Alex's mind was stuck on the mark, even as they were swordfighting or canoeing, he could stop thinking about it. Ozymandias had said that he was syphoning his powers. Was the system grooming him to overtake the place of Ohymandias? Ageless but driven insane by the years? He wondered how many years it would take before he too lost his mind. 200? 300? 1000?
The camp's capture the flag game against the hunters of Artemis came sooner than he thought. The numbers were roughly even, with camp half blood just edging out the numerical advantage but that didn't mean anything when the campers were a mixed bag as they were and the hunters elite soldiers who had been training for centuries.
Alex stood at the edge of the forest as Chiron finished explaining the rules again. The banners, one silver(for the hunters) and one orange(for the camp) fluttered in the wind, snapping like they were eager for blood. His mark burned faintly in anticipation, a dull, patient heat, as it knew that this would be a hard fight.
"Try not to get skewered" Conner Stoll said cheerfully as he passed, already tugging on his helmet, "hunters don't play fair"
"They play well. In capture the flag there is no 'fair'" Thalia corrected him, her spear supporting her weight as she leaned on it, "normally I would say stick to a group but with so few campers we can't afford to make big groups. We know these forests better than they do"
"Yeah but they have more experience than all of us combined", Alex grimaced.
"Experience doesn't mean omniscience", Thalia said, eyes flickering to the tree line, "they bleed, they trip and they get cocky, same as anyone, maybe even more than normal in that last regard. That is what immortality does to you"
The conch horn sounded, a deep, echoing blast that rolled through the forest like a challenge.
The game had begun.
Alex stepped beneath the canopy, the forest swallowing the moonlight, making it hard to see. The mark hummed on his chest as he snuck through the thicket, a warning, one which he almost ignored but then he raised his sword, snowstorm to intercept the attack. A silver arrow impacted with his sword. He hadn't even heard them approaching. They were blessed hunters. In the forest, they were very well near silent and with the moonlight empowering them, they were fast, strong and had incredible stamina. This game was stacked against the camp but they wouldn't give up that easily!
They weren't the only ones empowered by the environment however! Alex was a son of Boreas, the north wind and it was deep winter. The could air empowered him, like the moonlight did the hunters.
He exhaled slowly, frost feathered across chis chestplate. Snowstorm sang in his grip, the blade eager, vibrating with a thin, keening note only he could hear. The wind shifted at his back, subtle but deliberate, as if something vast had leaned in closer to watch.
Another arrow came, three this time, fanning out to hurt him rather than to kill. Alex dove, rolled and felt one skim his shoulder, the impact numbing rather than burning. Training shots. They wanted him tagged, not dead.
"Not gonna happen", he whispered softly, thrusting snowstorm forward. The wind answered. A sharp gust tore through the trees, scattering powdery snow into a blinding white curtain. Branches creaked, leaves hissed. The wind didn't howl, it whispered. As he channeled his might into the attack, the mark responded, empowering his abilities, as if lightning was flowing through his veins. When he was done, there wasn't just a thin layer of frost on the forest in front of him. Ice, several centimetres thick, clung to stone, earth and three alike. Even the four hunters who had been attacking him(one of which was the newbie Bianca, who had yet to fire a shot) were frozen solid.
One third of the hunters out of the fight.
The forest went eerily silent.
Alex lowered snowstorm, breath fogging thickly in front of his face. His heart hammered, not with fear but with sharp, electric clearity. That had been easy, too easy, too much. The mark on his chest hummed like a predator licking its lips.
Alex swallowed and forced his breathing to slow. He knew that feeling now, the rush, the way the world seemed to snap into focus, edges sharpening, colors brightening as power flooded his limbs. It was intoxicating and terrifying.
Too much, he thought, he didn't need that much.
No time to worry about that now, he had a game to win. He pushed forwards, deeper into the forest. He could be silent when he wanted too. The banner, silver with a crescent moon and a bow, was guarded by two hunters, their bows ready.
Alex sank lower, letting the forest swallow him again. He slowed his breathing until it matched the rhythm of the wind.
Two guards, stationary, confident.
Immortality breeds habits.
The mark pulsed once, as if offering. Alex ignored it this time and drew on something smaller, subtler. He nudged the air, barely a breath of power and the temperature dipped just enough to make frost creep across the ground in a widening circle.
The frost spread, thin but deliberate, curling around roots and rocks like silent fingers. One hunter shifted, noticing the chill, then froze, a frown tugging at their lips. The other relaxed too soon, stepping forward, and the ice traced their boots, slippery and treacherous. Alex's lips quirked. Not enough to kill but to disorient. He made the wind rustle the trees on the other side of the clearing. It sounded as if someone was there. When the hunters spun around, they slipped on the frost and Alex saw his chance, snatching the banner and rushing away before the hunters could get back up. He reached the threshold and a conch horn sounded, "camp half blood has won!"
The campers and hunters rushed towards the border. The former were delighted(carrying him on their shoulders) whilst the latter looked like they smelled something foul. They couldn't accept that they had been bested by a boy.