Chaos's Horsemen

Search for the Mysterious Group

Four months passed, each one bringing the campers that much closer to war. The Horsemen were often absent from camp for long periods of time, searching for the group that Chaos had told them about. However, when they were in camp they were treated with a cautious respect, closer to fear than they would have preferred. The only campers to treat them as normal people were Marissa, who knew who Percy truly was, and Jason, who didn't care who they really were, just if they could help save his camp.
The Horsemen continued their search for the group in vain, looking all ver the Earth. They killed countless monsters, enough to fill three rooms with the spoils they received, but they still could not find what they were searching for. Truth be told, they were beginning to lose hope.
One night in July when the sun had just started to sink below the horizon, The Four Horsemen found themsleves camped outside of a small town in Oregon called Welches, having been driven out of the town itself by a man who had seen through the mist and called them devils because of their eyes. They set their camp up right at the base of a mountain that towered over the town. Carter had told them earlier that the mountain was called Mt. Hood, and Percy was certain that he had seen the flash of a tour pamphlet disappear into Carters pocket before anyone else could see it.
Percy smiled as he watched his friends set their camp up, the routine very familiar to the travel-weary beings. Janette was setting up their defenses, using her magic to create barriers and pockets were the air would push any intruders down, pinning them to the ground. Carter was setting up the tents, easily placing the stakes and threading the poles through the fabric. They would have brought the house that Chaos had left them, but they didnt want to draw too much attention to themselves. Ali had gone out into the woods to search for firewood which Carter would then set on fire when he was done with the tents. As for Percy, well he was in charge of taking care of their companions. It wasnt an easy task, one that he had fought to get out of but to no avail. Percy grunted as Light-foot slipped her way up his back to nestle around his back. That was her favorite resting place on Janette, but Percy wasnt so use to Light-foot's electricity so he jerked as multiple shocks rocketed through him as the small fox rubbed her head against his neck. Steel-wing was fairly calm, perched on bhis shoulder as most falcon would. The only problem was when he would spread his wings and call out, hitting Percy in the face with his metal wings. Then there was Bright-scales, who was the calmest of the bunch. She was curled around one of Percy's legs, snoring as Percy stepped gently so that he wouldnt wake her. Percy silently cursed as Bright-scales let out a billow of flames with her snore, searing his leg. The only companion who sat quietly was Infernus, who watched his partner struggle with his job in silent amusement, which did not go unnoticed by Percy.
'You laugh now, but it's your turn tomorrow!'
Infernus chuckled in the back of his throat, 'You act as though I should be scared! I am fine with working with my brethren, it's just you humans that find it hard because you can only speak to one of us!'
'Oh shut up,' Percy thought sullenly as he winced from a steel wing to the face, which caused Infernus to resume his fit of laughter.
"Are you ok?" Janette asked from where she carefully thread a spell to stop projectiles from entering their camp.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a jerk for aa companion," he joked, playfully glaring at Infernus who made a mock wimper sound and pretended to shrink back in fear. Janette laughed as she raised a hand to send a bolt of green light flyying towards a tree, causing it to shimmer and shake as if it were alive. Percy knew from experience that any monster that got close to that tree would find itself wrapped in vines and slowly crushed, not a pleasent way to die. "Anyway," he said, dragging the companions to a huge lake that he had created when they arrived, "Are you almost done?"
Janette smiled and nodded, walking over to help him with the companions. Percy felt a tingling shock as soon as she got close, then he felt Light-foot leap through the air to land on her companions shoulder, nuzzling the girl's neck with affection.
Janette smiled and scratched the fox's neck, not seeming to notice as small bolts of electricity snapped at her fingerrs and ran through her arm to race down her body and enter the earth below her feet. "Did you cause trouble for Percy?" she asked the fox with an affectionate smile. The fox tilteed her head and looked at Janette with the most innocent look that Percy had ever seen. a minute later Janette laughed, obviously just finishing a long discussion with her partner.
"What did she say?" Percy asked curiously, wondering what had been so funny.
Janette grinned as she slowly pryed Bright-scales off of Percy's leg, "The gist of it was that she liked hw you smelled, and she liked the feeling of drowning she got from being around you," Janette petted the content fox on the head again, "She's a little strange, my Light-foot!"
Percy shook his head, not sure just what to make of the little fox. Together, Janette and Percy were able to feed and groom their companions, which took so long because each of them were picky. Infernus had to have deer that was raw and covered in a marinade that was made of some kind of strange spices that burned Percy's eyes just from being near it. Light-foot wanted chicken that was still alive and plucked, which gave her the joy of hunting and the joy of not getting feathers stuck in her mouth apparently. Steel-wing wanted three mice, and one of them had to be an albino which apparently tasted different from a regular brown field mouse. Bright-scales wanted fire, preferably the white hot fire that burned at the bottom of a campfire and only Carter could create safely. Her request wasn't hard, but it was made difficult because Infernus liked fire too, and he often stole most of Bright-scales fire for himself. The first time he had gotten ahold of the flames before Bright-scales had been horrible, it had taken three hours to get them to stop fighting, and they had had to leave rather quickly to avoid the authorities, who would question just how the beautiful park had been almost burnt down.
Now that all the chores were done the Horsemen sat down to relax, having done their training earlier on in the day. Carter stretched out on the log he had picked, laying down so that he was parallel to the blazing fire that he had created. Steel-wing flitted over to land on his stomach, making himself comfortable on his partners rising and falling chest. Ali sat cross-legged against a boulder that she had pulled from the land, Bright-scales curled up in her lap. The dragon was asleep again, puffs of smoke and small tongues of flame flickering in and out of her mouth. Janette sat in the air, hovering afew feet of the ground. She had discovered this little trick a few months ago, solidifying the air under her to make a solid area were she could sit. Light-foot was curled up on her head, happily playing with some of Janette's hair. Percy sat on a chair of ice, gazing at the fire in deep thought, absentmindedly stroking Infernus's fur. Percy had discovered that he could keep the ice from melting if he made it a special way, changing how the molecules bonded, which came in handy because Infernus liked to sit right next to him.
Percy was so deep in thought that he didn't realize that rain was starting to fall, sizzling as it hit the fire. It took three tries before Janette wass finally able to get Percy's attention, who eventually came out of his thoughts to see the rain that he had created drenching his friends. Waving his hand, Percy made the rian stop and then Drew all of the water out of his friends clothes and hair, instantly drying them all. He smiled apologetically at all of them. Carter shrugged and went back to his nap, lobbing a small fireball on the fire to keep it burning. Ali just went back to playing with one of her daggers, throwing it to hit a tree and then watching as it flew back to her. Janette smiled at Percy, stroking her partners nose. Percy grimaced as he lobbed the ball off water that he had formed from his recent rainfall towards the edge of the camp, watching as it rolled towards the forest that surrounded the base of the mountain.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully, each of the Horsemen stuck in their own thoughts. Each of them had become discouraged, not sure if they would ever find this group that Chaos had told them about. The Horsemen took turns on watch, waking the next Horsemen when it was their turn. Although the night passed uneventfully, the morning was full of activity, and a surprise that waited for them on the other side of the mountain.
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