Well, just recently I checked out the new book by Rick Riordan, The Lost Hero.
And I realized that my story was basically the same plot as the new book ==
(The Lost Hero is basically about what's going to happen with the Great Prophecy...just like mine)
And I found out some of things that happen in the Lost Hero is somewhat similar to what happens in my story. (Well, maybe not, but it's just what I think)
I just wanted to clarify that I wrote up the plot of this story before I even knew there was such thing as "The Lost Hero"
Anyhoos, I know I haven't been updating very often, but I still hope that somebody is reading my story :/ (especially since that Rick Riordan comes up with what actually happens in the Great Prophecy) and I hope whoever is reading enjoys my new chapter!
(BTW, Percy will be in the next chpt, just in case any of you wanted to know)
Chapter 11: Tactics of Battle
Hector POV
"Do all of you understand the plan?" I asked.
"Yeah," they replied in unison.
I braced myself against the cold stone wall and furtively peered behind it. The serpent wasn't near. With my hand still on the wall, I inched around it slowly. I watched the ground for shadows. A shadow of a feathery wing gradually expanded on the cement floor as the serpent moved closer. I gave Travis and Connor the signal that it was safe to move. Travis crept out with the mirror shield. Connor quickly darted far into the dark where I couldn't see him. A scaly tail whipped into view, as the serpent sensed Connor.
As silent as a stone, I drew a knife from my belt. Watching if the serpent had noticed me, I examined the shadow carefully for any sign of the Basilisk's suspicion. The dark silhouette of its scaly head was still angled towards the dark where Connor had disappeared into. The serpent hadn't noticed me yet. I slowly turned my glance up from the floor, praying that the serpent wouldn't turn his head towards me at the last moment. The back of the serpent's head came into sight. I quickly closed my eyes with relief. Then, I hastily examined the walls for the source of light. There! The faint light from above the stairs glowed from above my head. I soundlessly darted towards the place where the light landed.
The serpent still didn't see me. I crouched towards the pillar that had the sunlight shining on it. I held my knife out and carefully calculated the angle. I inspected the back of the basilisk's head as I angled my knife in the soft beams. The light instantly reflected off the silver knife onto the basilisk's head. The basilisk's head whipped around and I swiftly leaped behind the pillar, quickly concealing my presence. A threatening hiss echoed through the subway as the basilisk slowly slid towards me. I heard a layer of the pillar's stone crumbling away as the basilisk's corrosive breath burned into it. The next step of the plan…
I slid my knife along the pillar, creating a loud shriek that was like nails on chalkboard. I shut my eyes and prayed that Connor and Travis would be fast enough to execute the rest of the plan. Ross, though a brilliant healer of Apollo, would not have the ability to cure a curse of stone…if the serpent didn't burn me to ashes first.
Connor POV
An earsplitting screech echoed through the subway, signaling me to go. I cast my gaze to the floor as I sprinted forward.
"Here, you stupid chicken-snake thingy!" I hollered.
I heard a loud hiss as the Basilisk Serpent slithered towards me. Hector's distraction gave me enough time to dive to the floor and lay on the ground. Hector's hawk-like eyes managed to spot that the serpent's acidic breath floated upwards. Therefore, if you stayed close enough to the floor, you wouldn't breathe in the poisonous breath. I kept my face pressed against the cold cement floor and watched the serpent's scaly tail. The slithery body skimmed towards me. My heartbeat quickened as I anxiously waited. My breath was quick and uneven.
Just trust the plan, I told myself, Just trust the plan.
I heard it inhale, ready to spray me with its bad breath. My next action would have to be executed in a split second. As the serpent unleashed the mordant gas, I instantly sprang off my hands, thrusting myself through the air.
"Travis!" I shouted, as I landed on my feet.
I caught the shield as it flipped through the air. I held the mirror in front of my head as the Basilisk Serpent turned towards me. The scaly body instantly recoiled back as it gave a startled hiss. My eyes widened. Had it turned to stone? I scrambled out of the way when I heard the serpent let out another belch of its corrosive breath.
"Connor," my brother stammered, "what happened?"
"The serpent's still alive," I managed to sputter, "Come on! We need to get to Hector!"
Hector looked confused as we scampered towards him. He examined our panicked expressions.
"What's wrong?" he demanded.
"The Basilisk Serpent didn't turn to stone," I explained.
"What part of the plan went wrong?" he questioned hurriedly.
