Half Blood Heroes: Eternal Rivers

Messed Up Field

I'm Kendra Waters and I was thrown into summer camp by my dad who said I needed help. The summer camp was in Nevada, a long way from San Francisco. "Dad, I feel that you are pushing me away." He looked away sadly. "I know it feels like it's just, I don't want you to be here when I-" His voice trailed off. "When you what?" He shook it off and handed me PB&J sandwiches, Kool-Aid, and cookies. "You should get going, remember, I'm always a call away." He hugged me tightly making it quite hard to breathe. Like it was going to be the last he held me in his arms. I jumped on the bus and put in my MP3 player. The song 'Young Volcanoes' by Fall Out Boy played. The rest of the trip was filled with sing-alongs and tons of gum. There was a said stash of gum hidden at the back of the last rows' seats. Also road trips include scenic views, main character moments looking out the mountains dreamily and we can't forget the dreamy smell of someone's disgusting feet on your hair. "Can you please get your icky, thioalcohol filled feet out of my hair?" I snapped at the person behind me. If anyone is wondering what Thioalchohol is, it's the stuff that gives you body odor. Anyways, the annoying person behind me was Aspen. He was holding a bag of black licorice (y'know, stuff that tastes weird?). "Sorry but I need a place for my feet, y'know being 6'1?" He acted like his height gave him some free pass into girls' hearts. "Eww, no your height does not impress me." Put back my earphones and looked away.

After an hour or two I felt someone tap my shoulder. "Excuse me, can I sit here? I was cold in my previous seat." I looked up to be met by olive green eyes. A boy a little older than me had copper red hair and freckles. "Umm, sure yeah." I scooted over to the side. It was only for a few more hours I'd have to be stuck in this bus. ADHD didn't help, neither did vertigo. Finally, the bus stopped at the Hoover Dam. "This is just a stop, you can take a stretch and be careful." I got off the bus and walked around. Aspen walked up to me holding a soda. "You feel that? Like a calling to the river? I've been feeling it for years." He sounded sincere for once. I didn't reply but admit I also felt that calling. Like something that hit close to home, that feeling when you're at home and at peace. He looked down to the flowing rivers. Besides us, there were reporters from a news channel. "Reporting live from Nevada at the famous Hoover Dam. The water has been suspiciously low, the rivers are weak. This is once again the effect of climate change." The boy who sat beside me walked up to us. "It isn't because of the weather, the goddess Danu has gone missing." The name sounded familiar, it made no sense at all. We heard an engine roaring, we looked back and yes, the bus left us. "Wait! Are you freaking serious right now?" Aspen stomped his foot on the ground.

On the other side of the dam, there were three white wolves. Their icy blue eyes seemed to glow in the light of the setting sun. "My name is Arin, both of you need to come with me. I'll bring you both somewhere safe." Part of me wanted to say, 'No way, stranger danger' but the other part of me seemed intrigued. He looked like he was genuinely concerned about me and Aspen. "Before the creatures come to Kendra Waters and Aspen Milligan."

"How do you know our names?" He pointed to our backpacks which had our name tags on them. "I'm observant and a good guesser." Arin shrugged it off and whistled. The wolves looked up and jumped across the canyon. Not really 'Oh my gosh they jumped the canyon' they more or less ran on this invisible bridge of mist. "Get on." We boarded the wolves cautiously. Aspen was gripping onto the wolves like there was no tomorrow. The wolves ran across the desert for miles until we were back at the San Francisco bay area.

"We can find an oak entrance to Canada." Aspen stopped in his tracks. "I'm not going with some stranger to an island, I'm going home now." He turned around running off to who knows where. "Do you trust me?" I didn't know how to get home from there (I'm just bad with directions) so I nodded. He led me to the Muir National Park, where he was looking for a tree. "Can't you just use a normal tree or have those wolves bring us there?" I asked, annoyed. He rolled his eyes and pointed to a large oak tree. "Those wolves are made of wind, they aren't made for the sea. If you're still wondering who the goddess Danu is, she's the goddess of nature and river." It didn't click in my head. "And we're going where, why?" He looked up. "Sometimes gods and goddesses go down to earth and have children with mortals. They're called half-bloods or demigods or demi goddesses." I scoffed. "Don't believe me do you?" He pulled out an emerald and crushed it. Instead of crumbling to the ground like a normal stone, it turned into a glittery image of Aspen running. "If that ain't magic, I don't know what is. My godly parent is Eriu, goddess of Ireland. But I just call her Erin." I stared at him, I was going to scream but nothing came out, just a squeak. "Don't worry, we'll find out who your godly parent is, and then, poof, you'll have magic like me, that's called an Emerald Eye Window." I nodded slowly. Suddenly, quick footsteps were approaching us.

He pulled out a sword, it had a silver blade, bronze hilt with emeralds decorating it. Aspen ran out of the trees colliding with me right in the face. "It's coming, we're all gonna die." He was beginning to sound oddly like those people screaming 'The end is nigh' or whatever. "I was running, then I walked up to someone and asked for directions to my house. Turns out it was some crazy monster." He told us in the fastest and most panicked voice I'd ever heard him talk in. "Wait, you gave a Fomorian your address? Wow, you got your family their tombstones." Arin scoffed, still holding his sword. "Look, I was panicking." He tried to justify himself. "So you told a monster your address?" I asked with an obvious tone of 'you did something idiotic'. "Yes." He nodded. "You saying I'm crazy?" I shook my head. "No, I'm saying you're stupid." He looked shocked at what I just said. In his face. Out of nowhere a large giant-like, mossy, one-eyed thing came out of the trees. Oddly enough, it looked like trees had been given mutant energy and they're alive now. Another way to describe it is a cyclops that fell asleep and became a mossy mess. "Blood of the gods." The mossy cyclops roared at us. "I think I just peed my pants." Aspen quietly whispered. "Follow me." Arin grabbed us and we ran like Usain Bolt. Through trees and bushes, we were running like tomorrow won't arrive.

"I need to get back to that oak tree, it's our only way to safety." We tripped on tree roots, cut our clothes on twigs until we reached a small stream. "Wait for- Arin." Aspen was behind us holding his head. "You two have vertigo?" He pointed at both of us. I nodded, he pulled out pills. "Trust me, it's just medicine for vertigo." He picked up the pill and inspected it. In the end, he swallowed the pill. "Hurry, we can't stop for too long." Aspen crossed the stream and we continued back around to the oak tree. Arin picked up the dropped emeralds and we got to the bay area. The mossy-cyclop was back with a freakin' tree being swung around like a bat. I picked up an oar or toothpick from his point of view. Aspen picked up a golf club lying on the ground. Arin was looking for a boat along the docks. "You gonna fight with that?" I said, clearly directed at his golf club. "At least it's metal, you have a toothpick for a sword." I rolled my eyes, I began batting it on it's foot. It looked down at me and brought it's hand down to squash me like a bug. I rolled out while Aspen threw the golf club like a spear at it's eye. "Where'd you learn to do that?" He turned at me. "I don't know." Once again we were fighting like the laws didn't exist. We were running like headless chickens around the block throwing our make-shift weapons at it.

First part is okay. I don't have a regular updating schedule. Chances are I'll forget about this account- I'll try not to though.