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The hill they were climbing wasn't steep, but Emmi was out of breath long before the group reached the pine tree.
Woodrow—who she'd thought for a solid year was her math teacher's assistant but who turned out to be a satyr, of all things—had pointed out the majestic tree to Emmi the moment they arrived at what he'd called Half Blood Hill.
The hill itself was huge and sprawling with bright green grass, sprinkled here and there with yellow flowers. Emmi couldn't help but feel angry with herself for thinking of something like that while a monster was chasing her.
The thought of the two monsters made Emmi's legs to once again decide that running faster was a good idea, and she tore after Woodrow as fast as she could, her auburn hair flying behind her. Despite the faraway shrieks of the obnoxious gorgons tailing them, she kept her eyes on something she still hadn't given herself enough time to convince herself of its existence—Woodrow's hooves and horns. Every few seconds, Emmi would blink and half expect the strange-looking limbs to disappear.
They'd been traveling for three days. It turned out that journeying on foot from Texas to Long Island was anything but enjoyable.
"Get off me, you stupid—"
Emmi whipped around, her eyes widening at the sight of the lanky blond boy hitting one of the gorgons with a stick. Anxiously, she bit her lip, then clenched her fist and ran back down the hill, ignoring Woodrow's panicked shouts.
"Will!" Emmi called desperately, picking up the nearest tree branch she could find and jumping over a rock as she ran. "Will, hang on!"
The boy in question, Will Solace, had almost managed to escape the first gorgon when the second one joined the fray. In that moment, one gorgon's sharp claws tore into the fabric covering Will's left shoulder, making him cry out. Emmi echoed him, half-running, half-stumbling farther down the hill towards her classmate.
Really, Will had only become Emmi's classmate that year, when he'd transferred to the third grade at the same time as Emmi. They'd become friends immediately, most likely because of their shared dyslexia and struggles with schoolwork—and, unbeknownst to either of them, Woodrow the "teacher's assistant" had been assigned to protect them.
Emmi almost wanted to be surprised, but. . . her life was too chaotic for her to complain anymore.
"Oh, no you don't!" Will suddenly shouted, kicking the first gorgon in the face with his sneaker and making her shriek loudly. "No—hey! Give me that, that's my stick—"
"Let go of it, Will!" Emmi interrupted as she reached her friend's side. "Where's Woodrow?"
"Get back!" Woodrow snapped from behind them, making Will and Emmi scramble away as he reached into his pocket for some sort of weapon and pulled out. . .
"Are those reed pipes?" Emmi asked, raising her eyebrows. She didn't know how she knew what they were called—but as the words left her mouth, she knew they were accurate.