"Nothing!" I exclaimed loudly, "I just…"
"Shh!" my brother shushed, "The serpent will hear you. We need the time, so keep quiet."
"I showed it the mirror," I whispered hastily, "Everything went perfectly."
"What did the serpent do?" he asked.
"I couldn't look at it!" I said, "How would I know what the basilisk did?"
"You must've heard something," he insisted, "Any sounds or shadows…"
I explained everything with as much detail as I could. When I finished, Hector was silent for a moment. He had the same face he did whenever he was thinking or constructing a plan. I had dubbed it the "game face". Whenever he had his game face on, it was like he was in his own world of plans and strategies. His eyes were always a bit distracted, like he was in a trance.
"The basilisk didn't see the mirror," he suddenly said, his eyes now focused.
"What?" Travis whispered.
"How is that…" I started.
"The Basilisk Serpent didn't look at the mirror," he interrupted, "If somebody had destroyed the serpent before with the same technique we just used, the serpent probably remembered. When it spotted you taking out the mirror, it looked away. That's why the serpent back away, Connor. It was afraid of the mirror you were holding."
We were going to die! Hector's plan failed! I was too young to die! My first thought was to bolt up the stairs, but the serpent was slithering right by it.
"Stone eyes and corrosive breath," Hector muttered, "We have to get rid of one of them."
"How?" Travis asked, "It's impossible! We can't even get close to it."
Hector suddenly tilted his head, listening to something.
"Get back," he whispered, gesturing us to move back, "The serpent is sensing where we are."
Once we were hidden behind another wall, I slid dejectedly to the floor.
"What are we going to do?" I asked helplessly, "There's no way…"
"We have to get rid of the basilisk's stone eyes or corrosive breath," Hector repeated.
"Why can't we just hightail out of here?" I asked.
"One, it'll follow us and kill the mortals outside or two, it'll stay in here."
"What's so bad about that?" Travis inquired.
"Look up."
We both turned our gazes upwards and gasped. The ceiling was steaming and stone fragments were disintegrating. Dust was falling from various places.
"Its corrosive breath is eating up the ceiling," Hector explained, "If we don't do something about the basilisk, the whole subway might collapse. And even if it doesn't, when the mortals come back to the subway during daylight, there's no doubt the serpent would kill them."
"So what do we do?" I asked desperately.
"We have to get rid of…" he started to repeat.
"I know!" I exclaimed, frustrated with his composure, "But how?"
Suddenly Hector stood up.
"What are you doing?" Travis whispered, obviously confused.
"I've thought of a plan. Stay hidden, I'm going after the Basilisk Serpent."
"No way!" my brother and I exclaimed, "We're helping you!"
"There's not enough time to explain the plan," Hector said firmly, "and I'm the fastest one here; it's by reasonable logic that I should execute the plan. Besides, there's less to risk if I do it by myself."
"Wait…" I began.
But he was already gone.
Hector POV
The Basilisk Serpent had enormous two advantages-its stone eyes and its poisonous breath. There was no way anybody could destroy the serpent in a strategic close combat situation. The poison would consume their body before anyone could finally destroy the monster. A close combat approach was too slow. A fast and accurate blow was highly unlikely, since you couldn't risk looking anywhere near the serpent's eyes. With those two abilities combined, it was almost an impossible task to destroy the Basilisk Serpent in a close combat.
I drew my crescent dagger- a gift given to me by a Hephaestus camper. Then, I strapped the mirror shield to my forearm.
In the situation I was in, there was no way I could get to a bow and arrow range fast enough to destroy the serpent. Besides, it was dark. I wouldn't be able to aim an arrow well in the shadows. Medium range with a whip or a chain mace was unreasonable. Without looking at the opponent, there was no way somebody could strike with a medium range weapon. The basilisk, however, had its toxic breath, which could easily reach me in medium range. I had to get close range.
Sprinting to the subway tracks, I made sure to keep my steps silent. The serpent had detected some source of movement, but it didn't know exactly where I was.
There was no choice but to fight in close range, but the serpent still had its eyes and its corrosive breath. I had to get rid of one of them. Getting rid of its eyes would be highly possible if the serpent had been asleep or knocked out. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought any knock-out gas with me. I had some Greek fire, but the basilisk would easily be able to spot it, and avoid it. Greek fire would also be useless in the sense of knocking somebody out.
The Basilisk Serpent spread its wings and hissed at its invisible enemy. I balanced myself on the subway tracks and kept myself hidden behind the ledge of the cement.
