"Wolves," Piper said. "They sound close."
Jason rose and summoned his sword. Indy, Leo and Coach Hedge got to their feet, too. Piper tried too, but she swayed on the spot and sat back down again.
"Stay there," Jason told her. "We'll protect you."
The howls were closer now, and soon, glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness. Indy tapped her ring and summoned her bayonet, instinctively moving forward. The wolves were huge, larger than great danes, with shaggy black fur and gleaming fangs. It wasn't hard to see that these were not ordinary wolves, their eyes gleamed with a malice that could only be found in monsters.
The alpha wolf stepped forward, its maw stained with something that looked suspiciously like blood. Indy was about to aim her gun, when Jason stepped forward and said something in Latin. The wolf curled his lip and let out a snarl, the fur on its back rising. One of the other wolves attempted to advance, but the alpha snapped at its ear. The others seemed to get the message and retreated into the darkness.
"Dude, I gotta study Latin." Leo marveled, "What'd you say, Jason?"
Hedge cursed. "Whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Look."
He was right, the beasts had returned, but this time without their leader. They didn't attack. They waited – at least a dozen now, in a rough semicircle just outside the firelight, blocking the exit.
The coach raised his club. "Here's the plan. I'll kill them all, and you guys escape."
"Coach, they'll rip you apart," Piper said.
"Nah, I'm good.'
"Piper's right," Indy warned, "There's a reason wolves are higher up on the food chain than goats."
Hedge glared at her, but didn't have time to respond. A man was strolling through the storm. He entered the circle of wolves and sauntered past them as if they were shrubs.
"Stick together," Jason said. "They respect a pack. And Hedge, no crazy stuff. We're not leaving you or anyone else behind."
When the firelight illuminated the man's face, Indy fought the urge to take a step back and throw up in one of the bushes. His hair was greasy and ragged, the colour of fireplace soot, topped with a crown of what looked like finger bones. Pale skin was pulled over his skull so tightly that you could count every single vein in his head. When he smiled, Indy saw that his teeth were in fact yellowing fangs. His robes were tattered fur – wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer and several others that Indy couldn't name, but were probably on the 'Endangered Species' list. The man had the same glowing red eyes as the wolves, and his malicious stare was fixed on Jason.
"Ecce," he drawled, "filli Romani."
"Speak English, wolf man!" Hedge bellowed.
Wolf Man snarled. "Tell your faun to mind his tongue, son of Rome. Or he'll be my first snack."
The wolf man studied them one by one, evaluating their possible strengths and weaknesses. When his eyes leaned on Piper, Indy forced herself to remain calm. It would be dangerous if he figured out what Piper meant to her.
"So it's true," he mused. "A child of Aphrodite. A son of Hephaestus. A faun. A child of Chaos and a child of Rome, of Lord Jupiter, no less. All together, without killing each other. How interesting."
"You were told about us?" Jason asked. "By whom?"
The man snarled, or laughed. It was impossible to tell, "Oh, we've been patrolling for you all across the west, demigod, hoping we'd be the first to find you. The giant king will reward me well when he rises. I am Lycaon, king of the wolves. And my pack is hungry."
"Leave," Jason ordered. "There's no food for you here."
"Unless you want tofu burgers," Leo offered.
Looking back, it was probably the tofu comment that set him off.
"If I had my way," Lycaon said with regret, "I'd kill you first, son of Jupiter. Your father made me what I am. I was the powerful mortal king of Arcadia, with fifty fine sons, and Zeus slew them all with his lightning bolts."
"Ha," Coach Hedge said. "For good reason!"
Jason glanced over his shoulder. "Coach, you know this clown?"
"I do," Piper answered, "Lycaon invited Zeus to dinner, but the king wasn't sure it was really Zeus. So, to test his powers, Lycaon tried to feed him human flesh. Zeus got outraged –"
"And killed my sons!" Lycaon howled and the wolves harmonized with him.
"So Zeus turned him into a wolf," Piper continued, "They call ... They call werewolves lycanthropes, named after him, the first werewolf."
"The king of wolves," Coach Hedge finished. "An immortal, smelly, vicious mutt."
Lycaon growled. "I will tear you apart, faun!"
"Oh, you want some goat, buddy? 'Cause I'll give you goat."
"Calm down Coach," Indy said.
"Lycaon, you said you wanted to kill me first, but ...?" Jason asked, distracting the wolf from the combative goat.
"Sadly, Child of Rome, you are spoken for. Since this one –" he waved his claws at Piper – "has failed to kill you, you are to be delivered alive to the Wolf House. One of my compatriots has asked for the honour of killing you herself."
"Who?" Jason said.
The wolf king snickered. "Oh, a great admirer of yours. Apparently, you made quite an impression on her. She will take care of you soon enough, and really I cannot complain. Spilling your blood at the Wolf House should mark my new territory quite well. Lupa will think twice about challenging my pack."
