"No!" I scream, darting forwards. Rage and worry surge through me. Patrick put her in front of him! My vision goes red in fury. COWARD!

I slash through the hellhound that has Melinda's unconscious form pinned under its claws, and it whimpers and crumbles. I grab Melinda's shirt and jerk her towards me. Her dead-weight head hits my chest, and I yell and wave my sword in an arc of destruction and all nearby monsters disintegrate.

Then I glare at Patrick, feeling the red hot rage beneath my eyes. Patrick quavers, his lip trembling in fear, his face chalky white, "Look," he stammers, "I—I—"

"Save it!" I snarl, "I'll deal with you later." I place Melinda gently in his arms, "Take her to safety. Now."

Patrick nods fearfully and darts off. Some boyfriend he is. I think savagely.

Then I storm in a deadly fury towards the demigod with the gun. He is aiming at his next victim when I seize him by the neck. His neck swerves to meet me, his eyes wide in terror. He looks so young, maybe only thirteen. My courage quails slightly. It doesn't matter! He is the enemy Athene!

But I cannot bring myself to kill him. A monster will eventually reform, but he will be dead forever. The thought depresses me, and I slice my blade across his cheek, leaving a mortal, but not fatal wound, "Get out of here!" I hiss at him, "And if you have any sense, you'll get out of whatever army you're in. Got it? Because if I see you again, I will kill you."

The kid nods fearfully, red blood dripping from his cheek, and he sprints away, dropping the gun at my feet.

Cautiously, I bend over and pick up the weapon. It is black, laced with purplish veins that glow brightly. The head of the gun is a sphere of purple light, ready to be charged and unleashed. I hope that the blasts are not fatal.

Then I toss the gun far away in repulse, before turning back into the thick of the fight.

Diana is holding off two cyclops at the same time. She decapitates one of them, and sucker punches the other. The first cyclops dissolves immediately at the touch of celestial bronze, and the second staggers back, right into my sword.

I step over its ashes.

"What happened to your friend?" Diana asks, blocking an enemy giant's blade with her own, then retaliating with a sharp blow to the stomach.

"I think she's going to be okay," I reply, cutting through a dracaena's torso. The dragon-lady screams piercingly, briefly deafening me. Then she crumbles into sand and is carried away by the wind, "The blast hit her thigh I think."

Diana doesn't reply as she blocks a stray arrow with her wrist band.

A nearby roar sends the few campers fighting back into a chaotic scatter. An Ares camper yells in terror as his legs are swept up from underneath him. A massive lion-like creature looms over him and roars in the kid's face. I reconignize the creature immediately. A Manticore, much like the one Diana and I fought when we first reached the mortal world.

The Ares camper's eyes scrunch up in fear, his spear long forgotten and laying useless on the ground. Suddenly the Manticore's attention is drawn away from the pitiful camper, and he sniffs the air violently. Then his familiar void black eyes sharpen in hate, "I smell her," he growls, and at that moment I identify that Manticore as the taxi driver, the very Manticore Diana killed, "I will crush her!"

Diana! I realize this a second later, just as the Manticore hurtles towards us, "Diana!" I shout, "Look out! The Manticore!"

Diana swiftly finishes off a cyclops and whirls around to catch the Manticore's claws on the edge of her blade. Her eyes widen in recognition, "You!" she gasps.

"Me," the Manticore hisses furiously, "You sent me to Tartarus! Luckily my new lord Aaron is a noble man and summoned be once more. And now, I will return the favor." He opened his mouth to reveal rows of glistening fangs dripping with blood.

Diana doesn't flinch, and she stabs her blade at the Manticore's stomach savagely. Her face taunt with the light of battle.

The Manticore growls and slips away with surprising speed for such a large body, and Diana's blade slams onto the ground where the Manticore stood a second prior.

I bring my sword upwards in an arc of destruction towards the Manticore's back, but somehow he deflects it off the point of his barbed scorpion tail. The tail curls around my blade and flings it away. I watch in shock as my sword flies through the thick of the monsters and vanishes.

"Hey!" I shout in rage, "That was new!"

"Stay out of this," the Manticore snarls, "It's between me and her!" He dodges Diana's sword again, but this time the blade grazes his flanks and he roars.

"In your pathetic monster dreams!" I spit back, pulling a dagger from a fallen demigod's belt.

"You're getting on my nerves," the Manticore growls back, flicking his muscular tail and sending my flying. I groan as my head slams into the ground, and stars briefly fly through my head as I sit up groggily, rubbing my head furiously.

