I really wish I had spent more time training with the Legion. While the members of the Ares cabin were certainly ferocious training partners, nobody could beat the Romans at efficiency when it came to war.

Internally, I apologized to Marcus and Lucius, the only Dimachaeri in the Fifth Cohort, for mocking their fighting style as I twirled my blades by the wrist. Though in my defense, they were laughably weak Legionairies and I am almost certain they only wielded two blades to look cool.

I was aware that my fidgeting was a wasteful habit, but I had gotten used to switching my brain off and simply acting as my instincts dictated.

So, I remained relaxed. Even as the Empousa disappeared to my flanks and the Drakon edged nearer. My shoulders remained low; my heels were flat.

Then the Drakon stepped close enough that I could get behind it and still surprise it.

I spent the entirety of my power reserves in a mad dash to the Drakon's blind spot. Whatever little strength I had recovered from the blood was gone now, but the next step would be easy.

Bleed the damn thing.

I swiped my blades into it's almost serpentine body. Its thick hide gave way easily to Anaklusmos, my second Gladius fairing only slightly worse.

Blood gushed out the sides of the Maeonian Drakon and turned to an ash-like red powder that scattered into the wind just as fast as it appeared, dehydrated and inert.

The creature bucked its muscular tail in an attempt to push me away and I was forced to dive back. But I had already achieved my goal.

The Drakon's bleeding sides were like the sun in a dark room to my senses. Every drop that I turned to ash felt like taking a sip of Nectar.

So, I bided my time. Drinking my fill, as I kept my distance from the Drakon who had turned to face me and the Empousai who were forced to change course after my surprise attack.

At this rate, hit and run tactics might leave me stronger than when they arrived, I realised.

But then one of the Empousai vanished from my senses. Only to appear at my side a second later in a flash of fire, already slashing an outstretched claw toward my face.

I was only just about able to dodge the worst of it, by which I mean my head was still on my shoulders. Nonetheless, she managed to dig in three sharp claws from my left eyebrow all the way down to the right of my jaw.

The cuts stopped bleeding almost as soon as they were formed though as I used the moisture in my own blood to heal me.

"You know, I remember your sisters being far more sociable than this," I grunted as I took advantage of my assailant's proximity to cut down her trailing arm as she tried to retreat from me.

Unfortunately, the Empousa did not bleed.

Fortunately, she burst into flames and died, instead.

"What's wrong, bad hair day?" I continued conversationally with the surviving Empousa as the swipe from Riptide proved too much for the first.

She hissed at me, baring gruesome fangs on an otherwise beautiful face. Despite the lack of Mist covering her red eyes and flaming red hair, the Empousa maintained her sharp jaw and high cheekbones.

Even as she ran at me with her powerful celestial bronze and donkey legs, I continued playing by the demigod handbook. If you see a lone Lamia: run, they hunt in packs. If you see a lone Empousa: mock her, she will probably run away on her own.

"Don't tell me, liddle Tammi got killed again. Who was it? Someone I know?" I taunted finally remembering her name from what felt like Eons ago.

The handbook might have been a bit outdated though, as she looked to gain confidence instead - get cocky even.

It ticked me off and I rushed her a little more brazenly than I should have. I swept my Gladius to her neck in an arc from the left. As my right braced the flat of Riptide's blade against my forearm defensively in a reverse grip.

The edge of my blade was barely an inch from her skin when my vision went white and my sword met no resistance at all, seemingly cutting right through her.

I frowned; I wish I was that strong.

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A high-pitched cackle reverberated through the clearing in the dead forest I had set up camp in. Only as it echoed into the distance did the Empousa reappear by the side of the Drakon. Still too fast for her to have moved there, but not quite instantaneous either.

Can all of them do that flame teleportation bullshit now?

"It certainly wasn't a demigod," she smiled at me. There was true delight on her face, and that scared me more than anything.

"What do you mean?"

Tammi stood by the side of the Drakon and stroked its side like it was some kind of luxury pet.

"Your demigod buddies are all dead or fleeing silly godling," she raised her free hand palm up and a red-hot fireball formed above it.

Her voice climbed to a shrill shriek as she propelled the fiery orb towards my chest, "So why don't you quit your petty struggling!"

I say propelled because she most certainly did not simply throw it, as I quickly found out. I was caught unaware by the speed the blistering attack was accelerated to and was forced to try and block it with my swords.

I held out both my swords in a cross trying to maximise contact with the fiery projectile, whilst leaving myself ridiculously vulnerable.

I am so glad nobody is around to see this.

