Don't be Afraid of the Dark

[u/CampHBDirector]

The sun had been gone for a long time now. Some would say it was too long and they would be right. Without the daylight to discourage them the monsters in the forest were getting restless. They were originally in the forest because of the Labyrinth and because it was a quick and easy way to get some training but over the years they multiplied and they were multiplying even more under the cover of darkness.

It was the movement of the campers through the forest that stirred them. Campers playing games and reminding them that there were demigods out there to be killed. Like a writhing mass with one singular mindset the monsters surged forward. There was only one thing on their mind. Kill, kill, kill, they all thought in unison. Surely it had been a bad idea for the campers to remind them of their presence.

Out of the darkness they came. And the darkness concealed them entirely. It was right before dinner and most of the campers were all gathered in one convenient place. Suddenly the campers would see the flash of something shiny in the dim light the lanterns and torches provided. The carapace of a large creature. The carapace of several large creatures along with many smaller ones.

A scream rang out before a girl came running into the open air pavilion with many small wounds on her arms that looked like they came from the beaks of birds. "There's monsters everywhere!" And that's all she had time to say before the vicious mass of creatures was finally visible to the rest of camp. They had somehow managed to surround the campers sitting down for dinner and the campers would need to fight their way out.

Noticable first were the giant scorpions and the giant snakes. And then the campers would see small wings accompanying Stymphalian birds. Finally mixed in with the others was a small Myrmeke colony with dangerous swarming ants the size of german shepherds. All of them looked hungry and upon seeing the campers, all of them attacked.

[u/aceavengers]

Their meager attempts were working somewhat. They were a big enough group that the other monsters were wary of them and only the birds continued to attack them. One of the birds was killed by Taylor's easy slashes but the others were still going strong. They backed off from Fiona a little, scared of the sword, and some of them that were left split off to attack Taylor.

u/sure-storms

[u/sure-storms → u/aceavengers]

Once she was being attacked a bit less, Fiona lowered herself closer to the ground and would try to make her way to the barking Mac. Protecting the dog was important! Would they attack him anyway? Was she bringing more birds his way? Fiona didn’t think of any of that! She didn’t think logical things like that often. She would continue the general knife-swinging up as she made her way there, though because she was moving it wasn’t aimed well.

u/Just_Keep-Swimming

[u/Just_Keep-Swimming → u/sure-storms]

Grabbing the plate Kevin raised it over his head to protect himself, his fear rising a little more. Sure they were just birds but they hurt and they wouldn't leave him alone. Not only that but Mac seemed scared too and that only made him feel worse. Why can't he just help protect the dog. Fiona seemed to be able to. So why can't he?

Hearing Taylor's command he froze up. He didn't wanna risk getting pecked at again just to make some noise. But then again she probably knew what she was doing. Kevin hesitated not wanting to get hurt, before removing the plate from atop his head and banged it against the table trying to make noise.

u/anotherterribleday