Wolf Girl

The Stars Burn Brighter than the Sun

Chapter 27

"We need to draw Tantalus away from the crystal." Percy said. "If I can somehow distract him and draw him into a fight with me, you might be able to sneak around him and destroy it. But we need him to think you've gone to get more help."

Leah nodded her wolf head at him to show she was listening, her brown eyes focused intensely on him as he spoke.

"If I can yell at you to get backup, acting like I'm going to try to take Tantalus out alone. Maybe he'll come out and face me. It's certainly worth a shot." Percy glanced at Riptide which still lay on the ground next to Leah. "Only problem is, your gonna need Riptide if your gonna destroy the crystal and that leaves me without a weapon."

Leah drooped her head down in shame, obviously mulling over the fact that she had left her own sword in the body of that Vampire.

"It's okay, I don't blame you. We were in a hurry and it would be extremely hard to run full speed with a sword in your mouth."

Percy glanced at the lush green undergrowth and the bushes spread randomly in places throughout the forrest floor. They would serve as good cover, that and the thick mist. Only the dead leave scattered across the ground would make it hard for Leah to sneak around, but what they had was the only plan, they would have to make it work.

"Pick Riptide up, pretend to run back when I yell at you, then loop around the side and destroy the crystal."

Leah nodded in understanding and tilted her head to the ground, trying to grab the pen with her teeth. She missed the first time before finally picking it up, huffing her breath in approval.

"Why not use your hand?" Percy asked.

If there was ever a way for a wolf to look embarrassed, that is how Leah looked in that moment. Her eyes avoided his and studied the ground as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world, shifting from paw to paw uncomfortably.

Then Percy remembered something, Leah's clothes didn't shift with her when she changed forms. They must have ripped off when she shifted into a wolf. He hadn't really been paying too much attention and had instead been focusing on the task at hand.

His face heated up, a rose red blush spreading all the way to Percy's ears.

"Erm, right. We'll have to make do. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter, there are more important things than modesty. Just try and wait to change back into a human until the last possible moment. I probably won't see you anyway, hopefully I'll be busy fighting Tantalus."

Yes it was embarrassing, but there was something more important going on at hand.

Percy stood up, his back rubbing against the trees rough wood. He was about to face off against Tantalus, without a weapon. He didn't need Athena to point out how stupid it was, how little chance their plan had at success. Perhaps if they had more time to prepare, maybe they could have come up with something better. But they didn't. They had no time to think, they could only act.

It's in these moments where true hero's are found.

Percy took a wary sideways step into the open, letting himself be seen in the open misty air. Tantalus had not moved from where he stood last. The only difference was that his gun was held down at his side, sleek black barrel pointed towards the ground. His ribs protruded in small bumps along his upper chest and his stomach caved in below it. Not eating will tend to do that to a person.

In that moment Tantalus seemed to look more like a walking skeleton than a ghost. The misty form of the frail ghost was almost sad to look at.

Almost.