~ Chapter Thirteen - Part 2 ~

They made it back to Adrestia’s house in no time. They walked inside and saw that everyone was awake and ready to go. “Let us get changed, and then we can head out,” Katalina said as she grabbed their bag that someone must have gotten out of the car at some point last night.
Damien and Katalina went into the bathroom and quickly got changed. It was challenging for both of them, but they managed to keep their hands off each other.
Lucas smirked when they came back out. “And here I was thinking that we were going to be waiting for more than a few minutes,” he shook his head as he watched Katalina bury her face in Damien’s chest.
Damien chuckled and kissed her temple. “Let’s head out,” he said as he wrapped an arm around Katalina’s shoulder and led her toward the door.
They made their way to the SUV parked in front of the decoy house. They climbed in, and James started driving towards the mountain where Anna was.
It didn’t take them too long to get there. They did stop to grab something to eat, but even with that, it still didn’t take long. Finally, they pulled up to a small trail that was too small for the SUV. “It looks like we’re going to have to walk from here,” Marcus said from the driver’s seat.
Adrestia groaned. “Great. I’m going to have to walk before holding up Uranus,” she mumbled with a pout.
Prometheus laughed. “Did you get a bit lazy while hiding, Adrestia?” He questioned with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
Adrestia flipped him off before climbing out of the SUV with the others.
They all made their way up the small trail until they came to the entrance to the mountain. “This is the right entrance, right?” Lucas asked as he looked around.
Katalina nodded. “Yes. Artemis told me this is the correct location,” she said as she cautiously looked around.
Adrestia shook her head. “Something doesn’t seem right,” she said as she grabbed her bow and set it up with an arrow.
Damien nodded in agreement. “It’s too easy,” he said in a low voice as he pushed Katalina protectively behind him.
Within seconds everyone had formed a protective circle around Katalina. They kept their eyes open and were all prepared to fight. Within minutes Chimera appeared in front of the entrance. Katalina’s eyes went wide. “It’s Chimera,” she said quietly.
“Great,” Adrestia said. “We can’t defeat Chimera unless we’re able to get high in the air.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” Katalina demanded as she looked at her.
Adrestia shook her head. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
Katalina squeezed her eyes shut and quietly prayed to Artemis. ‘Artemis, please help us. How are we supposed to get past Chimera?’
Katalina felt relief rush through her veins as she heard that angelic voice in her head. ‘Hades and I have given you a gift. Yes, you are a wolf shifter, but the gift we have given you allows you to shift into any animal that's ever existed.'
‘Thank you so much, Artemis.’ Katalina opened her eyes and tapped Damien on the shoulder. “I can shift into any animal that's ever existed.”
Damien nodded as he thought for a minute. “Adrestia,” he said to get her attention.
Adrestia looked at him for a second. “What?”
“Do you have any steel-tipped arrows?” Damien questioned.
Adrestia scoffed. “Of course I do.”
Damien nodded. “Shift into an animal that can fly but is big enough to carry someone.”
Katalina thought for a minute before smiling. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She used everything Damien had taught her when she shifted into her wolf the night before. She let the shift take over her body as she changed into a pegasus. Everyone quickly backed away as she stood in the middle of the group as a pegasus. “How the hell did she do that?” Daedalus questioned with wide eyes.
Damien shrugged. “I guess it’s a gift from Artemis,” he said as he walked towards Katalina. Damien gently ran his fingers through her hair. “Do you think you can hold me, little dove?” He asked softly.
Katalina bobbed her head as she adjusted to the new form.
Damien looked at Adrestia. “Do you think that I could borrow your bow and whatnot?”
Adrestia handed them to him without hesitation. He put the quiver of arrows on his back with the bow before carefully climbing onto Katalina’s back. Just as he got situated, a witch appeared beside them with six hellhounds surrounding her.
Roman glanced at Damien and Katalina. “You guys get up there and take out Chimera. Three of us will distract it while the other three try to get to the witch.”
Without any more hesitation, Katalina took off into the air. She got high enough for them to see Chimera, but Chimera couldn’t see them. Katalina flew around for a minute before finding the perfect position. Damien lined up his shot as he looked down at Chimera and the three friends dodging the fire that Chimera was spitting out.
Damien let out a slow breath as he let the arrow fly loose. The arrow landed firmly in the center of Chimera’s chest. Chimera let out a loud howl before disintegrating into nothing but dust. Damien leaned forward to yell into Katalina’s ear. “Let’s sneak up behind the witch and take her out. They’re never going to get past those hellhounds.”
Katalina flew around until she found a good angle on the witch, again staying high enough to where she couldn’t spot them. Damien took his aim and let out a slow breath as he let the arrow fly loose. Everyone froze where they stood as the witch looked down at the arrow sticking out of her chest. She fell to the ground with a thud as the life left her eyes.
Katalina quickly landed on the ground between the hounds and her friends. Damien jumped off her back, and she shifted back, thankful she still had her clothes on. Now that the hellhounds didn’t have a master, they could run wild unless someone did something to calm them down. Katalina held her hands out to show that she meant no harm. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you,” she said gently. Then, without taking her eyes off the seven hounds, she said to the others. “I need you guys to take a few steps back slowly,” she said quietly.
Everyone did as she asked as she took a small step towards the hound that seemed to be the leader of the hounds. “Hey there, little guy,” Katalina softly said. “We’re not going to hurt you guys,” she stopped right in front of the hound with her hand still held out to the hound. “We just want to help you,” she whispered.
The hound hesitated for a minute before taking a step forward and sniffing Katalina’s hand. The hound moved past her hand and was in her face. She didn’t flinch or move away from the hound as the hound sniffed her face and upper body. After a couple of minutes, the hound sniffing her let out a small bark to the others. They all surrounded her and laid their heads on their paws, a sign of submission to her.
“I’ll be damned,” Roman said in shock. “No one has ever been able to tame a hellhound, let alone six.”
Damien chuckled as he watched his beloved with nothing but pride in his eyes. “My little dove is special.”
Roman scoffed. “No offense, but I think that’s an understatement.”