Ventus neighed at the now free pegasi stallions, which flew down and caught the armoured people on their backs. As soon as the pegasi caught them, they came straight after us, their riders holding their spears and axes outwards.

"Chloe!" I shouted. "Take Ventus's reins!"

"Why?" she cried back.

"Just do it!"

Doing as she was told, she quickly grabbed the stallion's reins. I started slipping sideways. As soon as one of the riders came underneath us – clearly he was trying to attack us from below – I slid of Ventus's back and freefell into the sky, Chloe screaming in shock.

I landed on the Pegasus, surprising the rider. He started struggling but I overpowered him with ease. The winged stallion started to buck but I quickly snapped at it to behave and it went back to flying.

"You better listen to me, pal," I bellowed at the scouting rider. "Leave us alone. Stop attacking us and leave us alone. Or you're going to regret it!"

"How would you define 'regret it?'" he asked me, frowning.

I hung him over the side of his pegasus in answer to his question. He screamed in protest and I immediately placed him back on his saddle.

"Does that answer your pathetic excuse of a question?" I snarled in annoyance. "Now do me a massive favour and stay the hell out of our way! Do you understand me?"

The rider nodded fearfully and I jumped off the stallion. Ventus came under and I landed right behind my sister who was aiming her bow at the retreating scout. I quickly glanced at the group of scouters. They looked as if they were arguing, but they eventually retreated into the clouds.

"Now's our chance," I roared. "Ventus, get us out of here!"

Ventus flapped his wings and soared towards the earth far below at the speed of a light, leaving a trail of cloud vapour behind like a rocket ship coming through the earth's atmosphere. We flew past the falling wreckages of the chariots, their burning forms dented and destroyed. I gripped the storm spirits reins tighter, making my hands turn white. Chloe held on for dear life, whilst holding her bow tightly.

Wind blasted my face. Chloe turned white as snow, looking like she was going to be sick.

Ventus's whole body shook slightly as he plummeted to the earth.

We broke through the clouds, like a bullet might rip through several sheets of paper. Below us was the beach of Santa Monica, the pier next to it. In the east, the sun was sinking below the waves, turning the sky slightly orange and making the clouds look purple.

We were in Los Angeles. After so many months, we were finally back. And yet, I feel so much dread...

Fortunately, there were no mortals on the beach so Ventus touched down easily, without raising the alarm. He trotted a few paces, kicking up the white fluffy sand, before coming to a stop in front of the sea, which rushed backwards and forwards, the tide coming in like a miniature tsunami.

Chloe climbed off quickly and ran to one of the dug up holes that some kids might've dug up (They should've filled it back up with sand, those idiots). She sunk to her knees and vomited in the dug up pit. I got off Ventus and walked up to her. Ventus followed me, tucking in his wings so they didn't get any sand attached to their feathers.

I placed my hand gently on her back. "Are you okay?"

Chloe shook her head. "I hate heights," she muttered. "I'm not doing that–" She turned pale again and went back to throwing up. She was shaking like a leaf.

Ventus nudged her shoulder with his snout, which would seem really affectionate. Chloe looked up and stroked Ventus's face, smiling weakly. By now, the sea front was almost ten metres away from us, slowly continuing to come closer.

"That was close," a man's voice sighed behind me.

I turned my head to see Hermes standing behind me, holding a staff for some reason. Then, I saw that encircling the staff had two living snakes. They moved freely around the top half of the staff, gazing constantly at a small glass sphere. The thing was a caduceus.

Hermes frowned at my sick sister. "What's wrong with her?"

"Height's make everyone queasy, but Chloe has it worse than everyone else," I sighed. "She's completely scared of them. It makes her stomach very sensitive."

To prove my point, Chloe threw up into the dug up pit, the stench already rising from the large pool that was already in there.

"Here." The messenger god came forward. He brought out a corked vile filled with blue liquid. "Apollo gave this to me, just in case one of you needs healing."

I looked at the vile wearily. "What is that stuff?"

"It's coral extract. They use a bunch of this stuff back in your father's underwater palace. It eliminates anything that's wrong with your stomach."

He gave the vile to Chloe. She pulled the cork and downed the liquid in one. Her eyes bugged as she started coughing, the liquid doing its work. But something didn't seem right, since she continued to shake like a leaf.

"You okay?" I asked her.

Chloe smacked her lips. "Tasted like chilli peppers," she croaked. "Ugh...my mouth's paying for it." Another cough and she started being sick again. She was turning paler by the minute.

