Young Writers Society

Written by @LordZeus

I mulled it over for a second before declaring, "No."

Ethan Nakamura visibly gritted his teeth from the back of his skeletal horse and scowled down at me. "This is the Minotaur's orders, based on enemy intel. He's senior captain of this invasion force and you know it, son of Hecate. Now, bring your forces to his aid!"

They were surrounded by several hundred monsters of various kinds, as well as the odd turncoat half-blood who like myself were in black armor. I could tell they were watching this confrontation uneasily, unsure who would come out on top.

I needed to make my authority clear.

I glared up at him, making the best use of my intentionally unsettling gaze before responding, "Don't forget, Nakamura, that my position comes from Lord Kronos himself. He trusted me above all others to lead this strike team through the Lincoln tunnel. I am prepared to do so."

I only needed to briefly read his mind to determine the clear winner. I could tell even with just a quick scan that he didn't really want to be there. Even with the differing status, he knew who was stronger between me and the Minotaur. And I did kind of terrify him, not that I blamed him for it. I was not just a mind reader after all, but the most powerful magic user of the century.

I took some minor pleasure in watching Ethan swallow uncomfortably and seeing a bead of sweat roll down his forehead.
He opened his mouth again, but before he could say anything, I channeled my power into my voice and said, "Leave," with as much force as I could muster.

Immediately, everyone around me reacted. The monsters around us all took an instinctive step back, even though they weren't the target. Ethan, meanwhile gulped as his horse whinnied and wheeled around before galloping off.

He didn't look too inclined to stop it.

Giving a wry smile of satisfaction, I turned to my troops. I said in a matter-of-fact way, "First section, with me. All others, wait for my signal. If anyone advances into the tunnel before that, I will kill you."

I snapped the dark coin off the cord around my neck and flipped it in the air. The moment I caught it, a katana and wakizashi of stygian iron appeared out of thin air, one in each hand.

I strode into the tunnel a few feet before realizing I wasn't being followed. I turned and looked at the myriad forces behind me with a mild glare, and the six empousai of the first section quickly stepped up behind me, bowing their heads in a pleasing deferential manner.

Mollified by their obedience, I decided killing any of them as a punishment for insubordination would reduce our ability to succeed. I guess I'll deal with them later, I thought before continuing into the Lincoln tunnel.

****

Three of the empousai led the way into the tunnel, as per my directive. The others stayed behind me.

The tunnel was dingy, the dark shapes of wires of some kind lined the walls. I could hear the faint squeaking of mice somewhere nearby. I didn't even want to consider the constant smell of ammonia.

What was worse was that the visibility was poor, with nothing but a few flickering tube lights to guide us as we advanced slowly.

Suddenly, I heard screeching and turned around to see three vines seemingly connected to the walls each grab a hissing empousa from behind me and yank them into the distance.

I tensed, turning around me watching for enemies. None were visible. The other empousai glanced around too, brandishing their fangs.

Then, one of them tensed and seemingly imploded into a pile of yellow dust as a short blonde hunter seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Clad in a robe of leaves, she brandished two shining knives and grinned at her enemies.

I hung back, watching her as the other two empousai rushed at her at once, before freezing and turning to dust themselves as arrows appeared in their heads. Two more hunters appeared behind the first, and they all turned to me.

Confident that all the hunters in my immediate vicinity were visible, I grinned at the knife and arrows flying towards me as I activated my guardian tendrils.

Immediately, a circle of bright glowing purple magic appeared around my feet, and eight ten-foot-long tentacle-like tendrils of pure purple magic emerged from it. Three of the four on the front side quickly moved to intercept the projectiles, slapping them to the ground.

I clenched the hilts of my swords, and began chanting in ancient greek. the blades began to glow purple. This was a gamble, but by scanning the minds of the Hunters in front of me I felt it would pay off.

The three Hunters shifted around me warily. Even without reading their minds, I could tell I had disconcerted them.

They were clearly a detachment from the main force, sent to take care of what had been thought to be no more than scouts. They felt their assumption validated by how easily six of the seven enemies had been dispatched.

But even without magical senses, they knew I was not a weak opponent.

So, they chose the cautious option. Two of them hung back, firing arrows at me while the short blonde one with a pixie cut charged at me with her knives.

