Storm Rising

Chapter 19

Percy's POV

"No!" Triton yells as a merman moves his spear to stab Amphitrite. Everything seems to be going in slow motion. I see the other guards closing in around their companion, and I know what I have to do. I thrust out my hand, a black fire with molten red and orange flames, shooting out from them. The flames hit the guard's spear and race up it faster than the eye can follow. It reaches his uniform and begins to burn extraordinary fast. He screams in pain. The other guards move in to help him, but the flames jump to their bodies as well. Triton, Amphitrite, and I watch in sick fascination as the fire runs down onto the mer soldiers tails, leaving charred flesh behind. The fire has soon burned all of their skin, but still burns on top of the fallen men.

"Percy, that was volcanic fire. It can burn underwater since some volcanoes exist underwater. But, We have to leave now," Triton says. "Someone must have heard the screaming and will be here soon," Triton helps his mother off the ground and takes our hands. We disappear in a flash of light and a swirl of bubbles.

We reappear in the outskirts of a dark city. It's probably about ten o'clock up here on the surface, since under the sea time goes a lot slower than surface time. "Where are we ask?" I ask Triton quietly.

"Trenton, New Jersey. I didn't know where your cave was so I just transported here," He replies. I nod and we walk into the city. It's a lot smaller than New York City, but still a decently sized city. Triton leads us down a few random roads, staying far away from alleyways. We reach a city park about twenty minutes later and sit down on a bench under a lamppost.

"What do we do now?" Amphitrite asks.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving," Triton digs through his pack. "You didn't happen to bring any food, did you?"

Amphitrite roots through her own pack. "We really did forget food in our rush to leave."

I smile. "What do you guys want to eat?"

They stare at me curiously. "Chicken strips," Triton says firmly. The plate appears in front of Triton with four chicken strips on it.

"Awesome!" Triton cries, before looking apologetically around, remembering we are in a city park at night. He digs into the chicken strips.

"I'll have a yogurt parfait," Amphitrite orders. A fruit and yogurt parfait appears on her lap. She grabs the spoon and takes a bit. "Yum."

I summon myself some blue chocolate chip cookies, just like the ones my mom makes, still warm. The gooey chocolate chips dissolve in my mouth. Amphitrite is enjoying every spoonful of her parfait, while Triton is hungrily chomping down on his chicken strips, only one left. After a few minutes of silently enjoying our food, I speak up.

"We have a cave up farther north."

"Where is it?" Triton asked.

I paused. Amphitrite took my moment's silence to jump in. "Do you not trust us?"

"I trust you," I reassure them quickly. "It's just most of the Olympians want to kill me and my friends."

Amphitrite's expression changes from anger to curiosity. "Explain please."

"Well, my friend Bianca, daughter of Hades, one of Artemis's hunters in her previous life, was brought back from the dead recently. Not in the normal rebirth, but as her old self. A few days after we had returned to camp, the hunters came to camp. Bianca sought them out, to join them again. Thalia Grace, the lieutenant of the hunt, was away at Camp Jupiter, visiting her brother Jason. Phoebe, long time hunter, was killed in the war. So another daughter of Zeus, Sydney Rae, was currently in charge of the hunt. Instead of excepting Bianca with open arms, they teased her. Teasing soon turned into torturing. In her weakened state, Bianca managed to use her power over shadows to free herself. The hunters, including Sydney and the hunters who supported her, attacked Bianca. She was fighting a few of them, but then Sydney snuck up on her. Sydney was about to stab her, when Bianca whirled around and stabbed her in the stomach, killing her. Since she was important to Zeus and Artemis, and those two are powerful and active in the council, most of the gods followed them. My friends and I managed to escape camp, but the gods are looking for us. Poseidon did absolutely nothing to stop this. Even my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, has betrayed me for Brandon. Every demigod, maybe even mortals will be looking for us. That's why I'm being careful."