This is the second book to a trilogy. For those of you who are new, I highly recommend reading the first book, "A New Threat." You can find it on my profile. By the way, this is Harry's perspective, throughout the whole book.
There was fire everywhere. Burning, destroying, ravaging. I didn't know what I was looking at; the world was so blackened with soot and ashes.
"Ssseawooodd," hissed a voice. I squinted through the flames, trying to make out the landscape. "Ssson of Poseidon." It echoed inside my head, over and over again.
"Who are you?" I shut my eyes.
"You know who I am. " The voice grew deeper. "But you know little of my power." The flames moved aside to reveal the landscape. It was a valley filled with burning trees and buildings. I gasped.
"Camp Half-Blood," I whispered.
"Stand in my way, and this is what happens to your friends," continued the voice. An image of Damien struggling and screaming in pain flashed before me. And then, there was Ben, and Ivy and Gemma, whom I'd become good friends with. And finally, Zoe. For some reason, that struck closer to home than the others. Like a punch to the stomach. She was balling her eyes out, screaming in pain, crying for help. My throat tightened like a knot.
I felt myself cry out in frustration. "Who are you?"
"Don't you remember me?" There was a cold laughter. It sounded like nails on a blackboard. "We fought last summer, during the solstice. I trapped you under the sky." Again, I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach.
"Atlas," I grunted. "What do you want?"
"Stand down and I won't hurt you or any of your friends. Fight, and a lot worse awaits you than a burning camp." And then, he was standing before me, on top of Half-Blood Hill. He smiled coldly. There was a small rip in his perfect business suit. On his right side, just below his rib cage. It was where I'd stabbed him last summer.
"Do you really expect me to consider joining your ranks?" I asked, laughing humorlessly.
"Not at all," he said slowly.
"I know what you are saying are lies, I know you can't keep any promises," I continued.
"Clever boy," chuckled Atlas.
"Get out of my dream, you can forget about it," I said, waving my hand.
"Very well… You know, you may not think this, but you are by far the most clever boy I've met so far… Others haven't been as wise."
"What are you talking about?" I frowned.
Atlas chuckled, obviously knowing something I didn't. "You'll understand soon enough…" His image faded. The camp continued to burn behind him, the flames eating everything in their paths.
My eyes snapped open. I breathed in sharply and looked around my room. It was empty. I sat up in my bed, the image of Atlas still burning at the back of my mind.
I stood up and took my clothes from yesterday. I checked the time. I had twenty minutes to get to school. I didn't matter if I was late, it was the last day anyways, lots of people would be late.
I took my bag, which was completely empty besides a water bottle. I hesitated, glancing at my closet. I already had a Celestial bronze dagger inside my bag too, did I really need a sword also?
Something told me I wasn't going to see my room in a long time. I took my sword, just in case my instincts weren't correct.
My mom, Bethany Seawood, was sitting at the dining room table. She was watching the news, eating a piece of toast. She looked up at me as I came in. "Hey, Harry."
"Hey," I said mechanically. I grabbed a piece of toast and glanced at the TV.
"...a lot of traffic near Long Island Sound. Apparently, people are protesting because strawberry producers are putting chemicals in their fruits to make them smell better…"
"Pfff, what a bunch of - "
"Shhh," said my mom, leaning closer to the TV. "Look." She pointed at the screen. I looked more closely. The news broadcast was showing a live feed of a Long Island Sound road. Hundreds and hundreds of people were standing around, facing a tall hill with a single pine tree on top. A man stood next to it, looking concerned. He looked dangerously familiar, as was the hill, the tree, the road…
"Wait," I said with a start. "That's Half-Blood Hill! And Mr. D..." I leaned forward too. "What are protesters doing there?"
"I don't know," said my mom, confused. "Why would they be protesting about pesticides?" I shook my head. The protesters were shouting angrily now. A giant dog stepped forward out of the crowd and growled at Mr. D.
"What is it doing?" I gripped the side of the table, waiting for something to happen. I could feel the tense atmosphere coming through the TV. The dog looked ready to pounce on the god.
"This doesn't look good," muttered my mom. And then, the dog turned away towards the crowd of protesters. It howled, a chill went down my spine. The cheering from the crowd didn't sound good at all.
