aces: leo valdez¹

010

In which; Hana adds to her list of
reasons why she's a cat person.

"WOLVES," PIPER SAID. "THEY SOUND CLOSE." Jason rose and summoned his sword.

Hana and Leo were quick to do the same and almost toppled over, bumping shoulders from their close proximity. They avoided a tumble into the fire and took defensive positions. Hana was next to Jason, having taken the cards from her waist band and flicked open the packet.

After being caught off three separate times over the course of the quest, Hana was just about done getting her arse kicked. So if some wolves busted into their shitty little cave and disturbed the peace, she wasn't going to sit there and take it.

With Leo on her left, and Jason on her right, Hana was prepared to fight. Even Gleeson had hefted his club, eyes glowing with excitement. Piper tried to stand too, but she stumbled and eased back down to the ground.

"Stay there," Jason told her. "We'll protect you."

Then, just outside the firelight, at the entrance of the cave, Hana saw a pair of red eyes glowing in the dark. She pulled a card from her deck slowly, not wanting to make any sudden moves that might make the wolf pounce. Although it was no doubt already planning to kill them for some stupid patron (they wouldn't be lucky enough to run into a normal wolf- not with their demigod luck).

More wolves edged into the firelight- black beasts bigger than Great Danes, with ice and snow caked on their fur. Their fangs gleamed, and their glowing red eyes looked disturbingly intelligent. The wolf in front was almost as tall as a horse, mouth stained as if they'd just made a fresh kill.

A quiet and blunt slash echoed in the silence, Piper had pulled her dagger out of its sheath. Hana was sure that would set the beast off- that they would lunge forwards in fury, then Jason stepped forward and said something in Latin.

The alpha wolf curled his lip. The fur stood up along his spine. One of his lieutenants tried to advance, but the alpha wolf snapped at his ear. Then all of the wolves backed into the Dark. She hadn't caught much of Jason's words, something about knowing wolves and fighting for some legion. Hana wasn't completely sure she or Jason knew what he was talking about.

"Dude, I gotta study Latin." Leo's hammer shook in his hand. "What'd you say, Jason?"

Hedge cursed. "Whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Look."

The wolves were coming back, but the alpha wolf wasn't with them. They didn't attack. They waited- at least a dozen now, in a rough semicircle just outside the firelight, blocking the cave exit.

The coach hefted his club. "Here's the plan. I'll kill them all, and you guys escape."

"Coach, they'll rip you apart," Piper said.

"Nah, I'm good."

"That's not the right answer, Gleeson."

Then a silhouette of a man came through the storm, wading through the wolf pack.

"Stick together," Jason said. "They respect a pack. And Hedge, no crazy stuff. We're not leaving you or anyone else behind."

Her hair stood on her arms, Hana wasn't sure how this fight would end if the three most capable members of their 'pack' had a thrill seeking satyr, and hypothermic Piper to protect.

The wolves parted, and the man stepped into the firelight. His hair was greasy and ragged, the color of fireplace soot, topped with a crown of what looked like finger bones. His robes were tattered fur- wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer, and several others it was impossible to identify. The furs didn't look cured, and from the smell, they weren't very fresh. His frame was lithe and muscular, like a distance runner's. But the most horrible thing was his face.