Chapter 1
Mountainous waves crashed down hard against the algae-slick boulders, sent needles of ocean spray across the sand. The wind was an anguished beast howling in my ears and gusted up grit into my long golden nut-brown hair. It was so dark and blustery that not even the animals could tolerate it. Seagulls hid in musty coves along the cliff, and the fish scuttled in their homes underneath the violent current. I sat on a frigid rock surrounded by tall flowered bushes. It was free time at Camp Half-Blood, the summer camp for demigods. I always felt terribly weary when I woke up from my light slumber every night, was always and forever thinking about the ominous prophecy Hestia had spoken to me a week before.
Four half-bloods that the gods want
To kill
One of the hearths, one of tactic and skill
One of the of the king
One of the Holder of the Wings
Shall find each other after misery and woe
And fight the minors— their only foe
I was puzzled out of my mind when I heard this bleak omen; when a lady in a russet robe came into my dreams and told me, "You and three others are in grave danger. Evil lurks in the shadows of revenge. Cold and insecurity will roam the earth unless you unbind me from my icy cell." I had stood there, seen that maiden blind-folded, sitting on her knees with her hands tied behind her, in what looked like a meat locker. A long shadow passed over her. She had on a look of fear— sheer terror— and she froze, with her mouth slightly open mid-scream. The dream went black. Me, fourteen-year-old Vesta Hearthos, part of a prophecy? It was preposterous!
I shook my head and looked into the swirling, churning white water. This downcast weather was very unusual for mid-July. I tossed in a rock or two and stood up. As far as I could tell, the sun was going down. That signaled that free time was over. I walked along the beach, taking notice to the squelching of my sneakers when they got sucked into the sodden sand.
Hushed whispers sounded in my ears, an eerie echo saying, "We know what you seek, daughter of the turning coals. You seek to be noticed and loved rather than frowned upon. They tease you for what your mother did. If you want your wish, follow the path…." The voices sounded neither female nor male and drilled into my skull like a screwdriver. A footpath of ice led out to the ocean, and I stumbled toward it against my will. I felt like a zombie, driven towards the sea. I strode onto the sheet of ice without hesitation and hobbled toward a shimmering white glow at the end. Soon enough, I was inches away from my unintended destination.
A sprite, golden with dark wings and an angelic face took out a lethal jagged obsidian dagger— and aimed it at my heart. Still in my trance-like state, I stood there waiting for my fate. I felt a firm hand yanked me backwards, just as the blade made a gash in my forearm. I felt no pain whatsoever, though. The nymph cackled and transformed into a horrendous beast, a kampê with green scales, wicked-sharp incisors, and black lifeless eyes.
The guy that dragged me away from the monster looked a lot like my adopted brother, Leo Valdez. He had that lush, black curly hair. He had the same wild 'I'm going to do something dangerous!' look in those same deep-brown eyes. And he even had that impish face with matching pointy ears; it was as if they were twins! Maybe they were? He smiled this crazy little grin that him look insane. He took out a rusty old wrench from his back pocket and it instantaneously elongated into a three-foot Celestial bronze wrench-staff looking thing. The boy charged past me, ramming the kampê forked-end first.
Broken from my trance, I looked at the delicate ring on my finger that had been endowed to me at birth. It had a Celestial bronze band and a tawny amber jewel that radiated heat was set in the center. I tapped it once, and watched proudly as the ring morphed into a two-foot long sword as golden as the sunset and as simple as bread. The hilt was Imperial gold, etched with Latin phrases— my preliminary language. I wielded my sword, Absurdus, to the somber light and directed a venomous stare at the kampê. Shifting my feet and bracing myself for an attack, I hammered my rapier forward, hoping for a coup de grâce, a death blow.
The kampê dodge the attack, and came at me with tooth and nail— literally. She targeted a spiked clout at me and caught me in the shoulder. Pain seared up my limb and I looked over at the guy. While the kampê was focused on me, he jabbed at it from behind and sand gradually and steadily from each wound. I idolized this boy for his willingness to jump into battle.
I hacked at the fiend's left arm and witnessed yellow sand pouring out of its shoulder. I felt the intensity of the blade pouring into my veins. My hair erupted in lustrous flames; my eyes gleamed like tiny infernos as I became overcome by Absurdus's power. The blade itself was ablaze in yellow and red-hot energy. Feeling my wounds heal, I plunged Absurdus deep into the kampê's abdomen. The creature's eyes bugged out of its skull and twitched wildly before it completely disintegrated. The boy looked up triumphantly, beads of sweat dotting his forehead.
"We did it! I dunno how, but we did it!" he slapped me high-five and I burst out laughing. This was exactly what Leo would have said.
"I'm Vesta Hearthos, daughter of Hestia." I managed between chuckles. I tapped the butt of my sword and it transformed back into her ring.
"I'm Jet Archer. I'm the son of Athena." He combed his fingers through his hair and laughed lightly, bitterly. "Yeah I know what your thinking. 'What? This guy's son of Athena? I thought she was like, the goddess of wisdom, not stupidity." He stuffed his wrench, now regular size, into his pocket. He looked at me, those big brown eyes brimming with hostility.
"Well? Go on, say it!" he snarled. My heart clenched.
"You're not stupid, Jet. Did you see yourself right now? You were so confident, so lion-hearted." I soothed, stepping toward him. I never knew him personally, but I had heard of him and seen him at the arena. He widened his eyes in shock.
"You— you really
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