Ataraxia [BTS au | Heroes of Olympus]

37

Jungkook

Hosoek and Yoongi scrambled into the tunnel, which seemed to be the only one free of monsters. He wasn't sure that was a good sign.

Two metres in, Yoongi turned. "The others!"

The entire cavern shuddered. He looked back and his courage crumbled to dust. Dividing the cavern was a new fifteen-metre-wide chasm, spanned only by two rickety stretches of bone flooring. The bulk of the monster army was on the opposite side, howling in frustration and throwing whatever they could find, including each other. Some attempted to cross the bridges, which creaked and crackled under their weight.

Taehyung, Jin, Namjoon and Jimin stood on the near side of the chasm, which was good, but they were surrounded by a ring of Cyclopes and hellhounds. More monsters kept pouring in from the side corridors, while gryphons wheeled overhead, undeterred by the crumbling floor.The four demigods would never make it to the tunnel. Even if Taehyung tried to fly them, they'd be shot out of the air.

"We have to help them," Hosoek said.

His mind raced, doing battle calculations. He saw exactly what would happen – where and when his friends would be overwhelmed, how all seven of them would die here in this cavern ... unless he changed the equation.

He closed his eyes praying to his father to help him do this. When he opened them, ghosts climbed from the fissure and seeped from the walls –almost an entire Greek army in full battle gear. They began taking on physical form, like walking corpses.

He turned to Hosoek and Yoongi. "You two keep going."

Hosoek's eyes widened. "What? No!"

"You have to." He insisted "Find the Doors."

'"But –" Yoongi glanced over his shoulder. "Hit the deck!"

He dived for cover as a volley of rocks slammed overhead. When he managed to get up, coughing and covered in dust, the entrance to the tunnel was gone. An entire section of wall had collapsed, leaving a slope of smoking rubble. He had to hope Hosoek and Yoongi were alive on the other side. He couldn't afford to think otherwise.

Anger swelled in his chest. He turned and charged towards the monster army. The army of undead had been looking around clueless until he had returned.

He focused again. The zombies' bows couldn't be in good shape. But, to his surprise, several dozen ghostly skirmishers nocked arrows in unison. Their arrowheads caught fire spontaneously and a flaming wave of death arced over the army's line, straight into the enemy. Cyclopes fell. Centaurs stumbled. A telkhine shrieked and ran in circles with a burning arrow impaled in his forehead.

He heard a laugh behind him. He glanced back and it was Jimin

"That's more like it," Jimin said. "Let's turn this tide!"

The zombie line thickened in the centre, forming a wedge designed to break through the enemy host. They lowered their spears in a bristling row and pushed forward.

Earthborn wailed and threw boulders. Cyclopes smashed their fists and clubs against the locked shields, but the undead soldiers were no paper targets. They had inhuman strength, hardly wavering under the fiercest attacks. Soon the floor was covered with monster dust. The line ofjavelins chewed through the enemy like a set of giant teeth, felling ogres and snake women and hellhounds. The archers shot gryphons out of the air and caused chaos in the main body of the monster army across the chasm.