"This doesn't make any sense," Odie said. "One minute it was transmitting, the next it's dead."
"Theresa?" Jay asked.
Theresa tried to locate Neil psychically.
"He's somewhere in the woods. Oh no."
A vision hit her. She saw Neil lying in a clearing in very bad shape, clutching a silver charm.
"Theresa?"
Theresa's shot open. "We have to hurry!" she cried.
Jay stopped the truck and the team jumped out. Theresa led the way to the location she saw in her vision.
"Neil?" she called. "Neil!"
The friends split up to look for their missing teammate.
"Neil!" Archie began to yell.
He heard a *thud* and looked down. He had kicked Neil's mirror. Archie swallowed. He slowly bent down and picked up the gold object.
"N-Neil?" he stammered as he looked around.
A moan answered his call. Archie ran over to where the sound had come from.
There were a few things on her list of things that she never wanted to hear again. Archie's scream was now on the top of the list.
Atlanta dashed over where the cry (or scream) for help came from. She stopped dead in her tracks.
"JAY!"
It was the only thing she could think to do.
Neil looked like he had been dragged through a shredder.
"Archie...is he..."
Archie shook his head.
"He's breathing...barely," the Warrior choked out.
Atlanta dropped to her knees beside Neil. She had no clue what do to. Archie looked just as lost. Just then, the others ran up.
The color drained from Odie's face, which was surprising for his dark skin. Jay immediately turned away from the scene and covered his face with his hands. Theresa just stood there.
What could anyone do? Finding out what did this wouldn't help. Jay took out his radio.
"What's the 411, Jay?" Hermes' voice rang through.
"More like a 911. Hermes, we need a portal, and we need it fast. Neil is in critical condition and needs Chiron's help," Jay explained.
"I'll get the portal locked on your location," Hermes said.
Jay hung up just as a weak moan escaped Neil's throat.
"Neil? Can you hear me?" Archie asked.
Neil's eyes flickered open.
"Arch?" he whispered.
"And Atlanta, Odie, Jay and Theresa. We're going to get you out of here," Archie explained.
"Se...lene..."
"What about Selene?" Odie asked, kneeling down beside Archie.
"Selene...Silver Wolf...Cronus has...silver book..."
"Cronus?" Jay echoed.
Neil lifted his hand, but it (literally) dropped into Archie's hand. The Warrior looked down as Neil's hand slid back to the ground. The silver charm that was always around Selene's neck lay in his palm.
"Silver...calms...wolf..." Neil trailed.
"Don't try to talk, Neil," Odie instructed.
Neil shook his head in protest. He groaned in pain. His handsome face twisted in agony. Archie felt extreme pity for the person lying in front of him. No one, not even the ever-so-annoying Neil, deserved this kind of fate.
The darkness was pierced by a mystical blue glow as a portal opened up. Hermes and Chiron could be seen on the other side. The centaur was digging his hooves into the floor, clearly anxious and angry at the same time.
Archie, Odie, Theresa, and Atlanta carefully pulled Neil through the portal. Jay was still standing off to the side, his face buried in his hands again.
Chiron took Neil and galloped off to his study. The four heroes walked back through the portal into the woods.
"Now what?" Archie asked.
"We look for Cronus," Jay answered, finally turning to face his team. "If we find Cronus, we find Selene."
"And when we find Selene?" Atlanta asked.
Archie looked down at the charm that was still in his hand. Neil had said something about the silver that helped calm the wolf. Maybe that was why Herry acted like a puppy when he saw the charm.
"If I can get close enough, I could put this around her neck," the Warrior explained, holding the silver necklace up.
"Why you? I can have it on her and back before you can blink," Atlanta pointed out.
"You may be fast, Atlanta, but remember, we're dealing with a government manipulated creature. She's probably got reflexes faster than Odie's computer," Jay compared. "No offense, Odie."
"None taken," Odie replied.
"The rest of us will distract Selene long enough for Archie to get the charm around her," Jay explained.
"Why Archie?" Atlanta pressed. She turned to her boyfriend. "Not that I think you can't do it or anything."
"One word, Atlanta. Immune," Jay replied.
"Will it work against werewolves?" Archie questioned.
"It's like a sickness, so, it might work," Odie contemplated.
"Maybe Atlanta should do it. She's faster than any of us," Archie said. He quickly turned to Atlanta. "Not that I want you to get bitten."
"I know what you what you mean," Atlanta replied.
"Well, we have to figure out who will do it soon, because I sense that the Silver Wolf is close," Theresa announced.
Jay took out his sword, the blade slid out smoothly.
"Show us the way, Theresa."
Theresa headed off for a more dense part of the woods. No one made a sound. It didn't help matters that it was dark. Everyone was on high alert. The tiniest breath of wind made them jump. Theresa held up a hand and the team stopped. There was a flash of silver in the shadows, followed by a whimper. Jay cautiously stepped forward, his sword clenched tightly in his right hand. He walked over to a cluster of bushes and pulled them back. Jay's breath caught in his throat. Lying on the ground in a seemingly worse condition than Neil, was the Silver Wolf.
"Guys, I don't think the charm is going to work," the Leader announced.
He put his sword away and carefully picked the wolf up. It let out a pitiful sound. Almost like a sound a human makes when they cry out in pain. The creature's eyes flickered opened and it looked up at Jay. The Leader felt his heart plummet into his stomach. The creature's eyes no longer carried their once beautiful, silvery glow. No moon dominated the wolf's eyes. Now, they were just a dull grey.
"Someone call Hermes!" Jay yelled in desperation, his eyes burning with on coming tears.
The team scrambled for their radios. Jay rubbed the wolf's head.
"It's okay, Selene. You're going to be okay," he whispered.
A portal opened and this time Chiron walked out. He took Selene's weakening form from Jay's arms and headed back through the portal without saying a word to the heroes. Jay got to his feet as the portal closed.
"What do we do now?" Archie asked, clutching the charm so hard that his knuckles began to turn white.
"We find Cronus," Jay replied.
Somehow, the world seemed to grow a lot more darker as Jay said this.
Thoughts? Comments? Anything need improving?
I'm so glad this chapter was longer. The last one was just disappointing. Anyway, let me know what you think. No flames please.