"Oh gods–"
Percy was cut off as he parried a blow with an incoming hooded figure, Riptide clashing with a steel baton, and was knocked back a couple of feet.
"Percy!" Annabeth cried out, but was pushed down by Minerva, just in time as a number of hooded figures zipped by. Holly was already in the sky in stealth mode, shooting and aiming to stun as much of the attackers as possible.
"I need to the reach Artemis, it's him they want!" Minerva stated as she and Annabeth run downhill, "You go help your friends!"
"Don't order me around, mortal!" Annabeth scowled but followed anyway, heading to the direction where Percy had begun whipping up a miniature hurricane. Minerva sprinted towards the infirmary as the yells of battle began resounding the air, followed by the sounds of crackling electricity and projectiles here and there. She barricaded the door, and not a moment later someone was trying to barge in, who grunted in a language she wasn't familiar with.
Minerva gingerly pulled out her taser and grabbed onto Artemis' cane, a determined light shined in her eyes.
If you want him, you have to go through me first.
=====🦉=====
"Shoot them with all we got!"
"Gather! Shield wall!"
"By the Grace of Ares, have at me!!"
The camp roared asunder as the battle commenced; the hooded intruders numbered at about roughly 50, giving the demigods a number advantage. Unfortunately, the enemies seem more well-equipped against them, and were far more experienced in combat: Wielding steel batons that hum with electricity, the hooded figures clashed head-on with the demigods, subduing them with skills of a veteran at work. When out of range, they would pull out guns loaded with electrical energy set to knock any regular being unconscious with one charge; but their opponents weren't ordinary teenagers after all.
"Knock 'em out of the sky!" Will yelled out then made a forward hand gesture, "Fire!"
A hail of arrows from the Apollo cabin sailed through the sky, piercing the various targets; but other than shaking them up a bit, they remained unfazed. A black vest seem to be seen beneath the robes, earning a curse from Will.
"Keep up the barrage!" Annabeth called out as the Athena and Hermes cabin lock shields, forming a wall with spears sticking out and defending the main campus with various campers behind their backs that are not trained enough to handle this ordeal yet. Piper was assisting in tending to the wounded while she and her cabin backed up the Demeter cabin.
Percy had been averting most of the attention with his storm display, but was showing signs of tiring out. He whipped the winds and knocked a couple of the foes to the ground as he began exchanging blows with another, keeping the storm roaring and himself in his element. Oh, if only Thalia or Jason were here...
Nico had summoned an army of undead to keep up with the numbers and keeping the brunt work to minimize casualties, but in the chaos he had gotten himself trapped in a duel against two of the hooded figures. Pulling out his Stygian sword, he clashed with one while summoning a hellhound to distract the other.
"Aaaand...LAUNCH!" Leo commanded as three ballistae, armed with net ammunition, shot at the incoming foes, managing to tie up two out of three. Leo then conjured a fireball and hurled it at the third, knocking the hooded figure out of the sky. Calypso was beside him, giving advice to the Hecate cabin of various aerial spells and tips in Mist manipulation.
All seemed to be going in favor of the demigods, but not for long...
=====🦉=====
"They wouldn't dare!"
Holly cursed in horror as the sounds of heavy chains and grunting could be heard from afar. She immediately zipped down, eager to warn the impending danger.
"Annabeth!" Holly landed beside the daughter of Athena, who was covered head to toe in dirt and had a scorch mark on her left shoulder from an electric shot of the Neutrino, "They are releasing the trolls!"
"The what!?"
A whistle resounded the camp as the hooded figures began to pull back and regroup, throwing out concussers on the way and knocking out unfortunate demigods that failed to reflexively raise their shields to block. Not a breath sooner, three 12-foot furry monsters with tusks came barreling down the hill, roaring in rage and heading straight into the shield wall.
"It's too fast to pull out–we have to brace!" Annabeth warned as the demigods steel themselves against the incoming monstrosities of war.
"FESTUS!" Leo yelled from afar and in no time a metallic dragon came swooping down from the sky, picking up a troll and disappearing from the clouds. But alas, the other two trolls slammed right into the line, wails of pain rang and bodies flung aside as the formation instantly crumbled due to the shock.
"Avoid the tusks, they'll make you drowsy!" Holly yelled out, "Make noise and keep it distracted"
"How do we deal with this thing?" Annabeth asked while giving the order to surround the creatures and start banging their shields.
"Light" Holly hesitated, "It would aggrevate them, being creatures of the night, but if the light is strong enough to become unbearable it would be possible to knock them out unconscious"
"Leo, heard all that?" Annabeth indicated her walkie-talkie and was in given an immediate response.
"Loud and clear. We'll start working on those flash-bangs"
Holly then noticed the hooded figures have begun knocking down door and entering the cabins and cursed in Gnommish. "I guess demigods are not counted as human trespassing" she muttered to herself, then she suddenly remembered Minerva and Artemis and literally face palmed.
I'm.An.Idiot
"I'll leave you to it" Holly quipped then sped towards the infirmary, the wings propelling her as fast as it could.
3 targets. Piece of cake.
Using the momentum of her flight, Holly slammed right into one of the hooded figures trying to break through the door, then while shielding her eyes she activated a concusser in front of the other two. One went down while the other was simply dazed, waving his baton in front of him randomly. Holly simply shot with her Neutrino set to stun and finished the job.
Just as she was about to call out Minerva, Holly was grabbed from behind by the hooded figure she kicked away earlier, and attempted to lock her in a hold. She saw through it and simply kicked right at his crotch, making him growl in pain as she broke free. Holly instantly pulled up her fists, ready for a showdown.
The hooded figure looked at her and seem to freeze.
"...H-Holly?" the foe asked with a tone of disbelief, confusion and somewhat daze. The voice was familiar enough for Holly to lower her guard a bit, wracking her brain on who it was.
Before either could answer, a crackle of electricity hummed and the hooded figure was tasered from behind by Minerva, right at the compartment where the wings were and causing a chain of static to encase the figure. He went down instantly, falling flat on the ground. Holly could tell the person was still breathing, and she noticed the other two figures getting up from behind Minerva.
"Get behind me!" Holly hissed and pulled Minerva to her, facing the other two with worry. They just won't stay down!
But before any combat could commence, a blaring siren pierced the cold, cloudy afternoon–a retreat signal. The two hooded figures reflexively through a smoke ball towards Holly while they picked up their fallen comrade and flew away. Holly didn't give chase, knowing her job right now was to watch over these two Mudchildren, even when she desperately wanted to find out the People's side in this matter.
Holly heaved a sigh of resignation, the moment awhile ago when one of the Elites recognized her, as if she was a ghost, still fresh in her memory.
What kind of mess have I gotten myself into?
=====🗣=====
Early release 'cuz I feel like it! (Don't worry, just think of it as a whim–and a guaranteed chapter every Friday, in case you are wondering)
As always, thanks for reading! 🦉