Eliza tightened her grip on her thorn blades and glared at the encroaching Romans.
The large eagles landed all around them on the island, dropping their legionnaires. Several took off to circle above them.
Eliza met Jason's gaze. "You take the ones in the air; I'll take the ground troops."
A smirk spread across Jason's face and he nodded.
Eliza darted across the gangplank onto the dock and rushed the grassy ground beyond. She instantly felt the vitality of the plants pulse through her.
She took a deep breath and smirked, eyeing the Romans. "You wanted an Angel of Death." She clenched her hands even tighter around her weapons and the ground cracked at her feet. "Now you've got one." A tangle of vines burst from the ground and lurched towards the advancing legion, wrapping and twisting around the soldiers.
Behind her, Percy gasped. "Woah."
Her vision cleared and she found the entire legion caught in her net of vines. Her blades crumbled to dust in her quivering fists. It took all her concentration to control the vines. They wanted to expand, to grow, to overcome everything. She had to hold them back.
One of the eagles swooped towards the ship, twirling past Jason's swirling winds, and cut through the others, throwing them aside.
Eliza's attention wavered for a second and the vines took the chance of weakness.
One of the legionnaires cried out, pulling Eliza's gaze back to the entangled legion.
Her breath caught in her throat, her fear spiking and making things worse. The vines tightened, tensing with her muscles, and thorns sprouted across the vines, digging into the weak spots in the Roman's armor.
She clenched her fists. For a moment, she didn't want to stop it. After everything the legion had done to her, the way they'd treated her, she wanted them to suffer the way she had. Her fists began to shake and her vision narrowed to the struggling legionnaires before her.
"Eliza!" Jason's voice broke through the ringing in her ears. "Stop! You'll kill them!"
The single word cut through the noise, through the panic, through the hate. Kill. It snapped her out of her anger. The vines withered, crumbling to dust, releasing the legion as she collapsed to her knees, eyes wide and welling with tears. Her shoulders shook with sobs.
Someone knelt at her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
She flinched as Jason helped her to her feet and led her back to the ship.
The legion lay scattered across the shoreline, unconscious or wounded. Either way, they were unable to pursue.
The eagles dropped the remaining legionnaires onto the island. The medic immediately rushed through the injured with nectar and ambrosia.
Jason set a hyperventilating Eliza, against the rail of the ship and moved to stand by Percy, the two boys summoning a storm to hold off the Romans.
Eliza stared at the deck of the ship, her heart pounding out of her chest and her breaths running wild. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as tears streamed down her face. She could hear the wind howling and the rain pelting the harbor.
Eventually, someone sat down beside her and started rubbing her back. "It's okay." Jason leaned his head against hers. "It's over. You're okay."
Unable to hold herself together, she collapsed into him. Her tears came hot and fast, streaming freely down her face.
* * *
A spike of pain shot up Eliza's arm as she landed another solid punch to the wooden dummy's chest. She relished the pain, letting it drown everything else out. She didn't want to think right now, didn't want to feel, didn't want to remember.
She gritted her teeth and punched the wooden figure again, tipping it slightly off the deck with the force of the impact. She ducked and sidestepped, pretending to dodge attacks from her wooden opponent. Spinning, she kicked her leg back, her foot colliding solidly with the dummy's chest.
It went flying over the side of the ship and into the Atlantic sea.
Eliza stared after it, her chest heaving. She watched the water undulate in soft waves, gently rocking the boat. The water flashed blood red and she gasped.
"Hey." Jason grabbed her shoulder to snap her out of her stupor. "Are you okay?"
She flinched out of his grip. "I'm fine. I just need to be alone." She walked towards the steps to the lower decks.
"Eliza." Jason tried.
"I said leave me alone." She turned to face him, cutting her hand through the air for emphasis. A sharp thorn flew from her palm and whizzed passed Jason's head, embedding itself in the mast.
Jason froze, stunned by how close the thorn had come to his head.
Eliza's eyes flashed with concern, but she pushed it down and stalked to the steps, disappearing below decks.
* * *
She slammed the door shut behind her and immediately collapsed onto her bed. The tears followed after, pouring down her face and soaking her arms. Sobs shook her body.
The legion was right about her. She was a monster, a freak, a death sentence. She'd almost killed the entire legion and Jason. She was starting to see why the gods hated her so much... and why Gaia wanted her.
A/N
Yay! 40 chapters, over 2k reads, 200 votes, and 600 comments. Thank you all SO much for all the support. 🥰 I'm so glad you're enjoying this story so far. 😁
As I said before, we're at 40 part and we've only just left the US. 😐 This might take a while
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
-Cheshire
YOU ARE READING
Dancing with Death
FanfictionEliza's life turned upside down while on a field trip with her friends Piper, Leo, and Jason. Everything she thought she knew is called into question and she realizes she doesn't even know who she is. She's taken to a strange camp full of people wh...
