...people still use this site? oops. found an old chapter I didn't publish. don't remember what I was gonna do with the story. ah well.

Chapter 5

Sofia POV

The battle was in full throttle. The remaining two dozen or so demigods were battling with their last reserves of energy. Two whirling forces of immortal power on opposite sides of the valley, completely obliterating the ghosties and ghoulies on their side, refusing to come within twenty metres of each other, as if there was an incredibly thick demarcation line between them, and if they crossed it, the other would slam down a big metal ruler on their fingers or something. When on earth was the last two Horsemen? Because we – meaning the demigods that were fighting - really could use some help here, though I would never admit it in real life. Even Cadmus seemed like he was wearing out his strength. There weren't any bodies of water nearby to fuel him either. The ground was starting to turn wetter, and small ice crystals where forming randomly on the ground, but I had no time to think of a logical explanation for ice in the middle of spring. The ice crystals were connecting and forming larger parts, making a thin cover over the grass. It began getting harder for them to move without slipping. On the bright side, the monsters seemed to be having the same problem. An empousai flipped over and skidded about five metres forward, misshapen arms flailing in the air, allowing a daughter of Ares to stab it in the chest with not much opposition.

Suddenly, ice shards flew into the air, causing a couple people to do an accidental somersault resulting in a face flat on the ground. The shards flew towards a figure on the hill, the setting sun behind her, giving her an aura of a goddess. Hair that reached the middle of her back flowed gently around her face, and a light blue flowy knee length dress billowed around, with fur lining the hem and the collars. Of course. This was Famine, rumoured to be an ice mage from the North. She had been the one forming the ice crystals. Right now I wanted to punch her. She could easily have endangered our lives! A monster could have murdered us if we slipped on her ice!

"Oh, good, I came here in time to do some serious damage!" she said merrily, a glint in her stormy grey eyes, that held some resemblance with my own. A wave of ice tore up through the valley, Famine at it's end, arm outstretched. It swept up the monster's and the ice curled into an arch, trapping the monsters in the icy monument, turning to dust as they got swept away, in the ice, leaving dark smudges against the ice. One word ran through my mind. WOW. I want that power! Beats wisdom anytime. Just don't tell mother dearest I said that. She finished the arch, leaving behind an empty trail of ash, as well as a monument worthy of the Arc De Triomphè, complete with icicles that glinted in the setting sun. A small crowd of monsters flooded into fill the gap. Famine sighed as she realised she probably wasn't going to help if she continued making ice arches. She pulled out a small dagger from an ankle sheath and advanced. How the heck was she going to fight a crowd of monsters?

As if in answer to my question, Famine began whirling the dagger faster and faster in her hand, until it was just a blur in her fist. Suddenly, she held it still, and she was holding a long halberd with inscriptions on the side. Without breaking a beat, she swung the halberd towards the crowd, and completely vaporising the front half. She did a three sixty twirl, her dress flowing around her in waves of blue, and slashed at the next line. Moving with grace and a deadly elegance, as she whirled through the monsters with her halberd. At one point, she slammed the point of the halberd into the ground, and a thick sheet of ice quickly spread across the ground, crawling up the hill she came from, and crossing the invisible demarcation line that War and Death had formulated.

The two mentioned cursed loudly (well mainly War) as they slid across the ice. War crashed into his motorbike, while Death did a somersault backwards, her vulture taking flight, emitting a loud screech, and Death landed on a low tree.

"What the hell Famine?" Death scowled viciously, resembling a wan vulture perched on the branch. War on the other hand had recovered from his brief meeting with his vehicle, and was now getting up cockily.

"Hey, gorgeous, how've you been?" he yelled obnoxiously, twirling a machete

Famine ignored him, and as gliding across the ice like a figure skater, a large grin on her face and her eyes alight, whirling her halberd dusting the ice with the ash of the dead. But more monsters flooded in from the forest, I saw the shadow of the giant loom from the forest again, the miniature villain dude perched on his bald forehead. Death and War gathered their wits and joined the fight, struggling to stay standing. ηλίθιος raised his massive blue fist and punched the ground, right where Famine was a millisecond ago. Suddenly, ice was crawling up his fist before it left the ground, trapping his arm to the ground in an iron grip…or really an icy grip.

The villain dude – he actually kind of looked like a Q-Tip - screamed in outrage as the giant struggled miserably, and pointed his finger to the ice cast, and the giant pulled his fist out as if it were putty. What the hell? I thought. Then there was a rumbling behind the two. Everyone swivelled around to stare at the forest, where the rumbling was coming from. Mr Evil QTip gave a toothy smile, a dark glint in his eyes. Famine gave a small smile pausing for a moment looking up towards the forest. Oh gods. Reinforcements for the enemy? Now? Really? The rumbling was growing louder. And then I realised something. Something that a daughter of Athena should probably have realised a fair while ago. Athena had said that Chaos had said that the warriors would come from the north, south, east, then west. The Horsemen that had arrived had indeed come from their appointed point of the compass. Famine had come from the west, with the setting sun on her back So that would mean…the next Horseman…would be right behind the army… I stared at the forest with a new look, eyes wide.

Suddenly, a massive tidal wave, about the size of a tsunami, rose over the canopy, a dark figure standing at the peak. Famine grin widened, twirling her long hair with slender fingers. VD's grin dimmed slightly, but it remained. The wave crashed over the forest, not once leaving the forest line, save a few small waves. This is Conquest. There's no contest. Not just because there was no other Horsemen left, but just the way he held his chin high and the way his cold eyes scanned the valley, and the tight line his lips were pressed in. And he looked like he hated to be here even more than the rest combined.