Hermes continued to lead the way.

He flew in front of us and didn't look back. I told Chloe to keep an eye out for anything that could attack us from any direction, while I concentrated on following Hermes.

After three hours of flying, I thought we would've made it to L.A by now. That was the one thing that I always get wrong – the estimation of the journey. We were now directly above the Carson City in Nevada. From far up in the clouds, I was surprised to see the Carson City Mint building from way up here.

But that didn't interest me at all. All I could do was concentrate on the messenger god. My hands still gripped my Ventus's reins, keeping me in place. Chloe still kept her eyes open for trouble. 'Nothing so far' was the same answer I kept on getting from her every time I asked if she saw anything. My hand ached from punching Jalen in the face. Every time I looked at the bruises that now appeared on my hands, I kept thinking my hands were suffering from gangrene - ridiculous. 

I decided to make small talk, just so I could take my mind of it. If I continued to think about how I beat Jalen half to death, I would continue to think about it for life and I didn't want that.

For some strange reason I talked to my stallion, maybe because I was going partially crazy or maybe because I didn't really care about whom I'm talking to. "So what's your name?"

The horse looked back at me for one second and a voice spoke in my head. My name's called Ventus. Feel free to laugh.

"I won't. It's a good name," I said. "My name is–"

Marcus Dimascio, son of Poseidon and descendant of Achilles. Yes, I know who you are. You're the talk of Cyclone City these days. It's annoying actually.

"Tell me about it," I sighed. "Who was your rider?"

You are now. I didn't have a rider in my whole life. Glad I have one now.

I smiled at the thought that I had my own storm horse. My father once told me that demigods like me couldn't be able to ride them, which makes it really rare for us. It was considered as a good luck sign. "Lucky horse you are. Come on, let's keep up with Hermes."

Got it.

The horse looked forwards and gained more speed.

"If people saw you talking to horses," Chloe told me, "they'd call you crazy."

I looked back at her, a slight smile on my face. "Yeah, crazy," I muttered.

Chloe kept looking behind us.

She frowned. "I wonder why they didn't attack you when you stopped beating Jalen into unconsciousness."

My mind flashed over to the image of Jalen, bloodied and beaten. "Because I almost killed him."

Chloe looked at me and gently placed her hand on my shoulder. "You stopped though. You really freaked me out Marcus. Your eyes glowed with something I couldn't understand."

"It felt as if they were on fire," I agreed. "They stung like they were covered in acid or something."

"You turned pale like you were going to be sick or something," Chloe continued.

I looked back at the landscape below us. The lights of Carson City snaked by, like the lights of a highway. "It's been a while since I last summoned a hurricane that size. It must've been that."

"Marcus," my sister warned, "you've got to be careful. Trust me on that; when I tried water bending before I almost passed out from all the effort I put into it. You could really drain yourself from all that power usage."

I sighed through my nose before nodded. "Okay."

Chloe squeezed my shoulder. "Why don't you get some more sleep? It's gonna be a long ride to Santa Monica and you're still gonna need your strength."

I hesitated at first, not wanting to dream at all, but I nodded slowly.

After giving Chloe Ventus's reins, I instantly fell asleep, my head lying on the stallion's mane.

And yet again, I dreamed of another vision.

The Whirlwinds were carrying Jalen across the Throne Room, with a surprised Proculus watching. He looked even paler than before, his eyes smoldering with anger. But at the same time, he was surprised to see the Whirlwinds at the foot of his throne.

Maximus was still there, his hands now chained behind his back.

He knelt on the ground, looking more beaten than ever. He kept his eyes firmly on the floor, avoiding Proculus's gaze. His armour looked like it was weighing him down.

"What happened?" Proculus hissed.

One of the hunters came forward and bowed to Proculus. "The Dimascio's got away, my lord. The boy attacked Jalen, summoned a Ventus and escaped."

The Prince swore under his breath. He rounded on the hunter. "How can two, weak demigods get away from twenty armed Whirlwind Hunters? What, did they just fight you or something?"

The hunter nodded his head. "He...the boy...he summoned a hurricane and used it to destroy all our weapons and shields. The girl had the bow of Lady Cornelia, Lord Maximus's wife. She kept shooting explosive arrows at us. Then, when Marcus's cyclone stopped and Jalen attempted to restrain him, Marcus just attacked him until he knocked Jalen out."

Proculus was shocked. He started walking backwards and forwards, muttering in Greek. He looked at Jalen, who was lying on the floor. "How bad is he, anyway?"

One of the other hunters checked on Jalen. "Four of his ribs are fractured, his cheekbone is damaged, his arm is dislocated and the tendon in his left foot is torn beyond repair. It's going to be a while before his body can heal."

