‘Get away from them!’ Master Anderson roared, blowing a gust of wind at the birds attacking the boys, the wind so strong it smacked the birds into a tree, shattering them into pieces of metal.
Clank. Clank. Clank. A soldier beat the butt of her gun into a bird’s head again and again, until the creature dropped. A soldier next to her did the same, with PET finally realising that their weapons didn’t work against the metal birds.
Hailey redirected her gaze to the sky. She needed to get rid of these damn creatures. If she created a tornado, she could blow them away, but the tornado would also take some of the students with it. And her hands were ruined; she wasn’t sure she could fight past the aching pain in them to use her powers.
‘I can heal those for you.’
Hailey gasped, eyes growing wide when she saw Kora; half-healed gashes covered her face and arms, and her clothes dripped blood. She looked like a zombie. ‘Medusa, Kora, you look like you’ve been trampled by a centaur.’
‘My body is healing all the injuries.’ Hailey noticed how the long cut down Kora’s neck was gradually vanishing, with the skin knitting itself back together. ‘Give me your hands.’
Hailey didn’t want to. Kora might be an Asclepius, but that didn’t mean she could keep absorbing injuries without risk. ‘No, they’re fine.’
‘Liar.’ She gently took Hailey’s bleeding hands.
Hailey would have risked excruciating pain and torn them back from Kora’s grasp, but the moment Kora touched her, the pain ebbed and the throbbing diminished. It was ecstasy. New skin grew back over her hands, knitting her flesh together and not leaving so much as a scar.
‘Thank you so much.’ Hailey grimaced when she saw Kora’s bleeding hands, feeling horrible that she now had to suffer through Hailey’s injury. ‘Will you be okay?’
Kora looked pale and on the verges of passing out, but she nodded, her eyes drooping a little. ‘I’ll take a quick break. Go and help. I’ll be fine.’
Hailey hesitated, watching Kora half-sit, half-collapse against a tree. ‘Go. You can’t do anything for me.’
‘Okay, but make sure you take a decent break.’ Hailey turned back to the gruesome scene. Using her powers was out, since there was no way to attack the birds without hurting the students too. But she didn’t need her powers to help.
She sprinted towards a bird attacking a girl a few feet away, and kicked her leg forward.
The bird took flight before her foot connected, and Hailey lost her balance, thumping to the ground. What the…? The birds had all taken flight, the creaking sound of their metal wings engulfing the forest. Why are they leaving?
The tingling in Hailey’s fingertips intensified.
A tremor shot through the ground. And then another. And another. Each one growing stronger.
‘What in Tartarus is that?’ Demi appeared beside Hailey.
Hailey stood back up. ‘I don’t know.’
A tree creaked in the distance and snapped. Another soon followed. Hailey’s blood froze. A voice in her head yelled at her to run, but she couldn’t. Her legs were rooted to the ground, and she was pretty sure that’s how everyone else felt because no one else moved.
The moment of paralysis passed in two heartbeats and the stampede of fleeing students began again, everyone bolting in the opposite direction of the falling trees. Hailey figured that was a pretty good idea. ‘Run!’ she yelled at Demi, sprinting with the other students.
A tree snapped right behind them, but Hailey didn’t look back. Something whistled overhead, and then the ground shook with the strength of an earthquake. Students screamed as the stampede halted, their path barred by a fallen tree. It reminded Hailey of the falling trees in the obstacle course. But here there were no safety measures. Nothing to prevent her and the other students from dying.
Another two trees crashed down on either side, trapping everyone. Hailey whipped around to face their attacker. Students near her did the same, most screaming and some even fainting. Pure icy terror pumped through Hailey’s body, sending her heart racing.
‘Is t-that what I think i-it is?’ Hailey had never heard Demi’s voice tremble. Ever. Not even when they’d faced Hades and the Erinyes.
A burly woman the height of the trees towered before them. One big black eye peered from the centre of her forehead. ‘It’s a cyclops.’ The words slipped from Hailey’s lips without her even realising. A cyclops, she thought with disbelief; they were one of the most feared monsters in the world, because of their enormous height and strength—not to mention their irascible temper. Very few people had ever come across a cyclops and survived to tell their friends.
