The Golden Amulet (PJO, Sequel to The Silver Ring)

Chapter 50

I mumbled out another thanks and then looked for Adriana.

She rolled to her feet a second after I spotted her. She looked unharmed, save for a slight limp; the fall was so high that nothing could prevent you from getting an injury. She immediately sprinted for the forest.

"C'mon," I said, stumbling for the ladder that had brought me up here in the first place. "We've got to catch her."

Rosaline didn't let go of me, however. "I've got an idea."

I looked at her in fear and trepidation. "Is it safe?"

"It's faster." She avoided my question, but at the same time, the avoidance was an answer.

And then she launched us both off the roof.

The wind ruffled at my hair and made my eyes water as I fought to gulp down deep breaths, trying not to scream.

A portal appeared below us. We fell through it, and I found myself on the ground, surrounded by several guards who had been alerted by the commotion. The portal had teleported us right where Adriana had landed a few seconds ago, while also negating the force of the fall, saving us from being injured.

As soon as the guards realized they were pointing weapons at their superior, they quickly sheathed them and bowed.

Adriana was nowhere to be seen. She had disappeared into the forest, where the underbrush was so thick that it was hard to see even unnatural colors through it.

Rosaline waved the guards off. "That's enough. I need half of you to go into the right section of the forest, while the others go to the left section. I'll go to the center with my companion. If you see the Void soldier, be sure to capture her alive."

"Yes sir!" the soldiers all shouted. They quickly split into groups and charged into the forest, weapons at the ready. It only took a few seconds to lose sight of them, leaving only the distant crunching of leaves as they shoved through the forest.

I gave Rosaline an odd glance. "'Sir'? Is there something you're keeping from me?"

Rosaline glared at me. "It's just the generic term for somebody in charge."

"Sure, sure," I said, trying my best to stifle a smile. 

"I'm not dealing with this right now." Rosaline sighed and suddenly sprinted towards the forest.

I was taken by surprise and it took me a few moments to catch up with her. "Do you know where Adriana went?"

"No."

"Then why are you going towards the center so confidently?"

Rosaline glanced at me as she jumped over a log, which was impressive since it was a little more than waist height—plus, in the darkness, it looked like a shadow. "The soldiers were right behind her. If she'd gone towards the center—which we saw—and then cut back, the soldiers would've easily caught up with her. And since nobody shouted in alarm, this is the only way she could've gone."

I paused for a moment while shoving through some unusually thick shrubbery, thinking about this. "What if she killed them before they could make any noise?"

"That wouldn't happen," Rosaline said dismissively.

"But what if it did?" I pressed. "There were only like, three soldiers in each group. She could stab one, and potentially stab another before the last one realized."

"And then the last one would stab her."

"Not when you just told them to capture her alive. Plus, Adriana's better at combat than those soldiers. She deflected my sword an inch before I hit a hellhound." I squeezed my way between two trees.