Narrator / December 27th
Word had quickly spread about how an evil demigod was on the loose and wanted to murder their camp's greatest heroes. By extension, everyone heard about Annabeth's battle with him and how she managed to defeat him, but refused to coldly kill him. She hadn't felt so well after that, and spent the rest of the day with Percy in his cabin.
But, she was strong, and with Percy backing her up, she was ready to put her plan into full action. They started off by heading out to the perfect surroundings for their trap - a forest with a semi-large mountain in the center of it. Percy was standing not too far from the mountain, waiting by himself so that Samael would eventually show up. A bit deeper into the forest, Jason, Annabeth, Victor and Ryan awaited to jump into action.
Up on the mountain, the rest of their friends waited with Chloe having her bow trained. The plan was for her to occasionally fire off anti-gravity arrows that could pin down and stun Samael.
They didn't have to wait long for their target to come. He appeared with the ground beginning to shake as a crevice opened up. From the hole, Samael climbed out. Percy instantly uncapped Riptide.
"You sure are persistent" Samael greeted. "You were no match for me in our previous two fights"
"I could say the same for you. I've never really had someone try so hard to kill me without a proper reason" Percy replied as the two circled around each other, waiting for the other make the first move
"If I don't kill you, then it'll be my life that's lost" Samael revealed
"You're working for someone" Percy figured and stood in place once again. "And they're blackmailing you"
"Trying to turn me to the light-side isn't going to help your case. You can call it blackmail, but I'm as dark as ever" Samael said as he looked around and examined his surroundings
"Your going down this time" Percy confidently said
"Right" Samael sarcastically and dismissively agreed as he continued to look around. "So you've got an arrow trained on me north-west, and four other demigods out in the woods"
"Perceptive" Percy muttered
"I should be correct to assume that this plan was the daughter of Athena's. In that case, I'll foil it and crumble it to pieces" Samael held out his sword handle and the two blades extended out from each side
An arrow zipped through the air but Samael caught with his free hand and quickly flicked it towards Percy, who titled his head to dodge. The arrow nailed the tree behind him, but still went off and affected Percy - dropping him to his knees as a massive weight was placed on him.
Victor sidestepped from behind a tree and lunged, thrusting his new spear forward. The tip bounced off the back of Samael's armor, and he stumbled back from the force. Jason and Ryan attacked in sync, coming out of the forest from his sides and swinging their swords but Samael lunged forward and attacked Percy instead.
Having been behind the large tree Percy was in front of the entire time, Annabeth sidestepped and slashed Samael in the back with her sword which made him stumble. Percy thrust his sword forward and the tip hit Samael in the gut, dropping him to his back.
Annabeth went to disarm Samael, but he jumped back to his feet, turned, and swung his sword upwards. The top-half of the sword hit the bottom of Annabeth's sword, and it flew out of her hand and landed behind her. Jason lunged again but Samael slashed at his feet and managed to cut him.
Vines arose from the ground and held Samael in place before he could stab Jason, who was now on the ground, through the chest. Samael unsheathed his feather-dagger and slashed away at the vines, freeing himself. Percy furiously slashed Riptide upwards and disarmed him with pure strength. The dual-sided silver sword went flying but retreated into black smoke midair.
"Haven't you learned by now that disarming me won't help you?" Samael asked as he switched his feather-dagger from his right to his left
Percy and Victor thrust their weapons forward, but Samael rolled in between them and quickly jolted around while still on one knee, slashing them in the back. Annabeth threw her drakon-bone sword like a boomerang and it slashed Samael in the waist, landing behind him.
"That sword is getting annoying" Samael admitted as the red stone at the bottom of his dagger began to glow
Before the stone could preform any tricks, Chloe fired off an anti-gravity arrow that hit the ground in front of him and exploded, stunning him momentarily. Victor took advantage and swung his spear horizontally, sending the feather-dagger skidding across the ground a few feet away, and Jason picked it up for safe keeping.
"Is that the best you can do?" Samael stood up and brushed dirt off his armor
Victor thrusted his spear again but Samael caught it with his hand and pulled it out of his grip. The green-armored demigod was sent forward by the momentum and Samael uppercutted him with his other hand. Percy stepped in and attacked with Riptide but Samael blocked with his forearm and nailed him in the face with the opposite hand after dropping .
