blur. I had one goal in my mind–eliminate the giants. I was on autopilot.
My next victim fell to the likes of me and Leo, who was in full Human Torch mode. I stabbed the giant in the back of the neck while Leo tossed homemade Molotovs at him.
It barely felt as if the giant's were putting up a fight, thanks to my dad's blessing. And Chiron's theory had been proven correct–I was close enough to a god myself to help kill them.
Finally, there were only three giants left, Porphyrion and two of his brothers. All of the monster army had been destroyed, and our army had backed the three against Ayer's Rock. Everyone with a bow had it aimed, ready to fire directly at them.
An idea formed in my mind. I tossed my sword into the air, and it began glowing. I closed my eyes, and it grew to the size of one of the giant's own weapons. I was able to control it with my mind.
"Fire I yelled. Two hundred arrows flew at one of the giants at the same moment I stabbed him. He made no noise as he fell.
The remaining giants stared at us with raw hatred in their eyes. My sword flew back into my hand, regular size once again.
"And then there were two," I called out to the giants.
"We will avenge our brothers," Porphyrion hissed. "Perhaps with a bit of...help."
Enrique, who was standing next to me, flinched.
"No!" He yelled as the ground began shaking. An enormous serpent, twice as long as the giant's were tall, erupted out of the earth. He was the definition of a monster, with six listless red eyes and fangs that would have made a Tyrannosaurus weep for his mom.
Enrique took a step forward, shaking. His walking stick, now a scepter made of black ore, began glowing. He pointed it at the serpent.
The serpent hissed.
"Going to kill me with your iron toothpick?" It asked tauntingly. It didn't speak normally, in that it's mouth didn't move. Instead, I heard a deafening voice ring through my ears that unmistakably belonged to the snake.
"I've done it before, Apophis." Enrique hissed back. The serpent reared it's head back and laughed coldly.
"That was because I let you," Apophis responded softly. "I let you take my power," He repeated, more loudly.
"That doesn't change the fact that I have your power in my veins," Enrique retorted.
"The thing is," The serpent replied smoothly. "I have my power as well." He roared, a deafening wall of sound erupting from his mouth that pushed us all back a few paces. I knew I would never forget the noise for as long as I lived. Even the giants winced.
"Let everyone here know," The demon serpent roared in our minds. "That this demigod returned from the dead–with my aid. Let everyone know that we have become one and the same. Let everyone know that his will is mine. Let everyone know that he has hidden this all from each and every one of you. And then ask yourselves if you still trust him with your cause."
My eyes widened. It couldn't be true. I looked at Enrique, who turned around, fear and shame written all over his face.
"I can explain," He began quickly.
"Kneel in front of me," Apophis whispered. "Kneel and declare your devotion to Gaia like the traitor you have become."
Enrique spun around, his face contorted.
"Never," He responded.
"Kneel," Apophis insisted calmly, but it was evident that his words carried power. Enrique's knees buckled beneath him and he dropped his weapon.
"Now, say how you will serve Gaia."
"I–I will." Enrique said, to a gasp from our army.
"Now, turn around and help us exterminate your friends."
Slowly, painfully, Enrique turned. His eyes were full of regret as he picked up his scepter. The scepter began glowing. He launched a wave of energy that sent a dozen demigods flying–including me.
Things really began taking a turn for the worst at that moment.
Our army was being decimated left and right. Even without any soldiers, the two giants, Apophis, and Enrique were destroying us.
I decided that I would try and get to Enrique, and snap him out of whatever spell he was under. I flew at him like a bat out of hell, hovering in front of him, my sword drawn. He hissed, and turned.
"I know what you're going to try and do," He said, and there was real pain in his voice. "But it's too late. You can't help me."
"That's not going to stop me from trying," I retorted, rising a bit higher. Enrique looked me in the eye. His were shining green and gold.
"I'm sorry," He whispered. He spread his wings and launched himself into the air. He dove at me with his ivory sword, lashing out furiously. It was all I could do to deflect his strikes as we rose high into the air.
The problem, I soon realized, was that he was a hell of a better flyer than me. His movements through the air were a lot more natural and effortless than mine. Also, he could keep going all day, while I was getting more tired by the second. I had to do something, quickly.
I looked at Enrique, released my hold on the power keeping me up,and dropped like a stone. He watched me fall, too surprised to follow. Time seemed to grind to a halt.
In a blur, I teleported right behind him.
Here's something you should know about that particular power of mine–when I teleport, its not a one stop trip. In the second that it takes me to get from point A to point B, I pass through somewhere. Think of it like skipping rocks, where I'm the rock. Your hand is my starting place, the first skip on the water is that somewhere, and the second skip is the place I'm trying to get to.I'm not exactly sure where it is that I pass through, but once I opened my eyes during the second I was there, and caught a glimpse of darkness and stars.
Here's another thing you should know–I have never, ever taken someone with me while I'm teleporting with me. I'm not sure they would survive the journey. I know Enrique has teleported with people, but his method works differently. He can only do so while he is on the ground, first of all, and it works best through sand. He basically travels through the earth. I've always been terrified of the possible outcomes of taking someone along with me.
Anyway, in the split second before Enrique turned around, I grabbed him, and we disappeared.
