Hurricane ~ L. Valdez

1.31- The Monster's Arms Go Bye-Bye

I knew I should've tried to come up with a better plan. Our original one didn't work very well. Piper scrambled along the ridge, trying to keep her head down. Keyword: trying. What did we do? We walked straight into the clearing.

Jason summoned his golden lance. I pulled out my sword. Then my genius brother held his sword over his head, charged, and yelled, "Giant!"

Idiot.

Enceladus stopped chanting at the flames and turned to us, grinning. Something tells me that that wasn't a good thing. "Well," the giant rumbled. "What a nice surprise."  I don't think that was a good thing either. I also wanted to say something about how it shouldn't have been a surprise, but I restrained myself.

From my peripheral vision, I could see Leo edging away toward the bulldozer. At my other side, Coach Hedge decided to shout, "Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I'm gonna plant my hoof right up your—"

  "Coach," we all chorused.

"Shut up." Jason finished. Enceladus found Coach's outburst hilarious, however.

"I've forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I'll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals." I hope this dude realizes that Gaea is like using him. Apparently, he doesn't. 

"Is that a compliment?" Hedge frowned at Leo. "I don't think that was a compliment." 

"Just go with it," I whispered.

Enceladus opened his mouth wide, and his teeth began to glow. What in Tartarus. I don't think that's supposed to happen. Like that's not normal.  "Scatter!" Leo yelled. 

Jason, Hedge, and I dove to the left. I was not prepared for that, but I surprisingly dove pretty well. I made a mental note that I should play baseball at some point in the future. I stayed down for a moment, assesing my surroundings. Leo had dodged behind the bulldozer, and then ran to the right, heading for the tree harvester. Jason and I exchanged a look, before the two of us rose and charged the giant.

  "I liked that outfit!" I heard from behind me, before hearing Hedge's hoove-beats behind us. He must've charged too. We didn't get as far as we would've liked. Enceladus slammed his spear into the ground before we could get too close and the mountain shook. Well, everything shook. Including me. We were pretty much all spent sprawling to the ground.

Most of us were fine. Poor Coach was knocked out completely. I could see his legs sticking straight up into the air from little bit away from us.

"I see you, Piper McLean!" The giant yelled. I again refrained myself from saying something sarcastic about how he should've known she was there. He then blew fire in some bushes to the right of my boyfriend. Thankfully, Piper was not burnt up right there, and she was able to run out into the clearing, a tad flushed. Enceladus laughed. I don't see what's so funny. "I'm happy you've arrived. And you brought me my prizes!"

Excuse me, buddy. I'm nobody's prize. Something inside me churned uncomfortably. Piper's concerns had been valid. We had let Enceladus play us. The giant laughed again, and I realized that this time he was laughing at my boyfriend.

"That's right, son of Hephaestus. I didn't expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn't matter. By bringing you here, Piper McLean has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I'm as good as my word. She can take her father and go. What do I care about a movie star?"

Why in Hades did he take the movie star if he didn't care. Idiot. Now that we were all closer, we all had a better view of Tristan McLean. He didn't look his best. I felt bad. My own mother was an aspiring (bad) actress, and I don't think I had ever seen an actor look this bad. That was probably insensitive, but hey if your mind has been trained for battle since you were like 10 then you kind of loose your sense of "nice-ness" midbattle.