"Water Bender"

1

Rain pelts the car as Sally's knuckles whiten.

"It's coming," bleats Grover. I look out the back window to see for myself. Indeed, there was a hulking figure following us. It was still far enough that I couldn't see it in detail. That doesn't mean I couldn't hear it though. A loud roar erupts from it, causing my mom to jerk her steering wheel. I couldn't blame her. I was pretty frazzled too.

Smelly Gabe's camaro is forced into a ditch, knocking it to the side.

"Percy," Sally says as she turns to face Grover and Me. "Are you boys hurt?" I padded myself to check for injuries like I'd seen done in movies. Aside from some mild discomfort caused by the seat belt, I felt fine.

I looked over to Grover and my blood turned cold. "Grover," I said, taking his face into my hands. He responded by mumbling "Enchilada." There's still hope.

"We're fine," I reported. Relief washed over her face.

"Okay. We're going to go out the passenger's side. The driver's side is blocked." Nodding, I worked to undo not only my seat belt, but Grover's as well. Once done, I tried dragging him out of the car but found that there was little progress to be had.With my scrawny 12 year-old arms, there was no way I was going to get him out.

"Mom, help me with Grover," I called out. Her worried gaze flickered between me and my best friend.

"Honey, Grover will be fine," she said. "You just need to get to camp!"

"Mom, I'm not leaving him," I say with a firmness to voice. Her eyes flicker between the crest and Grover before nodding reluctantly. She grabs his right arm and I grab his left. Together, we're barely strong enough to drag him uphill.

As we reach maybe half way up the hill, the thing makes a comeback. As soon as it's within ear shot, Sally stops dead in her tracks. Why are we stopping?

"Percy," she whispers to me, "I'm going to teach you something. You better listen because this could mean your life." Her abnormally steely gaze unsettles me. I take a gulp of air and nod. "When it charges at you, just go sideways. They cant change directions very well." I nod again and look back behind me.

A hulking monster stands at Gabe's car. Maybe 7 feet tall, easy. As it bends down to sniff the car, I can make out the outline of giant bull horns. Its eyes seem to glow red. The thing inspects the car for a moment longer before raising a mighty fist and crushes the car. Not a scratch, Gabe had said to me before we left. We might have given it a little scratch, Gabe.

We continue or snail's ascent up the hill. The beast notices.

"Run!" screams Mom. I do, taking Grover with me.

The beast charges at us, specifically heading toward me. I go as fast as I can, but Grover slows me down significantly. As it comes toward us, I wait there. I wait until nearly the last moment before it would hit us and I dive to the right. The beast rushes past us and I can feel the displaced air and icy rain shudder past my skin. Thankfully, or not thankfully, I suppose, Grover's limp body lands under me, cushioning my fall. I could have sworn I heard a snap.

"Sorry, Grover," I say before starting the process of getting us up again. Meanwhile, the monster scrapes his foot against the ground like one of those bulls in a bullfight and gets ready for another pass and Grover and me.

"Hey!" shouts Sally. Her soft curls are matted to her scalp from the rain, she's shaking, and in comparison to the monster, she's tiny. But despite all of that, she still looked brave. I couldn't see the look in her eyes, but her arms were spread wide and strong. Her stance was firm on the muddy ground, trying to block its way as much as possible between us and the beast. The Minotaur seemed to take this as a challenge. It made a few more scrapes on the soil and lurched forward. My mom was really about to have a bull fight.