Tyler

I was running down the stairs when some enchanted water started flying towards me. With a single fluid motion from my staff and a chanted expression the water flew back and I continued running unmolested. At the bottom of the stairs the teachers were already emerging from their classrooms into ankle deep water. The emergency exit door was blasted open and a small army of clay men were dragging armored boats into the school. I ran along the hall waterproofing as many doors as I could.

"Come on! Get your weapons and get to high ground," I said.

As I got to the last door most of the clay men were inside. Mr. Mirand, his class, and many other teachers from upstairs were running down the stairs. Half had weapons, mostly swords, but some had AKs, and I saw at least one RPG-7, and the other half had magical staffs made out of some lesser magical wood. I put my staff away, pulled out a pen which became my golden sword, and even as Mr. Mirand shouted I was confronting the main body of the opposing army by myself. The army split into four parts, two parts charged at me trying to flank me, one split even further, trying to break the seals on the classrooms, and the last section charged the stairs where Mr. Mirand's class was standing.

"Oh, great," I said.

I swung my sword once, and a clay man disintegrated. That's when it got crazy. To an outsider in must have looked like a golden blur among a bunch of blundering idiots disappearing faster than they could move. Then they all started attacking me. One clay man actually got close enough to stab me in the leg. He was dust before he could pull back, another nicked my shoulder blade and he too was gone in mid-swing. I kept swinging, until I accidentally created a tornado. I willed the tornado to suck up all the water, and forced the now water-filled tornado into all of the clay men. They scattered. Many of them fled to the group attacking the classrooms. However a few got in boats and started towards the stairs. They were gone from the first blast of the RPG. The classroom seals were taking heavy damage. I had to act quickly. I came up from behind and beheaded the one I knew to be one of the leaders by what he was wearing. The group went into chaos. A few fled. Others turned and fought for revenge. I had to move quickly. Dusting an entire line with a swing of my sword I pulled out my staff and loosed an electrical blast into their midst. This finally loosened them as all but the oldest warriors scattered, most running towards the stairs. The ones that were left put up a good fight, but after a few blows they were quickly outmatched and destroyed. Then what I was afraid of happened, Cetus slithered through the door and went straight for the stairs. I ran for the stairs. I couldn't help but think there was going to be problems there. The largest of the groups, along with Cetus, was assaulting the stairs. Among them was their leader. I knew him to be a strong and powerful fighter from past experience. I'm surprised he was back from Tartarus already. Mr. Mirand's class got ready to defend the stairs, bronze swords gleaming. Among them I saw a glint of silver and I ran ever faster. Poseidon would kill me if anything happened to that kid. Mr. Mirand ran at Cetus and started wildly slicing at him with his sword. He got knocked away and Cetus turned and started attacking him. I returned my sword and pulled out my spear. I wiped out boats as I went, but even as I did, it was almost like I didn't. No matter how many I destroyed another boat was there to take its place.

The bulk of the group reached the stairs and was confronted by Mr. Mirand's class. The silver boy was a very good fighter as far as instinct went. When he stepped it the water he moved even faster. His sword took on a pulsing green aura, and I knew this boy was one of the chosen.

I attacked the group from behind, where I could be hidden from anyone who knew me. I cut and stabbed but no one turned. They were too disciplined.

Then when most of the group was gone I fell back. Mr. Mirand was losing his battle. I turned and was about to throw my spear when a dark shadow appeared, wielding a mighty iron sword. I recognized her at once as Bianca Di Angelo.

She yelled, "begone Cetus" as she smote the snake.

She had a small exchange with the teachers then disappeared.

When the dust settled the class had already taken out the rest except for the leader who was trading blows with the silver sword boy, who kind of looked like Billy. Then with an underhand blow the last clay man stabbed Billy through the stomach.

Someone screamed, "Someone call 911!"

Even before Billy dropped I charged forward and stabbed the clay man with my spear. He turned, screamed, and exploded into dust.

"I'm here to help," I said.

I knelt down and pulled a small medical kit out of my pocket. I mashed up some ambrosia and put the remains into nectar and poured the concoction down his throat, and directly on his wound, a little trick I thought up that delighted the Apollo kids. Even as I watched the wound got smaller and I willed the air around us to support us and push us toward Long Island.

"Bring the rest of 8th grade to camp," I shouted as I waved goodbye.

We were at camp by mid-afternoon and I was extremely tired. I deposited Billy in the infirmary, made sure he was being taken care of, returned his sword in pen form to the bedside table, and ordered a bed set up for him in the Poseidon Cabin. Then I sat in a chair and waited for the moron to wake up. I had heard from Mr. Mirand that it was his idea to defy orders and attack the clay men. Not only did he get stabbed by the leader, he also took various nicks and scratches from the rest of the army. This was going to take awhile, so I laid back and took a nap. When I heard groaning I woke up.

Billy was trying to get out of bed so to silence him I quickly said, "So the hero awakens."

He stopped moving not knowing who I was, but he would soon enough.