‘Climb the trees!’ Madam Grayson yelled at the students, while she launched towards the monster with Master Anderson and PET. The soldiers opened fire. Bbbbbrrrrrttttt. Streams of bullets zoomed towards the cyclops.
Hailey knew she should be running, but she couldn’t look away. Besides, students were practically fighting each other trying to reach the trees. And she figured the soldiers would kill the monster.
The bullets pummelled into the cyclops… and bounced straight off its skin. The monster roared and lunged forward, reaching for PET.
Master Anderson exhaled a gust of wind before it could lay a single finger on them. The trees caught in the wind creaked and bent backwards so far that Hailey was sure they’d snap. The cyclops stumbled back a few steps and then lurched forward, flinging a hand out.
This time it connected.
Madam Grayson, Master Anderson, and the soldiers cried out, flying up towards the canopy of green and vanishing.
Hailey’s breath caught, and she waited for her teachers and PET to come plummeting back to the ground. But they were gone.
‘Medusa!’ Demi exclaimed.
Oh crap, we’re going to die! would probably have been more accurate in Hailey’s opinion. The other students were too busy clawing their way up the trees to notice no one was protecting them anymore.
A slow wicked smile stretched across the cyclops’s face, revealing yellow rotted teeth. It lunged. Time slowed down. Hailey saw the monster coming for her, but couldn’t do anything to stop it. There wasn’t enough time to create a tornado, and Master Anderson had proven wind was no match for it.
‘EVERYONE RUN!’ Hailey shouted.
The screaming started again, and the students bolted in different directions, hiding behind trees and bushes as they watched to see what would happen next. A group of students stood frozen in front of the monster, their terror gluing their legs in place. The cyclops’s hand snaked out to grab them, but hit something. It dragged its empty hand back, staring at it, dumbfounded. It reached out again, but still couldn’t grab the students. Hailey spotted Aaron at the front of the group, his palms outstretched. The cyclops rammed a fist against his force field; it rippled but stayed strong.
‘I can’t hold it back for long,’ Aaron said, his face red.
‘I have an idea,’ Hailey heard Lexa say from somewhere, but her attention was drawn towards the cyclops, who flicked its hand at Aaron’s force field. Aaron grunted. The monster flicked the force field again, and it shattered like glass.
Aaron slumped forward, exhausted.
‘Aaron, watch out!’ Hailey cried as the cyclops lunged towards him.
Lexa levitated up in front of the monster, making it jolt to a stop as she hovered in front of its face like a fly. Tahlia dangled from her legs and blew a mouthful of sleep dust into the cyclops’s face before the monster could swat her and Lexa away. It inhaled a deep breath, as if it were about to yawn, and Hailey waited for it to slam on the ground.
Instead it sneezed.
A shower of thick green snot rained down on the students and sent Lexa soaring backwards with Tahlia. The pair crashed into a tree before dropping to the ground, unconscious. Kora rushed over to help them, while Aaron lurched back to his feet and raised his palms, summoning his force field again.
‘Come with me.’ Hailey wiped away the glob of slimy snot t
hat had landed on her cheek and whirled around. Brennan was holding a hand towards her, and his other towards Demi. ‘I’ve been taking people to the beach. Come on, hurry.’
‘No.’ Hailey shook her head. ‘I need to help my friend.’
‘Yeah, we can’t let the cyclops squash Aaron,’ Demi agreed.
‘Help the others,’ Hailey instructed Brennan and sprinted to Aaron’s side with Demi. Jayden and Alec joined them a second later.
Hailey had no idea what the five of them could possibly do to stop the cyclops, but if it meant Brennan could rescue a few more students, then she’d do whatever it took to keep the monster distracted.
The cyclops rammed a fist into Aaron’s force field, and he grunted, sweat pouring from his brow. ‘Get out of here,’ he said through clenched teeth.
‘We’re not leaving you,’ Demi told him.
