THE HEALER| Heroes of Olympus

III

"Let's get going," I suggested.

Halfway across the piazza, everything went wrong, but it had nothing to do with ghosts.

We were skirting around the well in the middle of the square, trying to give the cow monsters some distance, when I stumbled on a loose piece of cobblestone. Jasper caught me. Six or seven of the big grey beasts turned to look at them.

I glimpsed a glowing green eye under one's mane, and instantly I was hit with a wave of nausea, the way you felt when you ate to much ice cream. 

The creatures made deep throbbing sounds in their throats like angry foghorns.

"Nice cows," Jasper murmured. He put himself between me and the monsters. "I'm thinking we should back out of here slowly."

"Sorry," I whispered. "I'm such a klutz." 

"It's not your fault," Nico said. "Look at your feet."

I glanced down and caught my breath.

Under our shoes, the paving stones were moving – spiky plant tendrils were pushing up from the cracks.

Nico stepped back. The roots snaked out in his direction, trying to follow. The tendrils got thicker, exuding a steamy green vapor that smelled of boiled cabbage.

"These roots seem to like demigods," Jasper noted.

My hand drifted to my bracelet. "And the cow creatures like the roots."

The entire herd was now looking in our direction, making foghorn growls and stamping their hooves.

I understood animal behavior well enough to get the message: You are standing on our food.That makes you enemies.

I tried to think. There were too many monsters to fight. Something about their eyes hidden under those shaggy manes ... I had got sick from the barest glimpse. 

I had a bad feeling that if those monsters made direct eye contact, I might get a lot worse than nauseous.

"Don't meet their eyes," Jasper warned, thinking the same thing as me. "I'll distract them. You two back up slowly towards that black house." 

The creatures tensed, ready to attack.

"Never mind," Jasper said. "Run!"

Nico and I for the side street. Jasper stepped in front of the monsters, hoping to keep their attention. He yelled at the top of his lungs, to try and distract them.

Two of the cow monsters peeled off from the herd to chase Nico and me. Which was just lovely.

"No!" Jasper yelled after them.

The rest of the herd surrounded Jasper. They growled, emerald-green gas billowing from their nostrils. Jasper stepped back to avoid the stuff, and summoned his spear.

The monsters growled in reply. Three of them sprang at once, but Jasper was ready. His reflexes were built for speed in combat.He slashed the first two monsters into dust with his spear, then sank his spear into the third one's throat and tossed it aside.

There were seven left, plus the two chasing us. Not great odds, but Jasper had to keep the bulk of herd focused on him. He shouted at the monsters, and they edged away.

Unfortunately I had become too distracted by Jasper's cow slaying. One of the cows chasing Nico and me. It blasted me in the face with green gas.

I shot the monster to dust with my bow, but the damage was already done. I tried to force myself not to breathe, but I already had.