Callie Jackson; The Return

Chapter XII

                          Callie's POV

I followed Gyges to a little wooden shack.
"Wait here." He said. "Brother! Gather supplies!" He yelled into the shack. A giant a little smaller than him walked out backwards, dropping apples and a bottle of water as he went. Then he turned around.
"Callie?" He said. I ran and hugged him.
"Bob!" I cried joyfully. He embraced me.
  "How— why are you here child?" He asked.
  "I-I died in the war." I said.
  "And how's Percy?" He questioned.
  "Good, as I last saw him. I hope." I murmured that last sentence to myself.  We went walking, leaving Gyges. I breathed deep. My stomach was stinging, and some minor burns were, well, burning. I talked to Bob for about 30 more minutes, then we spotting streaks of bronze jolting around in the air.
"What's that?" I asked, drawing my knife. He didn't answer me.
  "Get back. And stay low." He whispered to me.
  "No. What are those things?" I asked. One of the bronze thing-a-ma-bobs swooped down at my face, and I ducked right on time. The bronze thing zipped through the air, streaking every which way.
  "Stymphalian birds." He said. "Stay low. To kill them, they have to stop flying, but they won't. So you have to knock them out of the air. Ready?"
  "Yeah." The birds started circling, there were at least 12 of them. They spilt up and attacked, as did Bob and I. I didn't have anything to throw at them, no rocks whatsoever, only the rugged spikes, and I wasn't strong enough to pull them out of the ground. So I just stood there like a log, waiting. Then one targeted me. On instant, I threw my knife. It screeched, then fell to the ground. I sprinted over, trying to grab my knife. It had straight through impaled the bird, but it was still wriggling around. I didn't realize how sharp my dagger was, or how deadly. I would try to grab my knife, but the half dead Stymphalian would snap at me. I finally held its head back, and started prying the dagger out of its bronze liver. I yanked it, twisted, shook it, but nothing worked. I heard Bob grunting in the distance. I looked up, but I shouldn't have. A bird cut under my eye and all the way down my cheek. Blood was already on my lips and in my nose. I finally got my knife and ran over to Bob. I threw my knife again, killing the last bird. He yanked my knife out with no problem, and handed it to me.
"Are you ADHD too? Cause I can tell your impulsive. Good fighter, ju– What's wrong?!" He noticed I was holding my face.
"Um... The bird got me." I said.
"Let me see." He commanded. I removed my cupped hands, there was blood puddled in them. The blood was already on my shirt and in my mouth and nose. I wiped the blood on my shorts and cupped my face again.
"Come on. We have to keep moving." He said.

+++

We walked for what felt like ages, then I stopped. Dead in my tracks. Stopped. I felt like I was being watched. I started walking slower, until something tackled me. The face nastily grinned, digging its claws into my wrists. Bob then sprinted over, jumped on its back, and flipped it on top of him. He was majorly struggling.
"Bob!" I screamed. The creature bit what looked like a giant chunk out of his cheek.
"Run!" He screamed "As far as you can!" I took off, swerving around spikes, and after about an hour I stopped and thought. HOW COULD I BE SO STUPID?! I left Bob to fight that thing on his own? He's dead now. I know it. I slammed against a wall and scooted to the ground, tears streaming down my face. I pulled my knees up to my chest, letting the blood from my wrists trickle down my legs. What would Percy think of me? I was an idiotic coward; he would have never left Bob. Of course he wouldn't, he was the loyal, kind savior of Olympus. My brother. And I would so him I'm special. But how? I couldn't even get out of Tartarus. He probably hates me.