It was almost as if Abby saw her life flash before her eyes. The past and now the present. Everything seemed frozen in time as the Gryphon came down, claws pointed at Abby to rip out her heart. She wanted to stay there and let the Gryphon win. Her head turned to the right to see Maddie, her mouth was moving, but Abby couldn't hear a thing she said. The daughter of Aphrodite's eyes locked on the incoming Gryphon. She could feel that her left arm was being shaken. Her eyes shifted to the left to see Nathan yelling at her and shaking her arm.
She read his lips: Snap out of it, snap out of it, SNAP OUT OF IT!
Everything came into real time, and the Gryphon was coming down fast, just a few meters and... Abby thought quickly and brought her sword, Maelstrom, to her chest to block the claws of the Gryphon. The claws made contact with the celestial bronze and cherry red sparks flew due to impact. The power of the blow knocked Abby back and the Gryphon back as well. Both of their eyes in a dead lock. Nathan and Maddie didn't move a muscle and the Gryphon flew again to strike.
Her hands were to slow to stop the blow again and she could feel the claws impale her side. It was like fire erupting and washing over her whole entire body. Dark, red blood dripped from her wound and the corners of her vision blurred and darkened. She started to fall back. As she fell down, Abby couldn't help thinking that this was the end. That she had failed Pluto and the gods. Her father, Neptune, must have given up on her. Her eyes were half open and her vision was blurred and distorted. Powdered dust fell fast and passed her, 'Someone killed it...' She managed to think since her thoughts were everywhere. The pain was too much to bare and she wanted to just close her eyes and forget the world around her. Sure, she was scared of death, but she didn't know what else to do to get rid of the pain.
Before she closed her eyes, she could feel someone grab her. The next thing she knew was that she wasn't falling. Arms were tightly wrapped around her. Abby's eyes tried to find the person who had caught her from falling, but it was too blurry to distinguish the person. Short, curly brown hair, "Stay with me, don't die." Nathan said, his voice was familiar. There was another figure flying down, Maddie.
"What are we going to do? She is in no condition to lead." Maddie said with concern. Abby started to separate from herself. She prayed that the pain would leave soon from her body.
"I know but where is this camp?" Abby heard Nathan say.
"S-San F-Fr-Fran-si-sisco..." Abby said. She could feel that they were moving now. Nathan's gripped tighten and Abby closed her eyes, and let herself drift from herself.
When she woke up, she was in a building. Her side was still on fire, but it was a bearable pain, "Hey don't you dare-!" Abby heard someone yell. She moved her head slightly to see who yelled. Maddie and Nathan were being restrained by people in purple shirts; campers. They had made it to the Roman camp, Camp Jupiter.
"Don't you dare!" Nathan screamed and struggled against the campers.
"Leave her alone!" Maddie yelled and looked at Abby. Abby's vision was still a bit blurry. She wanted to help them, but she couldn't. From the wound, she barely had the strength to breathe. She couldn't process much. She said something but no one could hear.
"I'm sorry..." Her eyes closed and the darkness consumed her again.
Upon waking up a second time, Abby could move her fingers. Her strength wasn't back fully, but she had some strength. She could feel that her eyes weren't golden, which was good because when she sat up there was a boy looking at her. He had green-blue eyes and blonde hair that was messy. She knew him, but she was positive that he didn't know her.
"Gods! Stop being so reckless!" Dax yelled and hugged Abby. Abby sighed with relief when he did that. Dax was a sixteen year old demigod. He was a son of Neptune just like Abby and was the closest thing to family that she had ever gotten.
"You know me..." Abby cried out. "You know who I am..." She hugged her half brother back.
He pulled away and looked at her funny, "Of course I know who you are. What do you-." He started to say but Abby just shook her head and began to talk.
"I'll explain later. For now, where are my friends." Abby said, starting to get up.
Dax gave her a puzzled look and then said, "You mean the Greeks? Well Octavian said something on them being spies and then. Anyway, their with Reyna and the centurions in the Senate house." Dax finished his sentence and Abby stood up fully.
"They don't stand a chance..." Abby said and looked at Dax before running.