Updates may be slow as I said, but whatever. I'm mostly writing this for myself, it seems fun to do and even to reread my ideas myself it is entertaining, like when you have finished an art piece and look at it. IDK. Enjoy.
Chapter 3
Soon after, the car exploded.
Ringing, all Percy heard was the ringing in his ears. A non-stop ringing that wouldn't ease until it eventually ceased. By then, Percy's eyes opened to a foul stench in the air, a barnyard smell, only not as intense.
His world was disorientated. Unclicking the seatbelt, he sunk on top of broken glass, digging slowly into his back, before climbing out of the shattered window to the sight of Adonis and Sally carrying Grover to the treeline by the road.
Faint sounds, the release of breath through a muzzle, as if horse or cow. Looking back down the road to only view a hulking, seven-foot-tall monstrosity quickly gaining on the car-crash site. A man, muscles: so great you could imagine him ripping out a tree with his bare strength. A bull, fur thick and dark, instantly clarifying it was no human, horns: rough piercing weapons, as strong as bone.
Minotaur.
Percy stumbled towards his partners, away from the imminent doom, striding towards the crew with a cemented fury. His shoulder burned, whatever scab formed in such a short time was sheared off and the wound was torn larger. Rain blurred his vision as he floundered forwards.
"Percy! Hurry up, it will see you!" Adonis yelled in exhaustion, still struggling with an unconscious Grover. Percy shot forward, determined to not be left behind with such an encounter. Looking back down the road, the bull-man, Minotaur, closing in, closer by half way already.
The ground became soft and muddy as the landscape flowed down into a valley, a farmhouse down at the end, too far.
Looking back once more, the Minotaur increased in speed, stepping on the wreckage of the car with enough force to compress the fuel containment- already alight- and-
BANG!
The car exploded once more, this time in flames. Completely enveloping the Minotaur in red-hot fire and smothering smoke. Yet, the smoke parted, and out of it, the beast. Charging.
Percy traveled forwards, hoping to place some distance between himself and another nightmarish encounter. "Everyone split up!" Adonis hollered, while Percy's jaw was clamped in shock-horror at the scene, a midnight sky riddled with streaks of maroon, traces of flame and the half-hidden stars, peaking at the scene to come.
Percy spun around to the sight of the Minotaur stampeding within arms-length. Once more, time slowed, this time, there was no time to scream, and yet, Percy's mind worked in super-speed. Minotaur, it came from Μῑνώταυρος. Being a compound word of Μίνως and ταύρος. Minos and bull. The Bull of Minos. Bull. Bullfighting. Dance around the bull. Dodge when the bull is charging. Percy did just that, ducking and rolling to the side at the last moment while the Minotaur continued until it thudded into a tree. It bellowed in rage at its failure before yanking itself free and tearing through the underbrush once more.
But not towards Percy. The Minotaur, instead, rushed towards an easier target, Sally.
On noticing, Sally put down Grover, rolling him out of sight behind a fallen tree. She waved her arms, before sprinting back to the car wreckage, beast in tow.
"MOM!" Adonis screamed. Racing from his position to assist his mother in any way he could.
Sally tried to dodge out of the way, but the Minotaur had learned its lesson, it extended its brawny arms and grabbed Sally, and with its meaty hand: it squeezed. The Minotaur gave a hefty burst of what could only be assumed as laughter as Sally struggled to breathe, spittle flying out of her mouth, eyes wide towards Adonis, legs flailing and hands grasping at the imprisoning hand to no avail.
Gradually, the light left Sally's eyes as she fell unconscious from the asphyxiation. Next, another light, a gleaming gold, enveloped Adonis' mother, then she was gone.
Gone, like power unplugged from a hologram. Percy was stunned. Simply stunned while Adonis raged, attracting the bull-man once more. The beast went forwards, Adonis jumped, sprung off of the Minotaur's head and landed on his back. The boy annoyed it, and so it bucked and bucked, before noticing Percy again. Forgetting what was on its back, the Minotaur limped- it being constantly being thrown off course by Adonis- towards the skinny boy, its pace slow enough to allow Percy to run.
Except, if you run you would get cut down sooner or later, this beast needed to be done with now. So Percy climbed up a rather large pine, clambering upwards gaining splinters and almost slipping off the wet bark. The monster slammed itself into the pine tree, repeating the process, Adonis flying up and down- clinging for dear life. The trunk of the tree was pulverized many times until you could feel a slight sway within the colossal feature. "Adonis! Get out of there!" Percy howled.
Adonis attempted to push himself from the muscular mass, the Minotaur becoming extremely irritated. "Foooood..." Grover was mumbling in a semiconscious state, it just so happened to be loud enough for a certain monster to hear.
"It needs to stay in place! I know how we can kill it!" Shouted Percy, desperate to help in some way, but his plan needed the Minotaur right there, and Adonis out of there.
The Minotaur jerked its head to the right towards Grover, intent on following through with its body, so Adonis had only time for something desperate. A desperation that lead to Adonis abruptly yanking the left horn of the monster with inhuman strength, keeping the Minotaur in the direction facing the pine tree-
Adonis flew sideways, the horn seemed to have given, the bull groaning in pain. All at once, Percy jumped from the tree before grabbing a branch (belonging to the same tree) in the direction of the Minotaur, just a bit further away from the trunk. The instability of the crushed tree base, combined with the momentum of Percy's swing coupled also with the stunned nature of a monster in pain lead to the untimely demise of such creature as the tree swiftly mashed the beast into the ground, breaking many bones in the process.
Yet, it lived.
Until Adonis grasped the detached horn with both hands overhead and whispered: "This is for Mom." When he plunged down the horn into the exposed remains of the beast, impaling it through the neck, therefore causing it to fade into golden powder like Mrs. Dodds did.
Percy panted, sweat dripping down his face, mixing with the rainwater as he stared at Adonis in awe at what they had just done.
Adonis looked equally as exhausted, both physically and mentally. Even after this, they couldn't stop, Percy wobbled as he stood, ankles aching from the fall, he was lucky to be pushed out of the falling path of the tree. Lucky to be alive through all of these confrontations. He located Grover and hoisted him upon his shoulder, turning once more to see Adonis, still kneeling before a pile of dust, a blank look in his eyes. Percy stumbled, taxed by fatigue, down to the farmhouse.
Vision blurred once more, he collapsed upon the wooden porch belonging to the house, figures rushed towards him and Grover in a squabble of noise.
"Another boy, behind me- up the valley- please, help him!" Percy cried, greeting the familiar darkness of unconsciousness.
Next chapter will come out when I can sort it out really, I'm not going to put deadlines on myself, otherwise it wont get done when I want it done. Review and stuff, if you see errors please tell me, see you next time. :)