Sea Glass // Liam Dunbar

Bloody Mortals

One step...Two steps...Three steps. My feet left the ground, torso twisting to help gain more momentum and my arm outstretched; Riptide a swift and graceful arc whilst my muscles tensed in preparation for the resistance I would meet as the gleaming bronze decapitated the monster.

Only...There was none. 

My eyes widened a fraction as the deadly celestial blade passed straight through my target, almost as if...

I slammed into the ground, my balance skewed due to my miscalculation with the rather surprising turn of events. Rolling back on my shoulder I proceeded to tilt my head up and stare dumbly at my opponents. Not my finest moment I'll admit. 

However as my brain attempted to sluggishly compute what the heck was going on, I was forced to fling my self into a backward handspring to escape a barrage of bullets which instead penetrated the ground violently. Not your usual run of the mill ammo then. With some distance between us I finally squinted at my attackers and took the time to make the observations that would have been helpful two minutes ago.

What the actual fuck.

"Mortals," I exclaimed incredulously. "Since when do I have bloody mortals chasing after me?"

Was it the government? Did I do something to catch their attention? I sure hope not because I would be royally screwed if that was the case. Zeus would probably use that as an excuse to throw everything I'd done for the divine world out of the window and brand me as the traitor who divulged the secrets of our existence to the outside world.

But no, that couldn't be the case. Not with the mist covering our asses every time we made something go boom. Which was, admittedly, a lot.

I shrugged internally, deciding to save my ponderings for later. I never was one to waste to much time thinking in the midst of battle, especially drunk. But there was still something tugging at the edge of my mind...

Oh yeah.

Mortals can die.

Would it go against my moral compass to take the lives of actual human beings? I mean, I've killed other demigods...But they were all crazy nut jobs who wanted to hurt other people via destroying the world. In saying that, these people clearly have no issue in slaughtering a fifteen year old girl...

I'd managed to deduct that from the non stop bombardment of gunfire I'd been receiving, further shredding my dress and slowly forcing me back, in the thirty seconds I'd been considering my life choices.

In all honesty death was no stranger to me and it would probably put no strain on my conscience if I were to end them. 

And on top of that...My main argument for it as far as I was concerned...

They started it.

Decision made I threw Riptide to the side, knowing it would return to me eventually, and snagged a little golden pendant off my charm bracelet that Hephaestus had so kindly forged. The pendant rapidly grew in size, to form a wickedly sharp double edged broad sword. Its blade was a deep onyx black that seemed to make even the darkest of shadows pale in contrast. A faint violet glow only adding to its ominous appearance.

Stygian Iron.

Out of the four magical ores my weaponry consisted of, this one was the most practical in a situation like this. For not only does the metal incite the fear of Tartarus in monsters, but it is also effective on mortals, draining the essence out of their being and into the blade. Yes, it may be a little harsh, but the men swathed in black who seemed determined to kill me would have probably gone to Tartarus anyway. If they were lucky they might have gotten into the fields of Asphodel, but that place sounded irrefutably boring- so really I was doing them a favour.