The Titan's Curse [Book Three]

Gift From The Wild.

Thalia raised her spear to attack, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it!"

The pig pawed at the ground, ready to charge at any moment.

"That's the Erymanthain Boar," Zoe observed, voice wavering with fear. "I don't think we can kill it."

     It neared them and swung it's head from side to side rapidly, and they all ducked to avoid it's massive tusks.

"Scatter!"

     They all ran in different directions to confuse the boar, and it seemed to work for a moment.

"It wants to kill us!" said Thalia.

"Of course," the Satyr responded, his voice making it seem like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's wild."

"Okay, so how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

     The boar seemed pretty upset about that question and charged them. Bianca rolled to the side quickly, barely moving out of the way of the hooves. The boar ran right into the WELCOME TO CLOUDROFT sign. Reagan grimaced at the sight, trying not to imagine herself as that sign if she were to get run down by that giant pig. "Keep moving!" Zoe shouted. Grover danced around the boar, playing a song on his pipes to agitate it. However, when Reagan had moved to the side to dodge the charging animal, she made the mistake of rolling onto her injured leg. She had cried out and stumbled, only for Thalia to catch her and keep her up. But as soon as she raised her shield, Aegis, in defense and Reagan raised her spear for offense, the boar squealed with anger and charged them. Reagan didn't even get the chance to say something sarcastic as she and Thalia turned and ran in the opposite direction. Thalia led the way as they went uphill, with Reagan trailing behind her on a limp.

     Even though she had a limp, Reagan did better running uphill then the boar. She used the trees to pull her up, and once and a while Thalia would grab her hand to keep her going. The boar had to charge straight forward, breaking down trees and boulders in its path. Once they reached the top of the hill, an expanse of train tracks stretched out before them, half buried in the snow.

"That way!" Reagan exclaimed, grabbing Thalia's arm half for support and half to lead her down the slope to the tracks.

     As they ran along the track rails, the boar roared with anger somewhere behind them as it reached the top of the hill. It struggled going downhill, unable to get any traction on the slippery slope. They ran through a tunnel, and once they reached the other side, a gorge appeared with the tracks leading over it as a bridge. Behind them, the boar tore through the tunnel, another roar rippling from its throat. Reagan began stepping out onto the bridge, but Thalia slowed down. Her face had turned icy white, matching the snow that blanketed the mountains around them.

"I-I can't," she stammered out, pulling back against Reagan's grip.

     Reagan looked to the rickety bridge, then to Thalia, and back at the boar that was quickly closing the distance between them. She wasn't going to keep going without Thalia, though.

"Give me your shield."

Thalia wrenched free from Reagan's grip. "Why?"

"Just give it to me!"

     Once Thalia finally gave up Aegis to Reagan, she set Medusa's face into the snow off the tracks and gripped the edge so that the shield wouldn't leave them behind.

"Get on."

     Thalia reluctantly climbed onto her precious shield and made sure it didn't slip as Reagan climbed on behind her. Once neither girls kept the shield in place, the daughter of Ares began to push them down the hill. Thanks to gravity and the two girls starting to push together, they were soon flying down the mountainside at what felt like fifty miles per hour. Reagan grimaced, feeling squeamish as they left her stomach back on the tracks. She squeezed her eyes shut, hugging Thalia for dear life. They crashed through bushes and narrowly avoided the trunks of pine trees. Back on the tracks, the Erymanthain Boar wasn't so lucky. Unable to turn at such a sharp angle at the speed it had been running, it skidded right onto the bridge, which buckled under its weight. The poor boar fell into the gorge, landing right in a large pile of snow, seemingly unharmed.

     Reagan and Thalia eventually slowed to a stop at the base of the mountain, both breathing heavily. Each half-blood rolled off of Aegis in opposite directions. As Thalia brushed pine needles out of her hair and stood up, Reagan began to laugh slowly as she realized something.

"You're afraid of heights."

"Don't be stupid," Thalia retorted harshly, anger flashing dangerously in her eyes, so much so that Reagan was pretty sure lightning bolts were going to shoot out of them at any moment.

"Hey, I'm not judging." Mirth danced on Reagan's face and the tone of her voice sounded like she was on the verge of laughing again. "It's just funny because, you know, the daughter of Zeus, Lord of the Sky, afraid of heights."

"Shut up." Thalia shoved Reagan down into a snow drift, which cushioned her fall.

     The reaction caused more laughter to bubble up, and Reagan crawled out of the snow bank and stood up while brushing the snow out of her hair and putting weight on her good leg instead. Grover was shouting for them as he, Bianca, Percy, and Zoe searched for them from somewhere above. Reagan shouted up to them, and in minutes they all met back up and slowly walked towards the boar, still stuck in the pile of snow.

"A blessing from the Wild," Grover said, but sounded more agitated this time.

"I agree," said Zoe. "We must use it."

"Hold on," Thalia said quickly in irritation. "How exactly are you certain this pig is some blessing?"

"Do you know how fast it can run?" Grover asked, albeit a little distracted. "That's our ride west."

Before Reagan could retaliate, they were riding a giant pig west, a blessing from the Lord of the Wild, Pan.