I didn't even need to break my focus. Which was a good thing, because I would've had to start again if I had.

The arrows were easily knocked out of the air by two of my tendrils, and the melee Hunter had her hands full with two others.

At one point, a vine came at me from behind, but two of my tendrils were able to cut it to pieces.

I was getting closer. The chance of success just rose to 97% I thought with a certain smugness, as I continued to chant. The blades were almost too bright to look at now, and a thin current of magic had sprung up connecting them. So close…

The Hunters of course had also sensed that something was coming. Their wild instincts told them that they needed to do something now. I could tell they were a team, and had long worked together, so didn't even need to confer before choosing a strategy. Most opponents would have trouble with them.

The blonde Hunter charged straight at me before taking a big leap. She knocked away the first tentacle coming at her, then used another to bounce off of, leaping over me and landing somewhere in the dim light behind me.

I didn't have the time to look as the two other Hunters drew knives and pressed forward, requiring the full attention of my tendrils.

Less than ten seconds later, I took a step to the side as the blonde Hunter stabbed through the air where I had just been standing.

I slammed the hilt of one of my blades into her forehead, and she dropped like a rock. One of the others gave a yelp of surprise. I could easily sense that now, they were afraid.

Not a bad strategy…I mulled. If I hadn't been able to read minds, I knew I'd have been in trouble. They had read my behavior in battle well, and correctly guessed my tendrils couldn't block attacks I couldn't sense.

But, if they attack like that one at a time I can read their minds well enough to avoid it. If they all tried to do something similar at the same time, however, or if there were of them...I might've actually been in trouble. I thought.

I wouldn't have been able to scan the minds and adapt to the attack strategies of more than one person attempting an invisible attack at the same time.

However, it was too late for any of that. The end had come for the Hunters. I compressed my magic at the midpoint between my blades, all the magic I had stored up for two weeks, every single iota that I had had.

I had practiced this before and knew the chances of failure were infinitesimal at this point – but I couldn't help considering for a brief moment that it might not be enough. That my power would fail me and leave me unable to do anything...just like that time.

For just one instant, my head was crowded with painful memories, horrific images of people I cared about dying and myself unable to stop them. But then, my better senses regained control, and I repressed those memories, shoving them deep inside of me like I had hundreds of times. I will never be in that place again. I said to myself.

I focused again, compressing all that magic to rip a large hole in this plane, connecting the aether and the mortal plane for just long enough to bring something big in.

What appeared to be a weirdly fat cat the size of an elephant, made of purple flames with glowing white-hot eyes appeared in front of me. Its mouth looked almost drawn on like a comic, also of white-hot flames.

I grinned. The two hunters stared at it with horror. Even with their limited senses, they could tell it was a being of unimaginable power.

They quickly fired arrows at it, but those were consumed as the being seemed to turn into pure fire, growing in an instant till its formless body filled the entire tunnel. It screeched with glee and shot forward.

The Hunters didn't have the time to feel pain before they were consumed by the flames. It laughed raucously as it leapt forward, setting on fire everything if touched.

****

Less than a minute later, the beast returned, shrunk to the size of a cat and nuzzled me. I knew then the job was done.

Deep down, something didn't feel right about that, as I thought of all the hunters whose burnt corpses I would see as I went forward, not to mention the satyrs, animals and nymphs who were with them.

I had just displayed greater power than ever before, yet something was missing. Olivia's face flashed through my mind for a moment for some reason, but I quickly dismissed that thought.

Well, I maybe I'll find it when Kronos comes to power. Shouldn't be long now. I thought.

I then realized that the unconscious blonde hunter was still limp on the ground near my feet. I looked at her for a few seconds before something came over me

I'm not sure if it was sympathy, pity or something to do with that missing thing inside of me. But, I used a tendril to lift her unconscious body and put it against the wall. Then I tossed some powder from my pocket onto her, and her form shuddered for a second, as it if was glitching like in a video game, and disappeared.

I made her temporarily invisible, and kept her safe. I didn't understand myself, and clearly neither did Ara, the flame beast who looked at me in what seemed to be a questioning manner.

I just scratched its head and it seemed to be fine though. I dismissed it, and it disappeared with a spark.

