Petals on The Moon || Reyna Ramirez-Arellano x Fem!OC

XXXVIII

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Hello again.

"Sebastian!" Whisper-shouting in the woods didn't make me feel very confident that I'd be able to find my brother very quickly. I ran as fast as I could, trying not to trip over every log and root and twig in sight. It didn't go very well. My leg felt like it was exploding with tiny bullets of pain. "Sebastian! Where are you-"

"Dammit, Suki!" I turned around, whipping out my dagger in the process, but only saw Sebastian trudging forward with his spear. "I told you to stay over there!"

"I know you did," I told him. I reached into my pocket. "I brought you a granola." Sebastian took it between two fingers and eyed it weirdly. "Listen, we had to change the plan. Tavleen was killed."

Sebastian's eyes fell. "W-what?" I explained to him everything that had happened in the past few hours, and I ignored the few strays tears he managed to lose.

"Soledad's new plan is stronger," I said. "She pulled Octavian from the front lines. He's overseeing the offerings to Apollo."

"Is Reyna-"

"She's alive, and so is Jason." My tongue tasted bitter at the mention of Reyna, which I know wasn't a great way to feel about my closest friend. "What about you?"

"I've been trying," Sebastian said desperately. "Every time I move, they move. It's like they're following me. It's a small horde- maybe three dracaenae, each with their own pet leucrocotta. But something about it feels off. Killing them too close to the river-"

"Will signal the rest of the army," I nodded. "I understand. We don't know what happened, but the river seemed to turn in their favor."

"Minor god?"

"Or a demigod," I said. "We're not fully sure. But they have the tide at the moment. At least on the river. As for the lake-"

"We have to circumvent them," Sebastian said. "If their army is pushing into the city through the barracks, we have to get behind them. They have an encampment?"

"Small and guarded, but yes," I promised. "Krios leads the assault. But if we can't get past the dracaenae, it's useless."

Sebastian stared at the horizon through the trees. "What if..." He turned back to look at me again. "Can dracaenae drown?"

I blinked. "I don't believe they have gills, and their upper halves are... relatively human. So, most likely."

"That's less flashy than killing them outright," Sebastian said. "We'll have to figure out how to deal with the leucrocottae, tho-" He grinned. "Alright. We'll lure the leucrocottae into the water after we drown the dracaenae. We have to do it one at a time, and make sure none of the women get away and warn the army."

"How will we lure the leucrocottae?"

"Well... demigod flesh would be preferred," Sebastian admitted. "Any raw meat." He raised his eyebrows. "You don't happen to have a slab of brisket, do you?"

I patted my pockets and shrugged. "No brisket."

He rolled his eyes at my antics. "Whatever. Then..." He sighed and held his hand out. "Gimme your dagger."