Chapter 2: The Run

I don't have much to say other than to plead you guys to review. A simple good or bad will be helpful. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

~N~

My body reformed at the base of Half-Blood Hill. At first, I had no idea where I was, but I spotted a group of people with swords and bows at the top of the hill. That probably wasn't good. I usually completed my missions with at least part of a plan, but my client wanted me to go in blind. I was about to run for cover and formulate a part of a plan since the crack of dawn was breaking, until I was spotted.

I heard a sharp cry of warning from the top of the hill, and I knew that I was dead meat. An arrow whizzed past my ear and I dove for a nearby tree, hoping to use its trunk as cover. I heard the unmistakable sound of arrows thudding against the tree. I saw a flash of silver perpendicular to the base of the hill, and my heart sank in my chest.

They campers had set up an ambush. They had anticipated that I would return, and they had set up a border control. If they were to spot anyone, they would send a signal, and the intruder would be flanked by the hunters.

Hey. It wasn't my fault.

I considered just surrendering, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea since they were already set on kill me. I heard the whistle of arrows and a skillfully dodged a volley of silver arrows whizzing at me.

I didn't have many options either. It was either make a mad dash for the woods, surrender and probably get turned into a pin cushion, or kill them all. It definitely wouldn't have been the latter.

I took off from my discount coverage of the tree and sprinted at full speeds towards the woods, looking behind me to see the hunters in pursuit. I had a one hundred meter head start at least, so that was good. The part, however, is that I needed to lose them somehow, and the only way I knew how to do that was to make it into the city. At that point, the Hunters of Artemis wouldn't be at their strongest.

Arrows occasionally flew past me a pinned into nearby trees. I looked behind me and saw that they spread out in single line arrow, allowing them to cover a greater distance, but still reach the same speed. That took away some of my maneuverability, but I still had an advantage with only traveling as one person.

I was running towards New York City, relying on my stamina to help me get there. I checked my over my shoulder and realized something to my horror. Instead of chasing in one large pack, some of the hunters had split into two groups, and I had no idea where the second one was. I pushed the thought to the side and continued running, gradually gaining ground on the hunters in pursuit.

My progress was stopped when I ran into someone. My momentum carried me off to my feet and I stumbled into the layer of pine needles and leaves on the ground. I let out a groan and pushed myself up to me feet. I looked to see who I ran into a saw it was a hunter.

She had light brown hair and piercing blue eyes. She stood with her hand on her hip, a small sword in the other as she stared down at me with a smug grin.

"Don't ever try to run from us," she said with venom in her voice, "because we will find you, and you'll always regret it."

"Where's the others?" I said, dusting the dirt off my pants, looking around to find that she was alone.

She narrowed her eyes. "I don't need the rest of them to capture you. They'll find me soon enough."

This girl must have gotten separated, or she was tasked with taking a different course to catch up. But whatever it was, it worked to a par.

"As much as I'd love to give myself up, I'm afraid I can't turn myself in yet," I said, clicking a button on my crossbow that turned it into a pen. "I'll give you two options, let me go and I swear I'll return to Camp to turn myself in, or you don't and suffer the consequences."

She scoffed. "Like I would let you escape when I already caught you."

I let out a defeated sigh. "So option two?"

The hunter didn't respond, instead, she lunged at me with her sword. If I didn't react, my chest would have been impaled by the deadly blade she wielded. Luckily, I was on guard, and I dodge her jab and drew a dagger of my own. I let her press on the attack and she swung her sword in a high arc, not accomplishing anything other than being parried by my own dagger. A sound of metal clashing ripped through the tranquil woods.

"Look, if we're going to fight," I said while ducking from a swing to my neck, "can I at least know your name? For an honorable fight?"

She puffed out a sharp breath of air and pressed even harder, her eyes narrowed with concentration. I couldn't let this fight last any longer, or else the rest of the hunt would easily discover us dueling, so I finally went into the offensive.

I stepped in closer and forced our sword into a lock. She didn't have the chance to realize what I was doing, and I slid the flat of my dagger to the hilt of her sword. This let me catch the edge of my blade into her hilt and I twisted and spun my body around quickly.

Her sword flew from her hands and clattered on the ground a few meters away. She stared at me with wide eyes. My dagger was pointed at her throat, threatening to snuff the life out of her.

"I'm not going to kill you," I said quietly. Her eyes eyes widened even further with shock. I knew why: any hunter of Artemis would kill a man in a heartbeat, and they would assume the same would hold true on the flip side. However, I wasn't your average man. I guess technically I wasn't a man, but you get the picture.

"Tell your mistress that I've shown you mercy. And who knows, maybe we'll come across each other's paths someday."

