Prologue

WARNING: DO NOT TOUCH

My name is Tyler Matthew Acres. I am 13 years old, and according to the records, still live at the Stanley Juvenile Detention Center. But that, like everything else in my current situation, is a lie.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a felon or anything. I am, on the other hand, a demigod. Yep, I know you think I'm bonkers, but just hear me out. This book is my story, but it could be yours too. Don't let that happen. The word "demigod" might sound awesome, but it's pretty much code for "a person who almost dies a lot". Entertaining, yes. Safe, not so much.

The beginning of the end of my life, my mortal life, that is, began around a year ago. It is imperative that no one reads this book, shares this book, tells about this book, or even gives this book to anyone else without a nightlight. They could appear at anytime, anywhere, anyhow. They could be your best friend, your worst enemy, even your dog. Don't. Trust. Anyone. After reading this, it just isn't safe anymore. So spend your life wisely and be sure to watch your back.

1

I FIGHT THE EVIL LIBRARIANS

OF DOOM

Nothing sucks more than being chased by a crazy librarian. Well, except being chased by two crazy, immortal, fire-breathing librarians who want to force you to read Gone with the Wind.

It all started when I innocently strolled into a book institution to find a novel about Greek mythology. Yeah, I know. Weird. But trust me, just because I was in the Stanley Juvenile Detention Center doesn't mean I was free from school history reports. In fact, being in the SJDC was just like school, except you were there 24/7, all year long. Yippee.

After my entire Section, a.k.a Group of Neanderthals, walked in after me, the automatic doors slid shut. For some reason, it made me feel trapped. The Superintendent and his three dorky sidekicks stood around us, herding me and the others into the center of the library. He began to sort us into smaller Sections and assign us an Assistant Superintendent to make this trip as "fun and educational as possible". Basically, if there was any trouble, we wouldn't get out of that library alive.

"Tyler? Go to Mr. Ross please." He pointed at me and then to a short, quirky man with a curly mustache and a potbelly. I trudged over and stood, back against the wall, with a line of five other students. I looked to my right and saw a kid about my age, thirteen, with a crutch and a sloppy hair-do, as if he had just rolled out of bed. His shirt was way too big for his lean frame and his cargo pants looked like they would fit a cow. I immediately felt sorry for him. His parents had probably just handed him a suitcase and sent him here for no reason at all. He didn't look like the kind of guy who would do anything stupid.

When I thought about it, I guess I didn't look like I belonged here either. My tall, thin appearance didn't exactly fit the bizarre fugitive description. My mom had always said that the way my bronze hair matched my eyes and tan skin was so "adorable" and my smile was absolutely "charming". Those choice words weren't about to gain me any extra Criminal Points.

I sighed. My life was so messed up. All I did was shoot a rubber band at the principal. And made him get an eye patch. It wasn't my fault! Well, I suppose I did take a golf cart, but it was just so I could chase the bear that I happened to let out of the zoo. I was doing them a favor!

A hand shook me out of my memories. I blinked at it for a few moments before I completely snapped out of my daydream.

"Hey. I'm Fernando Autumn, but you can just call me Fern. You're Tyler Acres, right?" The hand belonged to the boy with the crutches. Despite his condition, he smiled and looked like the crutch wasn't even there.

I shook his hand warily. I hadn't met anyone at this stupid place that I could trust, including anyone that already knew who I was when I'd never seen him before.

"What are you here for?" I realized it sounded both mean and rude, so I tried to make it sound more of a light-hearted question at the end.

Fern didn't notice. "I spray-painted a billboard and fell, but I managed to only break one of my legs." He gave me a guilty looking grin. "You?"

"I took out my principal's eye and chased a wild bear with a stolen golf cart." The moment I said it, I realized that I sounded completely insane. "Well, the eye was an accident and the bear wasn't my fault, and I just stole the cart to get the bear back and…" I sighed. There was no easy way to explain why I did it. I was impulsive like that sometimes. To catch a bear, you have to break a few zoo caravans and dispatch a few eyeballs.

