Kidnapped

7: The Loser

Percy POV

The water was freezing. My joints felt like ice as I swam through the river. Fortunately, the current wasn't too invasive. Not surprisingly, I was the first one to make it across.

I rubbed my arms as I waited for my friends.

Annabeth gasped as she climbed out of the river bank. The stones and sand stuck to her shoes and pants.

"Gods, that was awful," she shrieked angrily. We both ran towards Thalia who was sputtering as she crawled ashore. She held her stomach assuringly as she laid on the beach.

"Thalia, we made it across. Are you okay?" Annabeth asked urgently.

"I'm fine. I just need a minute," Thalia said in exhaustion. Her whole body was pale and shaking due to the cold.

"We don't have much time," a voice affirmed. Jason and Piper dragged themselves out of the water and started walking towards the woods. I could tell that they didn't want to waste any time.

We only had an hour and 42 minutes left according to the projection in the sky.

"It's all right, Jason. Why don't you guys go ahead? We'll catch up to you guys after a few minutes," I said reassuringly as I rubbed Thalia's back.

Jason and Piper hesitantly disappeared into the forest behind me. Annabeth, Thalia, and I sat on the beach facing the river that we just crossed. The atmosphere was tense and silent as we shivered and suffered together.

"Do you think there's even an escape to this? Any hope?" Thalia asked softly.

"I don't know," Annabeth murmured.

My gaze locked onto Wise Girl's face. She was rinsing the water out of her hair. I remembered our last conversation so clearly. Annabeth was so emotional with her secrets. Out of us all, Annabeth was the most intelligent, yet even she seemed hopeless.

"I refuse to believe that there's no light in this darkness. My mom always says that there's always a solution. We just have to find it and work towards it," I said quietly.

"She seems like a wonderful woman, Percy," Thalia expressed. She was rubbing her stomach to assure the child in her belly.

"She is. I hope that I can make it back to her in time," I whispered.

Thalia and Annabeth gazed at me, but they didn't ask any questions. They could probably sense that I didn't want to talk about it. The emotion in my eyes probably gave off that vibe.

Silence permeated our surroundings. It was actually a peaceful location here. The wind ruffled the leaves and caused the trees to dance. The water flowed smoothly.

However, a loud howl echoed through the air.

"What was that?" Thalia asked suddenly.

"An animal of some sort. We should keep going. At most, we only made it halfway," Annabeth said quickly.

We cautiously walked into the woods to keep moving. I hated this journey. The route became more downhill now, so every step felt like a fall. The wind was ruffling through our wet clothes, which lowered our body temperatures.

We traveled for another twenty minutes in the dense forest when another howl echoed through the atmosphere.

The howl was closer and sounded more dangerous.

Annabeth looked behind us before snapping her attention forward. I instinctually looked behind me and locked eyes with a giant dog. It didn't even look like a real animal. It was huge. It reminded me of the hellhounds that I read about in Greek Mythology.