‘What’s the plan?’ Jayden asked when the cyclops rammed the force field again.
‘Hailey,’ Alec said.
‘Me?’
‘You can hit it with a lightning strike—like the griffin.’
Hailey remembered how much strength and power that had taken. She wasn’t sure she could do it again. But she had to try. ‘Okay. But I need a few seconds to create the storm.’ She lifted her arms to the canopy of green, focusing on the patches of sky she could see peeking through the trees’ branches. Storm clouds flooded in, and lightning sparked across the black sky.
The cyclops rammed its fist against the force field again. Aaron cried out and dropped to his knees. Things happened quickly from there. Alec rushed forward, kicking his leg out. Crack. His foot collided with the cyclops’s shin before he darted between the monster’s legs.
The cyclops howled and whipped around to face Alec, who turned deathly white. Its hand lunged towards him, just as the trees released a creaking moan and leaned over, blocking Alec from the monster’s reach.
‘Hurry, Hailey,’ Demi cried, her hands extended towards the trees concealing Alec.
The cyclops roared in frustration and whirled back to the four of them.
Hailey focused on forming her powers into a ball of electricity. Thunder rumbled around her, and a gale of wind swept through the forest, swaying the trees and sending loose leaves scattering down. Hailey’s hands shot forward at the cyclops, and she imagined the ball of energy she’d formed shooting towards it.
A blinding streak of lightning blasted through the trees and struck the monster’s shoulder, burning a hole through its flesh. A CRACK tore through the forest, and the cyclops hit the ground, which shook so violently Hailey lost her balance and stumbled to the dirt.
Hailey lurched up, her head woozy. ‘We did it. We actually did it.’
Cheers erupted from behind her, which quickly turned to gasps.
The cyclops was moving.
‘Are you kidding me?!’ Demi exclaimed.
‘RUN!’ Jayden yelled.
They hurtled past the cyclops towards Alec, who was already running for his life. Hailey didn’t dare turn around. But judging by the trembling ground and thundering steps, the cyclops was chasing them.
Trees snapped behind them as the monster barged its way through the forest. Hailey ploughed through a thicket of trees and almost came to a stop as dread curdled her blood. Her and her friends had burst into an open clearing. Another thicket of trees loomed twenty yards in front of them. Their only chance for survival was to make it there, to conceal themselves again in the greenery.
The footsteps kept thundering. Keep running, Hailey told herself. We can make it to the trees. The footsteps were closer now, and Hailey fought the urge to turn and see how close the monster was. Keep going, she told her legs, which were ready to buckle with fear.
A cackle broke out behind Hailey, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. She imagined the cyclops breaking through the trees into the clearing. It’d probably take the monster two leaps to reach them. Come on! Hailey willed her legs to run faster. The trees were ten yards away now. She and her friends could make this. They had to make this. Nine yards… Eight yards.
The cyclops’s bounding footsteps were drawing closer and closer. Even if we make it to the trees, how will we get rid of this thing?
Brennan materialised a few yards in front of Hailey, extending his arm out.
Thank the Tyches. ‘Everyone – join up,’ Hailey puffed out, grabbing Demi’s hand. She reached her free hand to Brennan, only a yard away now.
Brennan’s eyes widened.
A gigantic hand scooped up Hailey and her friends, fingers the length of Hailey’s arm wrapping around them and lifting them into the air. Hailey squirmed, trying to free herself, but the cyclops’s grasp tightened, making her feel as though a boa constrictor were strangling her.
It brought them to its face, its hot rancid breath washing over them and reminding Hailey of rotting meat. Pieces of flesh were wedged between the monster’s yellow teeth. Hailey’s stomach clenched, ready to vomit.
A smile of pure malice curved the cyclops’s greasy lips. Hailey tensed, waiting for it to toss them into its mouth. Instead, the monster drew its hand back and flung them forward, letting Hailey and her friends fly free.
13
Dinner Time
Hailey would have screamed, but terror snatched the air from her lungs. She soared over the trees, which rose up at her and her friends as they plummeted through the air. Hailey thought about how in the movies falling through trees usually slowed a person’s descent enough that they survived. But in reality, she was pretty sure the trees would turn her into a shish kebab—or her bones would shatter when she hit the ground.
