Forsaken Chapter Five

Forsaken

Chapter Five

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Bianca didn’t know what it was that woke her, only that something had happened that resulted in her shooting upright in bed, wholly awake and searching the room around her with senses beyond what even most demigods could hope for.

The world seemed tranquil, at peace. The sounds of a light rain pattered against the windows, the quiet hum of the heating system resonated softly through the walls, and the soft breathing of a sleeping Thalia to her left. It seemed no different from any other night, no different from the night before, save for the fact that she had actually been able to sleep this time around. It was, by all appearances, just another quiet night. There was nothing at all, that she could see, to justify her reaction. Nothing to justify jerking awake, nothing to justify her slipping out of bed in nothing but her panties, and nothing to justify her pulling her long, wickedly sharp hunting knife from it’s sheath.

Certainly nothing that would have had her ready and waiting when a dark figure, sword gleaming faintly in the low light of the city breaking through the shades and curtains, crept through the doorway and made it’s way directly for Thalia with what could only be described as fell intent.

She didn’t need anything more than that instinctual recognition of imminent evil towards her cousin and friend to glide up to the intruder, wrap a hand around their mouth, and put her knife straight through their brain stem. They sagged in her arms, killed instantly, and she gently lowed them to the ground before taking a quick glance into the hall. Not seeing anyone, she quickly darted over to Thalia and shook her awake roughly, a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.

                “Keep quiet!” she hissed into her ear, holding even tighter as Thalia tried to struggle, instinctively trying to defend herself as she was jolted awake. “Thalia, be quiet! People have broken in, people with swords. I’ve already killed one, but there are more. Get up!”

The daughter of Zeus stilled abruptly as those words sank in, and Bianca pulled her hand away a moment later, satisfied her cousin wasn’t going to do anything stupid that could get them all killed. There wasn’t any more talking as Bianca slipped her the cooling body’s sword, nor when they slipped out of their bedroom and into the dark interior of the Jackson residence.

Their bare-skinned footsteps were silent on the carpeted floor, what little noise they made more than covered by the sound of the rain outside.

Wake the others? Thalia asked silently, and Bianca shook her head. There was too much that could go wrong if they tried to wake and arm Cassandra, while protecting confused and helpless mortals. Better to eliminate the enemy by themselves.

They stilled as two more forms came into view from the direction of the living room. There seemed to be a brief, if silent, conversation between the invaders before one started down the hall towards the pair of watching demigods and the other headed for the far room.

Cassandra’s room.

A quickly glance and a gesture was all that was needed before Thalia and Bianca split. Thalia, less stealthy of the two (and far less skilled at silently killing targets) would take the enemy coming for Paul and Sally while Bianca would charge the one hunting Cassandra.

There was a heartbeat of utter stillness before they exploded into motion, Thalia charging her target with a shout, who met her head on with a shout of his own. As the clash of their swords began to ring behind her, Bianca darted forward with her hunting knife held at the ready. Unsurprisingly, the final enemy’s attention had been drawn by the commotion, and unfortunately she also seemed to be the most skilled of the group. Rather than overwhelming her quickly, Bianca found herself getting drawn into a vicious, fast-paced knife fight. Their blades flickered in the low light, the sharp ring of metal on metal punctuating the meaty thumps of flesh and bone impacting as arms and legs involved themselves in the battle. Gasps and hisses flowed between them as bruises began to form and thin, weeping red-lines of shallow cuts born of imperfectly blocked strikes began to litter their bodies. The rest of the world faded away, leaving only their opponent, and neither heard as voices shouted, doors opened and footsteps resounded.

Which meant neither were prepared when Cassandra decided to use her control over water to put a spike of pressurized water through the attacker’s dominant shoulder. Her blade clattered to the ground, dropped by suddenly nerveless fingers. Bianca didn’t hesitate to plant her blade in her enemy’s flesh, hilting it in the curve where neck and shoulder met. The other girl dropped like a stone, revealing the naked and glowering form of Cassandra holding an opened water bottle, a sight that was more than sufficient to stop Bianca’s heart in her chest for multiple reasons.

                “Mom, start packing everything you can up, we need to leave. Thalia, go get dressed. Bianca and I will keep watch until you finish, then switch off.” The daughter of Poseidon ordered, and Thalia vanished back down the hall without a word of protest, and Bianca swallowed again as she dragged her eyes away from Cassandra’s breasts to her eyes. Her hard, unforgiving eyes that seethed with fury. The fury of an untamed storm in the open sea. The type of storm that could lay waste to entire fleets.

