Chapter 18.
After Lexi returns, Thalia packs up the tent. I'm terrible at camping, but Thalia simply says "Actaeon" and the tent collapses into a tiny, silver rectangle. "A gift, from the Hunters while I'm gone. The normal sized tents sleep for with sleeping bags but Artemis gave us a bigger one, and I got some beds from the Zeus cabin. Any thing inside will collapse with it. We've got a buffet in there too." She explains.
"And why aren't we making use of that buffet?" Lexi asks.
"Because, right now we need to get out of here. We eat at ten."
Thalia packs the cloth into her matching coat pocket.
"Ok, I think we should get a train, so we don't need to pay for a ticket with the money we don't have. Perhaps if we get on many different trains the chances of getting caught are smaller."
"And if we do?" Liam raises his eyebrows.
"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it." I answer.
"You are a daughter of Athena, right?" Nico points to me.
"That's what I was told"
"Well, normally your brothers and sisters have a, no joke, a back up plan for the back up plan of the back up plan of the original plan." He grins.
"Like I'm going to remember four plans." I laugh. "I'll plan it on the way to the metro."
"Ok, that doesn't sound so bad." Liam admits, "but do you know where the metro is?" The answer is no.
"Well, no. But Ok, when we get to the airport we can look at that map in the tent. Then we can exchange those dollars we have at a post office, since they're pretty much useless here. Then we'll find a high street or some thing and we can start from there." I say.
"Ok. Which way did we go?" Liam asks.
Thalia points in a direction and we walk in the opposite.
We walk, mostly in silence. I can't remember how far away we had gone but we see no sign that we're in London.
Just as I was about to ask if we were going the wrong way, I see a landmark.
Like I said before, I've never been to London before so I have no idea if they have a replica or something of this, but I doubt it.
Standing, in the distance, is the Angel of the North.
That statue belongs in Newcastle.
"What the-" Liam gasps before he is cut off by growling. We turn around to see a man surrounded by wolves. Thalia sighs heavily. "Will you leave us alone? Are you Hades bent on killing us? Is there a bounty on our heads? I tell you what though, fighting you is starting to bore me." She reaches for her bow but the wolf guy just smirks and a wolf pounces and bites it put of her. Thalia pulls back a bloody hand.
"You cannot kill me, Thalia Grace." He snarls. His fangs are pearly white and his eyes are as cold as my showers are after Grace and Liam use up all the hot water.
"Any ways, no one else has any silver weapons. And you know that wolves can only be harmed by silver or fire." He circles us.
My hand makes its way to my right leg, where two silver knives lay. I had organised them this morning so I know where all my knives are. And the one I lost yesterday was returned by Nico. At a click of wolf boy's fingers, a grey wolf jumps up at Grace. I throw my knife at it, and aim for the head. I miss the head, but the dagger digs deep into the chest. The wolf howls and disappears into a cloud of dust.
"Nice trick. But it takes more than tricks to kill an army." Wolfie laughs.
I stare him hard in the eye, then open my locket. I jog a few feet to the right, so he doesn't know where I am then look around.
Thalia is using her bows as a dagger, and a wolf disappears as she gets a direct hit to it's eye. Lexi uses her spear to wipe one out before it hits Liam. Her spear has a flame at the end this time and when she retrieves it, she spins it in front of her so it acts like a shield before striding into a pack. Three are taken out at once.
I'm knocked off my feet when paws hit my chest. I scramble for my other silver knife as a wolf with gleaming blue eyes meet mine. How did it see me? I lose precious seconds, I was too busy thinking how it can see me before it's too late.
But instead of biting me or cutting the skin off my bones with it's claws. Like its descendants, the wolf licks me. Its tongue is pink and more gentle than a feather.
I have to stop myself from giggling. The wolf acts like a puppy. He pants and licks me again, I close my eyes to avoid getting it's tongue in my eye. I was about to pet him until a wave of water swept both of us up. I'm thrown a meter into the air and collapse against the grass. My forearm scrapes against the grass and before I can stand up again more water embraces me.
The first thing I notice is the cold. The second is that I didn't take a deep breath.
I try to swim out if it but the walls are thick and my hand bounces back. The longest I've ever held my breath for was two minutes, but that was lying still and not panicking about drowning. My average is a minute. At this rate I have thirty seconds.
I can't see the grass at the bottom, just an endless pit that darkens. I kick my legs up, trying to stay above that pit as best I can. My fingers are going numb and I can't feel my legs but I know that they're moving. If I stop kicking them then I'll sink.
I see Grace hold her hands out, palm facing towards me. Eyes narrow and focused. She's a daughter of Poseidon, god of the sea. She must be able to control water.
She's doing this.
My lungs are burning, and my ears ache. I can't swallow, so I rub them. I try snap the locket shut again, but the water makes it much more difficult. It takes two tries before it closes. As I become visible, she jumps as she sees me. The water spills onto the floor, planting me on my chest.
My head aches and I cough and sputter water. The cold freezes me and I get goosebumps everywhere. I start shaking and my teeth are chattering. My hair is in my face and eyes but I don't care. I crawl a couple of feet before Thalia throws her silver jacket over me. She throws out her cloth and Liam carries me inside in his arms.