𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 (𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨'𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐥𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐬)

EIGHTEEN ; jason has a really hot sister

     "Wolves," Eileen whispered.

     "They sound close," Piper said.

     Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out his golden coin. His sword landed in his land. Leo and Hedge followed his movement - Coach raising his bat and Leo's fingers twitching at his tool belt.

     Eileen stood too, but her limbs still felt stiff and frozen. Everything spun. She steadied herself on her feet, and it took her a moment to realise that warmth was beginning to ebb under her skin from the soles of her shoes. She had been drawing energy from the earth without even realising it. With what was probably a stupid decision, she kicked off her sneakers. The feeling of the sand beneath her feet was enough to clear her head.

     Piper tried to copy, but she fell back against the rock with a paling face.

     "Stay there," Jason ordered. "We'll protect you."

     That was bound to get on Piper's nerves. Her face pinched, but she stayed put, glaring at Jason's back before her gaze shifted and a flash of panic crossed her face.

     Eileen looked outside and tucked herself a little more behind Piper and her rock.

     A pair of glowing, blood red eyes stared into the cave. Slowly, more eyes appeared from the dark of the snow storm as more wolves edged into the cave. Their coats were thick and dark and caked in frozen flakes. Their fangs gleamed as they bared their teeth. And those eyes - malicious and disturbingly intelligent - they seemed to glow with a wild, untamed hatred. If that wasn't enough to scare a demigod off, they were also massive - the size of a Great Dane, perhaps bigger.

     The wolf in front was almost the size of a horse. The fur around his lips stained the colour of his eyes.

     Piper pulled out her dagger, and Eileen was once again reminded of the fact that she was the only one without a weapon. Then Jason stepped forward and said something to the alpha wolf. But it wasn't English that he spoke; it was Latin.

     Angry wolves didn't seem to be the kind of beings that would understand English, much less Latin (which was very widely known as a dead language), but the alpha wolf curled his bloodied lip. The fur along the back of his neck rose. One of the smaller wolves stepped forward, but as soon as it got close enough the alpha snapped at its ear. A low growl rose from the leader's throat, and then all the wolves backed out of the cave and into the storm.

     "Dude, I gotta study Latin." Leo sounded confident enough, but his hammer shook in one hand and his fingers fiddled nervously with his belt. "What'd you say Jason?"

     "Whatever it was, it sent them away," Eileen breathed. She realised she was probably gripping Piper's shoulder much too tightly and softened her hold.

     "Shit, Thomas, why'd you have to open your mouth," the coach cursed. "Whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Look."

     The wolves reappeared at the mouth of the cave. The alpha didn't appear to be with them, but they had doubled the size of their pack. They didn't attack - just stood at the edge of the firelight in a rough semi-circle, watching, waiting. There was no way out of the cave except through them.

     Coach Hedge lifted his club over his shoulder like he wanted to hit one of the wolves like a baseball. "Here's the plan. I'll kill them all, and you guys run."

     "Coach, they'll rip you apart," Piper said.

     "Nah, I'm good."

     Eileen made a face. "Do the wolves know that?"