If I couldn't get rid of the serpent's eyes, I had to manage to liberate the serpent of its poisonous breath. I remembered one of the books I had studied back in camp. It was about the anatomy of a vast variety of monsters. The Basilisk Serpent had been mentioned. The serpent's poisonous breath came from two air pouches-like a second pair of lungs. The air pouches were located on either side of its esophagus. I concluded from the information that if I punctured the air sacks, the basilisk wouldn't be able use its corrosive breath. Then, I would have a greater advantage in defeating the monster. I couldn't charge headfirst with my plan; I needed a distraction first.
With my free hand, I grasped an explosive disk from my belt. I peered above the cement ledge and saw the serpent. Getting a better grip on the explosive disk, I thrust it about a few meters away from the serpent. Once it landed, the chakram instantly detonated. The serpent twisted away from the fiery explosions, hissing loudly. Quickly calculating the angle, I then flung my crescent dagger. It flipped through the air and then in midflight, changed directions like a boomerang and clouted the basilisk behind its head. It stuck in the scales for a few seconds before the basilisk flung it off. The basilisk was puzzled by the double attack, but the confusion would only be temporary.
Quickly taking advantage of the instant, I silently leaped off the subway tracks and ran towards the opposite direction the basilisk was facing. Making sure that I wouldn't see the serpent's eyes, I watched the area right below its head, my target. I sprinted up to the basilisk. I had managed to gain some distance before it noticed me. It spread its wings, ready to attack. I held up the mirror shield in front of me and the serpent instantly recoiled. I immediately hurdled forwards and threw my knife. It pierced the throat of the serpent. The basilisk shrieked as it shook its neck in a desperate attempt to remove the dagger. Its wings beat ferociously as it tried to stay afloat. However, the pain was evidently too much. It didn't have the strength keep flying. I felt a pang of pity and guilt. Even though it was a monster, it was probably feeling astonishing misery. I unsheathed my sword and swung it in a wide arc. The Basilisk Serpent stopped struggling.
The Stoll brothers ran up to me.
"What happened, Hector?" Travis asked.
I looked at the pile of emerald monster dust that was slowly blowing away.
"The Basilisk Serpent is gone," I replied, "for now."
I bent down, sifted through the monster dust, and retrieved my dagger.
"Let's go," I said, standing up.
I handed Ross his shield and turned towards Pan. "How far is Obelix?"
"I'm not exactly sure," he said, "but if there are no detours, we'll be able to get to wrath in about a week."
"For the time being," I decided, "let's find a hotel. It has been a long day."
"No doubt," Connor muttered.
As I walked towards the stairs, I accidently walked into a puddle. Gingerly stepped back, I started to walk around the pool of water I had stepped into. Wait, was it glowing? I blinked and it was a murky puddle. I frowned and crouched next to the puddle. Was that a face I had seen? The face wasn't my reflection. I was positive it was somebody with black tresses, not my blonde hair. Examining the puddle, I puzzled over what I had just seen. I was sure it wasn't just a play of the light. Despite my careful inspection, I couldn't spot anything that was strange about the water.
"Hector," Ross called, "what are you looking at?"
"Nothing much," I said, standing up. It was no use having them worrying about something that could've possibly been a hallucination. "Where's the nearest place we can stay the night?"
Obelix POV
Swiftly, I broke the water camera's connection. I grimaced and scolded myself. Had Hector Lunar seen the viewing mirror? I had almost revealed Achlys' ability. If he had figured out about…
"Mr. Biros?" a voice suddenly asked, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Professor," I replied, quickly standing. "I was just getting some fresh air."
"You were gone for a while," he said, frowning. "I was getting worried."
"I'm sorry, Professor," I apologized, brushing my black tresses out of my eyes.
He broke into a smile, "No worries, Mr. Biros. I need a helping hand, though, could you lend some of your time?"
"Of course," I replied. "What do you need help with?"
"Well you see, Mr. Biros…."
Garry POV
Byron laid on the river bank and the soles of his sneakers skimmed the surface of the cold water. I sat next to him and trailed my fingers along the rushing river.
"Shouldn't we keep going?" Felix asked.
"Nah," Byron replied, "We covered more ground then I thought we would, so we might as well rest for now. You know, working too much is also bad for you, Felix."
The satyr paced restlessly behind us. "I know," he said, "but it's better if we get this over with, right? I'm really nervous about fighting Idylla."
