CHAPTER SEVEN

In my dream, I was in a desert. A hot wind blew red sand around me, blinding my vision. The sun was right overhead, glaring down at me. I looked back and saw that the wind kept erasing my footsteps. Where I was walking, I wasn't sure, but my body felt like it had been trudging along in the red sand for miles. I staggered and fell on my hands and knees. Above me, I heard the cry of a falcon. I looked up at it and saw it swoop down at me, its claws seemingly ready to tear at my head. I covered my head with my arms, trying to shield myself from the bird, but the attack never came. Instead, I heard the sound of feet hitting the desert floor. I slowly looked up, and found myself staring into one gold eye and one silver eye.

"Who—who are you?" I asked.

"I am Horus, king of the gods, god of war, and your father."

I felt a shock go throughout my body. My father? I was finally meeting him via a dream. He was impressive looking; tan muscled arms, tall, and broad shouldered. He wore leather armor and had a sword like Dakota's strapped to his side.

"So, I am your daughter then?"

"Yes. Sadie was very bold when she stated her theory, but she was correct."

"But, how? I thought the Egyptian gods didn't have children with mortals."

Horus sighed. "I broke the law. We gods made a pact centuries ago, promising that we would never have children with mortals. I managed to ignore most of the women I set my eyes on. But your mother, there was something about her that I couldn't pull away from. I brought her to my palace, gave her gifts, treated her like a queen. I fell in love with her, and she loved me. We got married secretly, but she knew she couldn't stay with me. The other gods didn't know that I had brought a mortal into our world, but they were getting suspicious. She left, and I tried my best to forget her. I didn't know that she was with child when she left; I didn't find out until after your mother's death."

I sat there, grabbing sand in my hands and gripping it tightly. "You knew?" I cried. "You knew I was your daughter, but you ignored me anyway?" I felt angry. How could he do that to me? Without thinking, I threw the sand at him.

Horus's face went from shocked, to angry, and then to remorse. "Tamara, I'm sorry I couldn't make contact with you. You couldn't live with me. I had to leave you in the foster care system."

I felt tears well up in my eyes. "I understand that I couldn't live with you, but at least you could have come said hello, told me I was your daughter, called me, I don't know, let me know that someone loved me. But no, you decided to ignore me, leave me to the mercy of the foster care system, where I moved from home to home."

I expected Horus to yell at me, give me some lecture about how he was a god and shouldn't be treated this way. But instead, he hung his head and whispered, "I know."

Tears fell down my cheeks and I swiped at them angrily. "Did you know Mom was a demigod?"

"Yes. She told me as soon as we met. I didn't care; I loved her."

"Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? I belong in two different places. My heritage is complicated and confusing. And, to make matters worse, I have unbelievable powers that are very dangerous."

"Tamara, I'm sorry. I wish we could talk more, but it's time for you to wake up. I'll see you again soon. I promise." Horus morphed back into a red falcon and took off into the air.

The red sand swirled around me until I was in the middle of a huge red tornado. The sand beneath my feet vanished, and I fell through darkness.

"Tamara. Tamara, wake up!"

My eyes shot open and I sat up. Sadie was sitting next to me, worry in her eyes. I looked around the room, trying to figure out where I was.

"Tamara, are you okay?" Sadie asked.

"Yeah I just, had a weird dream. I'm fine."

Sadie kept looking at me, not convinced. I gave her a smile and asked, "What's going on?"

"Joy came in to tell us that breakfast will be ready soon. There's a fresh change of clothes for you in the bathroom if you want to take a shower. I'll be downstairs." Sadie got up off the bed and walked out of the room.

I looked around. The cocoa brown walls comforted me. I hadn't noticed much of the room last night, but it was plain and simple, like the rest of the house. A wooden rocking chair sat in the corner. Across from the bed was a door, which I guessed led to the bathroom. To my left was a window that had white lace curtains covering it. I got out of bed and looked out the window. Down below, I could see men and women walking into various buildings. They all wore plain cotton shirts and jeans and had leather bags slung across there shoulders. Out in the distance, I could see tent owners setting up their merchandise, yelling greetings to one another. Just another normal day in the First Nome. Little did those peaceful people now that the daughter of Horus was looking down at them.

I walked into the bathroom and got in the shower, letting the warm water sooth my sore muscles. It also relaxed me, which I was desperately in need of after having experienced that dream.

