The Male Hunter | Olympus' Traitor #1

Chapter 32: War Games

"Focus fire on the towers," Hannah heard Hazel shout from down the wall by the gate. "Don't let them reach the walls!" In response the two teenage demigods Hannah was with - Trevor, a son of Mercury and Elise, a Legacy of Mars - adjusted their aim towards the first cohort's tower. They opened fire with a highly concentrated steam of water, along with the other two cannons on their side of the fort. The siege tower wavered for a moment, but continued pushing onwards.

"Stay close, I don't want you to get hurt," Hannah ordered the nervous looking auburn haired girl next to her.

"Ya, close," Clara squeaked while she fingered the Celestial Bronze bow in her hands nervously. Capture the flag with the Greeks was one thing, but War Games with the Romans was totally different. This felt like an actual battle, not a game.

"Open fire!" Thalia ordered from down the wall to Hannah's right, causing a wave of silver arrows to arc down towards the attackers.

Hannah noticed Clara draw a very familiar looking arrow from her quiver and take aim at a pair of ladders carried by members of the first cohort. "Definitely her brother's sister," Hannah smirked to herself as the arrow impaled itself in the ground at the feet of the Romans, a large sonic boom following seconds after.

"Jake was right," Clara grinned as the Romans collapsed to the ground holding their ears. "Those arrows are fun!" Hannah sighed, those two were so similar. If only Jacob could be here to see her, to teach her, and to guide her.

The water cannon roared, and Hannah was misted with water again as it opened fire once more. The tower was almost to the wall now, which would mean a breach in the defenses. "It's going to reach the wall!" Elise exclaimed from next to Hannah. "We need to get over there!" As if confirming the descendant of Mars' statement, a detachment of half a dozen legionnaires ran past the, toward where the siege tower would meet the wall.

"But we can't just leave our post!" Trevor protested before activating the cannon to fire on the tower again.

"Stop it, both of you!" Hannah snapped. "If we leave, then this section is undefended!" Both muttered apologies to the older demigod. They had both joined the Legion after the Giant War, and respected that Hannah was a veteran of both the Titan and Giant Wars.

"Hannah! Hannah, look!" Clara frantically said while pointing at a ladder that was being swung to rest against the wall, the other five also coming to rest along the wall. Reacting quickly, Hannah drew the gladius at her side and used her foot to kick away the ladder simultaneously.

"Ladders!" Elise shouted. "Prepare for climbers!" The Romans along the wall drew swords and readied shields for attack, while some went to push the ladders away. It was met with varying degrees of success, two tipped over while the others were being held firmly in place so they only wavered a little bit. The Hunter's closest to the ladders also drew knives to prepare for close combat.

The wall suddenly shuddered, causing some to stumble a bit. "They've reached the gate, prepare to defend!" Hazel called as she ran past with a detachment of legionaries towards the siege tower that had now reached the wall.

Risking a glance at the eastern wall, Hannah could see that it was faring much better. Percy and Kate were working together to use the water from the cannons. So far they had completely destroyed the top of the second cohort's siege tower, and were using small tendrils of water to keep the ladders at bay. Hannah smirked at the sight, she kinda felt bad for the second cohort. Down the wall to Hannah's right war crimes and clashing of weapons could be heard as the door on the siege tower lowered, and a flood of first cohort legionnaires exited. Romans had also started coming up using the ladders, and the defenders were struggling to hold them back.reinforcements were coming from the eastern flank, but they wouldn't arrive in time. Small pockets were being created as fifth cohort demigods and members of the Hunt were being surrounded. The wall shuddered again and a large crash could be heard from the gate.