Fern did the unexpected. He laughed. A full and hearty laugh, like injuring teachers and chasing escaped bears with stolen vehicles was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just…" He continued laughing, even harder than before. When he finally managed to get a breath, almost everyone in the library was shushing him or glaring with pointed expressions. "So, you're telling me you took out a school administrator's eye, stole a golf cart, and chased a wild bear with it across the highway? Wow. You are totally awesome."

I smiled. Fern made me feel proud of my weird achievements, not disowned. Usually, if I told anyone else that me, a 13-year-old boy, amputated his teacher's eye, let a wild animal roam free in the Houston traffic, and stole a cart to hunt down a bear, they would deem me psychotic.

I hadn't realized where we were going until our team stepped into a large, circular room. It was amazing. Books lined the walls, covering every available space except the windows between the top of the shelves and the beginning of the domed ceiling. Bright sunlight shined all over the room, showing delicate dust mites floating through the musty air. The smell of ancient books wafted around the room, combined with the scent of healthy grass and spring. I noticed that the strange grassy meadow scent came from Fern. I guess he really liked the woods or something.

Delinquents began searching for books. I wasn't sure where to start. Finding a Greek mythology book seemed impossible in the lake of novels on the floor or the disorganized bookshelves.

938.7

I stumbled and looked behind me. Who had said that? There was no one there. The voice… it had sounded like a snake, except it spoke English. Yep. I was going crazy after all.

938.7

There it was again. It was trying to tell me something, but I had a feeling I didn't want to know why.

Then it hit me. Maybe listening to the voices in my head wasn't a bad idea after all. I slowly turned to my left and tapped Fern on the shoulder, motioning him to come with me. If I got caught leaving the group, I at least wanted to have an alibi.

As we quietly made our way around the tall rows of shelves, I wondered if Fern was even behind me anymore. I was surprised at how silently he navigated with the crutches and became suspicious of how long he had actually had them, but I supposed that if he had lied to me, then he had a good reason.

The building was like a maze, except a maze full of books. I shuddered. I didn't need to be reminded of my dyslexia, but here I was, in a library. Not the best field trip I've ever had, but I've definitely had worse. Like the zoo with the bear and the cart. That had been the 8th time I had gotten booted out of a learning facility. Not fun.

Fern and I finally made it to the front desk. It felt like a mile long jog to me but he hadn't even broken a sweat. In fact, he was now walking (or crutching, I guess) in front of me. He waited for me beside the desk and gave the two librarians anxious looks. He almost seemed… afraid. Of two old ladies. Who looked exactly alike, down to the last curly gray hair and printed flower on their dresses. This was getting a little weird.

As I marched to the desk, they wore identical creepy smiles, like they just wanted to "eat me up". I felt like they would do just that. They might be tiny and have gray hair and flowery skirts, but nothing could hide the scary darkness in their eyes.

"Would you like to read the library special for this month?" The librarians recited it together like they had been practicing all morning and brought an enormous book on a platform. Of course, it was Gone with the Wind, or at least that's what the huge letters on the plaque said on the base of the platform. It was a dyslexic's worst nightmare since William Shakespeare.

"Uh… not really." I wasn't sure which one I should address. They stood right next to each other, like I was seeing double. "Ladies… do you happen to know where 938.7 is?" I wasn't sure, but I thought it might be a Dewey Decimal system number. If I was insane, at least it was helping me with my academic career.

They looked at each other and nodded, as if they had just agreed on a plan of attack. To be honest, I have never been so scared of two little old ladies in my life.

"Just follow us dear. But are you sure you don't want to try it out?" They turned their cold, black eyes on us before handing me the ten-pound book against my will. The ladies circled around the reception desk and Fern and I reluctantly followed them into the forest of books.

We walked for a few minutes down staircases and around corners until we were in the darkest part of the library possible. It was really starting to freak me out. I hoped these elderly women weren't going to knife us or something.

We stopped abruptly and I had to keep my balance so I wouldn't fall over. They rotated around, as if part of one body, and smiled again. One of them selected a dusty looking manuscript and handed it to me. The book was almost as heavy as the brick-like one I was already carrying. It was an ancient hardback. On the front read: HET ACNIETN GEREK WROLD: SYMRETY ERVLEAED. I sighed. Why did dyslexia have to be so hard?

"Uh, can you read it? It's too dark for me." I handed it to Fern, deciding not to tell him about my dyslexia quite yet. If he kept secrets about his crutches, I would have some too.

