Golden Green

Ch. 2

Percy Jackson and the Olympians belong to Rick Riordan. All credit to him.

My monster fighting skills were so rusty that by the time we reached the state Iowa I counted 39 times the serpent had saved me by melting a harpy out of mid air before dive bombing me, gnawing off the head of a giant scorpion inches before it would sting me, or coiling around and crushing a giant Lastrigonian readying to drop on me from a building.

"I guess my skills are hundreds of years out of date but you don't have to mock me like that" I said. The serpent I needed to name was sitting amongst piles of monster dust grooming its hind end as a dog while I wrestled my shield back from one scrappy Harpy. After I cleaved the bird woman in half with my sword I joined the dog by his monster dust pile.

"Woof." The serpentine-turned-dog walked to my side and pointed to one of the piles of essence he came from.

"What? Are you trying to show off more?"

"Woof.'' The dog trotted back over to it, sneezed into the dusty to part it, and scooped something into it's maw. It came back to drop it at my feet.

"Great work. You got another trophy from your conquest of all those Harpies, now can we get moving before the sun rises because you are not letting me get any experience back at this monster slaying thing?"

"Woof!"

"What do you mean you won't help next time, that is your whole point of joining me!" I was shocked and a little skeptical if he was serious. The next encounter could be something big and I could be all on my own because I talked back to a snake. "Wait no. I'm sorry please do help."

"Arf!"

"No you can't. The ambrosia is for emergency injuries, you have raw steak and dog treats in here if you are hungry" I scolded, picking up and throwing the bag strap over my shoulder, out of the beast's reach.

"Woof!"

"You are using my life in battle so leniently that I think you don't care. I won't ask for your help next battle then." I started walking back into the direction we were heading through the forest before evil chicken ladies fell down on us.

432 miles and six days of silent walking with the serpent was odd when no monsters attacked to prove if he would help or not at night, day, or the early morning we were in at the past the halfway marker of our journey in the backwoods of Iowa.

"BARK, BARK, HISSS!" roared the dog, growing into his long serpentine self like all the times before we were attacked in the past but then pausing like he had forgotten something.

"Where from and how many?"

"Arf!" The serpent shrank back into a doberman.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? You always know, please you stubborn hound." I willed Pistos to grow into it's large self from a ring and reached for Fanos in my pocket to turn it into a sword. I turned in a circle waiting for any sign of an aggressor. I looked down after spinning so much I got dizzy and saw a little blonde, ratty dog bearing its pebble sized teeth at me.

"Woof!" Fidi warned, stepping back.

"What do you mean watch out? It's only a tiny dog," I said, turning back to ask the dramatic dog. The sound of ripping cloth came to my ears right before a giant paw slammed into my head and slapped me into a tree to my right.

"Arf!" Fidi commented.

"I know you did but I didn't expect it to turn into a chimera and start to bat me around." I sat up, using my sword for a crutch, steadied my breath, and tried to remember all my sword training with the troops and the battles from the past days of traveling to prepare for a fight that I was clearly not going to get help in.