Partners in Crime || PJOxHP || Marauders' Era

Old

With a mighty roar, the largest pig Jessica had ever seen came crashing into the road. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry. 

"REEEEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the four skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere. Then the pig turned on the group. 

Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it."

The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoe said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."

"It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoe and Bianca dived out of the way. Jessica had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk Express.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" Percy said. "Scatter!"

They ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said.

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!"

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

It seemed a fair question to Jessica, but the pig was offended and charged Bianca. She was faster than Jessica realized. She rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

Jessica racked her brain, trying to remember the myth of the boar. She was pretty sure Hercules had fought this thing once, but she couldn't remember how he'd beaten it. She had a vague memory of the boar plowing down several Greek cities before Hercules managed to subdue it. Jessica hoped Cloudcroft was insured against giant wild boar attacks.

***

"Keep moving!" Zoe yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. But Thalia, Percy and Jessica won the prize for bad luck. When the boar turned on them, Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis in defense. The sight of the Medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage. Maybe it looked too much like one of his relatives. 

The boar charged. They only managed to keep ahead of it because they ran uphill, and they could dodge in and out of trees while the boar had to plow through them. Jessica kept muttering Ventus all the way, but there was only so much wind one could produce.

On the other side of the hill, Percy found an old stretch of train tracks, half buried in the snow.

"This way." He grabbed Thalia's arm and they ran along the rails while the boar roared behind, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. Its hooves just were not made for this, thank the gods.

Ahead of them, Jessica saw a covered tunnel. Past that, an old trestle bridge spanning a gorge. Jessica had a crazy idea, and she took one look at Percy- "Follow me!"

Thalia slowed down—Jessica didn't have time to ask why—but she and Percy pulled her along and she reluctantly followed. Behind, a ten-ton pig tank was knocking down pine trees and crushing boulders under its hooves as it chased. The three ran into the tunnel and came out on the other side.

"No!" Thalia screamed. She'd turned as white as ice. They were at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about seventy feet below. The boar was right behind them.