Thalia didn't announce it.
One moment she was standing there, weight on one hip, spear resting lazily against the ground like she wasn't even paying attention. The next, the spear was already moving.
I felt it before I saw it.
Instinct screamed.
I jumped back, boots scraping dirt as the spear slammed into the ground where my head had been a second ago. The impact sent a shock through the earth, vibrating up my legs.
I stared at the crater. Then at her.
"…Okay," I said, breath a little faster. "So we're skipping the warning phase. Cool. Love that for me."
She pulled the spear free with a smooth twist. "You were relaxed."
"Yeah," I muttered. "That's on me. I forgot you people do murder as a greeting."
Her mouth twitched. Not quite a smile.
She came at me again.
Fast. Not rushed. The kind of speed that made it obvious she knew exactly where she wanted to be, and how long it would take her to get there. No wasted movement. No hesitation.
I ducked the first strike, felt the wind of it pass over my head. The second came low—I barely hopped back in time, heart kicking hard in my chest.
"Okay—wow," I breathed. "You're really not pulling punches, huh?"
Her spear thrust again. I caught it halfway down the shaft, divine light flaring instinctively around my hand to keep the metal from tearing straight through me.
The impact rattled my arm. Pain spiked, sharp and very real.
I hissed. "Yeah. No. That one's gonna bruise like hell."
"I don't aim to miss," she said, yanking the spear back and sweeping my legs.
I jumped, twisted mid-air, landed awkwardly but upright. The light flared brighter, reacting to the adrenaline.
"Great," I muttered. "My feet hate you already."
She paused, eyes narrowing just a little.
"So you can fight," she said.
"Fight is a strong word," I replied. "I prefer desperately refusing to die.'"
She didn't laugh.
She attacked again.
This time, I didn't retreat.
Light pooled under my skin, shaping itself not into anything flashy. Just a short, solid blade along my forearm. Enough to block. Enough to survive.
Metal rang against energy.
The sound echoed.
She pressed harder, forcing me back step by step. Every strike tested my balance, my timing, my nerves. I missed one block and the spear clipped a bit of my shoulder.
Pain.
I sucked in a sharp breath. "Okay. Yeah. That one sucked."
Warmth followed instantly, the injury sealing itself like it had never happened.
I shook my arm. "And that's definitely cheating."
She snorted. "You heal. I hit harder. Seems fair."
"Wow," I said. "You're really generous."
I forced myself to slow my breathing.
Stop panicking. Start thinking.
Instead of meeting her head-on, I shifted tactics. Sent thin strands of light crawling low along the ground not to attack, just to mess with spacing. To control where she stepped.
She sliced through them without hesitation, but the half-second recalculation was enough.
I stepped in, shaped the light into a narrow spear, and slammed it into the ground at her feet. The earth cracked just enough to throw her off balance.
She jumped back, boots skidding slightly.
I straightened, chest heaving. "Okay. So that worked way better in my head than I expected."
For the first time, she looked genuinely impressed.
She rested the spear against her shoulder. "You learn fast."
"Yeah," I said, wiping sweat off my face. "Turns out getting stabbed is a great teacher."
She studied me for a moment. Not hostile. Not friendly.
Measuring.
"You're not reckless," she said finally.
I shrugged. "Nah. I'm terrified. I just don't let it drive the bus."
That got a real smile out of her.
"Good," she said. "Fear keeps you alive."
She turned, already heading toward the trees. "Come on. If you can last against me, you'll need it out there."
I followed, light dimming under my skin but not disappearing.
My pulse hadn't slowed yet.
"Next time," I muttered under my breath, "maybe we start with stretching."
Thalia didn't turn around.
But I could've sworn she smirked.
.
.
.
The forest felt wrong.
Not "creepy horror movie" wrong. Not the kind where shadows jump or whispers crawl up your spine just to mess with you. This was quieter than that. Heavier. Like the world itself had paused mid-breath and forgotten how to exhale.
The air pressed against my skin, thick and damp, buzzing faintly like static before a storm. Every step felt too loud. Leaves cracked under my boots like gunshots. Branches snapped when I brushed past them, sharp and accusing, as if the forest wanted something to notice us.
My skin prickled.
Blue-gold light pulsed under my skin in slow, deliberate waves, syncing with my heartbeat. It wasn't flaring or exploding like earlier. This time, it felt… alert. Focused. Like it had locked onto something ahead and was quietly telling me to get ready.
I wasn't the only one who noticed.
Thalia slowed first.
Her steps shortened, body shifting into that subtle half-combat stance she always fell into without thinking. One hand tightened around her spear, knuckles whitening just a bit. Her eyes swept the trees, sharp and unreadable.
"We're not alone," she said.
Her voice was calm. Too calm.
"No shit," I muttered.
Then we heard it.
A scream.
High-pitched. Panicked.
It cut through the forest like a blade, sharp enough to make my chest tighten instantly.
Then another voice—older, shakier, trying way too hard to sound brave.
"Annabeth, MOVE—!"
And a third one, panicking hard, voice cracking under pressure.
"I-I'm trying, okay?!"
Thalia cursed under her breath. "Kids."
I was already moving.
We burst through the tree line like we'd been fired out of a cannon.
The forest opened suddenly, branches snapping back as we crossed into a small clearing and the scene slammed into my eyes all at once.
