Sorry for it taking so long! I had some other things to do, like reading the Kane chronicles - I haven't read them before, and I found out that I just love them! I really recommend you to read them, if you haven't yet!

Hope you like this chapter! And PLEASE review, follow favorite! I haven't got much reviews, and I'd REALLY appreciate them!

Happy reading!

Jessica

"Fight?" The fright inside me had turned to anger. I knew this was about to happen, so why would I even mind to be afraid? If I had to fight her, I would at least give it a good try. I would make my father proud. I would make Angelica proud. So what if I died?

It was completely silent. All I could see, was the black warrior in front of me. I looked at her, challengingly. "All right, then." I drew out my sword. "Or are you just going to run away like the last time? Like the coward you are?"

She smiled at me amusedly, but her eyes were just the same, cold steel as they were in my dream. Her whole expression breathed casualty and scornfulness. It was like she took me as seriously as she would take a five year old kid who was acting exasperatingly. Yeah.. I feel pretty flattered. "Nice to meet you again, Jessica Silver." At least my surname didn't seem to amuse her anymore. Now it was just me that amused her. Great. All I could read from her expression was that amusement. All other feelings she kept hidden... If she even had any.

"But I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. You see, I'm not here to fight you, however awesome you think you are." Her smile got wider, but definitely not any warmer. I started to get frustrated. And also a bit worried. If she wasn't going to fight me that meant she would fight someone else. And I just had the feeling that none of us would do well against her. I didn't want any more campers to die. It was rather me than any of them. But no, it didn't seem to be going according to that plan.

"Then who?" I asked blankly, just slightly narrowing my eyes.

She raised her look and scanned the stand. Her eyes came to rest opposite my cabin. She raised her hand, and pointed at... No! This wasn't possible... My eyes widened in horror. There were at least 150 campers, and she had chosen... Kayden. For less than a second, it was still silent, as everyone looked at Kayden. This had to be just a bad joke... But definitely it wasn't a joke. The campers started muttering to each other nervously. No one seemed to think of Kayden's fighting skills - or their absence - as a funny thing anymore. Now the fact that he was probably one of the most poorest swordsmen in the history of demigods, had just one meaning: He was going to die. Now. Kayden seemed to be in a shock. He just sat there, in the middle of the campers, his expression frozen in terror. I felt like someone had just smashed me at full tilt into a stone wall, which had then collapsed on me and buried me alive. I couldn't breathe. Or move. I could just stare at Kayden, as my biggest fear was coming true.

A small part of my mind which wasn't too much in terror to think of anything, yelled: You can't just stand there and let it happen again! You know you can't live with yourself if you don't do anything! SO DO SOMETHING! It was like someone had just splashed a pailful of cold water on my face. I blinked. I could see my surroundings again. I yelled aloud the only words, that were in my mind right now: "Kayden! NO!"

I rushed at the black warrior, completely outraged. My thoughts seemed to circle in my mind, uselessly. All I wanted, was to stab her to death. But when I was just about to reach her, she disappeared into black fog. Then she appeared again about ten feet away from me. She laughed.

"Whoa. Take it easy. Oh yeah... you won't. You're too heroic for that." She grinned meanly at me, obviously still incredibly amused. "But, let me remind you: I challenged you're brother, not you, to a duel. It's his choice, not yours."

I tried to keep my voice firm... Well, it was more that I tried to keep it from totally cracking up. "To a... duel to death?" I asked. My voice really wasn't firm. But at least, it didn't crack up.

She smiled that cruel smile of hers. "Yes."

I just wanted to safe Kayden. The voice in my mind - which was now so loud, it made my head ache - yelled: Deny him from accepting the challenge! Just knock him out if necessary and drag him to safety! Kill that terrible bitch! But then, another, more restrained voice said: It's his choice! You can't get involved, the ancient rules order that! And then, there was this really small voice - usually it wasn't that small, but in this situation, it was tiny - that said: You don't want your brother to be a coward, and he definitely is a coward if he doesn't accept the challenge! Right now, I wanted to punch that latest voice, but since it was just a part of my thoughts, it probably wasn't possible.

I hated myself for doing that, but I just stood there, staring at Kayden, as the thoughts in my head fought each other, totally messing up my mind.

"I...", he mumbled, his voice breaking. "I accept your challenge." He stood up, then started climbing down the stairs. As he reached the arena, Chiron stood up. His face was grave, but I could see the bottomless sadness in his eyes. "At least, tell us who you are." He said to the warrior.

"Sure. My name is Meliza Nicoli." She drew out her sword. The blade, which seemed to be Celestial bronze, was covered with gleaming engravings. "Are we getting this started or not?" She tried to sound bored, but I could see her enthusiasm for this. It sickened me. How could someone enjoy killing an innocent kid for no reason? She was totally deranged.

Chiron read the ancient rules for duels shortly. The point was that the last man standing was the winner. Rest was just formalities. I tried to come up with a plan, but in actual fact, there was nothing I could do. I would break the ancient rules by interfering. There was nothing I could do. But I couldn't be agreeable with that fact. I would work out something.

