Mystic Island

☼☼2☼☼

Raine

The last bell of the school year rang. I felt excited and sort of sad because this was the last time I’d probably ever be inside this school. That passed quickly. I mostly felt frustrated. I had not been able to tell either of the demigods who they were.
I had an easy time telling Brooke and Rose, and Ryan, Belle, Brayden, and Scarlet. They listened and understood, because they were sort-of-veteran heroes now. Even Ryan was a hero, although he wasn’t a demigod. He was a goat from waist down, meaning he was a satyr. Though that was hidden to mortals.
I caught up to Andrea, trying to get a good chance to talk to her, but she hugged me goodbye. “You’ll be at Towson High next year, right?” she demanded.
“Course, but…” I began, but Andrea turned to talk to Rachel. I groaned, and saw Brooke walking over to assist.
“Try to get Andrea to stay after, k?” The daughter of Athena smiled and promised she would try.
I pushed through the crowds to look for Kayla, who was still freaked out after that incident a few days back, but she’d vowed she had never said a word to anyone. Not anyone.
I found Kayla standing outside at her bus stop, unfortunately for me. I poked her in the back, causing her to squeak, and she whipped around. She smiled when she saw me, but glanced swiftly at the sky. “Hey, Raine, I’m going swimming today, so no storms alright?”
“There will be if you don’t come here,” I muttered. Louder, I said, “Follow me.” Kayla resisted and protested, saying she’d miss her bus, but I was thinking that her mom or dad, her mortal and true one, would understand. They’d want Kayla to be safe from threats, and the only way that was possible was if she was told who she was right away.
I dragged her to the old tennis courts, but by then, Kayla had pretty much given up. I let go of her hand, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “I missed my bus on the last day of school. What is it?”
“You have to listen and not talk,” I said. My eyes must have looked worried because she cringed.
“Hey, I haven’t told anyone about… you know what. I promise!” Kayla said. “Can I go?”
“Wait,” I ordered, and my wary friend complied. Soon, Brooke was following Andrea out of a back door in the school. Rose was behind them. We were expecting the other demigods when we practiced with Chiron during the summer, so they didn’t come for this confrontation.
I didn’t think any of us did this consciously, but Brooke, Rose, and I were in a line facing Andrea and Kayla. Both of the unknowns had angry and stubborn glares, like they were thinking, “Why the heck am I here?”
“So what’s the matter?” Andrea demanded. “Why are we here?”
I sighed, and Brooke and Rose pushed me forward. They didn’t want to talk. “Yeah, thanks guys,” I muttered. “Kayla, do you remember what I told you a few days ago?”
Kayla sighed even longer than I had. “For the last time, I didn’t tell anybody!”
Andrea’s brown eyes scanned Kayla’s face. “Didn’t tell anybody what?”
“What I told you a few days ago,” I said, “it applies to you too.”
“What?”
“You are one of us,” I said.
Kayla’s face melted into disbelief and horror, and she began to babble. “Are you crazy? No I’m not! I’m not some freakish lightning-person like you are. And ‘us’? Who’s ‘us’? Rose and Brooke?”
“No,” I began to say. “You’re not a…a lightning-person. Or maybe you are. That’s the thing. We don’t know.”
“I am human,” Kayla stressed. “H-U-M-A-N. Not a half-god!”
Andrea hissed, “Hey! Can anyone tell me what we’re talking about?”
Brooke stepped forward. “Andrea, Kayla, you are daughters of gods.”
“What? Like…of God? Like Jesus or someone?”
“No,” Brooke said, her gray eyes troubled. “Gods not capitalized. Greek gods. You two are demigods.”
Andrea joined Kayla in the protest. Rose tried to get them to be quiet, but nothing worked. Finally, I groaned and raised my hand. Kayla hushed up swiftly, but Andrea kept talking. A crackle of lightning crossed the clear blue sky, and Andrea fell silent.
“I know this is hard to believe,” Rose said. “Believe me; it was hard for us too. We were on a quest last winter and we lost so many heroes…”
“So, what,” Andrea said. “So that’s where you were. I knew you weren’t in a stupid gang. That was an obvious lie.”
“Only to you two,” I said. “The humans wouldn’t see any problem with that, but demigods would know.”
Andrea bit her lip until it bled. “I…I can’t trust this. And you…you three are demigods?”
