'Lo there :) Thanks to everybody who's been reading/reviewing - love you guys' input. Really short chapter here, but not a bad one, I don't think.
Enjoy!
XII
LEO
"Percy!" Annabeth and Grover shouted in unison as the son of Poseidon was knocked to the ground beneath the great, black hound, sword flying from his hand. The dog snarled viciously, glaring at the group with blood-red eyes.
"What's a hellhound doing here?" Hazel asked frantically, pulling her spatha from its sheath and holding it at the ready.
"I don't know, but I'll tell you what it's not doing," Leo replied, instinctively running forward. "Turning any demigods into new chew-toys." He thrust both arms out in front of him and sent a jet of bright orange flames toward the hellhound, smacking it right above the shoulder. It howled as it was thrown backward by the force, its fur charred and smoking.
Annabeth ran immediately toward her boyfriend, and Leo was about to follow when a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and he was yanked backward, coming face-to-face with an angry Grover.
"Are you crazy?" the satyr demanded. "What do you want to do, start a forest fire?" He gestured wildly to the small, burning branches and leaves that dotted the ground, ignited by the ashes that fell when the fire had hit the hellhound.
"Sorry," Leo said quickly, mentally smacking himself. "Wasn't thinking."
Another growl split the air as the hellhound climbed to its feet. It leapt forward, toward where Hazel and Reyna were standing, and both girls dove to either side to avoid its outstretched claws. Hazel jabbed outward with her cavalry sword, slicing into the hellhound's right front leg and causing it to stumble, and Reyna rolled into a crouch in front of it, javelin in hand. She jumped to her feet and aimed a strike at the hellhound's face, but it closed its teeth around the shaft of her javelin and bit it in two. Reyna jumped to the side to avoid the same fate.
Behind the hellhound, Annabeth was pulling Percy to his feet, but he grimaced and dropped back to one knee almost immediately. Grover stood between them and Leo and had pulled out a set of reed pipes. He pressed them to his mouth and played a quick, lively tune, and thick vines grew out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the hellhound's back legs. It growled and made a swipe for the vines, narrowly missing Hazel with its claws and instead whacking her with the back of its paw. She flew a few yards back and rolled across the dirt, her sword landing by her feet.
Leo knew fire was dangerous in a forest this thick, but he had to do something. Maybe if he got closer he could make sure no stray flames got away from him. With this in mind, he gritted his teeth and started toward the hound, but almost collided with Reyna just before he was within range.
"Give me a boost!" she said urgently, grabbing Leo by the arm and pulling him toward the hellhound's back as it busied itself with clawing and biting at the vines still encircling its back legs. Leo wasn't sure he understood, but when Reyna pulled out her dagger and eyed the hound's head, it hit him.
"Whatever you say," he said skeptically, admiring her bravado but secretly wondering if she was more insane than he was. When they were close enough and sure the hound's head was facing away from them, Leo laced his fingers together tightly and dug his heels into the ground. Reyna stepped onto the bridge made by Leo's hands and used his shoulder as leverage as he pulled her up, allowing her to leap onto the hellhound's back. It finally noticed someone was causing a disturbance just before she drove her dagger into the back of its neck.
The hellhound let out a deafening howl and burst into millions of tiny dust particles. Reyna dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch and covered in so much black dust that she looked like she'd taken a swim in a pool full of coffee grounds. Leo brushed some of the dust from his own hair and shoulders and offered her a hand, pulling her to her feet with an appreciative grin.
"Nice work," he said as she wiped dust from her face and tried to shake off her clothes. "Guess you're just as deadly as you are dead-serious."
Reyna fixed Leo with a pointed look. She opened her mouth to respond but froze when a strange sound interrupted her.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
All six of them fell silent, heads whipping around to find the source of the noise, as out of the shadow between two trees stepped a huge, seven-foot-tall man in a brown leather jacket. He was clapping his hands slowly and deliberately, a double-barrel shotgun under his arm and a smirk on his face. Leo felt something in his chest tighten in dread—this man looked just like the one Hazel had described from her dream. And from the look of him, Leo was fairly certain that polite conversation and cooperation were not going to be an option.
"Not bad," the hunter said, his voice low and quiet, just above a whisper. "But unfortunately, y'all just took out my prey." An evil smile spread across his face as he clutched his shotgun in both hands, raising the barrel and taking aim. "Guess that means I'll have to hunt you, instead."
And now we meet the hunter! I love the next chapter (we're back with Annabeth! I don't know why, but I really like writing her) - so review for me and I'll throw it up faster. Otherwise, look for it sometime mid-next week probably, to keep with my recent time-spacing. Don't want to rush, after all :)
On a different note, ohmigosh did anyone else see that video of Rick reading an exerpt from HoH? From an Annabeth chapter in the middle of the book? Ugh it made me SO want to read it like RIGHT NOW. SUPER intense and awesome - can't wait! /fangirl moment
Reviews are love, friends! Later days!
-oMM
