Chapter NINE! Here you are :) Sorry it's late!
Disclaimer: Haha, you should know I'm not Rick Riordan or Suzanne Collins, nor do I own their stories. Wait . . . how do you know? Are you stalking me? OMG IS THAT YOU OUT THERE? IM CALLIN THE POLICE.
As previously stated, if I hadn't taken the first shift, then we all would be dead in a way that would be very hard to explain to everyone who wasn't a demigod.
Chiron is magical. I was right to take those annoying monster fighting classes and he was right to train us in all those stuff that would come in handy in the Hunger Games. Chiron probably can see the future, so he should know exactly to train us for what we probably thought would never happen.
Last time I checked, monsters weren't supposed to be in the arena.
And it wasn't a simple hellhound.
It was a hydra.
How it got there, I didn't know. Don't ask me. All I know is that I have to fight it off myself.
I just sit at the fire, staring at it. It is now just a bunch of hot coals. Yael is outside the tent, currently using my sleeping bag. "Here you go. You can use this while I'm keeping watch," I told her. It is cold, but I don't really care. I guess I kind of dose off, because next thing I know, I'm awake, and I see a giant fire in the distance. At first I think it's a really stupid tribute, but then I hear a familiar scratching of. . . claws? Claws. . . My mind immediately jumps to the word "Monster." But then again, it's probably just a mutt and will hopefully leave us alone.
But then I hear another scratch of claws that sends a chill down my spine. I recognize that sound. That is the sound of a hydra.
"No way," I whisper. This can not be a monster. Not a mutt, but a real monster that's main purpose is to hunt down demigods. I look closer.
This definitely isn't a mutt. I think. I go over into the tent, to where our weapons are stored.
ELISE! I hear a voice in my head. Take Elijah's Sword!
It is all I can do not to scream out in terror, but then I realize it's probably Ares. He should know that I stink at is he asking me to take Elijah's sword? Then again, I should probably trust his judgement. . .
While looking at my spear I got at the Cornucopia, it looks like just plain metal, while on the other hand, Elijah's sword could be some sort of celestial bronze, even though it looks like it's gold. I sneak into the tent and go over to the corner where we keep our weapons. I know for a fact that Elijah sleeps like he's hybernating whenever he's anxious, so I know that he'll not wake up. I pick up his sword and stare at it for a moment, then I leave the tent.
"Hopefully this isn't just plain old gold," I mumble to myself. I then go in slowly towards the sound of the scratching of Hydra claws. It's really easy to keep concealed behind the huge heavy woods, and I am careful not to step on any loose branches and I make sure not to drop Elijah's sword, which is significantly heavier than any spear I've used.
I think I may be hallucinating because of the major shock my body went through, but as I get closer, I can see it more clearly. I giant five headed monster that is going to eat me. I just pray my brother's sword works.
"Here we go," I mumble to myself. I come out behind the tree I'm hiding behind and I charge in to attack the Hydra, feeling clumsy with the sword. If there's not tributes mutilating each other somewhere, then I know I'm featured and I have to make an excuse for the audience.
"Urgh!" I yell. "No one ever mentioned there was a mutt like this out there!" I say as I fight it. There. That should give the audience and excuse.
I get caught off guard, and the hydra takes a lunge at me. I raise the sword and deflect it, but it ends up knocking me over onto the ground. I grit my teeth and come back up, to be almost scorched by fire, but I jump aside and dodge it in the nick of time.
I want to complain about how bad I am at sword play, but I don't have time, and the hydra strikes again, putting in a nice gash on my arm. "Oh my gods. . . .son you stupid hydra!" I yell, and then charge. I aimlessly swing the sword around, trying not to die. Okay, Elise. Just remember to put son whenever you use the exclamation "gods!" They'll think you're just weird.
A split second later, I am found with the perfect opportunity to stab the hydra in the heart, and I take the chance, and plunge the sword into the hydra's chest, praying the sword was some sort of celestial metal.
And it is. The fates must really like me at the moment to stick in a celestial bronze sword into the cornucopia. I say a silent thank-you to them as the hydra disintegrates. I want to collapse on the ground and just sleep there, but I know I have to make the trip back to camp, which is going to be a challenge since there's no fire for us to see.