He blew away the dust. "Okay. The Ancient Greek World: Mystery Revealed." Fern looked on edge. I thought he might just start breaking down right there.

"Perfect. Just what I need for my report."

"Uh, Tyler? Where'd the old ladies go?" I looked up. Fern was dangerously pale. Sure enough, they were gone.

"Wha-!" Something lashed out from behind a book shelf, catching me straight in the chest. I was thrown back and smashed against something hard. I lost grip on Gone with the Wind and heard a yelp from Fern.

"OW!" Oops.

My vision was spotted and my thoughts were swimming, but I had enough brain cells left to gather what was going on. 1) The creepy grannies lead us to a remote part of the library. 2) They disappear. 3) Something attacks me. And…

Was that a goat holding a sword? That was plenty of evidence. I was definitely, completely, utterly nuts. Maybe a few marbles fell out when I was shot backwards.

I might have some bats in the belfry, but I knew I was not going to die at the hands of two old ladies in a library. I slowly raised, my sight clearing, and felt a pain in my chest. Broken rib.

Touch it. Your chest.

Great. So even the mystical voices wanted to cause me pain.

Just do it!

Okay! Okay! I thought. Ever so gently, I touched my ribs and waited. For a second, nothing happened. There goes the last trustable thing on the planet.

Then, I exploded.

Bright white light blinded my eyes, but I could feel my rib mending. The pain even faded. It was like nothing had even happened.

Black and white dots filled my eyesight for a few seconds and everything was dark. When my vision adjusted, the first thing I noticed was a pair of pants. Fern's pants. Oh, god… this was going to be awkward.

I screamed and shut my eyes tight as something slammed against the wall beside me. After the dust cleared, what I saw left me in shock.

It was Fern. With fuzzy carpet pants on. This couldn't be right.

"Here." He moaned and weakly tossed me a long, sharp, metal object. A sword. I picked it up.

Crap. How was I going to use this!? And why was Fern wearing hairy pants? Where did the old ladies go? What was that light? I had to be dreaming.

Consider this a favor.

The sword grew hot in my hand and blazed like the sun. I dropped it and shut my eyes. After the light disappeared, I opened them again. In place of the sword was a glowing gold bow and arrow.

What.

How is this any better!? I asked, not really expecting an answer. I didn't get one. Apparently the eerie voice was done helping.

Cautiously, I picked up the bow and slid the quiver onto my back like I've seen people do in movies. The bow felt perfect in my hand, like it was made specifically for me; I had no doubt it was. Somehow, I knew that the arrow goes there; you pull this, prop that, set this like that, and presto. Arsenal of flying gold magic projectiles.

A roar echoed out of the darkness. The shadows moved, as if the monster was a shadow itself.

"Oh, and what is that? A bow? How thoughtful. I will keep it as a toothpick to use after I eat you, cursed demigod." Its voice sounded like a crowd of snake-people, all speaking at once. The building shook as footsteps pounded on the cement floor. Books fell randomly on the ground, but one I recognized in particular.

It was HET ACNIETN GEREK WROLD: SYMRETY ERVLEAD. In the rush of my panic, I flung it at Fern.

"Ow! Would you stop that!?" He complained. Fern looked around and rubbed his head, as if finally realizing what was going on.

"What is that thing? And why are you a goat?" I had to yell over the sound of breaking concrete, roaring, and falling shelves.

Fern made a bleating sound. "A satyr! I'm a satyr!"

"A-? Whatever! What is it!?" I held my bow at the ready, wondering when it was going to attack.

"A satyr?" He looked confused.

"No, you idiot! The monster!" I felt like I was going to smack his satyr face if he didn't tell me what was planning to eat me right that second.

He seemed to remember that I was about to be gobbled up and my bow used as a toothpick. "A hydra! They're multi-headed monsters that breathe fire and stuff!" Fern madly flipped pages in the book and landed on one. He held up the book and pointed to a picture of a lizard with nine heads. I gave him the thumbs up and went back to freaking out.

