Bride of the Sea God

Chapter 9

"A sign of faith. Are you sure you're not giving me work to do as punishment from earlier?" She eyed the pile of scrolls before her.

The sea god smiled. "I am not so petty as to do that." Then with the same smile, he added three more scrolls to the pile.

Annabeth frowned. And here, she had thought that his smile was quite nice since he always appeared to be broody. Instead, she sighed and pulled the nearest scroll towards her.

She was halfway finished with her work when a large splash sounded by the side of the ship. Annabeth looked up to see Perseus casually toss a crimson sea serpent with a body as wide as her torso overboard.

"What...was that?" Annabeth said in disbelief.

"A sea snake. Common around these parts, but a young one at that. One of Ceto's companions." The sea god was unfazed. "Are you done with those reports?"

"Almost."

"Then take a break for now, and let us practice your swordsmanship."

Annabeth stretched and picked up her sword, facing Perseus.

"Ah, but I fear your opponent today will not be me as usual." The sea god only turned her around and pointed up to a few bird shapes circling in the sky above them. "Those will be your opponents."

"Lord Perseus." Annabeth scowled as she looked at the dark shapes.

"Yes?"

"I thought we made a promise not to betray each other."

"I'm not betraying you. I'm merely training you. Fighting me is quite different than gaining actual battle experience. There are many different fighting styles, and you will encounter a variety of monsters in your future. Therefore, it will be to your benefit to have some actual fighting experience." He shaded his eyes with his hand as he stared at the flying creatures overhead. "These are just mere harpies. Usually such low-level creatures would avoid my ship as much as possible, so I surmise someone has sent them as a warning gift. It would be a disservice if we do not tell them how much we appreciate this 'present' of theirs."

Both of them stared at the creatures that were circling lower and lower as they descended.

Perseus tossed a shield towards her. "Do not fear. Should I detect anything awry, I will immediately step in."

He was right in that she did need actual battle experience, and as soon as possible to prevent any more assassination attempts on her life. Out here in the seas with a sea god for backup would be a controlled environment at best and would not be a great simulation of what awaited her demigod fate in the world, but at least she would have a good understanding of where her weak points lay.

Annabeth shifted the bronze plated leather shield in her left hand and drew her sword in her right. "All right. I am ready."

"Then prepare yourself." The sea god stepped back and closed his eyes as if concentrating.

The sky above shimmered as though an invisible veil had been removed. Upon discovering the magical barrier removed, the harpies shrieked and dove down.

As they came closer, Annabeth saw that these harpies had the upper torsos of women until red feathers began morphing from skin into the lower halves of eagles with powerful talons. Instead of human arms, they had large wings that spanned longer than a human and ended in sharp claws wicked enough to slash someone's face off.

All this Annabeth was able to see in a second as her battle instincts kicked in. The first two harpies had arrived, their talons outstretched. Annabeth slammed her shield into the one on the left. The harpy shrieked as it crashed into the side of the boat and lay there dazed.