𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐒, heroes of olympus³

viii. ajax has a very furry reunion (get it? cause they're werewolves)

━chapter eight,
❝ajax has a very furry reunion!
(get it? cause they're werewolves)❞
『A J A X』

☆

━━━Ajax hears those ridiculous wolves before he actually sees them.

     Immediately, he tenses up. But he's not afraid━certainly not! Not like he once was. Now, he's more powerful than ever before. He summons his bow from the charm bracelet Aurelia had once given him━so long ago━and nocks an arrow.

     He scans the ground below him: a public square, paved with cobblestones, edged with white stucco buildings and lemon trees. He sees where his friends have camped out. In the middle of the square is a well-preserved shell of a Roman temple. Its square base stretches maybe fifty feet and ten feet tall, with an intact facade of Corinthian columns rising another twenty-five feet. But it is what is at the top of the colonnade that surprises Ajax━the Athena Parthenos of all things, laying sideways along the tops of the columns.

     Then Ajax sees the beasts━he has just gotten there just in the nick of time, because as the wolves howl, they surround the encampment, leaping from roofs. The largest of them pads forward. Ajax recognizes him immediately. The alpha wolf stands on his haunches and begins to change form━back into a human.

     Lycaon.

     Ajax scowls. He is just about to let his arrow loose when the ground erupts.

     The ground erupts with bones━a wall of bone fragments from the earth, bursting skyward. Hundreds of femurs, ribs, and fibulas entangle the wolves, forming a spiky briar patch of human remains. Many wolves become hopelessly trapped. Others writhe and gnash their teeth, trying to free themselves from their caged. Lycaon himself is immobilized in a cocoon of rib bones, and Ajax can hear him screaming from the sky.

     Then Ajax spots his friends. His eyes immediately cast upon Reyna━thank the gods she is okay. Her dogs are with her. She stands, bravely, with a silver pocketknife in her hand. Nico stands with his arms spread, having called forth the skeleton bones. Coach Hedge has his baseball bat, though he doesn't seem anxious to swing.

     Ajax nocks three arrows at once. He aims, then he lets them fly.

     One hits a wolf hopelessly in a cage. One hits a thrashing wolf. The last one━ha━hits Lycaon, effectively shutting him up for a moment before he roars in pain.

     "Thanks, swans," says Ajax. "I can take it from here."

     He may be about fifty feet in the air, but the height doesn't scare him. He jumps right off the back of the chariot and soars through the air.