WHATEVER MONSTER DR. THORN was, one thing Stella knew for sure was that he was fast.
The poison from the spike had already left her system. One of the many perks of Vitakinesis, healing powers, was definitely being able to heal one's self of injuries or diseases. She wasn't as good a healer as her sibling, Will Solace, but she still had a great ability to manipulate the healing process.
"What are you doing, Jackson? Keep moving!" hissed Dr. Thorn.
Stella looked at Percy who had his eyes closed before he opened them and kept shuffling forward with the rest of them. How the hell were they going to get out of this one, she thought.
"It's my shoulder, it burns," Percy said.
"Bah! My poison causes pain. It will not kill you. Walk!" Thorn said as he herded them outside.
Stella grabbed Percy's arm and pulled him to walk side by side with her, in front of the di Angelo siblings and as far away from Dr. Thorn.
"I can heal your shoulder," Stella whispered to him.
"It doesn't burn that bad, just milking it. I'm trying to use my empathy link with Grover," Percy whispered back.
She could tell he was still in pain, his body was definitely feeling the poison.
"Hope he answers."
She moved her hand to his shoulder and closed her eyes, still walking forward. She focused her energy on where the spike had grazed his shoulder, and she felt a ball of energy transfer from her body to his.
Once she felt the energy fade, she opened her eyes and saw they were now walking in the woods. She let go.
Percy looked at her gratefully, "Thank you, Stella."
"It's nothing," Stella said.
They took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamplights. Her healing powers had warmed her body, but she was still cold as hell.
"There is a clearing ahead," Thorn said. "We will summon your ride."
"What ride?" Bianca demanded. "Where are you taking us?"
"Silence, you insufferable girl!"
"Don't talk to my sister that way!" Nico said.
Dr. Thorn made a growling sound that definitely wasn't human. Stella let Percy continue trying his connection with Grover while she scoured her mind for a solution. She had none.
"Halt," Thorn said. The woods had opened up. They had reached a cliff overlooking the sea. All they could see was mist and darkness, but Stella heard the sound of the sea.
Dr. Thorn pushed them toward the edge. Percy stumbled, and Stella caught him.
"Thanks," He murmured.
"What is he?" Bianca whispered to them. "How do we fight him?"
"I...I'm working on it." Percy replied.
"I'm scared," Nico mumbled, fiddling with a little metal toy soldier of some kind.
"Stop talking!" Dr. Thorn said. "Face me!"
They turned around to see him pulling something from under his coat, a phone. He pressed the side button and said, "The package— it is ready to deliver."
There was a garbled reply, probably a walkie-talkie. Stella was creeped out at the sight of a monster using a phone but Dr. Thorn's laugh disturbed her even more.
"By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea. Save yourself."
"What did he call you?" Bianca muttered.
"I'll explain later," Percy said.
"You do have a plan, right?"
Stella saw him glance at the water behind them out of the corner of her eye. It seemed Dr. Thorn had read his mind.
"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," Dr. Thorn said. "You do not realize who I am, do you?"
A flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled by Percy's head. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn resembling a tail. "Unfortunately," Thorn said, "you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise, you would already be dead."
"Who wants us? Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I... We've got no one but each other." " Bianca demanded, her voice breaking at the end.
"Aww," Dr. Thorn said. "Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."
Brand-new family? It couldn't be...
"Luke," Percy said. "You work for Luke."
He stole the words out of her mouth. Except she didn't want to say it. She didn't want confirmation of the deadly reality brought by their ex-friend.
Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste at the mention of Luke, "You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."
"The General?" Percy asked in a French accent before correcting himself, "I mean...who's the General?"
Stella had to refrain from laughing. It was not the time.
Thorn looked toward the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."
She turned and saw a helicopter from a distance, its searchlight over the sea and the blades growing louder. No way she was getting in that thing. She had to think a way out of here and fast.
"Where are you taking us?" Nico said.
"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls."
"They're not dolls! They're figurines! And you can take your great army and—"
"Now, now," Dr. Thorn warned. "You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And if you do not, well...there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."
"The Great what?" Stella asked, trying to stall him as long as possible.
"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all— the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"
"Okay," Bianca whispered to them, "he's completely nuts."
"We have to jump off the cliff, into the sea," Percy told her quietly.
So that was his plan? It was better than Stella's plan consisting of absolutely nothing. Might as well risk it.
"Oh, super idea. You're completely nuts, too," Bianca said,
Stella was about to defend Percy's plan when an invisible force slammed into her.
Annabeth. Her move was brilliant. She was wearing her cap and knocked them all to the ground. For a split second, Dr. Thorn was completely taken by surprise, so his first volley of missiles zipped harmlessly over their heads.
This gave Thalia and Grover a chance to advance from behind— Thalia wielding her Aegis and moving in with her spear. "For Zeus!"
Thalia jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw, with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. She managed to roll backward and land on her feet.
Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia. Stella now saw where he was shooting from— a tail. It was a leathery, scorpionlike tail that bristled with spikes at the tip. The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down.
Grover sprang forward. He put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play. Grass broke through the snow. Within seconds, rope-thick weeds were wrapping around Dr. Thorn's legs, entangling him.
Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form— his face was still human, but his body was that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.
"A manticore!" Annabeth said, now visible after her hat had come off.
"Who are you people?" Bianca di Angelo demanded. "And what is that?"
"A manticore?" Nico gasped. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"
Stella wasn't sure what the boy was talking about, but she didn't have time to think before the manticore clawed Grover's magic weeds to shreds and then turned toward them with a snarl.
"Get down!" Annabeth pushed the di Angelos flat into the snow.
Percy hit his wristwatch, and metal plating spiraled out into a thick bronze shield. A second later, the thorns impacted against it, denting the metal. They heard a thwack and a yelp, and Grover landed next to them with a thud.
Stella had enough. She left the protection of the shield and ran toward the monster while Iliaktída appeared in her hands. "Stella!' She heard Percy yell.
"Here kitty," Stella yelled as she shot arrow after arrow into his body, not missing a single one.
The manticore yelped in pain before baring his teeth. He launched a volley of missiles at her, but she ducked to the ground before they could hit her. She felt them barely miss her body as they flew over her.
She stood back up and launched more arrows into its hide. The manticore was in pain, but she knew it wasn't enough. The monster wailed and swayed on its feet at the impact of the celestial bronze arrows but snapped out of its pain. It shook off the arrows.
She should've seen it coming. The manticore's big orange paw lunged at her and knocked her several feet to the side. Her body fell to the ground from the forceful impact; her whole body ached.
"Yield!" the monster roared.
"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field. Stella looked up weakly to see her charging the monster.
But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind them. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter was manned by mortals, but Stella had no idea what business mortals would have with a monster.
The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow, and her spear flew in the other direction.
With all the strength within her, Stella stood back up and ran toward her. She wasn't going to let Thalia get attacked when defenseless. Her head was spinning, and the manticore turned toward her. Bad idea.
"No!" Percy ran out to help Stella. He deflected the spike just before it would've hit her chest. Dr. Thorn laughed as Percy raised his shield over them.
"Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."
They were cornered. There was no way out, no chance. Please, Dad, help us.
All of a sudden, she heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods. The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades.
"No," Dr. Thorn said. "It cannot be—"
His sentence was cut short when something shot past them like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder. He staggered backward, wailing in agony.
"Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in midair and sliced them in two.
Stella was impressed.
The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. Percy tried to swipe at him with his sword, but he wasn't as injured as he looked.
The monster dodged Percy's attack and slammed his tail into his shield, knocking both Stella and him aside.
If I get flung around one more time, I swear to the gods, Stella thought.
Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about fifteen, like them. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.
"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.
They heard Thalia, who was a few feet away from them, mutter, "Oh, wonderful."
One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery-colored skin. She was beautiful and had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair.
"Permission to kill, my lady?" The older girl said, keeping her eyes on the manticore.
The manticore wailed, "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."
"Not so," another girl said. This one was a little younger than them, she looked around thirteen. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her expression was stern and dangerous, but her face was beautiful.
Stella recognized her and smiled.
"The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at the older girl with the circlet, "Zoë, permission granted."
The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!" He lunged at Stella and Percy, who were obviously the weakest after being knocked down.
"No!" Annabeth yelled, and she charged at the monster.
"Get back, half-blood!" the girl with the circlet said, "Get out of the line of fire!"
Annabeth paid no attention to her. She leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as Annabeth hung on.
"Fire!" Zoë ordered.
"No!" Percy screamed.
The Hunters let their arrows fly. The first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. Stella was worried Annabeth would get struck by one.
The manticore staggered backward, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!" And before anyone could react, the monster, with Annabeth still on his back, leaped over the cliff and tumbled into the darkness.
"Annie!" Stella yelled, getting to her feet. Percy and Stella began to run to where Annabeth had tumbled, but the helicopter began firing. Most of the Hunters scattered as tiny holes appeared in the snow at their feet, but the girl with auburn hair just looked up calmly at the helicopter.
"Mortals," she announced, "are not allowed to witness my hunt." She thrust out her hand, and the helicopter exploded, its black metal dissolving into a flock of ravens, which scattered into the night.
The Hunters advanced on them. The one called Zoë stopped short when she saw Thalia. "You," she said with distaste.
"Zoë Nightshade. Perfect timing, as usual." Thalia said angrily.
Zoë scanned the rest of them, "Five half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."
The younger girl said, "Yes, some of Chiron's campers, I see."
"Annabeth!" Percy yelled. "You have to let us save her!"
The auburn-haired girl turned towards him. "I'm sorry, Percy Jackson, but your friend is beyond help."
Percy tried to get up, but a couple of the Hunters held him down. Someone had to do it, Stella thought.
"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs," the auburn-haired girl said.
