Chapter 11: Our last stand
Here ends an exiting part but it won't be the last expect more soon enough.
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Time had stopped. Things were moving slowly around me while scenario passed by me like a movie on rewind. Before I knew it, everything was dark, but there were clear voices. I could hear every detail.
A boy was crazy worried for what I could hear. He couldn't have been much younger or older than I was. At least not with the voice he had.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! This is my fault! Dad, please do something! I'm begging you. His soul is weak, but he can still be saved with enough power can't it?"
"Calm down, it's not your fault. It's that boy's father's fault. He was the one who went crazy. Anyway, this is just a mortal, he might have a very good warrior and he might have been brave. Very brave and heroic; however, is it worth the risk?" Asked a dark, sad voice which I found extremely familiar.
"He save both our lives! I owe him one. No matter the way, he deserves to live."
"*Sigh* it's not going to be an easy process you know?
"Yes. I--"
"Wel— Pos— he did— no more— Sure?
The voices became silent. The darkness soon started to lift and light began to fill the space. I closed my eyes to protect them from the blinding sight. When I reopened my eyes, I was back in the forest with a slow-mo explosion in the sky. Little by little, time was going back to normal. I could tell because of the sound of the flames bursting through the air at bullet speed. I was really startled by what had just happened, but I had no time to think, it was run or die. I chose the first option. I ran on the direction I believed would put me back on track. It took me a minute to realize the factors I didn't have in mind before I threw that flare. I didn't take in mind it could be interpreted as a S.O.S. for my team. I had to turn back but this time I couldn't afford to run. I had to be careful. I could hear groups moving nearby. When I found the tallest tree, I climbed it with help of the sword. I was really careful not to be seen but I paid close attention to every person who passed close by. After around ten minutes I figured I hadn't doomed my teammates and got back on track by having marked my way on trees carving an "L" on them.
On the way to the rock I couldn't find groups 2 and 3. Their positions were intact though. There was no sign of fights in the area. I continued my way to that high, decorated rock. It was beautifully carved into what definitely looked like a fist. There, a few people of our group were there including Luna.
A guy which face I couldn't distinguish got close to me and rapidly began to ask questions. "Good, you are alive. Do you have news on Fenly? What are we to do now?"
"Let him be," said his partner, "Let him take a break it must have been tough to be the bait that attracted the two teams to a single place."
"It's okay," I replied. "Fenly's only order was to divide the group so that everybody regrouped at point D and C. As you can see I took D and hopefully Ray made it to C with the other half of the group." From behind me the voice of that girl Camila startled me.
"I believe he did; however, Fenly fell in battle. She is out of this capture the flag. Athenians were very proud of that achievement. In other news, Gabriel's flare became a red zone. Various groups are in the nearby areas. Fights are everywhere. There is still half of the time span to be covered and there are only five of us here. In conclusion there is nothing we can do."
"At least you are save Gabriel," said Luna as she got closer to us.
"I'm glad. The same goes for you, Luna," I said as I saw her beautiful eyes getting closer and becoming clearer to see. "Anyway how do you know all this, Camila?
"I went around sneaking on top of the trees. That's my strong point. Also, not to brag but I'm one of the fastest in this camp."
"Okay how big are the groups fighting? Do happen to know how many there are?
"Around five or six fighting grounds, groups made of around 7 of Athena cabin, like usual, and 5 to 8 of the Ares cabin. Why?"
"It's my fault Fenly lost. I'll do my best not to let her struggles be in vain. We can at least keep the flags save for the 40 minutes left. Camila go find the other group. Find and defend till the end the Ares flag we will do the same with the Athena flag. This is an all or nothing. In the meanwhile, I'll cause a havoc."
Everybody looked at me with doubt but Luna had my back.
"We have nothing to lose by this, or do we?" She asked the group supporting my idea.
"Very well, it sounds legit," said one of the two dudes from the Hermes cabin.
"Let's do this then!" Said Camila with a lot of energy. "Let's do our best."
