Here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own RA or PJO. All rights go to their respectful owners.
It was a black mass of fur that stopped them. Nico, Alyssa, Leo, Annabeth, and Will approached the gate cautiously, until Cerberus decided to ruin the mission. The giant, three-headed dog growled as a warning, his rear sticking up in the air. Leo was sure they would have been mauled to death if not for the son of Hades stepping up.
"Calm down, boy," he crooned, walking calmly to the massive beast. Cerberus seemed to settle down a little, but his ears were still perked up, as if he was daring them to come closer.
"It's me, Nico. They won't do you any harm," he spoke softly to the dog, gesturing to us.
Cerberus' bushy tail wagged slowly. Suddenly, the dog's enormous pink, fleshy tongue rolled out of his mouth, licking Nico's face and sending him sprawling.
Nico chuckled softly, wiping off the slobber from his face with the sleeve of his leather jacket. He held out a hand, palm facing Cerberus.
"Stay," he ordered. The dog complied. Nico slowly shuffled to the gate, and beckoned the rest of the group to follow. They shuffled nervously to Nico, as if the dog was about to pounce any second. Cerberus growled quietly as they passed, but stayed where he was.
The last few meters, the demigods ran towards the gate. Alyssa glanced over her shoulder to see Cerberus still in his original position, watching them as if they were his dinner.
Now, they were faced with the gargantuan castle. The iron wrought portcullis seemed to dare us to come closer. The entire building was made of what looked to be like obsidian.
Two skeletal guards stood on either side of the open portcullis. They were ghastly figures, their eye sockets filled with dark orbs. They were donned in plate battle armour, each of them wielding a massive battle axe. Alyssa wondered how skeletons could hold so much weight with their lack of muscles.
Nico confidently strode to the guards, which were about twenty meters away. There was a hollow rattling sound as the skeletons shifted, hefting their axes as they saw the son of Hades.
Nico stopped a few meters in front of the guards. He made strange hissing and clicking sounds with his mouth. Alyssa noticed that Nico still kept a hand on the hilt of his sword which hung at his waist.
Miraculously, the skeleton on the right replied in a similar series of clicking and hissing sounds. The two guards lowered their weapons and gestured for them to pass. Nico nodded his thanks and waved at the demigods to follow. Much like the moment with Cerberus, they hurried
past the skeletons, as if they were afraid that the ghastly figures would attack them at the last moment.
Past the gate, it opened up to a large, cathedral-like room. The ceiling was over thirty meters high, and had long, spindly chandeliers hanging down from it. Several braziers lined the room, throwing off a spooky, shifting light across the walls. Other than a few small piles of skulls here and there, the room was rather empty.
Annabeth regarded Nico curiously. "How did you-" she began, but Nico waved a hand in dismissal.
"Just another perk of being a child of Hades," he explained briefly.
Leo looked over at Alyssa beside him. Her face had slightly drained of colour, and she was feverishly fingering the oak leaf pendant on a chain that was around her neck.
Leo slipped his warm hand into her cold one, and squeezed it comfortingly. She shot him a grateful smile. I could only imagine how tough it must be for her; being whisked away on a quest like this, Leo thought.
"Who dares enter my domain?!" A booming voice echoed off the walls, and they all recoiled in surprise.
A door on the far side of the room swung open. A dark silhouette emerged.
"It's just me, Dad," Nico began, but the Lord of the Dead cut him off.
"I see Melaina's kept her end of the bargain," he mused. Hades was tall, with broad shoulders and a face that resembled a rat's. He stroked the wisp of a goatee on his chin, furrowing his dark, bushy eyebrows.
At the mention of the name, Will tensed. He gripped his bow tighter.
"Melaina?" Will repeated, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Hades smiled wolfishly. "Indeed, half-blood." His eyes scanned the faces of the demigods, until his eyes fell upon a small figure clad in grey and green. His eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to Alyssa.
"Never seen you before. I assume you're another one of Chiron's underlings."
