It only took us a few minutes to get to the edge of town, but the moment we got there two guys who looked suspiciously like skeletons stepped out from the trees, one on each side of the road.
Dressed in blue New Mexico Police uniforms with clearly transparent grey skin and yellow eyes, they kinda remind me of role playing Skele-TON's from Ben 10. They drew their guns, which immediately prompted me to raise a shield in front of us as everyone else started preparing themselves for a fight.
Thalia fiddled with her bracelet, Aegis springing outwards from it, while Percy drew Riptide. Zoe, Bianca, and Phoebe drew their bows but Bianca was having some difficulties due to her being the one to keep Grover upright.
"Back up," Thalia said.
But just before we could two more skeletons came out from the road behind us, surrounding us. What's worse is that the moment I thought that we could handle this, I was proven wrong by the fact that one skeleton pulled out a phone and started speaking into it. In all honesty it was definitely just clicking, but that doesn't make it any better because I have no clue what it's saying except for the possibility that it may be calling reinforcements.
If more of them come then there's a good chance that we're going to get overrun, and I would rather we find a way out than die trying to fight a horde of Playboi Carti fans.
Taking this into account, I made the wise decision to use my free hand and create a shield of light behind us as well, draining my reserves even further.
"Hey, so what's the plan? Because I cannot keep this up forever!" I asked in a rushed tone.
[Divine Energy: 74%]
"It's coming," Grover moaned.
"It already came," Percy speedily replied.
"Ayo? What are you guys going on about?" I questioned suspiciously.
"The gift of the wild," Grover groaned, "It's coming!"
I hate not knowing what's going on, but it sounds like they're literally just speaking nonsense.
"We can take them," Thalia started, "We just need to-
Before she could finish though, a gust of wind swept through the area. The presence it carried was overwhelming and I couldn't place my finger on it, but it is very reminiscent of the aura I can just barely sense around Grover when I focus.
Is it a nature spirit of some sort?
"Noah, drop the shield," Percy said suddenly.
"I don't think that's-
-Trust me, I wanna try something," He interrupted confidently.
If it was anyone else I probably would've shot a bolt of divine light right down their eye sockets for interrupting me, but I'm curious enough to see what he's come up with.
In a show of good faith I did as he requested and lowered the shield in front of us, but instead of raising the shields once again I used my new [Light Manipulation] skill to conjure ropes and tie up the other two skeletons.
"Why are you actually listening to that boy!? You're going to get both him and us killed!?" Phoebe exclaimed.
"I hate to say it, but I agree with her, Twinkle Toes!" Thalia added quickly.
I decided that now was the perfect time to leave them in silence instead of deigning to give them a reply.
The moment we finished Percy broke into a mad dash that startled the two skeletons into unloading their weapons on him, but that didn't deter him in the slightest. In a show of the best swordsmanship I've ever seen, I bore witness to Percy deflecting the bullets to the side with riptide and keep charging forward.
As Percy got in closer, one skeleton tried pulling out a baton but got bisected at the waist as it's body clattered into a pile of bones on the ground like it just died in a lego game. The other skeleton tried to shoot Percy, but he knocked the gun into the ground and cut it diagonally from the waist to the shoulder as it turned into a pile of bones as well.
I had no clue that I had Zoro was on this quest with me, but you won't see me complaining one bit.
Unfortunately for us, the moment the second skeleton hit the ground they immediately started reforming.
"We really need to get out of here," I started loudly, "Percy, fall back!"
Thalia went in to cover him with Aegis while Zoe, Bianca, and I all attempted to cover them with our long ranged attacks. Grover spent this time holding his hands out to the trees like they're giving him enlightenment.
In the midst of all of this, a rumbling could be heard getting closer and closer to us, which makes it all the more urgent that we leave now. If that is their reinforcements, then we definitely aren't gonna make it out of here. What're we supposed to do?
The bolts of light I shoot at the skeletons obliterate them in a few shots, but they don't stay down and arrows just go straight through their translucent bodies. I don't have a solid theory for what can take them down.
It can't be celestial bronze, because my powers don't have any trace of them and the hunters use those arrows to hunt monsters for sport, so that can't be it.
As if reality decided to mock me, one of the skeletons lunged at Bianca and would've gotten her if it weren't for the hunting knife she whipped out and stabbed into its chest.
The poor skeleton erupted into a small pillar of flames-the only thing being left after the inferno calmed down being a police bag and a pile of ashes.
I don't know about the others, but I can't go on for much longer. I'm almost out of energy, and my stamina is waning too.
[Divine Energy: 48%]
Damn it.
In another show of cosmic fuckery, a monstrous boar leapt onto the road, cracking the pavement as it let out a horrific squeal.
"REEEEEEEEETTTT!"
As a group, we raised our weapons once more in preparation for another battle.
"Don't kill it," Grover screamed, "It's a gift from the wild!"
"It's the Erymanthian boar," Zoe stated slowly, "I don't think we can kill it."
"What type of gift is this…?" I quietly muttered.
As if it heard me, the boar turned its feral and furious eyes to me and charged.