Persephone's Cage [Connor Stoll]

chapter eleven

"You!" Lilly shouted. How could she have been so blind? It even sounded like him in her dream! How hadn't she noticed? "You're helping Demeter?"

Landon chuckled darkly, his hands in his pockets. He blocked her only way out, and she wasn't sure if Connor or Aiden would be able to hear her if she yelled. She was trapped.

"Guilty." Landon spoke, his brown eyes swirled with anger, despite the smile on his face. "She promised me eternal glory if I helped her out. I figured it could be fun."

Lilly raged. "You monster!" She yelled, placing the basket on her arm. She knocked her arrow, the only one she brought (nice going, Dixon, you just had to leave your quiver.) and fired it at the boy. He deflected it, a sword appearing out of nowhere. The arrow was cut in half, now useless.

"What're you going to do now, Apollo's Daughter?" Landon taunted, taking a few steps closer to her. "You're all out of arrows."

Lilly gulped. "I don't need arrows." With a quick swing, Lilly smacked Landon in the temple with her bow. He crumpled to the ground, and she quickly jumped over his body. She looked back, watching him squirm. Obviously, it hadn't knocked him out.

She exited the building, slamming the door shut. She found a piece of concrete and with a slight struggle, placed it over the door. That gave her extra time to find her friends. She ran down the steps, calling their names.

"I found the fruit! Come on, we need to scram!" She announced as Connor and Aiden were at her side.

"Where is it?" Aiden asked.

"It's in-" She looked down at the basket and groaned. "I was in the basket. I must've dropped it when I hit Landon."

"Wait, Landon Montgomery?" Connor held up a hand. "The son of Aphrodite?"

"The very same one." The three whipped their heads around to see Landon standing before them. Blood fell down the side of his head, as he held his sword in one hand, and the pomegranate in the other.

"Give us the fruit, Landon." Lilly glared at him. "Give it up, and we won't hurt you."
The son of Aphrodite laughed. "You, hurt me? That's funny. Good luck getting around my birds this time."

More of the evil doves appeared around them, their sickly green skin making them stick out. Their teeth shone pearly white, however, and she would expect nothing less from Aphrodite's kid. The birds went for the kill, and Lilly yelped.

With no arrows, Lilly was forced to hit the birds with her bow. It was a struggle, but thankfully her bow was quite sizable. She managed to hit a few, but her hits weren't lethal. They just got right back up.

She glanced at her friends. Connor had blood streaking his face, and trailing down his clothes. His knife was covered in yellow monster dust, but even he was struggling to keep up with their attacks.

Aiden was nowhere to be found. She searched for her friend, eyes widening in horror when she found him. He was sneaking up on Landon, but before she could call out to him, a bird sunk its talons deep into her shoulder. She screamed in agony, but kept fighting. She needed to keep Landon's attention on her.

She sent a silent prayer to Apollo, thanking him for the healing powers. Despite the talons digging into her, it was only a mild throb now.

"Where's Aiden?" Connor called to her, after killing the last bird that had been sent at them. A loud shout of pain filled their ears, and Lilly's blood went cold. She looked at Landon, who had a sick smile on his face. His sword was stabbed through Aiden's stomach, the sharp end peeking out from his back.

"No!" She screamed. "I'll kill you!" With a strange feeling filling her body, she lifted her bow. She drew the string back, and light filled her hand. An arrow formed out of pure light, and she launched it. Landon moved out of the way quickly, the arrow digging into his shoulder rather than his heart.

Landon dropped the fruit, jumping onto a giant dove creature. He held his shoulder, as blood poured out of it. The arrow of light was gone, leaving him to bleed out. "This isn't the end, Dixon!" He screamed as he ripped the sword out of Aiden's body. He flew away.

Lilly sobbed as she ran up to her friend. Her best friend, her brother. "No, no, no!" She yelled, kneeling beside his head. "I-I can try to heal! I've seen Will do it plenty of times!"

She placed her hand over the whole in her friend's stomach, but nothing was happening. She was speaking the words, but no healing was taking place. "Aiden, you- you can't leave me!" She cried out loud, running her hands through his hair.

He weakly took one of her hands, covering her in his blood. "Lilly." He muttered. "It's...It's okay." His voice was quiet, more than normal. She could barely hear him. "I-I knew I would die here. It's okay."

"What..What are you saying?" Tears dripped onto the floor, Lilly holding his hand tightly.

Connor held the fruit that Landon left behind, and he kneeled beside Lilly with a heavy heart. "'Find the pomegranate seeds, in a place where you will bleed.'" He mumbled. "It was talking about..." He trailed off, tears dripping down his own face.

"No, you can't die!" Lilly screamed. "I need you! Please, don't leave me like she did!"

Aiden turned his gaze to her, and lifted his hand from her grip. He cupped her face, trailing blood on her tearstained cheek. "I'll always be with you, Lils. I promised you that before, and I'm keeping that promise." His hand fell, his body too weak to keep up.

"Please." Lilly sobbed on his chest. "I can't lose you too."

"I can see Pan." He whispered. "He's calling to me."

Under Lilly's hold, Aiden's body began to shift, causing her to sob more. Connor wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl, bringing her into his shoulder. She screamed and cried, holding onto Connor like her life depended on it.

Aiden was gone, and all that was left of him was a tiny flower. It was a lily.