Disclaimer: I own neither Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lord of the Rings, or any of the characters from either of the aforementioned series.
Chapter 5
Some days, Nico's bad luck rivaled even Percy's. In the space of twenty-four hours, he had been chased by his cousin's (scary) girlfriend, had a shadow traveling accident, and had immediately been forced to engage in battle. For the second time this week. In the middle of Nowhere.
Nico hated the Fates.
It started to go wrong with the shadow-traveling. He hadn't had an accident since a month ago (during which he was officially banned from Ecuador), so he had thought that he was getting better at controlling where he ended up.
As he clasped his cousins' hands in his, Nico firmly concentrated on New York's M and M factory (he may have been slightly hungry by then) and was confident that he would reach his intended destination. Apparently he overestimated his abilities.
Five minutes later, he had a major headache and a group of soldiers attacking him. It happened in a blur. One moment he was observing his surroundings - a hilltop, dilapidated and broken stones - and the next, a flurry of motion.
Nico's instincts kicked in and he drew his sword, eyes flitting around. There were only thirty - he had taken on worse odds-yet they still outnumbered him. He barely had time to adopt a defensive stance before the men were on him. Hacking and slashing, he disabled the first couple before going on offensive.
At some point during the battle, noticing the distinct lack of hurricanes and lightning, Nico realized that neither Thalia nor Percy was with him. Thoughts of his cousins distracted him for just a split second, and one of the soldiers took advantage of it. Managing a lucky shot, he sent Nico's sword skittering across the ground. Believing the younger boy to be vulnerable, the soldier smiled predatorily and went in for the kill.
With his weapon out of reach and a sword swinging to meet him, Nico was running out of options. While he knew it wasn't wise to reveal himself to these people, he also knew that his choices were limited.
Falling back on his powers, Nico reached out his senses, calling the earth to his aid. The ground shook, throwing several of the soldiers off balance, including the one ready to gut Nico. Uneasy, a few of them shifted uneasily, while others seemed to be more determined than ever to kill the boy. As the first one took a step towards Nico, he acted.
Placing his empty palm to the ground, he focused. "Defeated warriors, I call you now to my aid!" he yelled, and the earth split open.
There was a painful tug in his gut, and the undead warriors worked their way out of the hole. Nico was glad that his powers still worked, despite the fact that he had absolutely no clue where he was. Sending a quick prayer up to his father, he gathered up his sword again as the skeletons came at his bidding.
Half a dozen soldiers climbed out of the ground, prompting several soldiers to scamper away, properly terrified. Satisfactorily, Nico let a grim smile on his face before the rest of the men – still a good twenty or so- let out battle cries and attacked.
Refocusing, Nico raised his sword. "Επιτίθεμαι! (Attack!)" he shouted. As one, the skeletal warriors drew their swords and charged. Several of the men teamed up against Nico's soldiers, but without Celestial Bronze, their weapons were useless. Thankfully, this gave Nico a brief respite. Raising the undead had wearied him, so he decided to take a short breather before rejoining the battle.
His ADHD saved him. A quick flash out of the corner of his eye alerted him to another presence. Whirling, he raised his sword just in time to block an overhead strike. Quickly analyzing his enemy, he realized that his attacker wore different colors than the other men; while he wore the same tunic-like garment over his armor, his depicted a blossoming white tree surrounded by stars instead of the brown camouflage. Did this mean he wasn't an ally of the other men, then?
His unspoken question was answered by another forceful swing of the sword. Cursing, Nico ducked, bringing up his sword at the same time. Ally of the others or not, he was still trying to kill the son of Hades.
His new foe appeared to be a much better swordsman than the others, confirming that he did, in fact, have different training than Nico's other adversaries. The man fought with a strange style, mostly powerful sweeps that would decapitate Nico in one fell swoop if he wasn't careful enough.
Of course, Nico, being a demigod, had plenty of practice fighting enemies larger and stronger than himself. From hyperborean giants to hellhounds, he was well accustomed to using his speed and smaller physique to his advantage; though this wasn't a monster, Nico figured that the techniques were similar enough for him to use the same battle strategy. To be honest, he wasn't that anxious to kill another human being, but, in his defense, the other man did attack him first.
Waiting for an opportune moment, Nico held back until the larger man put all his force into one swing. Seizing the chance, he ducked away and, before his enemy could regain his balance, lunged forward, thrusting his sword in the man's chest, through his rib cage, and directly into the heart.
Nico was prepared for the gargle of blood that came with the feeling of a soul escaping a body. He was not expecting the arrow.
He should have died. The arrow should have pierced his back straight through his heart, in the same place he killed the other man. Nico should have died instantly, to rejoin his family in his father's realm. But the Fates had other plans.
