OMG. I have only just realised that I have been spelling the name of Jaden's sword wrong. Instead of Erinyz it is supposed to be Erinus. Because of this, I have decided to correct that mistake from this chapter onwards as I can no longer fix the mistakes in the previous chapters. Don't worry, in this chapter I have added both names; using the correct spelling of the name with the old spelling in brackets beside it.

Aside from this little mistake, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 16:

On The Road Again

It had taken Jaden two entire days to get Buddy to wear his bag… and that was just to get the measurements for how long the rope needed to be in order for the bag to sit firmly but comfortably on the dog's back. To actually get away from Wading River with the bag on Buddy's back, that took longer. About three days longer, to be exact.

During that time, however, Jaden had managed to teach Buddy how to dance and himself how to play music. Well, he had started to, anyway. It was still a work in progress. And the fact that he couldn't really read music made things a little bit harder than anticipated. It was times like this where Jaden wondered why he couldn't have Apollo blood in him.

At that point in time, the two of them were sitting on a beach looking out across Long Island Sound. It had taken them another week just to get there, but they didn't mind. Jaden was still training himself and Buddy in various things, and Buddy was just enjoying being with Jaden… even if it did mean waking him up in the middle of the night because of someone nearing their hiding place.

Absentmindedly, Jaden began skipping stones across the Sound. He only had about seven stones near where he was resting, but it gave him time to wonder why he had been exiled in the first place.

It couldn't have been because he was a bad camper; he was always helping almost everyone out trying to make it so that they weren't angry or frightened of him. And it couldn't have been because he bested other campers in the arena at times; his very first time in the arena saw his win against Ben and Hermes wasn't even mad at him during the counsel.

Somewhere beyond the haze of his mind, he heard Buddy's warning bark. That's what made him realise. Mortals – no, humans – thought of pit bulls as menaces. They had a 'bad reputation' as fighters and murderers… yet Buddy was completely harmless unless someone or something provoked him or he was ordered by Jaden to attack. Jaden could only think of one reason why humans would put such blame on pit bulls – they were too cowardly to admit that it was a human's fault to begin with. Originally the breed was created as a fighting breed and it was the owner's fault if the dog wasn't trained properly.

It was sort of like a demigod. Demigods were born to fight the gods' battles and monsters and were forced to train under the strictest conditions in order to win those battles. But, always, a demigod's life was on the line. If it wasn't the fear of a monster killing a demigod, it was the fear of being killed by the very beings that created you for getting too strong and out of control.

Before he knew it, Jaden had run out of stones. And with the stones that he had lost to the ocean, he still didn't understand why he had been exiled. A sudden yelp from Buddy tore his thoughts away and his attention over to where the dog now lay under a tree and weakly growling at a dark shadow.

" Buddy!" Jaden yelped, jumping up and hurrying to the dog's side. " It's okay, Buddy. I'm here. Hold still."

Gently, the boy lay his hand on the dog's back and concentrated as hard as he could. With eyes glowing gold, his fingers began to tingle as if snakes were slithering down them and into the dog's short fur. Buddy's muscles twitched at the same time as the thin golden strings sprang from Jaden's fingers and into his fur. In a matter of seconds, the injured back was healed.

Unfortunately, the amount of strength used to heal that particular injury also meant that Jaden wasn't aware of his surroundings and so wasn't able to dodge the next attack quick enough. With a yelp, he was flung into another tree by something that felt suspiciously like a tree. Catching his breath, Jaden looked up.

Standing across from him, nearly half as tall as the tree he was standing next to, was a headless giant. His back was covered in hairy spines that looked suspiciously like porcupine quills and he wore something that resembled a baby's nappy. In his hand was a massive club about the same length as Jaden stood tall. But it was his chest that creeped Jaden out the most. The giant's chest was, in reality, the giant's face.

" I don't know what you're seeing, Buddy, but I know what I'm seeing isn't good." Jaden muttered, as Buddy trotted over to him to see if he was okay.

The giant's nose twitched, almost like a rabbit's, as twin black eyes focused on where Jaden sat, praying that he wasn't about to become the monster's dinner.

" What do the mortals nowadays say? Fae fi fum fo? No, that's not… Ah, who cares?!" The giant growled with a heavy accent that Jaden couldn't place, waving his club to the side and uprooting a tree. " Your blood smells good. Much better than what my brothers and I have had of late. I would be the new tribe leader, I would."

" Um… before we… ah... start with the whole killing spree, here. Can I ask a question?" Jaden asked, trying to work out how the headless giant could see and smell let alone talk.

" What do you want? And make it quick, will you? I need to be back with dinner before sun down."

" What on this planet are you?"

" I am Nathkorano the Blemmya. Now I will kill you."

Jaden merely whispered the word 'stay' to Buddy before standing up and calling Erinus (Erinyz) to his hand. Before he knew what was going on, he brought his sword up to defend himself at the very moment that the giant's club was about to come crashing down on his head. In a flash, he knew exactly how he was going to dispose of the threat. Letting the blemmya think he had the upper hand, Jaden then rushed between the giant's legs and slashed the threat behind his left knee. Almost instantly, the giant fell.

" I may have forgotten to tell you, but I'm not like the other demigods. I'm the son of the titan Kronos. And it looks like you're not going to make it home for dinner." Jaden told the Blemmya before effectively turning him into dust with a swift swipe across his mid-section.

A few minutes later, Jaden fell to his knees out of sheer exhaustion. Buddy, sensing that the danger was now gone, instantly rushed to his master's side to once more make sure that he was fine. With one hand holding tightly onto his sword, Jaden shakily placed his other hand on the dog's head.

" Come on, Buddy. We need to get away from here." The boy whispered.

Slowly the two of them made their way back to their already packed up camp and gathered their things. The journey to their new camping grounds tired Jaden easily and he depended more and more on Buddy as the minutes drew on. Finally, the boy's mind gave in and shut down. The last thing that he remembered hearing as he collapsed was the whimpers and barks of his dog.