My plan was actually in action. Never had I taken the lead of a group, even less in a battle but they followed my instructions as if I was Fenly. The two guys took the front and the back to protect Luna and me who were still the newbies. I, from time to time, got separated from the group to fire more flares and distract the enemy in random, different directions. When we located the possible location of the Athena flag, I stopped so that the ones from the Athena cabin wouldn't get alarmed and draw back to fight us. The flag was utterly defenseless. As if they had left it for anyone to take. I took a step towards it but one of the guys stopped me.
"Don't let it fool you. They might not be experts at traps like us, but they are smart. Let me check it out first." Luna, the other dude, and I stayed in cover for a few minutes until the guy who went in for a booby trap inspection came back.
"It's clear, I got rid of a few nets, covered some holes and there are 3 guards of the Apollo cabin near. As long as we stay close but still, we are okay.
"No," I answered. "This is war we can't just stay still. If there is a group too big for us we lose. Can you upgrade the Athena traps and modify them to be more efficient?"
The pair of dude synchronized and spoke at the same time, "You are literally asking us to breath. Leave it to us."
They disappeared and went to instal traps everywhere in the meanwhile Luna and I took the risk of attracting a few lonely Ares and Athena cabin members to traps or made them fight between each other before we knocked them out with our weapons. The team was working perfectly and we only had 10 more minutes to go before we won. Sadly, at that moment An Athena member called out a full scale attack on the direction to the Ares flag claiming that Ares cabin was close to their end.
We regrouped and I told them, "We can't let this happen. Quick, how can we get there before they do?"
"We can only run," said one of the guys. "Athena cabin takes lots of precautions. They won't attack until they are all gathered. There is just one problem." He looked at Luna with concerned eyes.
"I can't keep up with you guys. I know. I'll stay here. There still might be some rogue people around whom I can trick. You three go and make sure we win."
I looked at her a bit worried but she looked pretty confident.
"Okay guys let's do this," I said.
We rushed to aid the other part of our team. It was hard to keep up with these two guys. They were like lions moving in their habitat. It was exhausting to go at their pace.
"There is only five minutes left the battle must already be on. What do we do once we get there?" Asked the guy in the left.
I answered, "You guys support the guys who must be fighting Athena cabin on the front lines I'll do a solo attack from behind. Don't worry I know what I'm doing."
"Okay, but don't die. Chiron will kill us if you do." I could distinguish that he winked at me and then continued. "Then we'll get going. Good luck." In a matter of seconds they ran faster than I've ever seen anyone of my age run. I lost sight of them as I gained sight of the last row of Athena cabin member attacking the Ares flag.
There were still around 30 Athena cabin members while there were just 9 Ares cabin members, some of them even wounded. I could only see three of our own attacking with precaution and the other two guys in my group now defending the flag while avoiding anybody to touch that flag. I had but one shot to win this I had to make it count. I summoned all the anger I had saved myself, all the frustration, all my rage deep inside cursing everything that had happened to Luna and me when we were just normal students a few days ago. With all that hatred, I created a flame so hot, that even me, who shouldn't feel its heat, felt the flames burn with an unearthly intensity.
I took the huge dark green ball of flames and threw it directly over the battlefield. The first ones to fall unconscious because of the heat were the wounded. Those who were left standing dropped their weapons, and couldn't open their eyes because of the amount of light there was. They drew back to avoid the intensity of the flames and as soon as my fire extinguished, my team had surrounded the defenseless Athena cabin team while the entire two men of the Ares cabin stood still without having a word to say. My five companions took control of the strongest of each side and by before we knew it, the sound of victory boomed through the forest at the rhythm of the trumpet. Hades and Hermes cabin won this Capture The Flag.
I could see the happiness on my team's face, Ray stood proud in the middle of the remains of the battlefield. He looked at me and with an approval look he got close to me and said, "Not bad for a newbie. I got to say... That was just incredible." He let out a satisfied laugh and then patted me on the back.
I fell to the ground...
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