I sheathed my dagger, letting her breath out a quiet sigh of relief. I bolted back into the woods towards the city, leaving the hunter behind in a dazed, confused state. I smiled to myself as I ran, realizing that I bested a hunter of Artemis. I ran for five more minutes, warily keeping an eye out for any sign of movement other than myself.

Suddenly, a group of five hunters appeared in front of me, and I immediately dove to the ground, praying they didn't hear me. They were only twenty paces in front of me, travelling slowly. They must have know I was trying to get to the city, and this was their attempt at cutting off any route into getting into an advantageous position. This group contained the girl with the silver circlet. I checked behind and me frowned to myself. The girl I had just defeated was jogging towards me, though not realizing that I was crouched in between a cluster of rocks.

I grabbed my pen and clicked it back into a crossbow and loaded a small combustible arrow into it. I aimed a distance away from the group of hunters and fired. It made impact with a tree and a small explosion cracked through the woods, causing the group of hunters to freeze and look towards the source of the sound. I grabbed a standard arrow from the quiver and snapped the tip off so it had a flat head. I loaded it and aimed at the girl coming closer to me. I fired and the arrow made impact on her forehead. She let out a soft shriek and collapsed to the ground unconscious.

She might have a nasty bruise on her head, but it was better than having an arrow stuck in your brain.

I turned my attention to the group of hunters who were now investigating the explosive arrow, allowing me to have enough time and space to make my escape. I burst from the cluster of rocks and dashed through the woods. I heard a cry of warning and I knew that I was spotted again. I turned around and saw the group of hunters chasing after me again, arrows whizzing past my head every so often.

I looked up and say the closing skyline of New York City, and I knew that if I were to just make it that far, I would be safe. As I ran, I somersaulted beneath fallen trees and propelled myself above rocks that were in my way, desperately trying to create any distance possible between myself and my pursuers.

"Stop!" I heard a voice cry out, and I knew that it was the girl with the circlet.

I wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

I could sense and arrow flying straight for my backside where my heart would be, but I lunged away just in time, but I didn't go unscathed.

The deadly silver arrow had grazed my shoulder and ripped my black running jacket. I knew I was bleeding, but I had more important priorities. I considered firing back, but I knew that would be foolish. Pissing off the hunters of Artemis definitely wasn't in my bucket list.

By this point, my plan was relatively simple. Step one: get outside of the woods. Step two: get back to my apartment. Step three: ….I'd cross that bridge if I made it that far.

I burst out from the trees into the morning light. The outskirts of the city lay about a mile in front of me. I was so close to safety. I looked over my shoulder and saw at least ten hunters chasing after me. I was gaining ground too, thank the gods.

I sprinted into the closest neighborhood, weaving through the curved streets. It was a rather modern looking development, so I figured it must have been relatively new. After about five minutes of nonchalant turns, I dove into the front garden of someone's home, somehow avoiding the flowers growing there.

I waited for at least five minutes, making sure the coast was clear. I was satisfied that I had lost my pursuers, and I stood up and jogged back onto the sidewalk, dusting the dirt from my clothes.

~3~

Thalia stomped the ground in frustration. She had to admit, whoever this person was, was extremely smart. Not only had he managed to divert her attention, but he was able to escape, something which nobody has accomplished. But, she did know that the boy lived in the city, hence the reason for his escape there.

She jogged back into the woods to regroup with the rest of the hunters. The rest were easy to find, as they had all pushed their way to the outskirts of the woods. However, they were missing one.

"Has anyone seen Aubrei," Thalia asked while doing a headcount.

"She said she was taking a different route to see if the boy tracked back to escape us," Phoebe said. "She might still be further in the woods."

"Very well, let's go find her."

It didn't take long. The hunters could hear her moans of pain, and they found her crumbled on the ground, clutching her forehead with a considerable amount of discomfort.

Phoebe, the best healer, immediately knelt down next to the fallen huntress and began examining her, making sure she was halfway decent. She carefully peeled her hands from Aubrei's head and let out a confused grumble as she saw a circular red mark on her forehead where the arrow has made impact.

"What happened?" Thalia asked, standing over Aubrei with her arms folded neatly.

"The boy, he shot me in the head," she groaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"He shot you?" Thalia asked, raising and eyebrow. "There's no way a shot from a crossbow wouldn't penetrate your skull."

A hunter with bright blonde hair picked up a littered arrow and frowned. "He snapped the tip off," she said, holding up the arrow for the rest to see. Sure enough, the tip of the arrow was sanded down to where it was a flat tip.

Thalia studied the arrow with sincere consideration. Perhaps this boy wasn't as cold hearted as she first thought he was.

"Well….we need to find this boy before he does anything else," Thalia said. "He lives in the city, so we'll have to track him outside of our element. Aubrei, are you good to go, or do you need medical attention back at camp?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

Thalia slung her bow over her shoulder. "Very well. Let's go find ourselves a boy."