Hearts Crossed - Kayla Knowles (2)

Colton IV (SON)

Chapter Title: I Get Involved In A Major Brawl With A Familiar Ally Coming To Assist

Alternate Chapter Title: Foes New And Old, Part Two

This situation I find myself in.. ah.. how times really haven't fucking changed at all. I mean, to be fair, once upon a time I probably would have expected that once the war with Luke and Kronos ended, things might improve for demigods. Oh how wrong was I.

Almost a year after the war ended, here I am.. in another such dangerous situation. Only this time, I have to deal with Egyptian monsters in the mix of this clump of enemies sent to destroy us in this trap too. Yes, contrary to what many might expect — though I can imagine some would not find this surprising, since my encounter with that Egyptian demigod I encountered right after the end of the Second Titan War, I spent a chunk of my time bulking up on knowledge about ancient Egypt and the monsters from its mythology. That knowledge was serving me well today, since I instantly recognized the bizarre monsters that accompanied the more familiar foes that me, Michael, and Lavinia currently faced.

Those things were Serpopards, creatures of chaos. They may have had the body of a leopard and weren't entirely a snake, but don't be fooled — they were still very dangerous creatures just as much as the poisonous snakes were. These creatures just so happened to be tremendously strong and had the ability to shoot poison, just like the Basilisks, which came from the hair of one of the Giants — whose name eluded me at that moment.

Point is, I was well aware of just how dangerous Serpopards were, but if necessary, I would have no qualms about transforming into the Monster King just to take care of them. Either way, with the Serpopards, Basilisks, Laistrygonian Giants, Cyclopes, Zombies, plus the unknown brutes and the Earthborn here too, it was evident that at the very least, I might have to rely on some of the magic spells the Heralds taught me and Kayla to achieve victory. At least, the eidolon-possessed truck driver was driving off now, leaving us to what the monster believed to be our demise.

Oh, how naive that one was.

"Michael, Lavinia.. find cover.. now.." I quickly said to both of them.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Lavinia shouted back.

"Lavinia, do what he says.. he's got this.." Michael said.

"But.. But.." Lavinia protested.

I heard some scuffling behind me - I was too busy keeping my eyes on my opponents, who stood there for now sizing me up from what it seemed - and from what it sounded like, despite having one hand holding the bag, Michael had used his other hand to grab Lavinia's hand and was now dragging her off to somewhere safe. Good, I thought to myself. Unless they get in trouble, I don't have to worry about them right now. So I'm free to concentrate fully on these enemies in front of me.

I grit my teeth and readied both of my swords, calling out, "Okay, buggers. Let's dance."

Just then, a fireball out of nowhere slammed into the group from above, incinerating the zombies and Basilisks on the roof of the gas station without setting it on fire. It was a fireball that came from only one person.

The sound of said person's voice a few moments later filled me with confidence as to how this fight would turn out.

"I do hope you enjoyed that, young master!"

I simply nodded in reply. Nice to see you too again, Cháris, I thought to myself as I watched the monsters all react to the sudden attack from above. The Serpopards shot their poison at Cháris, firing into the air, but from the lack of cries of pain, the fire herald was easily dodging their attacks. The three Earthborn now closed in on me, their rocks having now generated into what looked like swords carved out of rock.