ELEVEN AND STRANDED: The Beginning

The Journey North

The attack continued on until 3:00 in the morning and Maximus continues to dominate the battlefield. The dragon joins the fight and in a mere matter of minutes it is over. The girls wake up and get ready to go. It is now 6:00 in the morning and breakfast is ready. MCRC returns from the basement with a tray of 60 viles. All of them full of the ultimate antidote. It is known as Cycloscrampi Torturta and can cure any and all poisons including Gorgon's Blood. MCRC "Maximus this is all I could make with the amount your men gathered for me." Maximus "Your dragon nearly got itself killed by entering battle this morning. It was around 0300 when we finished the battle. Your dragon got into our crossfire." "He gets his power from what are known as Ender Crystals and can only be defeated if the Crystals are destroyed." "Where are the Crystals?" "Deep depths of Tartarus." "So where was the dragon when you took control of it?" "His name is Ender and it just so happened to be deep in the Old Lands." "The Old Lands is the worst place for any demigod." "As I said before it was the last place I received a message from Bailey." "Risking your life for a girl will get you killed." "I know that, already happened twice. Thankfully I have a few good friends who are connected to Hades." "Really, who are they then?" "Nico Di Angelo, Evelyn Bortz and Carissa Samar." "Nico is a good friend of mine as well. If memory serves he almost died transporting that damn statue." "Did you just mock Athena?" "It was a very powerful statue that was completely safe where it was. And they had to move it."

"Maximus I suggest you stop before you anger the Gods again."  "Pardon me father for I speak the truth.  The statue would have been better off where it was.  That place was pretty much impossible to breach and almost completely preserved."  "The underground chamber was for the statue when it was taken in the first place.  It was taken because Athena's statue was the only thing that would inspire the Greeks to overthrow the Romans.  Now we have to move now and hope you didn't make them angry."  "It takes a lot more to anger the Gods.  I have tried many times and failed to make them angry at me.  My existence on this Earth is hazardous to my well being.  It would be better without me because everything I touch gets screwed up.  I carry with me a curse that may be fatal when the time is right.  I was born during the War of the Gods and carry with me two personalities.  They are always fighting each other and I may go into Roman form and turn on you at any point in time.  Believe me when I say it would be better if I was in the Underworld.  I am highly dangerous and can't control my split personality very well."  "Maximus, pull yourself together or you fail this quest.  I can keep you in check because I also have the split personality.  I have gained full control over it and that was the only way I could get my dragon.  Now let's go before you fly this quest straight into the ground."

"You're right we do need to get moving.  We may be able to make Kronos's layer by nightfall if we stop only for a meal and then push on.  However it is highly unlikely we will make it by nightfall."  "We are in the Forests of Old, in uncharted territory.  No demigod can survive up here for more than a week.  You have secured the only sanctuary in the region and gained a decent perimeter.  You were fortunate to find that place."  "Anywhere there is a shrine to the Gods is a safe place for a demigod." "True but also where we are, monsters are bound to be around every corner and popping up everywhere. Once we leave there is no going back. We must complete the quest and we are not to return to camp. Only the girls are to return to camp. You will return to the sanctuary and I will return to the wilderness." "We are only here for extra support and that is fine by me because out here in these woods we will face monsters only spoken of in legends." "True and the girls don't know about some of the beasts in this region. If we see any of them we must deal with them and not let the girls see them."  "MCRC my father said something about a daughter of Poseidon in the far North regions.  He said she was about a mile farther past Kronos's layer.  She is trapped in some sort of cage that only a son of Mars can break through."  "Bailey, when we reach Kronos's layer I must leave you with the girls and rescue her."  "Affirmative, you may need some of my men to defend you."  "I only need a few, they only need to defend me for a matter of two or three minutes."  "Done."