I was stunned at the announcement. I knew I was strong, but did I actually that much damage to a single hunter? Beating him senselessly until he was almost dead? If I stayed behind and fought them, what would I've done to them?

Before I thought enough was enough and was about to leave, Proculus turned on Maximus.

"What kind've training did Poseidon give to the boy?" he snarled at the general. "I didn't take any notice in the training procedures, so tell me. What kind?"

Maximus slowly raised his bruised face and looked at Proculus. "Advance combat and warfare training. Poseidon obviously trained him to his breaking point. We noticed this when we put him and his sister up against a group of our best fighters, including Bane and Darren. Marcus and his sister came out victorious. Next, we threw them into a room full of traps – pits of snakes, swinging axes, you name it. Nothing pierced their skin, as if they were made of iron. We then sedated them so we could find out how strong they were, but sometimes they just shrugged off the sedatives we gave them like they had no effect on them. Poseidon must of given some sort of resistance training."

"YA THINK?!" Proculus shouted at him. "I swear if you weren't the general of the Typhoon Army, I would've put your head on a spike for you idiocy!"

He turned to look at a hunter with sandy white hair, who was more or less in charge. "What's your name?"

"Kane, my lord," the hunter said. "I'm the son of Lady Cornelia and Lord Maximus."

Maximus has a son? The boy looked nothing like the old general. He didn't have Maximus's dark and grey hair. He had a slimmer build and his eyes were crystal blue. He had the body of long runner and he was wearing thinner armour than any of the hunters.

"Where are the tributes heading to?" Proculus ordered.

The hunter thought for a moment, but then he shrugged. "I don't know."

Proculus raised his eyebrows at Kane. "You don't know," he repeated.

"Sir, he threatened to kill us if we tried to follow him and we believed him," the teenager stressed. "Plus, he had Hermes with him so there–"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the Prince held up his hand. "Hermes, the messenger of Olympus, was with them?"

Kane looked at the floor. "It seems that the Olympian Council is aiding them on their journey. There was nothing we could've done."

Proculus slammed his fist into Kane's face. The hunter collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"What you should've done was fight back, you imbecile!" Proculus bellowed. "I don't care if the rest of the gods are involved in this! I want those tributes! I don't care if even Zeus gets in my way; I'll still get the Dimascio siblings!"

The dream faded. Then another scene came into focus and this time, it was one I remember all too well.

"Defend!"

I raised my shield just as a trident came down and almost got me on the head. The shield vibrated from the impact.

"Duck!"

I dropped to a crouching position as the trident swiped at my face.

"Attack!"

I jabbed at my father with my sword. He deflected it easily.

My father was training me none stop. Sweat poured down my face, my muscle's aching despite being well built up. In the background, Chloe was shooting arrows at practice dummies. Holographic apparitions of three headed monsters appeared out of nowhere and charged Chloe. She swung her bow and the blades connected to the edges of the weapon slashed at them. They exploded into pure light.

"Keep it up, Marcus," my mother said, watching me train like no one's business. She smiled at me.

Another swipe of Poseidon's trident brought me back to my concentration.

My father was well over two meters tall, is strongly built and has a kind face. His newly shaved face had smile crinkles on it and his sea green eyes held intelligence. He kept a straight face as he practiced with me. He had wavy black hair like me and was the most powerful god I have ever met – in other words, he's the only god I've ever met.

"Put your back into it!" he told me.

I rammed into him with my shield, making him stumble backwards slightly, until he regained his balance. He pushed back with his trident, but I held my ground, my arms shaking with the strain. My father was pretty much the same. Then, I fell backwards, using my foot to catapult my father into the air. Then, I did some sort of Chinese getup, spun around and faced my father who was already getting to his feet.

I charged at him. Before his trident hit me in the face, I slid on my knees and avoided the three pronged spear. Then I jumped with all the strength that I had in my legs, vaulting into the air, spun around and bashed the trident out of Poseidon's hands. He quickly brought out the sword that hung at his belt and slashed at me. I raised my shield but it got torn in half. I threw the pieces away and held my sword in both hands. Sword play was the only thing I truly understood, like it was a trait that ran in the family.

My mind went on autopilot – I kept deflecting Poseidon's sword attacks, rolling from one spot to another, slashing at him with my sword. Then, my father made his wrong maneuver. He lunged at me, using his sword like he was about to poke at me and I got inside the thrust. Narrowly dodging it, I sidestepped, put all my weight into my blade, making Poseidon drop his sword and tripped him over, making him land on his back.

My sword hovered inches from his unprotected chest.

I was panting with exhaustion, covered with sweat. My sister stopped what she was doing and stared at me wide–eyed. My mother looked at me, her face showing nothing, though her eyes glinted.

My father started laughing, his face breaking into a smile. "You've gotten tougher, Marcus. Be sure to remember that."