I get a Deadly Warning

Hilli

Hello, people of the world. I apologize for the wait, but I just got the Mark of Athena, and I've been reading it whenever I can! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Warning: this is the longest chapter EVER!

It was a cool evening. The sky was overcast, and a light layer of snow covered the hard, rocky terrain.

I walked alongside my fellow warriors, keeping watch for enemies.

I should probably tell you how I got here.

Well, my name is Gunnhild, but I prefer Hilli. I'm from Nogales, Mexico. I still speak Spanish fluently, even though I left around nine years ago, when I'd just turned six.

I've been blessed my Odin, god of magic, wisdom, poetry, war (there are a lot of those, aren't there?), and the hunt. I think there may be a couple more things I can't remember…

I've been the leader for ever since I turned thirteen, since I was blessed by such a powerful god. I really hate being the leader. Not that I don't like leading the hunters and spending all day creating war plans instead of training out in the freezing cold snow.

But, I'm always the first person to enter the battle field. I've watched my closest friends get killed, but I still have to stay strong. I have to lead an army of warriors, taking the entire burden of every lost fight and dead friend on my shoulders.

But, at least we'd had quite a few successful missions lately. Like the one we were coming back from at the moment.

See, about two weeks ago, our spies came back with reports of Loki's forces building a camp near the Canadian border. That was way too close to our own camp, so we attacked. Naturally.

I took all of the older kids, which added up to about twenty, on a mission to destroy the camp. The camp was full of the strongest warriors, all of them adults, so it was a bit harder to trick them, but we managed to pull it off.

We created mini bombs, using some weird substances I really don't know how to pronounce, and set them up around the camp.

Nobody was killed, but we did send Loki's forces running.

We'd been traveling back to camp for the last two days, but we weren't making very much progress. A couple kids had been injured, and there was a large snowstorm that blew over us a few hours in.

The forest surrounding us was starting to look familiar, and that was really great news. One boy's wound was infected, and another girl had to be carried, thanks to the broken leg she got when she fell out of a tree.

Finally, I found the giant boulder shaped like the state of Alaska, telling me that we were less than thirty paces from camp.

Calder and his sister, Elli, cheered as soon as they spotted the boulder.

Those two were some of the only biological siblings at camp. Calder was fourteen and Elli was thirteen. They'd both been born in Italy, and they'd left about seven years ago. Nobody knew how they'd gotten across the ocean, except for them.

Calder had been blessed by Thor, god of lightning, thunder, and strength. He has blonde hair and sky blue eyes. He was the only kid at camp who fought with a long, heavy hammer, given to him by his patron, which can direct his thunder and lightning powers.

But, he was also childish and immature. He always blew off his training and wondered into the woods, smashing things with his hammer. Sometimes, we found craters in the forest while out hunting, made by none other than Calder.

His sister, however, was nothing like him. I really don't think we could have handled more than one of him.

Elli had just turned thirteen, so she was now counted as a "big kid". She was blessed by Tree, goddess of life. She was a healer, and she never fought, only when it was necessary. Elli was very strong, though, and she could probably beat most of the boys in camp.

She had light brown curls and shockingly amber eyes. She looked absolutely nothing like her brother. She was also pretty short, but she was quick and agile. She was very pretty, and a couple of the older boys tried flirting with her. But, they always ended up in the infirmary with unexplained broken bones.

They started running toward hidden entrance to the camp, followed closely by several other kids.

I stayed behind, walking next to Jersey, a young girl from Japan. She had long black hair and black eyes. Her older biological sister had died in a raid five years ago, but I'd adopted her, like I had with several other kids, including Ing.

Ing. I missed her so much. She was always the person who I trusted to watch the camp, even though she'd blown up several things before. Considering, she was one of the most responsible kids at camp.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I raced ahead, overtaking every other kid, and burst into camp.

I was greeted by two tiny red-heads. Tyrah and Kerby, the two four-year-olds, jumped straight into me, and I ended up on the snow with two incredibly-strong preschoolers tackling me in their plush coats and mittens.

Calder and Elli rushed up to help, but ended up getting tackle-hugs as well. I smiled to myself.

Suddenly, there was a loud cheer of every single kid in front of me. Ing came rushing forward, giving me a big hug. Several more campers ran up and hugged their siblings or best friends.

After about ten minutes of excited chattering, the crowd finally began to break apart. The injured were taken to the infirmary, where they were cared for.

"Vikings!" Ing yelled before everyone could leave.

Anyone who wasn't already listening turned to her.

"We-we captured six prisoners today," she announced.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"In the lodge," she said quickly, pointing to one of the smaller wooden buildings. "I need some help…"

Seven of the oldest kids started walking toward the lodge, and most of the younger kids followed. I really wanted to eat a nice meal and get some sleep, but my duty always came first.

I stepped into the lodge, and immediately saw six teenagers with bound hands sitting in the chairs, staring at us in shock and fear.

Suddenly, one of the boys' eyes arched with electricity, the same thing I'd seen in Calder's eyes whenever he was angry or scared.

A large bolt of lightning hit the wooden roof, igniting it.

The fire spread quickly to the ground, and the roof immediately started to collapse.

"Everybody out!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

I started shoving the younger kids out the door. Everyone was waiting patiently to get out. I was really glad they weren't running around. I guess we'd been in worse situations before.

Suddenly, I noticed a flash of bright orange. The prisoners!

They were trying to find another way out, but there weren't any other doors in the lodge.

Finally, my bravery won over and I charged toward them.

"This way!" I yelled, motioning with my hands.

They turned and immediately followed.