Having snuck around, Annabeth slashed her drakon-bone sword up Samael's back with all her strength. A loud sound, like a metal crate being dragged across the ground, was heard and the other demigods had to cover their ears. Annabeth went for another strike but Samael turned around and gripped her wrist. Percy tackled him from the back but a shockwave sent both demigods stumbling back.
Annabeth looked around for any ideas, and she noticed that Jason's legs weren't in good shape, but he had ahold on Samael's feather-dagger. If they could use that again him...
"You know, you don't have a weapon" Annabeth said, sending Jason a quick message through a facial expression
Samael looked up at her. "I'll kill you all with your own weapons"
Jason got the message and began to fiddle with the feather-dagger, but he couldn't get anything to happen. Samael quickly got back to action and went to attack Percy, but a golden chain that was ignited by a fire wrapped around his neck and held him in place like an unsafe dog.
Good enough, Annabeth thought as she stepped forward and slashed Samael across the chest. Samael attempted to block each strike with his hands while Annabeth swung her sword. Ryan's grip was strong on the chain, and the chain itself didn't seem to be showing any signs of breaking off soon. Percy joined Annabeth and Samael found himself taking a multitude of strikes. By now, white scratches were seared all over his armor like he had ran through multiple large thorn bushes.
Samael turned around and grabbed the chain with one arm while the other blocked both Riptide and Annabeth's sword. Samael pulled the chain forward with enough force to bring Ryan close enough to where he could uppercut him and get him to let go of the chain. Percy swung Riptide downwards but Samael stopped it with a single index finger. A loud metal clang rippled across the forest and even some nearby trees showed signs of breaking off their roots from the force.
Annabeth slashed her sword but Samael kneed her in the gut when the blade was inches away from his hitting his helmet. She dropped her sword and fell to her back. Percy wildly slashed away but Samael continued to block with that same index finger nonchalantly.
"It truly is amazing how you demigods let your emotions get the best of you" Samael said as he pushed Percy away and turned to grab Ryan's wrist before he could deck him in the back of the head
Samael pulled Ryan forward by the wrist and kneed him the gut before judo-flipping him the exact same way Annabeth did.
"You alright?" Percy asked as he helped Annabeth up
"I'm fine, but Jason's not" She answered
It was true. Jason was still on his knees and he looked like he wanted to attack and help his friends, but his legs weren't cooperating. They wobbled slightly and blood soaked just under his kneecaps. He was still trying to get the dagger to work, but clearly nothing happened.
"Either we retreat or finish this soon" Victor said as Samael allowed the two armored-demigods to join them
"I doubt he would let us retreat so easily, especially when he's got us on the ropes like this" Percy replied
Samael's dual-sided blade reappeared in his hand, shimmering into existence. He lunged and the demigods moved out of the way. Percy and Ryan attacked with their swords, and Samael spun in a three-sixty to block both blades. Annabeth attempted to attack a weak point in the armor with her drakon-bone sword, but Samael parried the strike and slashed. Victor intercepted the attack and the blade screeched again his helmet, leaving a nasty white scratch.
Ryan's red katana caught ablaze as he began his attack. Samael blocked a heavy strike and the recoil force staggered Ryan. Taking advantage, Samael rapidly struck his blade multiple times until going for one heavy swing that hit Ryan in the side of the arm and slammed him against a tree.
Percy persisted and tried his usual disarm trick, but Samael parried each strike and perform it perfectly on him, sending Riptide skidding across the floor. Samael went to decapitate Percy but Annabeth intercepted the strike midway and pushed him back. Victor's spear was thrown and the tip hit Samael's chest. A shockwave from the impact momentarily stunned him and both Percy and Annabeth slashed their swords, sending a shower of sparks off the enemy's armor.
Without wasting any time, Ryan slashed his fiery katana diagonally across Samael's back. The three demigods each swung in sync but Samael rolled out of the way and swung at Percy's legs. Percy backed up and thrust his sword forward but Samael caught the blade with his with his free hand and pulled him forward.
