Half Blood Revenge

King Eric

“Follow us,” Halle said to Alex and I. We followed Ethan and Halle out of the cafeteria and back into the large Parthenon looking building. We took a back staircase up to the second level and camp to an office looking space. Halle touched the handle and the door buzzed us in.

As we walk into the office, it is stunning. There is Greek art everywhere. Pictures, sculptures, pottery and more where decorated elegantly in the large space.

“Halle. Ethan. I see you met our newest campers.” Says the good looking man. “How are you settling an Alex and Melody?”

“How do you know our names?” I ask.

“I am King Erichthonius, son of Hephaestus and Athena. Everyone at Camp Delos calls me Eric. I have been in charge of Camp Delos since my death. Zeus asked me to create a safe haven for other god-like, mortal children. So, I have been here ever since. We have many special children and adults here at Camp Delos and they informed us of your coming.” Eric explains.

“Wow, that’s awesome.” Says Alex. “How old are you?”

Eric laughs and I hit Alex. “That’s rude, Alex! I am sorry Eric, that is none of our business.”

“No it is fine,” he explains. “I honestly don’t even know how old I am at this point, I stopped keeping track!”

We all laugh and Halle gives a nervous cough. “Eric, we were having breakfast this morning and Melody and Alex were sharing their thrilling tale of how they came to arrive at camp. I think you should have a listen to their story.”

“Okay. Please proceed.” Eric gestures towards Alex and myself.

I start retelling the story and Alex chimes in with additional details. I even include how I had a premonition of the moments before our departure. Eric looks very thoughtful at us taking in every word we speak. We finish the story when we discuss meeting Griff outside the building.

“I see, this is all very interesting…. And confusing. I may have to do some research and discuss with the other elders. It is not like the cyclops to attack since we have been at peace with them for many years.” Eric explains. “In the meantime, be careful. Melody, please share any other premonitions you have during your stay. If you are like the others, the visions will be sporadic and they could alter based on changes we make leading up to an event.”

In my head I have been wondering if I had the ability to change my visions. From what Eric just said, it seems that may be something I can do! I nod my head back to Eric that I understand.

Eric continues, “Ethan and Halle, keep an eye on these two and make sure they get proper battle training. I am wondering if we are seeing another Harper incident.”

“What’s the Harper incident?” I ask.

“I will share more details later. For now, you all get off to the training grounds and I will do some research.”

Halle and Ethan lead us out of the building and out back towards a big stadium looking building. As we approach the building, my mouth opens and I gasp. “Are those chariots?”

Alex then adds, “Are those Centaurs?”

Halle and Ethan take a moment to laugh at us. “You guys might want to close your mouths as a lot of dust gets kicked up around here, and it doesn’t taste good.” Says Ethan. 

I continue to view the stadium and the chariots fly by with kids and adults in them firing arrows, throwing spears, and trying to take out their opponents. Setup on the sidelines are rows of armor and weapons. I walk over to one of the stations and try picking up a shield. It was very heavy and I struggles to hold it up.

“How am I supposed to hold a shield to protect myself when I can barely lift it?” I ask Halle.

Halle chuckles and says, “there are better shields available that are lighter and more compact. I actually dabble in weapon creation and am working on a shield that expands from a piece of arm armor.”

Ethan adds, “Halle is a skilled blacksmith. She is utilizing technology to help create better armor for our army.”

“Why do we need an army?” Asks Alex. Great question, as I was wondering that myself.

Ethan goes on to tell us, “Well, those mythical beasts you’ve read about in your history books are real. Most are in hiding and some have some sort of agenda. Most of them hate the gods still, so they want to destroy their half-blood children.”

Halle chimes in and says, “It’s really just a way to protect ourselves. There are actually about five half-blood camps all over the United States and another five through Europe and Asia area. The monsters really are everywhere.”

Ethan tells us, “while you are here, you will learn what your skills are and how to fully utilize them. Some of us half-bloods have one special skill, while I’ve seen others have up to four or five.”

I begin to think to myself. I hope I can learn more about my skills. Watching all those kids go around the track makes me realize how small and weak I must appear. 

I overheard Ethan talking to Alex and mention how excited they are that a child of Artemis is here. Half-blood children of Artemis are rare.

“Why doesn’t Artemis have many half-blood children?” I ask, sneaking into their conversation.

Ethan goes on to describe how Artemis is the goddess of chastity. She only produces a half-blood heir every hundred years or so. She is one goddess that truly loves her mate and is not using the humans as just a fling. He said Apollo is similar. He doesn’t have many half-blood children.

“Are any of Artemis or Apollo children alive?” Alex asks. That’s a great question. Alex is pretty smart, I have under estimated him.

Halle answers this one. “The half-blood child of Artemis is very old. Her name is Chastity. She actually lives at Camp Crete now, which is located over by Page, Arizona in the canyons. She must be about 90 years old, so the weather is better out there.”

Ethan turns towards me and answers, “There is a child of Apollo here. He is about 60 years old. His name is Phil. He had a twin sister, Harper.”

My eyes widen. “Is that who Eric was referring to earlier?” My head was spinning with a million other questions to follow but Ethan must have saw my mind working in overdrive.

“Yes, and that is a story another day.” He says. “Grab a weapon, let’s get in some basic training for today.”