Instead of passing over the "first skip," I focused my mind. And stayed there. Enrique lay on the ground, gasping.
"Are you all right?" I asked. With wide eyes, eyes that were their normal color, he turned to me. He nodded, a horrified look on his face.
"What have I done?" He whispered. He looked at me with a kind of hurried apology. "You have to understand…Apophis…he knew my true name…the scales…too heavy…"
I did what any reasonable person would have done to stop his rambling, and slapped him across the face. He blinked once and stood up.
"Thanks." He glanced at the scenery around us. It looked like we were standing on some sort of lone, large asteroid-like object. Far in the distance, all I could see were stars.
"Where are we, anyway? Is this limbo? I hate limbo." Enrique asked.
The funny thing was, the longer we were there, the more I knew about the place.
"Not limbo exactly. Somewhere far away from Earth. But still the same dimension. And I feel the strangest thing, like a presence." I explained. I looked him in the eye, and he flinched.
"Shit, that's creepy," He muttered.
"What?"
"Your eyes match the background exactly. And their glowing."
I shrugged. "Why are you back to normal all of a sudden, anyway?"
"My theory is that when you brought me here, you broke the hold Apophis had on me. I'm one hundred percent Enrique."
"Not for long," A voice hissed. Enrique turned pallid. Apophis shimmered into existence before our eyes.
"It took me much too long to locate you two. I must be getting old." He turned and snarled at me. "You just cost me the best servant I've had in eons, Skyborn. For that, you shall pay."
"No." Enrique said, firmly.
"Quiet," Apophis said. "Your soul will be mine soon enough, as soon as I remember your true name. Until then, I shall dispose of this nuisance."
"Not if I destroy you first," Enrique retorted, remarkably brave for a guy facing a monster literally hundreds of times his size. Apophis was unfazed, rolling all six of his eyes.
"You can't destroy an immortal, fool."
"I've done it before."
"Oh, have you? That weakling Lycaon?"
"Well, he has me on his side, which has to count for something," I called out, but my voice was shaking.
"No, I don't," Enrique insisted. "You have to go back. The others need you more than I do. There are still two giants left, and as long as you're here they can't be killed."
I was about to protest when Apophis cut me off.
"The self-sacrifice of mortals is always touching, but I simply can't allow this one to leave." The serpent interjected, and lunged at me.
I was paralyzed by fear as my life flashed before my eyes. Apophis was about to finish me off in one bite when something stopped him. An enormous hand blocked him. The hand belonged to an equally enormous, yet somewhat insubstantial, figure, what looked like an angel with the head of a jackal. Visible at it's heart was Enrique. The figure wielded a sword and scepter that were exact replicas of Enrique's. When Enrique moved, the figure moved.
"I pity your foolishness, son of Anubis. Even with your spell, I am infinitely stronger."
"Try me," Enrique said through the figure's mouth, spreading his arms wide. It was his voice, but amplified a thousandfold. Before the snake could move, he blasted a bolt of energy that was bright enough to momentarily leave me blinded.
Apophis hissed, and turned towards mega-Enrique. In the process, the end of his tail hit me like a baseball and sent me flying, an experience only slightly preferable to being hit by a freight train.
I stopped my fall in mid-air while they began fighting. Apophis lunged and bit, but Enrique had magic and weapons. He slashed with his sword and shot blasts of energy at the snake. I picked up my own sword and ran towards them. Enrique turned around and fixed me a long, regretful, look. Then he picked up his sword and stabbed the ground.
A crack erupted where his blade struck the ground. The rocky surface fractured like glass and the crack encircled Enrique and Apophis. With a massive tearing sound, a piece of the asteroid we were on separated and spun away into the void, with Enrique and Apophis still fighting on it. Apophis' form flickered for a moment, and I knew he was trying to get away. However, Enrique jabbed the serpent with his scepter, and electricity arced down Apophis' spine. The snake solidified and I realized he couldn't disappear like he wanted to. Neither, however, could Enrique.
I watched with growing horror as they grew smaller in the distance, until they were gone. I dropped my sword and fell to the ground. I kneeled there for a moment with my eyes closed, disbelieving. Shaking myself, I picked up my weapon and teleported back to earth.
I was on the ground, at the back of the army. Our soldiers were fighting the giants, and actually seemed to be doing ok. I was about to charge towards them when I heard a voice yell.
"There he is!" Cried Annabeth. I turned around and almost fell over. An enormous flying battleship was headed my way, with eight people on top. Seven were evidently campers, while the last had the bottom half of a horse. When it reached me, someone tossed a rope ladder over the side so I could climb up. Shaking my head, I made to teleport up to where they were standing, and found that I couldn't. Before I could contemplate this, Chiron yelled at me to hurry. I climbed the ladder.
"What's going on?" I asked, looking around. Besides Chiron and Annabeth, Percy, Clarisse, Jason, Piper, and Leo were present, as well as Rachel.
"We need to leave." Chiron urged.
"Why?" I asked, dumbfounded. "The giants are still here!"
"It's more important than that," He replied.
"How?" I responded incredulously. "What could be more important that finishing off the giants?"
"It won't matter if Gaia awakes, which she is doing right now," Leo interjected. I turned towards the six campers, and me. Seven total.
"I guess it's prophecy-fulfilling time." I said.