A/N: Reason for not updating last week: I was setting up a campsite in the rain. Not that fun. Ah well, can't control the weather. So here's the chapter, somethings may be blatantly obvious to you, or they may not be. If they are – just remember what they all just went though. It'll make more sense once you read. Enjoy.

Cora: Visit of Night Lightning

I wish I could say I had a peaceful sleep. Truthfully, I had far from it. I was worried sick about Hunter, the wound, well it looked horrible. He didn't tell me, but I knew he had to be in pain. He probably didn't want to stress me out any more, and I was already about as stressed as a person could be.

I also was a bit annoyed with Annabeth and Percy. I did not have a fun time envisioning that place. I had had that entire day to just, think. That was how I realized why those carvings had chilled me. I had seen most of them before. And the most commonly reoccurring symbol was of course the symbol of the Darkest Dawn. So, them having me talk about it hadn't been good. I know they needed to know, but I still could hardly think about it without my blood beginning to run cold.

Surprisingly, I fell asleep fast. I was out after about a minute of lying down. I was exhausted, so it was a relief to sleep. At least, for most of the night I was asleep. Until my peaceful rest was interrupted by that stupid voice.

Wake up, wake up, you must wake up, it whispered in my head. It cut through my sleeping mind like a knife blade. You need to wake up now! It took me a couple minutes, but I managed to wake up from the dark depths of my mind. Yawning in the back of my throat, I blinked my eyes repeatedly.

Rolling my shoulders I sat up and looked around. I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision. The fire had dimmed to darkened embers, but for some reason I could see as clearly as if it was day. Hunter was lying next to me, looking peaceful and calm in sleep. I smiled slightly; all the pain I had read on his face earlier was gone, hidden by sleep. The bandage on his arm had blood seeping through the top. I felt a stab and pain and guilt. Because I had been captured he had to put himself in danger and had gotten hurt in the process.

I reached out on impulse and gently touched his arm next to the bandage. He twitched like he had been shocked and said something airily under his breath. I pulled my hand back and held my breath, hoping I hadn't woken him; because really, I hadn't been meaning too. A moment later his breathing evened out, and I knew he was still asleep. I sighed and looked away from his sleeping form.

On the other side of the fire, Percy and Annabeth were sitting up against each other asleep. I rolled my eyes and sighed at them. One of them was suppose to be keeping watch. Yet here they were, fast asleep against each other. I had to admit, they did look cute together right then. But still, they shouldn't both be sleeping; a monster could easily sneak up on us otherwise.

At that thought I tensed, was that why I had woken? Had that annoying voice known something was out there, hungering for us, and woken me? Unlikely, since it only gave unhelpful advice, but still . . . you never know. Worried that that could be the reason, I sat up straight and looked around our small clearing.

At first I couldn't notice anything, just my friends sleeping and the fire light dancing against the trees.

Then I heard something, the faint sound of movement. I held my breath and rested my hand on my dagger – just in case. Branches and leaves rustled lightly, and I heard the sound of feet. No . . . it wasn't feet; it was too light and it didn't sound like two legs. It was paws. The faint sound of four paws grew slightly louder.

My heart beat harder, this had to be why I had woken. Something was out there, something that wasn't human. But how had I woken before the sound of its paws was noticeable?

The trees across from me shook and a small, wet triangle-shaped nose poked through the undergrowth. Suddenly two golden eyes appeared above, staring at me intently.

I pulled my dagger out my sheath slightly, exposing an inch of the silver blade.

The animal growled deep in its throat. It padded forward a few steps, its head coming into view, revealing itself as a white wolf. Its fur was neat and trimmed, and it looked almost like it could be tame. Its lips were curled back in a snarl, its teeth were bared and the growling in its throat increased.

I was tempted to put my dagger away – something told me this type of wolves weren't dangerous. But it looked angry and I wasn't anxious to sit before it unarmed. I held its golden eyes for a second, then in bolted to me.

As soon as it did, I pulled my dagger fully out of its sheath and held it ready.

The wolf came to a stop a foot away from me. It crouched and snarled ferociously at me.

Before either me or the wolf could make a move, I heard a pair of footsteps running in my direction from behind the wolf. A minute later a teenage girl ran into the tiny clearing. She paused and looked at me and the wolf.

She was wearing a silver tee shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of black hiking boots. She was also wearing a leather jacket studded with pins with band names. She had spiky black hair that reached just past her shoulders. There was a silver tiara across her brow, and her electric blue eyes looked dangerously calm.

"Nyssa, heel," she commanded. In front of me the wolf stopped snarling and sat down calmly. I blinked in surprise and looked between the girl and the wolf. The girl looked at me calmly for a moment, before her face broke into a grin. "Thank the gods, I finally found you guys. Oh, you can put your dagger away now. Nyssa's harmless, as am I."

I frowned and lowered my dagger, unsure whether or not I should. "Who are you?" I asked suspiciously. "What are you doing here? What do you want?" The girl hesitated, then sat down next to the fire and faced me.

"I want to tell you but . . ." she paused and sighed. "I can't, I'm forbidden too. And I'm here to talk to you. Don't be alarmed! You and I actually know each other, and Cora I know -" she stumbled to a halt as I lifted my dagger threateningly. She blinked and regarded me as if I was nothing.

"H – How do you know my name?" I whispered. The girl sighed and gave me a pained smile.

"Like I said, you and I know each other quite well. Put your dagger away, I promise you I mean no harm," she said. I looked into her electric blue eyes and understood that she was telling the truth. Holding her gaze, images flashed through my mind. Dense trees, the howl of wolves, the twang of bows, a glowing full moon. I blinked a couple times before nodding slightly and slipping my dagger away. The girl smiled. "Good, I'm glad to see your okay – for the most part."

