The Demigod Games

Chapter 5

After a few hours, Frank goes to wake Piper and Jason up. They take their spots and we tuck ourselves into our sleeping bags. I zip it up tight and soon fall asleep.

I am woken by Piper an hour later. Her eyes look frantic with fear, and my survival instinct makes me unzip my sleeping bag fast and get to my feet, my sword in my hand before I know it. I glance around and see Jason charging into battle with an animal. No, a monster, not animal.

The monster is wolf-like, but its sharp fangs that are dripping with blood show that it is definitely more bloodthirsty. Jason lunges towards it but it dodges, quicker than I can follow, and lets out a piercing howl.

Hellhound.

The name for the canine-like creature pops into my head. I try to find more information, digging into what little memory I have, but that's all I can remember. I see Piper waking Frank as well, and we run to help Jason together.

Slowly, we drive the creature back into the darkness of the forest. But soon, it howls again and more hellhounds appear on the edges of the light from our blades. They are equally hungry for our blood. I leap into the nearest one I see and plunge my sword into its hind. It howls and crumbles into a golden dust, which is swept away by the wind.

One down, about thirty to go. I think as I watch the rest get the hang of their weapons and pick the hellhounds off one by one. I kill a few more. Frank is perched on a tree, firing arrows into the growing swarm of hellhounds, but it's not enough.

Jason is lashing out with his spear, and Piper is desperately trying to defend herself. I move closer to Piper, and help her defeat the nearest ones.

"Thanks," she pants as we continue hacking away at the never-ending pack of hellhounds.
"What are those?" Piper mutters as we kill a few more.

"Hellhounds. I don't know how I know, don't ask," I reply quickly before jumping away, narrowly missing a hellhound's gaping jaws that are aimed for my calf.

We focus on picking them off one by one, but I know this will not last long. Frank is running out of arrows, and I can't go over and pick any up. Piper, Jason and I are tiring, without enough sleep, and the never-ending battle.

Piper suddenly lets out a loud shriek and topples backwards. I see an angry red set of teeth marks on her leg as she falls into the hellhounds. I reach out and grab her, and she leans on my arm, her leg starting to bleed. The blood streaks down her leg and stains her shoes.

I help her back onto her feet with one hand and fight off the hellhounds with another. The number of the hellhounds finally start to dwindle and I kill the last few. Piper collasps against a tree, moaning in pain.

I take a closer look at the wound on Piper's leg. The blood is now clotting, and I can see that the bite isn't as deep as I thought. Frank finds some fabric in the pack and Jason makes a makeshift bandage on her leg. Then, we settle Piper into a sleeping bag and Jason takes watch again.