The hellhound unleashed a menacing growl into the night air and charged at me. Its teeth were bared and its eyes filled with rage. It was at least a couple of metres in length, the biggest one I'd ever seen. If it leapt onto my stomach or my head, I'd be crushed. I drew my sword, a metre of celestial bronze that one of my best friends made for me. I had named it "Hurricane" because it helped to whip up some awesome storms, a gift that comes from being a son of Zeus.
The hellhound was within striking distance. I sidestepped its ferocious fangs and sliced down on its back left leg. A few drops of golden ichor- immortal blood- dripped from the wound and onto the black tar road. The monster shot me a menacing glare and began to circle me like a tiger surrounding its prey. I would've found this situation exciting or entertaining, if I wasn't the main course. A bright yellow light bounced off Hurricane, illuminating the beast. It growled and quickly looked away. I began to think that this tactic would work but the hellhound crouched to the ground and disappeared in a hole of darkness.
I had learned about this trick back at camp half-blood. Hellhounds had the ability to "shadow-travel" which could allow them to teleport through darkness. I hadn't exactly trained for a surprise shadow stealth attack, so when the hellhound attacked me from behind I wasn't prepared and the monster pinned me to the ground with its front paws.
Hurricane flew from my hand and landed on the road just out of reach. The hellhound growled directly into my face, burning my nose with foul breath. I struggled against its weight but it was too heavy, I'd need the strength of a god to lift it off me. Brute force wasn't an option, so I switched to strategy. Chiron always told me that being a Zeus demigod brought great power. But, with great power comes great responsibility. There was a chance that I could blast this thing off me by summoning a bolt of lightning, but what if I hit a surrounding house? And what if I somehow endangered the demigod I was sent to retrieve? If that happened, my whole quest would've been a waist! I needed another option, fast!
The hellhound pressed harder on my shoulders. The way it was growling, it seemed like it was laughing at me. It didn't surprise me, the "almighty Zeus demigod" was getting his butt whooped by a dog. It reared up on its hind legs and prepared to strike. I took the opportunity. I rolled backward and avoided the hellhound's deadly fangs. I grabbed my sword and sliced straight through the monster's shoulder. It exploded in a whirl of golden dust and a rage-filled howl echoed into the distance.
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I began to laugh. I had a habit of laughing and having fun at moments that should've been the opposite. I sheathed my sword on my belt and jogged up the dark street. A light breeze picked up and a few autumn leaves scattered around my feet. It blew through my light blonde hair, to my orange camp half-blood t-shirt and down my brown jeans.
Suddenly, an idea hit me. I raised my arms as if I was an aeroplane about to take flight. The light breeze around me increased to a heavy wind and swirled around me like a tornado. I continued running for a few seconds before leaping high into the air and taking to the skies.
Flying was one of my favourite things about being a demigod. Well, not that all demigods could do it. In fact, I was the only demigod who could do it, other than my friend Lance who usually blew things up and accidentally went flying. The moon reflected off the calm beaches of New York. A magnificent white glow illuminated the city like a natural spotlight. I thanked Artemis for the brilliant night time display and took off at lightning speed toward the eastern side of the city.
The school wasn't hard to find, the lights were on inside a large red brick hall and it was quite tall compared to the surrounding houses. I landed silently on the footpath outside an open gate. An old women walking a small dog gave me a strange glance and crossed to the other side of the road. I'm not sure what she saw, but who knows what the mist made me look like, a bird maybe?
A cool fog crept along the ground as I entered the school property. A thin layer of frost covered the grass on either sides of the footpath. Grunting noises came from an open door to the hall. I entered the large building to find what looked like a martial arts class. A boy with short, curly brown hair and glasses threw a punch at the stomach of a man with black hair and unnaturally dark eyes. The man blocked the attack and swept the boy off his feet with a roundhouse kick. The boy crashed onto a thin blue mat on his side with a thud. I started walking toward him but a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me sideways.
"Hold up," said a girl with dark blonde hair and green eyes, an odd mix if you ask me. "You can't interrupt this duel, it's an exam. If you interfere, there's a high chance that Paul will fail Forgerath."
Forge. That was his name. Chiron had told me before I left but I'd forgotten it until now. This boy was the demigod that I was sent to find.
I nodded and sat beside the girl against the wall with a bunch of other kids. They obviously weren't aware that a bronze sword was strapped to my side. They all looked around twelve years old.
"What is this?" I asked.
The girl tightened a yellow belt around her waist. "Taekwondo, of course."
I don't know why I was surprised, the kids were all wearing white outfits with different coloured belts. The man (apparently Paul) wore a black belt, the highest rank in taekwondo. He was much taller and bulkier than Forge but the smaller boy seemed to be winning the duel.
Forge ducked under a kick from Paul and punched his back. Paul groaned a little but recovered quickly. He faked a punch to Forge's right and kicked from his left. A clean hit, but Forge wasn't done. He darted to the left and rolled between Paul's legs. Before the bigger man could react, Forge kicked him between the eyes. Paul took a few steps back and groaned, but he then smiled like nothing had happened. He bowed to Forge, who copied the gesture, and they both stepped off the mat and came toward us.
Forge sat on the other side of the line and Paul stood in front of us.
"You have all fought well. Your skills have been reviewed and judged, you will receive your results next lesson. You are all free to go, but remember our number one rule: nothing you learn in this class can be used outside the dojo."
Or school, I thought. The kids got up and exited through the door but I stopped Forge on the way out.
"Hand on," I said, "we need to talk."
Forge sighed, "if this is about those rose bushes in Miss Henry's office, I swear it wasn't my fault!"
I chuckled a little, not because of the amusing statement, but because what I needed to tell him was much more complicated than rose bushes.
