The Sun Without Stars Solangelo

The Dying Sun

Hazel's POV

Hazel felt like puking her insides out, her stomach churning.

What the hell just happened to me? This has never happened before.

When she reached for the stone under her, it had felt like she were drowning, hand sinking into the dirt even as she tugged away. When she felt something sharp pierce into her skin, she tore her hand out, pain erupting throughout her palm.

Now, she felt Frank's burly arm holding her steady, wiping her forehead gently as everything around her spun. When she felt herself about to lose consciousness again, she sank into the quiet of her mind, but was almost immediately shaken from it.

Screams ruptured all around her blaringly, causing her ears to ring.

"Don't ever take my confidence in your capabilities for granted."

"Frank.... We need to help," Hazel murmured, to which Frank got up, picking her up swiftly and trudging towards the source of the fright. As her head cleared, she lowered herself from his arms, leaning against him as they hurried over.

When Apollo came into view, Hazel first saw his conflicted expression, as if he were both confused and... ashamed.

What's wrong?

A figure in khakis that was already much closer to the group was standing in front of Percy, Annabeth, Reyna, and the god, and she could practically sense the suffering that radiated from the foreign person. 

Is that Will? 

It looks like his clothes, but I doubt that that's him.

 Moments after she spotted the figure, they wavered, pouncing on Apollo and battering him into the ground!

In the split second that the person threw themself forwards, their body ruptured, blood spraying across the ground as it remolded itself, flesh swirling as the strange beings by his side melted into the chasm, and the cloak of night furled around the being, giving their body a gruesome new form.

What stood before them was no monster they'd ever encountered and, while the screams and voices that bellowed from its jaw were vaguely human, there was nothing to ever cue that a human had stood in its place second before. If anything, it reminded her of a deformed canine, with its ribs protruding, inky liquid dripping from them and commingling with the depths of night that had spread over the hill, seeping up the trees.

Apollo was caught off guard from the teeth that carved into his being, golden ichor spattering from his wound, but the filaments of his "flesh" sewed themselves back together. After getting over his initial shock, Apollo, still pinned down by the massive mutt, tore one of his hands free, reaching behind his back for his bow.

NO!

Hazel wasn't sure why, but she leapt towards the god wrestling the animal, tearing the sack of arrows from Apollo's shoulder.

WHAT AM I DOING?

The dog glared up at her when she pulled the arrows towards herself, tripping backwards from the effort and tumbling to the floor, a sudden pain racing up her wrist. Fear rattled through her chest, her blood pumping so quickly that she could feel her veins bulge in her neck

The both of them froze, Hazel cupping her unharmed hand over her mouth to stop herself from breathing. As if engaging in silent communication, the creature huffed, its breath forming a cloud of fog in the icy temperature above her head; however, it did not move to attack any further, its black orb-like eyes simply examining Hazel, who's eyes widened.