Out In The Open

|Chapter 10| War Born

The day went wrong for Frank Zhang when his half-sister Clarisse La Rue had barged into his second-period math class and told him that they had a monster to hunt.

It wasn't that he particularly hated monster hunting, it was just that he didn't appreciate his cover being blown. But despite that, he had turned into Frank the Eagle and flown after his sister.

Frank flew higher, trying to see the beast. His father Mars, or Ares, whatever, had asked him and Clarisse to kill the thing for him. No problem right?

Wrong.

The monster, whatever it was, was good. They kept on hearing roars, which they assumed to be the blasted creature their father had wanted them to kill. But once they got there, even with the speed of gods, the thing was gone.

Frank could tell Clarisse was growing frustrated. She weaved between mortals with a grim face, and her spear clutched tightly in her hand. A faint red glow, the blessing of Ares, was surrounding her.

Frank knew from first-hand experience that the blessing of the War God reacted to the receiver's emotions. Strong emotions related to him, whether that be anger, frustration, or even adrenaline, tended to flare up the blessing.

It was good sometimes because it could help you understand what the person was feeling, and maybe even help you diffuse the situation. But, it was also a pain in the ass when you were trying to be emotionless.

Another roar sounded, barely a block away.

The two of them rushed to the sound, entering a large square as they did. Frank, still in eagle form, recognised where they were; the 9/11 memorial. The memorial, like always, was overrun with people, but they were all focused on the beast.

The beast was over two hundred feet long, with yellow eyes that reminded Frank of flashlights. It had no legs, and unfortunately Frank knew exactly what monster they were dealing with.

The Lydian Drakon.

Frank started to understand why the War God had sent him and Clarisse to defeat it. The Lydian Drakon could only be killed by a child of his. And not only were he and Clarisse his most battle-hardened kids, but Clarisse had already slain it.

And speaking of his half-sister, she was obviously angry. Her eyes were starting to glow, and her body was trembling in anger. Frank remembered that this monster had also been the thing to take the life of Silena Beauregard, Clarisse's closest friend.

Clarisse had avenged her death once and looked more than ready to do it again.

Frank morphed into a human, landed on a tree branch, then jumped down. He briefly made eye contact with Clarisse, and he understood perfectly what was going to happen now.

Clarisse would take the monster, while Frank got the civilians out of the area. He started to tell the mortals how to get out of the area safely when something caught his eye.

A group of mortals was shielding an unconscious young boy, who was holding a bronze sword and shield. Frank immediately knew that he was a demigod. He was also likely what the beast had been tailing.

Frank looked at the mortals surrounding him. They were protecting him, keeping him out of harm's way as best they could. A man was giving first aid to the boy, who seemed to have broken his leg.

Gratitude washed over Frank. Many mortals had been cold, wary, sometimes even aggressive to demigods. But seeing this, seeing regular civilians protecting an injured and unconscious demigod, restored his faith in mortals.

Frank continued to herd the mortals out, glancing at his sister every so often. Normally, a god would show their true form, and kill the monster quickly. But Frank had a feeling there were two reasons Clarisse had chosen not to.