Skylar

It’s been 3 years since I’ve seen Nico. Thalia has returned from her mysterious quest and everything has been dull and blasé ever since. The hunters still visit, but not as often and only to tell me all about their adventures. Right now I’m 16 and still living in the rickety old cabin and to be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever get out of these woods. I love the woods, but I’ve lived here for 16 years and I feel like I need to explore the world. Whenever I try to leave I end up at my cabin, I try to leave again but I get the same result. No matter how far I run, I can’t escape. In the middle of my thoughts, I notice that across the calm river is a beautiful gray wolf, whose fur shines in the moonlight, making him appear almost silver-backed. His eyes matching his gleaming coat exactly, the dark claws are perfectly pointed sinking into the soft earth. He seems alert of his surroundings. Little did he know, I sit here dumbfounded, wondering- where did he come from? I search these woods every day for new adventure and a prize like him doesn't go unnoticed. I quickly hide behind the nearest thing I could find, pulling an arrow from my quiver into my bow. He sits there, taunting me, waiting for me to shoot. I stand silent behind an oak tree, waiting for the right moment to let my silver arrow fly. You may be thinking, I will shoot him and skin him like I do to all victims who fall to my aim, but I plan to do something I've never done before since I've never seen anything like him before. I draw back the arrow with my sleek silver bow to my cheek and as I turn to face the glorious "silver" wolf--- it isn't there to face me. Following his tracks, I run to catch up with him before he gets away.         

A few minutes later, the wolf came to a complete stop to examine his surroundings. I sat crouching behind a log hiding any existence from him that I'm present. Looking around I realize the oak trees circled around us and the wolf stood in a patch of grass at the center of the trees' circle, away from any possible distractions such as myself. Drawing back my arrow, a man appeared out of the corner of my eye. As he confidently strolled into the clearing I was able to get a good look at him. He appears to be around 17 or 18 with a t-shirt that has "Exile" scribbled on the front and his hands casually in the front pockets of his ripped blue jeans. His sandy hair comes off as sloppy and his demeanor screams delinquent. He speaks with a tone of arrogance "Hey baby sister! How've you been? Ugh, come on you came here like that! Lighten up!" Just as he had finished, the wolf began to transform into a grown woman. Covering my mouth, I forced my panicking scream down. Her auburn hair pinned tightly back in a bun which displayed her unbelievable beauty. Though, her eyes aren't like any I've ever seen before. They seem silvery-yellow like the moon. Her clothes are even more bizarre. Instead of wearing an outfit fit for the woods, she emerged with a white dress that has a silver sequin sleeve that drapes across her right shoulder and continues crisscrossing her body going down to the waist until the white fabric continued flowing, hovering above the muddy forest ground near her bare feet. The woman speaks softly in a hush tone, "Apologies brother, but why must we meet here? She lives just 40 paces to the east." This peaked my interest, they must be talking about me I thought, I’m the only person who lives here. "Then you know as well as I do that things are beginning to stir, people are beginning to plot against you. This is the only place that’s safe." he explained. “I guess you’re right.” The young boy began to get an excited at the woman’s confession. Which she obviously didn’t like because she gave him “the hand”. “And no, you’re not going to make me say that again.” Disappointment written across his face, he hung his head. “So Apollo, what are we going to do about these plots?” Apollo? As in Apollo, Greek god of music! Wait, if that’s Apollo, then the woman must be--- Artemis. I have to talk to her. Suddenly, sharp nails dug into my right ankle, quickly dragging me away from the clearing. Pain shot up my leg like a bottle rocket. I yelped in pain as he kept running at 200 miles an hour. Rocks scraped my legs, arms, and stomach as he sprinted away carrying me like a doll. Turning around to face the beast with my bow and arrow ready, I didn’t see any wolf. I saw a demon. A dark demon made of wisp and fog. Listening closely, I could hear the screams of his past victims. Shooting an arrow, I aimed for his chest but instead of puncturing him it went straight throw hitting a tree behind him. Instead of taking the offensive, I took the defensive and wiggled my way out of his grip. By the time I did, I was nearly 20 miles away from where we first started. My ankle started to swell and run with blood because he clawed so deep into my skin, so it made it nearly impossible to run away. I didn’t get very far before I heard a cracking sound and my surroundings faded into darkness.