I gasped for breath, "How much longer?"
"Until we're safe." Gareth responded, switching out with Linus and taking Riley.
Echo took my hand, and Ana's, pulling us along, "Just keep moving. I promise it will be okay."
I glanced back at Nolan.
He caught my gaze and nodded.
In all, our group consisted of Me, Ana, Echo, Gareth, Linus, Riley, Mercury, Melina, Nolan, Demitri, and James. Eleven kids all running for their lives.
For what felt like hours.
"Rory, how many people can you shadow travel?" Mel asked.
"With…or without…passing…out?" I asked between breaths.
"Without."
"Two."
Echo nodded sharply, "Take Riley and Ana, go to Aunt Cassie's. When you get there, run into the woods."
"Meet us at the treehouse." James said.
I frowned, "But—"
"Just do it, Rory!" Echo snapped.
"Do they need to leave with us?"
Echo and Gareth exchanged a glance.
"No, now go." Gareth pulled Riley off his back and set him down, slowing only slightly.
I let go of Echo, grabbed Ana, caught Riley's hand, and pulled us into the shadows.
We came out in Cassie's house.
Enya's eyes widened, "Um…hello."
"We're not staying. Treehouse?" I asked, gasping for breath still.
"Straight back, over the creek take a left, follow the cairns."
"Lock the doors behind us." I told her, picking Riley up. He was heavier than he looked.
She nodded, looking confused, "Ladder mechanism is hidden in the hollow tree."
"Thanks!" I dragged Ana out the door.
Riley held on tightly to me so that I didn't have to hold onto him as much, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He murmured.
I shook my head, "You have a bad knee, there's nothing to be sorry about."
Ana finally seemed to snap out of it and started pulling me, leading me to the treehouse since she had been there at least once before. She also seemed to realize that I was running out of steam.
Why us? I understand Riley, and you since you had to take him, but why me?
We're the youngest.
Demitri…
Is a year older. Please…just run…
She nodded and ran ahead, leaping the creek and calling that she'd get the ladder down for us.
"You'll have to climb the ladder." I told Riley.
He nodded, "Okay. I can run, it's okay."
"Don't know if there's anyone close, best if I do the running. Don't gain weight."
He nodded.
I crossed the stream, carefully, then kept running as fast as I could while carrying Riley. Echo was counting on me. They were all counting on me to keep Riley and Ana safe until they met up with us.
Ana got the ladder down ahead of us, "Riley first."
I reached it and set Riley down, then gasped desperately for breath while he swarmed up it like a monkey.
Ana pushed me toward the ladder, "Go, you can breath up there."
I started climbing, struggling, but I made it.
Ana was right behind me and she wound the ladder back up, "Inside."
I practically crawled inside and collapsed on the floor space.
Riley was looking around critically, "Give me your backpack."
I managed to get it off.
He started folding blankets and grabbing the snacks that they kept in here.
"What are you doing?" Ana asked softly, closing the door of the house part of the tree house.
"They'll understand. We're going to need these blankets, and the food. Going to cities are dangerous with these people. If we went to the city, it would be half an hour before they caught up with us." Riley said, investigating one of the cupboards and pulling out a sleeping bag, "James is having to run with us. His family will understand that we needed this stuff."
Ana started helping him pack, mentally telling me to rest and catch my breath.
It was a good thing the Pace kids camped out in the treehouse sometimes, because if he was right, then the stuff they kept would be very useful. They kept two sleeping bags out here, and blankets, granola bars, fruit snacks, nuts (peanuts, almonds, pecans, and cashews), water bottles (plastic kind, but water is water), a couple bottles of Gatorade (one of which Ana threw at me), a couple pairs of one-size-fits-all gloves, two sweatshirts that were probably James', and a first aid kit.
Still, that seemed under prepared for Cassie. She had said once when we were over that she had made sure that the kids could stay in the treehouse for two weeks and still be fine.
I shook the thought from my head. It had been almost four months ago. You never knew what had happened between then and now.
Riley came over to check on me, "Gatorade helping?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." I rubbed my forehead. "I was thinking…Cassie is usually prepared for if her kids have to suddenly go on trips. I don't know where she keeps that stuff, but when James gets here he should know."
"It'll probably be an hour before they get here. It takes us about half an hour in the car. You should try for a nap. I'll keep watch." Ana said, the hard glint in her eyes that I was so familiar with. She would definitely keep watch. She would use her abilities, sense the life force of anyone who got close enough.
Riley was going through his own backpack, muttering something about unnecessary weight.
