The Forest Gods' Reign [Published]

Chapter 15: Welcome Home

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The next morning came quickly, with little sleep after Alec killed the Cyclops, since Felix continued to cry all the way until six in the morning. Neither Alec nor I was very happy by the time the sun rose, until I pulled out some tiny boxes of cereal from my backpack that I had bought in the Kentucky airport before we left.

Alec scarfed the entire box down in less than a minute, and although I took more time than him, we were still able to pack up the little amount of things that we had in less than fifteen minutes, and we started walking north once again, on our way to the Knowing base camp. I would have called Zeus to give him an update and to find out about what was going on back in the Woods, but I hadn't even bothered to bring my cell phone, since I knew there probably wasn't going to be cell service where we were heading.

It was about eight o'clock in the morning when Alec and I hiked our way over the top of a large hill and stopped, looking down over a large dip in the rolling earth. Below us sat what I automatically assumed to be the camp, a collection of about thirty large, medieval-looking tents in deep purples, reds, and blues. In the center of the camp was a large, square wooden stage raised about three to four feet of the ground. On the east edge of the Knowing camp were a vegetable garden and two large corrals, each holding about fifteen to twenty well-fed horses, and the hill behind it appeared to be dotted with at least fifty dark gray stones, which could mark only a cemetery.

On the opposite side of camp was the only actual building there, and Alec told me that it held the showers and toilets and a small tattoo parlor, along with a working phone, which was only for emergencies. Meanwhile, I silently decided that calling Zeus would qualify as an emergency. After all, who knew what in the world Hades was doing right at that second?

After staring at the view for a minute, Alec and I made our way down the hill, but I noticed that a few large, muscular men wearing Grecian style armor situated at different points around the edge of camp were looking up and pointing at us with what I hoped was enthusiasm. I saw one of them quickly run into the largest tent in the camp, and Alec explained, his voice unusually tight, "Those Warriors are just guarding the camp. Always on the lookout for monsters..."

As we got closer, however, I could clearly see the confusion and even anger written across the strong Warriors' faces. I frowned and muttered in confusion, "They sure don't look very happy to see us." And although I was certain that Alec knew why the Warriors appeared so angry, Alec didn't answer me, only keeping his gaze locked on the tents ahead of us. The air around us felt thick and tense (for more than one reason) as Alec and I passed over a seemingly random dirt line drawn in the grass that circled around the camp, and I looked down at it curiously.

"That's the boundary line for the camp, set up by the gods three or four generations ago. The Knowing base camp has been here ever since," Alec whispered to me from out of the corner of his mouth, answering the question he knew I had been silently pondering. "And un-Knowing humans, ones who don't have the Sight, can't see anything behind this line except grass, so they won't come near us. They have no reason to come over here." When he finished blandly, I nodded in understanding, but as we walked up to meet the Warriors, my face fell again.

All of a sudden, one muscular man ran up to us and yanked Felix out of Alec's arms, and then two other Warriors dragged Alec away from me. "No-" I tried to shout out, but I was cut off when another Warrior came up from behind me and stole my backpack and blindfolded me whilst a different one bound my hands behind my back, just like handcuffs. With a cold shiver, I realized that they had me completely trapped for possibly the first time in my entire life, and I couldn't speak out because of the gag in my mouth. I only struggled against their grip in vain as they dragged me into a small tent near the stage and threw me down on a hard wooden chair, then finally took my blindfold off.