Hunter felt like he was floating. He was soaring across the countryside, looking down over the passing cities and buildings and houses. He could feel himself finally slowing down and losing altitude. It was an odd sensation, but he figured that this was a dream. A hero dream. That means something. He stopped forward movement altogether and started plummeting toward the ground. Looking down at his destination, Hunter didn’t see anything. There was a small lake, but other than that, there was nothing. He zoomed faster and faster toward the ground, so fast that Hunter sort of felt nervous that maybe this was just some weird trick and that as soon as he hit the ground he would die, but suddenly he stopped. The light had changed from daylight to fluorescent lighting.
He found himself in a large room. Almost a gymnasium of sorts. There were bleachers on the sides and in the middle a large table. Wherever it was, it was quiet. There were four men standing around the table looking at a map. He couldn’t see the map, but he could see the four men definitively. One was dressed in typical Greek armor and had dark hair tied up into a short ponytail. He had a small scar on his face and was standing at the head of the table. On the side of the table was a mountain of a man. He was wearing a grimy toga and had a smoke-colored tuft of hair emerging from a mostly bald head. He was wearing sandals that were caked with what looked like mud, blood, and bones.
Across from him was a man wearing a ragged dress shirt and a pair of khaki pants. On closer inspection, he noticed that the man looked furious. That wasn’t strange on its own, but considering the expressions on the others’ faces, it seemed out of place. The last man was dressed in a bright orange shirt, a pair of black jeans, and a big blocky pair of steel-toed workman boots. Hunter did a double-take when he thought he saw a dog’s head on the man’s shoulders instead of a human one. He had narrow eyes and attentive ears that always seemed to be hearing something. I guess if you squinted, the combination of his sandy hair that had spots that were fiery orange, the eyes, and the constantly moving ears would make him look like a dog.
“Where is she?!” The angry man asked, his voice booming. He slammed his fist down on the table and looked at the other people at the table. “You said that she would be here! I knew I shouldn’t have come here!”
“Would you calm down, Manny?” The giant man said, patting him on the arm. ‘Manny’, the angry one, looked menacingly at him and was about to hit him when the doglike man waved his hand. A tornado appeared between them and it separated them quickly and effectively.
“As…impatient Manny is, he’s not wrong.” The doglike man said, starting to look angry. He didn’t grit his teeth, but he looked angry. There was smoke pouring out from the ground around him. “She shouldn’t be late. I don’t like being kept waiting.” The doglike man said in a sort of snarling voice. Hunter looked and questioned how odd this all was. He was curious where he was. He was curious who they all were. He was curious how long this had been here. He assumed it had something to do with the quest. The man in the armor held up his arms, drawing the others to fall silent.
“Manny, my dear brother.” He said before turning to the doglike man. “My cousin.” He turned to the giant. “Uncle. You must not realize who I am. I’m not wrong. I’m never wrong.”
“You were wrong about Percy.” The giant said. The man in the armor looked at him angrily. “And that Luke boy. For the guy who can see into the future, you seemed to be wrong quite a lot.”
“He’s right, brother. Not to mention the favoritism you’ve shown to mortals in the past.” Manny said with a sigh. The man in the armor brought his hand up quickly and the sound surprised Hunter a little. Chains being dragged together. Hunter tried to look closer, but that’s when he heard a door open and the sound of slithering along with footsteps. A Large woman with short stubby legs walked in. Four men in suits close behind the woman and her Chihuahua.
Hunter suddenly recognized one of the men. Officer Thorn. All of the images of his first quest came flooding back. That included ‘Officer’ Thorn killing Orion. Hunter wanted to kill him right then and there, but he couldn’t; this was just a dream. As the woman walked closer, her legs stopped being legs and turned into a snake tail. That must be Echidna. Hunter thought to himself as she approached the table surrounded by her bodyguards.
“Let’s begin, shall we?” Echidna said, her voice sharp and like more of a hiss. “This is what I can give you.” Hunter heard a faint rushing sound and all of a sudden he zoomed backward into the sky and back across the country. He slammed back into his bed in camp and that’s when Hunter woke up.
