𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑, luke castellan

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞

Monsters couldn't appear in Camp Half-Blood.

That was the first thing Luke remembered when Nik opened the door to Annabeth's cabin. Fortunately, the son of Hephaestus reacted faster than the blond and lunged at the Manticore with a sword in hand, ready to attack.

A few seconds after his initial thought, Luke joined the battle with his own sword in hand. Annabeth, on her part, seeing the other demigods acting, approached the monster with her dagger to confront it too.

Perhaps three demigods seemed too many for one monster, but in that context, it wasn't. The Manticore was exceptionally fast, darting across the tables with remarkable agility. Nik faced it ferociously with his sword, but hitting the creature proved challenging—it was incredibly swift. Luke, in turn, tried to assist the son of Hephaestus, but as the monster confronted Nik head-on, it defended itself by shooting spikes from its tail at the blond. Aware of the highly poisonous nature of the spikes and the potential to incapacitate him, Luke grabbed the first thing he found on one of the shelves and used it as a shield -a book of Ancient Greek. The children of Athena would likely be upset with him for destroying it, but that was a problem for later.

Advancing with the book as a shield, he approached the Manticore again with more caution. Nik had managed to hit the mark several times, inflicting injuries on the monster, but it resisted wounds from weapons, and handling it alone was proving challenging.

Annabeth, on the other hand, maneuvered beneath the tables to attack the monster at the level of its lion feet, but the creature seemed unfazed by her vicious stabs. Finally, Annabeth succeeded in driving the knife so forcefully into the Manticore's foot that when it lifted the foot, Annabeth, holding onto the knife with great force, was lifted along with it.

She quickly released the knife, which remained embedded in the Manticore's foot, and fell with notable agility onto one of the tables. She quickly got back on her feet, but in doing so, the Manticore was quicker and launched a venomous spike at the blonde.

"Annabeth!" Luke shouted upon seeing the spike piercing his friend's forearm. Annabeth let out a spine-chilling scream, writhing in pain. Luke approached to check if she was fine when the Manticore unleashed another series of spikes, this time targeting him. Defending himself with the book, Luke continued walking towards Annabeth.

"Man," Nik called to him over Annabeth's screams, "she'll be fine, it's just pain." He had to pause as the Manticore lunged at him with its claws extended. With skill, he dodged the monster, rolling over one of the tables. "Let's get rid of it first."

Knowing that Nik was right and that Annabeth would be fine but they needed to deal with the monster first, Luke charged at the Manticore again, one hand with the sword and the other with the book, blocking more spikes.

"Does this fucking monster ever run out of spikes?" Luke shouted, frustrated.

The Manticore seemed to take it personally because it began attacking with more brutality than before, its strikes more potent and faster—if that was even possible.

The Manticore redoubled its efforts, attacking with renewed fury as Luke and Nik coordinated to face it. Luke blocked the attacks with the book, deflecting the lethal spikes, while Nik moved with agility, seeking the opening for his next strike.

Together, they managed to corner the Manticore, forcing it to retreat. Nik, seizing a gap in the monster's defense, executed a skillful maneuver, directing his sword toward the creature. The blow was precise, and the Manticore, upon receiving the final impact, dissipated into golden dust.

With the monster's disappearance, the tension in the cabin eased, and the golden dust dispersed in the air. However, Annabeth continued writhing in pain and screaming.