Days of Boom: Chapter 48



Joseph Mierek

XLIX

Think Fast, Run Faster

When my eyes finally readjusted to the light I saw my team rushing out of the clearing back to camp. Before I could follow movement from the corner of my eye made me stop. Diane and Silver were slowly trying to crawl away. I walked between them and raised my hands. Two powerful bolts of lightning blasted both of them into the dirt. They screamed in agony and after a few second I turned off the lightning.

As they laid there unconscious I raised my head to the sky and let out a loud call. A pack of gryphons, two dozen strong, swooped down and landed in the clearing. I turned to the largest, the leader of the pack.

"Take these two prisoners to The Olympian League Headquarters and if anything tries to get in your way eliminate it!" I growled. The alpha gryphon bowed to me. He turned and let out a series of calls which were most likely orders. Four gryphons grabbed Diane and Silver by their arms and legs then took off.

"Angel." I said turning to my companion. "Follow them and make sure they reach headquarters no matter what!"

"Just don't do anything stupid." She said before she turned into an eagle again and joined the pack.

I watched as they disappeared over the horizon then turned and ran in the direct my team had gone. I sprinted through the woods until a large quake knocked me off my feet followed by a loud BOOM!

"No, no, no!" I shouted as I got up and flew the rest of the way to camp. When I reached the tree line I expected to see a giant crater and the camp blown to Olympus. But what I saw was far more shocking. The canoe lake was glowing a sickly green color and a golden ring glowed around it. As I got closer I could see the green light in the lake was trying to push its self out of the water and the golden ring was running around the entire lake.

I spotted Dan and quickly landed next to him.

"What it Tartarus is going on!?" I shouted over all the noise.

"I had Nolan put the bomb in the lake to absorb the blast and now he's trying to suppress the explosion." Dan said never taking his eyes off the scene in front of us.

"You idiot!" I screamed. "Did it ever occur to you that the Atlantic Ocean is right there!?" I pointed to the second largest body of water on earth. Dan however, didn't turn his head. I looked up to see Nolan pass by again, and again. I looked around and noticed other demigods were trying to help. El and the other children of Poseidon were trying to force the water back into the lake. The children of Apollo had put up a large force field using their photokinesis.

A radical idea formed in my head. I rushed over to the children of Hades and told them to create a large bowl out of the earth surrounding the lake. They hesitated but eventually agreed. They surrounded the lake and raised their hands. The earth followed their movements and soon a three story rock formation surrounded the lake.

I whistled and my bike flew down next to me. I jumped on and gunned the engine. I rode to the top of the bowl and activated the sonic speed on my motorcycle. I rocketed around the curved sides of the lake pushing my bike to the limit trying to help Nolan suppress the blast. All we had to do was allow the bomb to slowly release it's energy until it completely ran out... that was the theory anyways.

I continued to race around the bowl at 760 miles per hour. Nolan however, was going faster. Every so often he would lap me and continue running.

"He pushes himself way to hard." I thought to myself. After several minutes I looked down and saw the light in the lake start to dim, our plan was working! I pushed my bike harder trying to catch up with Nolan to tell him it was working.

"Nolan!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I pushed my bike even harder as I tried to keep up with him. "Nolan, it's working, we can start slowing down now!"

Another golden light streaked passed me. "I can't." It shouted.

"What do you mean you can't? It's over we won?" I shouted searching for him. "Hang on I have an idea!"

I pulled out Changing Storm and willed it to transform into a long length of chain. I took a breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them again things began moving in slow motion. Children of Zeus have the ability to see things in slow motion like eagles or other birds of prey can. Nolan was still moving at high speeds but I could actually make out is actual form and not just a streak of golden light.

As Nolan made his way around the bowl I began swinging my chain like a lasso as my bike was moving at the speed of sound. When Nolan was about to pass me I swung the chain, wrapping it around his mid-section. I quickly tied the other end of the chain to my bike as Nolan sped ahead of me causing me to nearly loose control of the bike. As Nolan ran I deactivated the sonic sped on my bike and slammed hard on the brakes. My tires squealed and the engine groaned. I looked down at the speedometer, The needle slowly began to drift back to zero.

Finally Nolan stopped running and collapsed in front of me. I jumped off my bike and raced over to him. I knelt beside him and looked him over. His whole body was shaking, no vibrating, his breathing was short and shallow, and sweat cascaded down his face. When I touched his forehead it felt like his skin was on fire. He stared up at me through slightly glazed eyes, like he was in a trance.

"Joe," He said weakly, lifting his hand. I grasped it tightly not caring that his hand was vibrating so hard it rattled my bones. "I think I finally found my limit. I pushed my self past my breaking point."

"Hey, easy buddy, you're going to be okay, just hang in there." I said fighting back the tears in my eyes.

"Did we... did we win, did we... save the camp?" He asked cracking a smile.

I chocked back a sob. "Yeah, we won. All the bombs have been deactivated and Silver and Diane are on their way to headquarters."

"Good," He said taking a ragged breath. "Tell Megan... I'm sorry."

Nolan closed his eyes and his body began to shimmer and glow. I watched helplessly as Nolan's body turned into golden dust. He laid there like he was a sand sculpture then a strong wind picked up and Nolan slowly began to dissolve until the only thing that remained was his hammer shaped pendant attached to his necklace.

The next few hours were a blur to me. I remember speaking with Megan and handing her Nolan's hammer before she started sobbing uncontrollably into my shoulder. Three helicopters arrived from headquarters to asses the damage to camp the take us back. Dan was quickly rushed to a chopper and take straight to the medical wing. While El, Amber and I were sent to the council room for debriefing. We told them our story the best we could but given the stress of the day we were released early.

That night a ceremony was held in Nolan's name. Everyone from camp was invited and several Olympians were even present. At the end Megan stood and tossed Nolan's Burial shroud into the funeral pyre. The shroud was beautiful, Megan had sewn it herself. It was black with a red "A' in four corners representing him as a member of Team Alpha. In the center was a golden sledge hammer, with wings and two snakes intertwined around the handle. at the base of the shroud it read "Nolan Swift ~ The Fastest Hero Alive".

After the funeral El and I met in the medical wing to visit Dan. We quietly opened the door, Dan was lying in bed hooked up to dozens of machines. After the events at camp he had slipped into a coma and wouldn't wake up. The doctors had told us that he had been poisoned with several different types of venom and said he should've dropped dead days ago. He was barely alive as it was.

We stood on opposite sides of Dan's bed just watching as his chest slowly rose and fell.

"What do we do now?" El asked in hardly a whisper.

"I don't know." I said shaking my head. "But I will tell you this; This isn't over, not by a long shot."

WIP