plague bringer - a heroes of olympus insert

𝗑𝗂𝗏. 𝗆𝖾𝖾𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺 '𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗅𝗒' 𝗀𝗂𝖺𝗇𝗍

The most insulting part of this whole situation? The drakon was easily the most beautiful thing Aria had seen since she had fallen into Tartarus.

Its hide was dappled green and yellow, like sunlight through a forest canopy. Its reptilian eyes were sea green (kinda like Percy's... maybe he was actually a drakon too. Woah). When its frills unfurled around its head, Aria couldn't help but think what a regal and amazing monster it was that was about to kill her. "Pretty..." she uttered, beginning to slump into the Titan's head.

It was easily as long as a subway train. Its massive talons dug into the mud as it pulled itself forward, its tail whipping from side to side. The drakon hissed, spitting jets of green poison that smoked on the mossy ground and set tar pits on fire, filling the air with the scent of fresh pine and ginger. The monster even smelled good. Like most drakons, it was wingless, longer, and more snakelike than a dragon, and it looked hungry.

"Bob, what's that?" She pointed straight at the monster.

"Maeonian drakon," Bob said. "From Maeonia." The Titan shifted her position so he was holding her in her arms.

Aria felt a strong urge to go to sleep but shook it off. "Can we kill it?"

"Us?" Bob said. "No."

The drakon roared as if to accentuate the point, filling the air with more pine-ginger poison, which would have made an excellent car-freshener scent. Aria looked at the titan with hazy eyes. "Oh no," she uttered with a wheeze.

"Just wait," Bob said. "Any minute—"

"ROOOOOAAAR!"

Aria gacked as the giant emerged from his hut. He was about twenty feet tall—what seemed to be typical giant height—with a humanoid upper body, and scaly reptilian legs, like a bipedal dinosaur. He held no weapon. Instead of armor, he wore only a shirt stitched together from sheep hides and green-spotted leather. His skin was cherry red; his beard and hair the color of iron rust, braided with tufts of grass, leaves, and swamp flowers. He shouted in challenge, but thankfully he wasn't looking at Aria.

Bob stepped out of the way as the giant stormed toward the drakon. They clashed like some sort of weird Christmas combat scene—the red versus the green. The drakon spewed poison. The giant lunged to one side. He grabbed the oak tree and pulled it from the ground, roots and all. The old skull crumbled to dust as the giant hefted the tree like a baseball bat. The drakon's tail lashed around the giant's waist, dragging him closer to its gnashing teeth. But as soon as the giant was in range, he shoved the tree straight down the monster's throat.

Aria hoped she never had to see such a gruesome scene again. The tree pierced the drakon's gullet and impaled it to the ground. The roots began to move, digging deeper as they touched the earth, anchoring the oak until it looked like it had stood in that spot for centuries. The drakon shook and thrashed, but it was pinned fast. The giant brought his fist down on the drakon's neck. CRACK. The monster went limp. It began to dissolve, leaving only scraps of bone, meat, hide, and a new drakon skull whose open jaws ringed the oak tree.

Bob grunted. "Good one." The kitten purred in agreement and started cleaning his paws.

The giant kicked at the drakon's remains, examining them critically. "No good bones," he complained. "I wanted a new walking stick. Hmpf. Some good skin for the outhouse, though." He ripped some soft hide from the drakon's frills and tucked it in his belt.

"Uh..." Aria wanted to ask if the giant really used drakon hide for toilet paper, but she decided against it. She coughed for a moment, shaking in the Titan's arms. "Is this the giant?"

"Aria..." Bob patted the cat. "This is Tiny Bob."

Aria slowly blinked. She hoped the Titan was just messing with her, though Bob's face revealed nothing. She let out a breath of frustration (which sounded kinda like a sad kazoo). "I meant the guy who killed the drakon. You promised he could help."

"Promise?" The giant glanced over from his work. His eyes narrowed under his bushy red brows. "A big thing, a promise. Why would Bob promise my help?"

Bob shifted his weight. Titans were scary from what she could tell, but Aria had never seen one next to a giant before. Compared to the drakon-killer, Bob looked downright runty.

"Damasen is a good giant," Bob said. "He is peaceful. He can cure poisons and sickness."

Aria watched the giant Damasen, who was now ripping chunks of bloody meat from the drakon carcass with his bare hands. "Peaceful," she said, tilting her head to the side. "Neat."

"Good meat for dinner." Damasen stood up straight and studied Aria, as if she were another potential source of protein. "Come inside. We will have stew. Then we will see about this promise."