Apollo's Wolves

Chapter One -- Amari

The sad sounds of the lyre fill the camp as we light the burial shrouds on fire. The war to prevent Gaea from rising is finally over, but at a great cost. Many of our brothers and sisters, friends and family, have died to prevent the disaster; both Roman and Greek. A tear streaks down my face as I watch the shrouds of my brothers and sisters burn. It's been hard for everyone here tonight. There are many of us who are 16 years old and younger, like me. I'm 16 years old and have experienced more death in my life than most adults in the army.

"Amari, are you okay?" Piper asks as she walks over with Jason, her boyfriend.

I smile thinly. "I'm fine," I whisper, rubbing my arms to ward off the chill.

Piper gives me a hug. "Don't bear the burden by yourself," she tells me softly. "You have plenty of friends here that will help you get through this; remember, we're all in the same boat."

I nod. "Thanks, Piper," I say, feeling slightly better. I look up at the full moon and shiver as the feeling of power rushes through my body.

"Are you still cold?" Jason asks with concern written all over his face. "Do you want to go by the fire?"

I shake my head. "No, I'll be okay. I just want to watch from here," I answer, motioning to the grassy hill that is away from the fires.

"If you're sure ..." Jason trails off, letting me know that he's not too keen on the idea.

"I'm sure," I tell him. "I just need some time to myself."

"Okay; c'mon, Jason. Let's go pay our respects," Piper says, pulling on his arm. "See you later, Amari."

I smile a real smile this time as I'm left alone. Now, I can let some of the pent up power out. I run my fingers through my long, thick, wavy silver ash blonde hair. My ice blue eyes brighten and turn to a sapphire blue as my vision sharpens. You see, I'm a werewolf or lycan as some people might call it. I'm also a demigod. It's crazy because my dad is Apollo and my mom is the werewolf. I have to be super careful because I'm way more powerful than most demigods, even those of the Big Three. No one but Chiron knows that I'm a werewolf; not even any of the gods except my dad. There are a few unfortunate side effects of being a werewolf. One of them is that the full moon tends to fill me with superhuman power and brings out some changes in my appearance. My eyes become a richer blue and my hair turns completely silver. Normally, my eyes are ice blue and my hair is silver ash blonde, meaning that it's not completely silver. Another unfortunate side effect is that I look like I'm a child of Aphrodite. My skin is a light tan and is flawless, my figure is that of a model (perfect), and my features are super desirable, at least, that's what I'm told by half the guy population here. Most people think that Apollo only claimed me because Aphrodite didn't want to claim me because I would outshine her or something. It can get pretty annoying after a while.

I can literally feel my hair turning to silver as I let more power out. The rest of my senses sharpen so that I can smell a lily blooming at the dining pavilion. I can see the faces of the campers, who are 300-400 yards away from me, perfectly. My canines sharpen and my tongue roughens, allowing me to taste the air. I stiffen as footsteps approach me and I turn to look. Upon seeing that it's only Chiron, I relax and turn my gaze back to the fires.

"How are you doing, Amari?" He asks quietly.

I shrug. "As well as I can right now," I answer with the same amount of quietness. "But I'm really itching to run. Am I allowed to go run?"

Chiron shakes his head and reaches his hand out to me. "Unfortunately, not right now. I need you to go patrol," he answers. "The barrier is still pretty weak, so until Mr. D can fix it, we need people to patrol still."