At that point, I heard the tromping of hundreds of differently sized feet and I turned to see my entire battalion approaching, drawn my signal of the bright magical flames, visible even from the tunnel entrance

They kept their heads bowed as they approached, looking around with awe at the magical flames that were spotted around in various places, occasionally glancing at me with a mix of fear and respect.

Just the way I liked it. Wordlessly, I turned around and led them forward. We strode passed the dead and dying defenders of the Lincoln tunnel, occasionally stopping to put some person or animal out of its misery. The bodies were usually scorched beyond recognition.

Even the still living's features were disfigured. At one point, I had to stop and slit the throat of a wolf whose entire body had been rendered furless and covered in critical burns. I could only tell it had been a wolf from reading its mind.

I started to question my presence there by the end of it, but then the exit came into view and I was able to finally see the defenseless manhattan. My soldiers saw the same and began roaring, slamming blades on shields and cheering in triumph.

I raised my katana and put on a grin, shoving my negativity away. There is no place for regret in the pursuit of power I determined. I felt I was finally on the cusp of everything I ever wanted.

I yelled, "Forward!" I quickened my pace as we exited in the tunnel. I took some small pleasure in the fact that my prediction was correct as my forces poured into Manhattan, heading straight for the Empire State building.

Victory is certain...or, at least 99.98% certain I thought before refocusing, my smile fading, as I stared at the Empire State building. I couldn't wait to see it fall.

I sat, watching from a distance as the people of Waystation were nearly swamped with my forces. Valiant efforts, but ineffective in the end. Lord Kronos would rule all. The time of the Gods was over. The time of the Titans had already begun.

“Coward!” A boy in Roman armor shouted, and I stood, turning to face the scrawny kid, who walked towards me on the roof where I sat. “You stand behind as your troops fall. A true leader dies with their soldiers.”

I looked at him coolly. “Big words for such a young kid,” I said, not letting any emotion seep into my voice. “You’re angry because your comrades have fallen at the hands of my army. My troops stay strong while yours die.”

“Shawn!” A voice in my head cried out, one of the many ghosts trapped within my skull. “Leave, do not fight her!”

“Just like a graecus,” an old Roman ghost spat. “You are a Roman, boy! If you must die, do it as one.”

I wanted to shout at the voices, “He can’t hear you! Shut up and leave me alone!” but I didn’t. I had bigger things to worry about: like the spatha the boy, Shawn, currently had pointed at me as he inched closer.

“You are not worthy to be a general,” Shawn said angrily, though he was trembling.

The rage inside me boiled up. What did this boy know about being worthy? I had been unwanted my whole life, tossed around from foster home to foster home before Luke finally gave me a place I belonged, somewhere where someone valued me, saw my purpose: saw my worth. Unworthy? I would show him my worth.

My eyes blazed, the souls of the ghosts lighting them from the inside-out so they appeared to be glowing. He unconsciously took a step back, hesitant, before shaking his head and moving forward again.

“You know nothing of who I am, much less what I am worthy of.” My voice was clipped and icy cold, and he took a step backwards. “You believe I do not fight alongside my troops and yet you stand here on this roof, alone. Where are your troops, soldier? Which of us here has really deserted their army?”

“I have not deserted,” he defended, though his breathing was clearly heavier. “I am a son of Mars. I strategize and plan, and when I fight, it is with the honor of my legion.”

“You fight for no one,” I said, then added softly, “because you fight alone.”

“I fight for myself, and for my friends who have already passed. I fight for those who have fallen before me. I am not alone. Their ghosts watch over me. You are the one who fights alone.”

I smirked, taking several steps towards him, watching him stumble backwards, closer and closer to the roof’s edge. “That has to be the poorest choice of words I have ever heard.” My eyes narrowed. “Boy, I do not fight alone. I am Faróno, daughter of Melanoe, Goddess of the wandering ghosts. Do not tell me of ghosts watching over you until you’ve had them in your head.”

I thrusted out my hand, searching for one of the lost souls of the Underworld stuck on the wrong side of the river. It didn’t take me long to find one I could use: an ancient Greek soldier who died defending his younger sister from the Roman invaders. The Romans burned his body with no proper tribute to Charon, leaving him stranded on the riverside for all eternity. He would do. I yanked him off the side of the river, pushing my energy into him until he stood in front of me, form flickering. I clenched my jaw and pushed further, and his form solidified. I pulled a dagger from my belt and handed it to him.

