Too Many Memories

The Kamikaze Pigeon Attacks

The Kamikaze Pigeon Attacks

"Get back!" I yelled to Leo and Tammy, as Kampê lunged forward with her poisonous scimitars.

I whipped out my dagger and blocked one of her swords, flinching away from the green poison. The other scimitar was blocked by a large hammer, held by Leo. An arrow sprouted from her shoulder and she hissed. I turned to see Tammy nocking arrows and letting them fly in seconds.

"I didn't know you used a bow and arrow!" I grunted and braced myself as Kampê pushed against our blades and I stooped lower and lower.

"Well, now you do!" Clang! The sound of a metal arrowhead hitting metal rang through the air, and one of Kampê's scimitars flew out of her hands.

The disappearance of the force caused me to stumble forward, only to fall on my back as Kampê toppled over onto me. Leo flew forwards and lost his balance, crashing the ground. I felt bear and lion heads squished in between my body and Kampê's and wiggled away from her remaining sword.

I rolled away and brushed my hair out of my face. I glanced up at the sky for a second and saw a black blob in the sky. It seemed to be coming closer, and looked familiar . . .

Tammy tackled me to the ground and Kampê's scimitars passed through the air where my head had just been. She must've found her other one. A whoop filled the air, and Leo was riding Kampê like she was a bull. She spread her wings and lifted off the ground.

Leo yelped and fell off of her back. A crack sounded and Leo howled. His hammer flew into the ocean, and his ankle was pointing the wrong way. I winced, thankful that my casts had been removed before we left.

Tammy continued nocking arrows and firing them, but they didn't seem to have much of an effect. She rarely missed, but they just seemed like bee stings to Kampê, annoying but not harmful.

A whiny hurt my ears and Blackjack trotted in front of me. The black blob had been the only black Pegasus I knew. I knew Percy had sent him. He saw Kampê and took off into the air after her. Kampê snarled at him and flew towards me. But Blackjack, with his enhanced speed, hovered over her in no time and dove down. Kampê was forced to land and crawled away from the shadow as fast as she could, but it wasn't fast enough.

Blackjack moved in for the kill. He dove lower and trampled the hybrid monster. Kampê squeaked and burbled. It was not a pretty sight. I cautiously walked forward and stuck my dagger in her face. She wailed one last, pitiful time and disintegrated.

Blackjack landed next to me and snorted. I rubbed his nose, "Thanks, Blackjack. I don't have any donuts though."

Blackjack shook his head as if to say, I'm disappointed, and flew off.

Tammy and I dashed over to Leo and I slung my backpack off of my shoulder. I dug around and found my nectar and ambrosia. I coaxed Leo's mouth open and poured a small amount of nectar in it, and then broke off a square of ambrosia for him.

"Okay, I have to set your foot. This going to hurt. Tammy, hold his arms, but you may get punched." I steadied his foot.

Tammy said nothing, and held his arms down. "Just do it." Leo whimpered. "And I don't mean the Nike slogan."

"Alright. One, two, three!" I set his foot and a chain reaction happened. Leo screamed, punched Tammy with both hands, and she fell over.

I gave Leo another piece of ambrosia which was dangerous. Panting, he ate it, but thankfully didn't burst into flames. I helped him sit up and bandaged his foot. Slowly, he stood and leaned on my shoulder.

"First monster we see and I get injured. Of course." Leo groaned but hopped along with me. Tammy and I poured a small amount of nectar on the various scratches and cuts we had acquired, which quickly disappeared after being cleaned with the godly drink. We sat down on a few rocks and thought about where Hylla could be, like we were before Kampê ambushed us.

Nereus popped out of the water in his human form. He glanced at the pile of dust and shivered. "Nasty creature. Glad you got rid of her."

"No thanks to you." Tammy snarled.

Nereus backed up, his hands held up in surrender. He laid down in the spot we had found him, enjoying the sun.

I turned away from the coward. "GILA CLAW, ARIZONA. I think I know where that is." Tammy and Leo looked at me expectantly. "You guys have heard about the Second Titan War, right? The one Percy and I participated in." They nodded. "Well, two years before the war, I was kidnapped by a manticore and taken to Luke, the guy who raised Kronos and hosted him. I had to hold the sky, and so did Artemis, and Percy, which is how we got the gray streaks, but that's not the point. So--"

"You held the sky?" Leo exclaimed.

"Yes, pay attention. Now, Percy told me that on their quest to find me and Artemis--she had been kidnapped too--they came across a junkyard. That's where Bianca di Angelo died. It--"

"Nico had a sister?" Leo gasped.

"Yes, pay attention! It was in Gila Claw, Arizona, had a boarded up house, a taco shop and a post office near it. I think that's the place Gaea showed you, Tammy." I explained.

"Well, now we know where to go." Tammy bounced up and pulled Leo to his feet.

"Ow." He stated.

"Sorry."

"Yeah, we know where to go. We'll find Hylla there, rescue her, and I can call Percy to bring the entire camp, to end the war. But we don't have a way to get there." I sighed. "If we go by foot it will take forever."

"Actually, we do have a way." Leo joined in.

"What do you mean?"

"I found this bunker at Camp Half-Blood. Bunker Nine, I think it was nine for cabin nine. Hephaestus. Anyway, there was a nearly trashed bronze dragon in it. I cleaned it up, and . . ."

He pulled a safety whistle from a tool belt that rested around his waist and blew. We waited a few seconds, and metal glinted in the air from the harsh sun. The figure grew bigger and bigger until it landed in front of us.

"Meet Festus."

Standing in front of us, was a huge golden dragon.