Small wonder Thalia had simply obeyed.

                “Cassandra, what are you talking about?” her mother, on the other hand, was a bit more reticent to be commanded, but even she had to fall silent as those burning orbs turned towards her.

                “They weren’t regular robbers. No mortal would have been able to keep up with Bianca like that. These are demigods, and if they were here to attack us it means they’re loyal to…to our grandfather.” She spat the word as she responded, jaw working tightly. “I don’t know if they were here for the three of us or for you, and that means we’re all leaving. Go.”

Sally hesitated for a moment longer, looking like she wanted to protest, but a gentle hand on her arm from Paul silenced her, and she nodded before withdrawing back into her room. Satisfied, Cassandra walked up to Bianca, planting a hand on the bare skin of her chest, right between her breasts (getting a vibrant blush from the Italian girl) and looking over her injuries. A moment later, more water flowed from the bottle to wash across her skin, soothing her aches and pains.

                “I didn’t know you could do that…” Bianca murmured, looking down at her once-again unmarred skin, the bruises and cuts gone as if they had never existed to begin with.

                “It’s not a talent I use on others often. When I go on quests, I tend to be the one getting hurt the most, so I spend quite a bit more time healing myself than anyone else. Besides, I’m pretty sure my…transformation changed a few things.” Cassandra responded quietly, stepping back, and Bianca couldn’t help the small, soft smile that creased her lips as Cassandra’s eyes lingered on her damp skin. Stepping away, she turned her eyes to the apartment around them. “I don’t know how long we have before more arrive, and more will come. Despite what I said to mom, I’m pretty sure they knew that we were here, and it’s not unreasonable to assume there are spies for Luke still in the camp.”

                “I have to agree. The first one to arrive came straight to the guest room for me and Thalia, and I didn’t see anything like surprise. The other two were splitting up for your mom’s room and yours by the time we were in the hallway.” Bianca sighed, running a hand through her hair, a brief and bitter flash going through her as she noticed how steady it was. After nearly dying so many times in recent days, she just didn’t seem to react that way the Bianca of not even a few months ago would have.

She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

                “Problem is, I have no idea where we can go. Mom and Paul can’t get into Camp without the gods letting them in, and I don’t think that they’ll be reasonable enough to let us take them there. Not to mention the fact that they might not actually be safe there.” Cassandra admitted, folding her arms under her chest, which made it do…very interesting and enticing things, and Bianca momentarily marveled at how little self-control she apparently had in regards to the other demigoddess. Then Cassandra shrugged, and just about every thought she had went right out of her mind.

                “For God’s sake, sweet-heart, holster those before someone passes out from lack of blood-flow to the brain.” Sally sighed, abruptly reintroducing herself into the situation by taking her daughter by the shoulder, turning her firmly around, and gently pushing her back towards her bedroom. Glancing back at Bianca, she raised an eyebrow. “You too, Bianca. Hurry up and get dressed.”

Embarrassed more in that heartbeat than she had been in the last several minutes, Bianca quickly covered her breasts with her arms and darted down the hallway to the guest room. Dressing quickly and gathering all of her supplies, as well as plenty of extra clothing, she retraced her steps just in time for Cassandra to step out of her own bedroom.

                “Alright, we’ll head to the car. Paul, stay with my mom. Don’t bother trying to talk anyone down, if they get too close shoot them right in the chest. These people want to destroy Olympos, and Western Civilization along with it.” She said as soon as she saw that she had everyone’s attention, nodding to her potential-future-stepfather and the shotgun he held at the ready in his hands. “I’ll take point, Bianca on the left and Thalia on the right. We go straight for the car and we get the hell out of here.”

                “Would they have done something to the car?” Paul pointed out, quite reasonably, but Cassandra shook her head.

                “Not likely, they wouldn’t have considered the possibility that we might actually make an escape. If they had expected trouble, they would have sent more people in in the first place. No, there are going to be more of them outside to make sure the mission is completed without casual interference from mortals, but they wouldn’t booby-trap the car. Not even sure they would know how.” She responded confidently, which was also quite reasonable, and it wasn’t like they could use public transportation to get away. Above and beyond it being slow and unreliable, all it would really do is put more innocents in danger.

