-Faust-

Artemis POV

"Is everybody ready?" I asked to the hunters gathered and was answered with a round of nods, on my left stood Ignatius back in his dragon form. Anubis had dropped by just before my hunters had awoken merely to let Ignatius know he would be reporting back to Borthomire.

He also gave the hunt an invitation to visit the museum in a few months when it was finished on the condition the we didn't let the rest of Olympus know. The young god was worried Hercules would try to break it if he found out he wasn't included in the 'Hall of Heroes'. Apparently Borthomire doesn't consider the son of Zeus to be a true hero just a man seeking glory so they left him out.

Turning around I looked out towards the castle that was our destination. Not that it really looked like much, at over a mile away even my enhanced vision granted to me by my domain I could barely see the outline. As we walked towards the only real entrance to the valley I glanced back at Lupa, she and Ignatius were my two real concerns.

Ignatius because I didn't really know him or how much ancient laws would restrict him. Lupa I was afraid she would clam up like when we first reached the valley, Ignatius did cast a spell that would reduce what she could understand, I just hoped her heart was strong enough.

"Ready young one?" Ignatius asked Zayden as we entered the final stretch.

Zayden erupted into flames much like Ignatius does when he transforms except it was accompanied by a sound akin to knuckles popping. "Ready when you are." He said once the change was done. He wasn't nearly as tall as the dragon king stand almost 8 feet at the shoulder and almost 27 feet long.

The two took off to complete their part of the plan. We picked up the pace heading toward the one opening in the valley. Ahead of us I heard our dragon friends roar followed by howls of pain. Seconds later we crossed into the valley surrounding us were ashes that were once living creatures.

Silently I thanked myself for having us all put stoppers in our noses so we wouldn't be smelling burnt flesh as we raced towards the castle before the creatures noticed us. Normally I'd like a good fight but with the enemy's numbers the way they are this was probably best. Besides if these animals were as hive like as they seemed. Inside that castle would be the queen and her mates. These creatures surrounding the castle were just the workers inside were the really powerful ones.

A few of the creatures glanced at us pausing in their rush to fight the dragons and were swiftly silenced by an arrow before they could warn the others. After what felt like an eternity we passed through the open doors to the castle, in the back of my mind I noticed something was off but I ignored it.

The main hall was deserted aside from a few blood stains and empty cages probably where these creatures came from I noticed one actually still had something in it. Taking a cautious step forward I created a small ball of light to illuminate the poorly lit room only to jump back as the now awake Chimera tried to slash me through the caged.

"What the Hades is that doing here?" I shouted.

"Are all those things out there the Chimera's kids." The Fate triplets asked.

"Well I guess you could say that." A voice rumbled in the dark. Slowly a it walked stumbled out of the shadows and I couldn't even figure out what it was. A snake like head and neck, dragon like wings, arms and feet shaped like a gorilla's with 9 inch claws at the end of each finger, a spiked tail not to mention the slimy scales covering it from head to toe and to top it off it stood upright an impressive 25 feet.

'Why can't just get some normal monsters lately.' I thought.

"What are you?" Thalia said to herself.

The walking nightmare started to chuckle "Oh a little of this a little of that." He laughed as he walked over to the Chimera's cage talons scraping across the floor. "Once I was known as Felix Faust the lord of this region, my people neither hated nor liked me and I kept to myself. I lived a relatively normal life that had been expected since the day I was born. I kept the town safe and had a moderate tax for that safety, the house you're in was built by my great-great-great grandfather when the valley was first settled.

With the land I ruled over being so small I had no way of expanding my territory to any real extent in my life time then one day I got my chance. A hunting hunting party returned raving about a giant just outside the town. Naturally as the lord of the land it was the job of me and my fifteen men to deal with the beast.

When the giant said it merely wanted to bargain I felt relieved I wouldn't have to fight. He offered me a book on alchemy and this beast pre caged in exchange for two sacred stones in my treasury. Apparently they had been gifts to my family from the previous Giant king and now the new one wanted them back.

Naturally I asked why he didn't just take them as I was sure even two more of his brethren would have been enough to overpower us. His reply was that they were enchanted, if he killed me they would never be able to retrieve them, I had to give them back through an 'honest and fair deal' and say 'I willingly give these sacred gems the goddess amber to Gration the giant." Faust said as he continued to circle us.

'Gration?!' I thought 'Just great now I don't just have to clean up this mess Olympus may have an even bigger one on the way.'

"Weeks past after I gained the book and in that time I became quite proficient in alchemy, raising homes in a single day, repairing fences in seconds. One night I glanced at my new pet and thought if I can take raw materials and build a house why can't take animals and build a chimera."

At that little revelation I had to stop myself from hurling at what he'd done. I flung a knife from my sleeve at his head hoping to kill him or at the very least blind him. In one swift motion Faust scratch the floor with one of his talons and a barrier erupted between us. "That wasn't very nice now was it?"

"How did you do that?" I asked while getting ready to break the dome like barrier around the hunt and myself.

"Alchemy is one of the most versatile arts in magic capable of creating anything as long as the requirements for the energy and materials needed are met. An energy barrier doesn't need any real materials other than a crest scratched onto the floor. And you're paying the energy cost." He laughed.

With a shock I glanced around the room, all across the room and walls there were dozens of crest scratched into them. Some suppression seals I recognized the rest were unfamiliar. Now that I was focusing on it I realized couldn't summon any power. "How the Hades did you learn all that from some lousy book?"

"I didn't learn it all from a book. Once I mastered molding the common forest beasts I moved on to the mythical ones perfecting my craft and in the process taking the information the information I need from their minds. The body you see before you and the seals on the walls are the final culmination of my research and experiments." He boosted.

"I've taken the best qualities from the most powerful creatures alive. Scales and eyes of a drakon; wings, claws, and magical resistance from a dragon; a yeti for it's shape and raw power; and last but not least a basilisk to not only add poison to my arsenal but make me immune to all others. Soon my army will be strong enough take over the entire region and-"

"Sorry to say but your army out side is currently being roasted." Thalia cut in.

Faust started laughing again "That was only a small portion of my army, the pawns I made from the forest creatures. The main forces of my army along with the queens have been safely secured away from the castle this little 'attack' of yours won't push my plans back more than a couple months. Even better the corpses outside will provide enough food to feed my army's for a couple months or so, they'll think we've been destroyed and weaken their defenses as the celebrate, making the fight easier."

I glanced behind me hoping to see a way out of this, it was all my fault I let myself become distracted and now we were trapped. The prison was expertly made and well balanced so an energy spike from even a demigod would simply be absorbed and make it stronger. How were we going to get out of this one?