XIII
Frank
Frank was pretty sure all memory he had of nice dogs and cute sea lions would be gone by the time this battle was over.
telekhine's were not a pretty sight. They were about seven feet tall, at least a foot taller than any one of the demigods. Their faces were very much like that of a dog. A big dog. Their bodies were sleek black color, like seals and seal lions. Their feet were flippers while their hands appeared almost human, save the six inch razor-sharp claws.
Four landed on deck behind the Frank and Hazel. Two more landed behind Leo. And another six stayed in the air.
"Ummm...Hello?" Frank asked. He was not sure whether or not these were friendly monsters. Not that their were many "friendly monsters".
One of the monsters growled back. "Gaia did not tell us to bring you unharmed. So I would suggest you relinquish your weapons."
Frank looked around and saw that Hazel had her hand on the hilt of her cavalry sword, Annabeth had pulled her replacement knife, and that Leo had lit his hand on fire. Frank's bow and arrow were laying on the ground behind him. He had a feeling that if he so much as looked at them, the telekhines would tear them all apart.
No one moved a muscle. The situation stayed exactly as it had been.
"Relinquish you weapons or we will bring you to Gaia dead." the telekhine growled.
Frank did not see a way out of this problem. He had a feeling that the monster was being very truthful. He and the other telekhine's would have no issue killing all of them. They were outnumbered three to one.
He heard Annabeth mumble something about them bluffing...that Gaia would want them alive, but Frank was not so sure. Their positions held.
The telekhine stepped forward and all of Hades broke lose.
Annabeth threw her knife so fast that it was a literal blur. Frank did not not have time to register whether or not it had hit its mark because he turned and grabbed his bow.
He loaded an arrow and shot one of the creatures out of the air. Two more swooped down at him, joining the two that had attacked him from behind. Frank loaded two more arrows and fired. The telekhine's broke them in half with their claws.
Frank fired another shot into the air, but the Telekhine he had aimed for dropped onto the deck, making the shot miss by tens of feet.
He dodged one of the Telekhine's claws which had suddenly swiped at him. Now he wished he had his spear with him. It would made things a lot easier. He was now being challenged by five telekhine's.
He slowly backed away from them. He saw that Annabeth was in combat with another one of the monsters. Hazel was attacking two with her sword...and winning. Leo had one bound in ropes and was engaged with another. One of the monsters lay with a knife sticking from his head, unable to move. That left three in the air. None were going after Piper.
Frank fired another shot, hoping for a lucky hit, but the telekhine's were way ahead of him. As he shot, one ran at him, breaking his wooden arrow and swung at him with his claws. Frank ducked the blow and was immediately met by another one of the monsters.
He fired off a shot and hit the attacking telekhine. It crumbled into dust. That puts two down. Now how about the other ones. He only had four arrows left. And there were four telekhine's targeting him. He was screwed.
He looked around again, hoping that Annabeth or Hazel had finished off one of their opponent and could help him. But it was Piper who came to his rescue.
"STOP!" she yelled. Her voice still had not fully returned but the charmspeak in it was evident. It was like four or five Piper's were speaking in perfect unison. All of the telekhine's stopped their attack in response to her voice.
Frank, Annabeth, and Hazel stopped too, but they quickly regained their minds and finished off the remaining telekhine's onboard. Frank shot the rest out of the air with his bow.
"Thanks, Piper." Frank said, gathering up some if his arrows that head fallen extraneously about the ship.
She nodded weakly in response. Her face had paled again and she looked barely conscious. The charmspeak must have drained a lot of her energy Frank thought as he finished picking up his arrows. He had shot three over the side of the ship in the fight, giving him seven now.
"Frank. Can you get nectar?" he heard Hazel yell.
He walked around to the other side of the Argo and found Annabeth, Hazel, and Leo standing in a semicircle around Piper. From what Frank could see, she was curled up into a ball, and not moving. Annabeth was knelt down beside her, saying something.
"What's wrong with Piper?"
"Just get some nectar!" Hazel yelled back. "Quickly!"
