Chapter Four: Wrath Hunters

Percy POV

I looked up to see what the campers were looking at. The fire was flickering with white fire and sparks-the same color as the bright light. Next to the fire was an older teenager with silver hair, and when I say silver, I mean literally silver. Her hair was like sunrays shining through a silver mist. She had it pulled up into a high ponytail. Her hair was held together with a rainbow iris flower. The blended multihued color moved across the flower like the rainbow spray of a waterfall.

"Hello, Percy. Are those all the campers, Chiron?" she asked.

Her voice made me jolt. Instead of a teenager's voice, she sounded like an adult woman. Her voice also sounded oddly familiar…

"Yes, these are all of the campers," Chiron replied

"Greeting, demigods," she said, "I have come to deliver the call."

This girl was Iris!

She spoke in a clear and repetitive voice that I've heard whenever I received an Iris message. The irises of her eyes were a pale pearly frost color with the slightest shade of silvery-sapphire. She wore a strapless dress that matched the color of her eyes with fabric that flowed down to her ankles. She also had on pastel silver ballet flats. The diamond necklace that adorned her neck glittered multicolored in the sunlight. Iris looked like a high-school student going to prom, instead of a goddess who took care of ancient Greek's version of IM. The Greek gods and goddesses still didn't cease to surprise me.

Iris waved her hand and a rainbow film of mist materialized beneath her hand. The gods of Olympus became visible in the fog.

"This is the call that begins the next prophecy," Zeus said, cutting directly to the point.

The next prophecy! What in the Underworld? Apollo said that my prophecy didn't happen in a span of seventy years. I felt dizzy remembering the lines.

Foes bear arms to the doors of death…To storm or fire the world must fall.

Come on! Couldn't I have just a few moments of peace in my life? I suppose not…

I wasn't the only one who was surprised. All the half-bloods around me were murmuring and muttering to each other. Most of the new campers had learned about the Great Prophecy, after a while. Only Tria looked confused, she apparently had no idea what a prophecy was.

"This message will explain the first line of the prophecy. We require seven demigods to answer our call."

What call? We didn't exactly have cell phones on ourselves.

"All of us know this is confusing," Nemesis said, on her new throne, "But you must stay silent for the moment and listen."

Everybody instantly became silent. Nemesis, being the goddess of revenge, could certainly make our lives miserable.

"Thank you, Nemesis," my father, Poseidon, said when everybody had focused again, "It as Zeus says, this is the first line of the prophecy, Seven half-bloods shall answer the call."

"There are a group of monsters that threaten the safety of Olympus," Ares cut in, "They are almost of the same power of the gods, but we cannot challenge them, it is against the Ancient Laws."

Shoot, this must be really bad, Ares following the rules? If Ares himself admitted that someone was as strong as himself that had to mean something really disastrous.

"Seven demigod-wraths are planning to revolt against Olympus," Athena pointed out, "They are not normal monsters, they have a considerable amount of intelligence."

This was even more surprising, Athena calling monsters intelligent. Wait…what were demigod-wraths? A type of monster…that was a demigod?

"What do you mean, Athena?" a camper asked, "What are demigod-wraths?"

This question had aroused even more noise from the campers. One glare from Nemesis shut us up.

"Demigod-wraths are the names we gave the new monsters that plan to rebel. They are part-god and part-monster," a pale minor goddess said. I couldn't recognize who she was.

Part-god and part-monster...how was that possible?

"The leader of the group is the son of Poseidon," Hecate said. Immediately all gazes turned to me and Nicholas Eston.

"But he is a wrath, not a half-blood," she said, "His mother is Medusa."

Several gasps and murmurs passed through the crowd of campers.

"There are six other demigod-wraths that plan to join him with to revolt on Olympus," a minor god said.

"Wait," Hector, "These seven demigod-wraths have the power to go against...all the immortals of Olympus?"

"They might not, but their power might convince other monsters or even Titans to join their revolt," Hades said.

Whoa, this was coming way to fast. Monsters that were part-god. What the heck? Medusa's son? Monsters that had the power to challenge the gods? What was going on?

"So what do you want us to do?" a demigod asked.

"Our call asks for seven powerful half-bloods must compile a team that has consists of one satyr," Athena explained, "A hero challenging these demigod-wraths one-on-one will be suicide. The team must be strategically formed in the best possible way to defeat the wrath that you are hunting. The satyr is necessary to track your demigod-wrath. Satyrs have the obvious ability to be able to smell a monster's stench."

Psh, talk about being used. The satyrs did look a little hurt, but mostly the looked scared. I didn't blame them. At least seven of them had to go help destroy a monster that could mean the end of Olympus.

"Wait," Malcolm of Athena cabin said, "If they're monsters, they'll just resurrect, right?"

"Hades has cast a spell that will hold their soul in the Underworld for at least a century before their spirit comes back to the world, and their body," Athena explained.

Talk about complicated.

"The first monster is the leader, Proteus. He is the son of Poseidon and Medusa, the brother of Chrysaor and the Pegasus," Athena started.

"Medusa is the Pegasus' mom?" I said, my ADHD butting in.

A couple of the campers snickered.

