Chapter 5

Finally taking the knife out of its sheath after so long out of sight and out of mind made him a little emotional.  He looked at the stain and looked at the scars from his hand, sheathed his weapon, put on his armor and attached the sheath to that, and walked out the door.  He followed the crowd of people walking to the arena for some last-minute practicing.  Once he got in he looked around to see who was there.  He saw Kyle practicing with his scythe, a gift from his mother. He took a few wide swings and then slammed the ground. A streak of flowers burst from the spot where his scythe hit the ground.  A few yards away from the entrance He saw Marina testing her new invention. It was a large…cannon essentially. It was light enough to be carried by one person and it packed a lot of firepower. She took aim at a dummy 20 yards away as other campers observed her.  She pressed a button and a second later, FOOM! A giant ball of fire smashed the dummy to pieces as the on looking campers applauded Marina.  Another look around showed Will spear fighting with two other campers. One from Athena and one from Apollo. He was winning. Hunter was still standing there when he heard a few footsteps and a small woosh coming from right behind him.  He turned around and immediately rolled to the left to dodge an incoming scythe attack. Hunter grabbed a nearby spear and pointed it toward his attacker.
“How do you always do that?” Kyle asked with a smile on his face. "It’s like you’ve got a spidey sense."
“It’s not a spidey sense. It’s good hearing and quick reflexes. Oh yeah, and WHAT THE HECK!” Hunter responded angrily as he took a swing at Kyle with his spear.
“What? We need to be on the top of our game if we want to defeat the super team we’re up against.” Kyle parried the swing and used the momentum to press forward another attack.
“So how would that help prepare me for capture the flag? So that I could sit in the infirmary while you guys lost to Ares?” Hunter ducked the attack and hit Kyle hard in the ribs with the butt of his spear, knocking Kyle on his butt.  He stood over Kyle and offered his hands to help him up, but Kyle knocked Hunter off his feet with a quick swing of his scythe.
“You could be attacked from behind from the start of the game to the end. You have to be prepared for a similar attack. So…You’re welcome.” Kyle stood up and raised his scythe to attack.
“With the strategy I’m taking this year, there’s no way I’ll be attacked in the back. No thanks for the attempt though.” Hunter rolled backward on to his feet and hit Kyle with a strong jab right in chest. With Kyle stunned, Hunter knocked Kyle’s scythe onto the ground and then swung low to knock him off his feet.
“Ow.” Kyle said as he rubbed his head. “That’s gonna be a bump. So what’s this strategy you’re talking about?”
“I’m not gonna tell you. I’ve been practicing this for a long time, though. I’m almost perfect, now.” Hunter helped Kyle up and then together they watched the fight between Will and the two other hunters. Fast movements and flashes of motion went on as the battle proceeded.  The battle continued for another few minutes when it was considered a stalemate. Not bad for a two on one fight. Will stood up straight then looked around. He saw Hunter and immediately motioned for him to come forward.  Hunter looked at Kyle who nodded at him. Hunter pushed his way through the crowd and walked up to where Will was standing. “Why am I up here? “ He asked.
“You, my friend, are going to help me take down these Ares kids. After seeing my last match they got a little bigheaded and started to talk trash on me and the Hermes cabin. So I challenged them. And you’re gonna help me win.” As Will spoke, he tossed away his spear and drew his sword.
“Will, you and I both know that with your sword you can take down a couple of Ares kids. So why do you need my help?” Hunter unshouldered his bow and held it at his side as he spoke to Will who was stretching. Hunter looked around and saw everyone surrounding us and about 9 very angry looking Ares campers.
“Who said anything about a couple? I need your help to take down those 9 brutish-looking kids. I need that knife of yours.” Will finished stretching and then was sizing up his enemies.
“9?! You challenged 9 Ares kids? Are you crazy? Or is this a temporary lapse in judgment?” Hunter had just finished speaking when he heard a shout and turned to see 9 campers charging right at him. He drew an arrow, took aim, and fired. His arrow hit the first Ares kid right in the chest knocking him back into another two. Another Ares camper took a jab with a spear. Hunter caught the spear in his bow and disarmed his attacker with a quick motion and then elbowed him in the face.  He turned around and saw a camper with an arrow sticking out of his armor lift his sword for an attack. Hunter quickly fired another arrow into the helmet of the camper and dodged out of the way of another attack. Hunter looked at Will who was deftly parrying attacks and making some of his own with perfect timing. 2 Ares campers were already on the ground unconscious.  The Ares camper with the arrow in his helmet and his chest came in for one more attack and hunter swept his legs out from under him with his bow. This time he stayed down. Hunter looked back and saw that Will was only fighting two of the campers. All of a sudden, Hunter felt the hilt of a sword hit him in the back.  The force from the blow knocked his bow out of his hand which slid along the ground and out of his reach. He looked and saw the other four campers preparing for an attack. He was about to brace for the blow when he remembered his knife.  He unsheathed his knife and blocked a sword aimed for his head. He knocked away a jab from a spear and ducked another. He swiped at a camper’s leg and kicked another’s legs out from under him.  He blocked another sword and disarmed the other with a quick slap from the side of his blade. A few hilt strikes and thrown elbows later the remaining campers were on the ground, defeated.  Hunter looked at Will as he was finishing off the remaining combatant. Will and Hunter stood victorious. The surrounding campers were applauding and shouting.
“Good job, Hunter! Way to go Will!”  He heard people shouting.
“Who knew he was so good with a knife?” People murmured as they stared with surprised faces.
“I knew you were the right choice.” Will said. He gave Hunter a pat on the back. That same moment the horn sounded which meant that capture the flag was about to start.