Chapter V

Katya

Sadie snapped awake. "Leave now!" She screamed.

Carter and Bast jumped in surprise. They were already awake, packing their things.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She told us about her ba trip she was frantically searching through her pockets, then her bag. She pulled out four plane tickets and a sealed envelope. I gulped, hopefully Nut would help me not be shot down by Zeus.

Bast examined the tickets. "Excellent first class serves salmon!"

"But what about Set's minion?" I asked.

I glanced out the window along with Carter. Our eyes widened. "Yeah, um… it's here."

The creature prowled below the base of the monument, leaving tracks in the fallen snow. It had an unnaturally lean, muscled body with reddish gray fur. You could almost mistake it for a greyhound, except for the tail and head. The tail was reptilian, forked at the end with triangular points, like squid tentacles. The creature's head was the strangest, he had ears that stood straight up like a rabbit but shaped like cones and they rotated almost three hundred and sixty degrees so they could hear anything, the snout was long and curved like an anteater's—but anteaters don't have razor sharp teeth.

"Its eyes are glowing," Carter said. "That can't be good."

"How can you see that far?" Sadie demanded.

They stood next to each other looking out at the tiny figure in the snow. The monster was at least five hundred feet below us.

"You still have the sight of a falcon," Bast guessed. "And you're right, Carter. The glowing eyes—"

"It's caught our scent."

I looked back at her and almost laughed. Her hair was sticking straight up.

"Um, Bast?" Carter asked.

"What?"

The three of us exchanged looks. Sadie mouthed the word scared. Cat goddess, right, I thought.

"Nothing," Carter said. "How do we get out of here?"

"You don't understand," Bast said. "The Set animal is the perfect hunter. If it has our scent, there is no stopping it."

"Why is it called the 'Set animal'?" Sadie asked nervously. "Doesn't it have a name?"

"If it did," Bast said, "you would not want to speak it. It is merely known as the Set animal—the Red Lord's symbolic creature. It shares his strength, cunning…and his evil nature."

"Lovely," Sadie said.

The animal sniffed at the monument and recoiled, snarling.

At that moment I knew what I had to do. "Sadie, Carter, turn into birds. Now!" I said as the Set animal started climbing up the side of the monument. They looked like they were going to argue but a look from me silenced them. "Fly out this window," I said smashing the other window with the hilt of my sword. "Bast, follow them."

"What about you?" Sadie cried.

"I'll hold it off."

"But—" One look from me silenced them. I nodded at Bast and she nodded back.

"I'll see you at the airport. Don't wait up if I'm late. Remember, your one goal is to save the world. Your father, he might not be the same." And with that I pushed them out the window.

"You are a strong warrior," said Bast. "I wish you the best. And thank you." I knew she was not used to thanking people, which made it even more special. She jumped out the window.

I turned to the other window, I had an idea. A stupid idea, but an idea. I jumped out the window. I was falling head first knocking into the Set animal. We fought on our way down, it clawed and bit at me, I sliced with my sword. I focused on my powers and right before I hit the ground a huge pile of snow breaking my fall and my rib. The creature stood. It looked dazed and confused. My idea worked, it was from the desert—no way would he like the snow.

I pushed myself up off the ground. My broken rib ached at the strain. The Set animal looked as if it wanted to fight but couldn't. I raised my sword and brought it down on the monster. I looked up from the sand that tainted the white snow. My rib ached, I lost my knapsack in the fall. My knees gave out from under me and my chin hid the pavement. I pulled myself to my knees my face was covered in gravel from the face-plant.

A shadow flew across the ground and I looked to the sky immediately on my guard. My grip tightened on my sword. Then a horse landed swiftly in front of me. No, not a horse a Pegasus.

"Blackjack," I gasped. He neighed proudly. He lent his head down to me. I looked at him curiously. He rolled his eyes at me. Percy was right, he did have an attitude, I didn't have to hear him to know.

I hugged him, it felt so good not to depend on only myself. A tear escaped my eye. He stomped a little in a rush.

"Sorry," I said. He threw me onto his back with his snout. "Whoa, hold on. I need my knapsack."

He walked around the monument and found my knapsack he picked it up with his teeth and tossed it back to me. I leaned my body against his neck, and wrapped my arms around it.

He took off, I knew the airplane was already gone, so I told Blackjack to go straight to Memphis.

Sadie

I felt awful. We had left Katya to die because we weren't capable of handling a stupid demon animal. We don't know that she's actually dead, I told myself. She probably is! Another part of my brain yelled. You left her to die. The voices in my head made me feel even worse. I cried, when Carter and Bast were asleep.

You can't do anything about it. It was her choice, she knew she probably wasn't coming back alive. She might've had an idea. She is still alive. My thoughts battled each other as I drifted off to sleep.

Katya

It took me six hours to get from New York to Memphis. Riding a horse, with a broken rib. I knew the flight Sadie, Carter, and Bast were on only took two hours and I was hopelessly behind. I told Blackjack to go to Phoenix, hoping that Sadie and Carter would make it. If not, it was up to me. Blackjack was getting tired at the fourth hour of our twelve hour flight. I asked him if he wanted to stop but he ignored me and kept going. I was too tired to argue. So I rested his head against his neck and tried to ignore the pain in my rib. It became increasingly hard to keep my eyes open and eventually I let them close.

Change of plans! I take it back there are not twenty-two more chapters. I honestly don't know how may are left since I have no idea what I'm going to do with everything except for the major things. Like defeating Set. PLEASE REVIEW!