The clothes Joy had picked out were a pair of jean shorts, a royal blue top, and black running shoes. I put the clothes on and let my hair dry in gentle curls. I walked out of the bedroom and ran into Dakota, who's black hair was wet from a shower. He grinned at me and said good morning. I smiled back and quickly walked downstairs. He made me nervous, what with how he acted around me, and how Danny had insisted that we should date.

Downstairs, I walked into the kitchen and was handed a bagel from Joy.

"Here you go, something quick and fast. Sadie wants to get a move on as soon as possible."

On the counter was a variety of cream cheeses. I put some strawberry spread on mine and was about to take a bite when the air shimmered in front of me. I dropped my bagel on the floor in surprise and yelped. The shimmer turned into an image of Tina standing outside of the Big House with a worried look on her face. Archer was standing next to her, also with a concerned expression.

"Tamara? Tamara, can you hear me?" she asked.

"I—uh. Tina? What—what's going on?"

"I'm Iris-messaging you," Tina explained. "It's a way to communicate with others. If you offer up a sacrifice to. . . ."

Archer cleared his throat next to her. "Um, we're on a tight schedule here."

"Right! Uh—anyway, we have some bad news."

"What's going on?" I asked.

Joy walked over and frowned at the message, obviously not approving of it.

"Tamara, you have to come back to camp. Something bad has happened with the gods."

I felt a lump in my throat. "What?"

"It's Zeus. He's been kidnapped, or god-napped I should say."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "What? How could Zeus be, god-napped? He's a god!"

Archer shook his head. "We don't know. That's what Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron were so worried about. None of the gods have made any contact recently, and it worried them. This is why."

"Why do you need me to come back to camp?" I asked. "I mean, I know Zeus is my grandfather and all, but it's clear that I belong with the Egyptians."

"We got a prophecy from the Oracle," Archer said. "She said that a son of arrows, a daughter of the sea, and the princess of war were to go on the quest. Tina and I were the first two people mentioned, but we couldn't figure out the last one until this morning. We thought it might be a daughter of Ares, but the princess thing didn't seem quite right." Archer rolled his eyes. "Those girls are anything but princesses."

It made sense. I really was a princess of war, seeing as Horus had claimed me as his daughter.

"I don't know if Sadie will let me," I said.

"Who's Sadie?" Tina asked

"I'm Sadie," she answered, coming inside the house. "Tamara, what is this? What's going on?"

I quickly explained to her what was happening. Sadie shook her head.

"No. I'm not going to let you go on a quest for some Greek god. Tamara, I know he's your grandfather, but you belong with us."

"Miss, Sadie, whatever you want to be called, the Oracle from our camp made a prophecy. Prophecies always come true, so whether you like it or not, Tamara will be going on this quest." Archer said firmly.

Sadie stared at him long and hard. "Fine," she finally snapped. "But Dakota goes with you."

"I go where?" Dakota asked, coming downstairs.

"On a quest with Tamara to find a Greek god," Sadie said.

"What? No way am I going to help them find the most arrogant, prideful piece of—"

"So, it's settled then!" Tina interrupted. "Tamara, get to camp as soon as possible. Zeus may not have much time."

The image faded and I turned to Sadie. "Thank you, for letting me go."

Sadie shook her head. "I think this is a very bad idea. You should stay at the mansion, learn to control your powers."

"I have to help them," I said.

"Fine. We better go. Joy, thank you so much for having us. Tell Chief Lector Storm we said goodbye." Sadie hugged Joy and then walked out of the house. Sadie led us into one of the magician buildings that was empty, except for an ancient Egyptian relic. She summoned a portal from the relic and we jumped through, letting the swirling sand take us back to the Kane Mansion.

Carter was waiting for us when we got back. He was standing on the roof, petting one of the griffins when we shot through the portal. As soon as we stood up and brushed ourselves off he said, "Tamara, good. Come with me, we have some training to do."

I looked at him, a little stunned at his rapidly-fired instructions.

"I told him about who you are," Sadie explained. "Carter has to know everything as soon as it happens," she said with a small grin.

"Oh yeah? Well did you tell him about the Greeks' quest?" Dakota asked. He wasn't looking at me. He had his back turned and his arms crossed, and I got the feeling that he was angry with me.

"The Greeks' quest? No. . . ." Carter said.

I quickly gave him the short version of my conversation with Tina and Archer. Carter opened his mouth to say something, but Sadie stepped in.