"Ever more of a reason to rest," Byron said, closing his eyes, "Let your nerves and your fears go. We can't face Idylla with a low confidence. Her manipulation will get the best of our weaknesses."
Byron sounded like a meditation master or something. I looked away and stayed silent. Even though Byron didn't know, I was utterly terrified about fighting Idylla. Byron had only chosen me to be on his team because we were friends and knew each others' battle styles. He was such a relaxed and good-natured guy. I was too frightened to tell him that I was nervous about destroying Idylla.
Suddenly, the river gave a great tremor. A gigantic wave of water had drenched my whole arm. Byron had noticed and was sitting up now.
"What is it?" Byron questioned, getting to his feet.
"It's a monster," Felix said, hefting his club, "I didn't sense before. I don't know why."
"It's coming from the river. The river muck probably masked its scent. Monsters do that sometimes, blend their scent into their surroundings," Byron said, slipping his golden ring off of his finger. "Stay back 'til I say, 'kay?"
Automatically, Felix and I backed away from the river. Byron twirled his ring on his pinky and waited. Abruptly, a white...blob flopped out of the river.
"Is that a worm?" Byron asked, confused.
"The Indos Worm!" Felix exclaimed.
"It's fat," Byron stated, as if he was examining a Harry Potter book.
The white worm that had emerged out of the river was thicker than a trunk of a red wood tree. It was as long as telephone pole and had thick flabs of blubber. Disgusting heaps of fat were being dragged across the ground as it slid towards Byron. My eyes widened and I cringed at the revolting sight. I backed up a few steps.
"Do you need help destroying it?" Felix asked.
"No thanks," Byron replied pleasantly, "but if it seems I'm having any trouble, feel free to jump in."
"Alright," Felix said, sounding disappointed. Unlike me, the satyr enjoyed fighting.
Reluctantly, he backed up and stopped on top of a nearby hill. I followed suit.
"Draw your weapon!" I called out to Byron. He was still playing with his ring.
"I don't want to startle my fat buddy here," Byron said calmly. "Don't worry, Garry, I won't be hurt."
The Indos Worm slid towards Byron slowly, not surprisingly, considering its gigantic size. It was almost ten meters away from Byron and he still hadn't activated his weapon. I struggled to keep my mouth shut. By now, I should've been able to trust Byron's tactics, but I was confused about what he was doing. Now, the worm was almost from arm's reach of Byron. Swiftly, he leaped up and disappeared. Where had he landed? Examining the worm's surrounding, I suddenly remembered a possibility. I focused my gaze towards the worm saw a figure standing on the top of its head.
"What is he doing?" Felix asked.
I smiled slightly and said, "Of course, I should've suspected. He's doing that."
"What?" Felix said, looking at me.
"One of Byron's strange but unusually effective tactics," I replied.
Felix hadn't worked much with Byron before our quest and he hadn't been able to quite grasp Byron's technique of fighting.
The Indos Worm was angling its head, trying to sink its sharp teeth into Byron. An attempt which was probably impossible considering Byron was standing on the worm's head.
"Here, Fat Boy!" Byron called, stomping his foot where the worm's eye would've been.
You would think that stomping on somebody's head would hurt, but the monster had so much fat, it probably could only feel half of the actual pressure. At most, Byron's stamps were being annoying, which was exactly what he was probably intending. The monster was vainly jerking its head in different directions, trying to get to Byron. Byron, on the other hand, was jumping on the worm's head, which utterly annoyed the Indos Worm. Then, Byron steadied himself and even from the long distance, I saw the bright glint of gold as he activated his weapon. He thrust Tonitrua into the worm's thick flesh. The Indos Worm violently twisted its whole body in an attempt to get the pesky human who had stabbed it. Byron propelled himself off of the worm as it fell onto its side. The Indos Worm wriggled as it tried to right itself, but it was stuck on its side. Byron waved us over.
"Is there a weak spot?" Byron inquired, as we came over.
"What are you talking about?" Felix asked.
"Well, now that Fat Boy is immobile, we can search a weak spot without trouble," he replied.
"You could've easily destroyed the Indos Worm with lightning," Felix pointed out, "Why not?"
"Getting electrocuted is painful," Byron said, explaining the obvious, "I prefer to destroy monsters with a less painful method if possible."
Looking at the struggling worm, I thought of something.
"If the worm is round, shouldn't it be able to just roll itself over?" I asked. "Why is it still stuck on its side?"
