The Island of the Lost

We all step off of the boat and onto the island. Immediately I see nothing but black crows, all with different colored eyes, perching in the trees calmly. All of these crows represented someone, mortal or demigod or whatever, that Hecate could just tap into and possess at will. My stomach churned.

"What do we do?" I ask.

"Kill them all." Maliah said, "Let's help some other people while we're at it."

"Agreed," Harvey mumbled, looking around in disgust.

We all bring out our weapons and Brandon chucks his sword at the first crow he sees, throwing it like a spear and slicing through it. The bird burst into golden dust and we began our killing frenzy. I slashed through a few as Perry chopped ones head off. The more we killed, the more that appeared. I was beginning to get tired and I could tell everyone else was, too.

"It's not working, they just keep coming." Katelynn says.

"We've gotta keep going." Jase says.

He was right. We'd come here for Maliah, but there was no way we could leave this island knowing we'd left people still vulnerable to Hecate.

"How many do you think there are?" Ellie asks.

"I don't know, but we haven't even made a dent." Jake notes.

There's a sound of laughter that's so shrill, I recognize it almost instantly. I turn and look behind me, my eyes landing on a woman with hair as black as night and deep amethyst colored eyes. She wears goth styles makeup and a simple dark purple, long sleeved silk dress. Her eyes are on Maliah.

"Who are you." I ask her, raising my sword, but something tells me I know.

"You know who I am, demigod. I'm Melanie. Does goddess of hatred and death ring a bell?" she responds.

"I'll kill you," Maliah promises, charging her with her sword.

The goddess is gone in the blink of an eye, and behind us now stands another one. Her hair was a little lighter than the other goddess, and her eyes were blue. In her hands she held the large crow I'd seen on the ship, now with striking blue eyes mirroring Maliah's. That was our bird.

"She was never going to stay long, little girl. Is this what you came for?" she asks, raising the caged bird.

"Give it to me," Maliah says, raising her sword, "or I will take it from you."

The woman laughs with no trace of humor, "Try it," she says, "I think that'll be fun."

Maliah goes to charge her and the woman begins to chant.

"Move!" Harvey screams, recognition on his face, "It's a fire spell!"

Maliah jumped out of the way just as a fireball the size of a ceiling fan whizzes past her. We all step forward ready to assist her, but she pleading look she gave us told us this was her fight. Her eyes met mine and she was distracted. Hecate began mumbling a spell, but Harvey matched it with one of his own. A vine shot from the ground, wrapping around his mother's neck while another vine shot into the cage, piercing the heart of the crow.

Maliah gasped, her entire body stiffening and then she fell to her knees, breathing heavily. There was sweat on her forehead and she turned to Hecate, but she was no longer there.

"Everyone to the ship," Prometheus ordered, rushing us as he ran, "this place is about to blow!"

I ran over to Maliah, grabbing her hand and pulling her with me as we all raced to the ship in silence. It was hard getting her to keep up in this weakened state, but she did her best. After a few minutes, we were all safely aboard the ship and sailing back on our original course. A few of us, including Maliah, stayed on the deck to watch the island explode into flames, killing every last bird that was left.

She turned to me, relief flooding her eyes, "We did it, they're all free."

Everyone went to their rooms. This time I went to my own room, wanting to give Maliah the space she needed after today. I fall sleep, but only for a little while. I see a glimpse of Tony as he looks up to me. He's mouthing something, but what is it?

A knock on my door wakes me.

"Come in," I call out.

Maliah walks in, her hair soaking into her t-shirt. She steps in the room, shutting the door behind her, "Hi."

"Hey," I say, "You should be resting."

I try not to sound like a disappointed dad, but I know it comes off that way.

"I couldn't sleep. The way the boat moves with the ocean and how my dad is-"

"Seasick again?" I ask her, a small smile playing on my lips.

"Yeah," she says, looking away.

I pat the bed beside me, "Come on."

She walks over to the bed and lays down, making herself comfortable in my arms. She takes a small breath and closes her eyes. For a while I'm left with nothing but silence and my thoughts. It bothered me that I had no idea what Tony was trying to tell me, and where was Percy Jackson? Why I couldn't I see him anymore?

"Tyler?" Maliah asks, dragging me from my thoughts.

"Yeah, Mal?" I ask.

"Are you scared?"

I don't answer her right away. Something tells me that we both know my response already, but still I tell her, "Yes, yes I'm scared."

"What if we don't find Tony?" she asks, quietly, "What if we don't find him, or the Lost Generation and the world ends and it's all our fault? There's a war brewing, Tyler. A war that I'm not even ready to battle in, let alone lead."

I hold her closer to me, "You'll be ready when they need you."

"How are you so sure?"

"You're you." I tell her.

She opens her eyes and looks at me. For a minute I hold her stare. She was just a scared girl with all of this power that she had no idea how to control. A girl that I had sworn to protect. A girl that I had to leave as soon as we got back to camp. I hadn't thought about that since Apollo told me. I hated that part of the quest, now.

"You really think we'll all be okay?" she asks.

"I have to." I tell her, "I don't know what to think if we weren't."