Percy Jackson: The Wolf Curse

Chapter 35: Ah Shiz, Here We Go Again

[Percy's POV:]

"You couldn't have found a bigger cave? I feel practically buried alive in here!" Artemis merely scoffed away my complaint, truth be told I was surprised we'd even found a cave I could even remotely fit into after my gigantism happened. It had been a while since we had found this place and just in time as well as not moments later Khione unleashed storms even my father would be envious of, seriously I felt like I should've taken notes.

"Have you looked in a mirror or more like a lake recently? You're huge!" Medusa so helpfully observed. Naturally I'm going to make a perfect joke here.

"Don't even think about it wolf boy, I know you better than you think and more than I wish I did" spoke Artemis's hunter for the first time in a while, I really should learn her name.. It really annoys me that so many people know more about a me that isn't me than me.

You're all probably wondering, why is everything so calm? Why is there no murderous tension between hunters and usually hunted? Well my bandaged tail begs to differ...

[Flashback:]

"Why in my uncle's name did you have to choose Alaska of all places! I'm so cold and I feel practically mortal here!" whined Artemis as we walked alongside each other in search of shelter from the lowering temperatures. It was times like this that I was thankful for my dense fur, then again cold never bothered me anyway... If not for my current passengers, I'd have offered Artemis and her hunter a ride atop my back in my warm fur. For now I have to prioritise maintaining this odd truce between monster and monster hunters. Yeah I'm not hopeful for that lasting at all.

Raising my neck a bit higher, nearly passing the trees, I looked at the surrounding terrain. We were currently in a clearing surrounded by trees in all cardinal directions; to our left was the densest, so dense that I would have trouble navigating between the trees so we turned our attention to the right with fewer trees which seemed like the better option. A quick peek onto my back revealed an increasingly shivering Fidi and Medusa, I needed to get them out of this cold and fast.

After roughly 20 minutes of walking we came across what I could only describe as a vertical canyon surrounded by lush flowering vines and moss. It was as if someone had picked up and rotated a canyon onto its side, luckily it still had a roof of sorts that blocked this freezing elements.. My fur would have to warm the rest. Upon approaching the entrance I saw just how.. Sharp the walls were inside, it was as if someone had taken a serrated cheese grater strapped to a chainsaw at it, I had to be careful not to cut myself on the edges.

Medusa was the only one to jump off, she never liked being immobile for long, I guessed it was a fear of being as still as her statues or something, she never did like to talk about herself in anything but a form of praise it concerned me at times. she refused to expose her inner fears and I feel it does her more harm than good.

"I don't know what I was expecting when you said Medusa. But I wasn't expecting Medusa. You can't expect me to sit here and let that monster waltz the lands free!" Stated Artemis' hunter. Looking at said hunter's Goddess, I could already see her itching to ready her bow and let the arrow fly. Which she did, her divine bow was instantly Loaded with an arrow of silver begging to be let free. Shit.

Not even half a second later an arrow was embedded into my tail as I coiled it around the weakened gorgon, if not for the others resting in my fur I'd have turned to bronze to at least offset the inevitable damage though something tells me it'd have made next no difference anyway.

"Ah shiz that hurts.." I groaned in pain, the arrow had embedded itself deep into my tail. Something about it burned at the touch, as if it was trying to corrode me from the inside. I was experienced with pain from spars and the like, but this pain was like no other. It was impossible to ignore to the point I fell from my standing to my side knocking the inhabitants off my back onto the luckily soft moss below.