"It's too fat," Byron said. "Obese creatures can't get back up if pushed over." He nudged a flab of the fidgeting worm with his foot. "The fat of the organism flattens out and…"
"Alright, alright," Felix interrupted, grimacing, "We don't need the details."
Byron grinned and went to examine the other side of the worm for weak spots.
"I'm starting to worry about how laid-back our team leader is," Felix grumbled quietly, as for Byron not to hear.
"That's just how he is," I said. "You eventually get used to it."
"It's just…" Felix said.
He looked at the skies and thumped his mace against the ground. I expectantly waited for Felix to finish his sentence.
"…I would imagine the strongest swordsman to be more serious," Felix continued. He turned his gaze away from the sky but still looked away from me. "The son of the great Lord Zeus…he's different from his dad. The Lord of the Skies has quite of a…forceful demeanor. I'll just leave it at that."
"I always guessed that Byron reflected off of his mom. Don't worry. When needs be, Byron will be a leader. No doubt about it." Even though I said this, I myself was scared stiff about this quest. My own uncertainty of our quest wasn't of Byron's strength. It was about fighting Idylla…
The stern satyr managed to crack a smile. "I guess I have no choice but to trust you. Have to keep up my confidence to face Idylla's manipulation ability."
"Yeah," I said, forcing a lopsided grin, "keep up the confidence."
"You know, I always wondered how Idylla is able to control people. I mean, how is she supposed to manipulate your uncertainty and control your mind? Does she like persuade you with telepathic powers or…"
My thoughts instantly zoned out the satyr's voice and drifted to visions of cannibalism and mind control
"How about here?" Byron's voice interrupted my thoughts.
Felix examined the underside of the worm. "Not the mouth?" he asked.
"The teeth are blocking a clean opening of attack," Byron explained.
"I couldn't find a weaker spot," Felix agreed.
"Garry?" Byron asked
"Same as Felix," I replied.
Byron hefted Tonitrua, his double pointed weapon. The spearhead end glinted in the sun and resembled a gliding eagle wing. The sweeping edge of the spear could easily deliver a lethal strike. The longer end was a piercing blade.
The sword end of Tonitrua, or Thunder, was what Byron normally used in close range combat. He held Tonitrua by a moon-shaped handle that connected the spearhead and the swordblade. Tonitrua was a celestial bronze weapon that looked difficult to maneuver and battle with, but Byron was an expert with his weapon. Byron said he didn't remember exactly, but he was pretty sure he found the ring on the floor of the weapons shack. He later discovered that it was a weapon. Whatever happened, it sure was a lucky find.
Byron quickly slashed at the underbelly of the worm and it instantly exploded.
"Ugh!" Felix groaned, when a shower of monster guts rained upon him.
"I thought monsters exploded into dust," I muttered, wiping off the monster mush that was on my face, "not slimy guts."
Out of all of us, Byron was probably the most drenched in worm guts, but he didn't look paticulary grossed out. He swiftly twirled Tonitrua, transforming it back into a golden ring.
"It is monster dust," he said, after examining the monster remains that were scattered on the ground, "its just soaked in the oil of the monsters body. It's kind of like pancake mix. Add liquid and it turns mushy."
"I remember reading about that," Felix said. "Travelers of the past used the oil of the Indos Worm as a fuel for their lamps."
"Well, I don't think we're going to be needing worm oil anytime soon," Byron remarked. "Should we get going? I don't think any of us are in a mood for resting after fighting Fat Boy."
Still thinking about Idylla's monstrous abilities, I nodded.
Ash POV
To tell the truth, I didn't really want to be on this quest. Fighting monsters and Proteus didn't really intimidate me but Winter just made me uncomfortable. Other than his undeniable strength, he was practically a "nobody" at camp. He wasn't friends with anybody back at camp. Even the Wong siblings, who were on good terms with everyone, didn't know Winter very well. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with Winter. Just being stuck with a super silent and blind guy for a whole quest was extremely awkward.
By exchanging glances with Josie, I noticed that she felt the same way. But because of Josie's pleasant demeanor, I could tell that she had less of a problem with a quest than I did. Not only did we have to go on a quest with the quietest demigod in the world, we couldn't even outwardly express our opinions to each other. Even if I was near by a shore that had deafening crashes of waves, I couldn't say a single word without Winter hearing. He had an abnormal degree of hearing. I'm sorry, I think he's creepy.
