Camp Gorgon

Chapter 8 Troy

We found Sherry at the gate. She was standing there with her arms folded, and she didn't look at all happy. "I hope you know what you're doing, Mike!" She yelled.

"I only know as much as the next person, but you and I both know full well that ambush is inevitable." Mike answered coolly.

She was clearly not impressed with Mike's answer, but she did not respond with an angry comment. Instead, she said, "You three will face many dangers along the way. Trust your instincts, and trust your powers. And in case you didn't figure it out Autumn has gone ahead, with hopes that she can help you."

There were a few seconds in which no one spoke, and I know we were all thinking about the ambush that we knew would happen.

Finally, Mike spoke up. "Thank you for your support, your training, and your guidance, Sherry."

" You are most welcome, but it is I who should thank you,"she said with an evil smirk.

This time I was the one asking questions, "For what? We didn't do anything."

"You, Troy, did more than you know. I thought you three were smart, especially you two." She pointed at Mike and Rebecca. "The clues were all there. Did you ever notice how I slipped away when you needed my help?"

Rebecca started to speak "You little..." but she was unable to finish her sentence.

"Hahahahaha" Sherry cackled evilly, "ARISE SOULS OF THE DEAD!" She raised he arms and the sky went black.

Mike took control of the situation. "Run!" he shouted. We sprinted through the gate and onto the main road, but we didn't get very far before we were surrounded by skeletons. Mike and I drew our swords, and Rebecca notched 3 arrows. Mike made the first move, swinging both swords at the same time. He slashed through the first row of skeletons, and had to come back towards the rest of us. We were all moving in different directions now. I would knock down a skeleton with my shield, and cut through one with my sword. Rebecca shot endless volleys of arrows, and Mike morphed into so many things that I lost count.

"Wait, maybe I can make them disappear!" Rebecca shouted. She closed her eyes and focused. "I can't do it! The force is too strong!" she shouted.

Mike looked at me, and I knew what he was about to do.

"Do it!" I shouted. Mike took a deep breath, and his swords were no longer swords, they were shields. But these weren't the silver shields that I saw in my dream. These shields were gold, with an eagle similar to his helmet. With a loud roar he charged the army of skeletons, and plowed through them, making a path for us. His efforts were worthless though, because with every skeleton that went down, 2 more appeared.

"We aren't getting anywhere!" Mike shouted, morphing his shields back into silver swords.

"They must have a weakness!" Rebecca shouted.

Suddenly, I felt a surge of energy run through me. I looked down at my sword, which was now glowing an electrified blue with pure energy. At that moment I knew exactly what to do. I smiled a huge grin for the first time in days, and said, "You know what their problem is? They have no idea how badly I have them outnumbered." With that, I slammed my sword into the ground, causing a wave of energy that made them all fall to pieces. "Try again, Rebecca." I said.

She closed her eyes, and the skeletal army was gone.

"Wow" Mike said. His voice had the same eerie calm that we all felt. There was a long silence. "We need to keep moving," Mike said.

We walked along the path in silence. None of us were quite sure what to make of what just happened. For a while, the path went through old farmers' fields, which made sense because camp was sort of in the middle of nowhere. After a while, though we hit a huge forest with trees towering high above our heads. The trees blocked the sun, so it was dark on the path. "I wish we had a flashlight," I mumbled.

"What?" Mike asked.

"Nothing." I responded.

I heard a twig break behind us, and we all turned to see what it was. There was nothing there, just an empty path in a forest with lots of trees. We kept walking, but I had the feeling that there was someone behind us, so I turned around just to be sure that there was no one there.

Still, nothing, so I kept walking. I heard what sounded like someone shuffling their feet behind us. I spun around for a third time, "Would you just show yourself already! I know you're there!" I yelled.

A figure appeared out of the shadows- wait no, was it the shadow? I decided to go with the first one. Maybe the events of the morning are messing up my thought process. The figure looked like a normal person, except it wore a black cloak with a hood that covered most of its face. "Hello," it said, pulling off his hood to reveal a tan skinned boy with short brown hair, and green eyes. "My name is Zachary Cian."

Mike drew his short sword, "What do you want from us?" He demanded.

Zachary smiled, "Whoa, now let's not be violent." He took his own sword from his cloak, a long jagged blade with a curved tip, and set it on the ground in front of Mike. He extended his left hand.

Mike set his sword down, and shook his hand.

"You are Michael, correct?"

"How do you know my name?"

"It is my business to know things."

Mike decided to let this go, "Right, um... We need to keep moving, see you around."

"Oh, you won't get very far," he responded in his low, soft voice.

"Let's go." Mike muttered to us.

We started to walk the other way, but a wave of darkness pushed us back. Zachary was smiling. "You try to run away, but you will never find the secret headquarters of Lord Uruboros without my help."

"Why should we trust you?" It was Rebecca who spoke up this time.

"Ms. Hampton, you know what fate lies ahead. Do you really think you can survive without my help?"

Rebecca's skin turned a ghostly white, and I thought she was going to pass out.

"You know?" Mike asked. Rebecca shot him a look that probably meant talk later. Mike turned towards Zachary, "Fine, you can come."

"Thank you Michael. I promise that you and your team will not regret your decision."

We had traveled all the way out into the mountains, and decided to set up camp for the night. All we had brought with us were our weapons and armor, so we built shelters using branches that were lying on the ground. Mike built a fire, and I used my electrical powers to light it. There was still some light left, and there probably would be for another hour or so. Zach was gathering all the information he possibly could. "So your friend Adam, as I understand, was taken, by a pegator."

"A what?" I asked.

"A pegator."

Mike, and Rebecca came back from getting more wood for the fire. "A what?" Mike asked.

"A pegator."

"Oh a pegator!" I joked.

"Shut up, Troy," Rebecca retorted coldly.

Zach went on with his explanation. "A pegator is a Pegasus raptor. A Pegasus is a horse that can fly, and a raptor is a bird of prey. This creature was created by Lord Uruboros himself, and is purely evil."

A wave of darkness washed over us. "Could you please stop that?" I asked Zachary, but Zach was gone. In his place, and surrounding the entire campsite was the darkness that we saw in the arena. The same darkness hat Rebecca could not make go away. The same darkness that might have killed Autumn, that night in the arena, if it weren't for Adam.