In her bones, she didn't feel like Annabeth was dead. But she was gone. As much as Stella wanted to run off with him to find their best friend, she couldn't deny they weren't in the best shape.
"Let me go!" He demanded.
"Who do you think you are?" Zoë stepped forward, a dangerous look on her face.
"No," the other girl ordered. "I sense no disrespect, Zoë. He is simply distraught. He does not understand."
Stella wanted to laugh. She was distraught, but she still recognized her aunt. Percy just had the ability to be extra oblivious.
The young girl looked at them, her eyes colder and brighter than the winter moon. "I am Artemis," she said. "Goddess of the Hunt."
"Um...okay," Percy said.
Stella mentally facepalmed.
Grover, on the other hand, took it to an extreme. He gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so...you're so...Wow!"
"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"
"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."
Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of them in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who...who are you people?"
Artemis's expression softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you? Who are your parents?"
Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, "Our parents are dead. We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but..."
She faltered. They all knew the truth and that must have been clearly written on their faces. Bianca demanded, "What? I'm telling the truth."
"You are a half-blood," Zoë Nightshade said in her old-fashioned accent, "one of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."
"An Olympian...athlete?"
"No," Zoë said. "One of the gods."
"Cool!" said Nico.
"No!" Bianca's voice shook, "This is not cool!"
In comparison to his sister, Nico was a little too excited, "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"
"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"
Stella felt for the siblings, she really did. She remembered her own shock when her dad appeared to her for the first time. When she learned who she really was— a demigod.
Thalia softened, "Bianca, I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well...Our lives are dangerous."
Understatement of the year.
"Dangerous, like the girl who fell," Bianca said.
Stella felt worry pool in her stomach.
"Do not despair for Annabeth," the goddess said. "She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her."
"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" Percy asked.
"She is gone. Can't you sense it, Son of Poseidon? Some magic is at work. I do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished."
"She's gone. I can feel it, I don't know how to explain it, but I just know," Stella said. Percy lowered his head.
Nico raised his hand, "Oo! What about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"
"He was a manticore," Artemis said. "Hopefully, he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."
"Or they'll hunt us," Thalia said.
Bianca di Angelo shivered, "That explains...Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in D.C.?"
"And that bus driver, the one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real," Nico said.
"That's why Grover has been watching you," Percy said. "To keep you safe, if you turned out to be half-bloods."
"Grover?" Bianca stared at him. "You're a demigod?"
"Well, a satyr, actually." Grover kicked off his shoes and displayed his goat hooves, and Bianca paled.
"Grover, put your shoes back on," Thalia chided "you're freaking her out."
"Hey, my hooves are clean!"
Stella looked at the girl, "Bianca, we came here to help you. You both need training if you want to survive. Dr. Thorn is only the beginning of the monsters you will meet. You need to come with us to camp."
"Camp?" she asked.
"Camp Half-Blood," Percy said. "It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us and stay there year-round if you like."
"Sweet, let's go!" said Nico.
Bianca shook her head. "Wait. I don't—"
"There is another option," Zoë said.
"No, there isn't!" Thalia said.
The two girls glared at each other. Their expressions held nothing but hate.
Stella looked at Percy, who looked back at her. From the look on Percy's face, Stella could tell he was clueless about the two girls' sour relationship.
"We've burdened these children enough," Artemis announced. "Zoë, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."
"Yes, my lady," Zoë replied.
"And, Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you," Artemis added.
"What about me?" Nico asked.
Artemis looked at him, "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while...as a favor to me?"
Grover got up excitedly at the prospect of doing anything for Artemis, "You bet! Come on, Nico!" They walked off toward the woods, talking about hit points and armor ratings.
Artemis led Bianca along the cliff. The latter had a look of utter confusion on her face. Stella didn't blame her, what did Artemis need to tell her privately?
The Hunters began unpacking their knapsacks and making camp. Zoë gave Thalia one more evil look, then left to help her fellow Hunters.
Thalia stamped her foot in frustration, "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so... Argh!"
"I'm with you," Percy said. "I don't trust—"
"Oh, you're with me?" Thalia turned on him furiously. "What were you thinking back there in the gym, Percy? You'd take on Dr. Thorn all by yourself? You knew he was a monster!"
"I—"
"If we'd stuck together, we could've taken him without the Hunters getting involved. Annabeth might still be here. Did you think of that?" Thalia cut him off.
Stella saw how Percy's jaw clenched.
"Thalia, I get you're pissed Annabeth is gone, we all are. But it doesn't mean you have to take it out on us. It wasn't the best plan, but there was no time to find you guys before we lost the siblings," Stella said.
Thalia looked at her angrily. Stella knew she was angry she had sided with Percy, but her reaction wasn't fair. She didn't say another word and instead wiped a tear from her cheek, turned, and marched off.
Percy turned to say something to Stella before his gaze stuck to something on the floor. Stella followed his gaze and saw what he was staring at.
Annabeth's New York Yankees baseball cap was trampled in the snow.