Melpomene (PJO)

4. The bowstring goes taut

"Define okay," Michael seethed. "None of this is okay. Kayla and Will might be safe, and Sean's probably still asleep, but Mari and Austin should be far, far away from here right now."

"We're fine!" Austin protested. "We can help!"

"I hear you, Michael, but there's nothing I can do." Lee slumped as the inferno finally died down around them. "That thing isn't going anywhere and there's no more time for any of us to run. We can't go with 'em to cover their backs, either - think what would happen if it didn't have us as targets here. The barrier clearly isn't protecting against the fire itself and we don't know how far it can propel that stuff."

Mari's eyes flashed towards the valley below. The camp lights were out, as the rest of the campers slept unaware. Her stomach curled in on itself at the implication.

"C'mon, Michael. Mari, Austin, you guys stay here," Lee told them as he stumbled up. "I think it needs to rest between fire-breaths. That window is our best shot to try and do some damage. We should stay by the rock for when it attacks again." Lee vaulted over the boulder, coming back up with his bow already drawn, and took aim at the Drakon.

Michael huffed, turning towards Mari and Austin. "I want to make this really clear: if either of you parasites are thinking of putting yourselves in harm's way by going up against that thing as some stupid way of 'proving yourselves', that ends now. Because if you so much as peep over this boulder, then the Drakon fire is going to be the least of your worries. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes. A-absolutely," Austin whispered.

"You're scary," Mari agreed.

"Yes, I am scary. Don't you forget it. Stay by the rock."

"Be careful!" Austin told him. Michael gave them each a curt nod, before leaping over the rock the same way Lee had, and disappearing from view. Austin lowered his bow, hands shaking. Mari wrapped an arm around him, closing her eyes and counting to ten. She'd have tried to imagine that she was somewhere else, but with all the heat in the air the only thing she could possibly visualise was the inside of a giant oven.

Mari really wasn't sure how long she and Austin sat there, huddled into each other. It couldn't have been more than twenty seconds, but every moment felt like a movie with the time slowed down. Roars filled the air, along with the sound of arrows whizzing. Austin rested his head on Mari's shoulder and she squeezed him a little tighter. Then, two more bodies crashed into them, as fire lit up the land again.

"It's no use!" Lee panted. "I think I fired twelve arrows at the thing. It barely flinched! At this rate we'll run out of arrows before it even gets a scratch!"

"Styx." Michael glared at his injured arm. "I could've had at least fifty arrows in the thing's hide if not for this stupid cast!"

The fire stopped again, and Lee groaned, "You did good, Michael. But the fire's gone, we have to keep going." He stumbled around the rock, bow shaking as he went. Michael turned towards Austin and Mari, putting two fingers to his eyes and then using the same fingers to point at each of them, before following Lee. The message was clear: I'm watching, don't you dare do anything stupid.

"Hey, Austin," Mari whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I may or may not be about to do something a little bit stupid."

"How can I help?" Austin's eyes hardened.

"I haven't been practising with the mist... and I get tired. Really, really easily," Mari gulped. "Um, I need you to catch me if I fall unconscious. Okay?"

"Mari. What do you - wait, Mari!"

Mari clambered up to onto the boulder, holding both hands in front of her. She must have been a lot louder than she thought, because Michael whirled around in horror.