karina woke up earlier than usual. the raven-haired girl usually gets up at seven in the morning but this time, she was already doing her morning training. 

with a wooden bow on her hand, karina aimed towards her target– a wooden dummy. she gently stretched her long limbs, making sure that her arrow would hit the right place.

as soon as she felt that her aim was enough, karina let go of the string and watched as her arrow swiftly rushed towards the dummy.

target hit.

the raven-haired girl smiled in satisfaction. 

“didn't know you're into bows now.” 

karina turned around to see who the owner of the voice was. 

shin ryujin. 

“daughter of hermes. you're up early?” 

the short-haired girl smiled.

“why do you always call me with that? i don't even find it amusing. also, i hate being addressed as the daughter of that god,” she replied. 

“why so? he is your father.” 

“left my mother right after i was born and didn't do anything when that stinking three-headed dog ate her outside the camp? not much of a father after all.” 

“cerberus,” karina corrected. 

ryujin just rolled her eyes. 

“the gods are nothing but big phonies. they only care about themselves. you really need to stop worshipping them. does athena even care about your existence?” 

karina just heaved out a deep sigh before returning to her business. she grabbed another arrow from the table and placed it on the bow, stretching it before swiftly letting the string go. 

target hit, once again. 

“if it were not for those gods, we would not be here in this world. we would not be able to see how beautiful and wondrous this place is. we would not be able to experience having bounties every single day. keep in mind that you are not the only demigod who lost a mortal parent. all of those who are inside this camp lost their own and we can never change fate.” 

ryujin turned speechless. 

“i have not met athena yet and i do not know if i will still be able to meet her. i know she has duties as one of the twelve olympian gods and i am completely aware of that. all i know is she does care about me because i always hear her whisper whenever i am in trouble. she tries her best to help me and i think that is what matters the most.” 

karina dropped her bow on the ground and faced ryujin once again. 

“do not even lie, daughter of hermes. i am pretty sure your father helps you with a lot of stuff too. you are his only daughter and you are probably twice as spoiled as the other demigods here.” 

ryujin shrugged. 

“geez, no wonder ares' children calls you a nerd.”

karina tilted her head. 

“you consider me as a nerd because i talk too much and all are considered factual? does not make any sense, but whatever floats your boat, ryujin.” 

the short-haired girl clenched her fists, clearly getting annoyed. 

“ugh, whatever. be thankful i like you.” 

“it has been years and i have rejected you not only thrice. how are you not getting tired?” 

ryujin was about to answer when the ground suddenly shook. karina went down and placed both of her palms on the ground, gasping when she realized that it was indeed shaking. 

ryujin cursed under her breath.

“don't tell me gaea's having tantrums again?” 

karina ignored the latter's words. she grabbed her bow and a quiver full of arrows before running towards the main entrance of the camp. a lot of demigods were already there and karina had to squish herself until she reached the front. 

“what is happening?” karina asked, quite in a short breath because of running. 

“i think something or someone is trying to break the barrier,” lia, daughter of apollo, answered as she kept her focus on the said barrier. 

“what? impossible. the barrier can never be broken,” karina replied. 

the ground continued to shake as the barrier that protected the whole camp continued to shake as well. 

what happened next scared everyone inside camp half-blood. 

the barrier that protected the camp for years,

crumbled into tiny pieces. 

“oh my gods,” karina uttered, her hands shaking. she gripped on her bow tightly and took a few steps back, the other demigods did the same. 

after a few minutes, the creature that was responsible for what happened appeared with raging anger in its eyes. 

a 6 feet minotaur.

it was the same minotaur that killed winter's mother. 

“winter, don't!” ningning yelled but it was too late. 

karina saw winter charge towards the deadly creature while gripping tightly on her silver sword and shield. 

the other demigods retreated to grab their own weapons, leaving ningning, giselle, karina, and winter on the same spot.

“what the heck was she thinking,” karina hissed before running towards the brunette. giselle and ningning followed the raven-haired girl immediately. 

winter let out a loud scream before swinging her sword, giving the minotaur a deep cut on its arm. 

the action only made its anger worsen. 
a loud, terrifying sound came out of the monster and the other demigods who attempted to charge suddenly felt fear. it swiftly grabbed wi