| The Raid |
It was late morning at Cheryl�s Academy. The sun was out and the sky was blue. A slight breeze stirred along the grounds, making everyone restless. The cadets were congregated in the courtyard for their training. They were working on bow and arrow with the instructor, Brutus. Cheryl, tired of working on the piles of paperwork that seemed to never end, stood in front of the large open window overlooking the training going on. The breeze stirred her long hair as she closed her eyes enjoying the feel of it against her skin. She opened her eyes and realized that Iolaus was watching her. Blushing, she moved slightly away from the window, out of his sight. Deep in the forest, surrounding the academy, Cheryl notices smoke rising into the sky. She got a bad feeling from that sign but shrugged it off as she went back behind her desk. Cheryl was quietly sitting in her office when a horrific noise came from outside. She escaped to her window to see the commotion. "Have you listen to anything I have said Dustin?" A warlord said bringing the young boy in handcuff's. "Yeah yeah!" Dustin retrieved inside the Academy. The other cadet's watched with interest and wonder. Cheryl's eye's grew incredible large noticing them headed for the office. "C-Can I help you?"- Cheryl gulped. The warlord took the sword from Dustin and passed it to Cheryl. "What am I suppose to do with this?" "Make sure he doesn't get his hand's on this until he can prove otherwise.!" he growled. Dustin lashed a look of not caring. Cheryl pulled the warlord over to the side and began to whisper. "Why wasn�t I informed of his arrival?" Should I be concern? I have other Cadet's here." Cheryl said in a stern manner thinking maybe it was that bad feeling she was having. "Not to worry Cheryl Dustin has a whole history of trouble he's had a hard life. I have his file he's been already been enrolled so that might save alot of your time. I assure you he will not cause any upset's IS THAT CLEAR?" Dustin nodded and stood up. "Well Dustin please make yourself at home- Make sure you follow what you are suppose to or you will be gone from this academy understood" "Dustin!" The warlord push his hand on his back. "Yes M'lady" "You can join the other's on the training area." "If you have any trouble's please tell me" The warlord left the office although he didn�t' leave right away he headed in another direction very secretly. Dustin broke out of the door's wondering around until someone approached him. Kady kept her distance from the other cadets, sitting alone, wondering what possessed Zylus to believe she'd actually be safe from her father's lethal influence there. Her timid gaze stayed to the floor not wishing to make eye contact with anyone realizing anyone could be a spy for her father or worse. She glanced up and saw a handsome young man step in then instantly looked away again she shot occasional looks at Hercules who she could only trust and confide in at this academy for which she felt she didn�t belong. Kady adored her great uncle. He was one of the only ones with Olympian blood to actually care about her along with Artemis and her mother Adrianna. Ares was always ready to use his granddaughter for his own evil purposes and had tried to sway her in killing his half brother since she was excluded in the no killing other gods law proclaimed by Zeus, but was under unlimited protection by Dahok which had made the Olympians think twice before attempting to lay a finger upon the child of darkness. Hercules listened to Iolaus talk to he and Jason on how he was watching Cheryl again gazing out her office window, hearing how much she was as beautiful as a morning glory first kissed by the dawn, and stole a moment to glance at Kady, who looked miserable again. The demi-god knew he had to make his way over to make sure she was all right, considering he told Cheryl about her and would take her under his wing to partake in all the classes with him until she felt more comfortable and maybe make a friend. His brow frowned in worry as he watched her bury her lovely face into her trembling hands crying softly again. Herc excused himself from his two best friends and raced over to Kady, wrapped his arms around the shaking girl and tried to comfort her. "Hey what�s the matter?" He whispered softly. Kady gazed at her uncle and hugged him tight. He did his best to soothe the timid girl gently caressing her long silken brown hair compassionately. "How about after classes we go to visit my mother?" He offered. Kady nodded. "Okay.... I better get back to Iolaus and Jason he's waiting to tell me more how he admires Cheryl from afar but refuses to confess his true feelings to her when he's up close and personal." Herc kinda chuckled at his pun then kissed Kady on top of her head. "If you need me just yell." Kady smiled at her uncle and nodded silently once again then returned to her world of deep thought. Cheryl, fed up with being cooped up inside, threw all the scrolls into a large drawer in her desk. �Okay. Now they�re filed.� Cheryl said and headed out of her office. As she started heading down the hall, to the staircase, she glanced down an unused hall that had a layer of dust covering the floor. It wasn�t unusual for unused halls and dust since the 3rd floor was hardly used. But what made Cheryl stop suddenly, were the footprints in the dust. They were larger, from an older man. She ran back into her office and grabbed her sword and ran back to the hallway entrance. She walked slowly trying to be as quiet as possible, but her heart was pounding hard. Just before she could get to an open doorway, someone called her name "Cheryl? What are you doing?" Vanira asked standing in the middle of the hall entrance. Cheryl spun around, startled. "Theres somebody here." Cheryl said in a hushed whisper. Vanira saw the footprint. "They're probably just one of the boys here. I mean, no one can get in here. Its hard enough getting out." Vanira said with a smile. "You're probably right. I have been having a bad feeling all day though." Cheryl said walking back over to Vanira. "You're probably just stressed out." Nira suggested thoughtfully. "Maybe. Is it time for staff yet?" Cheryl asked. "Yeah. Brutus is finally done. That man is so boring!" Vanira exclaimed. Cheryl just laughed and shook her head. They headed downstairs together, heading to the courtyard. Cheryl headed into the courtyard with Vanira to set up for class. She still believed that someone was in the academy but decided to leave it alone. The person wasn't going anywhere, unless he was a god. 'Thats it! It�s probably Ares. He would be someone who would mess with my mind on a day like this.' Cheryl thought and felt semi-relieved. She went and started to clear away the targets from the bow and arrow class as the cadets hovered around, relaxing and waiting for class to begin. Up in a 3rd floor window, a face could be seen, if someone looked closely enough, of a man watching out into the forest. Upstairs~ Moris, the warlord that had brought in the new cadet, was hidden in a dark, unused room. This was almost too easy for him. Although, if the girl had come a little farther in the hall, he would have been found out. Luckily enough, she was stopped. In looking out the window, he was waiting for a sign from the main camp on when to help with the attack. He had the feeling the chest containing the scroll of Immortality was around somewhere near. Ares' had assured him of that. He laughed softly to himself, thinking of how delightful this attack was going to be. He loved surprises |