It was easy enough to get them out of the door, but one boy, who looked Hispanic, just like me, told me to get out first. I didn't argue, as the building looked near collapse.

I rushed out, and as soon as my foot hit snow, there was a terrible CRACK, and the building behind me fell to the ground.

I nearly screamed, because that Hispanic kid hadn't made it out. I simply stared in shock, my jaw somewhere in Argentina.

Suddenly, a large piece of debris was moved aside, as if by magic. And, sure enough, the kid came out, completely engulfed in flames.

I promptly fainted. Hey! What would you do if you'd just seen a boy engulfed in flames, standing there as if it was normal?

And, of course, I just had to have a dream.

Okay, let me just say that my dreams aren't normal. Since I'm the leader, I normally get these cryptic messages from the gods that I spend days decoding. But this dream was pretty self-explanatory.

There was a large army, about two hundred warriors, traveling north. They were wearing dark, pure black armor, with black shields and black blades on their weapons.

I recognized them as Loki's warriors.

I watched for a little while, unable to stop the large army that was marching straight toward my home. If they kept it up, they'd be here within two days.

As soon as the sun sunk below the horizon, a loud horn sounded, and everyone halted, right in the middle of a large, grassy field. They started setting up camp.

I felt relieved, but still nervous. They must be coming to destroy…

"Hello, my dear," a voice said behind me.

I realized I'd been transported to a sheer white room. Behind me was my patron, Odin, standing in his armor, tall and brave.

He smiled down at me, as if I were his child. In a way, I was.

"Hello, Lord Odin," I said, bowing.

"I must hurry," he said with unexplained urgency. "I sent you this vision for a reason. You must flee."

"What? Why?"

I couldn't understand why a god of war was urging me to leave. Then again, he was the god of wisdom, as well. He might not want us fighting the large army.

"There is no possible way your forces can stop such a large army. If you stay, the last of our heroes will be wiped out. Loki will force us to surrender, and then he'll take over everything."

"But, why would running be any better?" I asked.

"You must get help from the Greeks and Romans."

That didn't exactly answer my question, but I was shocked. First of all, I had no idea who the "Greeks and Romans" were. Second of all, why would the leader of the Norse want help? It was improbable.

"Who are the Greeks?" I asked.

"I believe you've already met them," he said, his form flickering away. "You must make friends with you prisoners, and ask them for help. If you don't, your history will never be known. Trust me, my daughter."

His form flickered and disappeared completely.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to curl up and cry in the corner. But I couldn't. I had to break the news to my family, and then abandon our home.

I willed myself to wake up, and soon I opened my eyes to see the wooden roof of my cabin.

I tried to sit up, but two hands pushed me back down. I looked up and saw Ing.

"You have to rest," she said gently, but her voice was filled with hostility. I hoped she hadn't killed the Hispanic kid already. He might be useful.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "What time is it?"

"It's just after sundown," she told me. I heaved a sigh of relief.

"I need to tell the camp something," I said with urgency in my voice. Ing understood immediately.

She let me get up, and helped me change into new clothes, since mine were filled with holes and my arm had been burnt.

"Have you killed the prisoners?" I asked nervously while pulling on my shoes.

"Not yet…" she said, as if she was unsure. "We did stop the fire, but nothing could be salvaged. Nobody was hurt, except for you. Even that kid who caught on fire seemed fine. They're in their little prison again, waiting for your final decision."

"Well, bring into the other lodge and tell them to wait. Get Calder and Elli in there as well. I need to speak to them before I talk with the camp."

"But… how can you… what?"

"Please, just do it," I asked.

"Fine," she said. She got up and left the cabin.

I finished tying my shoes, and then I brushed out my hair. There were still bits of ash in it when I was done, but I put it up in a ponytail and went outside.

The first thing I saw was white.

There must have been a storm, because the snow had raised at least two feet, up to my hip.

I pushed through. I'd gotten used to pushing through snow up to my chin, so this was nothing.

After I'd climbed to the top of the tightly-packed snow, I took a survey of the camp.

Every building was still there, except, of course, for the lodge. There were just a couple pieces of wood left.

I looked for the twins, who were making snowmen with the fresh snow. They always made the camp a much more joyful (and loud) place.

I also saw Ing leading the six kids I saw earlier across the snow, having to help them whenever they slipped or sank into the snow. They really needed proper training.

I sighed and stumbled across the clearing to Asfrid, who was just walking out of the stables. She would know where the confiscated weapons were.

"Asfrid!" I said, and she immediately perked up.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I need the prisoner's weapons taken to the only standing lodge in exactly ten minutes."

She nodded, but she looked confused.

I walked toward the lodge, slipping a couple of times. Who knew a burnt arm would make it nearly impossible to walk?

I saw Calder and Elli slipping inside the lodge, and I ran through the snow, slipping inside the build moments later.

Ing was standing quietly in the corner with three other guards, watching the prisoners closely. I was glad to see that they were completely intact, more or less.

I did see a long cut down the Hispanic boy's arm, like someone had tried to fight him. There were also several other scars on everybody's bodies, but they looked old.

I quietly sat down across from them, right in the middle of Elli and Calder, motioning for the four guards to leave.

"But…" Ing stuttered, but I shot her a quick glare. She left quietly.

"We need to talk," I said, turning to the prisoners.

Okay, that was kind of a suckish way to end the chapter, but this was getting way too long, so I had to end it. Don't worry, for you shall be hearing from the Greeks/Romans soon. Tell me who you want to narrate the next few chapters in your reviews. Thank you all for reading! Have a happy weekend!