Nico Di Angelo II: Lycaon's Demise
the drakon sprang backward, out of reach of Nico's undead warriors. it was the third time Nico had battled this particular drakon, and the third time it had sprung away from Nico's legions of undead. the drakon spewed a glob of poison from its mouth. "testudo formation!" Nico shouted. the undead warriors crowded together, forming a shell of shields not unlike the shell of a tortoise. the poison slid harmlessly off of the shell. "protrude pilum!" Nico shouted. the warriors spread their shields out in the slightest, leaving just enough space in between the shields for them to thrust their spears through the cracks. "advance on enemy!" Nico shouted. the shell started to move, gliding toward the drakon. they reached the drakon and started stabbing it with their pilum. the drakon roared and slashed at the shell, but unable to break the warriors' formation. Nico used his strength to summon more undead. they raised their pilum and advanced on the drakon. but Nico had had enough. he screamed, waves of hadean energy rolling off of him. the drakon screamed, then crumbled to dust.
an hour later, the heroes were sitting in a forest clearing eating pomegranate seeds that they picked from the nearby pomegranate shrubs. Nico had a few battle wounds himself, and was enjoying his pomegranate. meng and lycanus, Nico's companions, had found that pomegranate worked better on him than ambrosia and nectar, with a lower chance of spontaneous combustion. suddenly, a flurry of howls erupted in the distance. Nico looked at his companions and said, "we have to leave. now." "why? what's wrong?" said meng. Nico got up. "that was lycaon. I recognize his howl." they quickly packed up and started running.
the heroes stumbled out of the underbrush and into a vast plain. ridges dotted the plain. "I have an idea. I'll need a few seconds," said Nico. he then went to work, summoning bones and creating a platform. he called for his skeletons. he told them the plan. he reanimated four horse skeletons, and hitched them to his platform, which was beginning to resemble a sled. meanwhile, his skeletons helped by lashing the bones together. Nico attached two long bones to the bottom of the platform, and the sled was complete. then, he executed plan Undead Car Chase. meanwhile, lycaon had heard them as they attached the runners to the sled. he growled, "those demigod scum are in there!" Nico looked up. he knew what to do. he threw a hadean enchanted pomegranate. it landed at lycaon's feet with a soft clunk. it then started spinning, producing smoke from a hole in the pomegranate's skin. Nico watched this unfold from the safety of his sled, the skeletal horses galloping as fast as their undead legs could carry them. but, alas, lycaon and his wolves burst from the smoke on a giant truck equipped with catapults. Nico shouted, "fire hadean ballistae!" skeletons ran to the ballistas. the wolves barely had time to react before Therosian fire and stygian iron spears fell upon their truck. "take that!" Nico shouted. "gah!" lycaon said. "fire catapults!" Nico had seen this coming. he shouted, "fire hadean ballistae!" the stygian iron spears struck the boulders out of the sky. but Nico had had enough. he screamed in frustration as a wall of bones shot skyward. the sound of metal twisting and wolves howling came from behind as the heroes raced on.
another hour later, Nico, lycanus, and meng were enjoying pomegranate yet again. Nico had gotten a few deep cuts from the rock shrapnel that had fallen from the sky when Nico's ballistae had pierced the rocks. the pomegranate helped. the heroes then went to bed, as it was getting dark.