Twins of Artemis

Chapter 1: I run for my life

Hi, I'm Natalie Johnson. I'm a demigod, half god and half human. My father, Mason Johnson, has been missing for 15 years. I'm 17 now. My brother (and twin) is Nathaniel Johnson. Zeus hates us for who our mother is, even though we don't know who she is. We're currently running from a large monster who has decided they want us for dinner.

As I ran through the woods, getting tugged by my brother to keep up, I tried to catch my breath. The backpack on my back thumped lightly against my back. We were hopelessly lost despite what he said. We were both athletic, of course, but we had been running in a dead sprint for at least half an hour. My lungs burned and I knew I was functioning solely on adrenaline. Unfortunately, even that was waning. Finally, we stopped by a fallen tree. I pulled a water bottle out and passed it to my brother.

"Good enough spot for now. Catch your breath for a moment, Natalie," Nathaniel said. I nodded but didn't speak. I prayed that Athena would let us rest, even for a moment; however, we didn't have good luck. I stood carefully but stumbled, twisting my ankle painfully. I winced but stood.

"We need to keep moving," Nathaniel said and picked up his pack. Suddenly, I heard a rustle in the underbrush. I glanced at my twin nervously. He nodded and crept forward. As he did, a smell of decaying flesh invaded my nostrils. I pulled a knife from my belt and tip toed to the left of my brother, careful not to put too much weight on my left side.

In a flash, he was at the bush and pulled out...a bunny? I forced a laugh and put away my knife.

"Here's dinner, I guess," he said. The smell of death was faint now, so I decided not to tell him about it.

"Can we go? We need to put some space between us and that snake thing," I pointed out. He nodded and we began to walk once more.

It wasn't long before the stench of death became strong again. My brother's eyes widened, and I knew he smelled it as well. We turned and saw the snake, easily 20 feet tall, behind us. I heard a mighty roar behind me and turned. A cyclops, roughly 10 feet tall, stood with a club in his hand.

"Run, Natalie! Run as fast and as far away as you can," he yelled but I shook my head defiantly. I refused to leave Nathaniel's side. If he was going to fight these monsters, so was I. But he insisted that I leave him.

"I won't leave you, Nathaniel! Forget it," I said as I stood behind him. I knew I could either flee and survive or stay and possibly die. They weren't great choices, and I didn't have time to think it through. But Nathaniel decided for me. He picked me up as though I weighed only a pound and ran through the legs of the giant, into the woods. After we were a bit away, he pushed me and told me to keep going.

"You need to find out who our mom is, Natalie," he insisted. I opened my mouth to argue but he shook his head defiantly.

"We don't have time to argue. Now go. You don't have a choice. Turn into a cobra or an owl and go as fast as you can away from here. Do you know where the closest safe house is?" he asked. I nodded and bent my head guiltily.

"I can't change shape right now," I whispered. His head jerked up.

"What? What do you mean you can't?" he demanded angrily.

"I hurt myself earlier when we were running. I tripped and hurt my ankle."

"Never mind, then. Just run as fast as you can to the safe house. I'll...I'll meet you there by night fall with luck. If I'm not there by tomorrow morning, continue without me. Aunt Kate should be there," he said, calmer. I nodded and took off as I wiped the tears from my cheeks, leaving Nathaniel behind as much as it killed me. But he was right about one thing: I had to find out who our mother was and why Zeus was so angry about who she was.