The Son of Hermes (a Percy Jackson fanfic)

Chapter 4: I get an air-lift from a fire-breathing monster

TWO YEARS LATER

I was hungry. I was exhausted. And I was being followed. I kept looking back over my shoulder. I didn't see anyone or anything but my instincts told me that there was someone behind me, close behind me. The hair at the back of my neck were standing on their tips. Once or twice, I saw a pair of yellow eyes staring at me.

I looked at my reflection in one of the closed store windows. I looked like a homeless orphan. My clothes were tattered and torn. My hair was shaggy and unkempt and my eyes had an alert look in them. I looked and felt like a hunted animal. I saw the sign of the store. It said 'Sharley's Goodies'. There must be food in there.

I looked hungrily towards the store. Then, I did something which I hated to do, but had to, because of the severe circumstances. I felt the lock of the door. It was weak, compared to the ones I had opened. I concentrated and felt the gears of the lock and I willed them to open. As usual, it worked. Opening locks is one ability that I got from my dad, who is Hermes, the god of messengers and thieves. Entering the store, I locked the door behind me, hoping to keep what was following me away. I looked around and saw racks and racks of food items. I hated stealing but I had to do this to survive. I took as little as possible.

I considered waiting here until the thing following me left but I knew from experience that when hungry, monsters can easily break down doors. I could either face the monster behind me now, or I could wait for it to attack when the situation was at it's advantage. This was going through my mind when I saw a silhouette at the window. Oh boy! If that is the creature I think it is, I'm as good as dead. I grudgingly went closer to the window and yep, I was correct .I really have the most rotten luck ever.

Change of options- either run from the creature or run from the creature. I really don't have a second choice. I quietly sneaked away from the window. The only other escape from here was the door and I was sure that the creature, who is a thirty feet long, fire breathing dragon, by the way, would see me. But there was no other option. I got ready to be turned into one of my Mom's burnt chocolate chip cookies and marched towards the door.

Now I'd like to say that I faced the dragon bravely and defeated it and took it's hide for a spoil of war etcetera etcetera but no such luck. I took one look at that thing and...Whoa! It was green and scaly with teeth like daggers. The sharp claws and wings added to it's charm and it was more than thirty feet long. Thirty freaking feet! I had read it somewhere that a dragon's mouth was it's weakest part but the author had obviously not seen the yellow daggers/ teeth that filled it's mouth. That thing was a dentist's nightmare. Without going into the gruesome details, I'll just say that it had stuff stuck to it's teeth that no amount of flossing could remove. Coming back to fighting that thing, I decided to run for it. I turned to my heels and fled. The dragon caught up with me in no time. The sound of it's enormous wings was enough to wake up the entire Charleston. It swooped low and knocked me down to the ground. My attempts to fight it must have been so feeble that they tickled it. It must have felt lazy or it must have eaten it's fill because instead of killing me instantly , it wrapped its claws around me. Flying taxi. Great. Just great.

I didn't enjoy the flying experience much because the nails of the dragon's feet were digging into my stomach and I had to admit that it's underside was not beautiful. If that thing pooped right now, I'll definitely be soaked up in dragon droppings. I silently hoped that it's digestive system was weak. In no time we had reached one of the steep rocky hills the townsfolk kept away from and I saw it's cave. It wasn't exactly the typical littered -with -bones type thing but it was scary enough because-

a) It was at a good height up from the base

b) Because the opening was charred and had pools of green liquid that I suspected was acid