artemis ; pjo

Flying! (Sorta)

   As I fell through the clouds, I wondered how I got so confident. I looked at the ghost town below me, and studied it before shadow traveling higher in the air again. I looked again, but now at the dark horizon. The horizon was flickering, like a video game or computer programming glitch. This place was definitely a trap. An illusion that lured unfortunate demigods to their death, and I was determined to stop this.

   The monsters finally saw me in the air and gawked at me. The slim one quickly shook it off and barreled towards me. I focused on the area behind him and soon I was there. He spun around, confused.

"Catch me if you can!" I yelled.

I kept traveling up, so I could stay in place. The larger one came at me slowly. I let him come near me so I could take him out. Ripping the dagger out of its holster, I jabbed at his tail. I caught a scale and yanked it. He started bleeding and crying. I almost felt bad when I remembered that he has tried to kill me.

"You can stab at my brother all you want, but you'll never find his weak spot!" The slim one spat.

   That stupid, stupid Ichthyocentaur. He just told me that his brother had a specific weak spot, in an irregular place. I looked at the large one's scales, still shadow traveling in place, and skimmed them for a special looking one. The large one soared towards me, but I dodged him, shadow traveling next to him. The slim one also came at me, but I slapped him, and sent him into a daze. He looked around for me, but I could tell he was cross eyed. My eyes centered on one pale blue scale on the large one's tail.

"Thanks for the hint!" I called to the thin one. The large one came at me again but I shadow traveled in a circle around him. I lifted my dagger above my head and brought it down on that scale. The large Ichthyocentaur exploded into dust and flurried to the ground that was very far away. I smiled. I had killed my first monster! But at the same time, I was sorta sorry I killed him.

   Then it hit me. A wash of tiredness swept over my whole body and suddenly I felt extremely weak. I started falling. I focused on the ground really hard. So hard that my head hurt, or maybe that was the drowsiness. I closed my eyes and I felt that rewarding wind sweep by my face. I felt pressure under my feet. I opened my eyes and looked down to she the mossy sidewalk. I was overwhelmed with joy, but that quickly ended when I saw the slim Ichthyocentaur diving towards me.

"Oh, are we tired? Must be the effects of shadow traveling. Did you ever think of that? That shadow traveling makes you unexplainably tired?"  He said with fake sympathy and then smirked.

   My legs suddenly gave out on me and I collapsed. He started strutting over towards me, baring fangs. I crawled backwards, terrified. My hand found its way into the pile of the large Ichthyocentaur. Well, the dust of him.

   Soon my back was against a hard, brick building.

"Well, well. You may have killed my brother, but I will kill you" the thin one said. He slowly came towards me. I tried to grab my dagger, but the Ichthyocentaur wasn't in a good spot for me to stab. Plus, I wouldn't be able to find his weak spot.

"Help!" I screamed, "Someone help!"

"Oh, about that. I put your friends into a deep sleep. They won't be able to hear you. That makes it easier for me!" The  Ichthyocentaur gloated.

I turned my head and closed my eyes. My friends weren't able to hear me. Even if I slashed at the monster with my dagger, he wouldn't die unless I found his weak spot.

The Ichthyocentaur cackled.

"Another demigod who's fallen into my trap"

I thought about the glitchy horizon. This place wasn't real, it was like a green screen. But it's a green screen that you can die in front of. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If this place wasn't completely real, then there must be flaws. I felt around the bottom edge of the brick wall, and found exactly what I was looking for. My hand slipped through.

I opened my eyes and smiled.

"What?! What now?!" The Ichthyocentaur complained.

I looked him straight in the eye.

"If this place isn't real, there must be glitches"
And with that, I pushed down into the hole and fell.