The Huntress and her Lion

Nine

The next morning the group of questers found themselves in a train yard near a ski town in the mountains as they stepped off the train. The group wanders out of the yard to find a sign of the town stating that they are in New Mexico.

They slowly made their way to the center of the town; this was half a mile away from the train where they arrived. While walking Percy decided to fill the group in about the conversation, he had with Apollo the night before. According to Percy, Apollo suggested that they will need to find Nereus the 'Old Man of the Sea' in San Francisco.

Soon they discover that there is no transportation that will be able to take them to San Francisco once they reach the town center. However, they found a coffee shop, so it was quickly decided that Zoe and Annabeth would go and buy coffee and food for the group while the others would go to the nearby grocery store to ask for directions.

The cashier of the said store informed Percy and Thalia that there is no way out of the town without calling for a taxi or owning your own car, neither one of these was an option as the taxi fare for all 6 of them will cost them an arm and a leg and of course the group does not own any cars of their own.

Leaving the store Thalia decided to go ask the other store owners on her own, leaving Percy with the two huntresses. Skye took a moment before walking to the end of the street needing a few moments on her own, while Percy and Bianca fell into an awkward conversation.

Skye allowed her mind to drift a bit, needing to think of a way out of this town as well as sending some of her emotional strength to Artemis. Skye felt a subconical change in the air and knew something was about to happen.
She saw Zoe and Annabeth leaving the coffee shop, going over to them Skye decided to inform them of her thoughts and instincts. "Hey guys; Zoe I am going to cast the tracking spell again and you guys should get your weapons out." She said to the two just as Percy and Bianca joined them.

"Why would we need our weapons?" Annabeth asked her, confused.

"Not sure, I just have this instinctive feeling that we will need our weapons. Don't ask how I know as it is something I cannot explain." Skye said to Annabeth.

Suddenly the group was enveloped in a breeze of warm springtime air, it seemed to breathe life into the surrounding area, animating the lifeless birds on their coffee cups into real living flying birds. Skye quickly recognized the feeling of Pan, the Lord of the Wild decided to aid them on their quest.

It was at that moment that Thalia decided to appear with a group of zombie warriors hot on her tail, it seemed that these zombies were hell-bent on hunting and hurt or kill them.

The rest of the group quickly turned and ran as well, escaping to the edge of the town, near a wooded area, before the group was forced to face these warriors.

The warriors soon surrounded the group, four zombies for each quester. These monsters were hell-bent to pin the questers in.

In Skye's opinion, the number of warriors was a huge overkill, really four warriors each – the General really wanted them to fail or kill them, either way, this was not helping them.

Skye truly hoped that the gift Lord Pan sent would be here soon but first they will need to defend and try to survive this fight. Percy and Skye were the first to charge the warriors. The scythe and sword made short work with the warriors but of course, there had to be a catch as the warriors all regenerated into what they were before being hacked into small pieces.

The only one who made a difference in this battle was Bianca. She was the only one who was able to destroy these warriors much to her and everyone's surprise.

It was then that the gift from Pan made its appearance. Ripping the trees and warriors in the surrounding area quite forcefully was probably the largest boar with wicked-looking tusks Skye has ever seen. It was the 'Erymanthian Boar.'