My life as a shapeshifter

Arriving at camp

Ok, so chapter three, huh? Took me a day to write. Less than that, actually, i still have school. Sigh. But never mind! Enjoy!

We touched down at dawn in the middle of a forest. Thad was still passed out on the back of the pegasus, so Nico and I got off and led the horse through the trees, arriving at a clearing shortly after. Okay, not really a clearing. It was a huge space, with what looked like the ruins of a giant coliseum.

"Okay...So, uh, what are we doing here?" I questioned, still staring at the ruins.

"Like I said, you'll see" Nico answered, walking over to wake Thad up. God, he was infuriating. Once Thad was awake, we walked to the crumbled entrance of the coliseum, where a statue of a gladiator stood. Approaching the statue, Nico pressed five points on it in rapid succession, muttering a few words under his breath that I didn't catch. Immediately, we were thrown forward. Suddenly, the view changed.

I was no longer in front of a coliseum. I was in a camp.

"Thad!" A girl around our age rushed forward and threw her hands around him. Behind me, someone, probably Nico, cleared his throat loudly. They broke apart, blushing like mad.

"Nico! Where were you guys? You were supposed to be here a day ago!" She exclaimed, hugging Nico too.

"Uh, we were-" I started, but was cut off by Thad.

"We were interrupted." He brought out the dragon horn I had passed to him, then gestured to the lion and hyena pelt I had piled on my head. Feeling extremely self-conscious, I took them off, placing them in the girl's hands.

"You must be Aaron." A deep voice said from somewhere behind me. Spinning around, I found myself face to face with a middle-aged man. His kindly face was lined with wrinkles, and he was smiling.

"I...uh..." Unable to find the words to speak, I just stood there and stuttered, gaping at the sudden turn of events.

"Maybe I should give you a short introduction on why you are here. Jordan will give you the, ah, tour of the camp grounds. As you might have witnessed earlier, we, and you, can turn into animals. Why, you may ask. Well, a long time ago, the Greek gods granted a few demigods with the power to shapeshift. These demigods started this camp, started families, and now we have quite a number of young shapeshifters such as yourself at camp. You might also have witnessed that some are able to control elements such as water or fire," He continued as I opened my mouth to speak, "they have gotten their powers from their ancestors, that is, the gods. We sent Thad, descendant of Hephaestus, and Nico, descendant of Poseidon, to bring you to camp, having being told that you are special. I take it you have not realised your talent?" The man spoke for a long time.

"No, si-" I started to reply, but yet again, I was cut off by him.

"Good. Jordan, if you will?" He said once again, before turning and walking away.

"Alright, let's get this party started." Jordan deadpanned, motioning for me to follow as she started walking briskly, Thad at her side.

"...And this is the Poseidon bunk, where Nico lives." Jordan said, pointing out a sea green cabin rippling with light, as if we were in front of the sea. I could literally smell the salty breeze. Inhaling deeply, I followed her to the next cabin, a sky blue cabin with a lightning bolt and eagle carved into the front of the building. A strong gust of wind blew around the cabin, adding to the autumn chill. Hugging my jacket tighter to myself, I suddenly felt an adrenaline rush surge through my body. Sure, I was already hyped up by our earlier fight, but this made the wound in my arm, which Thad or Nico must have treated while we were in the air, stop throbbing. I felt great, on top of the world. Shaking the feeling away, I tuned in to what Jordan was saying.

"...There's no one in here for now. Reuben, our former member, just moved out two months ago. In case you didn't know, campers move out of camp when they reach eighteen. You've still got 6 years to go, if I'm not wrong." Jordan explained. "And this brings our tour to an end," she concluded, "any questions?"

"Actually, yeah. Firstly, how do we know who our godly ancestor is? And who was that dude from earlier?" I asked, dying to ask a lot more questions but deciding to narrow it down to these two.

"That was Mr Velitel, our camp commandant. And, regarding your first question, campers usually get a sign once they realise that they are one of us. About why you didn't, I really don't know. I can try to help you guess, though. Your last name's Blesk, right?" When I nodded hesitantly, she furrowed her brows, like she was deep in thought.

"Well, Blesk is lightning in Czech, so you might be a descendant of... No, it can't be. They're extremely rare... Reuben was the only one in a decade... But then again..." She mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for me to hear. It sounded like she was arguing with herself. Out loud.

"It wouldn't hurt to try, Jor." Thad suddenly spoke up. Evidently, he heard her too. His statement was confusing. Try what?

The answer came soon enough, though.

"Try summoning lightning, Aaron. Concentrate on it." She suggested. Oh well, it was worth a shot, I guess. Closing my eyes for good measure, I thought about the lightning I had seen so often in thunderstorms back home.

"Maybe I was wrong. We should try something-" A blinding flash of lightning struck the spot right in front of me, cutting off Jordan's words. I could hear murmurs coming from all around me, from the campers who had come over, attracting by the sudden commotion. The sound of footsteps drew everyone's attention to the source of the noise-Mr Velitel.

"What's going on?" I asked, repeating the same question I had been trying to ask to the man whom I knew would provide an answer.

"Aaron, you are the descendant of Zeus."

Didn't suspect that to happen, did ya? Did ya? As usual, read and review!

Peace out