Hey, everybody! Just thought I'd let you know that I am still alive. I am very sorry for not updating for a while, but I've been super busy lately. I have marching band, and for those of you are also in marching band, you can understand how much time and energy it takes up. I am also in my school's drama: Sherlock Holmes. So, I've had a lot to do, but my life should calm down in a couple of weeks, then I can update more. I will update my other two stories, but I want to upload this first. You should appreciate it since I got the idea at 11 o'clock last night. Anyway, you don't want to hear me talk. Without further ado, The Daughter of Minerva!

Marlena POV

I glanced over my shoulder as I ran for my life from what seemed to be hundreds of monsters. There were so many kinds, most of which I had never seen or heard of before. I had been chased by them for the last few weeks after leaving my Pennsylvania home to go to a place that I had been beckoned to in a dream.

I know it seems strange to listen to an order that you dreamed about, but this dream was different; it was so…real. It felt as if I were receiving a phone call. Something inside of me just seemed to know that I had to do what the voice of that mysterious woman told me to do.

I realized that I had been looking back for too long when I turned my head around and came face-to-face with a forest, almost ramming right into a tree. The forest was overgrown with many different plants as if it had been neglected a long time ago. After a moment of hesitation, I decided to keep running, figuring that whatever I would find in these woods could not be worse than what was behind me.

As I ran, I felt my foot catch on a root. I did not let this hinder me, though. I kept up my wild dash on what was beginning to feel like a badly sprained, or possibly even broken, ankle.

Soon, I came to a clearing and was surprised at what I found. There was a brick mansion that looked like it had been burnt almost completely down to the ground. In the middle, there was a pit that greatly resembled an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

What happened next was the most surprising out of everything that had happened so far.

A pack of timber gray wolves came running out of what seemed to be thin air. They ran right past me as if I were invisible to them and only stopped when they reached my monstrous pursuers.

I watched as the wolves cared the monsters off by using only their fierce, menacing growls and the threat of their razor-sharp teeth. They didn't even need to lift their paws to show off what I was sure were some wicked sharp claws.

At that moment, I felt millions of emotions rush up inside of me: fear, gratitude, confusion. Feelings that I had suppressed because of my being chased. Now, I felt so much that I wasn't sure which emotion was most prominent.

Then, I heard soft footsteps heading in my direction. For a second I wondered if they could be pawsteps, (I'm making it a word) but quickly brushed off that idea. When I turned around, though, I gasped at what I saw.

It was another wolf. The biggest wolf of them all. It was a tiger-sized she-wolf with shiny, silver fur and clear blue eyes.

The wolf looked at me and smiled, which made me wonder if I was hallucinating.

"Hello, Marlena," she said with the same voice as the one I heard in my dream, "and welcome to the wolf house. I am Lupa. Before I say anything else, you must first show me whether you are strong enough to live and train here, or if you are weak and must die to be food for my children."