𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 [𝐏𝐉𝐎 𝐗 𝐇𝐏]

prologue

"COME ON! WE GOTTA KEEP GOING!"

Ariana's legs were on fire. The five of them had been running for nearly an hour. Luke took her hand and dragged her on, pushing for her to continue.

"We're almost there!" Grover shouted glancing back.

The monsters were gaining on her. Horrible giants with one eye. Three leathery bats with fiery whips. Massive hellhounds the size of bin trucks. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her skin was covered in little cuts. She wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep, but with Luke dragging her she had no choice than continue.

Annabeth ran beside her, her blonde curls dirty with mud and filled with twigs and leaves, like Ariana's own hair. Her grey eyes were scared and full of tears, and her bottom lip was trembling. She was holding her dagger, not that it would do much against the army chasing them.

"The border patrol will see us – come on!" Grover yelled back as he led them towards their destination. A place they could be safe, where they could live without the worry of being killed. A place for people like them.

Thalia was behind Annabeth and Ariana, holding of their pursuers with her shield Aegis, a gift from her father. The daughter of Zeus was the best monster fighter Ariana had ever seen, except for maybe Luke. But Ariana knew that even she couldn't fight the herd of monsters behind them. There were simply too many. There only hope was to reach the safe place.

The hill was steep for Ariana and Annabeth's seven-year-old legs. Her calf and thighs burnt more and more with each step. Every breath she took was laboured.

For Thalia she thought I must do this for Thalia.

The trees hid the monsters. They were so tall; they shielded the monsters from their view. The only way they could tell that they were still following them was from the screeches and howls that made Ariana cry even more. She wanted to wake up and hope this was all a dream. The cyclops den, the furies, everything. She wanted it to all be over.

Something caught against her foot and Ariana went tumbling. Pain seared up her ankle as she let out a whimper of pain. Luke stopped immediately and pulled her to her feet.

"Ari, come on!" Luke tried to pull her to her feet. But as she tried to stand, another wave of pain washed over her ankle, making her fall again. She screamed.

Annabeth went to pull her up, but her ankle couldn't take it. She yelled again. Luke looked at her ankle. "It's broken," he said.

Grover's eyes were wide with fear. "Can you carry her?!"

Thalia cast a nervous look behind them. The roars and hisses were getting louder and closer. Luke gently took hold underneath Ariana's arm and Grover took the other and they slowly pulled her to her feet. Ariana bit her lip to stop the pain. She wanted all of this to be over.

"They're getting closer" Annabeth yelled.

"Come on, we can make it!" Grover and Luke continued their way towards the top of the hill, Ariana hobbling between them.

"We won't make it it's too far!" Thalia said.

"Yes, yes we can!" Luke told Thalia. "We have to!" Annabeth hovered beside them, not knowing what to do.

Thalia looked at the valley, which was still about a hundred yards away. Her eyebrows creased as she looked back at the oncoming herd of monsters. She took a deep breath, as if finally deciding what to do.

Ariana watched eyes wide as Thalia turned around and ran back down the hill.

"Thalia!" Luke cried. "Are you insane?"

"Go!" Thalia shouted back "I'll hold them off." She spun her spear and readied herself in a fighting position.

Luke and Grover continued, dragging Ariana and Annabeth behind them, who were both screaming for Thalia.

Behind them, the daughter of Zeus made her final stand. The furies attacked from above, whips blazing. Thalia blocked the first whip, twisting it with her spear and pulling it down, impaling the first fury. She dodged the second, but the third came around and whipped around her ankle, pulling her to the ground.

"THALIA!!" Ariana screamed. Suddenly all the hairs on her neck stood up, and a crackling surrounded them, and the air smelled metallic. Thalia thrust her spear up to the sky and a huge bolt of lightning raced down the tip of her spear. She pointed it at the monsters and the nearest ones disintegrated.

But summoning the lightning strike had exhausted Thalia. She looked ready to collapse, and Ariana was worried she wouldn't have the strength to make it to camp.

Thalia sprinted toward the other four. She was so close, she almost made it. Then, a hairy hand came out of nowhere and grabbed Thalia. She ascended into the air, and with a mighty roar, she was thrown.

"THALIA! NO!!!"

Their screams stopped when Thalia landed a few metres from them. A resounding CRACK filled Ariana's ears, and tears streamed down her face as she watched the fist person who had cared for her die in front of her eyes. She saw her friend take her last shuddering breath before her face went pale, and her eyes lost their spark, staring into nothingness.

Ariana cried out, reaching for the daughter of Zeus, but Luke held her back. As she looked up into the blackness, she saw one huge red eye.

But then something extraordinary happened. Thunder rolled over head and even the monsters turned to look at the dead girl. Her fingers and hair reached out to form roots, as her skin turned to bark and moss. A pine tree grew out from her torso, and it grew until it was the tallest one it the valley.

With it, came an explosion. A blue light flashed, spreading to their left and to their right, before disappearing. But when the red-eye creature tried to attack, it was thrown back, unable to get through the invisible barrier.

"Come on!" Luke yelled, as he and Grover helped Ariana stand again, as they made their way towards safety.

Thalia had saved them. One last time.