"I leave school the minute it's over and I still get stuck in traffic!" shouted Katie in the car. She was backed up somehwere in Queens as she was traveling to Camp Half-Blood. Traffic was moving slowly so she guessed she wouldn't get to camp until an hour from now.

"Why does this seem to always happen to me?" she said, her head on the steering wheel. When she pulled her head up a shadow passed over the hood of the car. The shadow flew past if fast, but it looked suspiciously like a wing. Katie had seen a lot of birds in New York all the time, but she had never seen a shdaow that big before. Not even an eagle or an albatross made a shadow that big. She looked out the window towards the sky. Nothing was there but the clear blue New York sky.

Katie continued her slow drive to camp. Once she got to the Brooklyn Bridge she saw what was the problem for the traffic jam. It was the thing that is usually the result of all car crashes: gawkers. Aparrently, a truck had collided into a car and they had spiraled to opposite ends at the entrance of the bridge. The only reason traffic was slow because people always want to see the damage down by the collision. Traffic resumed back to normal once she got on the bridge.

"Stupid ass gawkers," she said as she got on the bridge and headed to Long Island. Passing all the restaurants, hotels, businesses, and everything else the scenery went from buildings to rolling countryside. She saw a forest in the distance and knew that it was the woods of Camp Half-Blood. She was almost there. When she got the edge of the woods she saw a shadow of a winged creature over the hood. The funny thing about this shadow was that it seemed to be getting closer and closer. Wondering what it was she looked out the window again. A large, feathery bird was falling from the shy towards her car. Before she could swerve it her car with a definite THUD! Her car stopped in it's tracks. Another mass of feathers struck the car from the right side and the car spun in the air until it crashed on the ground upside down.

The car landed firmly near the edge of a forest about two miles from the woods of Camp Half-Blood. Katie kicked the door open and got out of the car. Sprawled on the ground, a cut on her forehead, she got to her feet, her comb out and ready. She looked around to see that she and her damaged car were surrounded by the same five boys from the gang that kept eyeing her.

"Who are you?" she said, holding her comb menacingly.

The leader laughed. "I thought you would have known by now Katie Sky, Daughter of Zeus," he said, his voice sounding like the call of a eagle. Katie instantly froze. No one called her by that title unless you were one thing, a monster. She didn't know what kind of monster these boys were, but she knew she was going to find out in a minute. As she watched the leader slowly transformed.

His face started to stick out like a bird. His brown leather duster raising up the flaps until they transformed into long, huge, brown, feathery wings. His feet turned into lion's paws, sharp claws potruding out and a tail beginning to grow. He sank to the ground on all fours, his arms becoming one with his wings. His hands became like that of a bird's, sharp talons growin from where his nails were. His nose and mouth stuck out until they changed into a large, sharp beak. His head grew out feathers and his eyes grew larger. His whole body seemd to be growing bigger as well. Finally his transformation was complete.

He was a lion from the waist down, and an eagle from the waist up. His head was completely covered in feathers. His sharp beak glistened in the sun. His lion's tail flicked from side to side and his wing's flexed menacingly. His eagle head screeched at her as he flapped his wings that sent a gust of air at her. Katie looked with horror at what he was. He was a gryphon.

She brushed her fingers over her comb and it transformed into Jolt. Then she pressed her finger on the lightning bolt on her wrist and out came Static. At the sight of celestial bronze the gryphon screeched out in anger. As she looked around she saw that his four other friends had turned into their true forms. Now she had to worry about five gryphons coming for her.

"Daughter of Zeus, you will not get past us this time," the leader screeched. One of his minions pounced on her, thinking that she was easy prey, but he was met with her sword stuck firmly in his gut. He slowly turned to dust before their eyes.

"If you want a fight, then you found one," she said. The remaining four of them circled around her, seeing if they could outflank her. She had to keep looking from one side to another as they circled her, their talons edging on the ground and their wings flapping in an effort to confuse her. She never took her eyes off them for more than a second as she truned left and right to keep up with their movements. Finally they attacked.

The leader charged at her and slashed down on her with his talons. She blocked them with Static and stepped back to give he some room. She swiped her sword at him, hoping to cut him in the head, but took to the air and circled around overhead. The other minion jumped towards her with his wings outstretched. She blasted him a bolt of electricity from Jolt and he turned to ash in front of her.