The buzzing of a phone drew every eye to the girl that Bianca and Cassandra had taken down together. All of them had seen enough movies to know what was going on. Someone, possibly even Luke himself, was calling in to find out what the status of the assassination attempt was. Cassandra took a single step towards it before shaking her head and turning away, resisting the urge to answer and make a mocking comment. Better not to give them advance warning that their plans had failed.

                “We’re short on time. Let’s go.” She said instead, turning and heading for the front door.

She opened the door a fraction and looked outside, eyes skating across everything in view, before she huffed in aggravation and shook her head. Glancing over her shoulder, she silently beckoned Bianca forward and stepped back to give her room. Despite the situation, Bianca couldn’t help the amused quirk of her lips or the almost teasing look she gave Cassandra, who made a point of softly grumbling at her in response.

Peering out into the semi-light world outside the apartment, she watched carefully for any sign of movement, any sign of where the enemies she knew were present could be hiding. With her Lady’s blessing, the lighting (which would have been poor at best, between the bright artificial lights and the deep shadows between them, for a mortal or regular demigod) posed no difficulty whatsoever. Hiding from her eyes would have been difficult at best, and those that were waiting for them certainly didn’t qualify. Finishing her task, she pulled her head back and silently shut the door.

                “There are five more of them, and a pair of monsters as well. I don’t know what kind, I don’t recognize them, and I can’t really see any defining features from this distance. I just know that they aren’t actually human.” She reported, and Cassandra growled and ran a hair through silver locks.

                “Fine. If they attack, Thalia will handle the monsters while you and I deal with the demigods. No offense, Thals,” she glanced over at the other demigoddess. “But between the three of us, Bianca and I are definitely the best at fighting other demigods. Plus, you should be able to kill the monsters easily and help us.”

Thalia didn’t look happy about that, but she nodded her head in acceptance all the same. As much as she disliked it, she didn’t have the camp-based training that Cassandra did (having only actually be in Camp as a human for less than a year) or the blessing-enhanced reflexes and instincts of Bianca. And, quite frankly, even camp-based training wouldn’t make her as good as Cassandra. Thalia knew where her strengths lay, and sword duels certainly weren’t one of those places.

As much as she hated it, she was more likely to get in Cassie’s way if she tried to involved herself early.

                “I’ll get you mom into the car and be ready for a quick getaway.” Paul spoke without prompting, before Cassie could even turn to him, and she gave him a smile of approval, looking for a moment like she very much wanted to make a comment (likely in satisfaction with her mother’s taste in men), before just as visibly putting it aside. Once again, time was short, and the usual niceties and banter would be dangerous to indulge in now.

                “Good. Just make sure to focus on the demigods if they get too close. The monsters can only be killed by celestial bronze, divine artifacts, or blessed weapons. Your shotgun literally won’t even tickle them.” She responded instead, and his nod in understanding was an unhappy, frown-laden one. Understandably, of course, he didn’t want to kill teenagers. Even if those teenagers were demigods in service of quite literally apocalyptic evil. His discontent went unnoticed by the three teens as they prepared for the operation, but it did not escape Sally’s eyes.

She saw it, and while she would normally have let it go, under the circumstances it was simply impossible. Stepping up beside him and wrapping her arms around him as comfortingly as possible, she spoke as quietly and gently as she could. “Paul. I know you hate this, and I wish that it hadn’t happened. I never would have wanted you put in this kind of position. I promise you that I’m not any happier about what the girls had to do here, and I wish you weren’t in a position where you might have to do the same thing. But these demigods aren’t troubled kids acting out in one of your classes. They’re assassins working with literal monsters of myth.”

He nodded slowly, unhappily, but didn’t say anything more. He only leaned into her embrace slightly before stepping away and checking his shotgun again, a stubborn set to his shoulders, and Sally glanced over at the three girls to see that they were ready and waiting for her. Taking a deep breath, she gave them a firm nod of approval, and they nodded in return before throwing the door open and darting down the steps together. By the time Paul and Sally made it outside, they had already dropped the bags on their backs beside the family car and were moving to counter the demigods and monsters charging out to meet them.

Sally hoped her neighbors stayed inside and safe, no matter what they heard, because the last thing she wanted was for any of them to get caught up in the divine warfare that had just been brought to their neighborhood.

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Cassandra Jackson gritted her teeth in discontent, even as she near-effortlessly batted away an (overextended) lunge from one of her opponents with the sword in her had.

