Nemesism

2)

HAZEL SAT WITH NICO giving him ambrosia. I was originally going to stay with them, but I started to hear nose coming outside the mess hall. Hazel and Nico faced me. They wanted me to do something about it.

I knew that it was me who was going to have to fight the dwarfs. I grabbed the sword I was using to fight the storm spirits and moved towards the noise.

A dwarf was rummaging around the drawers we had. He froze for a moment, so I froze as well. He slowly turned around facing me. He had a ton of stuff in his bag and hands. I swung the sword around in my hand preparing the fight.

Honestly I never thought that dwarves would be good at fight. Well I knew, I read the Lord of the Ring, but like this good. Every time I tried to swing he would be somewhere else. And because he is shorter than me by a good amount, I always was short on my swings. He grabbed a lamp that was near by and hit my hand that was holding the sword.

This is something else I never thought about, how strong they are. Again, I did read The Lord of the Rings, but gosh my hand is killing me. I went to grab my sword from my necklace but I couldn't find it. I only had my camp half-blood necklace and my fathers.

I saw the dwarf go to swing at me with the lamp again but I booked it. I grabbed the sword from the floor going to the deck. I heard its heavy feet following me making weird noises.
     Why do I not have my necklace? It always comes back, where the hell is it? I haven't had it since it fell in Tartarus. Could it be that it can never come back to me?

I took my ring off letting my shield appear. I never really use the shield because I never find necessity for it, but now I do. I blocked the lamp putting the shield down on my hip because that was where the dwarf could reach.

Then he froze all of a sudden and ran for it. I didn't know if I should run after him, but my mind was racing with a million thoughts in my head. I called this battle a win for me.

"What are they?" Hazel asked.

The Argo II was docked at a busy wharf. On one side stretched a shipping channel about half a kilometer wide. On the other spread the city of Venice— red-tiled roofs, metal church domes, steepled towers, and sun-bleached buildings in all the colors of Valentine candy hearts—red, white, ochre, pink, and orange.

Everywhere there were statues of lions—on top of pedestals, over doorways, on the porticoes of the largest buildings. There were so many, I figured the lion must be the city's mascot.

Where streets should have been, green canals etched their way through the neighborhoods, each one jammed with motorboats. Along the docks, the sidewalks were mobbed with tourists shopping at the T-shirt kiosks, overflowing from stores, and lounging across acres of outdoor café tables, like pods of sea lions. I had thought Rome was full of tourists. This place was insane.

Hazel and the rest of my friends weren't paying attention to any of that, though. We had gathered at the starboard rail to stare at the dozens of weird shaggy monsters milling through the crowds.

Each monster was about the size of a cow, with a bowed back like a broken-down horse, matted gray fur, skinny legs, and black cloven hooves. The creatures' heads seemed much too heavy for their necks. Their long, anteater- like snouts drooped to the ground. Their overgrown gray manes completely covered their eyes.

I watched as one of the creatures lumbered across the promenade, snuffling and licking the pavement with its long tongue. The tourists parted around it, unconcerned. A few even petted it. I wondered how the mortals could be so calm. Then the monster's appearance flickered. For a moment it turned into an old, fat beagle.