𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

101

"LEFT!" Percy dragged Hadrian, slicing through the arai to clear a path. He probably brought down a dozen curses on himself, but he didn't feel them right away, so he kept running.

The pain in his chest flared with every step. He wove between the trees, leading Hadrian at a full sprint despite his injuries.

Hadrian looked at him with something between admiration and concern. It was a wonder he could run at all. He wheezed and cried in pain, but they managed to run. Once, he even drew his bow and shot at an arai who had almost touched Percy. 

Immediately, he started coughing and gasping again. Percy wanted to ask what curse he got this time, what monster he had slain, what to expect. But Hadrian didn't offer any information. He just smiled sadly, refusing to look at Percy and flipped off the arai which was generally not a good thing to do to monsters who want to see you suffer. 

"That curse doesn't even feel like a curse" He laughed a little hysterically and Percy wondered if he was losing his mind, "It's already my reality, you can't hurt me with love"

Kira? Losing people he loved? Percy didn't have time to make it make sense. 

Leathery wings beat the air above them. Angry hissing and the scuttling of clawed feet told him the demons were at their backs.

As they ran past one of the black trees, he slashed his sword across the trunk. Percy heard it topple, followed by the satisfying crunch of several dozen arai as they were smashed flat.

If a tree falls in the forest and crushes a demon, does the tree get cursed?

Percy slashed down another trunk, then another. It bought them a few seconds, but not enough.

Suddenly the darkness in front of them became thicker. Percy realized what it meant just in time. He grabbed Hadrian, trying not to touch his wounds, stopping before they both charged off the side of the cliff.

"What?" Hadrian gasped through the pain. His t-shirt was flapping in the wind, Percy could smell the blood, he could feel the t-shirt getting blood soaked. He looked woozy from pain, his vision unfocused.

"Cliff" He mumbled in an answer, "Big Cliff"

Hadrian didn't question how Percy could tell. 

Percy couldn't see how far the cliff dropped. It could be ten feet or a thousand. There was no telling what was at the bottom. They could jump and hope for the best, but he doubted "the best" ever happened in Tartarus.

So, two options: right or left, following the edge.

He was about to choose randomly when a winged demon descended in front of him, hovering over the void on her bat wings, just out of sword reach.

Did you have a nice walk? asked the collective voice, echoing all around them.

Percy turned. The arai poured out of the woods, making a crescent around them. One grabbed Hadrian's arm. Hadrian wailed in rage, he thrashed and grabbed an arrow from the quiver on his back. Without another word, he stuck the sharp edge into the demon's neck.

The demon dissolved, but when Hadrian got to his feet, he looked stunned and afraid as well as hopelessly injured. He collapsed to his knees. 

"Percy?" he called, panic creeping into his voice.

"I'm right here."

He tried to put his hand on Hadrian's shoulder, but he wasn't standing where Percy thought. He tried again, only to find he was several feet farther away. It was like trying to grab something in a tank of water, with the light shifting the image away.