It was clear from the young man’s determined expression that he recognized the boy in front of us as Roman-- and was not happy about it. Shawn glanced at him hesitantly, before his face turned to anger and he quickly moved the spatha, cutting a deep gash in the right arm of the Greek soldier out of pure luck. I hissed, the wound stinging, and my energy faltered for a moment. The ghost in front of me flickered before solidifying again, as did the ten or so ghosts I had already planted on the ground within my army. Shawn saw them over the edge of the roof and his eyes widened. He was caught off-guard, staring at the troops down below, and I took it as my chance. I nodded at the Greek soldier, who shifted the blade to his left hand and charged.

He startled the Roman boy, who instinctively jumped away from the attack: right off the edge of the roof. He and his scream were short-lived, the thud as his body hit the pavement below echoing in the alley he had fallen into. I felt his spirit join the ranks of the underworld as soon as his bones shattered.

I turned back to the Greek ghost, trying to ignore the pain in my arm from where he was cut. He watched me expectantly, waiting for more orders. “You know what? I like you,” I decided aloud. “But you’re already injured.” I pondered for a moment, before sighing. “Since I’m okay with you, I’ll attempt to make this as painless as possible.”

I waved a hand and his form shuddered. He yelled in pain as his soul was ripped away from the makeshift body, the outline dissolving into light as he fell back through the Earth into the underworld. Immediately, the pain in my arm disappeared, and I sat back down on the edge of the roof, panting, my legs dangling over the edge. The Roman boy thought I stayed up here because I was a coward, that I wasn’t helping my troops, when in reality, I’d been dying for them over and over again all day. I’d send ghosts into the ranks and tell them to leap in front of soldiers and defend them. The ghosts would die instead of the soldiers, which in turn meant that at the age of seventeen, I was already getting used to the feeling of being stabbed. I’d dismiss the ghosts and summon more. My energy was slowly draining though— while dismissing the form of a ghost returned most of the energy back to me, there was still a little energy that got lost in the transfer. I’d started out with around fifteen ghosts at a time, and now I was down to ten.

Voices swirled in my head, behind my eyes, calling out and whispering different nonsense phrases. “Back in my…” “I hope you are…” “When will Charon be taking…” There was even some soft weeping from a Greek handmaiden who hadn’t been buried properly. The ghosts created a symphony in my head, a toxic melody that rang in my ears.

“Shut up!” I growled, the words echoing across the rooftops, but of course they didn’t listen. They never would. The crying of the handmaiden continued, her soft voice the singer of the group, each group of words from a ghost a loud drumbeat in my head. I turned my attention back to the troops below, allowing a small smile at my troop’s progress as I tried to ignore the ghosts. Another troop was supposed to meet up with mine at the Waystation soon, led by some other demigod I’d never met, a daughter of Proserpina, who, in her Roman form, was apparently much more vicious than her Greek form of Persephone.

For now though, I would sit on the roof’s edge, going through the same process of sending out souls and feeling them die. I wasn’t a general because I was a strategist or a leader. Those were the jobs my second in command took over, who was currently one of the ghosts out on the battlefield, one of the few who didn’t rattle away in my brain, pulsing to the cacophony in my head. He was the one who came up with the strategies, who led the men, encouraging them. Social interaction had never been one of my strong suits. The irony that a ghost was more social than I was not lost on me, but that wasn’t why Luke had chosen me. Why Lord Kronos had chosen me… I was a general, not because I could inspire the troops, but because I was trusted. I was valued. I was worthy.

I sat on the edge of the roof, grimacing every time a ghost died, studying the battle from above. I watched the battle as my troops cut through the forces of the Waystation. I watched the battle as the ghosts bewailed in my head. I watched the battle to the beat of the ghosts.

