ARROWS¹ - PERCY JACKSON

I - MANTICORES AND DEMIGODS

I was running. 

My throat was scratchy, legs sore, breath heavy, but I was running. 

It was winter, snow blanketing the quaint Maine town we had stopped to rest in. I could feel snow falling onto my face and crisp air filling my lungs as I took short, shallow breaths. My mother, Lady Artemis, turned to face the Huntresses behind her. 

"We have arrived." She spoke, her breath visible in the cold air. I wrapped my silver parka tighter around my body, playing with my silver pendant. "Once we arrive, I am not sure what we will face. I sense something powerful, and I sense demigods. We will see. For now, keep low and quiet."

Her yellow-gray eyes darted in front of her, surveying the scene. We had reached a clearing in the woods, and I could hear the churning of waves from just below us. The moon was shining brightly in the sky, the snow crunching beneath our feet. 

She turned on her heel as the Huntresses split up into the snowy woods, silent and deadly. I tapped my necklace, drawing my bow and notching an arrow. I snuck up behind a tree, looking through the shrubbery and making out figures standing in the cold. I listened. 

A snarly, heavily accented voice laughed. 

"By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea. Save yourself."

I raised an eyebrow, my yellowish eyes looking further and seeing one mangled, twisted shape standing in front of a few others. There was more chatter.

"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," the voice shot back in a language of snarls. "You do not realize who I am, do you?"

My mind raced, trying to figure that out for myself. 

A few demigods, one a son of Poseidon, and a monster. I could handle that. 

I pulled my arrow back, aiming right at the figure's big head. I prayed for my mother to sound the horn, so I could attack at last. 

There was more talk, presumably the heroes biding their time. Smart. 

I heard the chopping of a helicopter. Looking up, I saw the shape of one hovering over the scene, ruining the perfect view of the night sky. I scowled, but listened closer nonetheless.

"The Great what?" A different voice asked. A higher one, that I assumed belonged to a younger boy.

"The stirring of monsters." The other announced evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"

I cringed. I really hoped my mother was catching this all. 

All at once, hell broke loose. 

"FOR ZEUS!" A voice screamed, a new figure running into the action, wielding a shield and a spear. 

I slowly crept out of the trees, giving myself a better view of all the chaos breaking out. 

It was a manticore. A fairly big one, battling what, five demigods? Oh, never mind one was a satyr.  What a crowd. 

I waited for Artemis' signal. It had to be soon, they were being overpowered by the volley of attack being thrown at them. 

And then, I heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods. 

I drew my arrow and walked out of the woods. I aimed right for the manticore. It looked at me. 

"No," it said. "It cannot be—"