Life was never quiet for demigods, especially children of Zeus but sometimes it just became ridiculous. This was the fourth time that we had been forced to run in the middle of the night in the past week. If I lost one more night of sleep, I was going to fry off someone's eyebrows which would be unfortunate since I promised Annabeth that it wouldn't happen again after the last incident. "Come on!" shouted Luke. Said demigod was running almost inhumanly fast even for demigod-standards and Annabeth and I were having some serious trouble keeping up. "Luke, we aren't all sons of Hermes!" I called. "Slow down!" "Or you could speed it up! We're being chased, Thalia!" He yelled back though he did slow enough to grab Annabeth's hand and pull her along. I decided that I would wait until he wasn't holding her to shock him.
"There!" Annabeth gasped. She was pointing at a rundown abandoned warehouse. "Judging from the architecture, it should make a good stronghold with its many -" Luke and I didn't let her finish. Annabeth had proven herself enough times to make us trust her judgment on these things, especially anything related to architecture. We increased our speed and ducked into the warehouse. The outside looked better than the inside which was saying something. Debris was scattered all over the floor, there was a thick layer of dust on everything, and the sparse furniture littered here and there looked so ancient I was afraid that it would collapse the moment we touched it.
We grouped far away from any entrances and partially shielded within the shadows. I prayed (I'm not sure why. Not like any of my other prayers had been answered.) that no spiders were hiding. I doubted that two sleep-deprived demigods could handle Annabeth having a mental breakdown over a small insect. I felt someone coming to sit next to me. "Hey, Thals. Do you know what was chasing us? I was too busy trying to get out of there to see it." Luke asked. I glared at him. "It was too dark and in case you didn't know, I was also fleeing for my life. Sorry if it was 'too slow ' for you to notice."
He blinked twice. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" I gave him the silent treatment. He muttered something too low for me to make out. "Thals, look -I." "I know what was chasing us!" called Annabeth. Both Luke and I turned to look at her. She was sitting near our sleeping bags and backpacks (obviously eavesdropping on the conversation) which she had set up to look rather homey despite the dreary warehouse. Of course, that could have been my sleep-deprived mind talking, telling me to crawl under the covers and drift away into Morpheus' realm.
Annabeth jogged over to sit in between us. "I decided to sneak a look to see what kind of monsters were chasing us so if we got caught, I would already have a plan." I blinked twice. Sometimes, I forgot this little adorable seven-year-old was a genius daughter of Athena. She was smarter than I was when I was seven. Luke chuckled and ruffled her blonde curls. "We wouldn't have gotten caught, Annabeth. We're way too fast for that." Luke sent me a hopeful glance which I ignored and focused on Annabeth. "Well, don't keep us in suspense, Annie." She wrinkled her nose at the use of her nickname. "What was it?" "A pack of Cynocephali!" Luke and I stared blankly at her.
Note to self: Don't get an already too smart Daughter of Athena a book on Ancient Greek Myths and Beasts. You don't need her saying monsters that you have never heard of.
Luke smiled charmingly. "Of course, I should have thought of it. But um, remind me. What are cynocephali?" Annabeth giggled. "Dog-headed men, silly. You should read that book you got me." Annabeth started talking about the other creatures in her book while Luke and I exchanged uneasy glances. We had some previous bad experiences with dogs who could mimic voices. I didn't like the idea of dealing with more. "Hey, what are you thinking?" Annabeth's curious grey eyes were enough to snap me out of my morbid thoughts. I forced a smile. "I was thinking that it's time to go to bed. I'm exhausted." "I'll take the first shift?" Luke chimed in. I nodded tersely but didn't wish him good night. I didn't dare turn around to see his sad eyes.
The next morning, we ate a breakfast of granola bars that Luke had stolen from a cafe in Virginia. "Okay," I announced. "Planning time." Annabeth's eyes light up as they always did when we included her in our strategic planning. "We're in Maryland but our nearest safe house is in New Jersey and we are currently being chased by a pack of dog-headed warriors." I began. "Being a demigod is great, isn't it?" Luke said, dryly. Annabeth giggled and I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for that, Castellan." His eyes widened at the use of his last name. He didn't chime in again.
In the end, I decided to continue heading east and hope for the best. I could sense Annabeth bursting with unhappiness at the plan (she was always looking for a way to prove herself in a fight) but she didn't voice her objections for which I was thankful. Luke also remained quiet instead of joking around with us and making us laugh. The entire walk was very silent and awkward.
For lunch, we ate some chips in a park though Luke disappeared halfway through the meal and when he returned, he wouldn't say where he went. Besides that, the whole trip was pretty uneventful which meant I should have been more alert for when disaster inevitably struck.
The sun was beginning to set and I was about to suggest that we find a place to sleep when I heard the growling. All three of us immediately tensed. "Annabeth, find a safe place to hide and when say now, run there," I ordered her. She frowned. "No! I can help!" Luke surveyed our surroundings. "Annabeth, this isn't like our practice fights. When Thalia says now, get. To. A. Safe. Place." Annabeth must have realized how serious we were because she just swallowed and nodded.
