Nyxs' Knight - Percy Jackson

Trial Three Cont'

"You've got ten seconds t'a run. Go" the brutish man yelled at Percy and his fellow prisoners, pushing them towards the tree line. Jon ran the way that Percy had been dragged from, surprisingly nimble for an old man. The man that hadn't spoken sprinted to Percy's left, whilst the twins had started running forward. Selene turned he head to him.

"Are you coming or what!?" She yelled and continued running, her brother hot on her heels. Percy ran in that direction, and soon caught up. Suddenly, the sound of a horn being blown rang out through the forest. Their ten seconds were up.

The Scythians were coming.

***

The trio had been running for around a minute, when a scream rang out in the direction they had been coming. Percy signalled the twins to stop, pushing them behind him. Even though he was younger than the them, he felt a strong urge to keep them safe.

"I'm going to check it out" he whispered. "Just wait here." They nodded in reply, and Percy headed in the direction the scream came from. After creeping quietly through the leaves, he came across a shimmering red streak slashed across the leaves.

Blood.

He looked around, and a gasp tore itself from his throat. Lying in a spread eagle position was the old man, a black knife protruding from his eye socket. Blood and the remains of his eye gushed out of the wound, creating a stark red puddle against the brown leaves. Jon was the source of the scream, Percy thought as he ran back through the forest. The murder was recent, meaning the killer, or killers, could still be around. He needed to get back to Selene and Flynn before anything happened to them. Percy had decided to protect the two, and help them escape.

As Percy neared the place he had left the twins, a black arrow flew past his head and impaled itself in the tree behind him. He yelled in surprise and ran even faster as the laughter of the Scythians echoed behind him.

Percy ran past Selene and Flynn, grabbing their arms and pulling them in his wake. "They're coming" he yelled as he pulled them along, making them run even faster with fear. Percy knew there was no way he could fight off so many men without one of them dying. Arrows whizzed past their heads as they ran, causing them to duck and weave. Suddenly, Flynn let out a cry and stumbled falling flat on his face. His knee collapsed as he attempted to stand, the shaft of an arrow embedded deep in his flesh. He was crying as percy pulled him to his feet, dragging him as fast as he could away from the thunderous footfall behind them.

Flynn stumbled again, falling in the dirt. The pain was too much as he lay there writhing in the leaves and crying. Selene hovered over him, commanding him to get up and run and to suck it up, but it wasn't working.

Suddenly, a small hunting knife flew from the trees and drove itself straight into Flynn's chest. The man went limp instantly, his limbs giving one final twitch before his eyes closed. Selene let out an anguished cry as she knelt before her brother body, sobbing violently. Percy slung her over his shoulder and continued running whilst she screamed and clawed at his back.

"LET ME GO BACK TO HIM! LET ME GO BACK TO MY BROTHER!" She screamed into Percy's face.

"I'm so sorry, but he's gone" Percy said in dismay. He was utterly shocked at how the past five minutes had turned out: two deaths and the brutes in their heels. Selene went limp in his arms as realisation swept through her features and she accepted the fact that her brother was not coming back. After running for a further few minutes, Percy stopped to catch his breath. Luckily they had lost the brutes a while back, because Percy was about to keel over with exhaustion. Selene was blankly staring at the tree they were resting under, silent tears creating tracks as they slid down her dirt covered face. Percy sat next to her and held her hand, but she didn't respond. They had been sitting there for a few minutes when Selene's whisper broke the silence.