Chiron stared at Hunter, his gaze penetrating his mind. Hunter didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. They already had too many in the infirmary. He looked around the room and toward the infirmary door. This needed to stop.
“Hermes, Dionysus, Athena, Demeter, Hephaestus, and Will can stay here and defend the camp.” Hunter said with a nod, leaning over the table. “Everyone else will go to Manhattan. We’ll need Hypnos to corner off the battlefield. They can make the mortals sleep, so they don’t get hurt. I think if we can take care of Echidna here then Typhon will stop trying to break out. The gods will then be free to help us in Manhattan.” Hunter ran his fingers through his hair.
“I’ll stay here and direct things. I’ll have Argus load up the van.” Chiron explained. “You and Philippa can take pegasi and they’ll meet you there. Prometheus wouldn’t try a full attack yet. He’s smart.” Hunter nodded.
“Good luck, sir.” Hunter said with a quiet sigh
“You too, Hunter.” Chiron trotted over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m very proud of you, Hunter. Very proud.” Hunter nodded and then left, headed straight for the Aphrodite cabin.
He knocked on the door and Philippa answered. She looked surprised which made Hunter confused for a moment. She closed the door behind her and walked out.
“Hunter, what’s going on?” Philippa asked. She was already equipped for the fight because of the Nemean Lion attack. Hunter looked at her and sighed a little.
“We need to go. We’re going to meet the other campers in the city. Come on.” Hunter explained, looking at her. She looked nervous. He wasn’t surprised. Hunter was feeling pretty nervous himself. Hunter put his arms around her and kissed her on the lips. Just in case one of them didn’t make it back. After a moment and a couple of people clearing their throats, Hunter broke away, putting his forehead on hers. “Everything is going to be fine.” He said quietly. She nodded softly and they walked to the stables.
“Hunter, be careful, okay? I’ve known you long enough to know that you tend to take risks and I’m asking you to just be careful.” Philippa said quietly. Hunter nodded. He didn’t want to talk. It seemed to tense to talk. Not that the mood between the two of them was tense, but the situation they were in and were about to be in just made things uncomfortable. Hunter got onto Ulysses’ back and took off with Philippa close behind him. It wasn’t long before they were in New York. They landed and trotted inside the Empire State building.
“You can’t ride horses in here!” The man at the desk complained, but Hunter just ignored him, sliding off and walking out and turning toward the bridge. Right on the other side was Prometheus and his army. Hunter was anxious. He wanted this to be done, but he didn’t want to fight. He never wanted to fight, but this needed to stop. He took Philippa’s shaky hand and sat down in front of the building, looking toward the bridge. Hunter kept watch, but he even found himself shaking a little. The odds looked bad and Hunter wasn’t going to lie to himself. A few moments later, a few vans pulled up, Delphi Strawberry Service scrawled across the side. Campers in full Greek armor and weapons spilled out. Hunter shook himself a little and stood.
“Hypnos! We’ll need you on the rooftops.” Hunter said, directing them where they need to go. Once all the campers were out, Hunter walked to the driver’s window. “Tell, Chiron that we’re all setup here. We’ll keep posted.” Argus nodded and blinked his eyes in a tidal wave down his neck and then drove off, leading the other vans behind. Hunter watched them go and then turned to the campers-turned soldiers that stood there, looking at him for direction. He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t a leader. He was just a kid. He turned toward them and looked at Philippa for a moment. He glanced around and saw mortals falling asleep around them. Hunter sighed and kind of wished that he could just fall asleep. He looked past them at the bridge. They would be coming soon. “The gods have asked us for protection. Our parents demand that we protect their home. Protect it from monsters and titans and giants and everything that would threaten them. In exchange we have to give up camp. They ask once again to put their priorities ahead of ours. Camp Half-Blood has been my home! For 14 years, I have lived and practiced and trained at Camp and now I have to give that up to save the gods once again.” Hunter sighed and looked around a moment. “Fight hard. Fight smart. Fight fast. We can kill them and they stay dead. We will win today. We will win and then we will go back to camp and we will win there and we will show the gods that we are capable of taking care of business when they cannot. We will win! Maybe the gods will owe us something! Who’s with me?!” The soldiers raised their weapons and were about to cheer when the roar and rumble of the army crossing the bridge shattered their fire. Hunter knew they were motivated. It was just a matter of leading. “Archers!” Hunter drew his bow and turned to Dana who looked at him through her helmet. “On your count.” He said, notching an explosive arrow. The enemy army was led by Prometheus on a chariot. On either side of him stood lines of Laistrygonians and empousai and horrible looking snake women. Towering over the groups were three figures, the ones from his dream. The angry looking man they called Manny and the one in beaten armor. Then there was one that looked like a dog, but instead of the canine features he had an actual dog head, snarling and barking at the army of demigods. Hunter was a little intimidated by the army.
“Fire!” Dana shouted, releasing the string of her bow and firing her arrow into the charging army. Prometheus easily dodged out of the way, but the rest of the army wasn’t so lucky. Several giants burst into dust, leaving piles that were trampled on by the monsters behind them. Hunter changed to regular arrows and fired several times, a cloud of arrows from the archers sweeping out masses of monsters. The hellhounds were quick though and so was the giant man who had put on worn armor over his toga.
“Charge!” Hunter shouted as he grabbed a nearby spear and threw it into the man in the toga and then ran past him, drawing his knives. Hunter charged, dodging around monsters and swinging his knives with ferocity, killing monster after monster, leaving behind piles of dust that blew away in the wind. Hunter leapt off the back of a downed hellhound and stabbed into two more, looking up and seeing Prometheus, stepping off his chariot.
“Hunter, you realize how hopeless this is?” He drew a small dagger and walked toward Hunter, taking small practice swings. “I’ve seen the future. I’ve seen your death. It’s…very soon.” Hunter dashed forward and slashed, but Prometheus easily parried the strike, responding with a downward slash of his own knife that Hunter rolled out of the way of.
“You’ve been wrong before.” Hunter said, twirling one of his knives in his hand. “The future can change.” Hunter quickly attacked several times in repetition, but Prometheus dodged and parried all of his attacks. Hunter backed away and blocked his attacks. Prometheus swept at Hunter’s feet and knocked him down, standing over him, knife raised.
“It’s time, Hu—“ There was a loud squeal followed by a screech that made Prometheus freeze in terror. Hunter looked up and saw two winged shadows pass overhead and when he looked back at Prometheus, he was gone.