The Quest Against a Titan

Chapter Four

I just wanted to thank all of the people voting for me and commenting. I love seeing all of your comments so much! Especially the ones that are funny. Without further ado, here is chapter four.

~Thalia POV~

I heard a rustling in the woods to the... right of me. No, left of me. Okay, so at least somewhere in front of me. I signalled to the rest of the huntresses to stay quiet. All 4 of us were stationed each in a different tree around a clearing. The rest of the huntresses had stayed at camp.

"I can see something big," Phoebe mouthed to me. She suddenly looked worried. "Bad," she mouthed.

I silently stood up in the tree, carefully making sure that nothing was rustling, and inched my way across the branches, one by one. I was almost to Phoebe's tree, when my foot slipped. A little branch broke off with a snapping sound. It wouldn't have been loud anywhere else, but in the dead quiet forest, the sound seemed to echo off of everything and ring in my ears.

I winced, thinking for sure that whatever it was had been scared away, but Phoebe signalled that all was okay. I crouched, and, more wary this time, traveled the rest of the way to Phoebe's tree. I sighed as I sat back down, once again safe.

"So what is it?" I asked Phoebe, curious.

"Well, it's a monster, that's for sure. And, it didn't seem to hear that twig snap at all. It might be hard of hearing, though I doubt that it's deaf," she whispered back.

She then pointed to a very small area in the thick of the woods. Inside of that clearing was a terrifying creature, with dark, scaly skin, beady eyes, sharp fangs, and a heavy looking bat in hand.

"There aren't usually monsters in this area of the woods," I said confused. I thought for a moment. If we decided to attack the monster, it could be more lethal than we thought, there could be more nearby, it could attract the attention of anything in the near vicinity, and it could scare off any wild animals. Yeah... no. I signalled for everyone to make a cautious retreat back to camp.

Once everyone had gotten back on the ground again, and safely away from the monster, we journeyed back to camp.

It was only about a ten minute hike, which, believe me, was short compared to what we've had to endure before. Yet my legs were beginning to feel sore, as we had left at five in the morning and it was now about four in the afternoon. Not to mention I had either been walking or crouching for that entire period of time.

But the dull, yet sparkling silver of the tents soon came into view, and the fresh scent of bread and stew reached our noses. I heard all of us take a deep sniff at the same time. Needless to say, we picked up the speed and rushed into camp.

The rest of the girls greeted us with smiles and asked how the day had gone, as each of them was very eager to go on a hunt themselves.

"Calm girls, I will be sure to tell you everything that happened... but not now. I have some dinner to eat," I told them. I received my bowl of stew and tore off a hunk of bread to dip. I had soaked the piece of bread and was just about to take a big bite, when I remembered the monster. How could I be so stupid? I excused myslef for a second, and hurried to our portable fountain for iris messaging.

I threw in a drachma and spoke clearly, "Please show me Nico Di' Angelo."

The water rippled, and then showed a fair skinned boy, with shaggy, black hair. He was sitting in his cabin, looking at a picture of him and another boy with similar hair, but blond.

"Hi, Nico," I said.

He whirled around, startled. "Oh, h-hi, Thalia. Didn't see you there."

I smirked, "Who's that in the picture?"

He blushed, "No one." He blushed harder.

I decided I had embarrassed him enough so I just said, "Okay, enough niceties. Three of my girls and I were out hunting today, and we saw a strange creature traveling through the woods." I described the monster to him.

He gazed off thoughtfully and responded, "Could you see any other monsters with it? Or did it seem to be... looking around?"

I thought back to the monster. "There were no other monsters that we could see or sense with it. But to answer the other question, now that I think about it, it did seem to be looking around. Not looking for something, just examining things, I guess."

He muttered to himself, "I don't believe it. They sent a scouting party."

"What do you mean, scouting party?" I asked. He told me about Hyperion and his army.

"I think they're sending out monsters to take a look at potential camp areas. Keep an eye on that clearing," he said.

"Will do," I replied.

"Wait. About how close do you think you are to Camp Half Blood?" he asked.

I turned pale. "Oh gods. We're only like 20 minutes away at the moment. They might be close."

He said, in a serious tone, "If you can, get away from the area. Make sure everyone stays safe. I only have two demigods other than me that I've recruited for the quest. As powerful as Reyna and Will ar-"

I cut him off, "I'll help, too. One of my huntresses can take charge. I'll move them out of harm's way, then meet you at the entrance to camp."

He nodded, "Stay safe, Thalia."

"You, too, Nico," I signed off with.

I slashed my arm through the water, ending the call. Poor kid. He's got to lead a couple of demigods into battle against a titan and a monster army. Well, at least he's got friends on his side.

I ran into the sitting area, where everyone was... well... sitting. "Attention! We may be in danger of a monster attack. Gather your things and pack up immediately. I want everyone ready to move to safe house one in five minutes.

Of course, I had to collapse my tent, too, and pack up my clothing and other belongings. It didn't take very long though, and I was able to get everybody moving within five minutes, like I had hoped.

We walked at a brisk pace, half jogging, for five minutes, until we reached a hidden cave in the side of a small mountain. I stood to the side of the entrance, and helped everyone in before I entered. "I will be leaving you for the next month, or maybe even more, I don't know yet, and Phoebe will be your temporary leader. Treat her as you would me, and no more than five huntresses may be outside of the cave at one time, for safety reasons," I announced.

Everyone said goodbye to me, and I went on my way. It wasn't too long before I saw the strawberry hills in the distance. I could see three figures standing on the hilltop. As I drew closer, I could see it was Nico, the boy from the picture, and another girl that I recognized to be Reyna, the praetor from Camp Jupiter.

"Nice day, isn't it?" I greeted them with.

Reyna half smiled, "Oh, certainly."

Nico looked grim, "We have a lot of work to do."