Hunter sat up in his bed. It felt too early. It was too early. He was, genuinely, hoping that his last quest would be exactly that. His last quest. He didn’t want to go on another one and he certainly didn’t intend to go on another one. It always seemed that whenever he was happy something would always go wrong. He had finally found a place in the hunters and he got sent on a quest. Not just a quest, but that quest. Someone always got hurt. Orion was killed. Kyle got hurt. Hunter got hurt. Marina got hurt. Everyone gets hurt. I guess it would have been too much to ask that the last year he would ever spend in camp would be calm. Simple. Not dangerous.
His dream worried him. That was who he was up against. Echidna. And the doglike man. Manny. The man in the armor must have been Prometheus. He seemed to be the leader. Hunter was still curious who the giant was. He didn’t know all of the Titans and he didn’t recognize him as any of the titans they fought in the war. He stretched his arms and finally pushed his blankets off, yawning slightly. His bag had been packed since yesterday and he hadn’t touched it since. Rubbing his eyes, he rolled out of bed and slipped on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He stepped into his shoes and tied them before shouldering his backpack and leaving his cabin.
“Oh!” Philippa bumped into him as he stepped out the door. His hands landed on her hips and he blushed. He swallowed and then put his hands behind her back. “I was…Never mind.” She said with equally red cheeks. They stood there for a moment before Hunter cleared his throat.
“Let’s go, I guess. Dana is probably waiting.” He said, taking her hand and walking toward the stables. Hunter saw Marina, Kyle, and Will waiting for them. “Hey, guys.” Hunter said quietly. He felt like he should tell them all about his dreams, but he wanted to wait for Dana. No need to say it twice.
“We thought we would see you guys off. We’re not going to leave for an hour or two.” Marina said quietly. The mood of them camp was bustling except for this spot. The 5 people standing here were the only people who knew of the impending danger. This spot was dreary. There were people in camp who were chomping at the bit to get a quest and to be quite honest, if someone wanted a quest Hunter would gladly let them do it. He didn’t want to go. He wanted to spend time with his friends. He wanted to spend time with Philippa. He wanted to enjoy his last time at camp. Not be constantly reminded of the danger that his friends were under.
Hunter didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure something needed to be said. “Where do you guys have to go?” He asked, thinking back to the prophecy. He sighed and looked up.
“Well, one of us has to go to the ‘netherrealm’ and the other has to go to ‘the hearty southern fort’.” Will said with a nod. “Netherrealm. Sounds kind of…Dungeons & Dragons, doesn’t it?” He said, trying to lighten the mood a little.
“I do remember something.” Kyle said quietly. “Netherrealm. That’s familiar. It’s uh…I think it’s from Mortal Kombat.”
“Really, sweetie?” Marina said with an unsure look on her face. She was almost just saying, ‘Just…shh…’
“I’m serious. This is useful this time.” Kyle said with a chuckle. “The Netherrealm is Hell. In Mortal Kombat, the Netherrealm is where demons and stuff come from. Logically, the Netherrealm would be…”
“The underworld.” Will said quietly. “So one group has to go there.” Hunter sighed. A fort or the palace of despair in the land of death? Hunter ran a hand through his hair and nodded.
“We’ll go there.” Hunter said, locking eyes with Philippa a moment. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “We’ll go there. You guys go to the fort.”
“Are you sure?” Will said firmly. Hunter nodded.
“Yeah, I know how to get in. You guys go to the fort.” Hunter said with a nod. Will finally shrugged slightly and cleared his throat.
“Alright. Now we just have to figure out the fort.” Kyle added. Hunter didn’t have much of an idea of where to start. He knew very little about history. All he knew was from books about the American Revolution and Ancient Greece and Rome. Past that he was clueless.
“The hearty southern fort.” Marina repeated. “Is there some fort in Florida? Or Georgia?”
