Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"The problem with surviving was that you ended up with the ghosts of everyone you'd ever left behind riding on your shoulders."
~Paolo Bacigalupi, The Drowned Cities
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Chapter 20: You're The Only One

Relief flood through Bryn at the sight of her brother, half from knowing he was alive and half from being rescued. Brady rushed over to her, using his Hecate powers to unlock the handcuffs. She rubbed her wrists to relieve some of the pain from the chaffing while Brady worked on releasing Silena and Hallie.

"You!" Baltazar exclaimed. "Get away fr-"

He never finished his sentence for Bryn had sent a lightning bolt into his chest, sending him flying through the wall behind him. The demigods scrambled out into the hallway, running towards the stairwell. As they reached the top, they came to a sliding stop since Damianos and Phlegon were both there waiting for them. The former threw the Trident straight at Silena's heart. Bryn instinctively kicked her friend out of the way. The trio started to run back down the hallway but stopped when Baltazar emerged from the room he'd been thrown into. Needless to say, he didn't look exactly happy.

"This way!" Bryn ordered darting into a side room. She jumped through the fourth story window onto the ground below, using her powers to cushion her landing. Brady jumped with Silena and Hallie in hand.

"Split up. We have a better chance of escaping if we're apart since there's three of them and four of us," Bryn said.

"No! Last time we got split up, you ended up in Tartarus!" Brady protested.

"Look, Baltazar will most likely come after me and he's by far the strongest of the three. He's their leader. And if I get captured, I'm the one with the greatest chance of reaching through to Luke, Derek, and Bradley because I have a strong connection to all of them. Now go!"

Before they could argue with her, Bryn shot off into the forest which had been set ablaze by some unknown force. The daughter of Zeus had no idea where she was going, she just knew her goal was to get as far away as possible from this place as possible. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Baltazar charging through the forest, hot on her heels. In the distance she saw a ship hovering in the air, just above the shoreline. She saw black figures darting about which she figured were demigods. She wanted to reach them but that meant leading Baltazar directly to their escape route. She couldn't do that to them.

However, she had no chance to think of another way to escape because strong arms wrapped her. She struggled violently against the Eidolon but couldn't break his hold. At the last second, Bryn used her legs to run up the side of the tree so she could flip over Baltazar. The trick worked because he was unable to hold her when so much weight was pulling him down from behind. His grip loosened just enough for her to break free again.

Bryn racked her brain for ways to outrun her possessed boyfriend. He was taller than her which meant he could cover more ground, and he was naturally faster so that was a double-whammy against her. But she was more agile and fleet-footed, not to mention she could climb and fly, but the trees being on fire made the former idea a stupid one and lack of oxygen from the fire made the latter idea just as bad. Her best shot was to run a mercurial path through the forest to lose him.

Figuring she had nothing to lose at this point, Bryn tried out her plan. At first it seemed to be working, and probably would've worked better had not a burning tree crashed down in front of her. Embers flew out and landed on her skin. The pain was quick but excruciating, temporarily immobilizing her. By the time she got her wits about her again, Bryn was only able to make it a few dozen feet away from the tree before Baltazar knocked her to the ground.

"You're not going anywhere," he growled.

"Get off of me!" She retorted, kicking him in the stomach. He staggered back. Bryn scampered back up but Baltazar lunged forward, grabbing her leg. She went down hard, barely having time to roll over before she was pinned to the ground by her throat.

"You know, my plan was to let you live but in the past twenty-four hours, you've been a bigger pain in my ass than any other person or monster I've encountered since I've been alive. So give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."

"I can't give you one," Bryn lied. She could, but it was something that could work in her favor if it, in fact, worked. Her plan was highly dangerous though, and could possibly result in her getting killed. But her other option of not going with the plan would probably result in her death too so it wouldn't hurt to try her plan.

"Very well then," Baltazar said. "I'll find someone new to fill in your place and someone who is not near as big of a pain in my ass as you are."

He clamped his hands down on her throat. Her airway was immediately restricted as she struggled underneath him. She tried to push him off, tried to punch him in the face, tried to choke him back, but her lack of oxygen made her muscles so weak that she could barely left them.

"Lu-Luke..." she croaked out. "I... lov... y-"

Suddenly the hands released her throat. Baltazar backed off of her, clutching his head in his hands. Meanwhile, Bryn gasped for air, feeling as if she no amount would ever suffice.

"Bryn... Bryn, I'm so sorry," Luke said. Through the smoke and her own lack of vision from the sudden change from oxygen deprivation to oxygen overload, she saw him look up. His crystal blue eyes were wide with terror. His eyes locked onto something behind her. "Get her out of here. Whatever you do, make sure she gets out of here. They're the one she really wants."

Someone lifted her up into their arms. Her head lolled back and her air supply suddenly felt short again.

"She can't breathe!" A girl pointed out, hurriedly lifting Bryn's head up.

"Luke," she wheezed out.

"Sorry sweetie, but your boyfriend is dealing with possession right now and if he loses that battle right now, we're all dead. And you're dead if we don't get this swelling down in your neck."

