Hunter leaned up against the wall of the building, taking shallow breaths. All of the memories from his first quest came sweeping back. The pain. The misery. The heartache. Dolos had almost made Hunter’s mind break. He was the reason Kate was dead. He was the reason Kyle got hurt. He was the reason that Orion died. Hunter’s life would be fine if Dolos hadn’t showed up. Hunter thought it was all over after that quest. That he could go back to living his normal life back at camp. Now, that perception was shattered.
“I was so stupid.” He muttered quietly, his back sliding down so he was sitting up against the wall. “I was stupid. To think that I could—No. That makes no sense. How could I have been so stupid?” Philippa sat down next to him and took his hand in hers. On a regular day, he would be smiling and squeezing her hand, but now he couldn’t think straight. He was completely thrown off.
“Hunter, come on.” Philippa said, slipping her arm around his middle. Hunter took a deep breath and tried to calm down a little, but it wasn’t happening. “Deep breaths, Hunter.” She said, rubbing his side. “Hunter, she’s just trying to distract you. You need to focus.” She said quietly. Hunter nodded softly. He knew she was right. She had to be right. She kissed him lightly on the temple and Hunter rubbed his eyes, taking deep breaths. He needed to calm down. He needed to focus. He looked over at Philippa and smiled softly.
“Thank you.” He said quietly. He felt her nudge him a little and Hunter sighed, finally calming down a little. She smiled at him and he already felt more relaxed. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, leaning into him a little. Hunter responded without thinking, leaning into her, kissing her back. He thought of all the people who could calm him down like that. It was a short list and Philippa was at the very top. Hunter felt Philippa frown a little and Hunter pulled away. “Something wrong?” He asked quietly. She smiled softly and giggled.
“You’re not a very good kisser.” She said, scrunching up her nose a little. Hunter was speechless for a moment before laughing a little. “Sorry.” She said with a giggle.
“Well, it’s not like I’ve had a lot of practice!” He replied, defending himself. He jab her side, making her squirm a little, giggling.
“Hunter. Don’t!” Hunter poked her side again and she giggled again. “Hunter. Stop it.” She said, her expression turning serious. Hunter stopped and blushed a little.
“Sorry.” He said quietly. She stood and straightened her clothes. Hunter looked up at her and sighed. “Shall we get back to camp?” He said quietly. She nodded and helped him up. Hunter brushed his shirt off and discovered the glasses on his collar. “Oh.” He said quietly, taking them off his collar. He placed them on his face and felt them adjust perfectly onto his ears.
“Those look good on you.” Philippa said with a giggle. Hunter smiled and turned to a store window, looking at his reflection.
“Did it actually make me look like a satyr?” He asked, running a hand through his hair. She walked up behind him and looked at her reflection.
“Yeah. Horns and fur and everything. You even had a cute little goatee.” She said with a giggle as she fixed her hair in her reflection. Hunter chuckled and looked in his reflection. He thought Philippa. Hair. Beautiful. Short. Brown hair. He watched as his form shifted and soon he was looking at Philippa standing next to Philippa. She gasped and jumped a little.
“It’s just me.” Hunter said, hearing Philippa’s voice when he spoke. “Whoa. Hello, my name is Philippa Beaumont and my hair is my religion.” He said with a chuckle. Philippa smacked his arm.
“Stop it!” She said, smacking his arm again, a small smile on her face. Hunter stepped back and thought Chiron. Wise. Old. Centaur. Beard. He felt a tugging and soon he was growing taller. He shook his head and looked down at her, hearing a clip clop as his hooves shifted.
“Now, Ms. Beaumont.” He said, in a scolding tone. A tone Hunter had heard many times from Chiron. “Please, keep yourself from hitting the other campers.” She looked at him oddly and Hunter took off the glasses, quickly switching back to Hunter.
“I’ll ask you to not do that again.” She said with a giggle. Hunter put the glasses back on his collar and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her. “We’re so sparring when we get back to camp.” Hunter laughed and kissed her forehead.
“I can’t wait.” Hunter said with a grin. He laughed and started walking toward the pegasi. Ulysses whinnied and Dixie snorted at their presence. Hunter noticed that Denny’s—no. Apate’s pegasi was gone. It made Hunter wonder if Denny was even real. If Kyle’s story with Denny was real or something placed into his mind by Apate. Then he realized that Will’s group is going to the Alamo. Denny came up with that. What if that was a trick? What is that was all a trick? What if Will was heading into a trap? He started to panic at the possibility. His closest friends were all headed for a trap.
“Hunter, what’s wrong?” Philippa said, looking into his eyes.