I blinked and looked closer at the crowd. "Those aren't protesters," I said slowly. My heart skipped a beat and I felt it sink. I'd spotted a man wearing a business suit on the edge of the crowd. He turned his head, and looked into the camera, his cold blue eyes piercing through the TV. I knew he was looking me. A second chill went down my spine as he smiled, not a single ounce of warmth behind it. I felt my knees growing weak under me.
Atlas.
And that wasn't a crowd of protesters. It was hundreds and hundreds of monsters. The live footage switched back to the reporter. She was answering some dumb questions which had nothing to do with what was actually going on.
"Harry? Are you alright?" asked my mom, worried. I breathed in sharply.
"I'm fine." I left my half-eaten piece of toast on the dinner table and said goodbye to her. I left my building and walked to the subway station, waiting impatiently for the train to come.
I slipped my dagger into my back pocket. In case a monster tried to attack me. The train creaked to a stop, the badly-oiled wheels making a horrible sound that pierced through my eardrums.
I couldn't get my mind off of Atlas. How could I? He was going to destroy Camp Half-Blood, the only safe place on earth for demigods. And all the demigods with it. Just the thought of it made me dizzy.
I sat down on the bench. A very muscular man came in and sat down on the other side of the car. I watched the station disappear, leaning back in my seat and sighed.
One year had passed since I'd met Zoe and Damien. A few days ago, it had been the one year anniversary of us going to Mount Tam to rescue Ben, Ivy, and Gemma. The summer solstice had passed by with no problem this year.
Last night, I couldn't fall asleep. I was supposed to be going to Camp Half-Blood after school. And now, there were monsters there. They probably wouldn't let anyone in. Or out.
Maybe if Damien and I could find Zoe, we could come up with a way to sneak past them. Or maybe they would all be gone by the time we arrived. I highly doubted that would be the case.
I hoped Damien already found out about this and was making up some ingenious way to sneak past the monsters. The subway came to a stop. I looked up through the window. We weren't in a station, but in the middle of the tunnel. I looked around. The car was completely empty besides the muscular man, who was wearing a long trench coat and a hat.
I tapped my thigh nervously. I hated being trapped in confined spaces. Especially if it was underground. I breathed in deeply.
I saw the man stand up out of the corner of my eye. I looked down at my feet. I could hear him coming closer, his heavy footsteps growing louder. I knew this wasn't good. I held my breath, the steps still coming closer, slowly.
Finally, I forced myself to look at him. He was a few feet away. He'd stopped, looking at me, his face hidden by the hat. My heart was thumping louder in my chest, my hand slowly moving towards my pocket.
The man pulled off his hat, revealing a single large eye in the middle of his forehead. He pulled off his trench coat. His muscles were so massive that the skin had stretched too much. I waited.
Everything happened so fast. The Cyclops lunged forward, grabbing at me. I rolled back and stood up on the bench, my head nearly touching the ceiling.
I pulled out my dagger, knowing it wouldn't be enough. "Did Atlas send you?"
The Cyclops looked up at me. "Who do you think it would be?"
Great, I thought, he knows where I live now. I jumped up and as the Cyclops dove forward, grabbed the bar over my head. I swung onto the aisle and spun around, making a wide arch with my dagger. It slashed through his skin, but it wasn't enough.
The Cyclops cried out in pain and turned around, breathing heavily.
"You breath like an ox," I taunted. His chest heaved. "I mean, I would guess all that body building would build up your stamina or something." I pointed my dagger at his bulging biceps. "But at the same time, I'm no expert, so how could I know?"
"Enough!' He lunged forward once more. I jumped up and grabbed the bar over my head. I landed behind him and kicked his backside. He fell face-first on the floor.
"I'm guessing Atlas wants you to kill me, or something along those lines?" I let my senses wander.
"How did you know?" he said sarcastically. "He wouldn't let you foil his plans, would he?"
"Eh." I shrugged. "You're right."
"Now," said the Cyclops, standing and facing me. He rubbed his hands together. "To finish the job." I raised my hands. Dirty sewage water burst through the windows and knocked him down. I let the smelly water fill up the whole train car until there was no more oxygen left.
The Cyclops was forced to go under. The water was blurry and even I didn't want to breathe it in.
Now, I thought sarcastically, to finish the job. I thrust my dagger forward, piercing through his abdomen. Dust diffused through the water. I let it drained out until I couldn't let any more water outside.
I breathed a sigh of relief, glaring at a pile of dust floating on the surface of the water.
"How am I supposed to get to school now?"
