The afternoon of June twenty-fourth was finally upon us, and quite frankly, I couldn't be more relieved. I needed to get out of my head, and what better way of doing that than dancing through the dust of your enemies?
The five cohorts of Camp Jupiter stood in their perfect lines on the Fields of Mars, various weapons tightly gripped in their hands as they looked on past the horizon. Reyna circled above the legionnaires on Scipio's back, face grim, cape flowing behind her in the wind. I flew next to Reyna, Star talking Scipio's ears off while the two of us became the eyes in the sky, waiting for the first sign of the incoming army.
I could feel Reyna's eyes burning holes into the back of my head, a thousand silent questions lingering in the air, but she voiced none of them. There were more pressing concerns at the moment.
Ten minutes and twenty-seven seconds later, one of the sentries in the tallest watchtower shouted, "They're here!" at the top of their lungs, a war horn sounding moments later.
"Hold your lines!" Reyna shouted in Latin, tightening her grip on her sword. "Let them strike first!"
And strike they did.
Within seconds, fiery arrows came raining down from the sky, hellhounds the size of eighteen-wheelers coalesced out of the darkness right in the center of the Field of Mars, and countless Earthborn rose up out of the ground, yanking legionnaires down by their ankles, the dirt reaching up to envelope them.
Behind this first wave of attackers came some of the ugliest Cyclopes I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. Stheno and Euryale trailed behind in their full gorgon form, rooster feet and all. Worst of all was Polybotes, easily standing twenty feet tall with shocking green hair, and dragon legs only a few shades darker than his hair. In his hands, he held a ten-foot-long trident, though there was no power of the sea in the weapon – instead, I could feel the poison humming in the pronged tips, waiting to mercilessly murder anyone who got in his way.
"So, this is what Lupa has to offer?" Polybotes boomed, his voice loud enough to be heard clearly by everyone despite the battles going on below. "This camp will make a fine feast for us on this most fortunate day. Attack!"
A loud cry came from the rest of the army as they barreled towards the Field of Mars, weapons readied, teeth bared, murder gleaming in their eyes.
Reyna turned to me, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Go to where you are needed most," she ordered. "I'll handle the giant."
"Let's go, Star," I said, summoning Epithymia as my pegasus dove downwards, heading for the Earthborn encircling the Third Cohort.
Once I was back in battle, all other thoughts were shoved aside, focusing solely on not getting stabbed, allowing for my muscle memory to take full control of my actions. True to Reyna's command, I only stayed in one place long enough for the legionnaires to have a brief reprieve until they were able to hold their own. If I could see that they were fine, it was time for me to move on.
After Star nearly got one of her wings ripped off, I jumped off her back, coating Epithymia in a layer of fire before cutting down an Earthborn from his shoulder to his hip, stopping to sear the earth so that he couldn't claw his way back. Thanatos should've been freed by now, but I wasn't going to take any chances.
Mistress, what are you doing? Star asked, whining nervously as she flew out of a captured siege tower's line of fire, a cannonball streaking above her.
"Protecting the camp," I grunted, yanking Epithymia out of another Earthborn, raising my shield in time to catch a wild centaur's arrow before it could lodge itself in my shoulder. "Stay close but get out of the line of fire. I'll call you when I need you."
YOU ARE READING
Changing the Future
Fanfiction"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood..." With one sentence, her life would be changed forever. Andy Collins could never have expected how her love of reading turned into something right out of her favorite series, plunging her into a world where...
