Chapter one: The Dreamer
Thirteen years after Prologue
Alli's (The mysterious baby) POV. This is how it will stay for the rest of the story.
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I was running. Fast. There was a boy about my age running along beside me. His face was panicked, and beads of sweat poured down his neck. His jet black hair was plastered to the olive skin of his damp forehead. He'd obviously been running a lot.
I noticed that I was about the same; sweat covered every inch of my small body and I was panting as if I'd run a marathon.
The boy shouted something, but he was cut short by a growl. Whatever we were running from was catching up. I shuddered and tried to run faster, but my legs were numb and stiff. I slowed down a bit. The boy slowed down, too, as if he wasn't willing to leave a man behind. But I knew that if he went at my pace, we would both be killed by the evil, growling creature that was pursuing us.
I tried to call out—to tell him to leave me behind—but I couldn't speak. It didn't matter, anyway. It was too late.
It was the first time I got a good look at the creature. It was roughly a dog. An oversized mutt that outweighed an elephant is more accurate, though.
I was shocked silent for a moment. I had never seen a hellhound before. It was like a mini Cerberus, with three heads, and a lust for blood.
Beside me, the boy was tensing up, getting ready for a fight. He drew his sword. I reached for my back, looking for my bow and quiver, but they were missing. I grabbed for the hilt of my sword, which was sticking out of the scabbard around my waist. Just before I could wrap my fingers around it, something hit me square in the chest, winding me. I fell to the ground.
The boy sprang into action, charging Mini-Cerberus with his sword held out at chest length.
Gasping frantically for air, I reached for my sword once again. I tried to pull it out of the scabbard, but I was laying on it, so….
I rolled over onto my other side and used my left hand to attempt at pulling the sword free again. This time it worked. I really couldn't do much with my left hand lying on the ground. I was more likely to hurt myself than the hellhound.
I aimed the sword as best I could and threw it. I missed. My sword flew into the trunk of a tall tree and stuck there.
The boy looked back at me as I was crazy. Bad move. The hellhound tried to ram into him, but he jumped aside at the last second. He landed in a bright green bush with small flowers hanging on it. I stared at the bush, willing him to pop out of it and come kill the hound.
He didn't.
The hellhound turned to me. All three of it's mouths seemed to be grinning evilly.
I tried to stand up, but I was still winded. I could only watch as the dog approached me with hungry eyes…
I woke up crying. My pillow was soaked and someone was shaking me. I squinted at them, trying to make out who it was.
"You were talking—saying things about a hellhound." The person mumbled awkwardly.
I nodded. "I had a dream."
Sympathy filled their eyes. "I understand."
I had a reputation for having terrible dreams filled with gore and murder. The person didn't ask me about my dream, though I could tell they wanted to. People have always been curious about the dreams that caused me so much pain and torture, I could tell, though they never asked me about them. I had always thought that Chiron had told them not to.
"Thanks," I said with a small smile. "You know, for waking me up."
They nodded and the moonlight from the window by my bed caught their face. It was either Travis or Connor Stoll, I decided.
Travis/Connor turned away and went back to their bed. I waited in the dark for a few more minutes, and then I got up, got dressed, and went outside.
The moon was in the state that make people argue about whether it is full or not. I stood for a moment and marveled at its beauty. After a while, I decided that it was not completely full and headed for the woods. I had wasted enough time already.
The woods were my safe haven. Sure, they were chocked full of monsters. I didn't care. None of them ever bothered me, anyway. And when they did, they suffered form a severe whooping…
I walked down my almost, but not quite, secret path that only Chiron, Dionysus, and I knew about that led to a small clearing that was the barracks of my haven. This was where I left all of my most important things that I didn't want to keep in the Hermes cabin.
I walked down the path and I was instantly filled with a relief that only my haven could give me. I walked over to the log that held my stuff. There was a hole in it, where some animal had once lived. This made it the perfect cover for my precious items.
I took them out and counted them. There were only three things, but I had to make sure that no one had touched them. If they did, then that means that they discovered my haven.
I examined the small silver sword. It was the very first sword that I had ever used. There was only one blemish in my sword: a scratch that had appeared after my first summer with it. Other than that, the sword was perfect. The only reason I didn't use it today, was because it was far too small. After all, I had gotten it when I was only eight.
The next thing I pulled out of the hole was a black leather quiver holding a baker's dozen sharp arrows, along with a silver bow carved with elegant markings. This had been a gift from Chiron on my tenth birthday. I loved bows and arrows. I had a natural talent with them, and I could hit almost anything. Once, while I was wandering in the woods, I saw a squirrel. I aimed and shot it right in the eye. I felt really bad after that, but I proved that I could do it.
That last thing in my hidey-hole was a woolen blanket. Chiron had said that this was the one that I was found in. I know, I know. This was a strange thing to hold on to, but I didn't care. It reminded me of my parents… whoever they may be.
I stared at the blanket. It warmed my hands, bringing sweat from my pores. I stroked it gently. It smelled of dirt, for it had been in that hole so long.
I folded the blanket neatly and set it on the ground. I lied down beside it and rested my head on the soft fabric. I thought more about my parents, about my dream. Eventually, my eyes drooped closed and I fell into a deep and dreamless slumber.
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A/N:
JJ: That was long enough, right? It better have been. It took me hours to type.
SF: This chapter isn't the most exciting, but deal with it. It's the first chapter. It's not going to be exciting.
JJ: (Thinks SF is rude)
SF: (Thinks JJ is annoying)
JJ: Why do we even tolerate each other?
SF: Unknown.
JJ: Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed the chappie!
