What feels like merely seconds later, someone's voice rings in my ear. "Snow---Elicia--- whatever you want to be called---you have to get up! Now!"

Pressure on my shoulder. A sudden burn on my face. I groan, trying to block out whoever it is.

"Come on, come on, come on!" The person repeats, their voice sounding hazily familiar.

"No---stop, I---" I groan, but something acidic burns under my nose, and my eyes burst open. I sit up quickly, bumping heads with someone.

"Ow!" A sandy-haired boy reels backward, a hand on his forehead. "Good! You're up. We need to run!"

"Run?" the word sounds alien in my mouth. The sudden awakening has taken its toll---My stomach feels like it's caving in on itself, my brain banging against my skull like a drum set. And I know this has to be a dream, because when I was running, it was midday. Now the sun is setting in the distance. "Wait... Seeder?"

"You know my name! Good. So you're not totally wiped. Come on---I know you're probably exhausted---though I have no idea what you did to be this way---but we have to leave. Now!"

"Why?" I ask in a slurred voice as he hauls me to my feet, putting an arm around my waist. For such a skinny kid, he's got a strong grip.

He doesn't answer me, just trots along while dragging me. I stumble a bit, trying to gain my footing, but end up sprawled on my face.

"Seeder---what's going---" I start, but he pulls me up again and my sentence fades to a strangled noise. "Where are your legs?"

For where jeans and sweatpants have always been, from the waist-down, he has furry legs with hooves that softly go clop, clop, clop against the stones and sticks under our feet.

"No time---we have to hide! It's too close!" Seeder whimpers, glancing back as he pulls me along.

"No!" I rip my hands away from him, shaking like mad. "No---I barely even know you. You're some freaky half-animal thing, I just woke up from I don't even know what, and I'm going home!" I sound hysterical, but none of this is even making any sense.

"Elicia---" Seeder licks his lips nervously. "I know you're scared. I meant to break this to you slowly---but you have to believe me. Something's coming after you, and I can take you somewhere safe."

"But I---"

"SHE'S CLOSE!!!" Something shrieks.

I whirl around, backing into Seeder. He catches me, but somewhere in the distance, trees are falling. Almost like a bulldozer is coming our way.

Or something even bigger...

"We need to move." Seeder says. "Please!"

"Okay." The words barely come out in a whisper, but Seeder grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet again. My head has cleared at least a little bit, so he doesn't have to carry me, just lead me along.

"Where are we going?" I ask between breaths. At least I run a lot, but that run from earlier---whatever it was---winded me.

"New York."

I skid to a halt before I remember the big thing chasing us. "I'm sorry---New York? You mean, the state on the end of the country?"

"Yeah. Um...." He clears his throat. "Don't worry. There's a safe house close by, and then we should be able to IM the camp to come get us with Pegasi."

"IM? Pegasi? Camp? Okay, I'm officially crazy." I groan, but I don't stop running. I don't think I could force myself to start again should I stop now.

"You're not crazy. Don't worry, we're almost there." Seeder puffs as he runs---or, rather, trots. "Just a few more minutes... please..."

"CLOSE!!!!" The screech behind us shakes the ground, and I stumble. Luckily, Seeder doesn't, so I'm able to stay up this time.

I'm running for my life. I remind myself. Literally running for my life. SO RUN FOR YOUR FREAKING LIFE!

"Just a little bit---" Seeder puffs out, his grip on my hand tightening. "Not far..."

"What are we looking for?" I ask.

"A cabin---there!" he points. A few hundred yards away, where a tiny, falling apart---he called it a cabin? I call it a shack---waits for us.

"That's supposed to protect us from that?" I shriek, gesturing wildly behind me as we grow closer to the shack.

"It's---" puff. "---stronger than---" puff. "---it looks."

I risk a glance backward, and a scream builds up in my throat. In the dying light of the day, I can just make out three awful figures flying low in the treeline. Each have bat-like wings, sharp-as-knife fangs, and glowing red eyes.

"Oh, my God." I whimper, turning back to Seeder. "What are those things?"

"No time." He stops at the cabin. The things are so close I can hear their wings beating, the hisses coming from their horrible mouths.

Seeder desperately taps on the door, searching for something. Finally his finger hits whatever he was looking for, and a symbol glows gold. I don't recognize it, but Seeder pulls the door open and shoves me in. I stumble inside, and he slams the door behind us. Wailing cries start almost instantly, and the three things start hammering on the door.

Seeder backs away, breathing hard. "There. We should be okay for now. That symbol will alert Chiron that we're stuck here. The Pegasi should arrive within the hour."

"From New York?" I demand, laughing high-pitched when he nods. "Okay. I'm insane. I---I've cracked. I've finally cracked! First the ice, then those awful voices... I've been insane my whole life! And now you've joined the monsters. Great! I'm not even safe from reality now!"

"Whoa. Hold on." Seeder holds up his hands in an I surrender gesture. "Elicia, you're not insane. I promise, I can explain everything. But first---did you see what the thing chasing us looked like? That would be helpful."

I shake my head. "There were three. They---they were like bats, and had these awful eyes.. G-glowing red..."

"Di Immortales, the Fur---" Seeder clamps a hand over his mouth. "All three... uh, I hope it's too much to ask who you're the daughter of?"

I stare at him. "I'm sorry, what?"

Seeder takes a deep breath. "Ohhhh, I'm no good at explaining things. Okay, let me break this to you straight. You're almost at breaking point, so you have to promise not to freak on me. Okay?"

I nod. If he knows why I'm... the way I am, then I'll take anything he can give me.

"You're a half-blood." He tells me.

"Um..." I glance down at my white skin. "Half African American?"

"No. Half god." Seeder corrects.

