Drake Ray- Descendant of Lycaon

XI

Drake was laying on his sleeping bag, deep in thought. The Prophecy mentioned a test for him... But what would the test be? Rescuing Percy? Returning back with everyone? Leading the War? He had no clue. But what he did know was that it would start from tomorrow, at first light. He was a bit excited that he would be leading the quest, but he was nervous and scared too. What if they failed? What if they lost Percy? It would all be his fault, it would all be on his shoulders. He had decided and declared that he would lead the quest during the meeting, but a moment later, he questioned himself. Clarisse was right, after all- neither was he experienced, nor was he ready. He wasn't even properly trained yet. He had started regretting his decision until the Oracle spewed the final part of the Prophecy. How could the Oracle even think that he could lead the quest? Heck, how could it even think that he could GO on the quest. All the others were much better than him, even the Stolls.
Drake was scared now, as always. He was never confident in himself, he could never be. The way his life had been going till now, he always doubted on himself. Life had been so cruel on him, it had never been easy.

His mother had almost died giving birth to him, the doctors never knew the reason. But their suspicions were that it was because of his physical measurements. The doctor had explained to his parents after a month of his birth that a 'regular' newborn weighs about 3 to 3.5 kilograms approximately, and has the height of around 50 centimetres, but Drake had the weight and height of a two months old infant, which were around 60 centimetres and 6 kilograms respectively. It had stunned the doctors and the parents. He was clearly an abnormal child, but he was loved and taken cared of like a normal boy. Couple of years later, when he was put in a nursery, there was not a single child who came close to him, they were all scared of him. Though he was only two and a half years old, he looked like he was five, and that frightened the children and surprised the teachers. What amazed the teachers more was the fact that he also had the brain of a five year old. When the other kids were just learning the letters of the alphabet, Drake was forming short sentences. When they were memorizing the numbers, he was already operating with them- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division- he knew them all. The teachers then reached out to the parents and called them to inform that he did not need to stay in the nursery any longer, he was ready to join kindergarten. The parents, amazed and proud of their son, took Drake to a school and enrolled him. The Principal was confused at first, but after a small session of questions and answers, he agreed. When Drake joined, he still was taller than the other kids, but not a lot. That was the first time he thought that he would start making friends. But, as fate would have it, within the next few months, he outgrew them too. At third grade, he already looked like he was in middle school. Some students always made fun of him, some respected him, but in the end- they were all scared of him. When Drake reached eighth grade, his parents insisted him to join the football team or the basket ball team, and he agreed. He spoke to the coach and got a trial. But, after seriously injuring the captain of the team and breaking the hoop, he was declined and was given a warning. All the academic teachers admired him, as he nailed all their subjects. Each teacher gave Drake's example to any student who needed it. Once, in the final months of his eight grade, they convinced him to take a national examination, which, if he aced, would give him a month of internship at NASA. And who knew, if he performed well, during his time, they would save a job for him in the future. The day he returned from his examination, there was a huge smile on his face, it had gone well. But, they would still have to wait as the results would come out only after a month. Those thirty days passed slowly, with Drake's anxiety growing each day. The day of the announcement arrived. The whole family switched on the television and sat in front of it eagerly. Three achievers were chosen nation-wide, and of course, one of them being Drake. All of them danced in joy, Drake had never been such happy before. David, his father, announced that he was going to get a cake and maybe a present, to which Drake insisted that he would come too. While driving to the store his father turned to him and said, "Son, there is NOTHING that would describe my pride in you. You are the best thing I've ever had, after your mother of course..." They both laughed at that. They took a turn and started climbing uphill. "I know, life hasn't been very easy for you, but know this, you aren't abnormal. No matter what anyone says, you're as normal as the smartest man this World has ever seen. Whatever you do, I will always be happy for you. And, I know, you're going to achieve much more than you have today-" Drake's senses started tingling, he looked up. "-You will bring the people of..." BANG! Something huge had hit them from behind. Their car broke a barrier which was on the side of the road. The vehicle flew for a second and reached the ground, it started spinning sideways and finally fell into a waterhole. Drake groaned slightly and looked up, the car was submerged headfirst. He brought up his hands, and then looked at the reflection of his face with wide eyes. There was not one scratch. Then it struck him, his father! He looked left, David was not moving, his hands were hanging motionless. "Dad? You there? No, no, no..." Drake brought his two fingers to his father's neck, there was no pulse. Tears started flowing from his eyes. "DAD? Please... Don't do this..." The last thing he heard were sirens approaching from a distance. Then it all went black.