Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Chapter Two: Dr. Thorn Groes A Tail
Suddenly terror jolted through me and I let out a muffled gasp.
"Be quiet you little brat!" Dr. Thorn hissed in my ear.
He shoved Bianca and me against a wall and turned and walked across the room.
"Stay there and don't say a word." he warned us in a low, dangerous voice.
Just then a door opened across the room and Dr. Thorn melted back into the shadows. The boy I'd seen before came in and looked around the room.
He had a strange bronze sword in his hand which glowed with a soft golden light. His eyes fixed on us and he said,
"Hi, my name's Percy. I'm going to get you out of here and take you somewhere safe."
My sister clenched her fists and widened her eyes at him to try to tell him that Dr Thorn was in the room too.
Suddenly, a black spike whistled through the air and pinned Percy to the wall by his shoulder.
"Yes, Perseus Jackson," Dr. Thorn said in a menacing voice "I know who you are."
I stared at him in shock. How could he know who Percy was?
Percy pulled the spike away from his shoulder and winced in pain. Dr. Thorn came out of the shadows and smiled creepily. Some part of my brain wondered if he had false teeth because his teeth were so white.
"Thank you for coming out of the gym," he said "I hate middle-school dances."
Percy made a slash at Dr. Thorn with his sword but Dr. Thorn dodged it.
"All three of you will come with me," he said "Quietly, obediently." He gave us a menacing snarl at that.
"If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accuriately I can throw."
He led us out of the door and then we began to follow a path through some woods which was dimbly lit by lamps.
"Where are you taking us?" my sister asked defiantly.
"Silence you insufferable girl!" Dr. Thorn said.
I felt suddenly angry and before I could stop myself I said, "Don't talk to my sister that way!"
Dr. Thorn growled in a very non-human way. He pushed us to the edge of of a cliff which had appeared out of nowhere in front of us.
Percy stumbled but Bianca caught him before he could fall.
"Thanks," he said
"What is he? How do we fight him?" she asked nervously.
"I'm scared." I said. I was but I tried to hide it from Dr. Thorn.
"Stop talking, face me." he snapped at us.
We turned to face him. His face was covered in shadows. He reached into his pocket and I froze with fear. Was he going to get a knife or agun or something? I sighed with relief. It was only a mobile phone.
He pressed a button and said, "The package. It is ready to deliver." I was suddenly angry. So, we were just a package now were we?
I suddenly heard the sound of a helicopter and looked to see a searchlight over the sea.
"Where are you taking us?" I demanded "If you think that you'll get a ransom you're wrong." my sister said angrily "We don't have any family, Nico and I... we've got noone but east other." I felt sad at the pain in my sister's voice. It was true that we didn't have any family and stranger still, I couldn't remember my mother or my father.
"Aw," Dr. Thorn said with mock sympathy in his voice, "Do not worry little brats, you will be meeting my employer soon en, then you will have a brand new family."
Percy suddenly tensed next to me "Luke," he gasped "You work for Luke." I wondered who this Luke person could be and why Percy was so sure that Dr. Thorn was working for him.
"You have no idea what is happening Perseus Jackson. The stirring is under way." Dr. Thorn hissed menacingly.
"The what?" Percy asked confused.
"The stirring of monsters," replied Dr. Thorn "The worst of them, the most powerful are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. I will let the General inlighten you further however."
"The general?" Percy asked in a terrible French accent and then he said, "I mean who's the General?"
"You will meet him soon enough and you will do him a great service tonight."
I immediately thought of my game, but how could the monsters that Dr. Thorn was talking about have anything to do with Mythomagic and who was this General guy?
"Ok," my sister whispered to Percy "He's completely nuts."
"We have to jump off the cliff into the sea." Percy responded.
I looked at the cliff and shuddered. No way we could survive that.
Suddenly an invisible force knocked Percy, Bianca and me to the ground. I heard the sound of more thorns whistling over our heads and then a cry of "For Zeus!"
I looked up to see the girl with the spiky black hair charging at Dr. Thorn with a spear and a horrible shield with what looked like the head of Medusa on it. Dr. thorn slashed at the girl with his huge orange ... paw? What had been his hand a moment ago was now a paw.
