Chaos Bringer (Percy Jackson; The God Slayer From Another World)

Chapter 10 The Barrier and the Demon

"I'd thought you'd last longer," the goddess Kym said as Jason breathed hard for strength.

Jason coughed out dust. "I just got eaten."

"I know," she said. "And it was very entertaining. I heard of you from Ryan. And honestly, I feel disappointed."

"Where did that Drakon come from?" Piper asked. "It just came out of nowhere."

"It was most likely summoned by some god," Kym said. "No way it followed us all the way out here just for a meal."

"They do that a lot," Leo agreed.

"I did feel some magic, but not enough for me to trace it. Whoever summoned it is quite skilled. But we can not worry about that caster right now. First, we must uncover this relic in Lyse village."

Leo looked around, observing all of the crumbling ruins and creeping vines that covered this entire area. It looked like no one has entered this area since very ancient times. The ground felt loose under his foot and the sky was dark. The air smelled like maple, even though not a single tree can be seen. There were no animal sounds, just eerie silence that made Leo uneasy. He didn't like quiet. Quiet was dangerous.

"We should start searching and get this one over with," he said. "This place is making me uneasy."

"Me too," Jason said. He recovered his spear and held it at a half-ready half relaxed state. "Can you sense magic, Kym?"

"Of course," she told him. "It will be difficult when I am using most of my energy to sustain myself in this world. But I should be able to any magical energy in the air around us. Give me a minute or two."

She closed her eyes and went into a trance-like state. Jason could feel the uneasy wind picking up. Something was wrong. He had his weapon at the ready just in case something else attacked. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. No the regular one where he knows that it was the gods looking after him because that feeling disappeared. It was instead like he was being watched inside a cage, waiting to be butchered. He could see that Leo and Piper were feeling the same.

"I sense something vaguely familiar," she said.

"What is it?" Piper asked.

"It's not of this world if that helps you. But it not from mine either. I can feel it. It's stored exactly 193 feet below us."

"Well, we can't dig, I don't have the right tools," Leo said.

"And it will take too long. Is there any other way inside?"

She concentrated. "Should be. It is concealed behind a tree, over there."

She pointed to the smallest tree. Leo puts his hand on it then shivered. "It's cold, and metal. There is a door, but it has a busted gear or something."

"Then melt the door down," Piper said.

He fired a stream of white-hot fire that sucked the air from it's surroundings and brought the temperature above freezing. But as soon as the fire connected, a red magical circle appeared and reflected the heat back at them. Everyone ducked for cover, except for Leo who was too close.

"Oh man."

The flame strikes him hard, scorching the ground and making it into a sizzling lava-like liquid that was cooling. His jacket was burned off completely, but his shirt and pants were unaffected.

"Oh man my jacket!" he said. "She only made the one! Calypso is going to kill me!"

"What was that?" Piper asked as she came from behind a scorched tree.