"You're going to leave now," Piper said, "before we destroy you."
"A brave try, girl. I admire that. Perhaps I'll make your end quick. Only the son of Jupiter is needed alive. The rest of you, I'm afraid, are dinner."
"Hey, wolfy? You're not going to kill anyone without going through me first." Indy snarled.
Lycaon howled and long claws extended from his fingers. He slashed at her but Indy used her bayonet to block the strike. Thrown off balance by the hit, Lycaon stumbled a bit, giving Indy time to take aim, and shoot. But the bronze bullet went straight through him as if he was made of smoke.
"Gold, bronze, steel – none of these are any good against my wolves, daughter of Chaos." Lycaon laughed.
"Silver!" Piper cried. "Aren't werewolves hurt by silver?"
Indy cursed, "I don't have silver bullets,"
At that, the wolves leaped towards them. Coach Hedge happily began to charge at the, but Leo was faster. He threw a glass bottle onto the floor, splattering the clear liquid it contained all over the rocky ground. The familiar stench of gasoline Filled the cave. Leo shot a fireball at the puddle and it erupted into a wall of flames. The wolves howled angrily but retreaded, a couple had even caught fire.
"Aw, c'mon," Coach Hedge complained. "I can't hit them if they're way over there."
Every time a wolf came closer, Leo shot a new wave of fire from his hands, but each effort seemed to make him a little more tired, and the gasoline was already dying down.
"I can't summon any more gas!" Leo warned. Then his face turned red. "Wow, that came out wrong. I mean the burning kind. Gonna take the tool belt a while to recharge. What you got, man?"
"Nothing," Jason said. "Not even a weapon that works."
"Lightning?" Piper asked.
Jason frowned in concentration, but nothing happened. "I think the snowstorm is interfering or something."
"How about some chaos, Indy?" Leo asked.
"There's too little space here, and I can't control it that well yet. It would be too dangerous." Indy said.
That was a lie. Well, a half-lie. There was more than enough space in the cave, but the fear that she would lose control was still strong.
"Unleash the venti!" Piper said.
"Then we'll have nothing to give Aeolus," Jason argued. "We'll have come all this way for nothing."
Lycaon laughed. "I can smell your fear. A few more minutes of life, heroes. Pray to whatever gods you wish. Zeus did not grant me mercy, and you will have none from me."
The flames were dying out quickly, and the wolves that had fled a few moments ago were returning with charred coats and murderous glares. With a loud clang, Jason cursed and dropped his sword and crouched down like he was ready to go hand-to-hand. Leo pulled his hammer out of his pack and Piper raised her dagger. Indy made her weapon shrink back down into a ring and readied herself to summon the magic of the Void. Coach Hedge hefted his club, delighted at the prospect of a battle that was already lost.
Before the wolves could advance, the twang of a bowstring being released cut through the air. The silver shaft of an arrow sprouted out of the nearest wolf and it melted into a puddle of shadows. Arrows began to rain down on the wolf pack. One shot towards Lycaon, but the wolf king caught it in midair. He howled in pain and dropped the arrow. Indy could see the smoking gash it left across his palm. Another arrow flew towards him, but he wasn't fast enough to intercept it. It caught him in the shoulder, and the Lycaon staggered.
"Curse them!" the wolf king yelled.
He growled at his pack, and the wolves turned and ran. Lycaon fixed them with those glowing red eyes.
"This isn't over yet." he promised and disappeared into the night.
They were allowed no more than a few seconds of relief before more howls cut through the air. A smaller white wolf burst into the cave, followed by two more.
"Kill it?" Hedge asked, a bit too enthusiastically.
"No!" Piper said. "Wait."
A few seconds later, the archers appeared. Half a dozen teenage girls, all equipped with white-and-grey camouflage, quivers of bows and hunting knives strapped to their belts. The Hunters of Artemis.
The tallest one of them knelt and touched the ground, "So close."
She turned to her companions. "Phoebe, stay with me. Watch the entrance. The rest of you, follow Lycaon. We can't lose him now. I'll catch up with you."
The others mumbled in agreement and disappeared into the night, following the tracks of the wolf king and his pack. Then the girl who had spoken before turned to them, her face obscured by the hood of her parka.
"We've been following that demon's trail for over a week. Is everyone all right? No one got bit?"
"We're fine." Indy said, a grin spreading across her face, "Thanks for saving our asses back there, Pinecone Face."
The girl lowered her hood to reveal a head of spiky black hair and electric blue eyes.
She grinned, "Well, now we're even, Pinky Pie"
Indy glared at her, but Thalia was already used to it.
"Who are they?" she asked, gesturing to Indy's friends.
"Thalia." Jason stepped forward, his voice trembling. "I'm Jason, your brother."
I wanted to post this on friday, but I procrastinated and since I was traveling over the weekend, I just finished it today. Hope you liked it!