"How do you know me?" I asked her shyly. I knew this girl was part of my past, but I couldn't remember how. All I knew was she and I had known each, I had just the vaguest feeling.

"I wish I could tell you, but I can't, I am sorry for that," she said. "But we don't have time to chat. I can't spend any longer here then necessary. I'm here to show something to you, and warn you." She paused and took a deep breath.

"Warn me about what?" I asked. I was already on edge, and when a random girl from your unknown past shows up in the middle of the night in the middle of the woods – you become alert. The girl looked at me sadly for a second.

"You remember your prophecy?" I blinked in surprise, how did she know about my prophecy? This was just plain creepy, yet I still felt like I could trust her. I looked at her for a minute before nodding.

"Of course, I can't forget something like that," I said. She looked at me pointedly, and I sighed. "Fine. Child of power, born of the sea; holds great power to the key, life or death within her grasp, must soon make a decision fast; to her heart an endless battle, but true peace to end the lattle. There, happy?" The girl gave a small smile and chuckled, before turning serious again.

"You're still the same. And normally I'd use a comeback – but I'll be nice and won't," she muttered. I frowned and folded my arm. "But that's beside the point. You already know that it hints at . . . trouble, and you need to be on your guard. It hints at more than you think, apparently. And T\the 'life or death within her grasp' line, ugh, how do I put this?"

"It means someone's going to be almost killed?" I suggested, getting the tiniest bit annoyed. The girl glared at me, giving me a perfect ten on the Death Glare Scale. I swallowed and avoided looking directly into her eyes. She looked really scary.

"Shut up. That is not what I meant," she said. "Gods, this is impossible to explain without . . . why did she make me do this?" she kept muttering to herself for a minute. Eventually I got fed up and cleared my throat. "Err, right, sorry. Anyways, my warning is to beware of D.D. whatever that means, and uh, something about metal? I don't really know; just beware of D.D. and some metal thing. Okay?"

I stared at her for a second. D.D.? Metal things? This girl's warning made no sense. And how did it relate to my prophecy? Well, it probably did, but I'd think about it later.

I nodded and looked at her a little confused. "Sure. Uh, you said you also had to show me something . . . ? Mind explaining?" The other girl nodded and sighed.

"Right," she paused, thinking. "I was actually hoping you might remember it, but I guess not. Take off your jacket." I raised my eyebrows at her, completely lost.

"What?" I asked. "What does that have to do with you showing me some – oo-oh." I felt really stupid not getting it at first. Maybe it was just the fact I was so tired, probably.

The girl nodded once, semi-rolling her eyes. I glanced at her annoyed, and then ignored her.

I pulled my jacket off and placed it next to me. It felt odd not to be wearing it. I had only taken it off, maybe once, and I had grown used to it. Being in nothing more than a tee shirt after always wearing a jacket – is weird.

The girl moved closer to me, so she was sitting directly in front of me. I looked at her curiously as she hummed something under her breath and tapped my upper left arm in a pattern.

Looking at the spot she had tapped me on I felt, rather than saw, a moonbeam brighten and bend to touch my arm. A spot on my arm tingled strangely.

Suddenly before my eyes a pattern emerged on my skin. It looked like it was made of pale silver dust. It was of a sword and behind the sword, poking out, was the top of a trident; the tattoo was surrounded by a swirling of delicate silver bubbles.

"Wow," I breathed. I felt it was a pretty good representation of who I was. I knew it meant something, but I couldn't tell what. It was right on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't get it out. "But, what is it?" I asked the girl eventually. It was a bit embarrassing to have to ask, but I couldn't remember!

I lifted my head to look at the girl, and she looked disappointed. "I was hoping you'd remember," she murmured. "But I guess not. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. I could only show you, not explain." She held a hand up to stop me from interrupting. "I don't make the rules; I just follow them . . . most of the time."

"Oh fine," I grumbled. "Don't tell me." The girl had an unreadable expression on as she glanced up at the sky. She looked at it for a second before sighing. She looked back at me, a sad look in her electric blue eyes.

"I have to go," she said. "I'm almost out of time. I wish I could stay and explain everything but . . ."

"You can't, I understand," I assured her.

"Yeah," she sighed. Then she snapped her fingers, making the wolf jump. "Oh! I just remembered something, I'll be right back!" She leapt to her feet and raced off back into the trees, leaving me alone with the wolf.

A minute later the girl ran back into our campsite with a small sack in her hand. She set it down near the fire and stood near the edge of the trees. I looked from her to the sack and back again, confused.

"There's enough food in there to last you all for one day," the girl explained. "The fastest way back to civilization is to head northwest."

I nodded firmly. "Got it, head northwest."

"Yeah, and one more thing. Be careful, there's trouble in more places then you'd expect. Nyssa!" The white wolf was on its feet in an instant and trotting to its mistress. The girl waved bye to me and ran off into the woods. The wolf was gone a second later.

I stared at the spot she had vanished through for a minute. I wished she could have stayed longer, she knew who I was and that alone intrigued me. But she couldn't for whatever reason. I went over what she had told me in my mind. I had a hard time figuring out anything, it didn't make much sense.

I had been sitting there, staring at embers, for a while when I yawned tiredly. I was utterly exhausted. Before I knew it I was lying down and closing my eyes. A moment later I was fast asleep.

A/N: Oh my. Oh my oh my oh my. Who could that mysterious visitor have been? And what does this mean about Cora's past? Seems to me, things are getting more complicated by the second. Please tell me your thoughts and feelings through either reviews or favs or alerts! I have two more chapters left so . . . we have two more weeks together.