We all nodded together. “I’m the daughter of Zeus,” I said.
“The sky god,” Andrea remarked.
“Right. And Brooke is the daughter of Athena, and Rose is the daughter of Poseidon.”
“Wow,” Kayla said. “And…and who are we? Which gods are our parents?”
Rose’s bluish green eyes were clouded. “That’s the thing. We don’t know. No one does.”
“Then how do you know we’re demigods?” they both demanded in unison.
“Remember Heather?” I asked.
“She moved, but of course we do,” Andrea said.
“She didn’t move. Well, her mortal family did, but she’s…different,” Brooke explained. “She’s an immortal hunter of Artemis.”
“Of who?” Kayla asked.
I thought it was irking that a demigod didn’t know their Greek, but they were so new. “Artemis is the goddess of the moon and of the Hunt.”
“Right,” Andrea said. “Well, I’ll believe that when I see it. So…”
“What now?” Kayla asked.
I really had no idea, but the Athena girl had everything all planned out. “We’re going over to the Appalachians today. Do you guys want to come?”
“Why?” Kayla asked.
“That’s uh…where we train to be heroes,” I stammered. “A centaur named Chiron teaches us there. There are some other people you know there too. Ryan, Scarlet, Isabelle, and Brayden.”
“Oh,” Andrea said, looking a little overwhelmed. “Okay.”
“And, uh, how do you plan on getting there?” Kayla asked, looking winded.
“Car, maybe,” I said. The two demigods looked a bit relieved until Rose said, “Or on flying horseback.”
I gave her a sharp nudge, but that was too late. Kayla and Andrea exchanged bewildered expressions.
“I’m still waiting for someone to say ‘gotcha’, but apparently no one’s going to say that,” Andrea said. She scanned our faces. “Anyone?”
“We’re sorry, Andrea,” Brooke said, “but this is the truth, whether you like it or not.” To me, that sounded a little harsh, but Brooke’s gray gaze was softened with sympathy. Rose kicked the grass unconsciously. Andrea looked on the verge of panic, and Kayla’s black-brown eyes were bright with fear and she bit her lip.
“Are we supposed to go now, or…?” Kayla began, and then she squeaked, “Eep!” She cowered a little bit, her brown hands raised up in defense. A bird squawked above our heads, and I looked up to see a blaze of fire dive towards us, looking like the sun was falling. But as it came closer, I could see the avian features: the sharp, bronze-colored beak, the graceful flight, the beady, black eyes, and the feathers made of fire.
“Hysmira!” I called to the phoenix. “What are you doing here?” Hysmira was Scarlet’s trained phoenix the size of a falcon. The original Hysmira was the goddess of fighting, and Scarlet’s Hysmira was so skilled and powerful that it seemed like a fitting name for her. Hysmira was a gift from Athena.
Hysmira chirped, and fluttered down to perch on my arm, but I said, “No. I’m not fire-proof, girl. Stay in the air.” I could swear that bird was rolling her eyes, but she chirped indignantly, and released a roll of paper from one of her talons. I caught it in my hand, and Hysmira eyed Rose nervously and screeched angrily.
Rose narrowed her eyes at the firebird, and grumbled, “I’m not going to shoot water at you, calm down.” Kayla and Andrea stood frozen, and Brooke went over to whisper something to them. I unraveled the paper that was charred at the edges and read the letter out loud. It said in Scarlet’s handwriting,
Going up to the mountains. Belle is riding her monoceros to scout monster activity around the countryside, and Ryan’s gathering up rogue satyrs. Probably will be gone for a few weeks. Brayden and I are going to be training with the oreiades and the hamadryads. Bring Kayla and Andrea up.
-Scarlet
Hysmira warbled nonchalantly and dove towards me, hearing the name of her master. The phoenix’s fiery feathers singed Andrea’s shirt, and she almost screamed. Hysmira cheeped like she was laughing. Kayla tilted her head. “Why does she send a note? Why can’t she just call? She has a phone.”
“Scarlet likes setting people on fire,” Rose muttered.
Brooke rolled her eyes. “That’s not why!” she snapped. Brooke was a nerd at heart, and didn’t like ignorance. That was something children of Athena had as a quality. One of their many annoying qualities.