Written by Europa (hehe that's me :b)

Olivia

“One week ago, a violent explosion destroyed the Empire State Building, rocking an already fragile New York City to its core.” The voice of the reporter crackled through the radio that sat in the center of our table, echoing around the silent war room. “Today, the president came forward with evidence of a terrorist attack by--”

I snapped the radio off. The air around us seemed to chill as the reporters words hung there. “So, they actually got New York.” I murmured, feeling my chest cave a little. The Empire State, the seat of the gods themselves, beings of supposedly infinite power. Kronos had blown it to pieces in less than a day. I couldn’t help wondering what that meant for us, how much time we had left to borrow. Beside me, Tamika nodded slowly, mouth set in a hard line. She stared around at the rest of us like she was about to dictate someone’s will.

“We’re in the endgame now.” She said, “The gods have been neutralized, Kronos will be sending fresh troops to back up his army here next. Meanwhile, we have no more troops to spare.”

Silence settled over the room. I was painfully aware of the empty chairs around the table. Ruth, who’d earned the love of the smaller kids by bringing back cookies from the bakery where she worked. Killed along with her entire squadron in the first few days. Henry, so proud to be a son of Hephestus. He’d once told me he’d find a way to get electronics to work for demigods or get blown up trying. He was caught in an ambush just yesterday. I couldn’t even look at the two silver chairs at the head of the table. Those had been occupied by Emmie and Jo, the closest thing to parents I’d had in a long time. They’d left ferrying extra supplies to our other safehouse. Now those chairs were empty too.

“We need a plan.” Hugh looked up from where he’d been staring a hole in the table. Eyes red-rimmed and staring at me intensely. I felt a pang of sympathy for him. Hugh, son of Mars, who’d been one of the first to greet me when I first arrived here years ago, who had to burn shrouds for more of his siblings than any of us. The whole room shifted, all eyes now fixed on me. That was how it had been since Emmie and Jo were killed. I was our strategist. We needed a plan of attack, everyone’s head turned to me. It was a small comfort to know I had their trust, until we started running out of options. I sighed quietly.

“Yeah, I’ve got one. But I’m warning you,” My eyes unconsciously wandered to Tamika, watching me with that grim, level stare that had become so familiar these past few days. “You’re not going to like it.”


She didn’t like it. In fact, the look on her face as I finished explaining told me she pretty much hated it. “Olivia, this is insane.”

“I know, Tam. Believe me, but I’ve looked at it from every angle. It’ll work.” Silence greeted me from the rest of the table, Tamika’s jaw ticked like she was chewing on something tough. I leaned forward, feeling my heart begin to race. “You said it yourself, we’re in the endgame. If we don’t take drastic measures right now, they will. This is our last shot.” I looked around the table at what remained of Waystation’s generals. My chest tightened as they looked at each other. They had to say yes. I needed them to say yes, because if they didn’t...

Hugh stood up. “I’m with you.”

I wanted to cry with relief as one by one, the other’s rose to stand beside him until Tam was the only one sitting. She locked eyes with me, her expression was hard and unreadable, the sort of look that never failed to give me butterflies.

“Tam, please.” I said quietly. “Trust me.” Part of me hated how my voice shook, but after a week of desperate fighting there was no way I could stop it.

Tamika’s eyes lingered on mine. I could practically hear the gears whirring in her head as she examined it from every angle. “You’re positive it’s the only way?”

I felt some of the tension leave me as I nodded. “If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

Slowly, Tamika stood and joined the rest of the generals. “Then I’ll do it.”


A few minutes of quick organizing later, I was standing with the other generals in front of Waystation’s army. A collection of about a hundred tired, scared teenagers.We’d moved all the younger demigods to the safe space Emmy and Jo had designated in case we needed to evacuate, but even then the faces staring back at me weren’t much older than I was, barely pushing at twenty, some even younger. They were looking around uneasily, some looked bleary and their hair was tousled, like they’d just been dragged out of bed.

“I’m not going to pretend our situation is a good one.” I began. Jo had usually been the one to rally the troops before a battle, but since she and Emmy had died, that responsibility had also silently been passed on to me. “I know we’ve all lost people we love, and I know we’re all tired. We’ve kept back Kronos’ forces for a solid week, but they’re still sitting here on our land. And I think he’s been there long enough.”

There were a few murmurs and affirming shouts from the crowd. I reached in my back pocket. “What I’m about to show you is the thing that will turn the tide on this battle in our favor for good. With this, we can run the Titan’s horde off our territory and take our home back!”

