Greeks, Countrymen, Lovers, Monsters? (Sequel to Halfblood IsThicker Than Magic)

Dragons (part 3)

I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for impact. I had to hope that the immortality Artemis granted me when I became a hunter would last out, could this be counted as a battle? But even if it did I was under no illusions that this would more than twinge. My blood was pounding in my ears drowning out everything else, as if I was in my own world of weightlessness. If I hadn’t felt so terrified of hitting the ground I felt that I might have understood Jason’s love of flying.

Jason, Jason…Jason! I would do what he did; surely as a child of Zeus I could pull the winds around me and stop my fall? My whole body tensed as I tried to concentrate and bring the winds under my control but to no avail. I was still falling, quicker than ever as I gained momentum. I threw out a last desperate prayer for help to Artemis, Zeus and any other god who might be listening as I gave up any hope of saving myself.

Then all went dark.

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I opened my eyes but quickly shut them again when a gleaming silver light made my head throb painfully. After a couple of minutes I cautiously opened them again to asses my surroundings. My hunter instincts wanted me to get up and scope the area for potential threats but the place had a strange calming atmosphere and I ignored the pull. Looking around I saw that I was on a bench in a park, no wait, it was the park near my old house where Jason and I used to play as children. However instead of the bright greens and blues that one would expect at this time of year, the small park was bathed in a silver glow. To my left was a small playground and on the swing sat a young girl with auburn hair. She wore a light dress that looked as if it had been woven from moonlight. Seven dogs ran about the park, occasionally running into each other or following invisible trails before inevitably returning to her.

‘Pan gave me these dogs, you know,’ she said, ruffling the ears of a black and white dog and stroking the reddish coat of another. ‘They are hunting dogs, capable of even bringing down lions. I’ve never tried them against dragons though, I don’t know if they are fast enough. What say you, Thalia Grace?’

She looked up at me and I blushed.

‘Sorry Lady Artemis, I didn’t realise that dragons would be involved…’ I trailed off as the goddess assessed me.

‘I’m sure you didn’t,’ she replied thoughtfully, ‘but do try to avoid throwing flames at my sacred animal in the future.’

I sighed in relief; it seemed I wasn’t going to be smited in godly vengeance today. Then another thought hit me;

‘Am I dead?’

‘No, Thalia,’ she gave a small laugh. ‘You are not dead, I simply desired to talk with you and congratulate you on your capture of the Hind. In a few moments I will return you to your friends, who are no doubt worrying for your welfare.’

So we had been successful, obviously Artemis’ ward only protected the Hind from certain death, and not a short nap.

‘Thalia, this quest you are on is of the utmost importance,’ the goddess announced, bringing me back from my thoughts. ‘There is more here at stake than the life of one sorceress. The immortals of Olympus cannot be allowed to descend into chaos again. If that happens then the world you know will be torn apart and we shall enter darker ages than ever before. You must complete the final labour before it is too late.’

I nodded and with that the goddess disappeared. Well, she never had been one for small talk.

I turned around and before me stood a small silvery door, completely detached from its surroundings. Obviously I was meant to pass through it and I took a deep breath as I pulled the door open and stepped forward. Then, for the second time in ten minutes my sight went black.

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I opened my eyes and was surprised when my body was not assaulted by pain.  I cautiously sat up and almost whacked my forward into Percy’s as I realised that everyone was crowded around where I lay, well almost everyone. There was a distinct lack of fire.

‘Where are the dragons?’ I asked quietly.

‘Charlie took them back to Romania,’ Ron explained and I nodded.

‘What happened?’ Percy demanded. ‘We saw you hit the floor. By all logic you should be dead.’

‘Come on Kelp Head, you know logic doesn’t really apply where the gods are concerned,’ I retorted, winking at him.

He shook his head grinning as Annabeth asked, ‘you were talking to one of the gods?’

I nodded. ‘How long was I out?’

‘About five minutes,’ Hermione told me.

‘Hmm, seemed like longer than that,’ I mused. ‘Artemis visited me in a kind of dream vision thingy. Basically confirmed what we’d been thinking. Skye’s life is in danger but this whole situation is so much bigger. The gods are only days away from kick-starting World War Three. We need to get this last task completed as soon as possible, for all our sakes.’

‘Well we’d guessed as much,’ Harry replied grimly and everyone sighed.

‘Well what are we supposed to do now?’ Nico said gesturing at the unconscious Hind. ‘We can’t just leave it here.’

‘Uh, give me a sec, I’ll tell Poseidon that we’ve got it or something,’ Percy replied. He scrunched his eyes up and his lips moved soundlessly, presumably telling the sea god to get his arse down here, but more politely. Although then again, maybe not - this is Percy we’re talking about after all.

Suddenly I could hear a faint voice calling. The noise became louder and eventually I could make out the words, or rather the word. Percy. Said boy glanced around and his eyes alighted on a slim woman floating in the river next to which we were grouped. A Nereid.

‘Did my father send you?’ Percy asked her. The girl nodded and motioned towards the Hind.

‘Bring it to me,’ she said in a voice that sparkled like crystal clear water on a balmy evening.

Nico looked doubtful and I had to admit I wasn’t crazy about throwing Artemis’ sacred Hind to a water nymph but Percy seemed to trust her. He crouched down and with Harry’s help managed to haul the Hind to the edge of the river. The animal was obviously heavier than it looked.

The Nereid smiled and placed a hand on the Hind’s brow. There was a sudden flash of light and when it had gone both the Hind and the nymph had vanished. The air was full of the smell of the sea on a summer’s day and as I licked my lips I could taste the salty tang on the breeze. Where the Ceryneian Hind had been lay a small object. Percy stooped to pick it up and after a few seconds showed it to us. It was a small trident woven out of reeds.

‘Well, we’re obviously doing something right,’ said Percy and I watched him carefully pocket the gift from his father.

‘Well,’ Annabeth said gravely after a short pause. ‘Now that’s been taken care of we should get back. We don’t have long.’

I nodded and everyone grasped hands as we apparated back to the house.

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Hope you guys enjoy this :) All your comments and votes are really appreciated - I hope you realise how much I value your support!

Next chapter may take a bit longer but come on, 3 chapters in like four days, that has got to be some kind of personal record ;)

TTFN,

07dwaven OUT.