The Legend of Elodie Grant (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty-two

We fought with everything we had in us. Campers everywhere battled monsters they had never seen before, their fear outweighing their curiosity.

The monsters were relentless. They seemed tireless and fought as hard as they could until a lucky hit made them burst into dust. The campers on the other hand, grew tired, their swings becoming sloppy. This fight would be over before we even made a dent in their numbers, unless something changed soon. I prayed to the gods Grover would get here as fast as he could.

The only campers who didn't seem to grow tired were those from the Ares cabin. As the battle wore on, they only seemed to grow stronger, their eyes gleaming with adrenaline and the excitement of war. They were thriving, cutting down monster after monster. They would soon be our only hope of victory.

Arsen and I fought back to back, not willing to part from each other for too long. We knew we were stronger together than apart. Arsen swung his sword powerfully, killing monsters with one hit, while I switched between my staffs and my powers, swinging a staff at one monster before turning and dragging another into the earth using the grass.

"Elodie!"

I swung around, my eyes scanning for whoever called my name. Arsen immediately started fighting even harder, making sure no monster could get to me while I was distracted. My eyes landed on a bedraggled trio, sighing in relief as I met Grover's exhausted eyes. As I looked over the small group, I could see no severe injuries among them.

"Cover me!" I called over to nearby campers, dropping my staffs to the ground. I would need all of my attention in order to pull off my plan.

I ran closer to the group, feeling the familiar tug in my stomach. I suddenly pulled into a halt, stomping my foot into the ground with a guttural yell. I thrusted my fists out in front of me. As they rose, thorn walls burst out of the ground in a V, enclosing the three. It was a clear path to the camp, protecting them from monsters.

The monsters seemed to know what I was protecting and the free ones targeted their effort to my walls. It took all my effort to regrow the thorns as the monsters broke through them. Grover and the two demigods picked up their pace, seeming to understand the urgency, but they were still so far away.

My nose started to bleed from the sheer effort I was exerting. It felt like a sledgehammer was slamming around my mind, and I began swearing under my breath, sweat rolling down the sides of my face. I closed my eyes, trusting those around me to keep off any monsters and focusing everything I had into the walls.

I peeked through slitted eyes, relieved to see they were yards away, closer than I had dared to hope. My knees dipped underneath me and I almost fell, but I managed to straighten out just in time, my focus never wavering.

"You got this, babe!" Arsen called over to me, noticing my moment of weakness. I dragged my gaze over to look at him through bleary eyes. "Just a bit longer! We're practi—"

He cut off, looking down at his chest. Three claw wounds ripped down his chest, leaving open, bleeding wounds. I watched in stunned silence as he fell to the ground and didn't move again, monsters converging on him. I screamed, my concentration slipping as I watched the boy I loved being savaged by monsters.

I felt Grover and the demigods rush past me, unaware of my agony. It suddenly seemed to much for me to handle. My arms dropped and I fell to my knees, exhaustion smacking me in the face. The thorn wall began to collapse around me. I tried to raise it again, but I couldn't focus on the job. Not while I knew Arsen was dying.

I watched through blurred vision as Grover and the blond demigod boy race past the tree and into the camp. Hope shot through me as the girl neared the boundary line. Perhaps this won't have to be for nothing after all.

Hope was stupid. It never helped anyone. It only made it hurt worse when everything crumpled around you.

Just when she was merely five feet away from the border, a monster burst through my thorn wall. It slammed into her, and I could only watch, too weak to help, as she fell under its weight. I screamed, tears pouring down my face. I was helpless as I saw it pick her up and throw her into the ground, hard enough that the hard earth cracked beneath her fragile body.

I was too weak. It was too late to do anything. All around me, monsters killed the campers I had come to know as friends and comrades. Screams of children filled the air. Because that's exactly what we were — children. We were too young to fight monsters, too young to wage war against unknown forces, too young to be dying.

Arsen was buried under bodies of monsters, unable to be seen.

Campers everywhere were on the ground, dying or dead.

The girl we were supposed to protect stared up at the sky with blank eyes, a monster hovering over her body.

I had no hope in my body. There was nothing to do but watch the massacre of children everywhere, unable to help anyone, including myself. This would be the end of it all. The end of Camp Half-Blood.

The monsters converged.