Chapter 26

If the surprise caused by the pair of wings in Alex's back and the sudden disintegration of the baby drakon wasn't enough to get Luke and Thalia with their mouths ajar, then the next tremor that shook the cabin was.

Alex only wasted a second contemplating what could've possibly happened to the two had the barrier worked how he thought it was supposed to work, before whirling around and running back to Annabeth and Luke. 

"When did you plan to tell us you had... that?" Luke asked, understandably shocked. It wasn't every day a kid grew wings that could magically pass through clothes, but Alex wasn't about to lose precious time explaining how they worked — truth be told, he didn't know either.

"If you spot a bear cub, you just know the mother isn't far," Alex quoted himself, breaking the other boy out of his stupor. "We gotta bail. Fast!"

"What do you mean, we have to leave?!" 

Alex pulled Annabeth inside, and Luke quickly followed them. Thalia was just coming down the stairs, a mace canister Alex recognised as her spear in hidden form. 

"What—"

"No, time!" Alex yelled, cutting Thalia off. "Grab all of your stuff and meet me in the garage in two minutes!"

Luke and she were obviously full of questions but nodded nonetheless and ran upstairs. The house shook again, the tremors growing with intensity each time. Alex heard a flock of birds flying away as he looked at Annabeth. 

"Did you pack your things like I told you a few days ago?" He asked gently, kneeling down and grabbing her shoulders.

"Y-yeah," She nodded, sniffing and trying to compose herself as much as a seven-year-old could. "A-are... are we going to leave the cabin forever?"

Alex bit his lip. "I don't know, pipsqueak," He rose and went to grab his varsity jacket from the coathanger. He shoved it into her arms. "C'mon, wear this."

"No! You'll be the one fighting monsters!" Annabeth exclaimed. She was almost sobbing. "If I wear it, you're going to be in danger." 

"Annabeth, please," Alex pleaded, hanging it over her shoulders. "It's for your safety."

The little girl clutched the edges of the jacket where the buttons hung and closed it over her chest. She sniffed and nodded her head. Alex made sure her wavy hair wouldn't get stuck in the jacket's collar and buttoned it up so she'd be fully protected. 

He patted her head. "Let's go."

They rushed for the large wine-red door that led to the garage. Alex reached for the handle, and the door creaked with character as it swung open, revealing a relatively clean space. Dust particles danced in the shafts of light that pierced through the small windows, giving the garage an ambience that seemed to be out of touch with the situation at hand.

Inside, the smell of oil and metal washed over them, but the two were already used to it; they had been working on Alex's grandpa's truck for a while now, and if everything was correct, it'd be back on the road for the first time in two decades.

The dirt floor was filled with puddles of either coolant or oil, and spare metal pieces like camshafts, air filters and pistons were spread around the truck which was covered in a thin, white polyester blanket. 

Alex grabbed the cover and pulled it away, revealing a clean, red and ivory 1979 Ford F-350 Ranger Lariat. The chrome details on the radiator and front of the car that went in line to the loading floor were what Alex loved about this truck. The smooth and comfortable brown leather seats, the beautiful wood grain dashboard with a hint of chrome, the lush carpets that covered the floor—

"You add this thing here the whole time?!" Thalia exclaimed. She and Luke had each a rucksack similar to Alex's, though one was black with studded shoulder straps while the other was a simple pale green. 

"Wait until you see the wings," Luke commented from the side.

"The car's got wings?!" 

"No time for that," Alex said quickly, grabbing everyone's rucksacks and shoving them into the backseats. "If the mother drakon is out there, I'd rather leave than see if the faulty barrier holds on against her. And if she breaks it, monsters will swarm this place."

Luke dropped the subject in an instant — a smart choice, really — and went to make sure the cargo on the trunk was properly secured by the straps. Thalia, on the other hand, still seemed to be confused.

Alex saw her eyes briefly dart over to the stash of pieces of vinyl, so he snorted. "Don't worry. Everything's there," he said, throwing an oilskin tarp over the trunk, covering it. He made sure to properly hook it on his side. "Luke, do you know how to drive?"

Luke hooked the rest of the tarp on his side. "Yeah, had to do it a few times."

"Nice, you're our driver," Alex tossed him the keys for the ignition. The Son of Hermes quickly walked over to the driver's door. "Pipsqueak, you're going to grab the map from the glove compartment and give Luke directions, alright?"

The little girl nodded meekly and got inside the car. Alex shot Luke an apologetic glance. 

"Thalia and I will defend the rear and toss the monsters if they try to jump on us, and I'd feel better if you were to keep an eye on our last team member."

Luke rolled his eyes and smirked. Giving Annabeth something safe to do was on the priority list of everyone, and since only the sandy-haired boy knew how to drive, that left Thalia and Alex to work together. Alex just hoped the last week of living together had been enough for him not to earn a thunderstorm. He'd criticized Blink for his teamwork, but here he was, about to do something with even worse chemistry. Still, something in his gut told him it was their only option. 