"Yes, Percy," Athena said, looking amused, "When Perseus of legend cut off Medusa's head, Pegasus and Chrysaor, bore with Poseidon's blood, sprung from Medusa's neck.

Yep, I could totally see the comparison between the winged horse and the snake lady. I decided not to ask who, Chrysaor...I'm going to call him Chris, was.

"Oh okay," I said dumbly.

"Moving on..." Hera sighed.

"Proteus has inherited both of his parents' abilities," Artemis said, "He can manipulate storms and earthquakes, and he has the ability to turn one to stone. Who will be Proteus' hunter?"

Okay, you just kind of told us that this guy had half of a god's ability and he could turn people to statues. Did she expect someone to go, I may die horribly, and this sounds pretty much impossible, but I volunteer to kill this guy!

Everybody was silent for a moment until I heard a crowd of campers behind me gasp. I turned around to see a guy raise his hand. Wait, was he crazy or something? The only person who I would guess could challenge...this Proteus person...was Byron Rivers. I looked closer at this camper that raised his hand. He seemed to be looking down at his feet, so I couldn't see his face. His messy hair was jet black and fell just above his neck.

"I'll challenge Proteus," he said. He lifted his head, and I saw his blank eyes.

Artemis stared at him through the Iris mist, "You're blind, though..."

"That's the point, Lady Artemis," he said, "There is no possibility of me becoming stone, for I will never see his face."

"Very well," Artemis said, she gestured to Zeus.

"Winter Shakler, you will be Proteus' wrath hunter," Zeus declared

Winter Shakler was the son of Hades and a blind warrior. How could I have forgotten Winter? He was pretty much the best swordsman at Camp Half-Blood, an excellent strategist, and definitely the most experienced monster fighter of camp. Though he was blind, all of his other heightened senses made up for his lack of sight. His hearing was so well, it was almost abnormal. He could hear a bird fly from the other side of the forest. Being the son of Hades, he could kind of feel the vibrations of the ground. He said it was like the vibrations traveled directly to the Underworld and he could sense it. He was also very sensitive to his surroundings; he could feel the slightest touch of wind that meant the swing of a sword. Winter's senses were so precise; he could determine by the feel of the wind and sound of the metal what the weapon was, without actually feeling the weapon. He could summon undead like Nico, but he rarely used his summoning ability, he preferred fighting the enemy himself, melee style. Hades had kept Winter in the Underworld to help him handle the ghosts. This way, Winter had never aged for four hundred years he worked for his father. Besides the four centuries in the Underworld, Winter was nineteen years old, two years older than me. He was the same age as Byron and probably a little stronger.

Even though Winter's strength was obvious, he wasn't very popular around camp. Because of his silent and distant nature, nobody was really friends with him. Most people just thought he was strange. I knew some people who disliked Winter because they thought he seemed arrogant with his cool and reserved attitude. Personally, I just didn't really know him.

"Come forward, Winter," Iris said.

Winter stepped forward and found his way through the crowd. By the way he moved through the crowd, nobody could really tell he was blind, unless you saw his blank eyes. Winter bowed to Iris and then kneeled next to her.

"The next monster is named Achlys," Artemis said.

"The poison goddess?" a camper asked.

"No," Artemis said, "These monsters have never been documented in stories of legends before. They may have the same name, but they're totally different types of monsters."

"Achlys is the daughter of Charybdis," Athena explained.

I flashbacked, remembering the time when Clarisse's ship was wrecked. The splintering of wood of the ship. Charybdis sucking in the sea, I couldn't control it. Tyson disappearing. How helpless I had felt...

"I'll be Achlys' hunter!" I shouted.

Everyone turned to me, confused. Grover and Clarisse were looking at me pitifully, fully understanding my outburst, but not supporting it.

"Don't you think you should know more before charging head-first with a dangerous monster?" Artemis asked, amused.

"Well yeah, but..." I muttered, feeling embarrassed.

"Very well," she said, "Achlys is fully capable of summoning full scale storms: typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes, and more."

Maybe being her hunter wasn't a good idea...

"Perseus Jackson," Zeus said, "You will be Achyls' wrath hunter."

Ares was smiling wickedly and my father, Poseidon, was looking worried. My father, the sea god, was worried about this Achlys person? This probably wasn't a good idea...

Grover looked really pale and I could see him trembling. Of course! I had to choose a satyr to be on my team. I was obviously going to choose Grover, but by being on my team, he might die...

Suddenly, it started raining-hard. Everybody instantly looked up with sheer surprise. It never rained in camp. Flashes of lightning suddenly lit up the sky. Winter cocked his head, probably hearing a rat eat some cheese over the sound of the storm. He stood up immediately and yelled, "Everybody, get away from the campfire!"

Inhumanly fast, he pushed some stunned campers away. What was wrong with him? Winter was normally extremely quiet and calm. Iris and Chiron had moved away from the campfire, but were obviously as surprised as me at Winter's sudden burst of attitude. As Winter leaped away, an enormous flash of light struck the campfire. Gold smoke swirled around a shadow of figure that stood directly where the lightning had struck. I drew Riptide, ready for a fight.