The New Generation--Chapter 9: The First Monster

    "AHHHHH!"

     Festus's scream ripped through the trees, piercing Leia's mind. Panicked, she whirled around and brought out her pen/sword. She uncapped it and stood in a fighting stance.

     Leia came face to face with... a laughing Festus. He was doubled over, guffawing as her other three friends stared at him, clearly not amused. There was nobody else in the forest, as far as Leia could see.

     "That's not funny, Festus!" Silena exclaimed, storming up to him. "I was genuinely scared!"

     "Worried about me, huh?" He chuckled. "You should've seen your faces!"

     Leia fumed. "Well, let me know if there's a real monster next time! I won't be so worried about you then!"

     Festus stopped mid-laugh and looked up at her. "I was just kidding!" he whined. "I didn't--"

     "We're wasting time," Sammy intervened, stepping in between them. "Let's go. After all, quests aren't fair. Remember Thalia?"

     Leis stretched for the memory. Her father had told her about his friend, Thalia, who had joined the Hunters of Artemis. When she had first found out she was a demigod, Thalia had guided her friends to Camp Half-Blood. However, a Cyclops had detained them long enough for a horde of monsters to catch up. Thalia had held them off while her friends escaped to safety. Taking pity on his dying daughter, Zeus had turned her into a pine tree. Eventually, she had become human again, but the story had always made Leia wonder if she was brave enough to do that. Dying for her friends didn't come all that naturally.

     "Yeah, let's go." Festus said sheepishly, turning to face Sammy. Leia sighed and walked on.

     A few minutes later, a growl rippled through the air. They all froze, trying to discern what it was. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Leia spotted a huge black mass. Slowly she turned around, her breath coming in short gasps. It was a dog.

     Not just any dog, she realized. This dog was the size of a rhino, with shaggy black fur and malicious red eyes. It barked once, and the sound seemed to shake the forest. Leia cautiously brought out her pen and placed her hand on the cap, ready to fight. A throaty growl came from the monster as it leaped towards her, sharp claws flashing.

     Barely knowing what she was doing, Leia jumped to the side and uncapped her pen, then swiped her sword against the monster's flank. It crashed onto the ground a few yards behind her and glared, its eyes full of hate. Her heart pounding, Leia subconsciously noticed a long red gash on its side. 

     The dog charged in her direction with its mouth open, revealing teeth as sharp as her own sword. She gulped and dove to the side, but not before the monster snagged her leg. As she rolled across the grassy ground, pain shot up her leg and she stifled a cry.

      Her friends had, by now, jumped into action. Silena gave a hoarse scream and pulling her arm back, threw her dagger at the dog. It pierced the monster's back leg, and Leia dimly noted in satisfaction drops of blood welling up from the wound. Sammy grabbed his bow and pulled on the string, then let the arrow fly. It hit its mark; the monster howled as it landed with a thunk. 

     Then it happened.

     Festus had come in with his own attack, running up with his hammer and preparing to whack the monster on the head. However, Leia watched in shock as a bolt of fire shot out from the tip and screamed towards the dog. As soon as the fire hit the monster exploded, showering the five demigods with golden dust. 

     "That was..." Festus looked like he couldn't finish his sentence. 

     "Crazy?" Leia suggested.

     "Awesome!"

     Silena laughed shakily as she sheathed her dagger. Leia did likewise and touched the cap to the tip of her sword, watching it turn back into a pen. As they all put away their weapons, a wind rustled the trees.

     Leia couldn't help thinking about what had just happened. Their first monster. She had faced it, but in doing so...

     "Ow!" she screamed as she tried to put weight on her left leg. She looked down, afraid of what she would see. And she was right to be scared. Leia barely suppressed another scream as she saw the deep wound stretching from her knee to her ankle. Bianca gasped and ran over, staring in horror at her leg.

     "That's one heck of a wound you got there." Sammy remarked, coming to stand beside Bianca. "I assume you can't walk on it?"

     "Oh, I can definitely walk on it! I'm perfectly fine, it doesn't hurt at all!" Leia snapped, straightening to face her friend. "What do you think?"

     "I understand you're in pain, Leia," Bianca spoke up. "But that doesn't give you a right to talk unkindly to Sammy. We'll do our best to patch it up." Leia calmed down as she listened to her, but it hurt like Hades.

     "Give me that ambrosia," Bianca called to Silena, who was discussing with Festus a few feet away from the rest of them. Silena nodded and she ran over. Then she began digging around in Leia's bag for her stash of godly food.

     To her relief, Silena fished out the plastic bag and gave a square to Leia. Leia stuffed it into her mouth, desperate to soothe the pain. As the ambrosia went down, she was strongly reminded of when her mother had made special treats for her and her father. It tasted like the blue chocolate chip cookies that she always baked, courtesy of her father. As soon as Leia swallowed, her leg felt better.

     She stood up and let out a breath. "First monster..."

     "I can't believe that my hammer did that!" Festus exclaimed, as if he had just comprehended the awesome sight. "Should we go on now?"

     "Yeah, we should." Silena said. "Get ready for any more, guys."

     Leia gulped and nodded. She didn't want to go through that again. "So, which way should we go?"

     "Anything in the prophecy that'll give us a hint?" Suggested Sammy.

     "Good idea. Let me think..." Leia stopped and tried to remember the prophecy. To her surprise, it was still fresh in her brain and it required almost no effort to recall the lines. "Nope, doesn't really say anything about where we should go."

     "Is there ANYTHING that can help us?" Festus sighed as the five started up again. Shrugging, Leia sidestepped a thick root. 

     "I can't remember much," Bianca remarked. The others agreed, but Leia had stopped. What was it she was going to tell her friends? There was something that had been important, but now she couldn't think of it.

     "Guys, I might have something." She informed them. They all stopped and stared at her, waiting in anticipation.

     "Got it! Before the quest, I had a disturbing dream about some... person. He was talking about how he had faced my father once and he was coming for me. Any ideas?"

     Silena stared at her in bewilderment. "There's a lot of monsters that your father defeated, Leia. Are you sure you can't narrow it down a bit?"

     Leia struggled to remember the dream. "I think... I think while I was having the dream, it was unnaturally hot. Like I was standing in front of a fire or something."

     "It can't be Apollo," Festus said thoughtfully. "He definitely wouldn't threaten you like that. From what my dad told me, Apollo's pretty dramatic, but not the I'm-gonna-kill-you type."

     The five friends stood thinking for a moment, but then Leia shook her head and began walking again. "It won't do us much good to stop and wonder about some unknown enemy. I guess we'll find out when he gets us."

     "For some reason..." Festus began.

     "...I don't like how that sounds." Silena finished, hurrying to catch up with Leia.