The steel-bladed sword in her hand, that despite being the same size and type of blade as Riptide, felt heavier and more ungainly. It was not a physical weight, somehow, nothing to do with the weapon itself nor the metal it was forged from. At least, not in the way most people would understand it to be, because what weighed on Cassandra’s mind and what weighed down her arm and slowed her strikes was the knowledge that this sword was meant to kill mortals. Humans, like the pair of demigods she was currently dueling with. Demigods she recognized from camp, people that she had considered friendly acquaintances if nothing else, whose faces were twisted with contempt and whose eyes were bright with loathing. People who were, in a very real way, family to her, and she felt a sudden and powerful empathy for those men and women that had ever experienced a civil war.

Yet, even with the struggles she was enduring in her heart, even with the extra weight it gave her blade, her opponents were no match for her. Even with the vicious, underhanded and would-be-fatal techniques that they had picked up since their defection weren’t enough to let them equal her own proficiency. The first one, who she vaguely remembered to be a daughter of Ares, fell back with a rasp and a gurgle with one hand clutching her ruined throat after a harsh pommel strike crushed her larynx.

                “Sammy!” the other, a son of Hephaistos, cried out in denial before redoubling his efforts to kill her, rage giving strength and speed to his blows. Strength, speed, and recklessness. Sidestepping a particularly uncontrolled slash, Cassandra grabbed his wrist and used it as all the leverage she needed to shatter his nose with her elbow. He fell back with a muffled cry, stumbling away and tripping over his own feet to sprawl across the ground. She didn’t give him time to recover and attack again, instead dropping down on top of him and stabbing him through the heart. Ending his life in a single, decisive instant, bringing the number of humans, children just like herself in so many ways, that she had killed up to three.

She knelt there for a moment, the clamor of battle still raging around her as Bianca and Thalia worked their way through their own opponents. They had been a couple, she realized dimly, looking at the pair of freshly-made corpses. They had loved one another, they had wanted to build a world and a future together, and she had killed them. With little effort and less hesitation, she had snuffed out everything they had ever been and everything that they had ever hoped to be. Is this what…

Instincts screamed at her, cutting off her morosely spiraling thought process, and she spun with her weapon (stained, dripping, drenched) arcing out. The crash of metal on metal resounded as she parried away a blow that had been intended for her neck, a blow from the seething form of the last person she wanted to see right now. Or rather, perhaps, the one she wanted to see most of all.

                “Luke.” She hissed, a surge of hate, of wrath, of dark promise and violent intentions flowing through every inch of her body, and she rose to her feet with a predatory fluidity that she could never have possessed back when she had been a boy. A flick of her wrist had the Hephaistos boy’s blood splattering across the ground in a crimson crescent, and Luke’s eyes flickered as they followed the motion and lingered on the stain.

                “Well, if it isn’t P̸̧̧̨̘̪̩̱͉̠̘̜̥̞͔̙͋͆͛͛̓͗͝e̵͖͈̩̙̗͖̩͓̞̹̓̃ŗ̷̯͛̇̊̃̓̊̎͂c̶̣̗͎̜̳̭̺̻̬͎̄̀̾̓̾̉̽̕͝͝ỳ̵̦̲̖̮̘̫͕̲̤̙̺̪̑̈́̊̎͛͌̅̾͂̾̀͋̚ ̶̨̣̻͖̳̠̠͇͍͎͋̌̐̓̑̑̎̀͊̀̑͘͝J̸̢̧͇͉̞̯̲̤͎̤̬̭̒̓̉́̆̿̐̅́͌͂̈́̄̎a̵̖̎̉͗̿̆̍̎̄̉͗̉͌͊̚͠c̴̩͎̺̖̭̩̮̕͜k̸̹̯̄͗̒́͊́̐̓̇̓͊͆s̶̨̰̦̠͗̀͘o̵̢̢͙̝̲̺̯̯͙̅̂̾̔͌̍͑̎̑̓̆͝n̵̮̯̊̌̔̕ͅ. Only, you don’t go by that anymore, do you?” he responded, Backbiter held ready in his right hand as he looked her up and down with a mocking sneer that did nothing to hide the faint lust in his eyes. It was, perhaps, the most nauseating thing Cassandra had ever seen. “Whoring yourself out to that man-hating cunt now, are you? What name did she give you when she turned your dick into a pussy?”

She didn’t respond aloud, instead striking out with her appropriated weapon. He parried it, of course, and neglected launching an attack of his own. Instead, he settled for stepping sideways with a deceptive casualness, an action Cassandra mimicked instinctually as the two began to circle one another.

