Here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice or Percy Jackson & The Olympians. All rights go to their respectful owners.
The sound of arrows scraping against wood as they were drawn back resonated through the air. There was a deep thrum as Alyssa's arrow sped on its way, whistling through the air. It landed with a satisfying thump into the center of the target. Will Solace nodded in approval as he saw the arrows striking home one after another.
"You're pretty good at that," Solace admitted. "How long have you been shooting?"
Alyssa shrugged. "At least 3 years. I would say about four and a half years to be exact," she replied with a grin. She liked being around Will. It reminded her of her own mentor. They both had that same humorous, easy-going manner. Solace shot another arrow, and smiled to himself as the arrow slammed into the target's center. Alyssa sent another three arrows in rapid succession, all in the space of a few seconds, and all three of them hit their mark.
"Alyssa!" She heard a voice, and turned. Annabeth came over, jogging towards Alyssa. Annabeth greeted Will quickly and then turned to Alyssa. "We're going to make battle plans for capture-the-flag. Want to come? You can come join our team," Annabeth said.
Alyssa cocked her head to the side. "What's...capture-the-flag?"
"It's a game that we play to help with our training. There's two teams, and each team tries to get their opponent team's flag, and bring it back to their end of the forest," Annabeth explained, gesturing to said forest.
Alyssa nodded. "Don't see why not," she replied briefly. She said goodbye to Will, retrieved her arrows, and followed Annabeth to her cabin.
Annabeth quickly introduced everyone to Alyssa. Alyssa recognized Percy and Leo among them. "Luckily, we have the Ares kids on our team, which are some of the best fighters at camp," Annabeth said, gesturing to a group of burly, mean-looking teenagers. Alyssa saw a variety of girls and boys in the group, all looking at her in curiosity.
"Anyway, let's get started," Annabeth said, breaking the awkward silence. She produced a large map from her jean's pocket and unrolled it onto the center table. Everyone, including Alyssa, leaned forward to view the map.
"I was thinking, let's try and have a distraction force, and then have a select few get the flag; that way, they should be able to sneak in, and get the flag without too much trouble," Annabeth suggested. The others nodded. It was a well-known but effective plan of action.
"For the bait, we're going to need people that are quick on their feet. And for the people retrieving the flag, they should be quick as well, and good fighters. It's almost certain that the other team will post guards near the flag. The people baiting are going to be coming through the trees in the east, and hit them from the side. They'll withdraw before anything too chaotic happens. Then, we could have another team doing the exact same but on the west side. Keep moving to different positions in order to keep them guessing. A group of good warriors should keep an eye on the flag as well," Annabeth continued. Again, everyone nodded. They knew that Annabeth was one of the best strategists at camp, and they put a lot of trust in the daughter of Athena.
Annabeth now proceeded to group people up and station them at their points. Finally, Annabeth turned to Alyssa. "I've seen what you can do with that bow and knife of yours. Think you could manage trying to get the flag?" Annabeth asked.
"Wait, you're going to give the new girl the most important and vital job?!" An Ares kid cried out in disbelief.
Alyssa rose an eyebrow at the petulant outburst. Annabeth shrugged. "Why not? She knows how to fight. I'm sure she can take care of herself. Besides, it's not just her. Leo and some others will be there, too," Annabeth reasoned, looking at the son of Ares sternly.
He shrugged. "Fine, but I'm just saying, everybody's going to give her a hard time if she screws this up…" the son of Ares muttered.
Alyssa sighed in exasperation. "Can we please stop talking about me as if I'm not in the room? Mind you, I've trained especially for situations like this; I'm sure I can take care of myself."
After everyone knew what position they were in, they spent another hour strategizing what weapons and traps they could use. Leo was put in charge of making and setting up the traps.
Alyssa was as nervous as a cat. On the outside, she appeared to be as calm as she can be, but on the inside, her mind was racing like a grasshopper, hopping from thought to thought. Capture The Flag was just about to start. Chiron stood in front of the group of campers, clutching a large conch horn in his hand. Alyssa, for perhaps the third time in a few minutes, readjusted her quiver on her shoulder, and made sure the arrows were in easy reach.
Annabeth had given Alyssa special arrows that were used for the games only. They were regular looking arrows, but their tip was dulled slightly, so when the target was hit, it wouldn't kill them, but it would leave a nasty bruise. Annabeth had also offered Alyssa a sword and plated armor, but Alyssa declined. She wasn't familiar with a sword, and now wasn't the time to be experimenting with weapons. And the thought of being burdened with pounds of heavy armor was not an appealing one. If she did well, she wouldn't need armour. Just in time for the event, she had mended her torn cloak, and she now donned it with the deep cowl drawn over her head, concealing her eyes in shadow.