“Apate was Denny, right?” Philippa nodded and furrowed her eyebrows at him. “Denny told us about the Alamo. Will and Marina and Kyle could be headed straight for a trap. We need to get back to camp. Now.” He said frantically as he mounted Ulysses. Philippa nodded and hopped onto Dixie’s back. They quickly took off into the sky. They flew east. They weren’t going for precision. They needed speed. Hunter looked back and made sure they were flying away from water. They needed to be back at camp. Hunter was focused on 2 things. The sky ahead and Philippa next to him. He might be losing his best friends at the moment. He couldn’t stand losing Philippa too. He didn’t notice the shadow pass over them. Hunter was lucky he heard it. The heavy flapping of wings. He knew what a Pegasus sounded like. This was bigger.
“Philippa! Move!” He said, before rolling right. A large figure zoomed past them, clipping Ulysses’ wing, causing the horse to let out an angry whinny as he adjusted on the broken wing. Hunter looked over to see Philippa and Dixie unharmed. He looked down and saw the figure turning around to come zooming back up and past that he was bright lights. Vegas. He thought to himself. Hunter drew his bow and fired an arrow at the figure. It easily dodged and Hunter immediately started to worry.
“I would encourage you to give up, kid!” The figure was revealed as a man wearing armor. Hunter recognized him from the dream.
“Prometheus.” He said, notching another arrow and aiming. Prometheus scoffed.
“You don’t learn well. I’m the titan of foresight. I know where that arrow is going before you do.” Hunter looked at what he was riding. It was monstrous. The head of an eagle and the body of a large lion with great wings sticking out the back. Hunter could feel the force of each flap. Hunter quickly fired at the beast and Prometheus dodged. “Stop it. You’re embarrassing yourself. This is your chance to surrender, kid. No hard feelings.” Hunter thought for a second.
“Don’t do it, Hunter!” Philippa shouted. Suddenly a chain shot out from Prometheus’ arm and wrapped around Philippa’s neck. Hunter gasped and notched another arrow, flying closer to the titan.
“Let her go!” He said, pointing the arrow at Prometheus’ face.
“Tsk tsk. Looks like it’s the hard way.” Suddenly there were loud caws and Hunter looked down to see a cloud of black birds zooming toward them. The chain disappeared from Philippa’s neck, but she was panicking. Hunter drew an arrow and fired into the cloud, hopefully dropping one or two of the Stymphalian birds. Hunter watched as Prometheus zoomed away on the back of his griffin. Hunter cursed and flew next to Philippa.
“Philippa, I need you to calm down. If we get to Vegas, we’ll be safe! Come on!” He shouted before finally getting Philippa to focus a little. She nodded and kicked Dixie, only to hear a loud whinny. Hunter looked and saw Dixie’s leg being pecked at by a Stymphalian bird. Hunter shot it with his bow and then put it away. “Philippa! We need to go!” Hunter said, patting Ulysses as he made the dive with his broken wing.
“Hunter!” Hunter turned around to see Philippa pointing at the birds quickly approaching. Hunter cursed under his breath and turned on Ulysses back.
“Sonic.” He whispered, placing a hand on his quiver. He drew a sonic arrow and fired toward the black swarm of birds. There was a loud scream and Hunter cringed a little, hoping that the arrow would hit one of the birds. There was a loud boom and many of the birds squealed in pain before disappearing in a cloud of dust. “Philippa! Hurry!” He shouted before renewing their dive toward the lights of Las Vegas. They were so close. Hunter felt a sharp pain in his back and cried out. He reached back and grabbed the bird, feeling the razor sharp feathers sink into his hand. He cringed and threw it behind him as he zoomed forward another bird’s beak sank into his arm and another flew right by his head, its wing giving him a gash across his cheek. He heard a scream and looked at Philippa. She was being swarmed by birds too. He suddenly felt a bird slice into the back of his neck. He closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer to Artemis. For everything. For Will and Kyle and Marina. For Philippa. For the gods keeping Typhon trapped in Tartarus. For himself. He didn’t think that Artemis would be listening or even care, but it was worth a shot. Hunter felt another bird fly past him, cutting his other cheek, but as it was turning around it exploded into dust. “What in the…” He landed quickly and slid off, turning toward the sky. The birds seemed to collide into an invisible wall, killing them immediately, their dust blowing away in the wind. Hunter looked toward Philippa who had fainted on the back of Dixie. “Philippa!” He shouted, running over and pulling her off the scratched up and bleeding Dixie.
“Sir, bring her inside. We’ll take care of your pegasi and how about we get you set up in a nice suite. We’ll send our best healers up to attend to both of you.” A man said, taking the reins of Dixie in his hands. Hunter looked at him oddly. How did he know they were pegasi. Hunter looked up at the sign.
“The Lotus Hotel and Casino.” Hunter muttered before looking down at the unconscious Philippa in his arms. He didn’t really have a choice. “Hurry. She’s been hurt badly.” He said to the man as he walked inside the building, hoping she was okay.