The crowd was silent, the air thick with apprehension as I held up the slingshot in front of them, a few of them glanced at each other, confused.

“It doesn’t look like much, I know. But hear me out. Alicia, come up here.” I waved forward one of the older girls standing in the front. She was still in that weird demigod style mix of street clothes and armor, her sleek red hair tied back in a tight bun. Alicia climbed up to stand beside me and faced the mystified audience. “I’m sure we all remember Alice’s magic orbs.”

Another murmur and more than a little wincing. Alicia’s orbs had been the center of quite a few painfully embarrassing pranks over the years. “Over the past week, I’ve worked with her on a few new types. Ones that can be used in battle.”

Gingerly, Alicia reached into her bag and placed a small sphere in the palm of my hand. It pulsed with a soft electric blue glow, and I could see the magic burning in its center, the power it radiated painfully familiar. Softer than Ray’s, but still close enough that I had to take a small breath before continuing.

“We all know Kronos’ army is mostly made up of monsters, and thanks to Hugh and his scouting team,” I saw Hugh straighten a little from the corner of my eye as I mentioned him, “we know the Demigods camp separately from them. They won’t be expecting us to attack now after last night’s fight, everyone there will be resting. Which means we have the chance to take them by surprise. We’ll take a team on the ground and hit the demigod portion of the camp there. The captain will be forced to overextend herself with those ghosts she keeps throwing around, while the rest of us attack from the air using these,” I held up the orb. “To wipe out their monsters. Without them and without their captain’s abilities to pad their ranks, we’ll gain the upper hand and force the demigods into a corner. Unless they want to face our firepower, they only have the choice to retreat, or surrender.”

I could feel the energy in the room shifting. People stood straighter, hands on their weapons. Sleep was a forgotten thing now, I was faced with hundreds of determined faces. “It’s extremely risky.” I admitted. “We’ll be striking right at the heart of the fire, spreading out their forces won’t be an option. The element of surprise, the timing of each attack, everything has to be exactly right, or the army could have the chance to regroup into one force. If that happens, all of us are dead. If our situation weren’t so desperate, I wouldn’t be asking you to do this at all, but as it is now all I can do is ask you to trust us, to fight for everything and everyone that’s been taken from us. For Emmie and Jo, our friends and family, and for our home.”

I was surprised as Hugh pumped his fist in the air. “For Waystation!”

“For Waystation!” Our army echoed back. Fists flew in the air, weapons pounded shields. I stood between Hugh, Tamika and the cheering crowd. It was so loud, so many determined faces and voices, prepared to protect what was ours. I felt warmth swell in my chest, but I couldn’t ignore how my stomach tightened as my eyes landed on every determined expression, hardened and dirty and desperate from fighting. I tried to remember everyone’s features, tried not to think of how each look might be the last.



It was barely dawn outside, the sun only just touching the edges of the sky, bleaching it to a pale purple.We’d taken as few people as realistically possible for the air raid. Aside from Tam and I on Heloise and Abelard, there were only eighteen others. I stroked Heloise’s feathers as the others we’d chosen for the air raid followed behind Tam and I on their pegasi. Britomartis had been reluctant to let us borrow her griffins for the raid, but it hadn’t taken much to get her to relent, she’d always loved a good ambush.

I felt like each wing beat dropped a ten pound weight on my shoulders. There was so many ways this could go wrong, and I couldn’t stop playing them out in my head. Tamika looked over from where she was flying beside me, reached out and put a hand on my knee. We didn’t say anything, but the small smile she gave me was encouraging, her telling me she was behind me. That we’d come out on the other side together. I felt some of that weight disappear and nodded, giving her the signal to split away. Tamika veered away on Abelard, half the others circling around with her.

Heloise straightened out her wings to glide as we closed in and I held up my hand, hearing the soft rustle of my nine demigods arming their slingshots. I kept my eyes on the camp as we approached. To avoid our scent being detected, we’d flown high up and downwind of it, and from this distance it looked like a field full of gopher hills. I waited, counting my heartbeats until I could see the outlines of each tent below me. I closed my fist and pulled it down like I was yanking a chain. Around me, my squad’s pegasi tucked in their wings and dropped into a steep dive.

