The Life of a Demigod

Chapter 4

When I woke up, it was to a pounding headache and the smell of smoke and burnt food. I tried to sit up but pain flared throughout my body from the small movement. I let out a noise and there  were footsteps before the two people I met ran into the tent I woke up in. 

"Are you okay? What happened?" Kayla looked concerned and a bit guilty.

"Let her breathe Kayla. First we should get her some ambrosia and breakfast." Alex seemed even more standoffish than yesterday. 

"Right.." She sighed and asked Alex to get out. He looked between the two of us before nodding and exiting the tent. "He's upset because I was asleep. I shouldn't have let you take watch, what was that monster you fought anyways?" 

"It looked like Medusa... and she called herself Stheno.  I wasn't thinking when I fought her... Just instinct."

"You defeated a gorgon? With no training?" She sounded shocked, I don't blame her, I couldn't believe what happened either. "Let's get you some food. Can you walk?"

I tried to stand but couldn't get past sitting up. My ears were ringing and I just fell back down, causing even more pain. I managed to quietly say, "Apparently not."

"Riley! Are you okay? Alex! Get in here! Bring the ambrosia!" She started yelling out orders to Alex and I couldn't help but feel bad for him, was she always this bossy? 

He walked in a few seconds later with a medical bag. Kayla took over and grabbed a plastic bag that had some golden looking cubes in it. She took one out and placed it gently in my mouth. I chewed it slowly and instantly felt better. It made me feel nostalgic... it tasted like homemade dinner from my childhood. Before I moved to Maine I lived in a small neighborhood in Texas. My mother was kinder then.. She changed after she married her current husband. I used to go over to my friend's house and they always had the best homemade food. I never caught the name of it but it always was my favorite. I wish I could go back to that time. 

Snapping back to the present, I opened my eyes just to close them again due to a blinding yellow light. A warm sensation fell over me and I relaxed. I didn't want to fall asleep but it was so hard. I struggled to stay awake. Surprisingly, I did stay awake. The light dulled and the warmth left me. I felt better, no more stabbing pain or any pain really.

I tried to open my eyes again, this time I could and I saw that Kayla was kneeling beside me, half slumped against Alex. I must've looked confused because he clarified the situation.

"She used a lot of energy healing you. She just needs rest. Now if you are okay, would you like to get breakfast? The sooner we can head back to camp the better."

"Right, yeah I'm good now." I sat up, this time with no trouble. I saw him gently lay her down on the ground of the tent before walking out. I followed him and thought back to when I first woke up. No wonder there was smoke. These people cannot cook. "Alex? Who made the food?"

"Kayla." He sighed and I know he felt the same way I did about this meal. "We take turns and she just is terrible with preparing food. I can't say I'm an expert but at least it's decent." 

That caused me to laugh a bit. He chuckled too. I decided that no matter how bad the food was, I still needed energy so I dug in and almost spit it right back out. It was burnt almost to a crisp, had no seasoning, and I couldn't even tell what it actually is. I swallowed the bite and eventually finished my plate of food. "How do you eat this stuff."

"Well, when you get sent to recruit demigods as often as I have, every time with Kayla, you have to get used to it."

"How many demigods are at camp?" I was curious to learn more about Camp Half-Blood. If I was going to be stuck there then I might as well learn about it. 

"It's hard to say for certain. Most campers just stay for the summer. Since it is during the school year there will be less campers than usual."

"How often do you recruit campers?"

"Well, this is my fifth time in two years. Normally we don't send demigods to get campers to camp, but since we are so far they assumed it would be better this way. And there aren't that many demigods to start. And you're a bit older than most campers when they start. How old are you?"

I sighed. "I just started high school. But I am 14, I just look older than I am. I'm assuming you guys are about 16."

"Yes."

We continued talking for maybe an hour before Kayla came back out. I didn't notice until Alex stopped talking and waved. Confused, I looked behind me and saw her. I waved too. She chuckled and waved back. 

"What were you guys talking about?" She acted like no one got hurt at all. Like nothing happened. 

"He was answering my questions about camp. How long will it take us to get there?"

Kayla looked happy at this. "Well, if we pack up now, we should be able to make it to the car by noon, get something in a fast food place, and drive at least halfway before sundown. Which means, we should get there by tomorrow afternoon if we stop for the night. If we don't then-"

"Kayla. We are not staying up another night. We need rest too."

"Fine. So we should be there by tomorrow afternoon. Happy?"

"Tomorrow? That's quicker than I thought. Where is camp?" I asked, trying to ease the tension between the two of them.

"Long Island Sound." She answered without looking at me. 

"How about we get packed up? So we can get to camp?" I suggested, hoping that at least they could focus on something else. 

"Kayla, she's right. We need to get going." 

"Ugh.. Fine." She agreed and got to work. She took down the tent she was in and it folded into a little square. I looked over to Alex and saw that he did the same thing. They both saw me looking and called out "Later." in unison before glaring at each other. Someone sure is grumpy for a child of Apollo.

The campsite was packed completely in a matter of minutes and we walked in awkward silence. I had nothing to say and they were still mad at each other. Is this what all demigods are like? If that's the case then I think that this trip was a mistake. 

"Riley, you okay?" I looked over to see Kayla smiling at me. 

"Wha- Oh yeah, I'm good." 

"Anything else you wanted to know about camp?"

I shook my head and through the corner of my eye I could see Alex frowning and glaring at Kayla. So that's why she was doing this. "I think I'm good for now."

"You sure? Not even curious about the training?"

"Actually, that seems like a good idea. What kind of training happens?" I could no longer tell what she was up to but it seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. That's how the rest of our 4 hour walk to where they parked the car went. Me and Kayla talking and somehow getting Alex even more irritated at her. By the time we got to the car she looked so smug I didn't even know why he even cared about what we talked about.

I sighed quietly and looked around while Alex got into the driver seat and Kayla complained that it was her turn to drive. While looking in the forest I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look straight at it and saw that it was a human. He looked mischievous and winked at me before disappearing into the shadows.

Before I could do anything else I heard Alex call out to me to get in the car. Kayla was in the backseat, grumpy about not driving and not willing to sit next to Alex. I got in the back next to Kayla and we drove off, starting an adventure that I knew would be different than anything else I knew.