Walk With the Shadows [ Percy Jackson OC ]

THIRTY-FIVE | Kitty

KITTY WOULD'VE FELT BAD about causing explosions in the Magic Kingdom, but she had too much to worry about. As the air turned bitter cold, the Lyre of Orpheus offered warmth against her chest. With one hand she held it to her body, with her other she grabbed a sword off a fallen Empousa.

She couldn't keep track of everything. Ophelia's shadow magic made it hard to see beyond their immediate space. But she did see Alex shove his sword through Phoebe and face down Cole. If he had the demigods handled, Ophelia could hold off the monsters, and she could hang on to the Lyre.

They could win this. They had to win this. Too much was riding on Alex returning the lyre to Olympus.

"Don't hesitate."

Kitty shivered as she heard Tyche's voice in her left ear. Like sparks, her body filled with electricity. They could win this. They would.

She felt Ophelia at her back. Two empousai tried to push through the wall of black shadow tendrils that Ophelia turned into weapons. But they couldn't. Spitting curses at the "spawn of evil Hecate," she kept them occupied.

Kitty focused on Alex. She caught glimpses of him dodging Cole's spear, unable to close the distance to land his own hits. Focusing, she tried to see his luck.

At the moment, Cole had the mastery, wrapped in a golden aura. That wouldn't do. Reaching out, she willed a golden thread of luck to form between herself and the son of Nike. Her head began to sting but she drained him as best she could. He stumbled here. He lodged his spear in a crate there.

They could do this.

A clawed hand dug into her shoulder. Kity screamed. She swung blindly as she turned around, her sword making contact with a harpy. It dissintegtared, leaving Kitty to clutch her shoulder and hold on to the Lyre for dear life.

Shadows swirled around her. Her toes became so cold, she couldn't feel them. Five feet away, Ophelia stood with her legs set apart for stability, arms out and face hard as stone. Another wave of pain washed over her. Kitty knelt down.

Blood stained her hand as she grabbed her left shoulder. By the light of the Lyre, the only light to escape Ophelia's darkness, she could see four slashes from the harpy's claws. Her stomach churned.

Kitty screamed in anger. The howling shadow-winds drowned it out. Kneeling on the red-orange pavement, she tried to breathe. Just breathe.

They'd run as soon as Alex told them to. Ophelia led the way, never wavering, never hesitating. Pounding monster feet and screeching calls overhead of harpies and empousai didn't allow them to hesitate. Kitty had no idea where to go, but Ophelia seemed to know.

A massive orange stone mansion reared up in front of them as they reached a hill. Ophelia had paused in her step outside the gates. She'd seemed glued to the ground.

Only the empousai who flew over Alex and tried to grab them had shaken her from her trance. Ophelia practically transformed. She didn't speak. She just drew all the blackness to her side and moments later, Kitty had found herself in the middle of this dome of winds of shadow.