"Lower the basket!" a guy shouted over the roar of the fire that was rapidly coming towards them. Bryn must've blacked out for a few seconds because one moment she was staring at tree trunks and the next she was staring at the tops of pine trees.

"What the hell happened to her?" someone asked.

"Some guy tried to strangle her and then he suddenly decided otherwise. Get her into the medical bay now! We need to find the others!"

Someone new lifted Bryn out of the basket which let her see her surroundings. She was on the deck of a flying ship with people scrambling about her. Her vision and comprehension of everything was minimal as the pain in her throat was increasing and she was desperately trying to stay conscious. Out of the corner of her eye, a bright, blinding light flashed right near the bow of the ship and that was the last thing she saw.

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Bryn woke up in a completely unfamiliar place. No one was around her which she wouldn't have minded except that 'no one' included Luke, Silena, Derek, the twins, and Hallie. And the beds around her were perfectly made, suggesting they hadn't been slept in recently. Forgetting all that had happened before she passed out, Bryn attempted to sit up only to experience excruciating pain in her neck. A whimper escaped from her but she quickly quieted down so as not to alert anyone nearby she was awake. It took an agonizing five minutes before the pain subsided enough for her to try a different tactic of getting up. This time she recognized that her neck was extremely damaged from Baltazar choking her, if not actually broken which would explain the neck brace she discovered she was wearing. In her second attempt, Bryn rolled onto her stomach, carefully pushing herself up into sitting position. While her world went a little wobbly, it straightened out within a few seconds, allowing her to get her bearings. Outside it was night and drizzling slightly but there was enough visibility through it that Bryn was able to see what looked like trees you'd find in the tropics.

Bryn quietly stepped onto the floor, immediately searching for her weapons. She found her sword Keravnó and her bow Apergós, in their mortal form, lying on the nightstand next to her bed. She slipped Keravnó, in its typical ring form, onto her middle finger but expanded her bow and quiver. Armed and ready, Bryn slipped outside. She heard voices to her left but they faded away quickly. Her heart raced as she tried to figure out where to go, where her family was, if they were even here. And where were the Eidolons? Was she still with them or did the people who had come with Brady gotten her out of there?

"Miss? You're not supposed to be up," a voice said from behind her. Bryn whirled around and let loose an arrow towards the person out of sheer reflex and terror that it might be an Eidolon. The person narrowly avoided taking an arrow to the head by dodging out of the way. They let out a yelp though from surprise which drew attention from others. Almost immediately Bryn was surrounded by other people with swords and bows pointed at her. She had no chance of winning against them with her injured neck so the only thing she could do was try and convince them to let her go by using her Charmspeak or by using her lightning powers, but since she had no idea if these people were demigods or just locals with medieval type weaponry, she had to be careful with her power.

All of a sudden, someone wrapped their arms around her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides and making her lose her grip on her bow. Out of panic, Bryn sent a jolt of electricity to get them off of her, but her senses were still skewed so what she thought was a little jolt sent the person flying twenty feet away from her. The people surrounding her stared in shock, but not for long. They charged her simultaneously. Surprisingly Bryn noticed they were trying to avoid hurting her further because she knew they knew that if they moved her neck, they'd incapacitate her by pain. While she appreciated their gentleness, it didn't make up for the fact that her family was missing and that she needed to find him. Bryn called a bolt of lightning from the sky. It struck her and while she was left unharmed, the others were jolted back from her.

"That's enough!" A guy barked, pointing his bow at her. He was at least six foot, if not taller. He had short black hair and olive skin. His brown eyes were narrowed in on her, showing a hidden anger at the situation. He wore black from head to toe, including black tattoos that were sporadically placed around his body. The whole outfit and appearance oozed danger. In her state, Bryn wouldn't stand a chance against him and if she used her power to send lightning at him, she'd knock herself out from exhaustion.

"You really want to test me after what I've just done to your friends?" Bryn snarled.

"We're on your side here. In case you don't remember, we're the ones who rescued you," he snapped.

"Easy Alec, she's just confused," a girl said, walking up beside him. She gave Bryn a friendly smile. She was about Bryn's height, just slightly shorter, with long, raven locks, dark brown eyes, and olive-skinned. Like the boy standing next to her, she had the same black tattoos but in different places. She and the boy had to be related, almost certainly siblings. "I'm Isabelle Greenwood. This is my brother, Alec. Welcome to Tribo do Divino, or Tribe of the Divine."

"Where is my family?" Bryn asked.

At this, Isabelle's smile faltered. "Why don't we get you back to the infirmary and we can talk there. You look about ready to pass out."

"No, answer my question. Now," Bryn ordered, using as much Charmspeak as she could muster.

Isabelle grimaced. "Your family isn't here. From what we know, the Eidolons are still possessing Luke, Derek, and Bradley, and we believe Brady, Silena, and Hallie are being held hostage by them. You were the only one we were able to get out."
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And that's the end of the book! I need to create a cover and settle on a story title for the next book before I start writing it but hopefully that won't take too long. Hope you enjoyed and I'll see y'all in the next one!