Percy Jackson: Hardened

Chapter 10

I ran without so much as a glance over my shoulder.

I've been doing this a lot lately, running, and it's honestly not that fun.

Ever since I'd managed to escape Tartarus to fight the Chitauri invasion, he's made it his personal mission to kidnap me. Apparently our nightly torture sessions weren't enough for the guy. Obsessive much?

After the battle in New York, I had done some research and decided to travel to the Atacama Desert in Chile. Seeing as it is the driest place in the world, I though it would be the perfect place for me to work on my powers with such little water. What I didn't think, however, was about how unlike at the bottom of the ocean, it's much easier for Tartarus's minions to find me here.

In all honesty, I should thank the guy for so generously donating dummies for me to practice on.

I increase my speed and run a loop around the ensuing hellhounds, kicking up a blinding ring of dust.

Even though they can still smell me, I've at least gotten rid of their keen vision.

With my vision also gone, I switch over to seeing through water molecules, focusing in on the three large masses.

I practice summoning water out of the dry air, gradually building up more and more until I have one long, deadly tendril.

Without so much as a flick of my wrist, the tendril bursts through the bloody hounds, its killer path unavoidable. I turn the tendril to mist, removing the dust from the air, before letting the water disappear into the parched, cracked ground.

The gold gets swept up in the wind, mixing with dust to form small sparkling dust devils.

I form a replica on the tip of my finger from water, watching the small water spout twist.

Seriously, next time I see Tartarus I've got to give him a high five or something, fighting for your life is such a great way to learn new things.

Suddenly, the ground beneath me begins to crack and split open, and I can practically feel the despair from the Pit oozing out. It grabs me tightly like a fist and drags me into its depths.

I guess I'll be able to thank him sooner than I'd hoped.

I will say this, getting dragged into Tartarus is certainly much quicker than falling, but maybe a bit more nauseating.

The ground was quickly approaching, or I guess I was approaching it? Whatever it was, I didn't really have much time to dwell on it as I was slammed full-force into the rigid and cold floor of hell.

Ouch.

Wasting no time, I pick myself up and assume a calm yet prepared stance, looking around for the primordial that brought me here. My eyes sting and water as they adjust to the toxic air.

His maniacal laughter rings out behind me.

I spin around, riptide in hand, only to be met by darkness.

The laughter surrounds me now, constricting me, pushing the air out of my lungs.

I let out a mangled gasp for air.

The hairs on the back of my neck raise and in less than a second I've got riptide between his deadly blade and my throat.

"Hey do me a favor, next time you're lonely just shoot me a text, it's a whole lot easier and whole lot less painful," I wince. I definitely broke something during my crash landing.

A smile snakes its way onto Tartarus's horrific face at the mention of my pain. What a creep.

Putting my weight behind my sword, I surge forward, pushing the god back a few steps, distancing us.