mastermind - percy jackson

i. the hunt

"welcome to the hunt, bianca"

Archery has never been Cassandra's favorite activity. To say the least, she was horrible at it.

She liked to joke that Apollo had cursed her, like he had the original Cassandra. Zoe would just roll her eyes and shake her head, muttering about how she just needed to practice.

Despite this, her bow was drawn as her and the rest of the Hunter's ran through the woods, following a scent Artemis had found. The moon shone bright overhead, shining a slight light across the woods.

Artemis stopped running from ahead of them. She held her hand up and ordered, "Stop."

They stopped their running, and notched an arrow in their bows. Cassandra scanned the surrounding woods, but she couldn't see anything. The only sign that something was wrong was the slight chill against her head as the silver metal of the circlet grew cold.

Zoe must have felt it too as she pressed her hand to her forehead and muttered, "Something is wrong."

Cassandra nodded, "What is it, Artemis?"

The goddess looked around as well, pressing her hand to a tree beside them, "I sense demigods."

The Hunters all groaned in annoyance. They had been on this mission for days, and demigods always got in the way.

"There's a satyr as well" Artemis continued, interrupting the groaning. "We have to be much more cautious about this. We don't want anyone to get hurt."

Zoe nodded firmly. "Yes, my lady."

"Hunters continue forward" Artemis ordered, waving her hand forward. They resumed their running, sprinting as fast as cheetahs.

They stopped again at the edge of the woods. A cliff could be seen, a tall figure standing over six teenagers, or maybe kids? Cassandra couldn't tell from her angle.

She moved closer to the goddess, along with her co-lieutenant Zoe Nightshade. "What is it, Artemis?"

"That's the manticore" Artemis answered, her eyebrows furrowed. "We need to help them."

Zoe drew her bow, notching and aiming an arrow towards the monster. Cassandra grabbed the hunting horn, raising it to her lips. "On thy mark, my lady" Zoe said.

"Now, do you see how hopeless it was? Yield little heroes" The manticore laughed.

"Now" Artemis ordered.

Cassandra blew the hunting horn, the loud sound piercing through the quiet night.

The manticore froze in fear, "No" He said. "It cannot be—"

Zoe didn't let him finish his sentence, releasing the string and sending the silver arrow zipping through the sky. It shot past a boy and landed in the monster's shoulder.

"Curse you!" He cried, sending his poisonous spikes toward the woods.

The Hunters let their arrows fly, intercepting the spikes and splitting them in two. Cassandra grinned, "Nice job, girls!"

The manticore pulled Zoe's arrow out of his shoulder, howling in pain. He knocked a boy aside as he attempted to attack him.

Artemis stood, motioning for the others to do the same, before they stepped out of the woods. Cassandra drew her bow and jogged to catch up with Zoe.