The War Against Chaos (Completed)

Chapter 13

     I gasp, "Abaddon."
     He smiles, shaking his light brown hair out of his eyes, "That's right."
     "I knew it, I knew that you-" He kneels in front of me, tracing his finger along my face.
     I smack his hand away, "Why are you doing this?"
     "I cared about you, you know. But I realized that you had the wrong priorities. I knew you wouldn't be willing to help Eris-"
     "Because I don't want-"
     "Because you're foolish."
     "How long have you been working with her?"
     "Since the beginning of July." The beginning of July. He was working with her the entire time that we were dating.
     My voice comes out in a whisper, "Then why did you lie to me? Why did you pretend that you liked me?"
     He looks away, and for a split second I see remorse in his eyes, but it goes away quickly, "I wasn't lying. That night, at the beach, I was going to tell her that I didn't want to work with her anymore. I was blinded by my desire to keep you safe. But while I was sleeping she visited me in a dream. She told me that she was bound to win. As a child of Nike, I need to win. And I know that her side is the side I need to be on."
      "Abaddon, what you're doing is crazy! She wants to destroy camp!"
       "So?"
       "What about your friends? What about August? What about me?" He still hasn't moved closer to me, and I glance at my sword. If only I could-
      "Aelia, join us. We can be together-"
     "I'll never help you," I say trying to reach for my sword.
     "Wrong choice." He stabs at me, but I take that chance to scramble away to my sword. I wrap my hands around the hilt, and turn around just in time to block his blow. We slash at each other, and I'm just able to match him. I won't be able to do this for much longer, and I'm too far away for people to hear me. It takes all my strength to not look into his eyes. I know if I do, I won't be able to continue. I hear footsteps behind me, and just for a moment I look. He hits my sword out of my hand and kicks me back into a tree. My head hits against the bark, and I fall the the ground, blood dripping onto the white snow. I see his shadow looming over me.
    He stares down at me intently, "I was always better at sword fighting than you." I close my eyes, waiting for the impact, but nothing happens.
     I hear him struggling, and a new voice says, "Don't you dare." I look up just in time to see Annabeth throw him to the ground, his sword flung into the trees.
     She runs over to me, handing me my sword that she picked up, "You okay?"
     I nod, "Just a little hurt, but fine. Thanks for saving me."
     "It's no problem. Everyone was looking for you at-" She's cut off by the sound of deep, heavy panting coming from behind her. We look around and see a large, black hellhound coming towards us. Annabeth quickly unsheathes her knife and I stand up next to her. The hellhound rushes towards us and within a few seconds, blood splatters onto my shirt. The hellhound had blood wiped across it's mouth and it spits out a bone. I look over, and Annabeth stands next to me, blood on her as well, but unharmed. That's when I notice that Abaddon is gone, nothing but his bloody cloak remaining. Which means...the hellhound ate Abaddon. Abaddon is dead. He was trying to kill me, so why do I still care? Why am I wishing he wasn't dead? Did I think I could change his mind and we could live happily ever after? No. I know he wouldn't have listened to me. I suppose deep down I don't want to let go. The hellhound turns towards us and pounces, once again. Annabeth chucks her knife and it sinks into the hellhound, turning it into a pile of golden dust.
     She grabs her knife and turns towards me, "Aelia, a little before I found you...well I think Eris had risen all ready."
     I curse under my breath, "We've got to go then." I start towards where I think camp is, but she grabs my arm, pulling me back.
     "What?" I ask, "Am I going the wrong way?"
     She looks around, a panicked look on her face, "No. There's more of them." That's when I see it. All around us, hellhounds, a manticore, and at least a dozen other beasts surround us on all sides.
     I look back at Annabeth, "I think we're going to have to leave Eris to the others."