Chapter Fifteen: Eddie. I Fail At Counting Monsters

Here is the fifteenth chapter of Heroes: The New Level.

I Fail At Counting Monsters
First Romans, then Greeks, and now Egyptians and Aztecs! How many sets of gods are there, for crying out loud?

If Tara, Raymond, Natalie, and I are some sort of special Merge heroes, what is it that makes us so special? And are there others? I couldn't help but think through all these questions as I climbed aboard the boat with Jason and Reyna beside me. Likewise, Tara sat with her half-brother and my half-sister (Annabeth is my half-sister!?). Natalie sat with Phoenix and a guy that I had to guess was Cam. And Raymond, Carter, and Zia sat together as well.

The boat left Aztlan and headed off through the water. The tension in the boat was thick enough to be cut with Vicis Tincidunt Vivamus. Yeah, I really love saying that name. But other than that, the trip along the river went smoothly. Until...

The boat shook as a green cat's claw pierced the side of the boat. And then another... The two claws pulled up a reptilian horse-shaped body, but with goat hooves and a woman's head and upper torso.

"Lamiae!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Something from the Greek legends?" I guessed.

Annabeth nodded. "Descendants of Lamia, one of Zeus's lovers who turned into a monster because Hera got jealous."

"What? Does that stuff happen in your mythology all the time?"

"My stepmom turned me into a dandelion once," Nico said absently. "How come we've never seen any lamiae before?"

"Technically, we have. Lamia was Scylla's mom, too."

"How do we kill it?" I interrupted.

"His blood," the lamiae said. "The master took me to his children, on this boat."

"She must mean Zeus," Annabeth said. "Jason's his Roman son. We've gotta get out of here fast before she decides to get revenge."

"Why escape?" I said. "We outnumber her a dozen to one. She has no weapons, where we have all we need to..."

"It's too dangerous, Eddie," Carter said directly. "The majority of deaths - demigod, godling, rep, whatever - come from taking unnecesary risks."

Nico flinched as if that actually hurt him. Before I could think about that too much, more green claws came onto the boat.

"More lamiae," I said, setting Vicis Tincidunt Vivamus into battle mode. I beheaded maybe eight of them before one of them grabbed Natalie and dragged her down under the water.

"Natalie!" Phoenix shouted.

I felt the scaly claws dig into my skin, heard Jason's muffled shouts, and saw a few drops of Zia's blood splash onto the surface.

I was wrong about the lamiae being weaker than us. I was wrong about us outnumbering them.

No! a voice in my head screamed. ''I am Eddie Jaden, son of Minerva, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. I will not let the lamiae defeat us in battle, and I will not let myself be wrong!''

I had to... Our lives - and the end of the Merge - depended on it.

Additive Words
A cliffhanger. How can the heroes defeat the lamiae? Can Zia survive the blood loss if it continues? How can Natalie survive the lamiae that dragged her down? Is the "master" that the lamiae mentioned the same one that leads the elusive sphinx? How can Eddie and Jason get through this alive? How many lamiae are there? As for Eddie's questions, how many other Merge heroes are there? And does Nico still regret the careless decision that took Bianca's life? What will happen in Chapter 16?

Here are some links.

Heroes: The New Level

Prologue: Lan. It May Start Soon

Chapter One: Tara. Some Weird Kid Fights Something

Wait for Chapter 16, coming soon to a fanfic near you.