The orbs left tiny blue trails through the air as the first rounds left the slingshots, exploding against the ground in flashes of sapphire colored light. Monsters ran around trailing blue fire, covered in corrosive blue slime, and chased by very angry blue geese (actually a lot grimmer fate than you’d think.) From the other side of camp I could hear the sound of combat rising in the wind as Hugh and the other generals led their groups into the demigod sections. I pulled back my own slingshot and dove down, cold air whipping against my face, smoke and monster dust stinging my eyes as I got closer. The monsters were scrambling for their weapons, arrows were starting to fly through the air. A pegasi spiralled past me, shrieking and flapping a wing rendered useless by a shaft sticking deep into its joint.

I yanked back the band of my slingshot and let my orbs fly, hardly stopping to watch them hit their marks as I weaved through the air, dodging arrows and blasts of acid or fiery breath. I could feel the rush of the battle singing through me, almost hated it for the way it sparked a fire deep inside me. But for now the rush of energy was a tool, a battery that kept me collected in the chaos, and I had to deal with it. I shut my empty satchel and pulled back out of range to reload. Tamika was circling there already, securing her second bag on her hip.

“How are we looking?” I called over the wind.

Tamika stared down at the carnage, pegasi zipping over the burning camp like vengeful flies. “We’re taking out dozens of them at a time, but we’ve hardly made a dent in their numbers. We’ll have to call in backup or we’ll be at it all day.”

I spotted the movement at the edge of the battlefield. A hulking shadow slowly lifting itself from the haze of smoke and goose feathers. I pointed to it. “I’m gonna guess that’s a problem.”

“A big one.” Tamika agreed. “I’ll grab someone from below and we’ll check it out.”

I nodded once and she dove back into the fray, coming back up again with Jesse trailing behind her. It was a stroke of luck they were the one she’d grabbed, Jesse was one of our best when it came to precision missions. Quick on their feet, sharp instincts, and able to spot monsters and traps so well some people suspected they were part satyr. We didn’t pause to think, just shot off toward the giant shadow.

It was a huge catapult, made of wood and reinforced with celestial bronze. Below, smaller figures scuttled around, making final adjustments. The sight sent cold fingers of dread creeping up my chest. Dread soured to horror as I saw them rolling out huge carts full of glass spheres filled with all too familiar green liquid. Huge bombs full of Greek Fire. I swallowed back a burning lump of nausea. There wasn’t much left to guess about what they were planning to do next. “Right. We’re taking that thing down, right now.”

I pulled back my slingshot, but Jesse quietly cried “Wait!” and I felt them slam into my arm, throwing my aim off by a mile. The orb shot through the air with an almost inaudible zing, high enough that the soldiers on the ground didn’t notice. I said a small prayer for the poor unsuspecting sap who was about to be attacked by a flock of angry magic geese.

I checked my anger as I turned Heloise around and faced them. “I’m guessing there’s a good reason for throwing off my shot?”

“Look closely.” Jesse whispered. “Those aren’t monsters.”

I looked back down at the shadows below. Some monsters did look more humanoid than others, but the beings running around below us looked completely human. Which meant I’d nearly goose-bombed a bunch of demigods. I felt my heart drop into my stomach. No matter how dire the situation was, the thought of firing curses at other human beings made me feel green all over again. My mind was racing. There weren’t many, only about six, but we only had a few minutes before they noticed us, and we couldn’t knock them out with the orbs. Come on, Olivia. I gave myself a little mental shake. Think. One thing at a time.

“Jesse, switch to your bow. Cover us from the air, but don’t make any killing shots. Tam, follow me, we’re striking from the ground. We’ll figure out how to take down the catapult when there’s less risk of it getting launched.”

Jesse and Tam nodded. Jesse unhooked a quiver from the side of their saddle and took the cap off, slinging his bow off their shoulder. “Gods protect us.”

I heard Jesse murmur the prayer to themself, and pushed away the twinge of resentment that tightened like a fist in my chest. I had serious doubt that if the gods even heard the prayer, they’d care enough to answer it. “On my mark.”

We circled a few times as I drew my combat knives, each six wicked inches of celestial bronze, and gathered my courage. “Now!”

