Rejection - Pernico

Chapter 22

As I helped Levi off the boat, his small fingers clutching at Dog, I scanned the place. It seemed pretty quiet, just people bustling about their normal day. Nobody seemed to notice our arrival, and I silently thanked the Mist. It helped that we'd surfaced on the remotest, farthest part of Lake District, and the town was little more than an upgraded village.

As before, we stocked up on supplies, and followed the scroll, which was pointing us towards an odd forest just off the other side of the lake we'd surfaced on. Dog trailed along behind us on a long leash, Levi bouncing along on top of him, as we wandered deeper into the forest, which grew colder as we walked further in, leaving our breaths mist hanging in the air. A silent tension seemed to rise from the sprawling roots around us, and I wrapped my gloved hand around Nico's, loosening the cap on Riptide.

A second later, we found it.

A thick shroud of vines faced us, hostile and hateful. Squeezing Nico's hand, I used Riptide to nudge a gap in the curtain of green. The twines seemed to shy away from the Celestial bronze and we quickly ducked through the hole to see...

My jaw dropped, and I could hear Nico's sharp inhalation. Levi mewled in shock behind us, and I knew exactly how he felt.
My first impression was that it was like an abandoned temple. It looked like the cave from the movie Brave. You know, the Pixar one with the bear?
It was a ground level stone wall, with empty door frames gaping at us. Vines curled over the unforgiving rock, twisting and turning. Huge tree roots stretched down from the top to the middle doorway, curving around the frame. Rubble littered the ground and I narrowed my eyes. It was a perfect hiding spot for both demigods and monsters. We could encounter either or both inside. Gripping Riptide tighter, I strode towards the stone doorway, Nico walking behind Levi to make sure no monsters attacked us from behind. We'd given the little guy a new Imperial gold dagger, which he seemed quite good at wielding, but I was still worried.
Slowly, we walked further into the temple, ears sharpened for any sounds. I held Riptide loosely at my side, as we wandered down the stone corridor. Slits in both sides let in early afternoon light as we checked each room, none of which had a door. Everything was silent as the grave, our footsteps like shouts in a cemetery, until- "AHHH!"
"Is anyone there?" I called out, speeding up. The corridor split ahead, two passageways curving gently to the left and right, making the structure look like an anchor. Making a split-second decision, I turned left and charged.
At the end of the corridor, a large empty stone room stood, light streaming through cracks in the ceiling, ripped open by bold but by now long dead roots.
In the middle of the room stood a large stone well, bubbling with a noxious black liquid. Out of the liquid rose a skeleton, bones all coated in the shadow liquid. It wasn't a human skeleton either, rather a huge snake, thicker than my forearm. Swaying forward and backwards hypnotically, it bared its skeletal fangs, hissing quietly at...
My gaze lowered to the ground in front of it. Two girls stood there, one pale and white-haired, the other crimson-haired and bronzed. They held crude weapons, jabbing at the monster, but it merely dodged out of reach.
Rushing forward, I threw Riptide forward, slicing through the shadows and bone. The serpent swayed, its neck severed. The suddenly empty skull dropped to the floor with a clatter, and I sighed in relief. At least that had been relatively easy-
I really shouldn't have said that. With a vibrating growl, the snake re-attached to the skull, snapping its fanged jaws. Riptide lay on the floor behind it, and I sighed. The only way to handle it now was either stall it until Riptide came back, or fight it bare-handed or possibly with a dagger, all of which were dangerous options.
Wait. I looked down at my hand. Nico smiled, his hand interlocked in it. "Shadow liquid? Shadow water?" He grinned and I blinked, understanding dawning.
The monster seemed to lock on us, staring at our joined hands. Almost as if it knew what we were planning. Lunging, it snapped at us, and I stumbled back, tripping over a rock that most certainly wasn't there before. With a skeletal grin, it zeroed in on me, snaking a tongue of shadows out to wrap around my arm, which burned like cold fire. Nico yelled, jerking his hand, pulling me away. The pain was blinding, but even through that I could feel his strain. He was trying to separate the shadows from the water, but his hand shook, and I knew he wouldn't hold out much longer. With a groan, I shut my eyes, concentrating on the well. I could feel the water. It strained and struggled, but with twin strangled gasps, we pulled it apart.
My eyes opened a second before the shadow separated, and I saw the shadow soar through the air and smack into the wall, before soaking in. The water just sank back into the well with a splat, and the skeleton shook for a second, shadows torn off its body slowly. With a burning hatred in its eyes, it toppled slowly, straight into...
The white-haired girl in front of us, who dropped to her knees. A fang had cut her arm, and a bright crimson stream flowed from the wound for a second, before the last if the congealed shadows clogged it up, penetrating her veins, which darkened immediately. She screamed in agony, and I rushed forward as she toppled.

Well, shit.