𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓! [pjo]

XXIV; birds

━━━birds (derogatory)

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

Callahan felt something heavy land on her shoulders, and then she was weightless.  The creature holding her was a panther with eagle wings and red eyes, and it almost would've been pretty if it wasn't for the steel-like claws wrapped around her arms holding her up. She couldn't move, couldn't get to her swords. She looked over to the side, and Percy was flying next to her, caught in the claws of another one of those creatures. They kept going higher and higher, and wherever they were going it wasn't gonna be good. Callahan just had a feeling.

    But then, an arrow sprouted out of the creature's flank, and the creature squawked and let her go.

    The two of them, Percy and Cal, crashed through the pines as they fell,  and landed hard in a snowbank. Standing up, nothing felt broken. Frank was standing next to them, firing arrows one after another at the creatures. Hazel was back to back with Cal, swinging her spatha at anyone that came to close.

It wasn't hard to see that they were vastly outnumbered, but she still drew her sword and started swinging. She slashed off the wings on one and beheaded another, but for every one they cut down, another sprung up immediately.

"What are these things?!" Percy yelled from her left.

"Gryphons," Hazel yelled back from behind her.

"That's great and all, but how the fuck are we gonna survive this?" Cal didn't mean to snap, but she was seriously on edge and seriously tired.  Percy glanced her way before dodging a swipe from a steel claw.

The four of them slashed and hacked, avoiding swipes and nips from the gryphons. Frank's spear was gone. Hazel's arms were getting tired. Cal was running out of breath. Percy was...Percy was fine. Well, as fine as one could be but he looked ok.

"Let's move the fight!" Percy yelled, "away from the tracks."

They all stumbled away, smacking and slashing through the snowbank. Then Percy tripped over something in the tall grass—a circle of scrap metal about the size of a tractor tire. It was a massive bird's nest—a gryphon's nest—the bottom littered with old pieces of jewelry, an Imperial gold dagger, a dented centurion's badge, and two pumpkin-sized eggs that looked like real gold.

Percy jumped into the nest. He pressed his sword tip against one of the eggs. "Back off, or I break it!"

The gryphons squawked angrily, and for some reason, Callahan agreed with them. Percy putting his blade to the eggs sent an unnatural surge of anger through her like she wanted to scream and yell at Percy. She swallowed thickly.

The gryphons buzzed around the nest and snapped their beaks, but they didn't attack. Hazel, Frank, and Callahan stood back to back with Percy, their weapons ready.

"Gryphons collect gold," Hazel said. "They're crazy for it. Look—more nests over there."

Frank nocked his last arrow. "So if these are their nests, where were they trying to take, where were they trying to take Percy? That thing was flying away with him."

Percy's arms still throbbed where the gryphon had grabbed him. "Alcyoneus," he guessed. "Maybe they're working for him. Are these things smart enough to take orders?"

"I don't know," Hazel said. "I never fought them when I lived here. I just read about them at camp."

"Weaknesses?" Frank asked. "Please tell me they have weaknesses."

Hazel scowled. "Horses. They hate horses—natural enemies, or something. I wish Arion was here!"

The gryphons shrieked. They swirled around the nest with their red eyes glowing.

"Guys," Frank said nervously, "I see legion relics in this nest."

"I know," Percy said. "That means other demigods died here, or—"

"Frank, it'll be okay," Percy promised.

One of the gryphons dived in. Percy raised his sword, ready to stab the egg. The monster veered off, but the other gryphons were losing their patience.

Callahan's arms were shaking, holding up her sword was hard. About a quarter-mile away, a Hyperborean giant was sitting in the bog, peacefully picking mud from between his toes with a broken tree trunk.

"I've got an idea," Percy said, suddenly. "Hazel—all the gold in these nests. Do you think you can use it to cause a distraction?

" "I—I guess."

"Just give us enough time for a head start. When I say go, run for that giant."

Frank gaped at him. "You want us to run toward a giant?"

"Trust me," Percy said. "Ready? Go!"

Hazel thrust her hand upward. From a dozen nests across the marsh, golden objects shot into the air—jewelry, weapons, coins, gold nuggets, and most importantly, gryphon eggs. The monsters shrieked and flew after their eggs, frantic to save them.

They ran, their feet splashing and crunching through the frozen marsh. Callahan could hear the gryphons closing behind them, her heart pounding with adrenaline and fear. Now the monsters were really angry. The giant hadn't noticed the commotion yet. He was inspecting his toes for mud, his face sleepy and peaceful, his white whiskers glistening with ice crystals. Around his neck was a necklace of found objects—garbage cans, car doors, moose antlers, camping equipment, even a toilet.

"Under!" Percy bellowed. "Crawl under!" They scrambled between the massive blue legs and flattened themselves in the mud, crawling as close as they could to his loincloth. Callahan tried not to breathe through her nose.

"What's the plan?" Frank hissed. "Get flattened by a blue rump?"

"Lay low," Percy said. "Only move if you have to."

The gryphons arrived in a wave of angry beaks, talons, and wings, swarming around the giant, trying to get under his legs. The giant rumbled in surprise. He shifted. Percy had to roll to avoid getting crushed by his large hairy rear. The Hyperborean grunted, a little more irritated. He swatted at the gryphons, but they squawked in outrage and began pecking at his legs and hands.

"Ruh?" the giant bellowed. "Ruh!" He took a deep breath and blew out a wave of cold air.

Even under the protection of the giant's legs, Percy could feel the temperature drop. The gryphons' shrieking stopped.

He pushed at Cal's shoulder, "Ok come on. Carefully."

They all crawled out from under the giant, covered in mud,. Around them looked like a winter wonderland. trees were glazed with frost. A huge swath of the bog was covered in fresh snow. Frozen gryphons stuck out of the ground like feathery Popsicle sticks, their wings still spread, beaks open, eyes wide with surprise.

They scrambled away, trying to keep out of the giant's vision, but the big guy was too busy to notice them. He was trying to figure out how to string a frozen gryphon onto his necklace.

"Percy..." Hazel wiped the ice and mud from her face. "How did you know the giant could do that?"

"I almost got hit by Hyperborean breath once," he said. "We'd better move. The gryphons won't stay frozen forever."

━━━birds

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

A/N: Sup, lovies. I haven't gotten any reactions or comments *hem hem*, but I'm gonna assume you're enjoying the story. I sincerely hope you are! But I'm jumping on here to let you guys know that I'm out of my pre-written chapters, meaning updates are gonna be slower, how much slower? Well, I got no clue.