Dancing with Death

The Beginning of the End

Ali jolted awake, panting. Her heart pounded out of her chest as she replayed the nightmare in her mind.

Percy was standing on an iceberg, surrounded by ghostly soldiers. He held Riptide in one hand and a golden eagle in the other. He was exhausted, his energy spent. The phantoms had backed him up to the edge of the glacier. There was no escape. With a final longing look towards whatever was happening behind the dead army, he plunged his sword into the weakening ice. A deafening crack had ripped through Ali's consciousness as Percy fell, plummeting into the icy sea below.

The dream scared her more than it should've. Percy was a Son of Poseidon. He couldn't drown, but all Ali could think of was the day he'd been struck by the stone, when she'd had to drag him half-dead out of the stream. She had to keep reminding herself that he had his powers back, but that didn't stop her heart from racing or her mind from reeling.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tipped her face towards the early morning sky. "Please be okay." 

A wet nose nuzzled her neck.

She turned and stroked Barron's neck. "Don't worry, Big Guy. I'll be okay." She pressed her forehead against his. She'd been sleeping outside, using Barron as a pillow. She wasn't used to the legion's barracks. She wasn't even comfortable in the cabins at Camp Half-blood. Yet another fun quirk from her mother.

She stretched her arms up and stood.

Barron growled in protest and forced himself to his feet, arching his back and yawning. Barron was many things, a morning wolf was not one of them.

Ali chuckled. "Come on. It's not that early."

Barron eyed her as if she had done the unforgivable and huffed.

Ali scratched him behind the ear. "You're impossible. Let's go get some breakfast. At least that will cheer you up."

Barron couldn't keep his tail from wagging, thumping heavily against the ground as Ali mounted his back. She spurred him forward and they bounded down the hill towards the dinning hall.
                                      *   *   *
Ali sliced through the hellhound, sending golden dust pluming through the air. They hadn't made it halfway through breakfast when the first line of monsters had charged into camp.

The giant hadn't shown himself yet, but Ali knew that Polybotes was lying in wait, watching for the opportune moment to wreak havoc.

As the battle raged on, the monsters began to stay dead, which could mean only one thing, Percy, Frank, and Hazel had unleashed Death. At least half of their mission had succeeded.

Now, the legion had to survive long enough for them to get back. Currently, it wasn't looking good.

Although the monsters had been invincible at the start of the battle, so had the half-bloods. With Death free, there were massive losses on both sides, but still the monsters advanced with no end and the campers were quickly tiring. They wouldn't last long under these conditions.

Ali whistled, the shrill sound cutting through the clamor of battle.

Barron loped out of the chaos with a dead dracanae in his mouth. He spat the crumbling monster at Ali's feet like a present.

Ali cut another monster in half and stared down at the disintegrating corpse. "I thought I'd trained you out of this."

Barron sat and bit the air in expectation, his tail smashing into adversaries like dominoes.

Ali sighed and climbed onto his back, patting his neck. "Good boy. Let's go."
* * *
Ali spotted the golden eagle almost immediately as Percy, Hazel, and Frank crested the hill. An uncontrollable smile spread across her face as she watched him charge confidently into battle.

Barron snapped at wild centaur, tearing off a chunk of its hindquarters. Instead of blood, golden dust poured from the wound and spread across the horse-man's body.

Ali had to admit, it was weird to be fighting centaurs, even challenging the Cyclopes felt wrong. Especially when she spotted Tyson fighting one of his brethren.

As if hearing her thoughts, a massive cyclops lunged, tackling Barron sideways and throwing Ali from his back. She rolled across the grass, her quiver digging into her back.

Pushing herself to her feet, she felt the flash of heat as her eyes turned silver and ghostly silver flames licked across her bow. She grabbed an arrow, the shaft alighting at her touch. She drew back the string to her cheek and glared at the cyclops, who was holding Barron down, not an easy feat.

Her eyes seemed to ignite with their own flames. "Get off my dog." She let the arrow fly.

The cyclops followed her voice, his gaze finding her just before the arrow pierced its skull. The arrowhead burst through the back of its head and struck the enemy behind it. Both monsters crumbled into dust.

Barron jumped up and shook, favoring his right forepaw. He heaved labored breaths as he approached Ali, growling at the enemies surrounding them.

The monsters kept their distance.

Ali felt a tingle across her whole body. She looked down. Her skin almost glowed silver and the ghostly flames had spread to her elbows. A smirk crept across her lips. Slinging her bow over her shoulder, she drew Mason's sword. Immediately, silver flames engulfed the blade.
* * *
Ali watched in disbelief as the last particles of golden dust floated away on the breeze. It was over. They'd won. She heaved deep breaths, her sword held loosely at her side.

Barron whimpered for attention next to her.

She smiled and scratched him behind the ear. "You did good, boy."

He nudged her with his big snout, his head so big that Ali could hardly wrap her arms around it.

"Ali?" The familiar voice drew her attention away from the huge canine.

She turned to find Percy, battered and beaten, but alive. "Percy!"

They both rushed forward.

Percy threw his arms around Ali and picked her up, spinning her in a circle before setting her down and pulling away.

Ali laughed. "You remember."

Percy had a huge stupid grin plastered across his face. "I missed you."

Ali chuckled. "I can tell." She suddenly noticed how close they were standing. She cleared her throat and stepped back. "I missed you too."

A/N
We have officially made it through Son of Neptune. 😁
Also, we've reached 1k reads. 😆 Thank you all so much.
I'm so glad you're enjoying my story.
-Cheshire