Chapter 1: A mortal in Camp Half-Blood
Percy and Annabeth were walking in the woods, just relaxing. demigods were aware of the fact that a tree's shadow was slightly longer than it should have been, or that that shadow became a person moving silently to the next tree, and the next, slowly catching up to them. When he saw that the children were clasping hands, he started thinking. He had to get one of them alone. Percy stopped walking suddenly. "Did you hear that?" he whispered, looking of to the left. "Hear what?" Annabeth replied, looking around. "I'm not sure, but I think I heard something moving in those bushes." Annabeth cocked her head, listening carefully. She was rewarded a moment later when a rustle in the bush near her told her Percy had been right. A second later, another bush rustled, but in the opposite direction. "Okay. You take that side, I'm going the other way." she breathed. She moved off to the left, while Percy slipped off to the right. As soon as the girl moved off, Entreri slipped forward and clamped his hand over the boy's mouth, and the other arm slid under the boy s chin, putting him into a deadlock, and dragged him back into the brush. The boy struggled, but Entreri had done this so many times that he practically didn't notice the frantic struggling. "Calm down, boy", he muttered into the boy's ear. "I need some answers. Now listen- breaking off suddenly, he pulled out his dagger and prodded the boy's back. I am going to take my hand off your mouth, and if you so much as raise your voice above a whisper, I will utterly destroy you." To emphasize his point, he willed his dagger to feed, which it did instantly, sucking out the boy s very soul for an instant, until Entreri stopped it. The boy's eyes went round with horror. Entreri removed the hand blocking the boy's mouth, and hissed, "What is your name, boy?" "Percy Jackson." came the whispered reply. Entreri swore silently. This was going to be difficult indeed, if this boy was actually the most powerful demigod in the world, as Jarlaxle had claimed, and especially if he had defeated a war god. "Who and where is hazel Levesque?" was the next question. "Why do you care?" was the demigod's reply. Then, before Entreri knew what was happening, the boy threw himself forward, and yelled, "Annabeth!" as he drew a small narrow object, which suddenly elongated into a sword. Entreri reacted instantly, rolling to one side just as the demigod lunged forward and stabbed the space where the assassin's head had been only seconds before. Charon's Claw came into the assassin's hand instantly, and not a moment too late as he just barely deflected the next attack, a cunning twist of the wrist which a lesser swordsman would think was a thrust, but which the experienced assassin recognized for what it was, an attempt to disarm him, and instead of blocking, he simply turned his body halfway around and brought his dagger around for a short stab to the boys side. So quickly that Entreri almost thought he was battling Drizzt again, the boy shot his other arm out, and grabbed Entreri's wrist in a move which would break it. But Entreri, just as quickly, kicked out hard at the boy's chin, a move which could be blocked easily, but needed both hands to work it. The boy s reflexes were astonishing, even to Artemis Entreri, who had spent months in Menzoberranzan, the fabled city of the drow, the best warriors in all the world. He let go of Entreri's wrist, swung both his hands up to block the kick, and instantly shot his sword out in a lightning fast stab, which Entreri only succeeded in blocking because he had been expecting a thrust. the two of them stepped apart, and glared at each other, weapons at the ready, looking for an opening. "It is truly amazing to find such skill in one so young." Entreri said, trying to distract the boy, who wasn't falling for it. "Who are you?" the boy asked suspiciously. "A son of Ares? I defeated him, you know. But you don t look like any son of Ares I ever saw. Actually, you don t look anything like any of the demigods I've ever seen. So who are you?" But before Entreri could reply, the girl from before ran into the clearing, dagger in hand. "Are you okay Percy? Who is this man?" she asked, in a tone that told the assassin that she was used to asking questions, and expected an immediate response. "I was just getting to that," The boy growled.