I finally nodded, curling up on the small sofa they had in the treehouse and falling quickly to sleep.
—~~—
I followed the Phoenix with my eyes, silently signaling Gareth which way to go when I started to fall back.
He acknowledged and basically took the lead, but kept me in his peripheral and followed my guidance.
We were immediately back in sync with each other.
Mel and Linus kept an eye on the others, making sure they were keeping up.
"We're going to have to slow down soon." Nolan caught up with me. He seemed to have found the perfect stride, unaffected by having run for so very long.
I glanced back and could see the red-faced exhaustion on Demitri's face that I was sure was on mine, "I know." I looked back and signaled Gareth to veer right.
He did, stumbling slightly, but still moving.
We were all exhausted.
I looked at the phoenix, hoping it would acknowledge out need to rest.
It seemed to flash it's wings with a white light and then kept moving forward.
I did my best to run and catch up to Gareth, "It's not…stopping, but…we're going…to have to…soon."
"Just say the word." He breathed, glancing back at everyone.
I nodded and watched the Phoenix for signs that we could rest even briefly.
Finally, what felt like forever later, it flashed a red light from its wings and circled a small area.
"Here." I gasped.
Gareth stopped by collapsing.
Everyone stopped and dropped, trying desperately to catch their breath.
"How far?" Demitri gasped. He was probably regretting not staying with his siblings back at the school right about now.
"It's about ten miles…from our house…to Cassie's…" I grabbed my water bottle and passed it to Mel, who always needed more hydrating than other people.
Nolan groaned, "We'd have to run at ten miles per hour. That's about average running speed for healthy adults. And I know we've hit the five mile mark because…I'm tired."
Mel nodded, "We should have started doing six mile runs."
"Worked our way up to seven or eight mile runs." Nolan shook his head, definitely out of breath.
"Less talking, more breathing." Linus scolded.
James was the first to recover, stretching, "Guys, we got to at least be walking or our muscles will sieze up."
"He's right." Nolan forced himself up, and started bouncing on the balls of his feet.
I helped Gareth and Demitri up, then started walking the way the phoenix was leading.
"Why the treehouse?" Mel asked James.
He shrugged, "Safer than hiding in the house, plus if we meet them there I can grab the emergency backpacks mom makes us keep there. And since they're getting there at least half an hour before us…they can grab the snacks…and sleeping bags."
The phoenix moved ahead slowly for now.
Mel handed me my water bottle back, "She keep water in the treehouse as well?"
"Yeah."
"Good." Mercury grunted.
Gareth looked alive. Awake. Like he was back in his comfort zone.
Linus made a soft clicking sound.
The others seemed to see it as a warning.
I glanced at the phoenix and started running when I saw that it was flashing a white light.
It didn't take long for the others to follow suit.
"Pedibus silentium!" Gareth hissed.
A wisp of green light encompassed all our feet, and our running was suddenly silent. A smart move, but useless if they caught sight of us. But I supposed that's why we were running.
—~~—
Nico slashed a monster and turned to make sure Will was still alive.
Will slashed at his opponent, a demigod presumably, and then darted to Nico's side as the guy started gushing way too much blood for a cut like that.
Nico gave Will a worried look.
"Artery." Will looked sad, "That or let him kill more people."
Nico nodded, then yelled as he forced his sword into another's gut.
Will shook his head, "Are we even helping the kids in any way?"
Cassie twirled through, her blades slashing through her opponents like butter. She stopped beside them, "This is too easy. It's got to be a distraction."
"You read my mind." Malcolm flipped back so he was standing back to back with his wife.
Nico snapped. He was done. He had sent all of his kids away. For their own safety and this was just a distraction?
No.
He yelled, and the ground opened up, skeletons pouring out.
The fight ended quickly, their opponents falling to the skeletons.
Will caught Nico as he stumbled, "What the hell, Nico!"
"I'm sick of this games of cloak and dagger." Nico glared at the fallen, "No more distractions. Travis, we're going after this company full force."
Travis had blood dripping into his eye, and he looked scarier than Nico thought either of the stolls could look.
A car door closed behind them.
Nico turned and saw Connor, Katie, Calypso and Maggie.
Now came the hard part.
"What happened?" Connor asked, his gaze darting around. He steadied his brother.
Katie looked pale, already realizing the worst.
Calypso hurried to Leo, who looked pretty defeated.
"We had to send the kids running." Will finally said.
Calypso froze, "What?!"
Leo made a placating gesture, "It was for their own safety. They'll be fine, Cal."
She looked heartbroken.
Maggie hugged herself, "But…"
Katie gently guided the girl to her parents, "It'll be okay." She said soothingly.
