Demons | Nico di Angelo

Chapter 2: Undead Warriors Beat Up My Monster Counselor

"Earth Mother..." Nico murmured, and at that moment, Dr. Payne leapt at him.

I thought he was dead meat. The manticore moved swiftly, haunches bunching to spring faster than I could catch. He leapt at Nico with a snarl, but in a blink of an eye, Nico had sidestepped, his sword still trained in front of him. His arm was no long shaking, and he looked rather relaxed for a person facing down a monster. Dr. Payne let out a dry laugh. "Good job, boy," he said. "Maybe you have improved. But it's not going to be enough. You just chose your fate by staying here."

"Better than joining Gaea," Nico snapped. I scrambled back from them, wondering if I should just turn and run. Then again, if I just left Nico here, that would be the most cowardly thing I had done. Not only had he just chosen to stay, risk his own life, and save a girl he barely knew, but Dr. Payne also seemed associated with some bad memories. I remembered how he had said shakily, 'Bianca would still be alive.' Bianca. Was that his sister?

"You and your puny gods may have defeated the Titans, but they're no match for a goddess like Gaea! She gave birth to the Titans! The whole earth is her! With the giants on her side, the gods will look like nothing. Ants, to a giant," Dr. Payne leapt at Nico while talking. Nico somersaulted away, his black sword flashing at an incredible speed. A cut appeared on Dr. Payne's side, a deep one. I stifled a scream, but instead of blood, something brown and dry poured out.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be relieved or scared that dirt was, in fact, pouring out of the wound. I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled away from them, staring at Nico's sword and the dirt trickling towards the ground. The wound was already starting to knit together.

Nico seemed to be equally surprised. His eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the dirt. "What-" he began, momentarily distracted.

Dr. Payne laughed. "Fool," he growled, and his tail lashed out towards Nico. A scream of dread built up - it was traveling right to where his heart was. Maybe I had only known Nico for about ten minutes, but everything he had done was rather heroic and I couldn't watch him die.

I would've never been able to dodge the tail. Fortunately, Nico wasn't me, because in a flash, he had moved out of the way - not exactly fast enough, though. The barbed end of Dr. Payne's tail caught onto what was most likely his arm - it was too fast for me to catch - and the tail itself was lashed across his chest. The sharp part had missed its original target, Nico's heart, but from the whiteness of his face, I guessed that his arm was bleeding and cut. With one flick, Nico was sent into a wall. I let loose the scream that I had been holding when he collapsed to the ground, unmoving. His sword skidded from his hands and towards me.

Nico's sword lay at my feet, and I bent down and scooped it up, holding the blade awkwardly in front of me. It felt too heavy for me - how did Nico fight with this? - but nevertheless, I faced Dr. Payne. My arms shook, though it was mostly because of fear.

"I'd say 'bring it on,'" I chewed my lip, "but I think I'd rather have you not 'bring it on.'"

Out of the corner of my eye, Nico's hand seemed to move. My heart gave a jump -- for a moment I had thought he was dead. I tried to stop staring at him, but out of the two others in the room, Nico seemed more pleasant to stare at than Dr. Payne.

"I'll spill your blood," Dr. Payne promised. "I'll mark this wretched school as mine for centuries. I will be able to feast off mortals for centuries that dare stray near my ground."

"Um," I shifted my weight, trying to think of things to say that could possibly stall my inevitable death, "can you use someone else's blood? Because I'm currently using my blood and it's actually really useful. I don't like sharing either, if that's what you're talking about."