“Calls are traceable,” Brooke said. “Letters?” Hysmira swept her tail over the paper, which caught on fire, and then Brooke stomped it out with her feet. “Not so much.”
“Traceable?” Andrea echoed. “Why would someone trace your call?”
I told them about the last quest, and the war that would break out any time. I told them every event, and I thought I saw Andrea’s face cloud when she heard about the battle in Los Angeles, but it passed quickly. Maybe she was sad about Nichole’s betrayal or her death. If only my friend had proved a friend.
“What you’re saying is that now we have to side with you,” Andrea said, “against something that will easily kill us.”
“You’ll have training,” I said hopelessly. “You’ll be fine.”
“Did you have any training when you went on that journey?” Andrea demanded. “Any of you?”
None of us said anything. “Didn’t think so,” the unknown demigod said smugly. “So don’t judge me if I refuse.”
“What?” I asked. “You-you can’t refuse! You have to train! You have to become a hero!”
“No, I don’t,” Andrea retorted. “I don’t have to do anything just because of who my parents are. I can still live a normal life, forgetting this ever happened.”
Rose narrowed her sea eyes. “You can’t live a normal life as a demigod. The monsters will come after you.”
“Monsters?” Kayla echoed.
“Cyclopes, giants, gorgons, dracaenae,” Brooke listed. “Average vermin.”
Andrea’s dark eyes were unconvinced, but she muttered, “Fine. Where do I sign up?”

The view of the Appalachians was what the world should’ve looked like. Trees, creeks, wildlife…everything that the millions of cities have torn up and wrecked. And the air was clean(ish); unlike the foul, disgusting smog they call oxygen that inhabits every city on the planet.
We passed a herd of deer on our way (my mother was driving, which she was always happy (*cough*, smothering) to do), and one of them had golden fur and pure horns to match. It stared at me with intelligent eyes, and then collected its does and fawns, and leaped away. Heather would’ve loved to see that, I told Kayla. That had been one of Artemis’ sacred golden deer, an endangered breed.
Along with the sacred deer, we passed a rogue morea, a mulberry nymph. She had dark hair, irises to match, but other than the eyes, she looked very much like me. Weird. Chasing after her was a blonde-haired satyr riding a small-winged creature.
An explanation for all of the monsters: because of the constant demigod activity, monsters were drawn to the mountains like flies to a light. The normal deal was the monsters would invade Chiron’s campsite, and we’d all have a friendly (ha, yeah right) contest to see who could vaporize the beasts first. Unless the monster was nice and not bloodthirsty. We’d watch them move around peacefully, and if they spoke English, we’d have a chat with them. Often, they’d talk meaningless gossip or complain about pollution, but whatever. Sometimes they were useful, and they spoke of enemy activity in the area. If it were a monster, we’d hunt it down and destroy it. If it were a god who’d turned, then well…we’d stay low.
Chiron welcomed us at the huge conifer that marked the edge of the training camp. He was a bay stallion from waist down, so it was easy for him to blend in with the mountainside landscape. He welcomed Andrea and Kayla, but they were staring in awe at the centaur. My mother said goodbye to me and promised to pick me up at the last week of August.
“Wait, what? August?” Andrea asked.
“Certainly,” Chiron said. “You will need training all summer to become decent heroes.”
“But I wasn’t expecting this!” Andrea protested. “I have a life! I mean, I had plans…”
“Cancel them,” I grumbled, annoyed at her constant objection to being a demigod. I wished her godly parent would be revealed so maybe she wouldn’t be so irking.
“Call your mortal parents,” Chiron said calmly, pulling a blue cellphone from a saddlebag. Funny how an ancient monster had such updated technology. “Both of you can work something out.” Chiron held out the phone, and Kayla reached out her hand like she was in a trance, and Andrea coughed a chuckle for a moment before covering her mouth with her hand.
I rolled my eyes, and then called out to the red-headed warrior meeting swords with a wing-footed boy. “Brayden! Scarlet!”
The daughter of Hephaestus smiled and waved while Brayden found the chance to slash at Scarlet’s armor. She made a noise of indignation, and clanged a silvery weapon against the son of Hermes’, and the flying boy was pushed back.
Hysmira, who’d been following us, cheeped happily, and landed on Scarlet’s shoulder. A little flame formed, but it didn’t affect Scarlet at all. Brayden was not so fire-proof, and he saw this as a good time to break. The wings on his boots fluttered to the ground, and folded until they made a simple wing design on his sneakers. “What’s up?”