Slowly, our pursuers showed themselves. Annabeth was right. We were surrounded by about a dozen men with the heads of dogs. From their shoulder blades, they seemed like normal men. Their skin was dark (they probably originated from India or Africa) and wrapped in clothes made from plants and the hides of animals. Their heads and necks however reminded me of what wild dogs looked like. I took out my spear from its lace canister while Luke drew his sword. I almost laughed at the fact that he used to use a golf club as a weapon.
"Annabeth, now!" She sprinted into bushes while Luke and I charged the pack. I don't know what I was expecting their fighting style to be. Would that fight like animals or men? The answer was the strangest hybrid of both. Their mouths would snap and snarl at us but they ran like men. They tried to scratch us but would also form fists with their hands and some even held weapons. They were definitely the weirdest, most versatile fighting monsters that I had ever encountered. Luke and I were slowly being pushed back. We were skilled enough to not be shredded but with their unique way of fighting and their sheer number, I knew there would be no way to defeat them. At least not with pure force.
"I thought beings with human bodies and animal heads were an Egyptian thing!" Luke yelled as he slashed a Cynocephalus across its chest to keep it back. "Well, call the Egyptians to come to collect their pets because I don't want it!" I screamed in reply as I tried to stab the creature in the heart. It nimbly dodged out of my striking distance.
I let my body go into auto-pilot as I grasped for a strategy to defeat these things. They had already pushed away from where Annabeth was hiding and I was confident that she was going to come after us if we weren't back soon. I watched with a detached annoyance as more creatures came running after us after one of the Cynocephalus barked. Barked.
Despite having the body and similar fighting strategies as humans, the cynocephali were still animals which meant that they still had natural animal instincts. It might have been a bit presumptive to just assume that a pack of half-dog half-human creatures from greek mythology were just the same as overly-excited strays but I was desperate. I was from Los Angelos. Scaring away unwanted dogs was something I knew how to do. Though it never worked on my mother.
"We need to make noise!" I shouted at Luke as I blocked a lunge with the aegis. He paused for half a second to stare at me then went back on the defensive. "Are you insane? These aren't wild animals, Thalia!" "They kind of are, Luke! Just trust me! Do you have a better idea?" I argued. Luke grimaced but did as I said, yelling as swung his sword towards the pack. I began clanging my spear against the aegis like an impromptu gong. The cynoceohali paused and stared at us for a few seconds and a moment, I felt a glimmer of hope. Then they began to close in again.
Three lunged at Luke from his blindside and I lost it. "NO!" I shouted. For a second, everything seemed to freeze. The cynoceophali gawked at me then turned on the heels and fled. I turned to smile at Luke, only to find him staring at me as well. I could feel myself starting to blush with how carefully he was looking at me. "What is it?" I demanded. Slowly, a smile etched on his face. "Thalia, that. Was. Amazing!" I blinked. "I'm sure whatever I did was amazing. It usually is but what even happened? I just said no and they fled."
Luke's smile somehow got even wider. "Thals, when you yelled, the loudest crack of thunder that I had ever heard sounded. It was almost as if it was echoing your voice." I blinked again and slowly grinned back at him. "so the next time that I need to yell at you, thunder will be yelling with me." A look of terror crossed his face and gave me great satisfaction. "I don't think I like this new power of yours, anymore, Thals." I laughed at that. " Come on, let's get Annabeth and a place to sleep tonight. I feel like I'm going to collapse." Luke's smile turned shy and sheepish. "I already found a place."
I don't know what I was expecting but when Luke led and Annabeth and me to a motel, my jaw dropped. Annabeth was ecstatic, however. "A real bed!" she was shouting. "Luke," I hissed. "How are we going to pay for this?" He smiled. "I charmed this nice lady who works in the kitchen to let me and my poor friends crash here for a night or two. She was very impressed that we wanted to try and live independently for a few days before returning to our parents." Once again, I had underestimated my friend's skill in deception. "Besides," he continued. "I felt like I had something to make up for."
I paused. During the fight, I had forgotten I was giving Luke the cold shoulder. Darn near-death experiences. "Listen, Luke. I'm sorry. I was just tired and angry at -" "Me?" He finished. I shook my head and sunk onto one of the beds. "Everything. Our situation. And you telling me to hurry up as if I wasn't aware of how crummy our lives are was the last straw." Luke sat down next to me though he wouldn't meet my eyes. "I hate our parents. I know you still hold out some hope but I hate them. They made us live this crazy life but we have each other and that makes waking up to live the next day worth it. I'm your, -" He paused. "Brother, Thalia. I'm not going anywhere. We'll make it through this."
My thought quickly flashed to another brother that I had. Another brother with blonde hair and electric blue eyes. One whom I lost forever but then I looked back at Luke. Maybe the fates were giving me another chance.
"Thalia, come on! They have shampoo here for free! We can wash our hair!" Neither Annabeth nor I care much about their appearance but going weeks without washing their hair was a bit much, even for us. I sent Luke one last grateful smile before rushing after my little sister. But mentally I swore, no god, no monster, and least of all no mortal was going to take any of my new family away. I would defend them with my last breath.
As Thalia lay dying, she smiled. They were finally safe. She protected them. Now, she could go see Jason in the afterlife. She had so many new stories to tell him.