Hermes looked at her, flashing a small light in her eyes. He frowned. "It should've worked, even for a child of Poseidon. It didn't have any effect. That's weird..."

A second later, there was a loud crash behind us, making us spin around suddenly. The chariots had landed a few metres to our right, sending several flaming pieces flying everywhere. One of them exploded and broke apart, the metal burning and melting into a puddle of goo.

"Get back," Hermes cautioned me. He gently helped Chloe to her feet and walked her to the sea front.

I kept looking at the wreckage of the other chariot. Suddenly, I had an idea.

I looked at Hermes. "Stay with Chloe. Don't move, for god sake."

I ran forward towards the wreckage, kicking the sand behind me.

The flames were starting to burn out, but the metal was still red hot. I took one look at the inside of the vehicle and plunged my hand downwards. I quickly drew my hand backwards, clutching a sleek, grey metal box, which was glowing red hot, burning my hands. After stepping away from the chariot, clutching the metal box in both my hands, I ran back towards Hermes and my sister who were looking at me as if I was crazy to even go anywhere close to the wreckage.

I dropped the box in the water, clutching my burnt hand. I splashed it into the salty water, submerging it completely. I felt instant relief, like I just placed my hand in a tub of icy cold water, which really helped.

"Why did you do that?" my sister demanded.

I pointed to the box. "I had to get that out."

I lifted my hand out of the water. No burn marks at all. That's the thing about water – since I was Poseidon's son, I had the ability to heal myself as long as I'm in the water.

I lifted the box and placed it on the cool, damp sand. I opened it by the handle and pulled out some sort of old rectangular cube.

"A radio?" Hermes asked, completely bewildered.

I nodded. "Those guys were from Chiron's school. They were his demigod students. Most of the charioteers carry radio boxes like these just in case they needed to contact the school, like warning them if there's an aerial attack. They must've been scouting the skies before they attacked us."

Hermes looked at the radio box. "I'm guessing you know how to operate one of those?"

I nodded. "My grandfather has one back at his house in Brooklyn. He showed me how to use it."

Chloe pointed at the radio. "What are you planning to do with that?"

I started to adjust the radio settings. "I'm gonna try and contact Chiron. If Zeus managed to contact him about the situation, telling him to expect us and not attack, then I should talk to Chiron just to confirm what he said. The last thing we need is to be taken hostage again, which I'm really not in the mood for."

The radio started to make a static and wiring noise. I instantly lifted the mike.

"Hello?" I spoke into the radio's mike. "Hello, can anyone hear me? This is Marcus Dimascio, son of Poseidon, speaking from the Santa Monica beach front. Can anyone hear me?"

No reply. The radio continued to make the same static noise.

"Is anyone even there?" I continued to speak. "This is serious – I need to speak to Chiron, head of the school you guys train at! I'm not kidding. We have a situation on our hands and we desperately need your help!"

"It's no use," Chloe sighed heavily, sitting down next to me. "They won't answer you."

She turned to the side and continued to be sick. Ventus stood at her side, draping one of his wings around her shoulders as she leaned on one of his strong leg.

"Hang in there Chloe," I said. I turned to the mike again. "Will someone just answer me, for god's sake?!" I was practically screaming.

"You shouldn't have come back," a grim voice spoke from the radio.

I felt my eyes widen. It was Chiron, no doubt about it. Who else would speak in a voice like that?

"Oh, thank you god!" I cried in relief. "I've almost given up hope."

"I'm surprised you had the guts to come back to Los Angeles after our last encounter," Chiron replied back. "After Zeus contacted me to tell me that you and your sister were coming over here, I thought you wouldn't have made it."

"Yeah, we thought that as well. Chiron, we need to get to your school right now. We're being hunted, and we can't fight them off on our own. We need a place to hide, immediately."

"Okay," Chiron told me. "I've got a team near the beach. I'll send them over to you. They'll be there in ten minutes. Are any of you hurt?"

That's the one thing I respect about Chiron – even if you were a dangerous demigod, whether you're good or bad, he still cares about you. He would help you in any way possible.

"My sister is heavily sick," I told him. "We got Hermes with us. He gave Chloe a vile of coral extract and it didn't have any effect on her. She needs medical attention as soon as possible."

"Okay, the team is already on the way. Keep your eyes open."

The radio went static.

I dropped the mike and looked at Chloe, who looked as if all the blood in her face was gone. Her eyes looked more bloodshot than before. Hermes stood a metre to my right.

What's wrong? I asked her telepathically.

She shook her head. I don't feel so good. It feels like my whole body is on fire.

Hang in there sis. A medical team is on its way.