Thaila POV

I froze. Artemis pointed towards the monster in front of us, "Hydras must be killed at all costs." She whispered, "They kill stray half bloods. Mortals believe them to be snakes." I nodded, and nocked my arrow. The Hydra looked at me, and hissed. Before I could shoot, something shot out from the bushes. All the Hydra heads turned. A young girl with dark brown hair jumped out of the bush in front of me, and ran straight into the monster.

I gasped, and looked at Artemis. She didn't look afraid, or worried for the girl who just jumped on the back of a hydra. The girl tightened her grip on the middle head's neck, and closed her eyes. I didn't know what to do, so I did the only thing that came to mind; I shot at the beast. My arrows hit each neck, and the monster disintegrated. The girl stood up. She looked at me, and ran. I followed her with no problem. I dodged trees, and roots. The girl disappeared down a tunnel. I followed behind.

There are tunnels, and there are hang-outs. I couldn't tell which this one was. A small underground river ran through the middle, holding crystal clear water. Palm leaves were stacked in two corners, with animal fur on top, like a blanket. A knife, and a spear were hanging on the wall; good hunting tools. The last thing I noticed was a wounded girl in the corner, but she wasn't the one I'd seen running. Her hair was black, and she was pretty tan, although she looked like she hadn't been outside for a few weeks.

The girl with brown hair walked up to the wounded girl, and said, "Dove, how are you feeling?" The wounded girl, Dove, replied, "Hurting still. I- I think it's poison." The other girl sighed, "I'll do what I can, but you have to remember, I'm not a good healer. I can only build a cast for you." Dove winced, "I can't make it much longer Storm." The other girl, Storm, turned to me, then back to Dove, "I'm going hunting. I'll grab some more sap if that'll help ok?"

Dove nodded, and Storm came up to me, "Who are you?" I sighed, "I'm Thaila. You go ahead. I'll watch her." Storm winced, and said, "No. I need to heal her soon or she'll die." Storm tried to push past me, but I grabbed her shoulder, "What bit her?"

"I think it was a manticore. Human face, lion body, spikes on the tail…?"

"Yes. That's it. Go, I know how to heal her."

Storm hesitated, and reluctantly left the room. I ran next to Dove, "Can you stand?" Dove winced again, "Yeah. Why?" I helped her up, and leaned her on my shoulder. We walked back towards the hunt. I found Artemis, and dragged Dove over. Artemis examined the wound, and said, "How old are you?" Dove sighed, "I'm 14." Artemis sighed, "Camp hasn't sent a satyr to collect you yet. I guess we'll have to take you." Dove shook her head, "Wait, Camp? What camp? What's going on?"

Artemis didn't say anything. She looked at me, and said, "Can you take her?" I nodded, "It would be my honor. She has a friend out here somewhere. How old is she?" Dove held the wound on her arm, "She's about 16. Her birthday is in a few weeks." I looked at Artemis. We both knew that both of these girls were half-bloods, unclaimed. I grabbed Dove's hand, and helped her back up. Artemis looked at the sky, "Apollo needs to heal. I cannot heal manticore poison."

Apollo came at sunrise, and touched Dove's arm. He left so suddenly, that he was literally gone in a flash. Dove stood up, and looked around, "Storm should be back by now. She's probably wondering where I am." At that moment, I realized something, "Dove, why do you call her Storm?"

"She's fast, and stealthy. She made the spear too."

Artemis considered this, "Ok. The faster they get to camp, the sooner we'll find their parent. Do you have a mother?" Dove glared at her, like this was a personal subject, "Yes. I do. She left me a long time ago. I've never seen her." Artemis sighed. Dove had no idea that her mom was an Olympian. She probably didn't even know that Artemis was here right now, or Apollo had healed her. Storm walked up behind me, her spear in hand. She saw Dove, and sighed, "You're healed. Good."

We explained the need to get to camp. Storm nodded, and said, "We better get going then. I just saw something in the woods, and I know for a fact that it was a sphinx."