Frank raced down the steps below deck and grabbed two pitchers of the golden liquid from their supply, before running it back above decks.
He handed the pitchers to Hazel who set it down on the ground beside Piper. Annabeth took a cloth she had in her hand and dipped it in one of the glasses before placing the cloth back on Piper's forehead.
"What's wrong with her?"
"I'm not entirely sure." Annabeth replied. "It might be an after effect of the poison or antidote. Or it could be something else."
Frank knelt down opposite of Hazel who was pouring nectar into a small cup. Piper's eyes were closed and her face was deathly pale, almost white. She looked worse now then she had when she was poisoned.
"What are you going to do?" he asked Annabeth.
"I'm going to see if this nectar wakes her up any. But I don't think that giving her anymore is a good idea. Too much of it could literally burn her to ashes." she said as she filled a syringe with nectar.
Frank gave the syringe an odd look.
Annabeth held it up, "What? I was trained in battlefield medicine at camp. They showed us how to administer nectar to someone who's unconscious…with a syringe. Normally I would wait to see if she wakes up but I don't know what the cause is. She might not wake up anytime soon."
She took the syringe and injected the nectar into Piper's arm. They all sat back and waited to see if it had any affect. After about a minute, Piper slowly opened her eyes. She was still pale but the nectar appeared to have its desired effect.
"Piper? How do you feel?" Hazel asked. She had poured a second glass of nectar
Piper tried to sit up, but was immediately stopped by Annabeth, "Just lay there for now."
Hazel repeated her question.
"Tired." Piper responded. She yawned as if to prove her point.
Frank looked over at Annabeth, trying to see whether or not she knew what was wrong with her. What he saw was not good.
Annabeth was now almost as pale as Piper. She knew exactly what was wrong and it was not good. "Okay. Can you stand?"
Piper nodded yes and stood up. Frank noticed that she still heavily favored her broken ankle. I guess that stuff Geryon gave us didn't work so well. He watched as the three girls disappeared below decks. Then he remembered the telekhine that was still paralyzed behind them.
He approached the monster with an arrow knocked. "Who sent you here to attack us?". He already knew the answer but he needed to be sure.
"We work for whoever wants to destroy the gods. That leaves only one being for us to serve." the telekhine replied in rasping breath.
"Where is Gaia now?" Frank did not expect an answer to that question. So he was surprised when the telekhine told him that she was awaiting two demigod sacrifices to rise in Athens.
"Can you get us into Athens?" Frank asked. An idea was forming in his mind. If only he could convince this thing to help them.
"Why would I do that? The gods through us into Tartarus for crafting some of their most powerful weapons. Poseidon's trident for example. They chose those lumbering cyclops over us. Gaia had promised to return is to our former status if we aid her in the destruction of Olympus."
That sent off an alarm bell in Frank's head. These things crafted the trident of Poseidon. "I'm a descendent of Poseidon. What if I could get the Gods to raise you from Tartarus? I could get you you former status back if you help us into Athens?" It sounded like a decent deal to Frank.
The telekhine didn't think so. "We will never work for the gods. They have disgraced for the final time."
"Then have fun back in Tartarus." Frank replied, drawing his bow back. He had an arrow notched and aimed at the telekhine's head. He waited a couple of seconds. The telekhine was not going anywhere and he wanted to make sure it was not going to except hie deal.
He watched as the monsters eyes clouded with fear. "You can re-establish us as the smiths of the gods?"
"Yes." Frank replied. He was not one hundred percent certain he could keep his side of the deal but they were desperate now. They had to find away into Athens.
The telekhine lay there, thinking. Then he agreed.
Annabeth came up a minute later. Her face looked worried. She turned to Leo, "Can you get us too the Temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus?" she asked "Quickly?".
"I guess. Its on the Peloponnesian peninsula right?"
Annabeth nodded.
Frank broke in, "Then to Athens. I have a way to get us in."
Annabeth and Leo both spun around, "What? How?" they said in unison
Frank told them the plan.