Daughter Of Hades

Stymphalian Birds

I told J the new information. Now we have a goal and place to go, which is great. The only problem is getting there and to Olympus on time.

"So do you know where to go? To find the giant."

"No." how can I know? It's not like I'm an expert on mountains!

"Hey don't worry about it. You'll find it. You should get some sleep."

I nod and lay down. I didn't realize how tired I truly was until I laid down.

Dream

I was back on the mountain with the giant and my family. Oh man my family. They looked dirty, tired, and like they haven't eaten in a few days. The giant looked bad too. As usual like he was dying. Maybe he was..
Focus! A voice yelled in my head. I shook my head a decided to look around. I looked for a sign or a clue as to where this place can be.

Nothing! It looks like a mountain should look like. Well the giant is not at the highest point. He is actually more towards the ground but in a blind spot. The giant threw something in frustration. I watched where it landed and spotted something.

A piece of paper or pamphlet. I move towards is and was so close to seeing what was written on it when I was yanked awake.

Nico POV

"Naomi!" I yelled. I don't know how long she's been asleep but we can't stay here. J told me we only have three days left. Three!

She woke up and glared at me. It actually shook me.

"What happened?" she asked taking a breath, calming down.

"We have to go. We're running out of time." I helped her up.

"Where's J?" she was looking around with worry in her eyes. Then we spotted him coming towards us, with food.

"Hey, your awake." he had a big smile. "Brought food. We should eat before going." he hands both of us a subway sandwich.

"Thanks." Naomi gave a weak smile back.

"Um, any... Dreams." J asked her. She shook her head and looked in my direction.

"I'll just try again later." she said giving another weak smile. J brought me up to date on the new information and the visit. My dad... Her dad, our dad, is paying a lot of attention to her.

"We should go." she stands, grabs her backpack and looks at us. She offers us her hands.

"Shadow Traveling? You sure?"

"Yes. It's not that far, I have enough energy to do it."

"I'm going to help." I say. She nods and we each grab J's hands.

Naomi POV

Trees, picnic tables and hiking trails. That's all I see for miles around. Yup, I thought. We are definitely at a park but where is everyone?
"This is a deserted Park." says J. "Look." he points at a sign.

Closed. Clean up taking place.

"Must have closed because of the birds." I say and look around. Where are the birds?

""Um, speaking of birds... Where are they?" asked J.

"Let's try the trails." I say. They nod and we set off. We hike for about twenty minutes before hearing a flock of birds. We move a bit faster but still very cautious towards the sounds. I saw about 10 of them. Five were eating some sort of animal and the other five working on something else.

We ducked down behind a bush.

"Okay so how exactly are we going to kill ten flesh eating birds?" asked J with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Good question." I say looking back at the birds.

"You don't have a plan?!" J looked at me.

"Do you think I ever have a plan so far ahead? No, I make things up as I go along and right now we need to brainstorm."

"A trap could work." offers Nico. "We can set a dead animal and then trap it in a box."

"We don't have a-" a squawk interrupted me. I froze then slowly turned around. Two birds were right there and more coming.

They started to peck at me. I pull out my weapon and swing. The birds flew up and then swooped down towards me. The birds split up. Three on me, three on Nico and four on J.

We were now trying to keep them from eating us alive. I swung again. I killed one and clipped another's wing. Okay two more.
Ouch

The one I clipped took a bite of my left leg. My jeans already getting soaked with blood. I swung and it jumped out of the way. The other one came charging down from above.

I brought up my spear right before it took a a chunk out of my head. As my spear made contact it turned to ash. Since it was right above me all the Ash fell on me. I sneezed and had to blink a few times. I got distracted and the bird came and tried to take a bite from my foot but my shoes protected me.

I brought down my spear on it and turned it to ash. Three down. I turn around to see how the guys were doing and realize the there is only one left, and it is attacking J.

I go in to help, but before I can do anything J swippes his sword through it. He had a bite out of his arm and his sleeve was also soaked in blood. Nico's thigh is soaked in blood. Well I'm 100% sure this is going to leave scars.

"Piece of cake. I told you we got this." I say lightly while getting out the ambrosia. They look at me like I was crazy and I just roll my eyes. "We are still alive and hey that is something. Plus just one last thing. One."