As the man died with Nico's sword still in his heart, he slumped down, gravity taking hold of the unresponsive body. Taken aback, Nico was dragged down with him, crouching as he attempted to regain his balance. Thus the arrow, instead of killing Nico, only buried itself in his left shoulder.
The weight came like Atlas dumped the sky on his shoulders. The force of the arrow propelled Nico forward, slamming him against the ruins of the dilapidated watchtower. Blinking the stars out of his eyes, Nico slowly and painfully turned around to see his latest in a long line of attackers.
The first thing he noticed were the ears. They were pointed, not round; racking his brains, he tried to think of any Greek monster that this creature resembled, but couldn't. During times like these, he wished he had a handy pocket-sized child of Athena to sprout out helpful facts for him. Whatever this creature was, it was graceful, deadly, and wicked good with a bow and arrow.
Nico pushed himself up with the help of the broken stones, breathing heavily. He thought about pulling the arrow out of his shoulder, but realized it might do more harm than good, especially since he had no nectar or ambrosia; he really should have paid attention to the mandatory First-Aid classes at Camp. Frankly, he was just glad it wasn't his sword-fighting arm, although he did prefer to fight with a two-handed blade.
Forcing himself to ignore the burning ache in his shoulder, Nico concentrated hard on the shadows. Stepping back into their comforting embrace, they gladly welcomed their master back, whisking him away just as an arrow pierced where his skull had been a moment before.
Re-emerging behind his attacker, Nico gathered his strength for a final effort. Thrusting downwards with all his might, he was astonished when, with cat-like reflexes, the creature drew a sword and spun around to parry. If Nico had been any less of a warrior, the being might have been able to raise his sword in time, but Nico was a demigod with years of experience.
The black blade smoothly sunk into his chest, shattering the breastbone on impact. Nico started to pull his sword back out, but the creature had a final trick up its sleeve.
His sword arm, still raised, came swinging down as he lunged, further impaling himself on Nico's blade. Unprepared for this maneuver, Nico tried to jump back, but his wounded shoulder protested the movement.
The beautiful silver sword sung through the air as it sliced downwards, cutting across Nico's leg. With a startled hiss, he stumbled back, falling as his injured leg refused to bear his weight. Collapsing in a less than graceful manner, Nico stayed perfectly still a moment, waiting for the world to stop spinning before taking stock of himself.
The cut on his leg wasn't life-threatening, but it was deep enough to make walking painful. His shoulder would be a real problem, though, even without the risk of infection. He cursed himself for using up the last of the ambrosia on a dracanae attack the day before.
Suddenly remembering his unknown enemy, Nico's head snapped over to where the other creature was lying on the ground, eyes staring into nothingness. Nico frowned. He couldn't feel the soul leaving the body, which either meant that his attacker wasn't dead or wasn't a human. Seeing as how the other being was lying motionless with vacant eyes and a gaping hole in his chest, Nico was leaning towards the second option.
Deciding he should probably get out of plain sight, Nico slowly dragged himself to a nearby outcrop between two rocks, where the shadows were able to hide him.
He saw a brief flash out of the corner of his eye. He tensed, not eager for another battle, but it appeared as though the figure was fleeing. Or he was just seeing things.
He had to bind his wounds. He had to find out where he was. Most importantly, he had to locate Percy and Thalia. Instead, his eyes started to drift shut. Trying to force them open, his own body didn't respond to him as they closed without his permission, sending him into blissful unconsciousness with a bleeding leg and an arrow still sticking out of his shoulder.
Yep, it was official; the Fates hated him.
"You are sure?" The rough voice sounded from the shadows of the cave, causing the reporting soldier to tremble in fright.
"Yes, Commander," the subordinate said respectfully, keeping his eyes on the ground. His fear was palpable in the tense air.
"Interesting." The first voice sounded again, and the man stood up, allowing the smallest beam of moonlight to hit him. He might have been good-looking, for anyone who liked tall, muscular men with wild beards, if not for the burn on his face. The injured area stretched from just below his left eye to his chin, the burnt pink skin contrasting with the rest of his tan face. A broad sword was slung on his back, and at his side gleamed a four-foot long sword with a handle inlaid with the darkest of gems.
The terrified soldier fell back with a squeak, but the Commander didn't seem to notice. "They were not lying then," he said, almost to himself. As if suddenly realizing he still had company, he snapped back around towards the other soldier. "Tell our guests that they have a deal."
As the smaller man scurried out of the room, the Commander started chuckling darkly, a wicked smile on his ruined face. As his laugh got louder, his eyes lit up with an insane glint. At the same time, a chilling howl ripped through the night, echoing darkly with the man's crazed cackling.
Hundreds of miles away, Percy woke with a start.
