Mikayla's POV

I walked over to the Big House, backpack in hand. The others had not arrived yet even thought the sun was starting to appear about the tree line. My left thumb was nervously spinning the silver ring I had on my index finger. My stomach kept on tying itself in knots. I was so nervous I could feel my nads beginning to sweat.

"Sweaty palms? Your father had them, almost dropped you because of it" a voice chuckled from behind me. I turned around and saw a girl that looked about 12 in a short hunting toga. Her eyes gave away her appearance since they looked as ancient as she truly was. Her auburn hair was tightly French braided to the small of her back.

"Mom…" I whispered as I got up and hugged her. As we hugged I felt her grow a few inches taller than me. She let go and looked down at me, pride in her eyes.

"Why are you so nervous? It's a simple quest" Artemis stated as she moved a few pieces of hair out of my face.

"This is nothing like anything I have dealt with before…if I fail…" I chocked trying hard not to break down. Artemis smiled softly and stroked my cheek.

"You won't fail. Just fallow the trace from the start and follow it" Artemis replied sounding so sure.

"But how?" I asked looking up at her eyes, the perfect mirror of mine.

"Tracking like a hunter. Maybe starting with this" she replied before reaching into a fold in her toga. After a few moments she withdrew a golden hair, a tiny part from the fleece.

"I thought you couldn't help on our quests…" I whispered as I took the piece from her.

"That didn't stop Apollo or Athena or Hephaestus or Aphrodite" she replied as she went back to looking 12.

"But Ancient Law!" I tried to say again.

"If I followed Ancient Law I wouldn't be speaking with you. Don't worry, you'll do fine" she replied.

"Thanks Mom…" I said with my eyes locked on the ground. Artemis nodded and disappeared into thin air. I sighed and sat back down, twiddling the piece of fleece in my hand. The others slowly emerged from their cabins, not exactly in the best moods.

"So how are we going to get there" Callie asked as she dropped her bag.

"We could fly" Jason suggested.

"Oh yeah, flying with the one demigod Zeus hates more than Kronos. Great idea" I retorted.

"Well do we know where we are going?" Skylar asked.

"Sorta…I have this" I replied as I showed them our only lead on this quest.

"How will we use that?" Jason asked rather skeptical; I didn't blame him for being that way.

"Um…I don't know…" I admitted as I looked down to the ground.

"Oh great…" Callie muttered under her breath.

"Shut up! This isn't easy for me either!" I snapped, my temper flaring.

"Who ever said I wanted to go on this quest! I could be asleep or with Nico" she retorted, her eyes blazing.

"This is more than about you! This is about all of us and the future of the demigods!" I screamed. My heart was racing and my eyes darkened. I put the hair on my bag and sprinted between Jason and Skylar. I jumped into the air at top speed. My arms grew thinner as well as my legs. My legs became more muscular as white fur grew over my body. My fingers and toes webbed together and black talons jutted out from the tips. A thick, bushy tail sprouted from behind as my nose and mouth was pulled into the shape of a muzzle. My noses flattened and turned black as fangs replaced my normal teeth. Triangular ears grew out of my skull, completing the transfiguration. I landed and looked back at Callie as a wolf, fangs bared. Her eyes lit in fear and immediately shifted down to the ground. My gaze shifted to my bag and noticed a glowing golden aura emitting from the top of it. I padded over to it, my shoulders meeting everyone's waist line. I sniffed at the aura and realized it was coming from the fleece. I turned and saw the aura creating a scent trail going out of camp. I howled in joy and ran after the trail, hoping the others would follow.

Skylar's POV

The three of us glanced at each other and quickly picked up our bags. I grabbed Mikayla's, making sure not to lose the small hair and followed the wolf. After about 10 minutes we caught up to Mikayla, but did not break our pace. We sprinted right through the heart of Long Island and continued through Manhattan, getting strange looks as we went. Somehow Mikayla was able to dart though traffic without getting hit by taxis and trucks. At the street just before the Brooklyn Bridge, we got stuck at a red light. Mikayla kept going, not caring that she was in danger.

"Mikayla stop!" I yelled as a taxi came up. Without missing a beat she leapt in the air and landed right on the hood of the car. The driver skidded to a stop, caught by complete surprise. Mikayla hopped off and continued running after whatever she could see that the rest of us couldn't. The lanes were stopped as people got out and watched Mikayla running. We continued running after her, hoping not to lose her.

"I sure as hell hope she knows what she's doing" Jason said as we continued running. After who knows how long we stopped in the middle of a forest. We were all breathing hard, all of us on the verge of collapsing. Mikayla sat down, panting like crazy. She glanced down the forest path, as if looking at the scent.

"Where are we?" Callie asked in between breaths as she sat down on the ground. I shrugged and sat down, looking up at the sky. Mikayla laid down and turned back human unintentionally.

"What have you been following?" I asked as I looked back at her. She looked over at me wearily.

"Scent…trail…must…keep…going…" she replied, panting out each word.

"Oh no you don't. You know how the longer you stay animal the more it drains you" I stated as I crawled over to her.

"Can't stop…monsters…" she muttered before rolling off to sleep. I sighed and looked at Jason.

"Carry her stuff so we can keep going" I stated as I stood up.

"But we have no idea where we are going" Jason protested. In the distance a train blew steam, causing me to slightly smile.

"We are getting on that train" I replied as I picked up Mikayla. She was a lot lighter then she looked, giving me very little difficulty carrying her. Jason nodded and picked up her bag as Callie stood up, brushing grass off her jeans. Once again we were making our way on this mysterious quest.