"Carter, before you say no, I already told her that she could go, as long as Dakota goes with her."

Carter glared at his sister, and for a few seconds it seemed like they had a conversation. I imagined it went something like:

Carter: You didn't ask me.

Sadie: I didn't have time. She has no choice.

Carter: I'm her instructor and I say she can't go. It's too dangerous.

Sadie: I'm her instructor too, and I say she can go. I know it's dangerous, but she's Greek too.

Carter sighed and rubbed his jaw. I felt like they were my parents, arguing over which college was the best for me.

Carter threw his hands up. "Fine. But when the Chief Lector finds out, I'm not getting blamed. I really don't think this is a good idea, but I guess you have no choice."

I grinned at Carter and said, "Thank you." Then I ran over to one of the griffin stalls and got one out. I mounted before Carter could say anything else and I looked at Dakota. "Are you coming or not?"

Dakota glared at me and got on another griffin.

"Dakota, you have a scrying bowl, right?" Carter asked.

Dakota nodded.

"Call me when you have the chance. I want to know what's happening. And, here." Carter handed me some kind of bracelet. It was a wide gold band with hieroglyphics etched into it.

"I had one of the charm makers make it. Put it on; it's going to help you with your powers."

I put it on and looked back at Dakota. "Ready?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I guess."

I clucked to my griffin and he took off, flying towards Manhattan. Dakota's griffin followed. Behind us, Sadie waved a goodbye.

We rode in silence. Dakota kept his eyes on the horizon. I knew he was mad, I just didn't know why. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked him.

"What's wrong with me? Tamara, you're the daughter of an Egyptian god, and you're going to save Zeus, a lowly Greek god! You have powers that are difficult to control, and you're leaving the only place that can help you control them. You aren't part of them, Tamara! You're Egyptian! You shouldn't be helping the Greeks!"

I felt a roar in my ears. "I am one of the Greeks, Dakota. Whether you like it or not, my grandfather, Zeus, has been kidnapped, and I'm going to save him. I know that he never claimed my mother. I know that he probably doesn't care about me. But I am not going to ignore him like Horus ignored me!"

Dakota huffed. "I still think you're making a mistake."

I shook my head. He was wrong. The Greeks were my family too. And even if they weren't, I had Tina to think about. She was my best friend. If she needed me, I was there for her no matter what.

Fifteen minutes of silence later, we flew over Camp Half-Blood. Waiting for us at the Big House were Tina, Archer, and Chiron. They all looked grim as we landed.

It was good to see Tina again. She looked well rested from her injury. Her skin color was back to normal and she walked without a limp, though she had an Ace bandage wrapped around her leg. Both Tina and Archer had backpacks slung over their shoulders, and they looked ready to go. Chiron wore his Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and had grass stains all over his white stallion body.

"Tamara, you're safe. Good. Hello again, Dakota," Chiron said with a more pleasant tone than before.

Dakota nodded curtly at them.

"Are you ready to go?" Tina asked after giving me a hug.

"Yeah, ready when you are. Where are we going?"

"Mexico," Archer said. "That's where the Oracle said we should start."

"Why Mexico?" Dakota asked.

"The Oracle said that we must seek a guide from the god of death. That's Hades."

"The Greek god of death lives in Mexico?" Dakota asked with a confused look.

Archer shook his head at Dakota's ignorance. "The gods' homes move around whenever Western civilization moves. It's shifted a little bit, so Hades moved to Mexico."

"Greek gods are weird," Dakota said, though I detected a hint of humor in his voice.

"How are we getting to Mexico?" I asked.

"By pegasus," Chiron said. "Normally we would have Argus, our head of security, drive you to the nearest train station, but you only have three days to get to Mexico, find this guide, and then find Zeus."

"Well, let's get a move on," Archer said. "Um, can your, creatures, time travel? Cause we have extra pegasi. . . ."

Dakota's eyes narrowed. "They aren't creatures, they're griffins. And, if you mean travel at fast speeds by bending the fabric of time, then yes, they can."

"Okay then!" I said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. "Let's go!"

Archer whistled shrilly and down from the stables two white pegasi galloped up. We all mounted our rides and looked at Chiron.

"I wish you all the best of luck, and may the gods, both Greek and Egyptian, be with you."

Archer clucked to his pegasus, and we took off, flying west, towards Mexico. What waited for us there, I wasn't sure. I just hoped it was friendly.