The second minion came forward towards her like a lion, charging towards her. She brought out Jolt was about to cut him down when he jumped in the air with the help of his wings and swatted his tail in her face. The tail cracked like a whip on her and she fell to the ground. When she got up there was a cut on her face where the tail's whip effect had struck her. The last minion came at her while she was till dazed and grabbed her with his talons. He outstretched his wings and took to the air. His talons slowly bit into her skin while she was being lifted into the air. Blood started to drip from where a talon met her arm. She twisted and turned in his grip, but he only held down more and multiple cuts formed. Using all her willpower she was able to wiggle Jolt just enough into her fingers to slash a part of his wing off.

The gryphon screeched in pain and headed for the ground. It hit it face first and skidded away, leaving Katie sprawled on the ground. She didn't have time to get up before the second minion came back down and hit her away with it's wing. She flew in the air and landed on the bottom of her car. Dazed, bruised, and bleeding she tried to get up, but the gryphon leader came out of they sky and landed on her. His eagle claws grasped her arms while his lion feet grasped her feet. She was pinned.

"You will taste good half-blood," he said. Before he could sink his beak into her a boulder the size of her car knocked him off her. The other two looked to see where it came from. They looked to the woods. An arrow zoomed out from it and landed dead in the center of one of them. It crashed to the ground and turned to dust. From out of the woods a teenager came out. He had on a black jacket, a brown shirt, and jeans. He was wearing a ski mask of some sort under his hood, but they could still see his harsh brown eyes.

"You!" said the leader.

"Didn't I show you guys last time to not come anywhere near me?" he said, putting his bow up and taking out a sword and shield. The last minion hurled itself at him, but he was cut in half by a swipe from the teenager's sword. The leader rushed at him too and strike to swipe him with his talons, but the boy dodged them, catapulted himself into the air with a column of rocks from the ground and landed on top of the gryphon's head.

The leader tried to toss him from his head, rising up in the air to help it do so, but the teenager hung on. When the griffin thre it's head up he stabbed his sword into the creature's back. It screeched from the pain and landed on the ground. The teenager grabbed it by the top of it's head, and slashed it's throat open. Blood came spewing out from the wound and the gryphon's eyes went still, never to open again. Then the body and the spilled blood turned to dust and got swept up by the wind.

Seeing his task was done, the stranger walked over to where Katie was. Katie was dazed and could barely register what was happening. She saw the stranger coming towards her and tried to pick up Jolt. She got him and tried to swipe at the man. He blocked blow and disarmed her. The man picked her head up with his hand. Katie closed her eyes and prepared to die. She still thought she was until she elt some liquid enter her mouth that tasted like peaches. Opening her eyes she saw that the man was pouring nectar into her mouth. She drank it slowly and started to get up, her body filling with energy. The man handed her an ambroisia square, she ate. Her cuts started to disappear a bit, but just enough to stop bleeding.

"Are you alright?" the man asked handing her back Jolt. She took him into her hands and brushed down his edge. Jolt turned back into a comb.

"Yes," she managed to say. She got off the car, and retrieved Static. She tapped the lightning bolt on him and turned back into a bracelet. She then turned to the man.

"Who are you?" she said. The man went to his face and took his mask off. Katie's breath caught in her throat as she saw. He was handsome! He had mild tan skin, a rectangular goatee at the top of his chin region. It stopped when it got to the botton of his chin so that it didn't stick into the air like a regular goatee. His face was muscular and seemed to shine, his shiny light-brown eyes looked at her with concern.

"My name is Daniel Stone," he said. "But just call me Danny."

"Okay, Danny, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was on my way to Camp Half-Blood when I saw you were in trouble from some of my, old friends," he said, saying the last part with disgust. "Who are you?"

"I'm Katie, daughter of Zeus," she said. "Who's your Olympian parent?"

"Gaia, goddess of the Earth," he said. "Come, I'll escort you to camp." He got to her car and opened up the hood. Her suitcase fell out on the ground and some of her contents spilled out, like a shirt, some oanties, and a few bras. Danny was about to pick them up, but Katie got them and put them back in the suticase, blushing furiously.

"You know guys aren't suppose to go in a girl's things," she said.

"I was trying to help you," he said. She saw that he was a few inches taller than her.

"Well thanks, but I don't need help," she said. "Now I guess we got to lug this thing up."

"Not necessary," said Taran. He pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket and placed it on the suitcase. It read "Hermes Express Service." Danny placed a drachma on it and began to walk towards camp.

"You're just going to leave it here?" she said.

"Hermes will get it, "said Danny. She found herself trailing after him. She looked back at her damaged car sticking up from the ground.

"Mom is so going to kill me," she thought.