I look down at the sword. It is shining in the moon light, but looks nothing like celestial bronze. Maybe there was some other metal out there that could kill monsters. I look at my reflection and I can see that I'm a mess. My hair is everywhere, and in knots, and my face looks tired and worn out, and I have gashes in my shoulder and my arm, and I've been through serious shock.
I'm so beaten up, and I've hardly been in the arena for 12 hours. Bring honor to your district! I think in my head, just like our old teacher said. I'm starting to go by that phrase because whenever I think that, I end up getting out of fights alive.
I slowly walk back to camp. Or, at least backwards of the direction I came. After I wander around for about five minutes, I finally stumble upon camp. I go over to the coals; the remains of our fire, and I sit down where I was before I fought the hydra. Elijah comes out of the tent slowly, and comes and sits next to me, watching the coals.
"Hey," I tell him. "I need a bandage. I got a nice gash in the arm."
"How? What happened over there? Fish, Sadie, Crystal, and Yael are out cold, but I knew something was wrong!"
I hand him his sword. "Mutt." I say for the audience. I then lean in closer and whisper so that Elijah can barely hear me, "Monster." I just pray that the microphones didn't pick that up. Even if they did, they'd have no clue what I said and they're probably editing that out right now.
Elijah looks over at me, really surprised. "Really?" He asks. "In here?"
"No, der, Elijah, of course they're going to stick mutts in here!" I say. I need to cover up our story for the audience.
Elijah hands a water bottle to me. "Drink," he says.
"I'm not thirsty."
"You now have two injuries, it looks like you've gone through some serious shock of some kind, and you've had to worry about me for the past week. Take this water bottle and drink!" He says. Grudgingly, I take the water bottle and have a sip.
My mouth recoils at the taste, and I am surprised at what it is.
A very familiar taste. Warm brownies. Not just normal brownies, but the amazing ones that mom makes.
I have to remember to stop drinking or my death by spontaneous explosion will be a pain for Elijah to explain. This is not water. This is no mortal drink. This is nectar, the drink of the gods. The fates must be really liking me tonight.
"Ahhh," I say. I look over at Elijah, but he's just staring at the coals.
"Here," he says. "Let me go get a bandage for your arm." He goes into the tent silently and picks up the giant first aid kit we managed to get at the Cornucopia.
I look back over at my arm, which has a real nice gash in it. It's currently numb and I can't feel anything in my arm. "Ouch," Elijah says. He takes out some cleaner and a pad, and hands it to me. "You probably know more about this than me," he says. He goes ahead and sits down next to me on the fire.
I take a look at my water bottle. Or, more like, my nectar bottle. Is it safe for me to wipe out my wound with it? It's a deep gash . . . "Ah, what the hey," I say. I just pray that either A, they edit this part out with the weird girl cleaning out her wound with "Water", or B, if I do survive, then nobody mentions this afterwards otherwise people are gonna think I'm crazy.
I take a little bit of the nectar and put it on a wipe. I then dab it at my wound in my arm. I sigh because it immediately starts to feel better. I then wipe it out with a mixture of soap and water. After then, I wrap it up in a bandage, and it feels significantly better than it did before. I sigh.
"Is it feeling better?" Elijah asks.
"Yeah," I say.
I then hear a rustling. "Is everything alright?" I can see the outline of Yael over next to the tent.
"Everything's fine," I tell her.
"I'll take watch for the rest of the night. It's already around midnight," she says.
"I will too!" Elijah says.
"Okay," I say. I go into the tent. I cuddle down into my sleeping bag Yael gave to me, and am out cold in minutes.
I know, I know, this chapter is late and short, but Leumer (Friend from school :D) didn't review even though I constantly asked him to over IM. Leumer, this is what you get. You don't get a sneak peak, and you make amazing people like Terrace Lily and fieldhockeyisamazin sad because I can't update because I promised you a sneak peek if you reviewed!
Please review, and I will send you an exclusive sneak peak of chapter 10.