                “It’s too bad, really. If you’d have looked like this back then, I might not have tried to kill you. I would have recruited you instead. Without you interfering, I would have gotten Thalia and Bianca both on my side too.” The expression on his face as he said the words made it more than clear to Cassandra, as a until-recently boy herself, that having all three daughters of the Big Three under him had more to do with his hormones than Kronos would probably be happy about.

                “Dream on, Luke. Lia has better taste than to waste any time on your backstabbing ass, and your little minions threatened Bianca’s little brother. The only thing either of them wants to do is make you hurt.” Cassandra scoffed, glancing briefly back towards her cousins and the adults. Paul and her mom had gotten the car loaded, Thalia had killed the monsters, and now she and Bianca were working together to finish off the remaining demigods. Of course, even once they had won, leaving would not be a simply feat. Luke wasn’t likely to back off easily, and despite how much she cared for and trusted Thalia, the fact remained that the daughter of Zeus had once been very, very close to the young man she was currently fighting. And, as Cassandra had observed earlier, dueling was not Thalia’s greatest talents. It was not a good idea to get her involved in this fight, and Bianca was little better. Which meant she had to break this stalemate.

She was readying herself to clash with him again when her instincts screamed a second time, and she ducked just in time to avoid the talons of a harpy as it swooped down at her from behind. The woman-headed monster cackled in amusement as it circled around to dive at her mom. Paul’s shotgun boomed, and while the mortal round did nothing in the way of damage to the harpy, the strength of the impact had it reeling away with a litany of savage curses falling from it’s lips.

A deep, thunderous, distinctly bovine bellow shook the air, and Cassandra grimaced at the all-to-familiar sound. Luke grinned and backed away as a fresh wave of monsters arrived, led by the Minotaur itself. The minotaur, the first monster that Cassandra had ever fought, the first monster she had ever killed, the monster that had nearly killed her mother. The monster that was glaring at her with recognition and hate.

                “Luke, you and the rest of your mortal friends are to leave immediately on orders of Lord Kronos. Artemis is on her way with her little pack of tree-hugging pets. We will finish things here.” Another all-to-familiar voice said, as ‘Dr. Thorn’, the Manticore that had been hunting Bianca and Nico, and delivered Annabeth to Atlas and Luke, stepped around the minotaur’s massive bulk. Cassandra shuddered, finding it more than a little disturbing to hear such a refined voice coming out of such a monstrous leonine mouth.

                “What? She’s already killed half-a-dozen of us, and you want me to just leave?” Luke hiss in aggravation, sounding affronted, and Cassandra absently marveled at the look of disdain and exasperation that Thorn was somehow able to level at him in response.

                “I don’t want you to do anything, boy. Lord Kronos does. So if your bruised pride and craving for revenge is strong enough to risk his wrath and your capture at the hands of Olympus, feel free to disregard his commands. I’m sure that doing so will end well for you.” He sneered mockingly, and Cassandra felt a vindictive sort of pleasure at the way Luke paled and swallowed convulsively.

                “…fine!” he ground out, sword lowering as he backed away towards the group of monsters, his eyes never leaving Cassandra’s own. “This isn’t the end, P̸̧̧̨̘̪̩̱͉̠̘̜̥̞͔̙͋͆͛͛̓͗͝e̵͖͈̩̙̗͖̩͓̞̹̓̃ŗ̷̯͛̇̊̃̓̊̎͂c̶̣̗͎̜̳̭̺̻̬͎̄̀̾̓̾̉̽̕͝͝ỳ̵̦̲̖̮̘̫͕̲̤̙̺̪̑̈́̊̎͛͌̅̾͂̾̀͋̚ ̶̨̣̻͖̳̠̠͇͍͎͋̌̐̓̑̑̎̀͊̀̑͘͝J̸̢̧͇͉̞̯̲̤͎̤̬̭̒̓̉́̆̿̐̅́͌͂̈́̄̎a̵̖̎̉͗̿̆̍̎̄̉͗̉͌͊̚͠c̴̩͎̺̖̭̩̮̕͜k̸̹̯̄͗̒́͊́̐̓̇̓͊͆s̶̨̰̦̠͗̀͘o̵̢̢͙̝̲̺̯̯͙̅̂̾̔͌̍͑̎̑̓̆͝n̵̮̯̊̌̔̕ͅ, whatever you call yourself now. Those were my friends, my siblings, my comrades, that you killed. You’ll have to pay the price for that, sooner rather than later. I’ll make sure of it!”