I shrugged. I cocked my head back at the two demigods, and he said, “Oh. You brought them?”
“Of course we did!” I couldn’t be angry when I was so happy to be there. “They’re demigods! Why wouldn’t I bring them to a camp where we train demigods?”
Wing-foot-boy used his sword to draw a face in the ground. “I dunno. There are probably plenty of demigods out there and they’re not here.”
I held out my hand, and a thin arc of electricity shot out of my fingers. Two seconds later, “Hey!” and a few sword swings. I met his attack with Lightning Strike, and we were sparring equally, though I was just beginning. A summer of this. My happy place. I laughed, and soon, I was aiming my sword at Brayden’s defenseless chest.
Kayla finished her phone call and said, “Okay, I’m good for the summer. But I’m going to need clothes and stuff.”
“No issue,” Rose said, and she led Kayla over to a stream. I trailed behind, leaving Brayden to flutter off into the air. She pulled out her sword crafted out of Atlantic and Caribbean water, Cascade. She tapped the bank, and a beautiful girl about fourteen with blue hair and eyes to match’s head broke the surface. Rose spoke in a liquid language to the girl, and the girl responded in that tongue. She climbed out of the creek, and I could see she was wearing a fashionable bluish-silver top and washed jeans. She had watery skin, like she was made of the river. Well, she was. This was a river nymph, a naiad.
“What are they speaking?” Kayla asked. “Greek? It’s so liquid.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“What is it?”
I smiled. “Liquid. Language of the waters.”
“Fitting,” Kayla remarked, and I laughed, grateful that she was so cool these current events. “So…” I began. “How do you feel?”
Kayla looked at me with a confused expression. “What do you mean?”
“About all of this,” I said. “About you being a demigod. Is that okay with you? I mean, it was a shock to me at first, and I had only one person to help me. I found out before everyone else, and being a powerful hero and all, it’s been hard. Who knew, you’re dad or your mom?”
“My mom,” Kayla said. “And really, it’s fine. It’s better than fine. I was creeped out before, but this is so awesome. I feel so lucky.”
“Your father will show himself eventually,” I said encouragingly. “Mine did, later. It’ll work out.”
Kayla nodded. She looked back to the naiad, who was holding out a few blue duffel bags. She bubbled and gurgled, but I shook my head., meaning I didn’t understand. She looked disappointed, and she unzipped the bags. Inside were familiar clothes, clothes that I’d seen Kayla wear to school.
“How does she have my stuff?” Kayla asked.
“Magic,” Brooke said, and I hadn’t noticed her come over. Andrea was behind her, and both girls had quivers with arrows and bows on their backs. “So…we’re going hunting. See you later.”
“No eagles,” I warned.
Brooke laughed, and so did Rose, though Andrea looked confused. “I’ll try.”
“Brooke, I’m serious. I’ll zap you.”
Brooke’s silvery eyes rolled. “It was a joke.”
“Not a funny one!” I snapped. “You know the eagle is my father’s sacred animal.” I shook Lightning Strike to warn her.
“Fine. I’ll stick to boars,” Brooke said. “Calm down. Come on Andrea. We’ll go shoot some pigs. Lots of fun.”
Andrea giggled, and the two hunters set off. I led Kayla to the armory, a shed full of swords and armor and extra bows and arrows, and threw her a bronze sword and a shield. “Let’s go, Kayla.”
Kayla swung her weapon around in circles until she got dizzy and fell down, taking down a few bows with her. “This’ll be easy,” I muttered. I helped her up, and she said, “Oof, it’s heavy. I don’t know how to use this thing.”
“I’ll show you.” Soon we were parrying and thrusting like pros. “Wow, you’re good.” Kayla was doing so well, I was a little sweaty. “You’ve never done this?”
“Never,” Kayla breathed, and she swung her weapon against mine. “Hey, can we go up into the mountains? I’ve never seen anything like it, and I want to see monsters.”
“Sure, it’s all exciting until they want to eat you,” I mumbled. I squeezed the hilt of my sword, and it shrank back to normal size. I helped her with her shield then she followed me up to the foot of the mountain. We walked through the forest and came across a flock of satyrs, all playing their reed pipes and trotting giddily along a stream.