We had been trekking for about three days and we hadn't even bumped into a single monster. Basically, my quest to destroy the most powerful monster on Earth so far was following a blind guy for seventy-two hours. Very exciting.
I know I sound like a pouting brat, but I was honestly not keen having Winter as a team captain.
You probably figured that out already.
Since we hadn't fought a single monster in three days, I had become extremely cautious. While I was trying to find Camp Half-Blood, I encountered countless monsters. Why hadn't we seen any yet? Was it some trick? I was always on my guard for incoming monsters.
"Monster."
Wait, what?
"What did you say?" I asked.
"There's a monster," Winter repeated. "Get ready."
"Where is it?" I exclaimed.
Suddenly out of nowhere, there's a monster?
"It's coming in from behind you, Ash," Winter said, his sword already drawn.
Apparently, yes.
I spun around and realized that a gigantic pig was charging towards me. Swiftly, I drew my spear and smacked the shaft of the spear into the pig's head. Squealing, he (we'll just presume for now that the pig is a guy) suddenly reared up smacked me down with his hooves. The iron blow brought me to the ground and I felt heard an agonizing crack as my leg twisted underneath my body. I gasped with pain as I rolled onto my back. My vision was blurry as I saw the pig storm past me. Whipping my head around, I saw Josie.
"Get out of the way, Josie!" I yelled.
The pig was too fast for her to get out of the way. She put her hands up as a last attempt to shield herself and the pig knocked her to the ground. The pig reared back on his back legs, ready to crush her bones. Panicked, I realized I couldn't aim lightning at the pig. Josie would definitely be in the range of the bolt. As the pig brought down its powerful hooves, a wall of black energy crackled above Josie. As the pig crashed into it, the shimmering wall of energy shattered into nothing. The pigs' hooves clumsily skimmed off the remnants of the obsidian shield. When I saw Winter holding out his hands like he was casting a spell, it dawned on me that he had summoned the black shield. Infuriated, the giant pig charged at Josie again. Winter leaped in front of Josie and collided against the pig. Winter held the sword as a shield and shoved the pig away.
Suddenly, I realized this was the first time I had ever seen Winter face a monster. I was once again marveled at how Winter could maneuver with his blindness.
I quickly realized that a gigantic pig was still rampaging around. Painfully, I pushed myself up with every intention to demolish the pig in my mind. Shooting a lightning bolt forwards, it flashed past the pig by inches.
"Wait, Ash," Winter said.
"What?" I shouted. "It's a monster!"
"I realize that," Winter said, "but before engaging in a battle, one should negotiate with the enemy."
"Negotiating with a crazy pig?" I asked. What was Winter thinking?
Grudgingly, I cautiously lowered my spear. I took my first clear look at the pig. With a start, I realized that somebody was sitting atop the pig, like someone would ride on a horse. The old lady chuckled, her laugh sounding like an evil cackle.
"You wish to negotiate, eh?" the old lady said with a rasp. "Pity, pity, son of Hades. Your friends don't seem that it's a very good idea."
"Winter, this lady tried to kill us," I hissed. "What are you thinking?"
"I've met the spirits of her victims," he replied. "Concluding from information of their fates, I've decided that negotiation is the best idea."
Was Winter crazy? He had met people who were killed by this monster and her pig and he wanted to negotiate?
I tried to push myself to my feet but the pain in my leg was too much. Carefully, I probed the throbbing of my leg. I swore silently when I realized I had a broken leg. Winter noticed and quickly drew his blade. Questionably, I watched to see what he would do. He didn't seem to be trying to fight with the pig. He sliced his blade through the air and the empty space seemed to tear, a black slash spreading across the sky. Winter reached into the cut and drew out a crutch. Deftly, I caught it as he tossed it to me.
"Sir Edward Faray's crutch," Winter explained.
A dead man's crutch? Probably. I adjusted my weight on the gnarly support as I stood upright.
I cringed as I watched the seemingly malevolent grin upon the witch's face. Winter calmly sheathed his sword and approached the colossal pig unarmed. Well, he could still summon those force shields of his, but I had a feeling it wouldn't work with a gigantic pig and an evil lady that was a foot away. I exchanged uneasy glances with Josie, who was still on the ground, and tightened my grip on my lowered spear. If Winter wasn't going to take precautions, I'd just have to be the one that was going to watch out for our team's safety. Clenching my teeth, I watched the monsters distrustfully.