JASON
Frank torched his pursuers in a burst of orange flame and sent the Telkhines rolling away screaming into the water.
Jason reached the dragon-ified son of Mars and swung at the still very horde-like mass of monsters. And more were coming. At this rate, one dragon wasn't going to cut it.
It was good then, that at that moment a second, bronze plated dragon came charging onto the scene. The only problem Jason could see was the fact that Festus was currently the size of an overgrown, very shiny, fire breathing parakeet.
The shrunken dragon landed on Jason's shoulder and roared defiantly at the advancing Telkhines. It was like a chihuahua taking on a pack of doberman pinschers and Jason was not in the slightest bit reassured. He knew he should be very confused, but at this point, there were more pressing matters, like how they were going to get out of this alive, for instance, for him to worry about a mini-Festus.
He heard more frantically yelling Telkhines and his first optimistic thought was that at least they were announcing themselves before they killed him.
His second thought was that he never wanted to be on the receiving end of an angry hippogriff.
Eugene was tearing through monsters like they were tissue and sending the others caught in his path scattering in panic. Hazel was on his back, slashing expertly with her spatha, effectively making them the most frightening pair Jason had ever seen.
The pegasi charged in behind them, Nico and Calypso in tow. The son of Hades' black sword was enough to make the monsters turn tail rather than fight, and the goddess' sweet voice made any in her way drop where they stood.
Alright, Jason thought. Maybe this won't end badly at all. It was starting to look a lot more even of a fight.
And then there was the wave.
It came out of nowhere, a massive tidal wave that crested over them higher than Frank's head and came crashing down on top of everything, including the Telkhines.
Something crashed louder than the surf on the dark and indistinguishable shore, rocking the whole group and sending them off in all directions.
A fin toppled a stack of boulders like they were pebbles in front of Jason as it swatted up out of the water, the ugly grey, scaly flesh sinking back down into the murk.
Jason almost actually asked What was that when he realized how stupid that sounded. Did it really matter? It was big, it was angry, and it wanted to kill them.
He could only thank the gods it seemed to be staying in the water.
Festus roared in miniature again and bucked in frustration having realized he couldn't really do much in his current state.
"Grace! Get the dragon off you," Calypso called from the fray as she landed an elbow in an attacking Telkhine who fell over and stayed down. It took Jason a moment to process what she'd said but Festus had already risen from his shoulder and was flying towards her instead. He saw her shut her eyes, the pegasus dodging a few stumbling monsters so she could concentrate, and Festus began to glow.
He began to get bigger, slowly at first but more and more noticeably as his plating came back in and extended around his body. Within seconds, a full grown gleaming Festus was standing proudly in front of Jason, making Frank seem suddenly very small in comparison.
The Telkhines whimpered and dodged clumsily around the dragon's feet only to run headlong into each other and the arrow tipped tail.
They were all suddenly very preoccupied by the giant metal beast that had shot up in the middle of them all, freeing up Jason and the others for the moment at least. They were no longer the most important immediate threat.
Jason watched as several Telkhines seemed to take charge and snapped at those who had turned tail, corralling them like murderous ushers back in a circle around Festus.
Another burst of flame shot through the crowd sending a hot billow of smoke pouring up. It spluttered red and died, coughing off in a tiny yellow spark and taking Festus very much by surprise.
Jason didn't realize they had a problem until he realized Festus was now only using his tail and body to bat away at the oncoming monsters, quickly being overcome as they caught hold of his plating and began to scale his sides.
"Cal!" he yelled at the goddess who responded with a very surprised and very disgusted expression as he ran, gladius raised, at Festus. "Hazel, Nico!"
They didn't need to be told. The others had already advanced on the hoard, Frank jumping up and down in a spastic frenzy of wings and feet, doing his best to knock the Telkhines down and scatter them again.
Each time it took them less time to regroup. They were learning quick and realizing that they were the stronger force.
Even with Frank's occasional burst of fire, they still continued to advance, and suddenly, Festus stopped thrashing.
He wobbled a bit, body stiff under the weight of the Telkhines, as one lone dog-faced body tore through the plate at the back of the dragon's head, sending sparks into the night, and the dragon into the sea.