Samael released Riptide and gutted Percy hard enough for saliva to escape his mouth. Victor, who had recovered his spear, swept Samael off his feet. He stabbed his weapon forward but Samael caught it in between his feet and then jumped back up, swinging his sword upwards which uppercutted Victor. Percy struggled to his feet but swung Riptide while Annabeth slashed her drakon-bone sword. They both hit each of his shoulders, but he shrugged their blades off and spun in a three-sixty, cutting each of their cheeks just enough to cause blood to drip down.
Victor pivoted around and slashed his spear but Samael flicked his wrist and deflected the tip with his blade.
"Nice Try"
Samael hacked his sword forward with all his strength multiple times and the final blow sent him crashing into a tree. Annabeth went to slash her sword again but Samael deflected it and used his free hand to grab her wrist and slam her into another tree. Ryan and Percy both attacked together and made some progress at first, but Samael measured their styles and countered accordingly, disarming them both with a few strikes.
The area suddenly heated up a few degrees, and a large blast of fire hit Samael in the back. Samael flinched at first but the fire reflected off his back and split in different directions, being sent into the air.
Jason had a confused and surprised look on his face as smoke evaporated from the red stone. The dagger began to shake, and he dropped it. The red stone's glow flickered on and off and thunderclouds rolled in up above the forest.
Samael held out his hand and attempted to call the dagger back to him, but a massive thunderbolt came crashing down and struck him. An explosion went off from the massive force and smoke blinded the demigods' surroundings.
It took a couple of moments for the smoke to clear, but once it did, Samael stood up slowly. He turned to face the demigods and his armor had multiple large cracks in different spots, as if it was about to break. Additionally, there was a hole in his helmet, leaving his left eye exposed. A piercing black eye stared deep into their soul, and there was a slight white aura around his iris like the heat waves burning off of the sun. Behind him, Jason fainted and the red stone stopped glowing.
"And you demigods love to meddle with things you don't understand" Samael said as his feather-dagger returned to his hand
Lightning crackled in the thunderclouds that remained above. The demigods looked up and the clouds were contorting into different shapes, but the red stone that brought them wasn't glowing to indicate it was doing anything. A harmless bolt of black lightning crashed down and hit Samael. It circulated his body as he lifted his palm and faced it towards the demigods. They were left with no time to react as a bolt of lightning electrocuted them.
The pain was so great that their veins were popping out, and even after the lightning recoiled, some still circulated their body as if it had some kind of magnetic attraction. Black vines arose from the ground and held everyone except for Percy in place. They struggled but the vines grip showed no signs of letting go.
Percy readied Riptide as Samael approached. He swung horizontally but Samael ducked under the blade and slashed him across the chest. Without thinking, Percy attempted to thrust his sword through the hole in Samael's helmet, but the attack was seen coming and Samael knocked his blade away with his dagger.
More vines erupted from the ground and pinned Percy to a tree. Samael walked up to him and pressed his dagger tightly against his throat.
"You've gotten lucky up until now, Perseus. But it's finally time for you to meet your inevitable fate"
Samael pressed the blade even closer to the point where just a tiny bit more of force would cut Percy's skin and cause blood to begin to drip, just as his cheek currently was still doing. Just before he could finish the job, a voice that was familiar to some commanded: stop
A dark-black mist rolled in from deep in the forest, and conjured up a shadow figure. Their red eyes stared menacingly into the demigods, and the air from the mist was almost intoxicating.
"Keep Perseus alive" the voice within the mist said
"Your benefit will be the absence of my revenge" Samael retorted
"You must be patient"
Narrowing his eyes, Samael stepped back and the vines retreated into the ground, freeing the demigods.
"Your friend is dying quickly back there" Samael informed. "I'd prefer that he would live, so that he could witness your death when the time comes"
Instead of disappearing into black smoke like usual, Samael contorted into a lightning bolt that shot upwards into the thunderclouds. The clouds rolled out and the black mist containing the eyes and the voice followed. The others quickly rushed to check on Jason, who was in bad shape. Not only was he loosing blood from his legs, using the stone seemed to have ran him of his energy.
"We've got to get him back to camp as quick as possible. How far are we?" Percy said
"Not that close" Annabeth replied quietly
Annabeth took a good look around at her friends and they had sustained multiple injuries. Ryan and Victor's arms were left with easy cuts that looked beyond repair, and she couldn't help but blame herself, considering it had been her plan that went down the drain before it even started. Victory was looking impossible, until...