“A little more western. Think Texas.” A voice said behind them. Hunter turned and almost passed out. A satyr stood before them. The same satyr he had seen the woman transform into in his dream. Hunter rubbed his eyes, imagining a completely different satyr to be standing in front of him, but no change.
“Hey, Denny. How’s it going?” Kyle said with greeting nod. Denny waved and adjusted his bag on his shoulder. Hunter looked at Kyle in surprise.
“You know him?” Hunter said quietly. Kyle chuckled and raised an eyebrow.
“That’s Denny. He’s a satyr.” Kyle said with a shrug. “He was the satyr who found me and brought me here.” Hunter sighed. He did remember Kyle telling him that. He obviously didn’t make that connection when he had the dream. That still didn’t explain why someone would impersonate him. “What’s up, buddy?” Kyle said, turning to Denny again. Denny glanced quizzically at Hunter a moment before smiling and clearing his throat.
“I was just making sure I wasn’t too late.” He said, stepping toward the group. “I’m coming on this quest.” Hunter raised an eyebrow.
“What happened to Dana? Is she okay?” Hunter asked worriedly. Denny nodded.
“She’s fine.” He started. “We had a few new people come in last night and their journey was…complicated. Chiron told me to come in her place because the infirmary needed a lot of healers.” He said with a nod.
“Are they okay?” Philippa asked quietly. Denny looked back at the infirmary for a second, before shrugging.
“No one died. I think one person had a broken leg, but other than that everyone’s fine.” Denny explained. “Those blasted Stymphalian birds.”
Hunter didn’t like having Denny along. Nothing against the satyr, but his dream didn’t make him feel like he could trust the satyr.
“Alright. You guys should get going.” Will said with a nod. “Hey, Hunter? The boat ride is on me.” He said, tossing him a bag of drachmas. Hunter caught it and chuckled.
“Thanks.” He said with a nod. Hunter remembered back to their first trip to the Underworld. Hunter had to bribe Charon and Hunter was a little concerned if he would be so willing to let him through again. Hunter jingled the bag of coins in his hands, wondering if it would be enough. He slipped it into his backpack and turned to Philippa. “Shall we go?” He asked with a sigh. She nodded and took his hand, leading him to the stables.
“So, I’m going with you guys, then.” Denny said, walking up behind them. He seemed all too eager about this. Hunter sighed and shook his head. There was no reason to assume that this satyr was an enemy in disguise. It could just be a regular satyr.
“Yep. It looks like it.” Hunter said in a forced friendly way. “Pick out a pegasi and we’ll be on our way.” Denny nodded and hurried into the stables. He walked back out with a darkish brown horse and mounted up.
“I’ve never ridden a Pegasus before.” He said, trotting around a bit. Hunter sighed, not excited at all about riding with a rookie. He took a deep breath before walking into the stable and retrieving Ulysses and Dixie from their stalls. He looked at Denny, comfortably trotting around Will, Kyle, and Marina.
“You’re in luck then, Denny.” Philippa said with a grin. “Hunter and I are the best in camp.” She said, patting Dixie lovingly on the neck. Hunter rubbed Ulysses between the ears a moment before walking over to his three closest friends.
“Good luck, you guys.” Hunter said quietly. Will nodded and walked up to him and hugging him. Hunter patted him on the back for a moment before breaking the hug. Kyle hugged him too and sighed. “Marina, keep Kyle and Will safe, okay?” He said, with a half-smile. Marina leapt into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Hunter wrapped his arms around her, picking her up a little and hugging her tightly.
“Stay safe, Hunter. Please.” She said into his ear before Hunter set her down. He took a deep breath and nodded before leaving his friends behind. He mounted Ulysses and looked over at Philippa who was sitting comfortably on Dixie’s back. He glanced behind them at Denny who was laughing to himself on his winged horse’s back.
“Denny! Get up here.” He yelled to the satyr. Denny looked up and trotted over to them. “Alright. Let’s go, you guys.” He said, sadly before kicking up into the sky, heading toward California.