Deadly Waters | Percy Jackson

5. a Goat, a Horse and a Spy

The dappled shade of the woodland trees had seemed so inviting only hours earlier.

Pez was revaluating her previous assessment.

She had spent the entire night – no sleep for her – crouching uncomfortably on a thick – worryingly high – tree branch, cramped awkwardly among its friends in an effort to not fall out. The trees' deceivingly full foliage had not protected her from the pouring rain, and fat lot of use the rain was – it had failed to even deter the beetles, the moths or the weevils. Sharp bark digging into her back, clothes chaffing roughly, slightly delirious, cold and shivering to the bone . . . Pez was irritated and miserable.

Was she going to leave her post and go 'home'?

No.

Why?

Because she had already spent 3 days dedicated to her mission, and to give up after all that would irritate her even more.

Besides, her target was in sight.

She shifted slightly, keen eyes zeroing in on the old man.

Dark orbs burned with suspicion.

When she had set out on her little journey of discovery, something had told her that it wouldn't take long for secrets to pull brought to forefront, and truths revealed. However, she hadn't expected said secrets to be revealed the very night she set out.

She also didn't quite expect there to be a giant bull monster chasing after her best friend, his mother and his friend as they fled from an exploding car. Nor did Pez expect there to be a whole camp of murder friendly children being trained by an old horse-man hybrid.

And yes, she said best friend.

Stop cooing and get over it. There are more important things to focus on.

After Jackson had vanished the monster, she had stealthily tailed him as he dragged – now apparently a half-sheep – Underwood from the battle ground. It was no wonder he collapsed before he reached the bottom steps of the farm-house like building.

He had looked so pitiful, lying there with one arm stretched out towards the lights.

Now that she thought about it, she really didn't need to bother with stealth – the boy was so exhausted she doubted he would even be able to react to an airhorn bursting his eardrums.

Reluctantly, Pez had left her perch, resigning herself to her decision to – reluctantly – place Jackson in the "Would probablysave from certain death if it doesn't kill me" friend category.

As the old man and girl noticed Jackson and Underwood, Pez lingered for only a moment, enough to see Jackson briefly open his eyes. She booked it the moment the boy finally lost all consciousness. She had would've preferred to stay and defend him against the strangers, but he needed the help.

So, for now, Pez would watch and be patient.

For now, Pez would wait.

|0.1|

Percy had weird dreams full of barnyard animals and eyes. Most of the animals wanted to kill him. So did the eyes. The rest wanted food.

The animals, not the eyes.

He must've woken up several times, but what he heard and saw made no sense, so he just passed out again.

One time he swears he saw Pez.

But that was definitely a hallucination.

He remembered lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding. The girl with curly blond hair hovered over him, smirking as she scraped drips off his chin with the spoon.