Alyssa also wore her normal soft-padded boots, along with a new brown tunic and a dark green undershirt.
"Heroes! Capture The Flag will now be starting!" Chiron's voice boomed across the field, carrying to every pair of ears. "You have already split into two teams. You all know the rules: no killing, no maiming! The losing team has to clean the winners' cabins for a week. Get into position!"
Everyone bustled onto their side of the forest. Leo, who stood beside Alyssa, jogged her gently with his elbow. "Don't worry. You'll do fine," he said with a reassuring smile. Then Leo jogged over to his position.
Alyssa, coming to a decision, slid into a group of shrubs, and went perfectly still. Alyssa spent a few seconds matching the steady rhythm of the trees swaying and the shadows moving. With the help of her cloak, she seemed to melt into the background, becoming part of the shrubbery herself.
The blast of Chiron's horn cut through the silence like a knife. And everything went into chaos. The different parties and groups ascended onto their opponent. Alyssa was to stay hidden until an opportunity arrised to get the flag. She heard distant shouts and battle cries, but she fought back the temptation to move her head to get a better look. Her eyes scanned the area around her, but her head never moved a muscle. Never concentrate on one spot. Keep scanning the whole area, and you'll be able to spot movement easier, Will's lessons drummed into her head.
After Alyssa waited for a few minutes, the forest around her had grown calmer, which meant that the big fight wasn't near her at the moment. She recalled Annabeth telling her to skirt around the borders once she crossed the river that separated the two sides. The opponent's flag would be most likely in the middle of forest, where it could be kept protected easily.
Alyssa risked turning her head slightly to the side so she could glance behind her. Slowly, as she crouched on her haunches, she pivoted on the balls of her feet, so she could get a look behind her. There was no sign that anyone was near.
Forcing herself to move slowly, she crept over to the next patch of cover a few meters away, matching the rhythm of the shadows. She repeated the tedious process, and eventually got within a few metres of the opponent's flag. From time to time, she would hear the occasional battle cry or the clangs of sword against sword; and when that happened, she froze, perfectly still, trusting the cloak.
As quietly as she could, Alyssa slung her longbow off her shoulder. She looked around with her eyes, not moving her head. There was no one in sight.
Strange, she thought. It was obvious that the guards were hidden. She crept closer and closer. She glanced behind her. Still, no one was there. She got within arm's reach of the flag.
Alyssa swallowed down the lump in her throat. She made sure her quiver of arrows were within easy reach. Alyssa slowly approached the flag and laid a hand on the smooth, metal pole. Now all she had to do was run back to the-
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard footsteps behind her. She whirled around, taking an arrow from her quiver and laying it on the bowstring as she did so. There was Will Solace standing before her, also with a bow in his hand.
"Surprised you even got this far. I'm impressed," Solace said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I intend to finish what I started," Alyssa said, and reslung her bow quickly over her shoulder, and drew her two knives. It would be near impossible to shoot accurately in a dense forest like this. And she had seen how impressive Solace's shooting was.
Solace did the same, and drew two long, slender daggers - short swords, really. They approached each other cautiously, each studying the other's movements and techniques. Solace tried an upper-hand cut, but Alyssa parried it easily. She flashed a side-cut to the ribs and Solace jumped back nimbly. Quick as a cat, Alyssa followed up with a lunge, stamping her foot forward. Solace had just enough time to block the strike and avoid getting impaled.
They continued on like this for another minute or two, until they heard a deep, earth-shattering rumble that shook the ground beneath their feet. Solace and Alyssa stopped their duel for a moment. They both looked to the west, where the sound had come from.
Screams and cries immediately filled the air.
Solace looked to Alyssa. "If this is a trick, I swear…," he started, but Alyssa was already sprinting through the trees. Reluctantly, Solace hurried to catch up with her.
"Whoa…," Alyssa breathed as they caught sight of what was attracting the attention. A big crevice in the earth, spanning about twenty meters across and about fifty meters long. Campers backed away urgently from it, screaming in panic. Everyone seemed to be looking at something...or someone.
As Alyssa and Solace edged closer to the mob of campers, they saw what everyone was looking at. Demons. Demons were crashing from the cover of the trees. It started with one or two, then more trickled in, catching everyone by surprise.
"Don't just stand there like cowards! CHARGE!" Clarisse, daughter of Ares yelled, hefting her electric spear in the air. An assortment of swords, shields, and spears, were whirled in the air, their owner's shouting their battle cries. They followed Clarisse's lead as they met the monsters head-on.
