The Unclaimed

Chapter 23: Running into a village worth of monsters (literally)

   Today when we ran I was near the front instead of the back. Thalia was at the head of the group and while I was comfortable with the others, I felt safest when Thalia was around me. And at the moment, all I wanted was to feel safe.
   "Hey Thalia," I said as we ran. She glanced at me quickly before facing forward again.
   "Yeah," she responded. "By the way I'm not trying to rude by not looking at you but if I don't pay attention to where we're headed than we're going to be in some serious trouble." I laughed in understanding.
   "I get that," I said. "If you don't focus on where we're going then I doubt we will end up where we are supposed to. Do you think I'm going to be able so succeed on my quest? I felt like I could do it before but now they are gods meddling and what if I fail? How am I supposed to live for the rest of eternity knowing that I lost my only chance to get my answers." I wanted to believe that I would definitely succeed. Before my dream I had believed that I would be able to succeed. But now, I wasn't so sure. As much as I wanted to just push all my worries to the side, I couldn't. The odds are never good when a demigod is issued a quest, but they are almost never immortals are plotting against you to make sure you fail your nearly impossible quest bad. Thalia took a few moments to take in what I said before she responded.
   "It's not going to be easy." She said truthfully. "You're going to have to fight harder than you ever have if you want to succeed; because according to your dream you will be fighting against fate. But I believe you can succeed. As far as I know, before you Artemis has never been protective over a demigod prior to them learning about the fact that one of the Greek gods is the parent. She's never sent a hunter to watch over them before they found out about camp. She cares about you, she knows something is special about you. And I have faith that she is right and you will succeed." Thalia's speech left me at a loss for words. The fact that she believed in me meant a lot; I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she was the reason Michael and I were still alive today, if she hadn't distracted that hellhound two years ago then we would not have been able to outrun it.
   "Thanks Thalia," I said quietly. She smiled and appeared to be about to respond when a look of worry appeared on her face. Shifting my gaze so I was facing forward I saw that we were coming up to a small village that was under attack. The attackers; monsters and lots of them. I saw hellhounds, dracaena, and monsters that I couldn't even name. Thalia and I shared a look and then she stopped and turned turned so she could see the other hunters.
   "Ladies, we need to help them." Thalia said suddenly very focused. The other hunters nodded but also looked a little worried.
   "I agree we need to do something," Sophia said; I could sense a but coming. "But how? If they see us killing the monsters, who knows how the mist will manipulate us. And shooting arrows from this distance won't be safe, there are to many civilians running around that we could hit." All of Sophia's points made sense but Thalia's look of determination did not fade. Thalia was silent but focused; then she appeared to get an idea.
   "I can manipulate the most." She said. "There may be to many monsters for me to do it fully but I can change it enough so they don't remember us. You just can't talk with any of the villagers or let any of them get to good a look at your face, understood." Everyone nodded; we heard more screams. A grim look appeared on Thalia's face. "We need to hurry, come on let's kill some monsters." With that we all sprinted towards the village, weapons out and ready.