Becoming a Hero

We'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny. I nearly made a joke about the pine trees being Thalia's long lost relatives or something, but I decided not to.

We stopped in the middle of town. You could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store. "Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.

"Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good."

"No, it isn't," I said. "It is disgusting. I do not understand how people drink it."

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper." I looked at him.

Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you three go get us some food. Percy, Bianca and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions." We agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable going with Percy and Thalia, but she did.

We got hot chocolate for Percy, Bianca and myself. Coffee for Zoe and Grover. Percy also got a blueberry muffin Bianca was glaring at him for some reason. Had they had an argument when we were gone? And where was Thalia? "We should do the tracking spell," Zoe said. "Grover do you have any acorns left?"

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need -" He froze. I was about to ask what was wrong when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had got lost in the middle of winter. Was Persephone here? She was supposed to be in the Underworld. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else - almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning. I'd met Persephone once, very briefly. It didn't seem like her, though.

Zoe gasped. "Grover, thy cup." Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away - a tiny flock of doves. Percy's rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees - real fur, real whiskers.

Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. We gathered round him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering. "Hey!" Thalia said, running up from the street. "I just... What's wrong with Grover?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "He collapsed."

"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.

"Well, get him up!" Thalia said. She had her spear in her hand. She looked behind her as if she were being followed. "We have to get out of here."

We made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. They wore blue New Mexico State Police uniforms. They drew their handguns. Of course they had guns. Why wouldn't they? Thalia tapped her bracelet. Aegis spiralled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch. Their glowing yellow eyes looked right at Percy. He drew his sword, though I wasn't sure what a sword could do against bullets. Especially in the hands of someone inexperienced with fighting against people with guns.

Zoe, Bianca and I drew our bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her. "Back up," Thalia said. We started to - but then I heard a rustling of branches. Three more skeletons appeared on the road behind us. We were surrounded. One of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it. Except he wasn't speaking. he made a clattering, clicking sound like dry teeth on bone. Suddenly I understood what was going on. The skeletons had split up to look for us. These skeletons were now calling their brethren. It was a tactic me and my hallmates used a lot during the daily battles in Valhalla, when I was visiting. It could be very successful sometimes. Other times not so much.

"It's near," Grover moaned.

"It's here," Percy said.

"No," he insisted. "The gift. The gift from the Wild." What gift? I didn't know what he was talking about, but I was worried about his condition. He was in no shape to walk, much less fight.

"We'll have to go one on one," Thalia said. "Five of them. Five of us. Maybe they'll ignore Grover that way."

"Agreed," said Zoe.

"The Wild!" Grover moaned. A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but I kept my eyes on the skeletons. Percy charged, the idiot. he swung his sword through a skeletons waist and cut him in half. His bones unknitted and clattered to the tarmac in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth at Percy and tried to fire, but he knocked his gun into the snow. The other three skeletons shot him in the back.

"Percy!" Thalia screamed. He landed face down in the street. Thalia charged the second skeleton. Zoe, Bianca and I started firing arrows at the third, fourth and fifth. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them. There was a crashing sound in the forest to our left, like a bulldozer. Maybe the skeletons' reinforcements were coming. Percy got to his feet and ducked a police baton. the skeleton he'd cut in half was already fully re-formed, going after him.

There was no way to stop them. Zoe, Bianca and I fired at their heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca, and I thought she was a goner, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest. The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge. "How did you do that?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know," Bianca said nervously. "Lucky shot?"

"Well,, do it again!" Bianca tried, but the remaining four skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed us back, keeping us at baton's length.

"Plan?" Percy said as we retreated. Nobody answered. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.

"A gift," Grover muttered. And the, with a mighty roar, the largest pig I'd ever seen came crashing into the road. It was a wild boar, ten metres high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry.

"REEEEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the four skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere. Then the pig turned on us. Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it!" The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoe said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."

"It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said "REEEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoe, Bianca and I dived out of the way. Percy had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk Express.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" he said. "Scatter!" We ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said.

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!"

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked. Good question. But the pig was offended and charged her. She rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign. I hoped Cloudcroft was insured against giant wild boar attacks.

"Keep moving!" Zoe yelled. The two of us and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. But Thalia and Percy won the prize for bad luck. She made the mistake of Aegis which seemed to enrage the boar instead of scaring it. They ran off with the boar chasing them. The four of us that were left went running after them.

"Helloooooo?" Grover called.

"Down here!" Percy called.

A few minutes later, Zoe, Bianca, Grover and I joined Percy and Thalia. We stood watching the wild boar struggle in the snow. "A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, though he now looked agitated.

"I agree," Zoe said. "We must use it."'

"Hold up," Thalia said irritably. She looked like she'd lost a fight with a Christmas tree. It was either a result of the recent events or it was a side effect of being a pine tree for six or seven years. I couldn't decide. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing."

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"

"Fun," Percy said. "Like...pig cowboys."

Grover nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish...I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now.

"What's gone?" But Grover didn't seem to hear Percy. He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it.

"Automatic steering," Thalia muttered. "Great." She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of us. Zoe, Bianca and I walked towards the boar.

"Wait a second," Percy said. I rolled my eyes. "Do you three know what Grover is talking about - this wild blessing?"

"Of course," Zoe said. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong...I never thought I would sense that presence again."

"What presence." Another good question. This team was full of them today.

Zoe stared at Percy like he was an idiot, which of course, he was. "The Lord of the Wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan." So definitely not Persephone then.