                “My name is Cassandra now, Luke, and just like my namesake I can see the future. Care to guess what yours is?” she retorted immediately, even as she started to move in turn, this time towards her own group as Paul started the car. There was a tense moment as the other traitorous demigods backed away and vanished into the shadows behind the monsters.

There was nearly a dozen of the creatures now, and Cassandra grimaced discontentedly as she recognized more than a few of them, including the Laistrygonian giants she and Tyson had fought before the quest to recover the Golden Fleece.

                “What the hell is this, Tartarus’ Greatest Hits and Travelling Déjà vu Show?” Cassandra muttered, not particularly pleased with seeing so many of her old enemies all in one place, especially not if that ‘one place’ was a dozen yards from her mother. Glancing over at Thalia, who was now standing just beside her left shoulder (Bianca notching an arrow to her bow on the other side) she continued lowly. “Thalia, can you do anything to make them back off long enough that we can get in the car. Blind them, block them, anything?”

                “I’m…not the best with controlling my…inheritance. Didn’t have much of a chance, you know?” the daughter of Zeus responded, keeping her eyes, shield, and weapon facing their enemies, who seemed to be taking their time to go on the offensive. Cassie grimaced slightly, fully understanding that. Thalia had been an untrained kid, then a tree for several years. Of course she wasn’t an expert with lightning. “Still, I might be able to work something out. Might be more flash and dazzle then damage, but it will buy us a few seconds.”

                “Do it. I don’t care about fighting them or killing them, let Artemis and the Hunt do that. As long as we can get away in one piece, I’m happy.” Cassandra instructed, and Thalia nodded in both acceptance in agreement.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and focusing on the connection buried deep within, the part of her that was Lightning and Thunder and Sky and started to draw on it. An electrical tingle, a feeling of intense static, set hairs raising (metaphorically and physically alike) for everyone nearby. Something that the monsters seemed to recognize, as Thorn roared an order to attack to his brethren. Ten of the twelve charged, with only the minotaur and the manticore himself holding back. Their number dropped to eight thanks to a pair of swift and precise arrow-shots from Bianca as thunder rolled above, and Cassandra had just bisected another (another harpy, one that had more speed than sense) when Thalia’s blind efforts bore fruition.

White-gold lightning rained from the sky, obliterating another three monsters and trapping the others on the far side of the crackling, divinely-shaped wall of writhing energy. Suddenly drained, Thalia slumped tiredly, leaving Cassandra and Bianca to half-drag and half-carry the ravenette into the waiting car. The sound of squealing tires filled the air as the car peeled out, leaving tire marks on the pavement as it raced away from the surviving attackers.

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                “They’ve escaped. Lord Kronos will not be pleased.” Asterion the Minotaur rumbled, massive and meaty fists clenching and unclenching at his sides as he gazed with rage-filled eyes after the rapidly disappearing vehicle, before turning those same eyes onto the other surviving monsters and pinning them with a fulminating glare that promised fatal retribution.

                “Not quite. I did not expect that they would escape, but I did have plans in place on the off-chance that the three demigods moved on before the brat and his little friends could arrive. That same contingency will serve us well in stymieing their escape.” The manticore beside him rumbled, inhumanly sharp claws kneading great furrows in the surface of the street, before chuckling darkly and glancing up at his somewhat-taller compatriot. “I suggest you give chase. You have a score to settle with Poseidon’s child, after all, and I would hate for you to lose the opportunity.”

                “Oh, I do indeed.” The beast nearly crooned, sounding delighted at the potential, and he settled himself into a low stance, one that made him look like a football linebacker ready to snap off the mark. “If this proves true, I will owe you a great favor, Thorn.”

With that parting comment, the Minotaur charged forward, chasing the now-unseen car. His strides started slowly, but much like a train the very bulk that made his start a slow one meant that the pace he could set (and the inertial force he possessed) soon had him moving at a speed that many a mortal racecar would have envied. Thorn watched until he disappeared into the distance before grunting in satisfaction and turning towards his surviving subordinates.

                “You will remain here, cause as much damage to the area as you can, and die holding the Hunt and their mistress at bay as long as possible. Perhaps if you do well enough, Lord Kronos will raise you up out of Tartarus sometime before the next millennium.” He ordered coldly, before turning away and loping into the darkness. Whether Asterion succeeded or failed, his task was to report back to the Titan of Time and ensure that his Lord knew the status of the mission…and the confirmation of what had befallen one of the Children of Prophecy.

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