Fear of Erebus

Alaskan Shadows

"Please tell me, you have a plan." We were standing on a remote part of the boarder between Alaska and Canada. In front of us; the endless stretch of frozen woods. Behind us; safety. Jackson said nothing, the same determined glint in his eyes only seemed more evident, his clouds of warm breath danced in the wind. It was a lot colder then it should be. "Perseus?"

"Huh?" He gave me a brief glance before refocusing on the vast woods. Waiting.

"Once we step over the boarder, I'm not going to have much power- so it would be reassuring to know that you have a plan."

He paused and wet his lip. "Would it be reassuring enough if I told you that I know what I'm doing?" He gave me a finale glimpse before trekking into the impending gloom.

"No!"

"Come on, we're losing sunlight!" He shouted over his shoulder. I regretfully huffed and looked up as the sun slowly sinked behind a strangely dark cloud. Another reminder of why I am here. Another reminder that Jackson better not screw up.

Taking out my bow and notching my arrow, I walked on- already dreading what lay ahead.

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It was cold in the woods. Too cold, too dark and I did not like it. The woods I was use to seemed more lively then this- at least they had birds and the rustling of leaves, and at least I had a sense of where everything. This one just had ice, and dark shadows that seemed desperate to grab at our feet, and the seemingly deliberate crunch of Jackson's boot as it made contact with the ground.

"Will you be quiet!" I furiously whispered, all to worried about the unwanted attention Perseus may be attracting.

"I didn't say anything." He grunted in return, as he continued up the slippery slope. I rolled my eyes. Men.

"I meant your feet, dumbass!" I clambered after him, always keeping up my guard. "You might as well carry a big, neon sign that says; 'Hey! We're over here! Come and get us!' Or maybe you would like some confetti and-" I paused.

"And what?" Perseus asked, glancing around the ditch we had just climbed out of.

"Not. One. Sound." Something wasn't right about these woods. I pulled back my arrow, fully acknowledging the off-feeling that was boiling in the pit of my stomach. "We're being followed." I was ready to strike down any kind of ugly-ass monster that dared jump out. I was just itching for a good, old fashioned fight, and in all honesty; I was kind of hoping that the real Lycaon would show up, just so I could kick his flea-bitten ass all the way back to hell.

Instead, all I got was giggling.

I hate giggling. It reminded me of Aphrodite- and I hate her just as much as I hate giggling and the general male population.

"Oh, very clever, little huntress!" I perked up at that, a harsh gust of freezing wind drummed against my face.

Did I mention that I also hated winter?

"DUCK!" I shouted, hoping Jackson understood the warning well enough to get out of the way of my arrow as I let it fly straight through the air where he once stood.

The arrow hit nothing but the side of an unusually sad looking tree.

"Nice try, little huntress," It was right against my ear this time, whispering with frozen breath. "But you know as well as I do; you can't kill me- at least not here. At least not now." I could even feel the self-satisfied smirk carving up her face. I lowered my bow and discreetly took out my dagger. Jackson saw my knife from his crouched position on the ground, there was almost something pleading in his eyes but then they quickly shifted their focus to what lay over my shoulder.