Of Gods and Monsters
written by [offline]Rowan Blackthorn
Evie has always been... different. She's seen weird things, and doesn't know what to make of them; but it all changes when she gets attacked and is helped out of danger by an unlikely savior. (Percy Jackson fan fic)
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
46
Reads
499
Ben nearly gets decapitated
Chapter 15
It turns out Jake was kind of right about Cress and her ability to be scary. It’s hard to not be scared of a girl that can wield two katanas with such dexterity.
Cress was in the middle of attacking an automated training dummy when Jake and I walked into the training arena. She dodged the training dummy’s attempted hit with the wooden sword it had, and then, faster than it could react, stabbed her two blades into its chest. The dummy deactivated, and she pulled them out. Cress turned and saw us. With a smooth movement that suggested that she had done it many times before, she slid her two Celestial Bronze katanas into the scabbard on her back. They were in an “X” shape, with the hilt of either sword visible over her shoulders. She waved to us, then jogged over.
“Hey,” said Cress. “You’ve come to train? I see you’ve found Evie a new accessory.” She nodded at my daggers.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Jake’s promised to train me. Speaking of training, that right there was pretty amazing.” I gestured to the dummy, which a couple dryads were pulling to the edge of the arena.
“Well, I told you Cress can be scary if she wants to.” said Jake and then playfully nudged her. “Now shoo. Evie and I need to train.”
Cress walked away, unsheathing her swords as she did so, and Jake turned to me. “I’ll teach you the technique for throwing a knife first, okay?” he asked, and put his hand out for one of the smaller daggers. “You should probably learn how to throw both the smaller ones and the bigger one with at least some dexterity, but we’ll start with these, because they’re gonna be a little easier to throw.”
He showed me what the stance and motions to throw the knife were like, then waved at me to try. I felt unbalanced and just generally awkward, especially when Jake stood behind me and held my hand with the knife in it in his hand to show me the motion. It was also weird, because Jake, like most people, was right-handed; but not me; I’m left handed.
Before I could try my first throw, though, we were interrupted. Ben, the son of Ares (the god of war) who had tried to not let Cress play capture the flag the previous day, and was probably still salty that his side lost against Cress and Jake’s, came into the arena.
“Teaching the newbie how to fight?” he jeered, seeing me and Jake. “Well, you better get started. She won’t hold out long here. You’ll probably die at the next capture the flag game, and spend the rest of eternity in the Fields of Asphodel.”
That comment, about Death and the Underworld, hit a little too close to home. Before I was conscious of what I was doing, I drew my hand back and threw my Stygian Iron dagger at Ben. It whizzed past Jake and impaled itself an inch into the wooden board behind Ben, nicking his ear and drawing a little bit of blood as it went past.
Cress was in the middle of attacking an automated training dummy when Jake and I walked into the training arena. She dodged the training dummy’s attempted hit with the wooden sword it had, and then, faster than it could react, stabbed her two blades into its chest. The dummy deactivated, and she pulled them out. Cress turned and saw us. With a smooth movement that suggested that she had done it many times before, she slid her two Celestial Bronze katanas into the scabbard on her back. They were in an “X” shape, with the hilt of either sword visible over her shoulders. She waved to us, then jogged over.
“Hey,” said Cress. “You’ve come to train? I see you’ve found Evie a new accessory.” She nodded at my daggers.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Jake’s promised to train me. Speaking of training, that right there was pretty amazing.” I gestured to the dummy, which a couple dryads were pulling to the edge of the arena.
“Well, I told you Cress can be scary if she wants to.” said Jake and then playfully nudged her. “Now shoo. Evie and I need to train.”
Cress walked away, unsheathing her swords as she did so, and Jake turned to me. “I’ll teach you the technique for throwing a knife first, okay?” he asked, and put his hand out for one of the smaller daggers. “You should probably learn how to throw both the smaller ones and the bigger one with at least some dexterity, but we’ll start with these, because they’re gonna be a little easier to throw.”
He showed me what the stance and motions to throw the knife were like, then waved at me to try. I felt unbalanced and just generally awkward, especially when Jake stood behind me and held my hand with the knife in it in his hand to show me the motion. It was also weird, because Jake, like most people, was right-handed; but not me; I’m left handed.
Before I could try my first throw, though, we were interrupted. Ben, the son of Ares (the god of war) who had tried to not let Cress play capture the flag the previous day, and was probably still salty that his side lost against Cress and Jake’s, came into the arena.
“Teaching the newbie how to fight?” he jeered, seeing me and Jake. “Well, you better get started. She won’t hold out long here. You’ll probably die at the next capture the flag game, and spend the rest of eternity in the Fields of Asphodel.”
That comment, about Death and the Underworld, hit a little too close to home. Before I was conscious of what I was doing, I drew my hand back and threw my Stygian Iron dagger at Ben. It whizzed past Jake and impaled itself an inch into the wooden board behind Ben, nicking his ear and drawing a little bit of blood as it went past.