Chaos.
Three monsters.
No... Four. Dracaenae.
Snake bodies coiled low to the ground, scales glistening wetly in the dim forest light. Their upper bodies were humanoid, twisted and wrong, with bladed arms instead of hands. Yellow eyes gleamed with hunger and cruel intelligence.
They weren't flailing or charging blindly.
They were hunting.
And in the middle of them is a blonde girl, maybe seven. Dirt smeared across her face, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail that had come loose during the fight. Her eyes were sharp, calculating even as panic flickered behind them. She was shouting orders while dodging strikes, moving on instinct and intelligence alone.
Because her life depended on it.
A taller boy fought beside her, older by a few years. Scarred. Bleeding from the arm. His grip on his sword was tight, knuckles white, teeth clenched like he was daring his body to give up just so he could tell it no.
The sword was too heavy for him.
But he swung it anyway.
And behind them—
A goat-legged kid.
Curly hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. Panic written all over his face. He wasn't fighting. He was trying to pull them back, shouting warnings, hooves skidding uselessly against the dirt.
"LEFT, ANNABETH—LEFT—!"
Too late.
One of the monsters lunged.
Massacre
I didn't think.
I didn't plan.
The light answered before my mind could.
It exploded out of me.
Not outward like a bomb.
Not a blinding flash.
It condensed.
The blue-gold glow snapped tight around my arm, sharp and obedient, compressing itself like it had been waiting its entire existence for this exact moment. The air warped around it, heat bending space as if reality itself stepped aside.
A spear of light formed in my hand.
Perfect. Seems alive.
I threw it.
It didn't stab the monster.
It deleted it.
The Dracaenae didn't scream. Didn't bleed. Didn't even understand what was happening. One moment it existed, coiled, hungry, alive. Next thing I see, it imploded inward, light collapsing on itself with violent precision.
Ash scattered across the clearing.
Like it had never deserved to be there in the first place.
The forest went dead silent for half a second.
Then all hell broke loose.
The remaining monsters screeched, fury and fear mixing into something ugly, and charged all at once.
Bad move.
I stepped forward.
The light responded instantly, flowing from my core into my arm without resistance. Another spear formed and thinner this time. Faster. Refined.
I flicked my wrist.
The spear crossed the distance faster than sound.
One monster lost its head before it even realized it was dead. The body took two more steps before collapsing, ash spilling where flesh should have been.
Another tried to flank.
I didn't turn.
The light split from my shadow, tearing itself free like it had weight and intention. It curved unnaturally, bending around trees, ignoring angles, and sliced clean through the monster's lower body.
The Dracaenae collapsed, upper half screaming, lower half already disintegrating.
The last one hesitated.
Just for a moment.
I smiled.
The light around me shifted again, this time unraveling into dozens of fine threads, thin and sharp, glowing like wires pulled straight from the sun. They hovered for half a second, trembling with restrained force.
I snapped my fingers.
The monster screamed.
Then fell apart.
Piece by piece.
Silence returned.
Ash drifted lazily between the trees, settling into the dirt like gray snow.
I exhaled slowly, chest rising and falling as the adrenaline finally began to ebb.
Behind me, something clattered.
Someone had dropped their sword.
"Holy—" the goat kid choked. "What—what was that?!"
The blonde girl stared at me like I'd just rewritten the laws of physics in front of her eyes.
The injured boy didn't say anything.
He just looked at the empty space where the monsters had been.
Then at me.
Then back at the space again.
"…Did you do that?" he asked, voice rough.
"Yeah," I said. "They were loud."
Thalia glanced at me, expression unreadable. "You didn't have to go that far."
I shrugged. "They would've killed them."
Fair trade.
The goat kid finally snapped out of it, rubbing his hands together like he needed to ground himself. "Uh—hi. Hi. Hi. We're—um—wow."
He swallowed hard. "I'm Grover. Protector. Sort of a guide. Bad at it."
The blonde girl elbowed him. "You're fine."
Then she looked at me again.
Not scared.
Curious.
Studying.
"I'm Annabeth," she said. "And that idiot is Luke."
Luke snorted. "Says the girl who almost got eaten."
"Almost doesn't count."
They bickered for a few seconds, tension bleeding off naturally, then both of them looked back at me.
"…And you?" Luke asked.
"Abel."
"That's it?"
"That's all you need."
Luke laughed, then winced and grabbed his arm. "Okay, yeah, fair."
I crouched beside him and pressed two fingers near the wound.
Light flowed out from my finger.
Luke sucked in a sharp breath. "Whoa—okay—okay that's—wow."
The cut sealed shut.
Annabeth's eyes widened. "You didn't even—how did you—"
"I just… know," I said.
And that was the truth.
Grover cleared his throat. "We—we were heading to Camp Half-Blood."
Thalia stiffened slightly.
Annabeth nodded. "It's safe. Mostly. Monsters don't cross the border."
Mostly.
The light under my skin hummed again.
Pulled.
Like something ahead was calling me.
"Guess I'm coming too," I said.
Luke grinned. "Yeah? Good. Because if more of those things show up, I want you in front."
"Smart choice," I said.
Thalia smirked. "You're enjoying this."
I glanced back at the ashes behind us.
"…A little."