Alyssa's hand fell to the hilt of her saxe, but she kept her ground.
"And you're Hades...interesting," she said softly, her tone neither friendly nor aggressive. Her steady eyes were calculating, taking in the looming figure before her. She seemed unfazed by the intimidating god.
Hades stepped back, and Leo could almost see the gears in his mind turning, wondering how he could weaken Alyssa. Finally, he turned to Nico.
"What do you want? I'm very busy, you know. I have no time for nonsense," he said, crossing his arms across his chest.
Nico glared at his father. "Give Percy back," he stated bluntly, as if he were the god.
Hades let out a short, humourless bark of laughter. "I don't have your pathetic excuse for a hero. Although I wish I did, then I could wring his scrawny neck to repay all the trouble he's caused me," he growled, his black eyes glinting with malevolence.
Annabeth's stormy grey eyes narrowed.
"Then where is he?" she demanded.
Hades scowled. "That's none of my concern, half-blood. But now that you're here, it would be foolish of me to let such an opportunity pass. Capture them alive!" he yelled the last part over his shoulder, and at least fifty skeleton guards burst from the back door.
The clattering sound of the skeletons were dull, and drowned out all the noise in the room. They were armed similarly to the guards that were at the gate.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nico drawing his Stygian sword, the dark blade slithering out of its scabbard with a hiss. Hades scowled at his son and flicked his wrist dismissively, sending Nico flying to the left wall, smashing into it with such force that it made me cringe. His sword came flying out of his grip and spiralled across the room. Nico crumpled lifelessly to the ground, unconscious.
"Foolish boy," Hades murmured. He gave Alyssa a dark smile, devoid of any humour.
"I have special plans for you, girl," he said, and he turned on his heels and strode out of the room.
"My minions should keep you entertained for some time, but I have more important matters to attend to," Hades called over his shoulder
carelessly. Then, he added another order to the skeletons.
"Wound them if you like, but don't kill. Bring them to the dungeon." And with that, the Lord of the Dead was gone.
Will drew his two heavy, slender knives. Alyssa unslung her bow off her shoulder and laid a black-feathered arrow on the taut string. Annabeth also drew her dagger, and Leo pulled out his trusty hammer from his tool belt. From that point on, everything was complete pandemonium.
Alyssa shot three arrows in quick succession, and three skeletons dropped, their bones making a hollow thump sound. Will leapt to the side as a battle axe near beheaded him, and he dispatched of the skeleton easily. Leo's giant hammer swept through the air in a deathly arc, knocking off the skulls of three more skeletons. Annabeth slashed and cut her way through the mob of skeletons.
An axe caught Alyssa off guard, and the blade cut a deep gash in her upper thigh. She bit her lip as burning agony lanced through her leg, but she kept fighting.
The half-bloods saw more monsters pouring in. It seemed that whenever a skeleton died, two more took its place.
Out of the corner of her eye, Alyssa saw Annabeth stumble as a blade grazed her shoulder in the vulnerable part of her armor. The Ranger apprentice clumsily slung her bow over her shoulder, and her two knives seem to leap into her hand. Without hesitation, she leapt forward, slashing at any nearby skeletons that dared to come into reach of her deathly flash of steel. She smashed her hilt into the hollow skull of a skeleton, just in time to save Annabeth while she recovered from her stumble.
"Thanks," the daughter of Athena said briefly as she turned her attention to another enemy.
Soon, they were overwhelmed. More and more skeletons poured in.
Alyssa heard Will's hoarse voice over the noise of battle. "We don't stand a chance! We have to-"
Whatever they had to do, Alyssa never figured out, as she felt a sword slash across her lower back, near her waist-line. Hot blood streamed down her back, staining her jerkin a deep red. Alyssa's vision blurred, and all the sound was dulled out, as if she was a hundred meters away from the battle.
She sank down to her haunches, panting heavily, her vision slowly turning red, then black.