Alyssa unslung her bow, but Solace put a hand on her arm. "No, those arrows won't work against the monsters. Use these." Solace tossed Alyssa a quiver of celestial bronze-tipped arrows, and a celestial dagger. Alyssa nodded her thanks and quickly switched out her weapons.
She ran to intercept a hellhound; drawing an arrow, sighting and shooting. The arrow struck home and the monster disintegrated. She sent another two arrows speeding on their way, and two more demons perished.
All of a sudden, a cry cut through the chaos of battle. "Help!" Alyssa looked around quickly. She saw Percy, being overcome with twenty demons. She knew Percy was an excellent swordsman, but even he had his limits. Each time Percy dispatched a demon, another one seemed to replace it.
Instinctively, Alyssa sent a volley of arrows towards the beasts. Percy was pushed closer and closer to the edge of the crevice. As she went to charge the group that was attacking Percy, five hellhounds leapt in her path. One pinned her to the ground, and Alyssa slashed her dagger across its muzzle. The hellhound recoiled, and Alyssa didn't have the chance to roll out of the way before another hellhound jumped on her, driving the air out of her lungs.
Out of nowhere, a knife impaled the beast from behind. The monster disintegrated in a cloud of gold dust, and Solace brandished his knife.
"Go help Percy! I'll deal with them!" Solace called behind his shoulder as he took on another hellhound. Without arguing, Alyssa ran over to the edge of the crevice. Percy was standing on the very edge of the canyon. One more step back and he'd be gone.
Alyssa stuck her dagger in the back of a snake woman, and pivoted to her right, slashing another horned demon across the chest.
"Alyssa!" Percy called. Alyssa glanced up, just in time to see a monster push him over the ledge. Alyssa fought as hard as she could, ignoring the blood that gushed from multiple wounds. She peered over the edge. Percy hung onto the ledge by his fingertips.
Alyssa grabbed his wrist and pulled as hard as she could. As strong as she was, Percy was heavy. She struggled to pull him up. Percy's eyes widened as he caught a glance past Alyssa's shoulder.
"Watch out!" Percy warned. Alyssa shot a glance behind her shoulder and saw a charging minotaur. She brought up her dagger in a defensive position and braced herself. She had no choice. She looked Percy sternly in the eye.
"I don't have a choice…" she said softly and Percy slipped out of her grip. She rolled to the side, the minotaur's horn nearly impaling her. She leapt to her feet and lunged at the beast's chest, and it disintegrated. She knelt back over the edge, and peered into the darkness. What had she done? She acted on pure instinct, under the pressure. There was no way Percy could've survived the fall...could he?
Before Alyssa could think anymore, she was engulfed in the battle once again.
Alyssa fought hard. Harder than she had ever had. All the Ranger skills she had learned were put to the test. And finally...it was over. The crevice closed itself, and it looked as it was never there. Wounded campers lay on the dirt, and Apollo kids rushed to get them to the infirmary.
"Alyssa!" Annabeth, Solace, and Leo ran toward Alyssa.
"W-What happened? Where's Percy?" Annabeth stuttered in panic.
"He...fell down the ravine," Alyssa said softly, not daring to meet Annabeth's stormy eyes. Leo and Solace's jaw clenched.
"He...What?!" Annabeth didn't believe what she was hearing. Alyssa took a deep breath.
"I...let him go. A monster pushed him off the ledge into the crevice. I got hold of him before he fell. But a minotaur attacked me. I had no choice. I had to let go," Alyssa said quietly, finally looking Annabeth in the eyes. The daughter of Athena's eyes were a mixture of anger, sadness, and regret.
Leo gently laid a hand on my arm. "It wasn't your fault...If you didn't do what you did, you and Percy would both be dead."
Annabeth said nothing. She strode away quickly, casting her eyes down, and trying to hide the tears. Gone. He was gone. She had already lost her boyfriend when he got sent to Camp Jupiter. And now, Percy might be gone for good. The question was, who sent the demons here? And where did the crevice lead to?
Chiron cantered up to Leo, Solace and Alyssa. He himself had multiple battle wounds.
"What happened?" He asked to no one of particular.
"Percy's gone. He fell down the canyon, and it just swallowed him up," Solace answered.
Chiron shook his head in distress. "For now, you should all rest. You've fought well. We will discuss later a plan of action. Percy may well be alive still...And I have a feeling that I know where the source of our problem lies…"
Hope you all like that chapter! Now the story's starting to get more exciting!
Feedback and suggestions are much appreciated! Thanks for reading!
~Seas of Emerald