I could also now see where the thorns were coming from, Dr. Thorn had a tail. I mean a tail that was bigger than me and was covered in thorns that flicked in all directions.
Grover took out a sort of pipe and played a sort of pirate jig on it. Grass shot up and thickened into ropes which wound around Dr. Thorn's legs and entangled them. Dr. Thorn roared and began to change.
He grew until he was a huge lion with a human head. I knew that he was a manticore but before I could say so the blonde who I'd seen earlier said "A manticore!" and I said "A manticore? He has 4000 attack power and plus 5 to saving throws."
I was quoting my game of course but I don't think the others knew that. I had ment it to sound sarcastic but it probably sounded weak and scared.
The blonde pushed us back down and I saw that Percy and Grover had been knocked to the ground.
"Yield, little heroes!" Dr. Thorn yelled from across the field.
"Never!" screamed the spiky-haired girl.
She charged at Dr. Thorn and I thought that she would run him through but then the helicopter appeared and its lights blinded the girl.
Dr. Thorn swatted her with his tail and Percy screamed "NO!" and ran towards her.
He touched his wrist-watch and a shield spiralled out. He was just in time because Dr. Thorn spent a volley of spikes at him and they bounced off his shield.
Percy ran towards the girl on the ground and parried away a spike just before it would have stabbed her in the chest.
Suddenly the helicopter appeared and Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield little heroes!"
I saw that we had no choice but just then a loud clear hunting horn like in the film The Lion, The witch and the Wardrobe rang out. Dr. Thorn stood stock still.
"No. It cannot be." He said in fear.
Before he could do more a glowing silver arrow shot through the air and pierced into Dr. Thorn's shoulder.
"Curse you!" bellowed Dr. Thorn and released his spikes into the woods and just as fast dozens of silver arrows shot back in reply and sliced the thorns in half.
Then the archers came out of the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was about my age so about ten and the oldest was about 14. They wore silver jeans and silver ski parkas and they were all armed with silver bows.
"The Hunters!" the blonde girl said in awe.
"Oh wonderful." grumbled the spiky haired girl. I wondered what she meant by that but I didn't really want to ask her right now.
One of the girls stepped forward with her bow drawn,
"Permision to kill, my lady?" She asked but I couldn't see who she was talking to because she kept her eyes fixed on Dr. Thorn.
"This is not fair!" complained Dr. Thorn loudly "Direct interference, this is against the ancient laws!"
"Not so," said another girl. She was younger than the first, about 12 years old and she had auborn hair and silvery eyes like the moon.
"The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you foul creature are a wild beast! Zoae permision granted."
Dr. Thorn growled and said, "If I cannot have these alive, then I shall have them dead!"
He lunged at Percy and the spiky haired girl. Then the blonde girl screamed: "No!" and jumped onto his back.
"Get back half-blood!" screamed the first archer "Get out of the line of fire!"
aB the blonde drove her knife into Dr. Thorn's mane and he ran in circles trying to throw her off but she clung on for dear life.
"Fire!" the girl ordered
"No!" Percy screamed but the Hunters let their arrows fly.
Dr. Thorn backed up and then leapt over the cliff with the blonde still on his back.
he yelled as they fell "This is not the end huntress! YOU SHALL PAY!"
Then they were gone.
"Annabeth!" Percy yelled and his voice cracked.
Then I heard the sound of gunfire and the Hunters scattered except for the girl with the auborn hair.
"Mortals," she said grandly "Are not allowed to witness my hunt."
She thrust her hand into the air and the helicopter exploded into a flock of birds.
The Hunters advanced on us and the girl who I think was called Zoae said "Four half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."
"Yes," said the girl with the silver eyes calmly, "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."
"Annabeth!" Percy shouted again, "You have to let us save her."
The silvery-eyed girl watched him sadly.
"I'm sorry Percy Jackson, but your friend is beyond help."
Percy tried to get up and some of the Hunters held him down.
"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs!" the girl said firmly.
"Let me go!" he insisted fiercely, "Who do you think you are?"
Zoae stepped forward about to slap him but the other girl said, "No, I sense no disrespect, Zoae.
He is simply distraught. He does not understand."
She stared at Percy coldly and I relized just how much her eyes reminded me of a winter moon.
"I am Artemis," said announced "Goddess of the Hunt."