The Golden Amulet (PJO, Sequel to The Silver Ring)

Chapter 55

A/N-My first authentic action scene. Comment on what you think of it!

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"Arrest them!" the captain barked at his soldiers, thrusting a finger towards us.

The soldiers lunged at us. We ducked away as swords scraping against cobblestone rang in my ears.

Omega grabbed a discarded vase from a pile of garbage and chucked it at the ground towards the nearest soldiers, making them scatter. He ran through the opening he created, dodging merchant stalls towards the center of the city. I followed him quickly.

"Grab something we can climb onto!" Omega ordered.

"How is that going to help us—?"

"Just do it!"

Something we can climb, huh? I thought, looking over everything. My eyes traveled over teddy bears, dirty plates—most of them shattered, long rods of splintered wood . . .

Jackpot. A spindly wooden shelf leaned in the shadows to my right. It stood as tall as me, and its shelves looked like they would collapse with the weight of a few books. It would have to do, however, since the pounding of the soldiers' feet was getting closer every second. I quickly capped Riptide and picked it up, surprised at how light it was. Then I charged towards Omega again, dodging loose stones and mounds of garbage. He was far ahead of me.

I chanced a look back—and immediately regretted it. The brigade was right behind me, hot on my tail. The captain was leading the charge with his sword out like a spear, as though ready to shish-kebab me when the time was right . . .

Wait. That didn't make sense. Weren't they trying to capture me beforehand?

In a flash, my dire situation became clear to me. Given their reaction to him, the soldiers clearly knew that Omega was a Void soldier now. Furthermore, if I was with him by choice, the soldiers would probably think I was now a Void soldier as well.

I was now an enemy. And the soldiers wouldn't hesitate to end my life. With that thought, I leaned forward, increasing my speed.

As we approached the center of the city, more groups of soldiers joined the chase from every direction, all with their swords out. 

Directly in front of me, when it was clear he was cornered, Omega stopped in a central courtyard; it was surrounded on all sides by stone huts. He looked at me. "What the heck is that?!" He exclaimed as he realized what I was carrying. "I was asking for a ladder! Not a bookshelf!"

"I didn't have any more time to search! And who in their right mind would discard a usable ladder?"

I could barely hear him over the war cries of the soldiers; they were drawing nearer from every side. Omega realized this too. "This is not the time to banter. Pass it to me!"

My arms were burning from carrying it while my calves threatened to collapse under my extreme sprint, but I did what he said. The wooden piece of furniture sailed through the night air until it landed snugly in Omega's arms. He quickly set it on the ground in front of a hut and scrambled onto the slate roof, using the shelves as rudimentary steps. He held it still as I followed nimbly.

But when I was just halfway up, the soldiers reached to the bottom of the wooden piece of furniture, looking angry.

"Hurry!" Omega hissed, reaching a hand out to me.

I sprang into the air, grabbing Omega's outstretched hand as the soldiers shoved the shelf away from the house wall. I felt air underneath me as our grip on each other tightened, while the shelf broke into pieces on the ground. Omega tried to pull me up, but a hand grabbed my foot.