I open my mouth to protest, laugh, anything, but he stops me. "Your mom is human, but your dad is one of the Olympian gods. Must be a big one, too, like Ares or something, for the Fur---aahh, Kindly Ones to be after you this badly."

"Wait. Hold up." I wave my arms in the air. "How do you know? My mom always told me my dad left us."

"He probably did. Gods aren't allowed to see their kids." Seeder says.

"That's dumb. What idiot made that rule?"

Thunder rumbles in the distance, and the pressure drops so quickly my ears pop.

"I'd advise against saying stuff like that against the gods." Seeder warns.

I open my jaw wide to get my ears back to normal. "Um, sure. So... You're saying... my dad and mom had me, he left, I'm a freak because of it, and monsters start chasing me out of nowhere? For no reason at all?"

"I have no idea why they're chasing you now, or why they haven't been after you before now. Most half-bloods don't last past twelve or eleven. Most start getting visited by monsters when they're young."

My mind jumps to my nightmares. "Like six years old?"

"No, more like I said, twelve or thir..." Seeder looks at me, confused. "I thought you said you hadn't seen monsters before now."

"Technically, I haven't." I rub my forehead. I still feel a little hysterical, but my pumping heart has calmed down a bit. "But when I was six, and ever since then, I have..." I trail off, feeling how ridiculous it sounds in my mouth.

"Nightmares?" Seeder asks suddenly. I look up in surprise.

"Yes! But I---How do you know that?"

"Every demigod has dreams. It's a... thing." Seeder shrugs.

"Mine aren't dreams. They feel real... like a monster comes to seek me out every night, though I never see much more than flashes of any of them." I survey him carefully. "You're sure I'm a... whatever you said?"

"Half-blood. Demigod. And yes. You have a very powerful aroma." Seeder says.

"Um... Is that a good thing?"

"On the contrary. It's very, very bad. I really don't get why you haven't been sought out before now, since you lived in the mortal world and used electronics a lot, and you're sixteen---"

"Fifteen. I turn sixteen in a few months." I correct.

"Fifteen, then." Seeder stares at me. "Okay, here's the deal. Half-bloods can be detected by monsters from, like, a mile away. Especially if you use technology. So the fact that you've lasted this long without any protection is insane."

"And knowing this information changes everything how...?"

"Because you're going to Camp Half-Blood, the only safe place on earth for... well, people like...you..."

I clear my throat and he snaps to attention.

"Make sense, please?" I demand.

Seeder glances around the room. "Point is, you'll be... ah... mostly safe... in about an hour."

I groan. "Seeder, no offense, but I barely know you."

"Would you rather know them?" he gestures outside, where the hissing grows louder. Like they know we're talking about them.

"COME OUT! COME OUT! WE MUST HAVE HER!" One of them screeches.

"Yeah... so not happening." I whisper, backing into the wall. "What did you mean about people like me? Are there more?"

"Um, yes. You didn't notice any of the... ah... strange things happening? Mt. St. Helens erupting... the freakish storm that followed... Manhattan going sleepy-bye?"

"No."

"Wow, you really live inside your shell." Seeder says.

"Gee, thanks."

"You're not alone, Elicia."

"Okay, call me Ellie. You saved my life like four times in the past ten minutes. I feel like Elicia is a bit too formal."

Seeder smiles. "Ellie, then. Point is, last year, Titans came from all over the place to try and take down Olympus. Now, freaky things are happening again. The gods aren't answering, monsters aren't dying..."

"That doesn't seem enough to call for a lot of worry."

It isn't. I am.

The ground around us rumbles, the dirt coating everything floating off their surfaces and swirling around Seeder and I.

"Wait---what the---" Seeder sputters. "Ellie---"

Poor, poor child. The feminine voice rings around the room, almost sleepily. The dust whirls around me, blocking Seeder from view. I ball up my fists.

Alone and abandoned. Unknown by the people who claim to be looking for your kind, until it benefits them. But, no matter... neither of you shall matter in a moment. Sleep... rest...

"Ellie, run!" Seeder lunges for me, breaking through the swirling dust and grabbing my wrist and shoving the door to outside open. The three bat-hags look surprised for a moment, but by then Seeder and I are running for our lives. Again.

"What was---"

"I don't know---probably a powerful monster of some kind." Seeder glances in the distance. "C'mon---there's the chariot!"

I see a blob in the sky, growing steadily bigger as it comes our way. My stomach shrivels up. "Ah. Amazing. Flying."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights." Seeder says, sounding exasperated.

"Getting away from solid ground doesn't agree with me." I say faintly.

"Well, the Kindly Ones definitely won't agree with you." Seeder points out. The chariot swoops down. A pair of gorgeous gray horses with wings slam into the ground running, trying to take off again.

"Come on! They can't stop, otherwise they'll never get it back up in time to get away." Seeder drags me, and we sprint with all we have in us. I can no longer detect dirt woman's chilling presence, but the Kindly Ones are right on our heels. Something whistles, and my back erupts in pain. I cry out and stumble, but Seeder puts on a last burst of speed, heaving me into the chariot just as it takes off. I land hard on my stomach, the breath knocked out of me. Seeder scrambles on with me, and we rise, moving faster than I thought possible. The world blurs around me, not unlike what happened when I was running earlier.

And then, suddenly, it stops. We're moving at a steady pace, blue sky shining above us again.

We're flying. Flying. 

________________________________

I have to say, I really like Seeder. He's fun to write. 

Also---A BIG BIG BIG THING IS HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND----HUGE!!! Keeper #8----Legacy---WILL BE IN MY HANDS!!!! AND I WILL BE ABLE TO READ IT!!!!

Oh, it's also my birthday on Saturday.

BUT KEEPER!!!!!! *screams*