I officially hated Gegeines.
I'd managed to take out a few of the things, but otherwise I nearly got my wrist broken a few times. I'd lost my sword because of them a few times when they'd flicked it out of my hand, which made me pretty ticked. I was very frustrated about three minutes in, and the others were, too. Obviously.
Sophia was constantly reloading her bow and Leo was swinging madly with his hammer. Percy was fending off Earthborn with Riptide and Nico was swinging his Stygian iron blade like a boss at anything that came close. Then there was me, swinging my knife then getting it flicked out of my hand and then scrambling across the ground to retrieve it before anything else did.
"Vroom, vroom!" One of the Earthborn bellowed, and the others took up the chant. I furrowed my brow, and grabbed my blade which had, once again, scattered away a few feet when the earth started to shake violently.
I grappled for my knife and managed to get it before looking up. Lumbering toward us in all his glory was Enceladus, the one we'd come for. And he held a stake in one hand, my mother tied to it tightly.
He was thirty feet tall - as tall as the treetops. From the waist up he was humanoid, his chest covered in bronze armor decorated with flame designs. He was totally ripped. His skin was bronze. His eyes glowed white and his hair hung in horrible dreadlocks braided in bones. His legs were scaly and green, and he had claws in place of feet. To make matters worse, he held this huge spear.
"I see you, Amathwen," He spoke in that taunting, booming voice.
"Hey, Tiny!" Sophia screamed, and sent an arrow sailing at his face. It broke as soon as it hit him. Perfect.
"That's cute." The giant bellowed, then opened his mouth. It instantly started to brighten.
He breathes fire.
I took cover as he shot out a pillar of flame. Sophia ran out of the way just in time. Enceladus laughed in a wicked manner, and bent down, setting my mother down on the ground with all the Earthborn.
"Vroom, vroom," they continued, slowly plodding toward her.
I flew in her direction. Gods, she looked horrible. Pretty much beaten up and bruised, and her clothes were all tattered. That was the worst I'd ever seen her.
Just out of pure desperation I fought off Earthborn, and finally made it to my mom's side. I started cutting her bonds with my blade while my friends kept Enceladus distracted.
My mom was mostly conscious, spewing out slurred sentences that definitely sounded like her, half-dead or not. She started spilling out death threats aimed toward the giant, but I ignored them and finally snapped one rope.
I heard Leo start screaming out a train of Spanish, and I knew he'd probably just got into it with one of the Earthborn. I took a brief second to glance over my shoulder, and saw everyone else fighting off Enceladus. He didn't look too fazed at all, but I heard a grunt of pain here and there. The whole mountain would be ablaze with his fire soon, and I had to get everybody out of there before that ever happened.
I finally cut my Mom's bonds, and let her fall into my arms. But much to my surprise, she groaned and staggered to her feet, carelessly running a hand over her face. "I feel like death." She muttered, though her words were a bit slurred.
"You'll be dead if you don't come with me," I responded, grabbing her hand. There was a ridge that I could take her to and she'd be safe there for at least a little while, I hoped.
I got frustrated when she refused to come with me. "Nooo," she stated, her word dragging out. "No way." She shook her head slowly. "Hand me.. hand me a knife. I'm fighting this thing."
Well, her words were clearer. But that didn't make me any less frustrated. "No!" I insisted. "Now if we sit here forever, we're all gonna be set on fire."
"At least I would have fought," She stood up straighter. I clenched my jaw, and inhaled, exhaled. "No." I stated again. "Now, come with me to the ridge before the Earthborn find us."
To my great surprise, my mother grabbed my knife out of my hand, and shot me a stubborn look. "Give it back!" I nearly screamed, but she shook her head, straightened up, and flung herself at a Gegeine.
I inhaled again, but ripped open my bag and brought out a spare blade. With that, I sprung into the action, letting my mother handle Gegeines.
All I was getting was surprise, but I was even more surprised to see her handling my blade like a professional. She used it like someone off a fantasy movie would use their sword.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" I shouted.
"Lord of the Rings," she responded. "Where do you think you got your name from?"
I ignored that, and plunged my knife up the throat of a Gegeine. It melted back into the Earth where it, hopefully, would stay for a while. I let my mother handle her own little group of Earthborn while I sprinted toward my friends who looked weary from distracting Enceladus, but otherwise still going fairly strong.
The giant turned toward me, and gave me a wicked grin. "Amathwen," he rumbled, and before I knew what was going on, I found myself being lifted off the ground.
I looked eye-to-eye with Enceladus. He was even bigger up close. I swallowed uneasily, and did what I only could do. I screamed bloody murder and started flailing wildly in a horrible attempt to get down.
"Easy, little mortal," he taunted, and held me upside down by both legs, swinging me back and forth.
He swung a little too hard and I heard my ankle snap. Pain shot up my leg. I bit back a shriek.
"Oh, poor little demi." He grinned, and started swinging me again, clearly entertained. I saw another one of Sophia's arrows bounce off his face.
I was in utter pain, being swung around by a broke ankle. But I inhaled deeply, and made an attempt to toughen up. Once I got close, I plunged my blade into one of his glowing white eyes.
"Ow!" He shouted, and fixed me with a glare. Without hesitation, he dropped me. I kept a tight hold on my blade and accepted death.
I fell into the arms of all my friends and my mom, who had gathered up and formed a circle with their arms to catch me.
"I couldn't ask for better friends," I managed, then groaned, glancing down at my broken ankle. "Now, can we at least try to kick some giant butt?"