One of them I recognized; a curly, dirty blonde with clear blue eyes and golden brown fur on his legs. Aiolos, the swift creature, was at the head of the satyrs with maple wood reed pipes in his boyish hands. He was about twelve if I went by human years, and he remembered me. He waved and smiled. We also passed hamadryads, nymphs of the oak trees. They waved at us from their perches in the branches and blended in with the summery green leaves. And the occasional naiad appeared too, waving to us through their creeks and streams.
“They don’t seem dangerous,” Kayla remarked. “I don’t see what the big deal…” She broke off. Her eyes looked confused, and she looked a little curious, like she wanted to say something.
“What is it?” I asked, scrunching my eyebrows together.
“Are the dogs nice here?” Kayla asked, smiling. “I love dogs.”
“Dogs?” I echoed. “What are you talking about? There are no dogs here.” A deep growling contradicted me. A loud, harsh bark rang in my ears, and I could hear paw steps.
“That dog,” Kayla said matter-of-factly, and she pointed to the left and I could see a deep gray shape making its way up the hills. The Appalachians were very hilly, but I knew them well. And that shape was far, far away, but already it was pretty big.
“Kayla,” I said slowly, fear creeping up. “That’s not a dog.”
The shape barked and Kayla said, “Of course it is. Well, is it a wolf?”
“No,” I said shakily. I drew Lightning Strike and squeezed hard. The shape was very close, and I could see the matted grayish black fur, the blood on its paws, and its hungry red eyes. Not to mention the deathly sharp teeth. “Not a wolf. Not a dog. It’s a…”
The canine burst from the growth, and crushed an ash tree, sending a dryad running. It was the size of a Dodge Ram truck, and up close, it didn’t smell too good. Like death and wet dog. It snarled and let out another bark. “Hellhound!” I shrieked.
I pushed Kayla to make her run, and I chased after her with the speed of a nymph. The dog crouched and padded after us, not at all in a hurry. I dove behind a hedge of mud and leaves and Kayla did the same. The huge monster dog scampered around and sniffed the ground. It searched for us, whimpering.
“W-w-what is that?” Kayla stuttered.
“A hellhound,” I said softly. “Giant monster dogs from the Underworld. I have no idea why it’s here. I’ve never seen one here before, and they don’t leave the Underworld without someone telling them too…” I considered Hades could’ve done it, but that was an obvious thing, and our enemy didn’t work that way.
The hellhound must have picked up our scent because before I knew it, there was a flurry of gray in my face. I slashed blindly with Lightning Strike, but the hellhound’s fur was too thick to injure it. Kayla was scrambling backward, horror-struck.
“What do I do?” she shrieked.
“Call for help!”
“What? No! That isn’t what I meant! I’m not just going to leave…”
I rolled out of the way of flailing claws, and I growled, “Kayla. Run.”
The demigod didn’t do exactly that. She charged the hellhound and leaped onto his/her back. I didn’t think she knew what she was doing. The demon dog barked and snarled, trying to shake Kayla off like water. I jumped upward, bringing my sword onto its snout, and in a shower of black sparks, the hellhound’s nose disintegrated.
The hellhound yelped in pain as its snout melted. The dog ruffed and rolled out its tongue like a cute puppy, but its red eyes said one thing: that it wanted to kill me. Kayla jumped down with scared eyes from the monster’s back, but before she landed, the beast swiped a hefty paw at her, knocking her to the ground faster than she had intended to go. I saw scarlet blood flow from the claw mark on her back, and I wanted the hellhound to feel the same pain.
I banged the hilt of my sword against its head, only making it mad, and then switched the side. The blade found its mark on the beast’s neck, and the monster melted into a pile of black dust and fur.
I stared in satisfaction at the dead dog, but a thin wail interrupted my pride. I remembered this was someone’s first time. I knelt beside Kayla, checking her over, and I realized that the hellhound’s mark had been deeper than I’d thought. Kayla’s dark face was a pale, and her eyelids were fluttering.
I pursed my lips, knowing that I’d never get her to the campsite by carrying her on time. I whipped my head around frantically, looking for any vegetarian monster that could help me. I couldn’t see any, but that didn’t mean I was alone. I put my fingers to my lips and made a high-pitched whistle. It was answered with whinny echoing though the mountains.