#She worships hynpos 22 hours a day

[jflashandclash]

Traitors of Olympus IV: Fall of the Sun

Twenty Five: Thalia

I’d Rather be in Tartarus

             Thalia didn’t have enough arrows to shoot them all. There was no way to recover the arrows when the flying rodents plopped into the river and were sucked under. The smaller bats struck first, tearing off any exposed skin.

           Other than Reyna, everyone had shed their unnecessary jackets and shirts in the jungle heat. Pain flared up along her arms, her face, her neck, and her shoulders as the swarm clawed and bit her, darting in and out so fast and in such numbers that she didn’t see most of the attackers.

           Every time she shot one down, they were replaced by a dark blur of five more sets of fangs, short snouts, long ears, and leathery wings.

           The twittering was incessant, echoing off the river like a horrible boom of thunder. Normally, Thalia enjoyed thunderstorms. Not this. There was a much deeper thrum that grew louder, shaking her inner core.

           If Camazotz got here before they figured something out, they were bat guano.

           Her friends were screaming. Calex yowled in panic. Axel and Reyna cursed in Spanish. The boat rocked violently.

           Thalia didn’t have much to fight bats. No holy water or bat repellant. Huntresses didn’t really do swarm animals, more giant beasts.

           We’re going to be eaten by Dracula, Camp Half-Blood will be destroyed, and I’ll never get to hear Blink 182’s reunion tour, she thought.

           The rocking gave her an idea.

           “Everyone to the port’s side!” Thalia shouted, hoping she could be heard over the incessant squeaking and hoping a bat wouldn’t decide to explore her windpipe.

           “Are you nutters?! That’ll flip the canoe!” Calex shrieked back.

           “She’s not crazy! She’s a genius!” Axel shouted.

           “Port side!” Reyna ordered. Something glowed on her arm—her tattoo.

           A surge of bravery hit Thalia. These were just bats. They could take bats.

           Thalia released a burst of electricity. A wave of aerial rodents[1] went down, but she wouldn’t be able to do that for the full swarm.

           To her horror, the smaller bats collapsed into the water, leaving a gap to see the Camazotz.

It was maybe twenty feet away, in mid-dive.

           One of their heads got cut off, was what Axel had said.

           This monster was large enough to decapitate all four of them in one go.

           Its wings were fully extended. Its mouth was open, revealing an abyss blacker than anything Thalia had seen, framed by fangs that were stained red on the tips and rotting back on the tops. The stench, even from twenty feet away, was gag-worthy. Rot overpowered the smell of the bloody river.

           Thalia lunged to her right, crashing into Calex. The Brit fumbled, trying to catch himself, but put his full weight against the side of the canoe.

           She caught a glimpse of Axel lunging from his side of the boat, towards Reyna. In a split second, his claws ripped a bat about to bite Reyna’s cheek, just as her spear impaled a bat going for his chest. Although all she could think was, ugh, weird and gross, she was pretty sure he leaned in to kiss Reyna in the moment the canoe tipped.

           Their grounding failed.

           The boat flipped, pitching them over and down.

           When Thalia hit the liquid, she forgot it wasn’t water.

           Her throat clogged.

           She gagged at the intense stench.

           When she resurfaced, she was under the flipped canoe, gasping for breath. The air tasted just as metallic, just as stale. Each stroke took double the effort it normally did. Although an excellent swimmer, she was barely able to tread water.

           She couldn’t see anything until Reyna surfaced.

           Reyna’s tattoo of Bellona gleamed brightly in the darkness. She held her arm aloft, like a beacon, gripping the edge of the boat with her other hand.

           Everything seemed to eat that light. It didn’t reflect into the liquid or illuminate beneath the surface. Instead, it painted the blood black, like they were swimming in ink.

           Calex surfaced next beside Thalia, spitting and swearing. He couldn’t stop saying, “Why?! Bloody why?!”

           Axel came up from the blood near Calex.

           Just as he bobbed up, something struck the canoe in a direct hit.

           The entire boat slammed downward.

           Despite the whole hull being carved of one piece of wood, a giant gash tore out from the center. The echo of bats amplified inside their confinements.

           Camazotz had landed its first bite.

           The boat wouldn’t hold up under a second hit.

           Thalia knew what they would have to do. With the four of them gasping there, waiting for another hit, this next one sure to leave them bobbing helplessly and exposed… the others wouldn’t like her idea. But, the rabbit said she would have to lead. Axel’s true vision said this was where the path ended in Xibalba. Maybe, he couldn’t see the next step.

           Maybe the next step was below the surface.

           “Form a chain! Someone grab hold of me, and then make sure the next person grabs them. We’re going under and I need to lead,” Thalia said.[2] “Reyna, c—c—can you make sure we don’t lose resolve?” She had heard rumors of the children of Bellona’s power.

           Thalia glanced to the praetor, hoping there would be no hesitation.

           Reyna’s dark eyes looked skeletal in the dim lighting. They darted from the hole in the canoe, down to Thalia.

           The thrum of the Camazotz’s scream grew loud again. It was preparing another dive.

           “Yes,” Reyna said.

           They had a split second to consider.

           Calex didn’t protest. He made a noise, then grabbed her backpack. “I’ve got you,” he said, his voice stronger now.

           “I have Calex,” Reyna said.

           “I have Reyna,” Axel said.

           Thalia swallowed, wishing she could get the metallic taste out of her mouth.

           “Okay,” Thalia said.

           They dove under the blood and swam straight down into the blackness.

 Things definitely not on my to-do list: swim in the Red River of Xibalba. Still preferable to White or Black, but I’ll just take a hard pass on any of those XD

Thanks for readings! I hope you enjoyed, despite things getting batty—sorry, Pax made Matthias steal my keyboard. Anyway, join in next week for a Reyna chapter!

Footnote:

[1] Bats, in fact, are not related to rodents and are from the order chiroptera. Pax would be ashamed of Thalia’s misuse of the rodent family. But he’s mostly still hung up on the fact that people think weasels and ferrets are part of the order of rodents too. He wants me to remind everyone that they are not. Now, away from Jack’s exhaustion-induced classification detour and back to your chiroptera-filled fanfic.

[2] Mel betacomment: “this sounds like an adorable kindergarten line. ‘Everyone hold hands!’”

Jack: and now I challenge someone to draw chibi Thalia, Axel, Reyna, and Calex all cheerfully holding hands in this bloody river XD