My hands roam the surface of the ground, and miraculously, my hands grope around the hilt of my sword. The familiar leather hilt is comforting as I grip it tightly, then rise shakily. My head swims in and out of reality.

My head throbs, I must have hit it hard. Still, I am able to raise my sword. With a strangled yell, I charge at the Manticore, my sword poised in front of me like a javelin.

The Manticore swings its tail and cuts Diana's legs from beneath her, then he roars triumphantly as he swiftly knocks aside her defensive sword, "It's over," he hisses victoriously, "I've got you!"

My blade embeds itself into his back. The Manticore howls as if burned and jerks away, fresh blood leaking from the cut, but it has already begun to heal, "You again!" he snarls, "I thought I already dealt with you!"

"I'm not that easy to get rid of," I say through gritted teeth, feeling energy beneath my muscles.

"Neither am I," Fiona's voice is right beside me, and I turn to her in surprise.

Fiona blinks, "What? Do you think I would let you do this alone?" then she grins, "How's your head?"

"Child of Zeus!" the Manticore spits at us, "Is it worth the sacrifice? What did your father ever do for you?"

"More that you'll ever do!" I shout back, and Fiona and I charge together.

From behind, Diana slashes upwards at the Manticore's jaw, but the lion-scorpion-hybrid flips backwards in a neat twist, landing behind us all. Despite his size, he is dangerously agile and swift.

I whirl around just to deflect the Manticore's claws on my sword, then I jerk away, unbalancing the monster. His claws catch briefly on the edge of my sword, lending a few precious seconds for Fiona to send her knife flying towards his chest.

The Manticore reacts with astounding speed and swats the knife out of the air as if it is nothing but a flea. Fiona is equally stunned, and as we stand for a split second, the Manticore pounces on my chest. I gasp as the heavy weight crushes my ribs, and my lungs gasp for air.

I slice my sword at the Manticore's shoulder and he growls in more annoyance than pain. He roars in my face, sending saliva against my cheeks. His breath reeks of dead prey and garbage, "See how much stronger I have gotten?" he gloats, then his eyes stray away from me for a moment to slam Fiona aside with one paw, keeping the other on my chest.

Fiona flies through the air at the corner of my vision and lands in a crumpled heap a few meters away. My scream is strangled in my throat, and it comes out as a whimper.

"There isn't any reason to struggle young demigod," the Manticore sniffs my face and I try to wiggle out of his grasp, keeping my face as far as possible from his rows of teeth, "Join us, you'll be far more useful."

Then he suddenly yowls in pain, and the weight is gone from my chest. I lay there for a few moments, winded and choking in air.

Diana and the Manticore are locked in intense combat, but equally agile and skilled. The Manticore slashes at Diana with his claws, but she springs away, then leaps over his swinging barbed tail. But the Manticore is keeping her occupied, and she cannot land a hit without risking being struck.

"Enough!" the man on the pegasus roars from above; I had almost forgotten he was there, "Drop the bombs! Finish the survivors!"

The Manticore snarls reluctantly and backs away from Diana, every hair on his coat bristling with barely restrained hatred.

Diana lunges forwards with her sword, but as she nears her target. A black ball flies from the sky and explodes near her head. Instantly a sulfuric yellowish smoke engulfs her, and her shadowy form sinks to its knees, doubled over.

My shock melts into fear, "Diana!" but I remain rooted to the spot. That is poisonous gas, laced full of damaging chemicals. Another bomb falls near me, and a few other demigods are swallowed by the gas.

Fortunately, the gas clears quickly to reveal the limp bodies of demigods laying like waste on the ground. The monsters are still standing, their eyes triumphant at the easy prey. I fall to the ground and try to pretend to be fainted, I limit my breathing to light, quick breaths every ten seconds.

"Don't lay a claw on them!" the man commands, "Aaron wants them taken alive, but I suppose you can kill a few children of Aphrodite and Demeter." Then monsters surge forwards, sniffing the air for the minor demigods. Though, I suppose most have already fled.

A centaur's hoof clops near my head, and I hold my breath and try not to tense up.

As the monster retreats, my muscles relax. Through my half-closed eyelids, I spy Diana lying a few feet away from me, the sword still clasped tightly in her hand. Her legs have folded under her body, and her eyes are closed lightly. My heart pounds anxiously, and I long race over to her, but I remain in my position.

"Collect them," the strange general orders, "Load them into the chariots and lock them in the dungeons. We will find the child of Zeus."