The Missing Gods

Chapter 5 - We Hit a Speed Bump

We grabbed our backpacks and turned out all the lights in the cabin, slipping out of the door, with Annabeth invisible again. I snuck around the corner of my cabin, avoiding the abalone exterior and trying to get a good look at what "distraction" Annabeth had come up with. From where I was standing in the dark, it looked like a giant silver raptor had been let loose in the sword arena, and was pelting campers with peanut M&Ms and kicking up snow into everyone's faces. I chuckled under my breath and then headed towards the stables, hoping Annabeth wasn't too far behind.

As I reached the stables, I felt her hand on my back. Feeling reassured, I whistled softly for Blackjack, who appeared to my left.

Ready to go, boss? Blackjack asked. I could hear his second thought about donuts, but decided to ignore it for now.

"Ready. How far can you take us before anyone notices you're missing?" I asked.

I can take you as far as the city, but Porkpie's gonna notice if I don't make it to poker tonight.

It was incredibly hard not to imagine the Pegasus playing poker, but I had slightly more important things to worry about for the moment. Annabeth and I climbed up on Blackjack's back and prepared for a very cold ride in the dark as Blackjack launched himself into the air and started to gain speed.

One freezing ride later, Annabeth and I detached ourselves and slid off Blackjack's back onto the icy ground in Central Park. I looked around to make sure there were no mortals around us, and more importantly monsters, before I relaxed my hand on Riptide and turned to Blackjack to say goodbye.

"Thanks Blackjack, I owe you one," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

No problem, boss, Blackjack snorted. Just make sure you pay me in donuts. With that, he extended his wings and threw himself into the unforgiving wind.

Annabeth searched my face, probably looking for the pain and worry I was trying to hide from her. She opened her mouth to say something, but then the snow and ice exploded behind her as a large form burst out of the previously frozen over lake.

"It's the Lernean Hydra!" Annabeth yelled, ducking behind a gathering of trees. I would have ducked behind something too, if I weren't in the middle of the only clearing Central Park probably had. I was a dozen feet away in every direction from any sort of cover, so I did the only thing a rational person would do—I dove toward the monster.

You know, in the back of my head, I was thinking something along the lines of "as long as I can get to the water, maybe I can fight this thing." But hindsight is 20/20, especially when you butt heads with a twenty foot serpent instead of heading in the direction you intended. I should have seen that coming, especially since it had seven heads.

I briefly heard Annabeth clash the hilt of her knife against one of the monster's other heads, before dodging a poisonous spew. Shaking off my dizziness and trying to get back on my feet before it trampled me, I slipped on a patch of ice and my hand darted out to grab hold of something to regain my balance.

I guess the Lernean Hydra doesn't take too kindly to being grabbed in the face, so I side stepped quickly as the head I had just face-palmed spit poison in my direction. My hands now free and my balance slightly better, I uncapped Riptide to do some real damage. To my left, Annabeth was dodging and smacking four heads at once, trying to avoid to poison and give each head a concussion.

I knew better than to slice the heads off, thanks to a previous run-in with one of its ugly cousins a few years ago, so I opted for the next best thing. Dodging the hissing maws and spilled poison, I drew up Riptide to bring it smashing into the ground, right at the monster's feet. There was a pause, which seemed as though the monster knew I had made a mistake and was now going to have a delicious dinner, but then the ice under its feet started cracking rapidly, spreading across the whole lake.

I felt a rumble, and as Annabeth jumped back onto solid ground, the monster and I went tumbling into the depths below.