I found myself in a cliqued dual wielding cross-guard; my blades crossed in an 'X' and my left leg forward. Exactly the kind of brain-dead move I claimed would get Marcus and Lucius killed one day.

While my right hand maintained its trusty grip on Riptide, my Gladius grew too hot to hold. Though it was forced out of my hand, I had bought myself enough time to dive after it and out of the path of Tammi's magical attack.

"You expect me to believe that Clarisse La Rue, slayer of Lydian Drakon, fled in terror…from you?" I sneered after recovering from my roll. The Gladius was by my feet but still too hot to wield.

I guess I'll be going Vanilla.

I passed my loyal Xiphos between my hands, momentarily unsure of how to proceed. While my left hand was still scalding, my right arm was not quite at a hundred percent either. Besides, after months of fighting, the weapon felt equally comfortable in either.

Tammi dipped a clawed hand into a leather satchel by her waist and pulled out a Golden Drachma. She then cut open a waterskin with the other and tossed the coin through.

"O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Clarisse La Rue." Tammi purred smugly.

The Drachma disappeared into the stream, but no image formed.

A second later, the Drachma was thrown back out into the hands of the gloating Empousa.

I could not know for certain if this meant she was dead. It was, of course, possible that Iris had simply refused the commission, regardless of her pledge of neutrality.

What I did know, however, was that Tammi was a bona fide moron. In her puffed-up pompousness, she had seemingly forgotten that I was a son of Poseidon.

The waterbag exploded at her hip and her face went pale as she realised her mistake.

I allowed myself to bask in the rush of power, the word Petrichor came to mind, though I could not imagine why I knew it.

It had been weeks since my body had contained anywhere near that much strength. As I watched my healing left hand in fascination, I noticed a faint glow crisscrossing under my skin all the way up my arms.

Something to investigate later.

I tightened my fist and brought my attention back to the Empousa now practically quivering where she stood.

"M-Mercy, my Lord!" she cried, trying to act every bit of the pretty cheerleader she was pretending to be.

My Lord?

But I was already walking towards her; brandishing my blades as I realised I was actually looking forward to fighting at my best. At the time, I paid little mind to the fact that I had recovered so much strength from a single bag of water.

Tammi was now scurrying backward in fright. She reached into her satchel once again, probably searching desperately for something that might hope to stop me. Instead, she pulled a paper to her lips and muttered a spell. Kissing the paper, she then slapped it onto the head of the Drakon who flew away at a breakneck pace.

Leaving me alone with the suicidal Empousa.

"You really are a moron, aren't you? Feel bad for the overgrown lizard or something?" I growled after I paused in front of her. This would not be nearly as exciting anymore. With the Drakon, they at least stood a chance. This was not a fight; this was a beatdown.

"What do you know?" she sneered, "I'll be rewarded up to my teeth when I reform."

She seemed to realize something as her sneer widened, "And at least I can reform. Your demigod buddies and Olympian cousins are gone for good, aren't they?"

"What do you mean? Who's died?!" I yelled as I willed what little moisture existed in Tartarus' depths to materialise and bind her.

But instead, thick green vines broke free from the ground and imprisoned her in some kind of vegan straitjacket.

"What the fu-"

Tammi's entire body went up in flames, burning away the vines. As much as I wanted information from her, I wanted her to get away even less. So, I thrust out my Gladius, despite my lack of reach, hoping I could get away with overextending since she was about to teleport anyway.

But instead, the Gladius physically extended to pierce her chest. When I released its handle in surprise, I could only watch in fascination as it snapped back to normal like it was made of Taffy.

What in the name of Hades is going on?

Once the Empousa had ended her pitiful screams and flashy demise, I picked up the Gladius, investigating it over.

I realised it was just a regular Celestial Bronze Spatha - not a 'Greek Gladius', after all the Greeks did not ever forge Gladii. It was crafted by a son of Hephaestus in one of the earliest renditions of Camp Half-Blood in the 2000s B.C.E. It was not even a particularly well-crafted blade; a trained eye could claim it was practically a Kopis with that uneven side. So, I did not see any reason it should have done what it did.

I blinked.

How the fuck do I know that?

I did not have the chance to follow that chain of thought, however, as I was incapacitated by a splitting headache. My mind felt like it was being waterboarded under a stream of images of blood, dirt, trees, and clashing blades - forcing me to drop my own and fall to my knees. It had been barely a minute of the torturous experience and my body was already bathed in sweat, likely wasting much of the water Tammi had so graciously gifted me. A minute later my mortal mind could take no more and I blacked out.