Alexander: The Second Conquest

One: Onocentaurs Steal My Sword

    Macedonia was not too bad after my brief stay here. The people were nice,the food amazing,and the scenery beautiful. I would have enjoyed all of it if I was not here for my stolen sword.

I wandered into the gift shop,the bell tinkling at my entrance as I passed through a shelf of books and pretended to be interested.

"The Odyssey-Original Form,"I read out the name of the book,before raising my voice a little louder to address the satyr at the counter. "So,it should all be in Greek,right,satyr?"

The satyr jumped,obviously surprised that I saw his original form. I grabbed the book from the shelf and tapped at its Greek title.

"You're a demigod."The satyr whispered,a tone of relief seeping into his words.

"I-"I stopped myself from confirming-I didn't know who my parents were,anyway. "I guess you could say that. I'm Alexander,by the way. I need your help."

"I'm Grover,"He introduced himself,a smile flitting across his face. "What do you need?"

"There's this group of...onocentaurs,and they took my Stygian Iron sword. Since you work here,I guess you know the whereabouts of these creatures?"

Grover sighed and bleated in dismay. "The onocentaurs again?First the cabbage patch,and now this?Alright,they hide out somewhere around the old ruins near the town,but I don't know exactly where."

I slid the book back in its place. "Thanks. Uh,what are you doing,taking care of a gift shop anyway?"

"Macedonia soil helps me plant, and its actually a safe place for me and my girlfried to stay for the time being."Grover answered. Alexander nodded,before heading out of the door. The bell tinkled at my exit when Grover's call stopped me.

"You'd want to be careful."

I turned back,my brow furrowing. "Of the onocentaurs?Please,they couldn't cause a scratch if they wanted."I scoffed.

"Not that,"Grover gave a nervous bleat. "There's these vigilantes around town,and that's the only thing keeping these people in line. They're scary-I've met them once too-this one had blinded a guy for trying to steal."

"I'll be careful."I promised,giving a single,farewell nod and heading out of the door. As I stepped onto the path and formed a route in his head,my breath hitched. Someone with a hood over their head,and a mask on their face had whipped around,disappearing into an alley.

Who's that? The streets suddenly became way more unsettling,and his nerves went on high alert. Paranoia began to replace it,the feeling of being watched making my hair stand on end.

"Oh,it's you."The lead onocentaur said,his tone distasteful. He was swinging my sword carelessly as if it was a toy.

I scowled as the rest of his clan emerged from the ruins. "I'll give you three seconds to give back my sword,or else."I stressed on the last part threateningly.

The onocentaurs brayed in amusement,and that was when I snapped. I know,I should not take them so seriously,but it has been a long,tiring day in Macedonia and my patience has worn thin.

A blow to the nearby onocentaur made him fall unbalanced,and I started to kick the torso of the others. The lead onocentaur rushed towards me with my sword,and I unbalanced him with a well aimed kick to his donkey knee. The sword went flying through the air,and I caught it,swinging it around to the now fearful onocentaurs.

"Take my stuff again. I dare you."

The sudden sound of a loud horn echoed throughout the air,and the onocentaurs scattered in terror. I held my hands over my ears,when there was a loud gunshot and a bullet embedded itself into my bicep. I rolled to the cover of a damaged wall,and grasped my injured arm.

"Ow."I gritted my teeth,feeling the agonising pain numb my whole arm. Even worse-it was my dominant arm. At least the steel bullet meant that I was a demigod.

It was now silent as a dark array of clouds hovered in the sky. Thanks for setting the mood,Lord Zeus. I thought sarcastically. The ruins had gone quiet-so quiet I could not even hear a footstep in the grass.

Wary of my surroundings,I peeked out from the wall,only for a bullet to narrowly miss my skull and hit the wall instead.

I wasn't even given the chance to look at my attacker. Letting out a Greek curse,I tried to form a plan to escape. Don't blame me,Camp Half-Blood doesn't teach demigods on how to evade snipers with steel bullets.

Amidst my thinking,the slash of a sword sounded in the distance. I tried to decide whether I should stay in my spot or see whether my attacker was dead. Choosing the latter,I made a movement to peek again when something hard hit my head,and I blacked out unceremoniously.

"Blacking out,huh?"I opened my eyes to see myself in a huge,marbled room that had 12 thrones sitting in a semicircle. A huge hearth sat in the middle. Only one of the thrones was occupied-he looked like a teenager,but the godly aura shone around him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the god Apollo,"He said absent-mindedly. "I thought blacking out wasn't your thing. Isn't that for like,damsels in distress?"

"What am I doing here?"

"Well,I'm here to warn you that your life is going to get so exciting-Aphrodite might prefer watching you over her love dramas,"Apollo gagged,before shaking his head. "Well,I tried to heal your arm as much as I could,but I think you're in safe hands. Maybe not safe hands. Stable hands."

"I have no idea what you're talking about,"I frowned. "God of poetry,right?"

"Atta boy!"His voice was the last thing I heard before the throne room dissolved into darkness.

When I opened my eyes again,I was in a cave,tied to a chair,and two masked and hooded guards in front of me. They were only wearing partial armour,but I figured that they would do without the rest of it.

The one on the right spoke,his voice rough as it filtered through the mask. "Tell us what business you have here-or else you'll never see the sun again."

______

Word Count: 1085 words

Welcome to the sequel to Allen Pace: The Anti-Olympian!If you have not read that book,check it out!