The tingling in her fingertips refocused her mind. I have powers! She aimed her hands at the rising trees, and a gust of wind rushed up to catch her and her friends, holding them above the forest.
‘Nice one, Hails!’ Demi said, her hair whipping about as her polo shirt billowed in the breeze.
Hailey held her hands towards the trees, a mere few feet below her, the wind blasting up at her, making her feel like she was indoor skydiving. Her hands trembled as she maintained the breeze, slowly coercing it to lower them. The trees around them swayed and creaked as leaves rustled and drifted to the ground two-hundred feet below.
Pain bloomed in her head as her arms shook. Just a little more, she told herself, praying to the Tyches she could maintain control of the wind long enough for them to land safely.
But the Tyches weren’t listening.
The warmth flowing from Hailey’s fingertips cut off like a switch being flicked, and the wind vanished.
Everyone screamed, dropping through the air.
Hailey gasped, hitting something solid. But it wasn’t the ground.
‘That was close.’ Jayden’s voice shook. ‘Thanks, Aaron.’
Aaron was on his feet, holding his hands down. He lowered his force field to the forest floor, which Demi actually kissed. ‘Sweet ground, I’ll never leave you again.’
Jayden touched Hailey’s shoulder. ‘Are you okay?’
She nodded and staggered to her feet, fighting against the fatigue settling over her. ‘Yep, just tired. Sorry I dropped us—good thing you were here, Aaron.’
‘You fought a cyclops and then stopped the tress from skewering us—I can forgive you for dropping us,’ Demi said, somehow still keeping her sense of humour despite almost dying. ‘So what now?’ she asked. ‘Do we head back?’
‘And where exactly is back?’ Jayden replied.
Demi shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Alec’s the navigator.’
A little of the colour had returned to Alec’s cheeks. He stared around, his eyes combing through the trees surrounding them, which seemed to go on and on in every direction, and kicked at the dying leaves covering the dirt. He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. I can’t track the way back. We were thrown through the air, so there’s not exactly a trail for me to follow. The book Artemis’s Guide to Surviving the Forest says if you get lost to stay put, so I think the best plan is
to wait for the Academy to send a search party.’
‘Wait?’ Aaron said, reacting as if Alec had just told them they should sleep in a Nemean lion’s den. ‘We can’t wait here. We’re deep in the forest—aka Monster Central.’
A chill crept down Hailey’s spine, and she glanced around to make sure nothing peered out from the trees.
‘Um, I think we just got thrown from Monster Central,’ Demi contradicted. ‘Metal birds and a cyclops attacked us.’ Her face fell suddenly. ‘Do you think the others are okay? Do you think they got away?’
‘I’m sure the cyclops chasing us gave Brennan enough time to get everyone else out,’ Hailey said. At least that’s what she wanted to believe. And then she remembered Madam Grayson and Master Anderson soaring above the trees. Her chest tightened, and she tried not to think about the possibility that they’d fallen to their deaths.
‘We need to worry about ourselves for now,’ Aaron said. ‘It’s not safe here.’
‘But—’
‘I know we can’t wander around aimlessly.’ Aaron cut off Alec’s protest. ‘But we can’t stand out here like bait, and we have no idea how long it’ll take the Academy to organise a search party. Then they have to find us.’
Hailey’s legs swayed beneath her at the prospect of spending another night in a forest. It was wishful thinking to believe they’d get rescued in a couple of hours. It would take time for the students to get back to the Academy, and then Amathia would need to organise the teachers. And it’s not like they had much to go on, since Hailey and her friends had been flung through the air. The teachers would probably assume the fall had killed them, so would they even rush the search along if they thought they were only coming out to find bodies?
‘So what do you suggest?’ Jayden asked.
‘We find shelter.’
‘I can at least help with that.’ Alec crouched down, running a hand over the dirt. ‘There are tracks here from small animals. If we follow them, we’ll find shelter, or water.’
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 42
