Percy Jackson: Night In The Land Beyond The Gods

"We can fix this."

Jason's POV

"Get him below deck, Thalia!" I shouted, "Get Hedge to help you!"

Nodding, my sister grabbed the limp form of Leo and pulled him over her shoulder. I was almost awestruck at the display of strength until I remembered she had the blessing of the Greek goddess Artemis. She quickly disappeared from my sight, running as fast as was possible in the limited space we had.

I turned away and focused on the task at hand.

A small crowd of monsters had gathered in the shadow of the Argo II. After deciding they didn't like us, they had started throwing objects at the boat – one of which had knocked Leo out. Of course, that meant we couldn't move the ship. We were sitting ducks and it was only a matter of time until the mob hit something vital on the ship.

Beside me, Hazel gazed over the rail for just a moment, ducking away as a rock roughly the size of my fist came flying towards her. Her eyes were wide as she turned around, voice shaking, "It's at times like this that I wish Frank had stayed here with us. We could use his archery skills right about now."

"You know Thalia uses the bow as well?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

Hazel almost shrunk into herself, her face tinged red, "She... scares me."

I forced myself not to laugh and offered the daughter of Pluto a smile, "She just acts that way to scare off the guys. It's a Hunters thing."

"Hades, yeah, it is!" Thalia shouted, running back towards us, grinning. "Now, did someone say that they wanted an archer? 'Cause I believe the bow on my back is sufficient."

Before I could retort, a loud rumbling filled the air, a deep groaning sound that echoed through the mountains and sent shivers down my spine.  Bitter cold swept over the land as if a bucket of ice cold water had been thrown over my head. Overwhelming and almost instant, the roaring of the mob below died down, settling into sinister silence.  A single whispered word seemed to carry in the wind.

Night.

And so it was. Like a beacon, a single beam of darkness shot up on the horizon before spreading its wispy tendrils outwards, a charcoal blanket forming from the dark fog. Steadily, it grew larger and larger, a gruesome creation that radiated malevolence and all of the negative thoughts of mankind. It was a creature of pure evil, and inside it Jason could sense the presence of a beast that he wished he couldn't.

"No..." Hazel breathed, breaking the silence that had threatened to swallow them like the looming clouds, "We're too late."

"We can fix this," Thalia spoke determinedly, though in Jason's ears it sounded half-hearted.

But there it was, the endgame only a few miles away.

It was Night in The Land Beyond The Gods.

End of Book Four