Tam and I brought our griffins into a steep dive, rolling into a crouch right behind two demigods. They turned around just in time to get whacked on the head by two knife handles and dropped like wet sandbags. that was more than enough to get the attention of the other kids. My heart clenched. They all looked way younger than Tam and I, barely in their teens, but they were coming at us with murder in their eyes.

An arrow caught a little blond kid in the chest and exploded into a cloud of shimmering gold. The kid yelped and veered off course, trying to scrub off the glittery film covering his eyes. Another demigod grabbed me from behind and I flipped him onto his back, whirled to kick his buddy in the chest, and ducked to let Tamika bash the third guy on the head so hard his helmet spun around backwards, then the poor guy was finished off with another explosion of glitter from Jesse.

I kept count as Tam and I rounded them up. One, two who probably really wished they hadn’t forgotten their helmets. Three, and four still dazed and catching their breath, Five covered in gold glitter like a cheap participation award. Six...I looked around, my breath going quick and shallow as a wave of panic crested in my chest. The blonde kid. Where was he?

Too late, I turned and spotted him, glitter still shimmering on his cheeks, lifting a small horn to his lips. I lunged to stop him just as he blew. The sound rang out, a clear keening trumpet that sliced through the noise of the battleground like one of my knives. I backpedaled, blood rushing in my ears, adrenaline spiking through my veins as I called for Tam to follow me. Maybe if I could just get to the catapult, I could stop it. Do something, anything to keep it from firing.

A large, meaty hand grabbed the back of my neck and lifted me off the ground. I stared into the soldier’s face first, hidden by a half-flattened, bloody helmet. Then I looked over his shoulder at Farono, around at the other ghosts billowing into being, surrounding Tamika, taking aim at Jesse as they frantically tried to steer their pegasus away from the volleys of arrows. I couldn’t bear to look farther, at the destruction of the camps, at what remained of the demigods I’d lead into this. I could feel the knowledge gripping me tighter than the ghost, crushing the air from my lungs. For a second, a dark spot of hopelessness bloomed in the pit of my stomach.

Then I felt that old familiar rage take root. That wild thing inside me that burned away any other feeling. I roared in defiance and kicked the dead soldier in the face as hard as I could. I heard Farono yelp in pain as his head snapped back. His grip loosened just that tiny fraction I needed and I broke away from him, landing in a clumsy crouch, knives ready, panting for breath. I could feel the weakness creeping into my legs, the burning in my chest, the child of Ares inside of me screaming to stay and fight. Then I looked beyond the hill at the rest of the battle. I could see the swarm of enemy demigods beginning to regruoup, pale specters already glowing in the ranks on the ground. There wasn’t anything I could do for them here, armed with nothing but my knives and this supid, useless slingshot. I swallowed back the lump in my throat and whistled for Heloise, swung onto her saddle and sho back into the air. I spotted Jesse just a few yards away, doing their best not to be turned into Kronos’ new pincushion. I pulled up beside them.

“Sound the retreat!” I shouted over the battle. “Gather as many as you can find and get them to the safehouse!”

Jesse nodded and whizzed away. As their form got smaller I felt the weight in the pit of my stomach get heavier, tasted the bitter tang of defeat in the back of my throat. I swallowed it back and spurred Heloise towards Waystation. I could see the scene inside so clearly in my mind’s eye, dozens of other demigods, waiting for news of victory or a call for reinforcements, more people depending on the plan I’d been so sure would win us back our home. I couldn’t save Hugh. I couldn’t save Alicia or Ruth or Henry or anyone else who’d been taken in this gods’ forsaken war, but I could still make it in time to evacuate the rest of them. I was so close, so close…

I heard the earsplitting clatter of the catapult firing. Just like that, the sounds of battle faded from my ears. All that mattered was that greed ball, sailing in an irreversible path towards Waystation and everyone inside. The missile seemed to arc over my head and fall in slow motion. I spurred Heloise faster, knowing it was the only thing left for me to do, knowing it would never be fast enough. All the air and sound in the world was sucked away at once when the orb shattered, then there was a deafening boom that hit my chest like a speeding truck and sent me and Heloise tumbling through the air like a leaf in a hurricane. Green fire exploded outwards, I felt it searing the air, heard Heloise scream. My vision went green, then white, then slammed into darkness.