The Unknown Guardian

| Chapter 6 || The Calm Before the Storm |

Chapter Six

The Calm Before the Storm

*Third Person Point of View*

After the new guardians had been summoned, everything went back to normal. There were rarely any monsters attacks, and the sightings of monster greatly diminished. It was as if there were no monsters at all anymore, as the gods usually sent their guardians to seek out their children and guide them safely to either one of the camps in groups of five to ten.

The children that the groups consisted of were of all different ages, and they were spread out across all of the United States, and even in other countries surrounding it. Sometimes, a guardian would have to travel across the oceans to Europe or Africa to find the children of their charge, though it was rare.

On their way to the camps, the guardian would defeat all of the monsters that dared attack them, training the children the basics of survival. It was almost as if, in the short time they travelled together, they became a family.

Unfortunately, whenever they reached the camp they were destined for, the guardian would say goodbye and head off to either find more demigods or return to their charge.

Each of the camps was flourishing, though they were incapacitated, so new sections were always being added. Camp Half-Blood had nearly doubled in size during the past few days, while Camp Jupiter was spreading its borders past the hills, the barracks expanding steadily.

Meanwhile, Artemis' hunters remained at their constant state and size. With all of the demigods being recruited by the Guardians, they couldn't get to any demigods unless they went straight to the camps, which none of them wanted to do ever since they'd heard about the literal demigod flooding that was happening at both places.

"Milady, do you believe that having the Guardians around to escort the demigods to camp is a good thing?" Artemis' guardian asked one night at the campfire.

All of the hunters turned to their mistress, awaiting her answer, but she stayed silent. The flames danced, reflecting off of her face in a mysterious manner.

"I do not know," she finally said, speaking slowly. "While less of the demigods are being slain, there have become so many of them, and the monsters just seem to keep thinning in numbers. I fear that the reasoning behind it is that the monsters keep the overflow of godly children at bay so that they do not overpopulate.

"Now that there are fewer threats, there are too many demigods. Too many to teach. Too many to organize. And they have become lazy. Now that the guardians are around to save and protect them, they no longer feel the need to train. I fear that they become more and more like the gods every day, back when the gods first acquired guardians. They must learn, as we did, that the guardians cannot do everything, though they try.

"When the guardians were first summoned, the gods did not have to do their own work. They could sit in their palaces eating and sleeping, while their guardians enforced the laws. The guardians, though wise, respect their charge's wishes, and do as they say, but eventually, they must rise to voice their opinions. They say that history is always doomed to repeat itself, and we know, well and true, that it is. I just fear, that this time, the threat will be worse than ever."

Artemis once again fell silent and did not speak for the remainder of the night.

***

Currently, the hunters trekked through the steep mountains and angled slopes of the Rockies. Artemis could sense many monsters around the area of Alaska, the Land Beyond the Gods. She would sense them gather at its borders, but as soon as they crossed over, her powers were useless.