Connor put his arms tightly around her when she walked over to him, looking at Travis and trying to gauge his brother's confidence if the safety of the choice.
Nico looked up at Will, "Tell me you don't hate me. For sending our kids away."
Will kissed him, softly, gently, "Of course I don't hate you." He had a firm tone, and there was a determined glint in his eyes. "I'll call Mr. Brunner. See if we can't get some backup."
"I'll call New Rome." Reyna said, "And you better tell Hazel, Nico."
Nico nodded, dreading the conversation already. He looked at Leo, "Better call Harley, tell him to get his contraptions over here for a hostile takeover."
"And to take Eva to the school to keep them safe." Eric added, folding his arms. It was always a wonder that he got through fights unscathed. It was probably because he was mortal, monsters ignored him.
Leo nodded, "Right. Cal, you should take Maggie over there."
"There's no way I'm leaving you to fight for our kids alone."
Katie cleared her throat, "I'll take her to the school."
Leo frowned, "Are you sure?"
"I've never been much of a fighter. Besides, it will help the others to have an adult who knows what's going on."
Cassie gasped, "The kids!"
Malcolm nodded grimly, "I know. Damn. They're smart, hopefully they stay in the house for now."
Percy glanced at them, "Do we need to head over?"
Cassie shook her head, "I'll head home. Take them to the school." She fixed Malcolm with a scary look, "You stay alive."
He kissed her, "You too."
Nico had a bad feeling, "Cass, you shouldn't go alone."
He somehow knew if she didn't agree right away, that…
She glanced around, "You all are needed to fight them. I'm not a good fighter, I don't have any abilities that would make me especially useful. And Katie's right. Someone needs to be at the school with the kids. Levi will be distracted trying to keep them all well behaved. He'll need help getting them organized to defend themselves."
"I'll call Emily, tell her to meet you at the school. Her and her husband." Travis said.
She nodded, "I'll call when we're leaving the house."
Malcolm kissed her deeply, then stood there, murmuring with her, their foreheads pressed together. Finally his arms seemed to tighten around her, then release.
"Get our kids to safety." He said, just loud enough for Nico to overhear.
"Try to stop me." She teased. She had a lingering look with him, and then dipped her head to everyone.
"Good luck. Be safe." Then she jogged to their car and got in.
She drove off.
Nico felt his heart drop, "Will…"
"What is it?" He asked, lowering his voice slightly to meet Nico's volume.
Nico looked up, "She's going to die. Soon. Today."
Will squeezed him, "Shh."
"Will—"
"You told me some deaths can't be prevented." Will said softly.
Nico felt his heart break.
"Can you sense a way to prevent hers?"
Nico felt his chin tremble, "No."
"Then put it out of your mind. We do what we have to to protect her kids. Her husband." Will's voice broke.
Nico glanced at Malcolm, and suddenly, he had a feeling that both he and Cassie had known that they would never see each other again.
Malcolm glanced at him, confirming it.
Katie gulped, "Should I have gone with her?"
Malcolm gave a dry laugh, that sounded a little like a sob, "No. She knows what she's going to." His hands shook then he formed fists. "This has to work. If it doesn't…"
"We'll make sure it does." Travis said gently, "We have to." His gaze was sad, sympathetic. Cassie was one of the half-siblings that both the Stolls were close with.
Connor kissed his own wife, then strode to the car and grabbed his sword and backpack.
Katie took Maggie to the car and drove away.
Nico looked up at Will, "Why didn't I say goodbye? I knew…why didn't I…"
Will sighed, "Sometimes, it's best to hope that you'll see someone again." He pushed Nico gently toward where Annabeth and Travis were starting to formulate a plan.
Nico looked after Cassie again, and his shoulders drooped, "Malcolm…how could you…just…"
Malcolm gave him a look so distraught, Nico thought it might overwhelm him, "We're half-bloods Nico. We always knew we were tempting fate by surviving so long. Any day could be our last. Knowing…seeing on your face the desperation to try and stop her death…this would have been a risk in the first place. If she's going to go out, she's going to do it trying to protect our family. All of our family." His voice shook, yet was firm. "Don't think for one second that I'm okay with this. That I wanted to let her leave my sight. Don't think that…"
Nico put a hand on Malcolm's shoulder, "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have asked."
Malcolm closed his eyes tightly.
Nico felt guilty, realizing that they had figured it out from looking at him. Seeing him desperate to try and save her. Failing.
He wasn't about to let Malcolm or Cassie down. Not with so much riding on the success of this trip.