The New Demigods

Chapter 26: The Argo

"Then let's go." I threw down my spear and shield, and jumped into the water.

Dakotah and David carefully lowered Scarlet into the water beside me - the worry on David's face was contagious and I felt my stomach flop. He tried to hand Scarlet her crutches, but she rejected them.

"It's backpack time." Scarlet mustered a confident smile and gestured for me to turn around. I followed her lead and helped position her onto my back.

Wading through the waist deep water was slow, and even slower with a person on my back.

"How close do you need to be?" I asked, my mouth feeling dry as sand when we emerged onto the beach and I felt the ground tremble with each of the Promethean's thrashes.

"Just a little further." Scarlet's calm tone reassured me.

Across the shore, I could see Horace made his way back to Piper and was in position with his shield blocking blasts of sand. Piper was looking paler than usual. Each time the Promethean moved, she darted her eyes trying to prepare to defend herself which broke her concentration from animating its legs.

"Okay, here is good," I stopped to let Scarlet off of my back and stood close enough for her to grab if she lost balance.

She closed her eyes, focusing, and I regretted not bringing a shield, debating if the Promethean's one free leg could reach far enough to kick us.

Scarlet began to chant words I didn't understand, but I knew they sounded familiar. She raised her hands towards the Promethean and opened her eyes that were possessed with flashes of white light - an image that would have scared me if we weren't standing so close to a 40-foot sand monster. The Promethean started to glow with a faint white light, matching Scarlet's eyes. Her chanting grew louder and I was certain I'd heard it before. My shoulder seared with the memory as I recognized her chanting from Piper cauterizing my wound. But why would Scarlet have needed to be controlling somebody's hatred during my recovery?

Her powers were clearly working as the Promethean slowed its thrashing and seemed to enter a tranquil state. Horace lowered his shield and Piper relaxed into her concentration again.

"Okay, I'm done!" Piper called across to us. "Everyone get back onto the ship."

I looked from Piper, to the Promethean, then to Scarlet - I was worried the Promethean would return to its hostile state when Scarlet stopped her control. Since Piper had successfully animated its full form, there would be nothing holding it back from crushing us all.

"How do we know it's safe?" I called back.

"We don't," Horace chimed in. "We just hope it's loyal to Piper."

I didn't like taking the chance, but I could tell Scarlet couldn't keep her powers going for much longer and Piper seemed ready to collapse. I nodded across to them and placed my hand on Scarlet's forearm to interrupt her chanting.

I was quick to get Scarlet on my back and ran back to the ship with the Promethean out of the corner of my eye. It looked much calmer than before, but seeing it stand to its full height made me feel queasy. Horace and Piper made it to the ship before us, but stayed in the water, ready to hoist Scarlet up. When we were all back on the ship, we quickly took our positions at the oars, watching the Promethean nervously.

"Piper, I think it's waiting for your command," Horace suggested, seeing it staring at the ship.

"Right, well..." Piper stood up shakily and went to the edge of the ship with careful steps. She gestured toward the cave, which I wasn't sure the Promethean could see - both because the last sliver of dusk had retreated, with only the moonlight shining down on us and also because the Promethean didn't have eyes. However, their connection must have gone beyond sight as the Promethean trudged into the water at her command. When the Promethean passed by our ship, it sent waves crashing into the ship and Piper lost her footing, slamming hard into the deck. I winced at the thud.