The first thing Alyssa felt was pain shooting through her body. She willed herself not to make any sound, and she reluctantly opened her eyes. She was laying on her side, looking at a bleak and dark wall. Biting back a groan, she sat up with a degree of difficulty. She was entrapped in a dark box of nothingness.
She assumed this to be a dungeon cell. The square room was only about 3 meters. There was a heavy iron door set on one side of the room. In the corner, was a small oil lantern, casting a dim, eerie light across the stone walls.
She saw Leo sprawled on the floor beside her, still unconscious. She went to crawl towards him, but faltered as she remembered her injured leg. She looked down at her torn leggings, dried black blood matted around her thigh. She went to reach for her satchel that hung over her shoulder, which held medical supplies, then realized that it wasn't there.
Cursing softly, she saw that her weapons and satchel must have been taken away by her capturers. She grabbed a length of her cloak, and ripped two long strips of the thick fabric. She wrapped one strip around her thigh, where the deep gash was steadily pumping out blood. After winding the strip a few times, she tied a secure knot, making sure that her makeshift bandage was tight enough.
She saw the dark red blood seeping through the cloth, but she shrugged. It would be the best she could do for now. At least it would staunch the blood and keep her alive. She knew she would have probably have to stitch it up sooner or later. She repeated the same process for the wound on her back, awkwardly wrapping the second strip around her waist.
Finally, she crawled over to Leo's side. The son of Hephaestus had dried blood stained on the front of his shirt, near the shoulder. She gingerly ripped the sleeve away, revealing a deep laceration on his shoulder blade. She repeated her actions on his wound, ripping away another strip from her cloak, and winding it around.
Satisfied that Leo had no other wounds, she went and inspected the room, running her fingers across the rough walls, and assessed the iron door, although she couldn't see any lock on it.
Defeated, she sat back down next to Leo, when his eyes fluttered open.
"W..what?" he slurred, turning his head slightly to Alyssa.
Alyssa gently laid a hand on her friend's hand. "It's alright, I wrapped up your wounds. I'm not sure what happened. I only woke up a few
minutes ago."
Leo sat up, wincing as pain tingled in his shoulder. "Where are the others?" he questioned.
Alyssa shrugged. "I have no idea. I imagine they would be in another cell; if they're alive," she added the last part under her breath.
"Well, that didn't go as we planed," Leo joked, despite himself.
Alyssa stifled a small grin. "I suppose nothing ever goes quite as planned," she replied wryly.
There was a moment of silence. The light given off from the single lamp was dim, so Leo had to squint to see. Then, he had an idea.
"This might bring up the mood…," he said casually, holding his hand up, and willing it to ignite. Sure enough, tiny flickering ribbons of flame danced across his palm.
Alyssa cocked both eyebrows. "How do you...do that?"
Leo grinned bumptiously. "I'm a special boy,"
Alyssa regarded him evenly. "Yes, I believe you are," she replied drolly. "Anyhow, we should get some rest while we can. We might find a chance to escape." Alyssa had been on several mission with Will. She had learned to rest whenever the opportunity arose.
Leo nodded. He realized now how tired he was. He scooted over to the wall and leaned against it, stretching his legs out. He let Alyssa rest her head on his chest so as to avoid hurting her already injured back against the rough wall.
Alyssa was lay there for a few minutes, listening to the steady thumping of Leo's heartbeat. Soon, she drifted off to sleep.
Hope you liked it! I tried to put in a bit more intenseness, because my last few chapters weren't very action-packed :P
Also, I just bought The Royal Ranger, and I read the whole thing in two days...And I have no words…As much as I want to talk about it, I won't, because I don't want to spoil it for others. Although, this isn't a spoiler, but does anyone ship Tim Stoker and Maddie? I mean, they seem like they would make a good couple...xD Maybe it's just me. John Flanagan should really make a spin-off on Maddie as a full-fledged Ranger :D
Thanks for reading! Feedback much appreciated.