The Trials of Aphrodite
♦ Chapter Seven ♦
"And just how are we going to avoid a volley of arrows from Apollo, a lot of spears, swords, and very sharp objects that can kill, scorpion ballistae, and lethal water cannons?" I demanded.
"Easy," Kayla said. "We avoid them."
"Thanks, that clears everything up."
"We actually have the upper hand," Via told me.
"How?" I asked.
"Kayla is a daughter of Vulcan, the blacksmith god. And she's the one to talk to when you want weapons or armor. Her skill helped earn her a spot into this cohort, the most prestigious. She can make anything."
"Tell me how this is relevant."
Kayla flashed me a grin. "I can make anything. Which means I have a lot of goodies in store for the other campers. This is gonna be fun! I can finally try out my land mines."
If my eyes could get any wider, they did. "Land mines?" I squeaked.
She nodded absentmindedly. "Uh-huh. You're lucky you're in the First, Ren. We have the sharpest blades in the legion, all thanks to me," she said proudly.
"What about me?" one of her brothers protested. "I helped too!"
"Whatever. But I'm the best."
"Stop bickering!" Cynthia snapped. "You're both good at tinkering. Now shut up."
"Tinkering?" Kayla growled.
"Any other advantages?" I inquired of Via.
Via shook her head. "Well, John's a son of Mars, but he's a little soft. He shows mercy."
"Hey!" the boy complained.
"I guess, being a daughter of Mercury, I can sneak around better. I'm good at stealing things—like banners, for instance."
"And I'm pretty much useless," I summed up.
"Well . . . yeah. Sorry," Via said.
"I get that a lot. Well, let's try to win a game that we have about a five percent chance of winning."
"That's the spirit, Ren!"
I fought valiantly and brought honor to the First Cohort, right?
HAHAHAHAHA, no.
But that's just my luck.
We kept low on the west side of the fort, and I could see the First Cohort marching to the front gates, Mike leading them, sword in hand. They were being pelted with rocks and shot by the scorpions, and even more craters appeared on the Field of Mars. Water cannons sent jets of liquid that carved trenches in the dirt. Several THRUM sounds made my teeth rattle in my mouth.
I made a heroic whimpering sound.
The Second and Third Cohorts marched in front of the First Cohort, screaming battle cries like "CHAAARGE!" or "FOR JUPITER!" or "OH MY GODS PLEASE DON'T KILL ME I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"
The defenders were definitely doing a swell job at defending. The Fifth Cohort discharged more water cannons, and I spotted Hazel riding a tan-colored horse and swinging her spatha into enemy lines. I hoped she didn't spot me anytime soon.
Conveniently, a defender spotted our group from atop the fort. "Hey, look!" he shouted to his friends. "Victims!"
Barbarians.
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The Trials of Aphrodite: Righting the Wrongs
Fanfiction{If Aphrodite was cast down from Olympus and become mortal just like Apollo. First book in the Trials of Aphrodite trilogy.} How do you punish a goddess? By making her mortal. Aphrodite played a trick on Zeus, just for a little bit of fu...