How did my life end up like this? I was just a normal kid from Houston, Texas. No monsters, no goat-people, and especially no unusual healing powers. I wasn't a whacked-up delinquent. It was never supposed to turn out this way. But here I was, a crazy fugitive, running from a hydra of all things, accompanied by my new half-goat best friend and the all-powerful voice in my mind. That totally didn't sound odd in the least.

Another monstrous rumble made the floor shake. It was getting closer, and fast. The steps were reverberating around the chamber. Please work. Please.

I let go. The tension of the bowstring was released, throwing the arrow into the dark. Perfect shot. Midair, it transformed into a sharp, gold knife. The monster stopped. For a second, everything was quiet. The silence was interrupted by a scream almost as shrill and pointed as the blade. What I witnessed next was almost enough for me to imitate the shriek.

A big, long snake head landed directly in front of me, completely still. I clapped my hand to my mouth to avoid screaming.

"Ugh! Foolish half-blood! You cannot defeat me!" The voices hissed in the shadows. A dry crackling sound vibrated around the basement. "You have only made me stronger!"

"Uh, Tyler? I forgot to mention. Every time you cut off one of the heads, two grow back." He made a sheepish noise, which was ironic considering he was part goat.

"Well, nice time for remembering, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry!"

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes and focused on my target, which had emerged from the darkness.

The hydra was massive. It towered above me by a few yards, its heads having to duck so they wouldn't crash into the ceiling. I guess it had about 10, but it's hard to focus on counting when you're about to be eaten for lunch by an old-lady-turned-reptile.

"I know! How about barbeque?" It said. My stomach lurched.

Hot fire blasted from all of the heads at once, almost making me a burn mark on the pavement. By pure luck, I managed to dodge it. I wasn't so sure if I would be so lucky the next time.

I notched another projectile. On the arrow shaft, it read something along the lines of FIRE BOMB. That sounded pretty good about now.

I withdrew my hand from the bow string and let the arrow fly. It collided directly into the chest of the hydra, exploding on impact. Time seemed to slow down as it zipped through the air and connected. First, there was a bright flash of light, followed by a sound like thunder booming. The monster was hit by the shrapnel of the arrow as well as a hot burst of its own medicine. Fire surged up the scaly armor, leaving it tarnished and smoking. It traveled to the necks and up to the heads, which were screaming in rage.

"How dare you, miniscule demigod! I am the Hydra! I am-"

"Vaporizing?" I finished, slinging the bow across my back and smirking. "I thought I might have some barbeque as well."

"Huh?" She barely had time to look down with one of her heads when she burst into gold powder, still screeching with insults and pain. I coughed as it covered my face and the front of my shirt.

That's just perfect. I needed to end my day covered in scaly old lady dust. I wiped some off of my eyes and looked down at where the hydra had been standing moments before.

In the center of the floor sat the separated hydra head, the giant mouth still open in agony. Its glassy orbs reflected the tiny bit of light that came through the door. What really caught my eye were the fangs. They were still dripping with venom, like it was about to magically come alive and sink its teeth into my skin. I shivered. In one quick move, I snapped the two huge fangs off and put them into my pockets. I might use them later. Hopefully they had some kind of mystical property.

Fern was astonished. I had to help him stand up so he wouldn't pass out.

"You alright?" I asked, wary to let him stand without support.

"I think so." For the first time, I noticed tiny horns in his hair, sticking just above the top. They would be invisible unless you knew his secret. I smiled. So he really didn't need the crutch.

Fern looked me up and down. He appeared frustrated. "We really need to get you to camp. This is huge."

I was curious about so-called "camp", but I needed answers. "I'm not moving until you tell me what the heck is going on. What is a demi-blood or whatever? And what is a satyr? Or a hydra? And why was it two old ladies? Where did the bow and arrow come from? How did I heal myself? What is this talking thing in my head?" My voice rose in hysterically with every sentence until Fern clapped me on the shoulder.

"I should let Chiron explain that. He's a… Well, I guess you'll find out." I was relieved when he put on his gold-covered pants. His hooves were starting to freak me out.

"Are you coming or not?" He grinned and trotted up the stairs. I chortled and ran after him, still holding the book we had come so far to get and almost lost our lives over. I finally had a real friend, even if he was half goat. I immediately knew from that moment on that no matter how far I went or how many schools I got kicked out of, I would never be alone again.