Audentis Fortuna Iuvat

We carved our way through the right flank of the army, our archers firing like crazy and taking down row upon row of monsters, releasing three or four arrows at once. Jason and I chopped down anything in our path while the demigods behind us took down anything left in our wake. We eventually broke through the huge mass of monsters and our path was clear to the huge looming black palace.

"Guys! Look some demigods got past the-" A centaur began but was taken down by some quick arrows from Lee.

"Let's go!" Jason said. "Kerri, you lead the way."

I honestly didn't see why he needed me to lead him to the entrance. It was obviously the two huge black doors that faced us but I suppose maybe the others had more trouble seeing through the mist, the mortals last I'd visited hadn't even spared the fortress a second glance.

I couldn't see any guards posted outside so I began to clamber up the huge stone steps that were obviously not designed for anyone with mortal-sized legs. The others hesitated but followed not far behind me. We had almost made it to the gates when everything began to go wrong again.

A guard leaped out from behind a pillar, he was some kind of doglike creature that I'm sure there was a proper name for but honestly looked like someone had gotten assorted parts from a greyhound and a rather buff man and smooshed them together until it resembled something somewhere between the two creatures. He pulled back a small recurve bow and began to fire. We hastily pulled up our shields but we were too far apart, spread out along the steps. We tried to huddle together as we maintained our progress and our archers returned fire. The dog-man's brethren appeared from behind more pillars and we slowed.

"Close the gap." I hissed to Jason before charging out and slicing down the first dog-man, stealing his bow and dropping my shield to fire a well placed arrow at his brother close by. This idiotic move caused a distraction and our archers were able to take down the rest of the creatures while the monsters aimed their arrows at me, somehow they all missed - all but one.

I didn't notice it until we gathered by the doors but Leila pointed to my leg in shock. "You're bleeding." She gasped.

I looked down at the arrow stuck clean through the meat of my calf and winced, the adrenaline was beginning to wear off and the icy numbness around the wound was beginning to turn into a stabbing pain. I bent down and snapped off the arrowhead, preparing to jerk the shaft out.

"Here, let me." Anthony said and he crouched beside my leg. I looked away and felt only a dull tug as he yanked the arrow from the wound. I watched as he pulled an ace bandage from his pocket and wrapped it around my calf. "That should stop the bleeding." He told me. I had almost forgotten that he was a son of Apollo. But then again, I didn't associate with the third cohort much.

He turned to his older brother from the second cohort. "Hey, Lee have you got some spare..." His voice trailed off as he saw Lee leaning over a different body, the others crowded around him as he mumbled a prayer to his dad and worked furiously on stilling the blood flowing from the barbed arrow sprouting from a golden breastplate.

I limped closer, Cindy looked up at me and smiled weakly, her face so pale that the faint freckles across her nose stood out like constellations. She looked down at the blood soaking her front.

"I'll be okay." She told me before closing her eyes.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Dakota scrabbled for her hand. I remembered Tom telling me that the two were dating."Stay with me, Cindy! Cindy!"

"The arrow; it's imperial gold. I've never seen this before but it's sapping away her life force." Anthony said in a dazed type of awe.

But the words barely sunk in as we all looked at Cindy in utter shock. This was the girl; the kind girl who's mother was the goddess of flowers - of all things - reduced to just another broken body on the battlefield.

Her chest stopped rising and Lee furiously chanted a prayer but we were all silent except for Dakota's sobbing.

We knew she was gone. And she had been shot when our line of shields had been broken - she must have been. And I did that. I ran out to cause a distraction and I had gotten my best friend shot.

It was my fault.

Notes