The tremors got even closer, to the point where they could feel each thunderous step as something of surely enormous proportions approached the cabin from the small valley. 

"Luke, get us out of here!" Thalia exclaimed jumping up to the trunk.

"The garage's gate is closed!" Luke yelled back, but he saw Alex make a run for it. The younger boy pushed the white metallic gate up and motioned for him to hurry up.

The sounds of a heavy motor revving struck their ears after Luke twisted the key, pushed the gear shift stalk to first and kicked the pedal. The old Ford Ranger shot out of the garage, and Alex leapt into the air, flapped his wings once, and landed on the trunk with a loud thud beside Thalia. The truck almost swerved, but Luke battled with the wheel to keep it on the dirt road. Nice skills, Alex thought. 

"Oh, so that's what he meant..." Thalia muttered off-handedly, staring absentmindedly at Alex's dark, feathery wings. 

"Done looking?" Alex teased her, retracting the wings into him. 

The Daughter of Zeus was about to retort when another tremor, this one far stronger and closer than the last, shook the truck and sent her off balance. She almost fell off the trunk, but Alex caught her arm before she did.

A mix of dirt and gravel crunched under the tyres as the truck sped down to the country road. 

Alex pulled Thalia up and they stared at each other for a small moment before an earpopping roar echoed behind them. They both turned to look.

If one baby drakon was already something to be scared of, then Alex supposed four of them weren't much better. Like their brother, the drakons that galloped like horses after the truck had green scales that could probably stop a bullet. However, some of them had burn marks, and some of their scales were singed. Alex attributed them to Thalia's lighting.

But, in the end, the baby drakons weren't what had Alex not regretting leaving his grandparents' cabin in a hurry. The first thing he noticed about her was her size. She was easily as tall as a twenty-story building and as thick as a commercial plane. Then there was her mouth; the mother drakon had rows upon rows of sharp teeth that looked straight out of a 90s horror flick, while what Alex supposed was acidic gas oozed out of her nostrils. 

She rose above the line of trees like a crane above a construction zone and for a moment, Alex swore she locked her yellowish orbs with his purple eyes.

"What the hell..." Thalia said, wide-eyed. Alex didn't blame her. That thing could almost swallow their truck in one bite. "How are we supposed to fight that,"

"We're not," Alex said, and it was the truth. "She's slow, see?"

Alex pointed his finger and Thalia followed it with her eyes. The mother dragon took, at least, five seconds to complete one step; even if it crossed a long distance, the pickup would eventually outrun it. At some point, the sound of wood, glass, and metal breaking apart came from the clearing. Alex winced, holding in some stray tears when he realized the last piece of memories he had of his family was destroyed. All that was left now were a few portraits and his dad's letter...

The truck rose over something and Luke took a sharp turn right. They'd finally reached the country road. Asphalt felt much better than gravel for the two standing up in the trunk. While Luke was listening to Annabeth's directions to the highway, Alex's eyes were darting all around the sides of the road, his mind doing a kickflip with the number of ideas to defeat the baby drakons that kept popping up in his head.

Alex also considered that the clouds that began to gather in the sky probably brought rain. It would be useful to mask their scents, but it would also reduce the natural illumination. Having their sight cut shorter while running away from creatures that spit acidic vomit wasn't very good. With the sun being blocked, almost everything was in shades of grey.

Still, there was one good thing about the surroundings being darker.

Almost on cue, it started to rain. And it wasn't the soft kind of rain either. It was the one that felt like stones were falling on top of you, except it was still raining and not sleet. The heavy rain had turned the uneven road into a slippery slide towards hell, so Luke could hardly pass the 30-mile-per-hour threshold without almost losing control of the vehicle. 

The gallops of the beasts approached, and Alex turned to Thalia.

"Save your power," He told her. "Just keep them at bay. If you get exhausted, we're screwed."

"No need to mansplain! I got it," She yelled confidently. 

When the first baby drakon caught up to the truck and his figure became properly visible, Alex sniffed a sweet, pungent aroma and felt the air on his arms stand up.

"Fuck you!" He heard, followed by a flash of lighting and a low 'boom' almost like shy thunder. 

The baby drakon stumbled, the scales on its head burned and the end of its horns singed and smoking. Though it widened the gap significantly, it wasn't enough to kill it. Seems like Alex was worried for nothing; Thalia knew what she was doing.

She dropped her hands and exhaled, catching her breath. Alex held on to the edges of the trunk as they rode over bumps and holes, all the while he tried to spot the rest of the babies. As for the mother, the rhythmic tremors were enough evidence she hadn't given up on her pursuit.

Luke lowered his window and shouted at them through the rain. "Language! There's a child on board!"

"I'm. not. a. child." Annabeth hissed, and Alex heard a startled laugh over the surrounding chaos. Honestly? He was fucking scared as well.

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A/N: As always, review, comment, and leave some stones!

Also, no chapters on Saturday. The schedule should be around 4-5 chapters per week.