Chiron told me and the other eleven semifinalists to move to the stand. The campers had gone silent again. I caught a glimpse of Cara, who's expression was besides terrified, also completely mad. Like she could only just keep herself sitting there with her siblings without rushing to the arena and tearing the black warriors face of with her bare hands. She looked also somehow... hurt. The feeling, that I had ignored something obvious, came back. I tried to think what it was, but I just couldn't figure out anything. I forced myself to concentrate on the plan I was trying to come up with. I didn't mind to go back there where my siblings were. It made no difference, where I sat. So I just sat down on the stair and turned to watch the fight.

Meliza Nicoli bowed shortly, but casually. Instead of the grin, there was now a concentrated, merciless and cold look on her face. She really had to be well trained. Even she was surely enjoying this, and she wasn't taking Kayden too seriously, she didn't let it disturb her concentration. That didn't really make me feel any better. Will sat down on the step next to me. I didn't even notice. All I saw was Kayden, who had fear in his eyes, but who stood back straight, trying to look brave. Nicoli wasn't rushing with it. She was just playing with Kayden. She lunged at him, making him back up, then, with a quick, casual feint, she slashed at his arm. Her blade cut a long wound on his arm. Kayden reeled back, pressing his right arm. I flinched. It wasn't a really bad wound, but it felt like she'd also cut my soul. My chest hurt. Seeing him get hurt... it felt a hundred times worse, than if she'd wound me.

The warrior started to circle Kayden. She was older and taller than Kayden was, and obviously with more experience and definitely with more skills. She looked so casual and cruel, while Kayden looked so tensed and afraid, even he tried to hide his fear. I noticed I was clutching my dagger, which was tied on my left arm. I almost pulled it out from it's sheath and threw it at the girl. I could easily hit her with it, even from this far, and even she was in motion. But it was definitely a no-no. I wasn't sure if anyone had ever interfered a duel to the death like that. It definitely wouldn't be honorable, and I wasn't sure, what would happen if I did that. Breaking ancient rules wasn't usually a good idea. But now anything else but letting Kayden die seemed like a good idea...

As I saw him getting more bruises and cuts second by second, I made my mind. I couldn't take this. All I wanted was to pierce the girl with my dagger. Unfortunately, I hesitated a second too long. The warrior had had enough of playing with my brother. This time as she stabbed at him, she did it for real. Her blade went straight between the leather stripes that tied his chest armor from the right side. I felt like I was going to black out. But I didn't. There was only one thought in my mind: I'm NOT letting it happen again! I'm not going to stand by and watch him die! I let my dagger fly. I targeted it straight at the girl's throat, were weren't any armor. She was just about to give Kayden the final strike, as he was defenseless on his knees, clutching his side. But her reflexes were almost inhumane. She had her eyes at Kayden, the stand was a huge half circle and she couldn't have seen me throwing the weapon. But, as the knife was just about five feet away, she sidestepped. Still, my dagger snicked her right arm, but only slightly. But all I could think, was Kayden. The girl hadn't have time to finish him off, but the wound on his side looked bad. I refused to think it, but for real, I wasn't sure, if we could cure him. My hands shook. I stared at Kayden, hearing Meliza Nicoli's words unclearly.

But anyway, I heard them: "Impressive, Silver. Unfortunately, that's not gonna be enough to stop me, or my army. See you tomorrow. Then, you'll have your fight." From the corner of my eye, I saw her dissolving into that strange black and violet mist like before.

I jumped on my feet and ran to the arena, not even hearing the other campers or Chiron, who had already stepped to the arena and knelt over Kayden. The last few feet, I slid on my knees on the hard ground. Chiron was pouring some nectar to the wound. I was a healer - maybe not an awesome one, but still - and even I was really close to the breaking point - closer than maybe ever before - the instinct took the control over my feelings. I picked up my dagger from the ground and carefully ripped off the rest of the leather stripes over the wound. Now I could see the cut clearly. It was deep, and panic almost got the best of me. I knew, I wouldn't handle it if he didn't survive... I looked up. Chiron's expression was terribly worried. "He-...", he started.

"No!" I pulled the bottle of nectar from him. I uncorked it.

"It's not safe to give him anymore-..."

"Is it then safe to let him die?" I snapped. Maybe it was because I was a daughter of Apollo, or because I had healed the wounded before, but I knew for sure that if I didn't give him more nectar, he wouldn't make it. And he had to make it. I poured more nectar on the terrible wound, mumbling a prayer to Apollo at the same time. My hands were covered in blood. So was Kayden's orange T-shirt. My hands started to shake again. Kayden had looked terribly pale, but now his skin started to turn red, like he had just ran a marathon. I could see the sweat on his face, and as I touched his forehead, it almost burned against my hand. Too much nectar could burn a demigod from inside... Fortunately, He didn't burn. His breathing started to sound better, and he moved his head like he was just asleep and not dying. I let out a deep sight of relief. I just wanted to lie down on the ground next to him and fall asleep. But I couldn't. I straightened my back and moved my arms under him. I brought him to my lap and got up. Everywhere around me, the campers stared at us. I ignored them and started carrying Kayden towards the infirmary. I felt just a single tear falling down my cheek. I took a shaky breath and pressed Kayden closer to my chest. He was alive.

Hope you liked! Please review and tell me your opinion! I'm not really an experienced writer, so comments would really help me to learn more about writing!

Anyway, thanks for reading, and happy Valentine's Day!

-Patroness Of Athens